A con man with a gift for talking fast and a knack for never getting caught made himself invaluable to the FBI in the late 1970s — and the FBI made him the centerpiece of the biggest political corruption sting in a generation. It never should have worked, yet it went further than anyone expected.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

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In 1979, a federal judge in San Antonio was known for one thing above all else: He did not show mercy. John H. Wood Jr. had earned his nickname the hard way, one maximum sentence at a time. Just before he was set to face off with a powerful drug empire, he was killed outside his home in broad daylight. What followed would become the most expensive FBI investigation since the Kennedy assassination, a courtroom circus involving a Las Vegas kingpin, a hitman with the world's most unusual business card, and a famous son fighting to clear his father's name.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod

 Episode Sponsors: 

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The roaring '20s of last century were fueled in part by a new industry: filmmaking in Hollywood. Directors were rolling in dough, as were the silver screen's first stars. But in 1921, the future of cinema would forever be altered after internationally beloved comedian Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle was charged in the death of a young starlet after attending a boozy Prohibition-era party in Arbuckle's hotel suite. 

Please enjoy this encore episode from Season 1, sparked by a listener suggestion who'd missed it in our lineup. 

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

A young woman named Elsie Cameron vanished after delivering an ultimatum to her fiancé, chicken farmer Norman Thorne. Weeks later, investigators dug up his property and found her dismembered remains buried in an unmistakable place — the same spot where he'd posed for a photograph days earlier, smiling, surrounded by his birds. Thorne had an explanation. It was a strange one. And the only person whose opinion would really matter in deciding whether to believe it was a man whose word, by 1925, was treated as close to unimpeachable in a British courtroom. A jury took less than 30 minutes to decide who was telling the truth. A century later, people are still arguing about whether they got it right. (Amber is off this week for her birthday and to clean up after the recent derecho in Ohio. Please enjoy this bonus episode from behind the paywall.)

Weeks after a woman's mysterious disappearance, a ship's captain noticed something off about two of his passengers — a quiet, bespectacled man and his teenage "son." He couldn't shake the feeling he'd seen that face somewhere recently. So he did something no ship's captain had ever been able to do before: He alerted police, instantly, from the middle of the ocean that two murder suspects might be aboard his vessel. What followed was one of the strangest manhunts in criminal history, and a case that would later split a forensic field down the middle more than 100 years later.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod

 Episode Sponsors: 

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ButcherBox. Responsibly sourced, high-quality meat and seafood delivered to your door, with $20 off your first box at ButcherBox.com/COTC.

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For three years in the late 1970s and into 1980 — before shared databases and DNA evidence — one man moved freely across 11 states trying to start a race war. He changed his name to honor a Nazi propagandist and a founding father. He bombed synagogues, gunned down interracial couples, shot a magazine publisher in broad daylight, and left whole communities living in fear of a killer they couldn't identify.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod

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Three people vanished from a Memphis home in February 1994. A week later, they turned up in a local cemetery, buried in a grave dug for someone else's funeral — held the day after they disappeared, with mourners who had no idea what was beneath the casket. Tony Carruthers was convicted of the murders in 1996, representing himself after burning through six court-appointed attorneys. Thirty years, one botched execution, and one recanted medical examiner later, Tennessee still hasn't tested the DNA that might resolve the crime.

Investigators were certain they knew who killed Leslie Preer. Their main suspect had motive, a suspicious alibi, and a failed polygraph. Investigators had everything they needed — except the right guy. Twenty-three years later with a pair of fresh detectives, a water bottle at Dulles Airport told a very different story.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod

EPISODE SPONSORS:
 
Rula: Affordable, insurance-covered therapy with average $15 copays and licensed in-network providers, at Rula.com/COTC. 

Hims. Simple, 100% online access to affordable ED treatment through licensed providers, at Hims.com/COTC. 

Home Chef. Fresh ingredients and easy recipes delivered weekly, with 50% off and free shipping on your first box plus free dessert for life at HomeChef.com/COTC. 

Boll & Branch: Breathable, organic cotton bedding designed to keep you cool all summer, with 15% off your first order at BollAndBranch.com/COTC using code COTC. 

Twenty-two-year-old Fred Korematsu was parked on a San Francisco hillside with his girlfriend, listening to music on the car radio, when the broadcast stopped on Dec. 7, 1941. In the weeks that followed, the U.S. government imprisoned 120,000 people based solely on their ancestry. Fred, a California-born welder who had tried to register for the draft on the very first day he could, decided he wasn’t going anywhere. His decision would lead to one of the most consequential civil liberties cases in American history, and a decades-long effort to prove something that should never have needed proving.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod

 
 EPISODE SPONSORS:

Home Chef. Fresh ingredients and easy recipes delivered weekly, with 50% off and free shipping on your first box plus free dessert for life at www.HomeChef.com/COTC. 

BiOptimizers Magnesium Breakthrough. Multi-form bioavailable magnesium to support relaxation and recovery, with 15% off and a free Masszymes travel bottle at www.bioptimizers.com/cotc using code COTC. 

Wayfair. Furniture and home goods for every room and budget, vetted through Wayfair's 10-point inspection, at www.Wayfair.com. 

DripDrop. Doctor-developed hydration trusted by firefighters, medical pros, and 90% of top sports teams, with 20% off your first order at www.dripdrop.com using code COTC. 

On the night of Oct. 23, 1989, Chuck Stuart called 911 from a car phone in Boston's Mission Hill neighborhood, his voice strained with panic. He said he and his wife Carol had been shot by a Black man. Within hours, Boston police had launched the most intensive manhunt in the city's history — tearing through a predominantly Black neighborhood, stopping and searching anyone who dared answer their door or walk the streets. They were certain they knew what had happened. They were wrong in ways that would take decades to reckon with.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod

EPISODE SPONSORS:

Home Chef: Get 50% off your first box, free shipping, and free dessert for life at HomeChef.com/COTC.

AquaTru: Go to AquaTru.com now for 20% off your purifier using promo code COTC.

Talkiatry: Get matched with an in-network psychiatrist at Talkiatry.com/COTC.

Mint Mobile: Cut your wireless bill to $15 a month at MintMobile.com/COTC.

Dozens of Girl Scouts arrived at Camp Scott in the Oklahoma woods in June of 1977 expecting songs, crafts and campfires. By morning, three of the girls were dead, their bodies discovered along a dirt path called Cookie Trail Road. The investigation that followed became the largest manhunt in Oklahoma history, fueled accusations of corruption and racism, and left behind a mystery that still divides people nearly 50 years later.

Crimes of the Centuries is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com

Order the Crimes of the Centuries book at your favorite bookstore or at !

Follow us on Instagram and other social media: @centuriespod

EPISODE SPONSORS: 

Rula. Quality therapy covered by insurance, with an average copay of just $15/session. Visit rula.com/cotc 

Hims. Simple, online access to personalized, affordable care for ED, Weight Loss, and more. Visit hims.com/COTC 

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Quince. High-quality bedding at 50–80% less than similar brands. Free shipping and 365-day returns at quince.com/centuries