Crimes of the Centuries

A poor drifter named Clarence Earl Gideon had faced more than his share of legal run-ins over his lifetime, but when he was arrested in 1961 for allegedly stealing some drinks and quarters from a bar, he insisted he wasn't guilty -- and asked for an attorney to help him prove it. At the time, though, Florida law only provided defense lawyers in capital cases. After his conviction, Gideon sought to change that law throughout the nation. "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 on the Grab Bag Patreon page.  DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode Sponsors: Uncommon Goods. To get 15% off your next gift, go to www.UNCOMMONGOODS.com/COTC. Ibotta. Right now, Ibotta is offering our listeners $5 just for trying Ibotta by using the code CENTURIES when you register. Just go to the App Store or Google Playstore and download the FREE Ibotta app to start earning cash back and use code CENTURIES. Smalls. For 50% off your first order, head to Smalls.com/COTC and use code COTC Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to TryMiracle.com/COTC claim your FREE 3 PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. 

The town of New Brunswick, New Jersey, was rocked by the discovery of two bodies beneath a crabapple tree in September 1922. The remains belonged to Edward Hall, a local pastor, and Eleanor Mills, a member of the church's choir. The two were found entwined beneath the tree -- an odd positioning considering they'd both been married to other people. Suspicion soon fell as the lovers' spouses, turning the tawdry tale into a media circus that went far beyond the tabloids. "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 on the Grab Bag Patreon page.  DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode Sponsors: iHerb. Our listeners get 22% off their first order at iherb.com/shop/cotc when you use code COTC. Existing customers receive 15% off. Wildgrain. Free Croissants in every box-and $30 off your first box when you go to Wildgrain.com/COTC Hiya Health. Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal, you must go to hiyahealth.com/COTC

Music legend Elvis Presley never knew it before he died, but the man he trusted with his career and money was not who he said he was. Col. Tom Parker had been born in the Netherlands, not in Huntington, W. Va., as he'd claimed. Parker -- born Andreas Cornelis van Kuijk before arriving in the U.S. illegally -- upended the music industry with the unorthodox contracts he demanded, which lined his pockets more than anyone else's. "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 on the Grab Bag Patreon page.  DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode Sponsors: 3 Day Blinds. For their buy 1 get 1 50% off deal, head to 3DayBlinds.com/COTC Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to TryMiracle.com/COTC and use the code COTC to claim your FREE 3-PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF.

When Det. Louis Scarcella retired in 1999, he was a New York City hero. He had closed dozens of homicide cases during his decades-long run as a cop nicknamed 'The Closer' for his ability to get suspects to confess to him. Years after he retired, however, one of his highest-profile cases got another look, and a judge exonerated the man convicted. Then came another overturned conviction and another. To date, 20 verdicts in Scarcella-led cases have been overturned -- and the number could keep climbing. "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 on the Grab Bag Patreon page.  DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode Sponsors: Beam. "Beam’s Dream is clinically shown to improve sleep. Click https://shopbeam.com/COTC and use code COTC to shop our exclusive discount and get up to 40% off. Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to TryMiracle.com/COTC and use the code COTC to claim your FREE 3-PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. Quince. Make switching seasons a breeze with Quince's high-quality closet essentials. Go to Quince.com/cotc for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. IQ Bar. IQ BAR is offering our special podcast listeners twenty percent off all IQ BAR products, plus get FREE shipping. To get your twenty percent off, just text CENTURIES to 64000.

Before Benedict Arnold's name became synonymous with 'traitor,' he had been hailed as a hero of the American Revolutionary War. His rise from militiaman to trusted ally of George Washington was the stuff of legends. But instead of being honored with, say, his likeness on American currency, he committed an act of treason so heinous that his name is still hurled as an insult to this day. "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 on the Grab Bag Patreon page.  DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode Sponsors: Miracle Made. Upgrade your sleep with Miracle Made! Go to TryMiracle.com/COTC and use the code COTC to claim your FREE 3-PIECE TOWEL SET and SAVE over 40% OFF. Money Crimes. Money Crimes is a Crime House Original. Powered by PAVE Studios. New episodes are released every Thursday. Just search for“MoneyCrimes.” 3 Day Blinds. For their buy 1 get 1 50% off deal, head to 3DayBlinds.com/COTC Hiya Health. Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal, you must go to hiyahealth.com/COTC

In 1981, a 6-year-old boy accompanied his mother to a Sears department store, where she left him for mere minutes in the toy department. Two weeks later, the boy's head was discovered in a ditch. Learn how the horrifying case -- and the South Florida police department's decades-long bungling of it -- changed parenting in America. "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 on the Grab Bag Patreon page.  DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode Sponsors: Wildgrain. Free Croissants in every box-and $30 off your first box when you go to Wildgrain.com/COTC Beam's Dream Powder. Beam’s Dream is clinically shown to improve sleep. Click https://shopbeam.com/COTC and use code COTC to shop our exclusive discount  and get up to 40%off.

The horrific killing of four members of the Clutter family in 1959 led author Truman Capote to write In Cold Blood, the book credited with launching true crime as a genre. But how much of what Capote wrote was as "immaculately factual" as the author led the world to believe? "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 on the Grab Bag Patreon page.  DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode Sponsors: IQ Bar. Our special podcast listeners get 20% off all IQBar products plus FREE shipping. To get your twenty percent off, just text CENTURIES to 64000. Better Help. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at betterhelp.com/COTC and get 10% off your first month.

The Catholic Church lost its grip on England largely thanks to a woman who refused to quietly let her husband trade her in for a younger model. Catherine of Aragon's impact on Europe has lasted for centuries, and it all began with a single crime: bigamy. "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. \DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod

Cassie Chadwick of Cleveland wasn't who she said she was. Even she admitted that -- though in her version, she wasn't the con artist daughter of a Canadian farmer, but rather the illegitimate daughter of Andrew Carnegie, America's wealthiest man. She used that lie to bilk businessmen, bankers and entire institutions out of boatloads of money, earning her place in history as one of the Gilded Age's most accomplished grifters. "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. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: 3 Day Blinds: For their buy 1 get 1 50% off deal, head to 3DayBlinds.com Greenlight. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free when you go to GREENLIGHT.com/COTC

When several men dressed as cops entered the Isabella Gardner Museum in March of 1990, the nighttime security detail didn't think much of it -- until one of the "officers" handcuffed the guards' wrists and announced, "This is a robbery." Thirty-four years later, theories abound about who was behind the largest -- and most mystifying -- art heist in American history. "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. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Hiya Health. Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal, you must go to www.hiyahealth.com/COTC. Better Help.  Visit BetterHelp.com/COTC today to get 10% off your first month. Wildgrain. For a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box-PLUS free Croissants in every box-when you go to Wildgrain.com/COTC to start your subscription.

In 1932, hundreds of men in Tuskegee, Alabama, signed up for something they'd never had much access to: healthcare. The best part? It was free. Told for decades they were being treated for "bad blood," the participants were never informed they had tested positive for syphilis and were being studied by the US government to see how the disease progressed in Black men who were blocked from receiving readily available treatment. "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. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Better Help.  Visit BetterHelp.com/COTC today to get 10% off your first month.

After Munich, Germany, was named the host of the 1972 Olympic Games, organizers were determined to highlight the country's softer side after the horrors of World War II. This was, after all, the first Olympics to be held in Germany since 1936's Berlin Games, during which Hitler used the festivities to spread propaganda and Nazi ideology. Unfortunately, Munich's "softer side" went beyond a subdued color palette, leading to a porous Olympic Village that provided easy access to a deadly terrorist attack. "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. DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Hiya Health. Receive 50% off your first order. To claim this deal, you must go to hiyahealth.com/COTC. Cremo Body Wash.  You can find the new Cremo Men’s Body Wash at Walmart or Walmart.com

When a handyman from Mobile, Alabama, was accused of stealing $1.95 from a woman who employed him in 1957, no one could have guessed the fervor it would cause, not just nationally but overseas. Jimmy Wilson was sentenced to death for the theft in a case that threatened America's reputation on a global scale. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Greenlight. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free when you go to www.greenlight.com/cotc Laundry Sauce. For 15% off your order, head to LaundrySauce.com/COTC and use code COTC.

Soon after London bade farewell to 1885 and welcomed the new year, a woman named Adelaide Bartlett roused her sleeping house with screams. Her husband, Edwin, who had seemed to have turned a corner on his recent illness, was dead. Housemates who arrived in a panic immediately noticed a chemical smell in the room that suggested Edwin hadn't died of natural causes. The case, which would soon be dubbed the Pimlico Poisoning, proved to be one of the most sensational in 19th-century England. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Quince. Go to Quince.com/COTC for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Cremo. You can find all the new, decadent scents of Cremo Women’s Body Wash at Walgreens and CVS Or CremoCompany.com. Wildgrain. For a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box, PLUS free croissants in every box, when you go to Wildgrain.com/COTC to start your subscription. 

In the 1970s, an aerospace firm in Redondo Beach, California, had the clever idea of handing over access to highly classified spy satellite secrets to a 20-something named Christopher Boyce. It didn't end well. Boyce and his high school buddy -- a drug dealer named Daulton Lee -- soon began selling that classified info to the Russians in a scheme that's still regarded today as one of the most damaging acts of espionage in U.S. history. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Cremo. You can find all the new, decadent scents of Cremo Women’s Body Wash at Walgreens and CVS Or CremoCompany.com. Greenlight. Sign up for Greenlight today and get your first month free when you go to Greenlight.com/COTC Ritual. Get 25% off your first month at ritual.com/cotc Miracle Made. Go to TryMiracle.com/COTC and use the code COTC to claim your free three-piece towel set and save over 40% off.

After World War II stole a great many men from their loving wives, Lonely Hearts clubs were all the rage for lonely widows looking for love. A number of them thought they'd met their soul mates when they traded letters with a man calling himself Chris Martin who was so devoted to his family, he often had his sister in tow. In truth, those unsuspecting women were communicating with Ray Fernandez and his lover, Martha Beck, who would come to be known as the Lonely Hearts Club Killers. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Miracle Made. Go to TryMiracle.com/COTC and use the code COTC to claim your free three-piece towel set and save over 40% off. IQ Bar. Our special podcast listeners get 20% off all IQBar products plus FREE shipping. To get your twenty percent off, just text CENTURIES to 64000. Smalls.  Head to Smalls.com/COTC and use promo code COTC at checkout for 50% off your first order PLUS free shipping.

Randy Ayers was a 17-year-old high school senior when he was spotted at school and identified as the man who raped and tried to kill a 15-year-old girl in November 1981. It would take nine agonizing years -- and an unsolicited confession from a serial killer -- before Randy's case would change how prosecutors in Hamilton County, Ohio, treated eyewitness identification. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: IQ Bar. Special podcast listeners get 20% off all IQBar products plus FREE shipping. To get your twenty percent off, text CENTURIES to 64000. Wildgrain. For a limited time, you can get $30 off the first box, PLUS free croissants in every box, when you go to Wildgrain.com/COTC to start your subscription. 

The 937 passengers aboard the M.S. St. Louis had every reason to be optimistic as they left Hamburg, Germany, on May 13, 1939. After years of their rights being slowly stripped away, the Jewish men, women and children felt lucky to be sailing off to start anew in Cuba. But once they spotted their destination, a new nightmare began. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Smalls. Head to Smalls.com/COTC and use promo code COTC at checkout for 50% off your first order PLUS free shipping. Athena Club. Head over to AthenaClub.com to try their award-winning razor and body products and get 20% off your purchase with code CENTURIES at checkout. You can also find AthenaClub Razors at your local Target store.

When 26 California schoolchildren and their bus driver failed to show up after a swimming trip on the penultimate day of summer school, authorities launched a search that grew much more frantic after the school bus they'd been traveling in was discovered hidden in 20-foot-tall bamboo. What happened next shocked and befuddled the nation. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Magic Mind. For a limited time, this special link offers up to 48% off your first subscription or 20% off one-time purchases with code COTC at checkout. You can claim it at www.magicmind.com/cotc20. 

In 1898, a pair of killers stalked a worksite in the Tsavo region of Kenya. They evaded blockades and booby traps to torment hundreds of men who'd simply signed up to do a job but instead found themselves marked as prey for a seemingly unstoppable deadly duo. "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 DON'T FORGET ABOUT THE CRIMES OF THE CENTURIES BOOK!  Order today at www.centuriespod.com/book (https://www.centuriespod.com/book)! Follow us on Instagram and Twitter: @centuriespod Episode sponsors: Laundry Sauce. For 15% off your order, head to LaundrySauce.com/COTC and use code COTC Ritual. Get 25% off your first month at ritual.com/cotc. Field of Greens. 15% off your first order, plus free rush shipping. Visit FieldofGreens.com and use promo code COTC.