1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:14,440 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. Our world is full of 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:18,440 Speaker 1: the unexplainable, and if history is an open book, all 4 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: of these amazing tales are right there on display, just 5 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:28,880 Speaker 1: waiting for us to explore. Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. 6 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:40,519 Speaker 1: Humankind is an image driven species. We painted our stories 7 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 1: on cave walls before the invention of the written word. 8 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 1: Even podcast creators like myself have to admit the human 9 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,000 Speaker 1: urge to illustrate our imaginations is one of our oldest impulses. 10 00:00:51,800 --> 00:00:55,840 Speaker 1: Flora shallcross Stone knew this better than most nineteenth century women. 11 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: She was an avid patron of the arts, a woman 12 00:00:58,560 --> 00:01:01,480 Speaker 1: who loved the theater, and in eighteen seventy one she 13 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: married a photographer. It was an odd match from the start. 14 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:08,760 Speaker 1: Her new husband, Edward, was twenty years older and quite 15 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: a workaholic. Although they would go on to have one 16 00:01:11,400 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 1: son together, he rarely stayed in one place for very long, 17 00:01:14,680 --> 00:01:18,880 Speaker 1: often abandoning his family for assignments photographing landscapes along the 18 00:01:18,880 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: west coast of North America. So it's perhaps understandable that Flora, 19 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:28,040 Speaker 1: left alone with relatives in Calistoga, California, felt abandoned. I mean, 20 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: who wouldn't right in her loneliness. She turned to a 21 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:34,840 Speaker 1: mutual friend of theirs, Harry Larkins, a reporter for the 22 00:01:34,880 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: Evening Post. The two began an illicit affair, which they 23 00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,279 Speaker 1: did their best to conceal from the ever absent Edward. 24 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,000 Speaker 1: He would find out about it, however, and could front 25 00:01:44,080 --> 00:01:48,240 Speaker 1: Larkins repeatedly. The reporter did not seem intimidated, even when 26 00:01:48,360 --> 00:01:51,880 Speaker 1: Edward visited him at the Evening Post offices and struck 27 00:01:51,960 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: him across the face. The matter seemed settled when Edward 28 00:01:55,280 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: left again for an assignment in Portland, but thanks to 29 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,360 Speaker 1: a mutual friend, he would learn that Flora Barah and 30 00:02:00,400 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: Harry were still writing each other love letters. Enraged, he 31 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: tracked Larkins down. On October seventeenth of eighteen seventy four, Larkins, 32 00:02:09,320 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: staying at a hotel on a job for the Post, 33 00:02:11,680 --> 00:02:14,320 Speaker 1: received a knock on his door. He answered it to 34 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: see the outraged face of Edward. The photographer shot Larkins 35 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: through the heart at point blank range, and Larkins died 36 00:02:21,320 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: almost instantly. Edward turned himself into the local police and 37 00:02:25,160 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 1: was promptly arrested for murder. Reporters across the country ate 38 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: up this story. It was a lurid tale that had 39 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,320 Speaker 1: everything sex, violence, betrayal. By the time Edward went to 40 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,480 Speaker 1: trial in early eighteen seventy five, there was a wave 41 00:02:39,560 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 1: of public sympathy on his side. He was seen as 42 00:02:42,400 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: the injured party in this situation, and his willingness to 43 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:50,359 Speaker 1: surrender himself over to the police helped reinforce that story. Now, 44 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: it's impossible to know how Flora was feeling at this time. 45 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,400 Speaker 1: Some sources say that she filed for divorce as early 46 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,919 Speaker 1: as December seventeenth, although her petition hung in limbo during 47 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,200 Speaker 1: her husband's trial. It's hard to imagine that she shared 48 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: the sentiments of the press. One way or another. She 49 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: had had enough of Edward. As for the trial, the 50 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: judge's instructions to the jury were that there were four 51 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: possible outcomes, guilty of murder in the first degree, guilty 52 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,079 Speaker 1: of a lesser sentence, not guilty by reason of insanity, 53 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:23,519 Speaker 1: or not guilty, and the not guilty verdict was seen 54 00:03:23,560 --> 00:03:26,440 Speaker 1: as the least likely, given that Edward turned himself in 55 00:03:26,680 --> 00:03:30,239 Speaker 1: a clear admission of guilt. The judge instructed the all 56 00:03:30,280 --> 00:03:33,560 Speaker 1: male jury that even if the allegations of infidelity against 57 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:36,480 Speaker 1: Harry Larkin's were true, Edward did not have the right 58 00:03:36,520 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: to take the law into his own hands. They should 59 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:43,080 Speaker 1: weigh the evidence without bias. However, when the verdict came down, 60 00:03:43,440 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 1: the judge was in for a shock. The jury unanimously 61 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: determined that Edward was not guilty. Even at that time, 62 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,280 Speaker 1: it was seen as a blatant defiance of the judge's instructions. 63 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:57,440 Speaker 1: The evidence was clear, and yet the justifiable homicide verdict 64 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: stood and Edward was released from custody. Flora and Edward's 65 00:04:02,040 --> 00:04:05,520 Speaker 1: marriage would not last. They divorced after the trial, and 66 00:04:05,560 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: Flora passed away before the age of thirty. Edward would 67 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: give up their son to an orphanage so that he 68 00:04:11,120 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: could go back to photography as a career, free from 69 00:04:14,640 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: both his family and the law. Edward would go on 70 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,599 Speaker 1: to fame and fortune. While he was briefly famous for 71 00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 1: shooting a man, he would later make his mark on 72 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: history by shooting a horse many times. In fact, you see, 73 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,760 Speaker 1: he was the photographer behind a Horse in Motion, the 74 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 1: series of twelve images showing a horse and jockey at 75 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: full gallop would become known as the first piece of cinema. 76 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:41,599 Speaker 1: Images laid in sequence to create the impression of motion. 77 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: He would conduct many similar experiments throughout his career to 78 00:04:45,680 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: capture human and animal motion, decades before the first motion 79 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: pictures became popular in France. So the next time you 80 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:55,720 Speaker 1: pull out your phone to take a video of your pet, 81 00:04:56,279 --> 00:04:59,160 Speaker 1: pause for a moment to remember the murderer who made 82 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:16,960 Speaker 1: this technology possible. Planning the heist was easy, it was 83 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:20,800 Speaker 1: what came after that was the hard part. Radu Dogaru 84 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:23,960 Speaker 1: had performed the same routine for days. He would take 85 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:26,719 Speaker 1: a stroll through the museum park at the heart of Rotterdam. 86 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: He'd pause at the Kunstall Gallery, peering through the broad 87 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:34,040 Speaker 1: windows at the Dutch Master's displayed inside. To the security 88 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:36,839 Speaker 1: guard stationed in the museum, he seemed like a curious 89 00:05:36,960 --> 00:05:39,359 Speaker 1: art lover. After all, dozens of people looked through the 90 00:05:39,360 --> 00:05:43,600 Speaker 1: windows at the arts every day. But Radhu wasn't studying brushstrokes. 91 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: He was studying exit routes. Twenty eight year old Radu 92 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:49,919 Speaker 1: had been making a living in the Netherlands as a 93 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,000 Speaker 1: petty criminal, robbing houses with a crew of friends from 94 00:05:53,040 --> 00:05:56,159 Speaker 1: the same Romanian village, but he'd gotten sick of the 95 00:05:56,200 --> 00:05:59,400 Speaker 1: small scores and he wanted something bigger. He had heard 96 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: that there was much in art and that the Konstal 97 00:06:01,920 --> 00:06:05,480 Speaker 1: was putting together a new exhibit. Radu had taken his 98 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:08,599 Speaker 1: friends to see that exhibit, bringing along their girlfriends so 99 00:06:08,680 --> 00:06:11,880 Speaker 1: as not to look suspicious. He had noticed three very 100 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,040 Speaker 1: important things. The first was that in one hall there 101 00:06:15,040 --> 00:06:18,840 Speaker 1: were seven medium sized paintings, just the right size to carry. 102 00:06:19,279 --> 00:06:22,000 Speaker 1: The second was that the fire exit seemed very easy 103 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:25,239 Speaker 1: to force open, and the third there were no guards 104 00:06:25,279 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: on sites after dark. It was perfect. So at just 105 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: after three in the morning on October sixteenth of twenty twelve, 106 00:06:32,640 --> 00:06:35,280 Speaker 1: Radu and his three friends burst through the fire door 107 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,960 Speaker 1: and into the gallery. Two minutes and forty eight seconds later, 108 00:06:39,160 --> 00:06:42,440 Speaker 1: they were gone, with millions of euros of artwork in hand. 109 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:45,920 Speaker 1: When authorities and museum officials arrived at the scene just 110 00:06:46,000 --> 00:06:49,440 Speaker 1: a few minutes later, it was carnage. Then one fell swoop. 111 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: The museum had lost priceless works by Matisse, Picasso, and Monet, 112 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:57,200 Speaker 1: and there was no telling whether they'd ever be seen again. 113 00:06:58,000 --> 00:07:01,360 Speaker 1: It's not uncommon for art thieves to rem anonymous, For years, 114 00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:04,560 Speaker 1: the thieves who ransacked the Isabella Stuart Gardner Museum in 115 00:07:04,640 --> 00:07:08,000 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety, one of the biggest museum heist in American history, 116 00:07:08,360 --> 00:07:11,400 Speaker 1: still haven't been identified. But that wasn't the case with 117 00:07:11,480 --> 00:07:14,760 Speaker 1: this story. Just three months after Radu and his accomplices 118 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,400 Speaker 1: broke into the constall they were in police custody, still 119 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:22,360 Speaker 1: missing though the art now. At first, authorities worried the 120 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:25,200 Speaker 1: paintings could be miles away. By now, they might be 121 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: hidden in a safe house, or maybe even already sold 122 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:31,960 Speaker 1: to a buyer and lost forever. However, this was assuming 123 00:07:32,080 --> 00:07:35,760 Speaker 1: Radu and his accomplices were experienced art thieves. The truth 124 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,760 Speaker 1: was this was their first foray into the world of 125 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:42,760 Speaker 1: fine art. While famous paintings have eye dropping price tags, 126 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:46,720 Speaker 1: actually seeing that money as a thief is incredibly difficult. 127 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,760 Speaker 1: The second a famous painting goes missing from a museum, 128 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:52,120 Speaker 1: there's a target on it. You can't just hawk a 129 00:07:52,160 --> 00:07:54,160 Speaker 1: Matisse at a pawn shop the way that you might 130 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:58,080 Speaker 1: a stolen watch, and any reputable art broker would immediately 131 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,680 Speaker 1: flag the authorities if they found a missas Picasso. Because 132 00:08:01,720 --> 00:08:03,840 Speaker 1: of this, most art thieves have to go to private 133 00:08:03,880 --> 00:08:06,640 Speaker 1: buyers who are already lined up. If they don't, the 134 00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: stolen art may be left to molder in storage for years. 135 00:08:09,960 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: It's like having millions in a bank account, but you 136 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: can't withdraw a penny of it. And as you might 137 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:17,760 Speaker 1: have guessed, Radu and his friends did not have a 138 00:08:17,800 --> 00:08:20,080 Speaker 1: buyer ready to go, so they ended up giving the 139 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: paintings to Radu's mother in Romania for safe keeping. When 140 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,560 Speaker 1: authorities finally caught up with her, Radu's mother Olga confessed 141 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,160 Speaker 1: that she had buried the paintings and this was good news. 142 00:08:31,400 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: All the authorities needed her to do was lead them 143 00:08:33,640 --> 00:08:36,280 Speaker 1: to the artworks and the museum would have its priceless 144 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: collection returned. Olga balked. It wasn't that simple, she explained. 145 00:08:41,360 --> 00:08:44,280 Speaker 1: As the authorities were closing in, she panicked, so she 146 00:08:44,440 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: dug up the paintings, stacked them in her oven, and 147 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:50,840 Speaker 1: turned on the broiler. Nails and pigments found in her 148 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,880 Speaker 1: oven correspondent to several of the missing works, confirming Olga 149 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:59,120 Speaker 1: was telling the truth. Great art is supposed to inspire passion. 150 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: Careful to not let that passion run too hot, or 151 00:09:02,960 --> 00:09:06,240 Speaker 1: you might find yourself like Olga and Radu, with millions 152 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: of dollars of priceless art, all gone up in smoke. 153 00:09:14,280 --> 00:09:17,000 Speaker 1: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 154 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 1: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 155 00:09:20,920 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 1: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 156 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:29,120 Speaker 1: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 157 00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,439 Speaker 1: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 158 00:09:32,559 --> 00:09:36,600 Speaker 1: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 159 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:38,719 Speaker 1: and you can learn all about it over at the 160 00:09:38,920 --> 00:09:45,439 Speaker 1: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.