Today in True Crime

In the early 1900s, it was an unwritten rule to not wear a straw hat after September 15th. Even though it was a couple of days early, a group of young men started some millinery mischief and attacked pedestrians because their hats were out of season. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A recently fired security officer and a group of his friends pulled off one of the most lucrative heists in American history as they stole tens of millions of dollars in just minutes. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Illinois, a judge sentenced serial killer Robert Ben Rhoades, known as the Truck Stop Killer, to life without parole for killing 14-year-old Regina Walters. Rhoades may have been responsible for up to 50 murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Even though DNA is 99.9% similar across the entire human population, a 34-year-old geneticist discovered how to take an impression of the .1% unique identifiers of a person’s DNA. It would change criminal investigations forever. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A 36-year-old bank teller in New Mexico suddenly vanished after discovering her estranged husband was a con man. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a months-long trial, four-time British Fashion Designer of the Year John Galliano was fined in Paris for breaking a French law forbidding public antisemitic insults. Guest hosted by Wenndy Mackenzie from Unsolved Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Off the coast of Malta, an Armed Forces boat went out to sea to dispose of illegal fireworks. But something ignited the volatile cargo and it exploded, instantly killing 7 of the 8 crewmembers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the 1972 Summer Olympics, a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September kidnapped Israeli athletes and held them for ransom. A botched rescue attempt ended in bloodshed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Legendary Lakota war chief Crazy Horse was ambushed when he arrived for a peaceful meeting in Fort Robinson, Nebraska. The man who spent a lifetime protecting his people against the Western expansion by the U.S. military was killed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After closing, the legendary Tiffany’s store on Fifth Avenue in New York City was robbed. Thieves easily made off with almost two million dollars worth of jewelry. In fact, too easily. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Patty Wetterling, whose son Jacob had disappeared 27 years earlier, confirmed that authorities had found her son's remains. Jacob, his brother, and a friend were riding their bikes home from a video store when they were confronted at gunpoint by Danny Heinrich. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first time in history, an international court convicted someone of genocide when Jean-Paul Akayesu was found guilty on 9 of 15 counts of genocide and crimes against humanity. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After police were dispatched to investigate a man brandishing a gun on Interstate 10, they were shocked to find that it was hitman Charles Harrelson. He was taken into custody after a 6-hour standoff. Guest hosted by Molly Brandenburg from Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Every parent's worst nightmare occurred when 8-year-old Ann Marie Burr was taken out of her bed in the middle of the night and never seen again. Some believe her kidnapper was the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A modern-day Bonnie and Clyde, Cynthia Coffman and James Marlow were sentenced to death after being convicted of kidnapping and murdering two young women in California. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Using DNA evidence, Chinese police tracked down serial killer Gao Chengyong, solving a decades-old cold case involving the murders of 11 women. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After building a hidden bunker, Joseph Fritzl trapped his 18-year-old daughter Elisabeth inside and held her captive for more than two decades. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At one of the largest banks in Brazil, 12 men masquerading as construction workers stole nearly $60 million worth of jewels and valuables. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Nevada, a sophisticated bomb exploded in Harvey’s Casino after the FBI tried unsuccessfully to defuse the device. The bomb’s creator was arrested a year later. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Pavlo Lazarenko, who had fled Ukraine in 1999, was sentenced to nine years in a U.S. federal prison for financial crimes. Guest hosted by Estefania Hageman from Deathbed Confessions, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Major League Baseball's all-time hits leader was banned from the sport for life for gambling on his games. His crimes were detailed in a document known as the Dowd Report. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rodney Alcala was born in San Antonio, Texas. By 1978, the serial rapist found his way onto a popular show called The Dating Game, where he followed up his rejection with multiple murders. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Outside the Republican National Convention in Dallas, Texas, police arrested Gregory Lee Johnson for burning the American flag. Johnson maintained that while the act was illegal in Texas, it was still protected under the first amendment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cristhian Rivera led police to the body of 20-year-old Mollie Tibbetts. His status as an undocumented immigrant became a focal point of this national case. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On a quiet morning in Edmond, Oklahoma, USPS letter carrier Patrick Sherrill carried out a deadly massacre, killing 14 employees and then himself. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a strange and unprecedented court case, three men who were convicted as teenagers for the killing of three children were released from prison. The men, known as The West Memphis Three, had always maintained their innocence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Lancashire, England, twelve people were put on trial for witchcraft. Based on a child’s testimony, ten of the so-called Pendle Hill Witches were found guilty. Guest hosted by Alastair Murden from Medical Murders, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Koresh, born Vernon Howell, grew up to head a group in Waco called the Branch Davidians. In 1993, a 51-day standoff with the FBI would eventually end with the deaths of 76 of its members. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sheila Garvie and her lover Brian Tevendale were arrested for the muder of Sheila’s hard-partying husband, Maxwell Garvie. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twenty-four-year-old Philip Markoff, known as the Craigslist Killer, died by suicide in his prison cell. At the time of his death, Markoff was awaiting trial for the murder of Julissa Brisman and the robbery of two other women — all of whom he found on Craigslist. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The passing of the UK Marine Broadcasting Offences Act cut income access to an offshore radio station known as Radio Caroline. The legislation outlawed pirate radio and prompted the BBC, now void of competition, to start a nationwide station called Radio 1. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sixty-eight-year-old South African ruler Matsebe Sekhukhune I died by assassination following his release from more than a year of imprisonment. His reign over the Bapedi nation came to an end on the orders of his half-brother, Mampuru. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The investigation of Douglas Clark, known as the Sunset Strip Killer, continued as the police searched Clark’s apartment. Clark, along with his girlfriend Carol Bundy, had been arrested for the gruesome murders of at least six women in the Los Angeles area. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Carlton Cannes Hotel in the south of France fell victim to one of the most lucrative jewelry heists in history. The infamous robbery produced zero evidence. Guest hosted by Richard Rossner from Unexplained Mysteries, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

David Berkowitz was arrested in Yonkers, New York for the murder of six people. Berkowitz admitted to being the “Son of Sam” when police entered his home, and divulged his plan to kill more people at a nightclub in the Hamptons if they hadn't arrived. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following an altercation with a convenience store clerk in Ferguson, Missouri, unarmed Black teenager Michael Brown was shot and killed by 28-year-old white police officer Darren Wilson. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Connecticut, a man walking his dog found pieces of a human body inside a crate. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Jimmy Carter declared a federal emergency in Love Canal, New York, due to widespread chemical contamination. The environmental crisis had been decades in the making. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Brazil, a group of robbers entered the Banco Central building through a hidden underground tunnel and made off with the equivalent of $95 million U.S. dollars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scottish patriot William Wallace was arrested for treason by fellow Scotsman Sir John Menteith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today marks 40 years since legal secretary Cindy Anderson vanished from her office in Michigan. The cold case has perplexed investigators for decades. Guest hosted by Carter Roy from Conspiracy Theories, a Spotify Original from Parcast. This week, catch their episodes on two Olympic-sized conspiracies: the Salt Lake City buyout, and the Russian doping scandal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Unrequited love and a family feud precipitated the brutal murders of Harriet Starkweather and her teenage daughter Ella. An inquiry found 24-year-old Albert Starkweather guilty. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Turkey, a serial killer known as The Canal Monster murdered his final victim, 47-year-old security guard Sami Yilmaz. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Four communist men were executed by the Nazi regime for their supposed involvement in the Altona Bloody Sunday massacre one year earlier. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A series of bombs in a small village in Northern Ireland killed nine people. No arrests were ever made, though it was learned decades later that the Catholic Church had orchestrated a cover-up. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Controversial labor organizer and former Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa was seen for the last time outside of a Detroit restaurant. Many believe he was killed by the mafia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

One of the Confederacy’s most notorious spies during the Civil War was 18-year-old Belle Boyd, who gained intelligence by seducing soldiers. She was imprisoned by the Union Army for the first time on this day in 1862. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A single jewel thief walked into a diamond exhibit in Cannes, France and walked out less than a minute later with millions of dollars in gems. Guest hosted by Kate Leonard from Dictators, a Spotify Original from Parcast. Don’t miss their special series exploring some of the most tyrannical and corrupt popes to lead the Catholic Church. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Six-year-old Adam Walsh was abducted from a Sears parking lot in Hollywood, Florida by serial killer Ottis Toole. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Nigeria, government authorities raided Boko Haram leadership. The militant Islamist group retaliated within hours, setting off a five-day period of violence and unrest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices