Crime

In the dusty twilight of the Old West, few names echoed as fiercely or inspired as much fear and admiration as Butch Cassidy and his infamous Wild Bunch. One of the most daring episodes in their storied criminal career occurred on September 19, 1900, when Cassidy and his gang brazenly robbed the First National Bank of Winnemucca, Nevada. This audacious act cemented their reputation as one of the most fearless outlaw bands ever to roam the American frontier. A Quiet Town Before the Storm At the dawn of the 20th century, Winnemucca was a modest railroad town nestled in northern Nevada. It thrived primarily due to mining, cattle ranching, and its vital position along the Central Pacific Railroad route. Though small and relatively peaceful, Winnemucca had all the amenities of a burgeoning ...

On the morning of November 12, 1941, mob informant Abe “Kid Twist” Reles was found dead outside the sixth-floor window of his guarded hotel room at the Half Moon Hotel in Coney Island, Brooklyn. He had been scheduled to testify that very day against one of the most feared and politically connected gangsters in America—Albert Anastasia, the so-called “Lord High Executioner” of Murder, Inc. The official report claimed Reles died trying to escape. But few believed the story. Instead, Reles’s death became one of the most suspicious and symbolic murders in American mafia history—a message written in blood that no one could betray the mob and survive, not even under police protection. Who Was Abe Reles? Abe Reles, nicknamed “Kid Twist” (after an earlier gangster of the same name), was...

On the bitterly cold evening of January 17, 1950, eleven masked men pulled off what was then the largest cash heist in U.S. history, robbing the Brink’s Armored Car depot in Boston, Massachusetts, of $2.775 million in cash, checks, and money orders—worth over $30 million today. The robbery was so meticulously executed that it left almost no clues, leading law enforcement and the media to call it “The Crime of the Century.” For six years, the case remained unsolved, turning the Brink’s robbery into a near-mythic tale of criminal genius—until one mistake unraveled the entire plot, just before the statute of limitations expired. Brink’s, Inc.: A Fortress of Cash Brink’s, Inc. was a trusted armored car and security company, responsible for transporting millions of dollars for banks ...

At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, a massive explosion tore through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City, killing 168 people, including 19 children, and injuring over 680 more. It was the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history at the time and sent shockwaves across the nation—not just because of the destruction, but because the perpetrator wasn’t a foreign terrorist or extremist group. He was an American citizen—Timothy McVeigh, a decorated Gulf War veteran turned radicalized anti-government extremist. His co-conspirator, Terry Nichols, shared his views. Together, they built a homemade bomb from fertilizer, diesel fuel, and hate. The Oklahoma City Bombing was a seismic moment in American life, not only because of the horror it inflicted but also becau...

Heiress, Hostage, Revolutionary? The Crime That Captivated and Confused a Nation On the night of February 4, 1974, 19-year-old Patricia “Patty” Hearst, heiress to the powerful Hearst media empire, was violently kidnapped from her Berkeley, California apartment by armed members of a little-known militant group called the Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA). What began as a high-profile abduction turned into one of the most bizarre, sensational, and debated stories in American history. Just two months later, Patty Hearst reappeared—armed, radicalized, and robbing a bank with her captors, declaring allegiance to their revolutionary cause under the name “Tania.” The line between victim and perpetrator blurred, and the nation became obsessed with the question:Was she brainwashed or a willing rev...

In the summer of 1969, as America teetered between the free love revolution and social chaos, a series of brutal killings in Los Angeles jolted the nation into a nightmare. Orchestrated by Charles Manson, a failed musician and charismatic cult leader, the Manson Family Murders became one of the most horrifying and culturally symbolic crimes of the 20th century. Over the course of two nights—August 8 and 9—Manson’s followers committed seven gruesome murders, targeting complete strangers in a misguided attempt to incite a race war that Manson dubbed “Helter Skelter.” The victims included Sharon Tate, a pregnant Hollywood actress and wife of director Roman Polanski, and other prominent residents of the affluent Hollywood Hills. The Manson murders shattered the illusion of 1960s peace and le...

On the afternoon of March 30, 1981, just 69 days into his presidency, Ronald Reagan was shot outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C., in an assassination attempt that nearly claimed his life and shook the nation to its core. The would-be assassin, John Hinckley Jr., fired six bullets in under two seconds, striking the president and three others. The attack tested the resolve of the newly elected president, reshaped how the Secret Service operated, and introduced America to a young man driven not by ideology—but by a disturbing obsession with actress Jodie Foster. The attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan is remembered not only for the stunning speed and resilience of the president’s recovery but also for the bizarre and tragic psychology behind the shooter’s motive. ...

On the night of June 20, 1947, one of the most infamous figures in American organized crime—Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel—was shot to death in the lavish Beverly Hills home of his girlfriend, Virginia Hill. The bullets that tore through his body ended the life of a man who had risen from Brooklyn’s brutal streets to become a Hollywood socialite, a mob visionary, and the face of the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. But behind his movie-star looks and charm, Siegel was a cold-blooded killer, a mobster whose ambition—and recklessness—may have cost his life. His murder remains one of the most notorious unsolved killings in American mob history, filled with betrayal, greed, and the brutal rules of the underworld. Who Was Bugsy Siegel? Born Benjamin Siegelbaum on February 28, 1906, in Brooklyn,...

In the aftermath of the Second World War, as the world stood among the ruins of cities and the ashes of death camps, a bold question emerged: How do you judge crimes so vast they defy imagination? Between 1945 and 1949, that question was answered in Nuremberg, Germany, where the Allied powers convened an unprecedented legal tribunal to hold the leaders of Nazi Germany accountable. Known as the Nuremberg Trials, these proceedings became a milestone in international law, setting the foundation for how humanity prosecutes war crimes, genocide, and crimes against peace. It was a moral reckoning—and the first time the architects of state-sponsored atrocities were tried not merely as victors or vanquished, but as criminals before the bar of civilization. Historical Background: A War Wi...

On November 14, 1957, in the quiet rural village of Apalachin, New York, state troopers raided a suspicious gathering at the estate of mobster Joseph Barbara. What they found shocked the nation: over 60 high-ranking mob bosses from across the United States had converged in secret. They represented nearly every major Mafia family—from New York to Chicago, Detroit to Tampa—discussing business, territory, and power. The Apalachin Meeting, as it came to be known, was the first time federal and state authorities confirmed the existence of a nationwide organized crime syndicate, despite years of denials and downplaying from law enforcement. The raid didn't just expose the Mafia—it marked a turning point in America's war on organized crime. Background: Denial of the Mafia’s Existence ...