Podcasts · History · True Crime
Ridiculous Crime
iHeartPodcasts
300 episodes
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.
Episodes page 3 of 6
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The King of Counterfeiters: Jeff Turner
If you were in a bad place, hard up financially, looking for work, and some sorta lifeline... how far down your list of options would be the idea: should I start a counterfeiting ring? For Jeff Turner that was his…
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There Ain't No Cure for the Varsity Blues: Rick Singer
Applying to college. Oh, what a busy time that is for high school students. There are stressors like posing for a fake rowing photo or making sure your SAT ringer spelled your name right on the Scantron. See, while…
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The Flapper Bandit: Rebecca Bradley Rogers
The 1920s was an era of radical change in the culture. One of the major indicators was the advent of The Flapper –- young women who rejected the previous generations' notions of femininity and embraced their own ideas…
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Someday We'll Find It: The Pizza Connection
What's your favorite pizza topping? Pepperoni? Anchovies? A kilo of heroin? If it's the drugs, the Sicilian mob had a pizza parlor for you! They created networks of drug wholesale hubs in modest pizza joints up and…
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America's First Great Bank Robber: George Leonidas Leslie
When people speak of the first American bank robber, typically, they think of Jesse James. While he may have been the first world famous bandit and bank robber, he was not the most prolific. That was a man named George…
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Welcome to the Dollhouse: Velvalee Dickinson
In wartime, codes and puzzles become a language of warfare. But if you can make a code, someone can break the code. Enter Velvalee Dickinson. She was a lover of costumed porcelain dolls and Japanese culture, and…
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Warmest Regards, The Leopard: Betty Grable Extortion Letters
She was America's Sweetheart, a woman whose gorgeous gams kept the antifascist Allied forces going as they won WWII. With talent, humor, beauty, and wit;, Betty Grable was a star. And with stardom comes creeps. And…
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Lord Buckingham, I Presume: Charles Stopford
Florida man unhappy with life. Florida man move to Europe. Florida man change name. Florida man take phony title. Uh oh, Florida man get in trouble. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Say It Ain't So, Joe: The 1919 Black Sox Scandal
What does it take to fix the World Series? You'll need players willing to tank the most important games of their careers, a powerful criminal element, and a solid plan. Well, two out of three's not bad. In 1919, a crew…
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Billy Don't Be a Hero: Fyre Fest
A modern flim flam artist, Billy McFarland was known for scheming and coming up with ways to make money and have fun doing it. His magnum opus was the epic Fyre Festival. Intended as a luxurious concert on a tropical…
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McMillions: When Uncle Jerry Rigged the McDonald's Monopoly Game
Imagine you have the power to mint millionaires. But to do it you have to engage in crime. Specifically, you have to rig the McDonald's Monopoly game. Now, would you pick as your partners in this crime a made man from…
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Jeffrey Alan Manchester: The Roofman Cometh…AGAIN
In honor of the new Paramount Pictures movie Roofman, we’re re-releasing this episode from May 2024. Paratrooper Jeff Manchester used his skills to burgle Corporate America as The Roofman. First, he'd focused on…
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The Next Wes Anderson Movie: George Weyerhaeuser
Young George Weyerhaeuser was snatched off the street back when kidnapping the child of a wealthy family seemed to be all the rage. Neither horrific nor violent nor ending in tragedy, this kidnapping is an offbeat…
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Stephen Jackley: The Wannabe Robin Hood
Lots of idealistic young folks come to believe the world is a rigged game run by immoral fat cats. Many get motivated to change the state of things. Some even fantasize about robbing those same fat cats to get even.…
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Less Talk, More Rock: The Krupp Diamond
Elizabeth Taylor looooved diamonds. Some had storied histories going back to royal palaces and forgotten empires. Others came from exotic locales. And then there was the Krupp Diamond. Before Liz donned it on her…
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Bring Your Gun to Work Day: The Soboba Casino Heist
It was just like Ocean's 11...except instead of a stylish crew of longtime pro criminals, it was a guy with a BB gun and another in a Ford Mustang. And instead of the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas, it was Riverside…
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The Crimes They Don't Want You to Know: Kevin Trudeau
Kevin Trudeau was a born salesman...and an excellent con man. He knew exactly how to rope people in with promises of wealth, health, and all around better lives. But as we all know, if something sounds too good to be…
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Eric Edson: The Burlington Bandit
Sometimes you really just wanna get away –– this week's crimer, Eric Edson, takes that to outlandish and preposterous levels of commitment. Whether on two wheels or four, by land or by sea, either highspeed or…
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Know When to Hold 'Em: Canada Bill Jones
Folks, we got us a card sharp. Canada Bill Jones was a three card monte guy, taking rubes for their cash on trains and riverboats across the heart of America. Oddly principled and unrepentant, ol' Bill is a con artist…
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Ryan Borgwardt: The Wannabe Ghost of Green Lake
Once upon a time... a married man and father of three went online and there he met a mystery woman from Uzbekistan. The two began an internet friendship that blossomed into an online romance. Within months, he and she…
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The Salad Oil King of New Jersey: Tino De Angelis
The salad oil business is slippery stuff. Sometimes you have to grease some palms to get what you want. You have to be slick. And you have to trim the fat to keep your business profitable. Lubricating the cogs of…
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Keith Richards and John Lennon Take an Acid Road Trip
LSD didn't used to be a street drug, originally it was considered a wonder drug, part of the post-war belief in "better living through chemistry." That's when Hollywood mega-star Cary Grant was a big advocate for the…
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Aldi Money in the World: Theo Albrecht
Theo and Karl Albrecht build a discount food empire. Aldi is known the world over for "the best quality at the lowest price." Bringing bargains to the people is lucrative business, and the Albrecht brothers built their…
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Patrick Critton: the Black Panther Turned Skyjacking Schoolteacher
A one-time revolutionary and member of the Black Panthers was the first person to successfully hijack a plane in Canada. That led to a 30-year life on the lam as an international fugitive from justice. And for reasons…
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Put It on My Tab: Anna Delvey
As 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…
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A Fraudulent Aretha Franklin: How Do You Spell Respect?
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…
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Diamonds Aren't Forever: Henri Lemoine
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,…
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Don't Fence Me In: Mark DeFriest
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…
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Curate This: Influencer Crimes
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…
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Someone Could've Died! The Best-Ever College Football Pranks
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…
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The Wheels on the CAN Bus: Car Hacks
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…
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Pray For Them: Buddhists Monks Behaving Badly
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…
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The Original Child Star: Jackie Coogan
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…
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Doing Crime to Prove You're Innocent: the Han Van Meegeren Story
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…
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Call of the Wild: Plant Crimes
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…
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Close But No Cigar: The Nearly Perfect Dunbar Heist of 1997
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…
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Let Me Drive: Violet Charlesworth
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…
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The Argentine Heist of the Century
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…
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Classic RC: Tonight There's Gonna Be a Jail Break: Two Escaper Boys
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…
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Classic RC: Just Like in the Movies: The Story of Rédoine Faïd
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…
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Classic RC: Barb and Star Would Never: Judy Amar
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…
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Classic RC: Let's Take to the Sea!
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…
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They Heard it Through the Grapevine: Brinks Jewelry Heist
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…
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Feather Huntin': The Great Trans-Saharan Ostrich Heist
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,…
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Ridiculous Crime takes on The Puzzler: Ridiculous Laws
Recently, Zaron Burnett and Elizabeth Dutton joined AJ Jacobs on The Puzzler to test their puzzling skills! Join host A.J. Jacobs and his guests as they puzzle–and laugh–their way through new spins on old favorites,…
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Mad or Wise: Emperor Norton I
If you are dissatisfied with the state of the world, you have to get out there and make some changes yourself. Joshua Norton, Emperor of the United States and Protector of Mexico, tried to do just that. He dubbed…
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The Hilarious Hair-Raisin' Crimes of Professional Wigjackers
For centuries, wigs were the look. And in the era of Marie Antoinette, the bigger the better, and the more fantastical, the more whimsical, even better. Industries were built to attend to the many needs of the big wigs…
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Have You Seen My Passport: John Stonehouse
An idealistic British MP had it all, until a series of bad decisions nearly destroyed his career. But that didn't stop the bad decisions, it only made them worse. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Where's the Beef...the Celebrity Beef?!
Whether it's Steven Seagal versus his pants, or Sylvester Stallone and Richard Gere battling over Princess Di, over Tom Hardy going toe-to-toe with Shia LaBoeuf, or the one celeb brief that led to the greatest pop art…
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Doing it for the Deeestrict: George Streeter
A true sovereign citizen, George Streeter claimed land as his own. Then he made even more of it. The cops and the courts and the fat cats of Chicago couldn't pry him out. Instead, he provided entertainment, vice, and…
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