1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,960 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class as a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:15,480 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:19,119 Speaker 1: a show that digs through history one day in a time. 4 00:00:20,040 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Lousier, and in this episode we're talking about 5 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: one of the most famous cases of body snatching and 6 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 1: recent memory, the time when desperate criminals stole the mortal 7 00:00:31,040 --> 00:00:34,640 Speaker 1: remains of a silent film star and then demanded his 8 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: widow pay a fortune to get them back. The day 9 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:49,800 Speaker 1: was March one, eight. Shortly before midnight, two men dug 10 00:00:49,880 --> 00:00:53,400 Speaker 1: up the grave of silent film legend Charlie Chaplin and 11 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,280 Speaker 1: stole his body. The criminals then contacted the actor's widow, 12 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:02,920 Speaker 1: Una O'Neil Applin, and demanded the equivalent of six hundred 13 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:07,520 Speaker 1: thousand dollars for the return of her husband's corpse. Imagine 14 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,520 Speaker 1: they're shock when Una flat out refused to pay. After all, 15 00:01:12,600 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: as she told them quote, Charlie would have thought it 16 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:20,920 Speaker 1: rather ridiculous if she did. Sir Charles Chaplin was a 17 00:01:20,959 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: British comedic actor and filmmaker who rose to fame during 18 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:29,200 Speaker 1: Hollywood's Silent film era, and most of his best known films, 19 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: including The gold Rush, City Lights and Modern times, Chaplin 20 00:01:33,959 --> 00:01:37,560 Speaker 1: played a character known simply as the Tramp. He was 21 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: a bumbling but kind hearted vagrant who often behaved more 22 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: like a gentleman than those of higher social standing. Near 23 00:01:45,240 --> 00:01:48,200 Speaker 1: the end of his career in the early nineteen fifties, 24 00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:52,720 Speaker 1: Chaplin and his family relocated to Switzerland after the FBI 25 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: began investigating him on suspicion of being a communist. Chaplin 26 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:00,560 Speaker 1: had heard the news while attending the mirror of his 27 00:02:00,640 --> 00:02:04,200 Speaker 1: latest film in London. The U S Government said the 28 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:06,960 Speaker 1: actor would have to submit to an interview about his 29 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: political beliefs and moral behavior in order to gain re 30 00:02:10,880 --> 00:02:13,720 Speaker 1: entry to the country. It was at that point that 31 00:02:13,919 --> 00:02:18,200 Speaker 1: Chaplin decided to part ways with the USA. He later 32 00:02:18,240 --> 00:02:21,360 Speaker 1: said of the decision, quote, whether I re entered that 33 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: unhappy country or not was of little consequence to me. 34 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,080 Speaker 1: I would like to have told them that the sooner 35 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:31,440 Speaker 1: I was rid of that hate beleaguered atmosphere, the better 36 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:36,960 Speaker 1: that I was fed up with America's insults and moral pomposity. 37 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:40,920 Speaker 1: Chaplin continued to work in Europe until a series of 38 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:43,920 Speaker 1: strokes in the late nineteen sixties put an end to 39 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,120 Speaker 1: his future film plans. The actor's health steadily declined for 40 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:52,160 Speaker 1: the next decade, and on Christmas Day in nineteen seventy seven, 41 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:55,960 Speaker 1: Charlie Chaplin passed away at the age of eighty eight. 42 00:02:56,960 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: He was buried two days later in a cemetery in 43 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: the Swiss village of Corsier Serverveis on the hills overlooking 44 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:09,680 Speaker 1: Lake Geneva. About two months later, just before midnight on 45 00:03:09,760 --> 00:03:15,320 Speaker 1: March first, nineteen seventy eight, Chaplain's body went missing. Una 46 00:03:15,480 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: Chaplin heard the news the following day when the local 47 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: police called to tell her that her husband's grave had 48 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:26,639 Speaker 1: been robbed. She and her eight children were disturbed and confused, 49 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: feelings that were shared by pretty much everyone in the village. 50 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: Some suggested the Chaplain's fans may have stolen his remains 51 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: as gruesome keepsakes, while others thought it was the work 52 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:42,160 Speaker 1: of anti Semites who perhaps objected to the Jewish actor 53 00:03:42,320 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: being laid to rest in a Christian burial ground. The truth, however, 54 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: came to light later that day when Una received an 55 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: anonymous phone call demanding money for the return of her 56 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: husband's body, but Una wasn't having it. She essentially told 57 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: the thieves they could keep the body because, as she 58 00:04:02,640 --> 00:04:06,280 Speaker 1: put it quote, my husband is in heaven and in 59 00:04:06,400 --> 00:04:10,200 Speaker 1: my heart. She told the police about the call, and 60 00:04:10,320 --> 00:04:13,960 Speaker 1: they began monitoring her phone. It's a good thing too, 61 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: because the calls continued, not just to Una, but to 62 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:21,479 Speaker 1: the family lawyer as well. Over the next two months, 63 00:04:21,720 --> 00:04:25,480 Speaker 1: they received a total of twenty seven phone calls demanding money. 64 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,000 Speaker 1: Although Una kept refusing to pay, the criminals seemed desperate 65 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: enough to negotiate. After all, they had already gone to 66 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,360 Speaker 1: the trouble of digging up a corpse. What else were 67 00:04:35,360 --> 00:04:38,720 Speaker 1: they going to do with it. However, when Una refused 68 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:43,040 Speaker 1: even a small ransom, the thieves changed tactics and began 69 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:48,400 Speaker 1: threatening violence against Chaplain's two youngest children. Things were getting serious, 70 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:50,839 Speaker 1: and the police knew it was time to make their move. 71 00:04:51,760 --> 00:04:55,479 Speaker 1: What the criminals didn't realize was that Una truly had 72 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: no intention of ever paying the ransom. She was just 73 00:04:59,200 --> 00:05:02,160 Speaker 1: buying the police time to close in on the culprits. 74 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:05,560 Speaker 1: By early May, they had traced the calls to a 75 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,600 Speaker 1: series of public pay phones in the region, but they 76 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:11,680 Speaker 1: still didn't know which phone the thieves would use on 77 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,839 Speaker 1: any given day. Left with no other options, the police 78 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 1: decided to monitor every phone Kiosk in the area, all 79 00:05:20,120 --> 00:05:24,040 Speaker 1: two hundred of them. They had una arranged a certain 80 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:27,400 Speaker 1: time for the criminals to call on May sixteenth, at 81 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: which point police would be waiting at each phone in 82 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: the area to see who turned up to use it. 83 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:37,800 Speaker 1: The unlucky caller turned out to be Roman Wardas, a 84 00:05:37,880 --> 00:05:41,320 Speaker 1: twenty four year old Polish refugee and car mechanic, who 85 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: was arrested in a phone booth that afternoon. His accomplice 86 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:49,479 Speaker 1: was arrested later that day and revealed to be Goncho Gaynev, 87 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:54,719 Speaker 1: a fellow mechanic and refugee, this time from Bulgaria. The 88 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,240 Speaker 1: next day, the two men led police to Chaplain's body, 89 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: which they had buried in apply out Cornfield, only about 90 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:06,240 Speaker 1: a mile from the actor's home in Coursier. They claimed 91 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,880 Speaker 1: they had never actually intended to steal the body. The 92 00:06:09,960 --> 00:06:14,479 Speaker 1: original plan was to remove the coffin, dig the grave deeper, 93 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: and then put the coffin back, but hidden beneath a 94 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: layer of dirt. This would have made it seem like 95 00:06:20,680 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: the body had been stolen, but then once the ransom 96 00:06:23,720 --> 00:06:26,160 Speaker 1: had been paid, they would have revealed that it was 97 00:06:26,240 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: actually still there the whole time. However, that plan went 98 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:33,120 Speaker 1: awry when it started raining the night that they were 99 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,040 Speaker 1: digging up Chaplain. The dirt got too heavy to keep going. 100 00:06:37,760 --> 00:06:40,880 Speaker 1: At that point, the criminals were forced to improvise, and 101 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,479 Speaker 1: what they came up with was loading the coffin in 102 00:06:43,520 --> 00:06:47,280 Speaker 1: their truck and then reburying it in a nearby field 103 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: once the soil had dried. As for why the pair 104 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:54,520 Speaker 1: decided to desecrate the grave of a revered actor, they 105 00:06:54,520 --> 00:06:57,760 Speaker 1: were actually inspired by a similar crime they had read 106 00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:02,520 Speaker 1: about in an Italian newspaper. As political refugees, they were 107 00:07:02,560 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: desperate for money, and things got so bad that grave 108 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:10,280 Speaker 1: robbing somehow seemed like their only option. Later that year, 109 00:07:10,720 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: Wardos and Gayev were convicted of grave robbing and attempted extortion. 110 00:07:16,600 --> 00:07:20,440 Speaker 1: Gaynev was given an eighteen months suspended sentence, as he 111 00:07:20,480 --> 00:07:24,720 Speaker 1: had only helped transport and rebury the body. Wardos, on 112 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:27,440 Speaker 1: the other hand, had come up with the whole scheme 113 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:30,040 Speaker 1: and had been the threatening voice on the other end 114 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,760 Speaker 1: of Una Chaplin's phone line. In light of this, he 115 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:37,200 Speaker 1: was sentenced to four and a half years of hard labor. 116 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:41,160 Speaker 1: It's worth noting, though, that after the pair was convicted, 117 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:45,920 Speaker 1: they sent Una letters apologizing for their crime, and according 118 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:51,239 Speaker 1: to her son Eugene, she did forgive them eventually. As 119 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: for Charlie himself, his body was reburied in his original plot, 120 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,400 Speaker 1: but this time his family poured a layer of concrete 121 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:03,640 Speaker 1: over the grave to discourage any future robbers. It seems 122 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,160 Speaker 1: to have worked too. No one has disturbed Charlie Chaplin's 123 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: grave in nearly forty years, at least as far as 124 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:17,040 Speaker 1: we know. I'm Gabe Lousier and hopefully you now know 125 00:08:17,200 --> 00:08:20,600 Speaker 1: a little more about history today than you did yesterday. 126 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:24,120 Speaker 1: If you have a second and you're so inclined, consider 127 00:08:24,200 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at t D 128 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:31,840 Speaker 1: I HC show. You can also rate and review the 129 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:34,520 Speaker 1: show on Apple podcast or you can write to us 130 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,920 Speaker 1: directly at this Day at I heart media dot com. 131 00:08:38,920 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, and thank 132 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,880 Speaker 1: you for listening. I'll see you back here again tomorrow 133 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:55,520 Speaker 1: for another Day in History class. For more podcasts from 134 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, 135 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:00,079 Speaker 1: or where every listen to your favorite show. U