Claim OwnershipRidiculous Crime
Subscribed: 8,965Played: 440,145
Subscribe
2025 iHeartMedia, Inc. © Any use of this intellectual property for text and data mining or computational analysis including as training material for artificial intelligence systems is strictly prohibited without express written consent from iHeartMedia
Description
True Crime is more than blood, guts, mayhem, and murder. Zaron Burnett and Elizabeth Dutton share outlandish tales of capers, heists, and cons that shine a light on the absurd and outrageous side of criminality. Always 99% murder-free and 100% ridiculous, this is Ridiculous Crime, a podcast by iHeartRadio.
378 Episodes
Reverse
1As Billie Jean King once said, "if you can see it, you can be it." Young Anna Sorokin took this to heart. She saw the fabulously wealthy and became one of them... sort of. She conned the social circles of NY’s super rich. She wined and dined with the best of them. But seeing isn't always being. Especially if your transformation involves audacious criminality.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If a New York City hairdresser who looks a little like James Brown comes up to you and says he can make you a star, don't believe him. But Miss Mary Jane Jones had to learn that lesson the hard way –– by playing Florida nightclubs as she pretended to be the real Aretha Franklin. Naturally, that's no way to earn R.E.S.P.E.C.T. But it will certainly get you attention from the law.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
If you boast that you can make diamonds out of burnt sugar, you better be able to deliver. Especially if you're boasting to a diamond magnate whose industry you could destroy. Proving it may include showing your tush, but that's life in the diamond biz.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
How does someone get a life sentence for stealing their own tools? Take one part probate, one part rebellion, multiple parts prison escapes, and one part Florida. What you get is the wild tale of Mark DeFriest, the Prison Houdini. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Looking for some engagement with some crime content from the world of social media influencers? Look no further, Rude Dudes! Become brand embassadors to ridiculousness with tales of sob stories, lies, and financial hijinks! #adSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
There's Coach John Heisman, bacon grease, rivals Auburn vs. Georgia Tech and the train that nearly wrecked. There's LSU vs. Tulane and the hijacking of the mascot Mike the Tiger, a real live Bengal. There's also Harvard vs. Yale (vs. MIT) and the surprise exploding football field. And finally, the birth of the Legend of the Stanford Axe with its the horseback and wagon chase through San Francisco that gave us The Big Game. It's a wild look at the absurdities of college football rivalries!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Today's automobiles are brimming with technology. Most of the time, that's pretty cool. But it stops being cool when sneaky hackers breach the systems and have a field day. Those are crimes…ridiculous crimes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Buddhist Monks are supposed to be exemplars of the faith. Yet these days there has been a recent slew of headlines wherein the monks and abbots of temples have been caught in sextortion scandals and have been main players for cartel drug smuggling. What's up with all the meth-addicted monks, vow-violating fathers of love children, and not to mention the widespread corruption and embezzlement? These monks are shaking the faith of their followers and the true believers. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
In the early days of Hollywood, Jackie Coogan made a splash playing a lovable waif in Charlie Chaplin's silent film, The Kid. His groundbreaking performance made him a ton of money. Or rather, it should have, but his parents had other ideas. His life story is full of twists and turns right out of a classic movie, and his legal battle changed the face of Hollywood forever.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
He was trained to be a fine art painter. Early on, he was considered “gifted.” But times change, tastes change, and the art world moves on...Han Van Meegeren wanted his revenge for being left behind. His plan: art forgery of the great masters of the past. But then came World War II, and a huge complication, one that meant he had to do crime to prove his innocence.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
We are stardust, we are golden. We are billion-year-old carbon. And we've got to get ourselves back to the garden. Unless, of course, you're there to scam or steal. In that case, stay out of the garden, bro.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It was meticulously planned, it was executed brilliantly, their alibis were unimpeachable, their getaway plan was flawless, and their money laundering scheme a thing of beauty. So then, what went wrong? Why the hell are they on this show? The Dunbar Heist of 1997 is one of those crime tales that will make you say: you have got to be kidding me!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
When a fancy lady rolled into town, she captivated everyone. An heiress-elect, she was about to come into some serious cash, which was exciting! But then tragedy struck. And then mystery. And then drama. A lot of stuff struck. What happened to Violet Charlesworth? Listen to find out!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sewers, pizza, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles –– this one has everything that's cool, comical and subterranean. It was a brilliant plan. It was executed perfectly. That is, until one fatal flaw brought the whole operation crashing down.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Jack Shepherd was a petty, pretty thief. He wasn't very good at it, so he got caught a lot. And he escaped a lot. Just like Henry More Smith. He, too, couldn't stop stealing and couldn't stop freeing himself from prison life. These guys prove that you can't keep a good (well, at least non-violent) man down.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Prolific French bank robber Redoine Faid repeatedly evaded capture then repeatedly escaped imprisonment, entertaining all who heard of his exploits. His Hollywood-style capers were larger than life, just like his audacious public image. But can the authorities ever truly capture the man who has captured a nation's imagination?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
A thief breaks into luxury homes in tony Boca del Mar. the cops are flummoxed by this brazen burglar. Even more so when they find out it’s a lady thief! How could the Bandit of Boca del Mar be a woman? That’s unthinkable! Hey, anything is possible in Palm Beach County, baby.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Sometimes you just need to get away. For a Chinese dissident that meant making a daring escape on a jet ski. For a former cyclist turned "ocean jogger," it meant building himself a human-powered hamster wheel so he could run across the sea. In both cases, these men's choices were crimes, but their methods were... ridiculous!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
It was a pretty genius plan. Steal gems from a Brinks truck as it made its way from one jewelry show to another. And the heist crew pulled it off…sort of. Seems practice runs can both improve the actual big theft, but also leave a trail of evidence for the feds. Oh, well.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Elizabeth, what's your third-favorite bird? On the heels of that question follows one of the strangest tales we've told. It's a globe-trotting, desert-crossing, ostrich-wrangling, feather-lusting, pith-helmeted, African cowboy adventure... with crime! Just how far will a bunch of profit-minded South Africans go to steal a flock of coveted French colonial ostriches?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
Eh, Chicago used to be a great city. Now it's like a couple dozen blocks you could call great surrounded by the crime ridden ruins of the rest of the city which is in turn surrounded by suburbs to which anyone with the ability to flee has fled. It's unfortunate, but absolutely true.
These two want everyone to buy their pseudo-intellectual nonsense while they openly admit that they aren't capable of pinning down concepts like annuities to become financially literate? Hilarious.
You think proper French pronunciation was more likely in Vermont, a British colony from its inception, than it was in Wisconsin which began as a French fur trapping territory and still has many French names amongst its counties and municipalities? Makes sense...
nope .. not cam-a-no. ka-may-no. weird, ya can Google it.
I wonder if the Internet was around in 1981 this scam would have lasted as long as it did- people would have been posting all over about what a liar he was.... OR maybe he would have run for & won the Presidency.
Keep in mind that 1981 money is worth 3x today. So that $1,500 seminar class would be $4,500 today. & that $15,000 week long class was like spending $45,000 today. Which is insane. If they skipped this POS con man's "classes" & invested that money instead it would have resulted in actual gains. But we are greedy as a society- if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. I hope all these victims ended up okay in the end.
P.S. If you want to catch a play/musical at a theater with a real cool vibe? Hit up the Pantages! The interior is so cool. When I was a kid who was too young to be all that interested in the shows my mom would take us to, I'd just enjoy the atmosphere and all the detail in the decor.
*prohibitive*
....*Also a child in need is a child in need. Why do you care so much (to mention it several times) WHERE they're from? You sell yourself as so "woke" (& I'm NOT using that term as an insult - to me it means compassionate, non- judgmental, empathetic & accepting). So are you a xenophobe? I've listened to the entire catalog of this podcast & I never got that impression of you but perhaps you are not what you like to portray.
.... I'm in the process here in the US. *Another reason is because the US (supposedly) has higher standards of care for children in group homes (orphanages/foster care) compared to those in other (less "developed "countries ). So one can argue these kids would never have the same opportunities as an orphan, unadopted child in the US would....
WTF, Elizabeth?... What's w/ the judgement about WHERE the couple adopted their children? Yeah, there are kids in Michigan who need adopted too but what does that have to do w/ anything? The 2 kids adopted from Columbia were still kids in need of a family. & There are several reasons WHY someone would choose to go elsewhere to adopt: *The cost is prohibited for many couples- ideally, it shouldn't cost anything but that's not the way it is here in the US. (I know this firsthand b/c -
P.S. You cannot still send a telegram via Western Union. They turned over their telegram service to International Telegram in 2006. I only know this because my aunt used to send us WU telegrams for Christmas every year as her unique way of wishing family members happy holidays.
An article I read on furries, bronies, and other alternative communities said that female bronies are called pegasisters (a combo of Pegasus and sister). Just FYI since Z said there wasn't a separate name for the ladies in the group. 😂
He felt so unsafe walking around America as a black man, but the second his tiger mauled him he called the cops that are supposedly the source of that fear. Ridiculous...
this is definitely my favorite episode thus far, hilarious!
Before the story of who JT LeRoy really was, I read Sarah and immediately got the vibe that it was fictional. So much of it reads like someone fantasizing about what they think some super edgy street kid character lives like. To anyone who has actually lived any part of that life it comes off as a caricature. The only people I knew who thought it was written as anything approaching autobiography were edgy kids who had their own similar fantasies.
P.S. The Cali Cartel existed before Pablo Escobar died and competed with the Medellin Cartel for years. They didn't go out and "form their own cartel" after Escobar was killed.
I used to work at an exotic car dealership here in SoCal and we had insurance that covered any accidents on test drives. I know this because one of my coworkers was on a Lambo test drive and the driver whipped it around a blind curve and into the ass end of an LA-area traffic jam. He was all worried that he'd get fired and owe a bunch of money until my boss explained to him that we have insurance and it wasn't his fault.
Not to be that guy, but it's courts martial not court martials.
I have really enjoyed this show since I found it, but this episode is boring. Normally these two are pretty entertaining.