Crime
Thérèse Humbert, Con Woman
Story with pix here.
In 1902, a political and financial scandal rocked the French nation when it was discovered that Madame Thérèse Humbert (née Aurignac), daughter-in-law of the deceased Minister of Justice, had swindled nearly 100 million francs from the French government and its citizens over twenty years. How did this woman, who was not particularly beautiful, educated, or well born, manage to defraud scores of people, ranging from the brightest and sophisticated of French society to the simplest?
Contemporary article on their capture.
Read a review of the book here, which contains a good synopsis of the case.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 23, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Europe, Twentieth Century
The Mystery of Ambrose Small
Master Weirdist Charles Fort once made a jest involving two mysterious vanishings: "Was somebody collecting Ambroses?"One of the Ambroses involved was the famous Ambrose Bierce.
The other was much less-known: Ambrose Small.
One would think that after so many years, all had been said about Small's disappearance. But I can't find any reference to this further extension of the case as seen below.
Original article here.
More on the Small case.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 22, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Cult Figures and Artifacts, Death, Twentieth Century
Rent-a-Thief
Incentive your employees to be honest by surreptitiously hiring a thief whom you can ‘catch’ and publicly shame.
Pomona Progress Bulletin - July 23, 1974
Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 07, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Business, Crime, 1970s
A great moment in criminal defense
"The mere fact that you're holding up McDonald's with a gun doesn't mean you give up your right to be protected from somebody who wants to shoot you."-Attorney for Timothy Ray Anderson who was shot by a security guard while robbing a McDonald's in 1991.
I'm curious to know what happened to Anderson's case, but haven't been able to find any follow-up about it.
Wisconsin State Journal - May 29, 1993
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 24, 2018 -
Comments (6)
Category: Crime, Lawsuits
Truck Turner
The Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 28, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Death, Destruction, Detectives, Private Eyes and Other Investigators, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Movies, Exploitation and Grindhouse, 1970s
The Mad Clipper
He briefly terrorized the housewives of Charleston in the Summer of 1969:
Beckley Post-Herald - June 24, 1969
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 07, 2018 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime, 1960s, Hair and Hairstyling
Sky Riders
Probably the apex of the hang-glider craze.
Robert Culp plays Bracken, whose life seems perfect until his wife Ellen and their children are kidnapped by terrorists one day. After failed attempts to capture them back by the police, Ellen's ex husband enters the fray and plans his own rescue attempt. James Coburn plays McCabe, Ellen's ex-husband who hires a crew of professional hang gliders to help him rescue her and the kids from the terrorist's mountain top lair.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 03, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, Crime, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Movies, 1970s
Unauthorized Dwellings 5
Keeping one's lover in the attic, hidden from the resident husband, has to require some chutzpah.
Full story here.
Dolly Oesterreich, 33 at the time, first became friendly with 17-year-old Otto Sanhuber (Jul 16, 1888 - ?)around 1913 and described him as her "vagabond half-brother." The two quickly became lovers and met clandestinely at Sanhuber's boarding room or at a nearby hotel. They also arranged trysts at Dolly's home but, when neighbors began noting Otto's increasingly frequent comings and goings and alerted her husband, Dolly suggested to Otto that he quit his job and secretly move into the Oesterreichs' upstairs attic to allay any further suspicions. He readily agreed to the arrangement. Not only would this put him in closer proximity to his lover but it would also give him time to pursue his dream of writing pulp fiction stories. Sanhuber would later describe himself as Dolly's "sex slave".
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 30, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Unauthorized Dwellings, Death, Sexuality, Twentieth Century
Sobriety, sobriety, sobriety…
They thought forcing him to write would teach him sobriety, and yet so many writers are alcoholics.
Indianapolis Star - Oct 23, 1933
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 08, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Writers, 1930s
Karl-Heinz Wemhoff, Master Check-Kiter
Here is an account of a bold check-kiting scheme that probably would not be possible nowadays. As with many of these crimes, it sounds like it was more work than making an honest living.Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 26, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Money, 1960s, Europe
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |