Table of Contents
Introduction 10
Bandits, Robbers, and Arsonists
Father of all treasons Thomas Blood 18
A civil, obliging robber John Nevison 19
Damnation seize my soul if I give you quarters Edward "Blackbeard" Teach 20
Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief, Knox the boy that buys the beef Burke Hare 22
They were brave fellows. They were true men The James-Younger Gang 24
It's for the love of a man that I'm gonna have to die Bonnie Clyde 26
You'll never believe it-they've stolen the train The Great Train Robbery 30
Addicted to the thrill Bill Mason 36
To me it is only so much scrap gold: The Theft of the World Cup 37
Miss, you'd better look at that note D.B. Cooper 38
Without weapons, nor hatred, nor violence: The Société Générale Bank Heist 44
I stole from the wealthy so I could live their lifestyle John MacLean 45
Sing of my deeds, tell of my combats… forgive my failings Phoolan Devi 46
The fire becomes a mistress, a lover John Leonard Orr 48
It was the perfect crime: The Antwerp Diamond Heist 54
He was an expert in alarm systems: The Theft of the Cellini Salt Cellar 56
Weird and unbelievable, but it's a very real criminal case: The Russia-Estonia Vodka Pipeline 57
Old-school London criminal gents The Hatton Garden Heist 58
Con Artists
Under the influence of bad counsels… I fell a martyr: The Affair of the Diamond Necklace 64
People took their hats off to such a sum: The Crawford Inheritance 66
The smoothest con man that ever lived: The Sale of the Eiffel Tower 68
Domela's story rings with the high lunacy of great farce Harry Domela 70
If my work hangs in a museum long enough, it becomes real Elmyr de Hory 74
It's not stealing because I'm only taking what they give me Doris Payne 78
They inflated the raft and left the island. After that nobody seems to know what happened: Escape from Alcatraz 80
At the time, virtue was not one of my virtues Frank Abagnale 86
I was on a train of lies. I couldn't jump off Clifford Irving 88
Originally I copied Hitler's life out of books, but later I began to feel I was Hitler Konrad Kujau 90
If this is not a ring-in I'm not here: The Fine Cotton Scandal 94
White Collar Crimes
Money… has often been a cause of the delusion of multitudes: The Mississippi Scheme 100
Nothing is lost save honor: The Black Friday Gold Scandal 101
The old game of robbing Peter to pay Paul Charles Ponzi 102
You can't convict a million dollars The Teapot Dome Scandal 108
Citizens were dying right, left, and center: The Bhopal Disaster 110
The world's biggest mugging: The City of London Bonds Theft 114
It's all just one big lie Bernie Madoff 116
I know in my mind that I did nothing criminal The Enron Scandal 122
He put in peril the existence of the bank Jérôme kerviel 124
Bribery was tolerated and… rewarded The Siemens Scandal 128
Not just nerdy kids up to mischief in their parents' basement: The Spyeye Malware Data Theft 128
The irregularities… go against everything Volkswagen stands for: The Volkswagen Emissions Scandal 130
Organized Crime
The most hazardous of all trades, that of the smuggler The Hawkhurst Gang 136
In Sicily there is a sect of thieves The Sicilian Mafia 138
They dare do anything The Triads 146
No more villainous, ruffianly band was ever organized: The Wild Bunch 150
Prohibition has made nothing but trouble: The Beer Wars 152
If the boss says a passing crow is white, you must agree The Yakuza 154
When we do right, nobody remembers. When we do wrong, nobody forgets Hells Angels 160
They were the best years of our lives The Krays Richardsons 164
All empires are created of blood and fire The Medellín Cartel 166
It was always about business, never about gangs: "Freeway': Rick Ross 168
Kidnapping and Extortion
He valued her less than old swords: The Abduction of Pocahontas 176
Marvelous real-life romance The Tichborne Claimant 177
Anne, they've stolen our baby!: The Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping 178
Since Monday I have fallen into the hands of kidnappers: The Kidnapping of John Paul Getty III 186
I'm a coward. I didn't want to die: The Kid nap ping of Patty Hearst 188
I still sleep with a night light. I can't ride a subway: The Chowchilla Kidnapping 190
I always felt like a poor chicken in a henhouse: The Kidnapping of Natascha Kampusch 196
Murder Cases
An unusually clear case, like a "smoking gun": The Neanderthal Murder 202
Perpetrated with the sword of justice Jean Calas 203
Not guilty by reason of insanity Daniel M'Naghten 204
Gave Katherine warning to leave: The Dripping Killer 206
Lizzie Borden took an ax and gave her mother forty whacks Lizzie Borden 208
Fingerprinting alone has proved to be both infallible and feasible: The Stratton Brothers 212
Thank God it's over. The suspense has been too great Dr Crippen 216
I was driven by a will that had taken the place of my own Madame Caillaux 217
She was very good looking with beautiful dark hair: The Black Dahlia Murder 218
The artist was so well informed on chemicals… it was frightening Sadamichi Hirasawa 224
I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts: The Texas Tower Massacre 226
Now is the time for Helter Skelter: The Manson Family 230
A dingo's got my baby!: The Death of Azaria Chamberlain 238
I was Mr. Nobody until I killed the biggest somebody on Earth: The Murder of John Lennon 240
Who has sent you against me? Who has told you to do this thing?: The Murder of Roberto Calvi 241
I was on death row, and I was innocent Kirk Bloodsworth 242
An act of unparalleled evil: The Murder of James Bulger 244
I'm afraid this man will kill me some day O. J. Simpson 246
Foul play while in the Spy Craft store Craig Jacobsen 252
People are afraid and don't want to talk to us: The Murders of Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls 254
Serial Killers
Murdering people… for sheer sport Liu Pengli 262
The said Dame Alice had a certain demon Alice Kyteler 263
The blood of maidens will keep her young Elizabeth Báthory 264
I will send you another bit of innerds Jack the Ripper 266
They'd rather be dead than be with me Harvey Glatman 274
I just like to kill Ted Bundy 276
Calculated, cruel, cold-blooded murders Ian Brady Myra Hindley 284
More terrible than words can express Fred Rosemary West 286
This is the Zodiac speaking The Zodiac Killer 288
In his own eyes, he was some sort of medical god Harold Shipman 290
A mistake of nature Andrei Chikatilo 292
I was sick or evil, or both Jeffrey Dahmer 293
A danger to young women Colin Pitchfork 294
Read your ad. Let's talk about the possibilities John Edward Robinson 298
Assassinations and Political Plots
Insatiable and disgraceful lust for money: The Assassination of Pertinax 304
Murdering someone by craft: The Hashashin 305
Sic semper tyrannis!: The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln 306
Dreyfus is innocent. I swear it! I stake my life on it-my honor!: The Dreyfus Affair 310
If they shed my blood, their hands will remain soiled: The Assassination of Rasputin 312
There has to he more to it: The Assassination of John F Kennedy 316
I kiss you for the last time: The Abduction of Aldo Moro 322
Barbarity was all around us: The Kid napping of Ingrid Betancourt 324
Barbaric and ruthless: The Poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko 326
Directory 332
Index 344
Quote Attributions 351
Acknowledgments 352
