True Crime Robberies

Killing Goldfinger charts the extraordinary rise and spectacular bullet-riddled fall of John Palmer, the richest, most powerful criminal ever to have emerged from the modern British underworld. Palmer earned his nickname Goldfinger after smelting (in his back garden) tens of millions of pounds worth of stolen gold bullion from the 20th century's most lucrative heist; the Brink's-Mat robbery. Palmer then used his share of the millions to become the vicious overlord of a vast illegal timeshare property empire in Tenerife.

When the Florentine Diamond, a 137-carat yellow gem once worn by Habsburg emperors and Medici princes vanished in the chaos of WWI only to improbably reappear a century later in Canada, the art world reeled. How did one of Europe’s most storied treasures cross the Atlantic? And why was it hidden away in a battered suitcase belonging to Empress Zita, the last Empress of Austria, Queen Consort of Hungary?

On April 6, 1965, Georges Lemay was relaxing on his yacht in a south Florida marina following one of the largest and most daring bank heists in Canadian history. For four years, the roguishly handsome criminal mastermind hid in plain sight, eluding capture and the combined efforts of the FBI, Interpol, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. His future appeared secure. What Lemay didn't know was that less than two hundred miles away at Cape Canaveral, a brilliant engineer named Harold Rosen was about to usher in the age of global live television.

Tony 10 was the online betting username of Tony O'Reilly, the postman who became front-page news in 2011 after he stole €1.75 million from the Irish postal service while he was an An Post branch manager in Gorey, County Wexford, Ireland. O'Reilly used the money to fund a gambling addiction that began with a bet of one euro and whose debt eventually rose to ten million euro, leading to the loss of his job, his family, his home – and winning him a prison sentence.

An award-wining and "outrageously entertaining" true crime story (San Francisco Chronicle) about the professional hockey player-turned-bank robber whose bizarre and audacious crime spree galvanized Hungary in the decade after the fall of the Iron Curtain. During the 1990s, while playing for the...

Before the 1920s found their roar, a charismatic gambling addict named Roy Gardner dominated news headlines with daring train robberies and escapes from incarceration. Nicknamed "the Smiling Bandit," Gardner spilled no blood—except his own—as he cut a felonious path across the western United States, as the country hobbled through a recession in the aftermath of the First World War. Alcatraz Ghost Story explores the life of Roy Gardner in the context of his great love story and the larger backdrop of drug addiction, incarceration, and the racial and labor violence of the 1920s and 1930s.

On December 11, 1978, masked men stormed JFK Airport’s Lufthansa terminal and escaped with nearly six million dollars in cash and jewels—the largest cash robbery in American history. What began as the perfect crime soon unraveled into paranoia, betrayal, and murder. The Lufthansa Heist: The Mafia’s Greatest Airport Robbery pulls you inside the planning, execution, and bloody aftermath of a job that made history, destroyed lives, and remains unsolved in the eyes of the law.

Over Easter weekend 2015, a motley crew of six English thieves, several in their 60s and 70s, couldn't resist coming out of retirement for one last career-topping heist. Their target: the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit, in the heart of London's medieval diamond district. Perhaps not the smoothest of criminals - one took a public bus to the scene of the crime; another read Forensics for Dummies in hopes that he would learn how to avoid getting caught - they planned the job over fish and chips at their favorite pubs.

One night, in a small North Carolina town, a down-on-his-luck guard at Loomis Fargo manages to steal $17 million - literally more than one ton of cash. Despite being caught on camera wheeling the money from the vault to the getaway van, David Ghantt makes off to Mexico before the FBI can blink. There's just one hitch: Ghantt has entrusted the money to an oddball crew of accomplices who had wooed him into committing this massive theft in the first place - and who, he soon learns, are trying to take him out.

On the morning of August 23, 1973, a man wearing a wig, makeup, and a pair of sunglasses walked into the main branch of Sveriges Kreditbank, a prominent bank in central Stockholm. He ripped out a submachine gun, fired it into the ceiling, and shouted, "The party starts!" This was the beginning of a six-day hostage crisis - and media circus - that would mesmerize the world, drawing into its grip everyone from Sweden's most notorious outlaw to the prime minister himself.

On March 18, 1990, two men disguised as police officers entered Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and vanished with masterpieces by Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas, and more—an art haul worth over $500 million. Decades later, not a single piece has been recovered. The Gardner Museum Heist unravels the daring crime, the mob connections, the false leads, and the enduring mystery that haunts the art world. Equal parts true crime and cultural history, it’s the definitive account of America’s greatest unsolved art theft.

Absinthe, an elixir made of alcohol and herbs, is a booming business. Yet it is still an underground culture, associated with mystery, romance, and bohemian lifestyles, in keeping with its popularity among the writers, artists, and other ne'er-do-wells. First produced in eighteenth century, the spirit, known as "the Green Fairy," was banned worldwide by 1914 before the bans were gradually overturned beginning in 2005, the year Switzerland relegalized absinthe.

In 2005, a team of criminals tunneled beneath the streets of Fortaleza, Brazil, and pulled off one of the largest bank heists in history. Disguised as landscapers, they built an 80-meter tunnel, cut into the Banco Central’s vault, and vanished with 3.5 tons of cash—nearly $70 million. This gripping true-crime account reveals the daring plan, the nationwide manhunt, and the betrayals that turned fortune into bloodshed. A story of ambition, greed, and the fragility of institutions, it remains Brazil’s most infamous “heist of the century.”

In 2001, thieves parked a box truck in front of an aging tycoon’s factory, cut the phone lines, and used an overhead crane to lift out their prize: a 1938 Talbot-Lago T150-C SS Teardrop coupe—“the most beautiful car in the world” and one of only two in existence—then they disappeared into the night. The tycoon died. The trail went cold. End of story. Until it wasn’t.

The extraordinary story of the theft of priceless Chinese antiques around the world and the connection to crimes spanning more than two centuries—with present-day implications.

Pendant huit ans, Stéphane Breitwieser, originaire de Mulhouse, a commis avec sa compagne près de 250 vols dans des musées français, suisses et belges, en plein jour, au nez et à la barbe des gardiens et des visiteurs. Entre 1995 et 2001, la valeur totale de leurs larcins a été estimée à plusieurs millions d'euros.

This blood-chilling true-crime anthology peels back the curtain on some of Texas’s most disturbing and unforgettable criminal cases. From cold-blooded murder to unspeakable betrayal, each story dives deep into the hearts of both victims and perpetrators, unearthing the truths buried beneath public headlines and official accounts.

Rough & Messy Justice vividly portrays Alberta's Crowsnest Pass of 1920, a rugged Rocky Mountain region shaped by its mining economy and diverse culture. An armed CPR train robbery spirals into a deadly shootout at the Bellevue Café, where police clash with Russian outlaws fresh from Montana’s mines. A surviving bandit escapes, triggering a relentless manhunt.

Lee Murray’s life reads like a Hollywood script—except every jaw-dropping moment is real. From the brutal world of cage fighting to masterminding the largest cash robbery in UK history, his story is one of extraordinary highs and devastating lows. Raised in the tough streets of South London, Murray was a born fighter—both inside and outside the cage. His raw talent and knockout power saw him rise through the ranks of British MMA, culminating in a UFC fight that would put his name on the global stage.

In February 2003, thieves pulled off the impossible—breaching Antwerp’s “impenetrable” vault and vanishing with over $100 million in diamonds, gold, and cash. No alarms, no broken locks, no trace. Dubbed the heist of the century, this true-crime account reveals how a crew of Italian specialists infiltrated the world’s diamond capital, outsmarted state-of-the-art security, and disappeared into legend. Riveting and meticulously researched, The Antwerp Diamond Heist uncovers the planning, execution, and enduring mystery of history’s greatest gem theft.