1 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:08,000 Speaker 1: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 2 00:00:08,039 --> 00:00:11,200 Speaker 1: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 3 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Cabinet of curiosities. The perfect crime everyone's 5 00:00:29,880 --> 00:00:32,600 Speaker 1: tried to plan one, even if they never intended on 6 00:00:32,680 --> 00:00:35,440 Speaker 1: going through with it. How do you commit such an 7 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: act without anyone finding out? How do you make sure 8 00:00:38,920 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 1: there isn't any evidence to tie you back to the 9 00:00:41,120 --> 00:00:44,600 Speaker 1: scene of the crime, no witnesses or DNA to test. 10 00:00:45,320 --> 00:00:48,080 Speaker 1: With all the movies, books, and TV shows about it, 11 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: you'd think that someone would have come up with a 12 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: way to carry out such a dirty deed. But what 13 00:00:54,920 --> 00:00:56,760 Speaker 1: if there was a place where it didn't matter if 14 00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,959 Speaker 1: you got caught, where you could commit crimes with impunity 15 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,640 Speaker 1: d and no amount of DNA evidence or eyewitness testimony 16 00:01:03,720 --> 00:01:07,560 Speaker 1: could be used against you. I'm not speculating about some 17 00:01:07,680 --> 00:01:12,440 Speaker 1: magical fantasy land. There is a real, actual place that exists. 18 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: Bounded in eighteen seventy two, It's visited by almost four 19 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:20,319 Speaker 1: million people a year and spans over thirty four hundred 20 00:01:20,360 --> 00:01:25,280 Speaker 1: square miles, an area that sprawls across three states. If 21 00:01:25,319 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: you're a fan of the outdoors, you probably dreamed of 22 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:32,560 Speaker 1: going there your entire life. Yellow Stone National Park. It 23 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:35,679 Speaker 1: was the first national park established in the United States, 24 00:01:35,959 --> 00:01:39,640 Speaker 1: and it sits upon a massive volcano several dozen miles wide. 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:43,160 Speaker 1: It's also home to more than five hundred active geysers, 26 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:46,840 Speaker 1: including the famous Old Faithful, which shoots over four thousand 27 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:50,080 Speaker 1: gallons of boiling water more than one hundred forty feet 28 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:54,040 Speaker 1: into the air. But there's one other feature of yellow 29 00:01:54,040 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: Stone that deserves mentioned. It doesn't get a whole lot 30 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:00,040 Speaker 1: of press, and for good reason. It's a relative of 31 00:02:00,200 --> 00:02:03,440 Speaker 1: the small parcel of land where visitors dare not dread, 32 00:02:03,920 --> 00:02:07,800 Speaker 1: a strange fifty square mile area that crossed over Idaho's 33 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:12,280 Speaker 1: border where hapless visitors can become victims if they're not careful. 34 00:02:14,320 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: Back in two thousand five, a law professor named Brian 35 00:02:17,080 --> 00:02:21,480 Speaker 1: Coult published an athlete titled paper The Perfect Crime, all 36 00:02:21,520 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: about this part of the park. Within the paper, cult 37 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:28,359 Speaker 1: proposed a theory that if someone with keen constitutional knowledge 38 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:31,840 Speaker 1: used it in tandem with an obscure statute, they could 39 00:02:31,880 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: commit crimes without fear of arrest or prosecution. He didn't 40 00:02:36,280 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: mean to give aspiring serial killers a place to carry 41 00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: out their deeds. He just wanted to alert lawmakers to 42 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,160 Speaker 1: the glaring legal loophole in one of the country's most 43 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: beloved vacation spots. Cults had found the one place in 44 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,800 Speaker 1: the country where someone could get away with murder. It 45 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: works like this, All legal problems that occur within Yellowstone 46 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,160 Speaker 1: National Park are handled by the district Court, which resides 47 00:03:01,200 --> 00:03:04,200 Speaker 1: solely in Wyoming. Even though there are some branches of 48 00:03:04,200 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: the park in Idaho and Montana, Yellowstone technically only exists 49 00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 1: within the state of Wyoming. Therefore, if you were arrested 50 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,000 Speaker 1: on the Idaho side of the park for murder, you 51 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:17,920 Speaker 1: would need to be tried back in Wyoming. But here's 52 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,920 Speaker 1: where things get tricky. According to the sixth Amendment of 53 00:03:20,919 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: the U. S Constitution, your trial needs to be held 54 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 1: where you originally committed the crime. So back to Idaho 55 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: you go. Only no one lives in that district. There 56 00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:35,640 Speaker 1: are no roads and no inhabitants, well, no human inhabitants. 57 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: Yellowstone National Park is federal land, so no one is 58 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:42,280 Speaker 1: allowed to legally reside there either. That makes this so 59 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:45,840 Speaker 1: called dead zone a gray area where the courts are concerned. 60 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,280 Speaker 1: And I'm pretty sure they won't allow a bear to 61 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 1: serve on a jury. Cult didn't hold back in his paper, 62 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,880 Speaker 1: clearly calling out Congress for dropping the ball and how 63 00:03:55,920 --> 00:03:58,960 Speaker 1: they had gone about forming state borders, something they've done 64 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: dozens of times four. He also made a clear point 65 00:04:02,000 --> 00:04:05,120 Speaker 1: that anyone who used their constitutional rights to avoid prison 66 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,760 Speaker 1: could still be sued by a victims family, but if 67 00:04:08,800 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: that didn't work, the authorities could always take the offender 68 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: on a one way trip to a little corner of Yellowstone, because, 69 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:36,119 Speaker 1: just like Las Vegas, what happens there stays there. John 70 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:39,040 Speaker 1: Trickett had no intention of sitting out the Great War, 71 00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 1: not while his two older brothers were out there fighting 72 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: for queen and country. He was built for it too. 73 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 1: He was tall, stocky, and he loved horses. A gentle giant, 74 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: some might have called him. He also looked so much 75 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:54,560 Speaker 1: older than he was, which was probably why no one 76 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:59,440 Speaker 1: questioned him when he enlisted. He left his home in Lincolnshire, England, 77 00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: to follow in the footsteps of his brothers who had 78 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: been shipped out earlier. Along with his clothes and toiletries, 79 00:05:05,480 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: John packed important things to remind him of home when 80 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:10,600 Speaker 1: he was on the battlefield. One of those items was 81 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:13,960 Speaker 1: a penny from eighteen eighty nine. On one side, it 82 00:05:14,040 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: featured a bust of Queen Victoria. On the other the 83 00:05:17,240 --> 00:05:20,200 Speaker 1: figure of Britannia seated upon a rock with a shield 84 00:05:20,200 --> 00:05:22,640 Speaker 1: to her right and a trident in her left hand. 85 00:05:23,040 --> 00:05:26,520 Speaker 1: It wasn't special outside of John's sentimental longing for the 86 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:31,599 Speaker 1: simple things back in Lincolnshire. Sadly, before the war ended 87 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighteen, John's brothers had been killed in battle, 88 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: leaving him the only trick it left. He came home 89 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:39,600 Speaker 1: at the end of the war, having left a piece 90 00:05:39,640 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: of himself back on the Western Front, where he'd been stationed. 91 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,600 Speaker 1: He was now deaf in one ear and had trouble 92 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:49,640 Speaker 1: with his left hand. However, it didn't take him long 93 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:51,720 Speaker 1: to settle in at home and build a new life 94 00:05:51,760 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: for himself. John took up a job as a postmaster 95 00:05:54,720 --> 00:05:57,560 Speaker 1: and a switchboard operator. He fell in love with a 96 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: girl named Clementine, and the two got married. They had 97 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:05,120 Speaker 1: eight children together. Grandchildren eventually followed, but it's not known 98 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:07,479 Speaker 1: whether John got to spend much time with them, as 99 00:06:07,520 --> 00:06:10,000 Speaker 1: he passed away in nineteen sixty two when he was 100 00:06:10,080 --> 00:06:14,159 Speaker 1: only sixty three years old. It held on to almost 101 00:06:14,240 --> 00:06:17,360 Speaker 1: all of his belongings from the war, including his medals, 102 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: a pocket watch, some photographs, and the penny he had 103 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:23,840 Speaker 1: kept tucked in his breast pocket under his uniform. When 104 00:06:23,880 --> 00:06:27,520 Speaker 1: his grandchildren discovered his collection of memorabilia, however, it wasn't 105 00:06:27,560 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: the medals or the photographs that capture their imagination. It 106 00:06:31,360 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: was that coin. There was something about it. A part 107 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:38,600 Speaker 1: of Queen Victoria's face seemed to rise up from underneath. 108 00:06:39,080 --> 00:06:42,839 Speaker 1: When John's granddaughter Maureen inspected the other side, she saw 109 00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 1: why the late Queen's nose had exploded outward. The penny 110 00:06:47,400 --> 00:06:51,000 Speaker 1: had been hit by a bullet. On the other side, 111 00:06:51,120 --> 00:06:54,400 Speaker 1: right beside Britannia, Maureen and her siblings saw the round 112 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: dvot where a bullet had been stopped. They ran their 113 00:06:57,240 --> 00:07:00,719 Speaker 1: fingers over the attempted whole and suddenly had a visual 114 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: representation of the stories they've been told so many years ago, 115 00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: how their grandfather had clashed with the German soldier who 116 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:09,800 Speaker 1: had tried to shoot him in the chest but instead 117 00:07:09,920 --> 00:07:12,920 Speaker 1: hit the penny, which deflected the bullet upward and through 118 00:07:13,000 --> 00:07:15,760 Speaker 1: John's left ear. It had deafened him for the rest 119 00:07:15,840 --> 00:07:19,080 Speaker 1: of his life and caused permanent nerve damage, which is 120 00:07:19,160 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: why he had trouble with his left hand. John had 121 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:26,040 Speaker 1: been one of many soldiers who had packed objects in 122 00:07:26,080 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: their pockets. Doing so was a common practice as a 123 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: way to prevent bullets from getting through. This was a 124 00:07:32,160 --> 00:07:35,680 Speaker 1: time before kevlar vests. After all. It just so happened 125 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,520 Speaker 1: that on that day, at that time, that particular German 126 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: soldier had aimed and fired at the exact spot where 127 00:07:43,160 --> 00:07:47,840 Speaker 1: John's penny happened to be hiding. It's hard to blame 128 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: John for being worried about what awaited him on the 129 00:07:50,240 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: front lines, and no one can fault him for how 130 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,840 Speaker 1: he handled it by holding on to a small memento 131 00:07:56,000 --> 00:07:58,680 Speaker 1: that reminded him of home. It was a good idea 132 00:07:58,800 --> 00:08:01,559 Speaker 1: for many reasons. If it hadn't been for that little 133 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:05,240 Speaker 1: metal disc, after all, Maureen and her siblings might not 134 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:09,160 Speaker 1: be here today. Looking back, he could have kept that 135 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,680 Speaker 1: coin anywhere, his pants, his rucksack, even in his hat. 136 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,280 Speaker 1: But no, John placed his favorite coin in his breast pocket, 137 00:08:18,720 --> 00:08:21,080 Speaker 1: close to the heart that was full of so much 138 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:25,880 Speaker 1: emotion about the war. He had planned ahead, and those plans, 139 00:08:25,920 --> 00:08:33,120 Speaker 1: as they say, we're right on the money. I hope 140 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities, 141 00:08:36,760 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about 142 00:08:39,880 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 1: the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show 143 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,960 Speaker 1: was created by me Aaron Manky in partnership with how 144 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:51,600 Speaker 1: Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, 145 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,440 Speaker 1: which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and 146 00:08:55,480 --> 00:08:57,679 Speaker 1: you can learn all about it over at the World 147 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: of Lore dot com and it. Until next time, stay curious.