1179 posts tagged with crime.
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'I, Willie Sutton'
In 1953, Quentin Reynolds wrote the first "biography" of Bank Robber and Jail Breaker, Willie 'The Actor' Sutton. (Hoaxed the same year by George Dupre) The "Memoir", ' Where The Money Was" title is derived from the infamous Q&A: " why rob banks/ that's where the money is". Sutton also mentions Sutton's Law.
"Willie Sutton Would Love The CTV Ad Business'
"A wake-up call: Why bank robber Willie Sutton may have important lessons for modern media executives"
'Willie Sutton Rule: What It is, How It Works'
Thing is, no one is 100% sure if Sutton even said it, not even him.
'The unexpurgated search for Willie Sutton'
"Willie Sutton Would Love The CTV Ad Business'
"A wake-up call: Why bank robber Willie Sutton may have important lessons for modern media executives"
'Willie Sutton Rule: What It is, How It Works'
Thing is, no one is 100% sure if Sutton even said it, not even him.
'The unexpurgated search for Willie Sutton'
"but then I turned out to be that idiot"
If you live in the New Orleans metro area and are missing your pants, Admiral Galacticat may be to blame.
Florida Man Breaks Laws and Violates Ethics.
The Gaetz ethics report is out. According to a 42-page report by the House Ethics Committee, the former congressman and Trump’s former pick for attorney general regularly paid for sex, possessed illegal drugs, violated the house gift rule, dispensed privileges to a sexual partner, obstructed the investigation, and violated Florida state laws by committing statutory rape of a 17-year-old. [more inside]
Cheese-it, the cops!
According to Quinn, once drug cartels and other criminal operators gain a foothold into how a food business operates, they spot other opportunities. “They will infiltrate a legitimate business, take control of its distribution networks and use it to move other illegal items, including stolen food.” For criminal networks, food has other attractions. “They know crimes involving food result in less severe convictions than for importing drugs,” says Quinn, “but they can still make similar amounts of money.” Particularly if it’s a premium cheese. from Why luxury cheese is being targeted by black market criminals [BBC] [more inside]
☑️ The Most Important Election of Our Lifetimes (🇺🇸)
Election Day is finally here. (*gulp*) Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, after replacing a Biden campaign killed by an abysmal June debate, has run a historic sprint to the finish, promising (with Coach Tim Walz) "A New Way Forward" focused on reproductive rights, middle class economics, and protecting American democracy. Former President Donald Trump, saddled with myriad felonies, a historically unpopular running mate, and a platform that ranges from fascistic to incoherent, leads a darkly authoritarian counterculture that tried once to subvert the popular will and aims to do so again. Dozens of key House and Senate and ballot races hang in the balance, and the outcome has titanic implications for human rights, climate change, the international order, and the future of liberal democracy around the world. But despite the stark contrast, a lingering economic malaise (and suspiciously close polling) make this look like the closest contest in modern history. So let's give it a push in the right direction, yeah? Voting resources:
🪪 Check your registration -
🗳️ Find your polling place -
💭 Make your plan -
📆 States with same-day registration -
🗹 See what's on your ballot - 🏛️USA.gov voting guide -
Volunteer to get out the vote:
🚪Knock on doors -
📞 Phonebank -
📱Textbank -
🚗 Carpool -
👋 Neighbor2Neighbor -
❤️🩹Help cure ballots -
Follow the returns: ⌚ Poll closing times - 🚨DecisionDeskHQ results - 📈 538 benchmarks - 📺 Live coverage - 📰 Politico Liveblog - 🐀Preparing for post-election subversion - ⌛Timeline through Inauguration Day [more inside]
Clogging Cargo Crime
Bedrock Sandals was about to launch their new Mountain Clog. The shipment arrived at US shores, but disappeared on its way to their Montana location. As they tried to find them, they discovered their little sandal company had become one of many targets of an international crime ring. A factual article that reads like a good mystery story.
The Fuck Around And Find Out Queen
Former Colorado county clerk, conspiracy monger, and election denier Tina Peters has been sentenced to 9 years incarceration for providing pillow and conspiracy peddler Mike Lindell access to Dominion voting machines in the wake of the 2020 election along with using her position to push baseless claims. [more inside]
Do any of these people really remember what happened?
A bone-chilling gust of incompetent collusion swirls around this extremely outer-Boston saga, like a Dennis Lehane novel adapted by the Coen brothers. The bumbling attempts to close ranks, the incestuous conflicts of interest, the Wahlbergian “R”s and vowels, the incantation of technical terms such as “butt-dial”—all of it can almost make you forget about the man freezing to death at the foot of the lawn. from The Irresolvable Tragedy of the Karen Read Case [The New Yorker; ungated]
snail time !!
Dramatic Twist as Manslaughter Trial of Alec Baldwin is Dismissed
The prosecution of Alec Baldwin for manslaughter in the death Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust ended in a dramatic fashion when it was revealed that the prosecution withheld evidence from the defense. In a final attempt to salvage the case the lead prosecutor, Kari Morrissey, took the stand as a witness. Law and Crime Network explains what happened
"The Napoleon of crime"
In 1862, Adam Worth listed as "dead, he was now free to enlist once more and to claim another bounty. Like many others he got a taste for it, taking the money, deserting, re-enlisting again in another unit under another name. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, "The more things a man is ashamed of, the more respectable he is." "The words refined and gaudy, by all practical standards, contrast. But, somewhere between the ether of the two words there is a fine line that, when the words blend across that line, a rarity is created. This specimen is one of color but with an ability to control that color to his/her advantage; to sip of the grapes of life with a celebratory vigor and vim and always emanate what the Parisians call en elegance." In 1876, he stlole Gainsborough' Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire from JP Morgan's father. it wasn't until 1901 that the portrait was returned brokered through Pinkerton. "He nicknamed Worth ‘the Napoleon of Crime.’ Called Adam Worth, Alias ‘Little Adam’ by the Pinkerton National Detective Agency, you can read it here.
'A Master Thief, Irish Hostess, English Duchess, and the Origins Pan Am.'
In 1964, the Klan killed three young activists and shocked the nation
In 1964, the Klan killed three young activists and shocked the nation. A Mississippi town still grapples with that violent civil rights history. An oral history By Susan Levine, Photography by Michael S. Williamson for The Washington Post. Trigger warning for violence and racism. Long. Intense. Note: this is about the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi.
More on the school teacher art thieves
A stolen Willem de Kooning painting was found in the home of Rita and Jerry Alter after they died (a very worth reading previously). New evidence suggests that's not all they stole. [more inside]
Roofman
I can think of at least one more
Librarians have never been a quiet bunch: Information, after all, is power. To mark National Library Week—typically celebrated the second full week of April—Atlas Obscura, fittingly, went into the archives to find our favorite stories of librarians who have fostered cultural movements, protected national secrets, and fought criminals. 6 Badass Librarians Who Changed History: How German Librarians Finally Caught an Elusive Book Thief 📚 The Librarian at the Nexus of the Harlem Renaissance 📚 The Radical Reference Librarians Who Use Info to Challenge Authority 📚 The Women Who Rode Miles on Horseback to Deliver Library Books 📚 A Day in the Life of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Librarian 📚 The Librarian Who Guarded the Manhattan Project’s Secrets
Like "The Net", But For Real
A high ranking Iowa hospital systems administrator has plead guilty to identity theft after stealing his former coworker's identity - for thirty years. (SLArs Technica) [more inside]
And also an insurance company, which is a non-magic criminal.
The Second Haitian Revolution?
The nation of Haiti has been rocked by far more than its fair share of disasters in recent decades, from major hurricanes to a devastating 2010 earthquake (which killed upwards of 200,000) to the lingering effects of the COVID pandemic. The humanitarian situation has been worsened by escalating political instability, with the "legal banditry" of President Martelly followed by the 2021 assassination of President Moïse amidst a wave of mass protests and criminal violence. The ongoing turmoil reached a fever pitch this week as gang leader Jimmy "Barbecue" Chérizier led an audacious jailbreak of the country's prisons, freeing thousands of convicts that have joined forces in a united front that controls most of Port-au-Prince and credibly threatens to overthrow the government. Acting president Ariel Henry (himself a prime suspect in Moïse's murder) remains stranded outside the country, having secured a deployment of Kenyan police to bolster a multinational force. Most Haitian citizens, however, oppose foreign intervention -- understandable after the last UN mission triggered a major cholera epidemic. The Biden administration is allegedly pressuring the embattled Henry to resign (an improvement over the last time the US was involved in Haitian politics). For their part, a coalition of Haitian civil society offers a possible solution in the Montana Accord, a multi-stage plan to restore electoral democracy. [more inside]
A financial-advice columnist falls for an elaborate scam
The Day I Put $50,000 in a Shoe Box and Handed It to a Stranger
The man on the phone knew my home address, my Social Security number, the names of my family members, and that my 2-year-old son was playing in our living room. He told me my home was being watched, my laptop had been hacked, and we were in imminent danger. “I can help you, but only if you cooperate,” he said. His first orders: I could not tell anyone about our conversation, not even my spouse, or talk to the police or a lawyer.
The key word is “stress”
Crimes rates have plummeted in the U.S. since the mid-1990s. Most of the credit for this remarkable trend has been given to an enlarged criminal justice system—largely more police, tougher sentencing and a massive prison complex. But we have found a larger and much more powerful explanation: A drop in interest rates and, in particular, long-term interest rates. When interest rates go up, crime goes up. When interest rates go down, crime goes down. from The ‘Startling’ Link Between Low Interest Rates and Low Crime [The Crime Report]
Daleks coming to your neighborhood soon!
Earn cash while fighting crime. With your support, we can continue to implement our Autonomous Security Robots (ASRs) to keep communities safe. [more inside]
The retail theft crime wave was bad data, viral videos, and lies
The National Retail Federation had said that nearly half of the industry’s $94.5 billion in missing merchandise in 2021 was the result of organized theft. It was likely closer to 5 percent, experts say. The NRF retracted its claims. The If Books Could Kill Podcast has an episode on the organized retail crime panic, released a few weeks before the retraction. [more inside]
The Lady of the Hypnotic Eye
Cassie Chadwick was an early 20th century fraudster who conned banks, shopkeepers and gullible men out of about 20 million in today's dollars. Claiming to be the illegitimate child of tycoon Andrew Carnegie, she used fake securities in his name as collateral on a series of further loans. She lived a lavish lifestyle buying trays of gems, solid gold picture frames, a pipe organ and giving 8 grand pianos as gifts one Christmas.
Zombie Apocalypse
All Crimewaves Are Bullshit
Target and other chains have overblown the impact of shoplifting. The rash of store closures across the nation are, as might have been suspected, driven by other factors - in the case of Rite Aid bankruptcy to avoid opiate lawsuits.
“Are you talking to me?”
Martin Scorsese interviewed by Edgar Wright at the BFI London Film Festival - (single link YouTube, 1h35m)
Cry Hard II
All Cops are at Coffee City
Coffee City, Texas has 250 residents, and 50 police officers. More than half of the have been suspended, demoted or dishonorably discharged from their previous jobs.
Cat-Scam
Yet the case still might have fizzled if not for the presence, in Tulsa’s Riverside Street Crimes Unit, of an officer with the improbable name Kansas Core ... the cat racket was hardly a choice assignment. “There’s this ‘We don’t care about catalytic converters, because it’s a property crime’ ” camp at the department, Staggs says. “It’s not a sexy crime. It’s not the robberies and the homicides.” When the previous commander gave Core the case, it wasn’t exactly hazing, but it wasn’t far off. “I’m pretty sure that lieutenant basically was like, ‘Core, you’re the up-and-coming guy,’ ” Staggs says. “ ‘Your last name is Core, and all the criminals call these cores. Here you go.’ ” from How Tulsa cops brought down a $500 million catalytic converter crime ring [Bloomberg; ungated]
California second state in the US with free prison phone calls
"At a time when most consumers enjoy free or low-cost calling, prison phone calls at their peak in California cost more than $6 per 15 minutes via a private telecommunications provider. That allowed only hurried, superficial conversations between the siblings — with one eye always on the clock.
" Los Angeles Times: California’s free prison calls are repairing estranged relationships and aiding rehabilitation
Gilgo Beach Long Island Serial Killer Arrested
In December 2010, the first of eleven murder victims were recovered from Jones Beach Island, Long Island. Many of the victims had been women engaged in sex work in the New York City area. Four victims who had disappeared between 2007 and 2010 were found within a 500 meter stretch of Gilgo Beach; all had been bound and three were wrapped in burlap sacks. Late last week, Rex Heuermann of nearby Massapequa Park, NY was indicted and arrested for the murder of three of the "Gilgo Four". [more inside]
Their Crypto Company Collapsed. They Went to Bali.
Many other top executives who gained wealth and status by marketing crypto to the masses have avoided serious repercussions. They had cashed out early, invested in real estate or holed up in When their hedge fund failed, a large swath of the industry was dragged down with it. The ensuing crisis drained the savings of millions of amateur investors and plunged other companies into bankruptcy. But by their own account, Mr. Davies and Mr. Zhu have been thriving. They left Singapore, where Three Arrows was based, and traveled around Asia, effectively taking the summer off. Mr. Davies started meditating. Mr. Zhu played video games and found a surf instructor. His old crypto associates were bad-mouthing him in the press, but he made new friends, a mix of surfer types and UFC fighters.
“Can you find the wolves in this picture?”
Killers of the Flower Moon directed by Martin Scorsese [Official Teaser Trailer ] [YouTube] Based on David Grann’s broadly lauded best-selling book, Killers of the Flower Moon is set in 1920s Oklahoma and depicts the serial murder of members of the oil-wealthy Osage Nation, a string of brutal crimes that came to be known as the Reign of Terror. Directed by Martin Scorsese and Screenplay by Eric Roth and Scorsese, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, and Jillian Dion.
"for the pig was proud of his dress"
English Historical Fiction Authors is a group blog that has been going since 2011, where researchers and novelists post about British history. There are posts about wool and war, Schools of Gardening for Ladies, beds and bugs, aspirin, theatrical censorship, magazines, tours of Ruthin and Snowdon, slipcoat cheese and posset, subversive fairy tales, and The Learned Pig. [more inside]
“There is no more bond. It’s not you that’s breaking it. They broke it.”
The Last Gamble of Tokyo Joe by Dan O’Sullivan is the story of Ken Eto, who grew up the son of a fanatical Christian convert in California, was sent to a Japanese internment camp during World War II, and after getting involved in illegal gambling, rose through the ranks of the Chicago mob. And then his story really started.
“Don’t give away the papaya.”
There was another factor I hated to acknowledge as a freelance journalist. The work biases me toward odd and surprising narratives, the more dangerous the potential story, the more powerful its draw. This sensibility can be helpful when finding and exposing wrongdoing. But there are also those occasions when I only catch myself behaving like an aggressive and mercenary cynic. from Bad Tape by Dan Hernandez
Man steals 200,000 eggs, is caught.
Mr Joby Pool, a sheep owner from Tingley, appeared in a Worcestershire court and pled guilty of stealing almost 200K of Cadbury Creme Eggs and other chocolates. Early reports stated the stash was worth almost £40K ($49K US) though this has since been mysteriously rounded down to £31K.
Kenny, this is for your own good
CW: very uncomfortable read, execution, graphic
Alabama’s corrections department has bungled the procedure on three recent occasions, with IV teams failing for hours on end, adding immense distress to a difficult situation.What is it like to survive an execution by lethal injection? Normally, there’s no one to tell the tale. But these are not normal times, especially in Alabama. [Obviously, this is uncomfortable reading].
Something wicked this way comes: Qatar World Cup
The World Cup is the world’s most-watched sports event, with the last one held in Russia in 2018 attracting 3.6 billion television and online viewers. The next World Cup begins in Qatar on 20 November. As noted by Sky News: Qatar won the bid for the 2022 Men's World Cup over the USA by 14 votes to eight. But given the country's strict Islamic laws, its questionable human rights record, and searing temperatures, there were immediate corruption concerns over the decision. Soon after, FIFA commissioned its own investigation into Qatar's methods, which found "no evidence of any improper activity by the bid team". [more inside]
"the State no longer has confidence in the integrity of the conviction"
Baltimore prosecutors move to vacate Adnan Syed's conviction in the 1999 murder case brought to national fame in 'Serial' podcast [more inside]
Elegy for a Criminal Lawyer
Saul Goodman started as a joke -- a sleazy, motormouthed "two-and-a-half-dimensional" take on TV lawyers, a bit of comic relief brought on for a four-episode stint to help guide Breaking Bad protagonists Walter White and Jesse Pinkman into the criminal underworld. Brought to life by Bob Odenkirk, Saul proved to be one of the show's most popular characters, and in the wake of the show's blockbuster ending AMC announced a prequel spinoff series: Better Call Saul. But what was conceived as a 30-minute case-of-the-week sitcom quickly developed into a compelling legal drama and deep character study of Goodman's past as "Slippin'" Jimmy McGill, his evolution, and bleak future at an Omaha Cinnabon -- "we don’t want to get to Saul Goodman … and that’s the tragedy." Supported by vice-tight writing, masterful cinematography, and impeccable performances by Michael McKean, Patrick Fabian, Jonathan Banks, Michael Mando, Tony Dalton, Giancarlo Esposito, and especially breakout star Rhea Seehorn as Kim Wexler, the series has only grown more acclaimed as it progressed and, with its last batch of astonishing episodes, arguably surpassed its predecessor to become one of the greatest dramas in television history. Now, after seven years, six seasons, 62 episodes, one Peabody Award, multiple hiatuses, a COVID pause, and a brush with death, Better Call Saul is set to air its long-awaited series finale tonight at 9PM Eastern. It's showtime, folks. [more inside]
Brave heart and courteous tongue will carry thee far through the jungle
A week ago veteran journalist Dom Phillips and Indigenous Peoples expert Bruno Pereira went missing, now presumed executed in the far west of the Brazilian Amazon.
The two men had previously visted the Javari Valley in 2018 with photographer Gary Carlton.
Andrew Fishman posts a draft version of Dom's selection of his favorite reporting.
The two men had previously visted the Javari Valley in 2018 with photographer Gary Carlton.
Andrew Fishman posts a draft version of Dom's selection of his favorite reporting.
Escape to Baja.
No, really. A U.S. murder suspect fled to Mexico. The Gringo Hunters were waiting.
Officially, they’re the International Liaison Unit. But they’re known by another name: the Gringo Hunters. The unit now catches an average of 13 Americans a month. Since it was formed in 2002, it has apprehended more than 1,600. Many of those suspects were inspired by one of America’s oldest cliches: the troubled outlaw striding into a sepia-toned Mexico in the hope of disappearing forever. [more inside]
Removing a catalytic converter can take less than a minute
The suspects had stashed the van inside a residential garage on Southside drive. At 4:00 in the morning, officers from the Jeffersontown Police Department burst onto the property, raided the garage, and opened the van’s back doors. There, they found their mark: almost 200 catalytic converters, a jagged tangle of rusty parts adorned with hacksaw marks where each converter had been cut from its former vehicle. Popular Mechanics on the catalytic converter crime-wave.
Wordshore Was Unavailable for Comment
Thieves Steal Over $22,000 in Cheese Wheels from a Dutch Dairy Farm. That's it; that's the post.
Just in time for syrup season
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled that one of the men involved in the well-publicized 2011-2012 maple syrup heist in Quebec (or "l’affaire du vol historique de sirop d’érable," if you prefer) must pay a $9.1 million fine. The fine had been reduced to $1 million by the Quebec Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court decision explained in brief, the decision in full, and the heist itself, previously, in cartoon form. More, previously: Sticky Fingers, A Sappy Ending?, Inside Quebec’s Great, Multi-Million-Dollar Maple-Syrup Heist, and a thread with some comments on the ins and outs of maple syrup production.
I know a thing or 2 about Tow-Joe's
Back alley deals, fake crashes, arson, and even murder—nothing is off limits in the ruthless world of Canada's towing companies. From The Drive, an interesting look at Canada's towing industry.
“They do what they want.”
In total, a staggering 83 active-duty soldiers stationed at Fort Bragg died in the 18 months ending June 2021, according to data obtained by Rolling Stone. [...] The Army can’t or won’t say how a whole platoon’s worth of soldiers died at its largest installation, home of the Special Forces, the Airborne Corps, and the Joint Special Operations Command. Over this same 18-month period, just three Fort Bragg soldiers died in overseas combat, meaning these elite troops are a dizzying 27 times more likely to die stateside than in war zones such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria.[more inside]
Fraud is no fun without friends
The work-from-home phenomenon has triggered a fresh frustration for U.S. corporations: Americans are blowing the whistle on their employers like never before. Matt Levine [Bloomberg Opinions] contextualizes the findings: grooming new people to engage in fraud takes time, social flattery, and bonding, and COVID isolation makes that a lot harder and makes it a lot easier for new people to complain to compliance officers. More data on the phenomenon from the SEC at Bloomberg.
Following an outcry, David Goodwillie won't be playing for Raith Rovers
Scottish Championship football team Raith Rovers recently bought David Goodwillie for an undisclosed sum from League 1 side Clyde. Although he has never been convicted, Goodwillie was one of two footballers successfully sued for rape in a civil case in Edinburgh court of sessions in 2017. £100,000 was awarded to the pursuer Denise Clair (who waived her right to anonymity) with the judge ruling that on the balance of probabilities both footballers raped her. This decision was upheld on appeal. Goodwillie's signing caused an outcry in Kirkcaldy and more broadly in Scotland. [more inside]