Tag Archives: Crime

Episode 48 – The Poison Violin

Episodes, , , , , , , , ,

A Relic “Whodunnit?” Erica Morini was considered the greatest violinist of the 20th century, thanks in part due to her mastery of the priceless Stradivarius violin. By the end of her life, Morini was a former shell of herself, and the violin she once played remained unsecured in her increasingly disheveled apartment. In 1995, her treasured instrument was stolen. The culprits? Her closest friends and family, all who had motives of their own…

A bulk of the research for this episode comes from Amy Dickinson’s article “The Case of the Stolen Stradivarius.”

Patreon.com/Relic

Note on audio: Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, episodes of Relic are being recorded in my house until studio access resumes. Please bear with the slightly different sound quality while we make adjustments.

Music from MusOpen

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS | More

Episode 41 – Gangsters Glory

Episodes, , , , ,

Dutch Schultz was one of the most ruthless mobsters of Prohibition Era New York, and had his fair share of enemies. Legend has is that paranoia drove Schultz to hoarding his loot and concealing it within a safe, that he and his team buried in the Catskill Mountains. Many believe Dutch Schultz revealed a code to his buried treasure while on his deathbed, and the mobster’s safe is still waiting to be found.

Patreon.com/Relic

@losttreasurepod

Music by by Kevin MacLeod (https://incompetech.com)
License: CC BY (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

Photos taken at the Museum of the American Gangster

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS | More

Episode 30 – The Woman on the Train, or The Dorak Affair

Episodes, , , ,

James Mellaart took the archaeological world by storm when he discovered one of the oldest Neolithic sites in the world. Then, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger on a train promised Mellaart an even more earthshaking find: the treasures of a bygone culture that neighbored the once-thought legendary city of Troy. However, what happened next challenged Mellaart’s credibility for the rest of his life. The truth behind the strange case of the “Dorak Affair” is still hotly debated to this day.

Music from Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Suggested reading from Suzan Mazur, who has covered the case extensively.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS | More

Episode 27 – Empty Frames

Episodes, , , , ,

In 1990, two individuals dressed as police officers entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and altered the course of the art world forever. One of the most audacious crimes ever committed kicks off Relic’s Season 2, the arc of which will focus on heists, deception, the paranormal, and the occult.

All music from Purple Planet and Kevin MacLeod
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS | More

Episode 10 – City of Black Sails

Episodes, , , , , , , , ,

For all of the lore surrounding history’s legendary pirates, not much is known about their lives on land. According to the same book that first introduced the world to pirate mythology, a chance encounter at sea led to the establishment of a democratic pirate republic in a hidden cove off the Madagascar coast. When a team of pirate captains pulled off the biggest heist in the golden age of piracy, it was said that they took refuge here. To this day, the treasure of the Gunsway Heist and the pirate hideaway of Libertalia has never been found.

Music by Derek Fiechter. Sample from Iggy Azalea’s “Fancy.”

Research shout-out to Henry Louis Gates Jr.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS | More

Episode 7 – The Lamb, The Thief, and The Judges

Episodes, , , , , , ,

The Ghent Altarpiece, or the Adoration of the Mystic Lamb, is one of the most important pieces of Renaissance art–which is probably why it’s also known as the most frequently stolen painting of all time. In 1931 the most beguiling portion of it went missing for good, and what followed was an eighty-year caper involving Nazis, psychics, and stolen cheese.

Music in this episode provided by Musopen, the open source, public domain, classical music databse.

Fantasie op. 16. Composed by César Franck Franck, Performed by Michael Schopen

Prelude, Choral et Fugue Composed by César Franck, Performed by Mehmet K. Okonsor

Sonata for Cello and Piano, Composed by César Franck, Performed by Paul Pitman, Bang-Eun Lee

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS | More