WEBVTT - Terrible, But Charming: Arthur Barry 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.400 Ridiculous crime. It's a production of iHeartRadio. 0:00:03.600 --> 0:00:05.600 Zaren Elizabeth, Zaron Burnett. 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:06.360 What's up a girl? 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:07.000 How do you do? 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:08.800 I'm doing pretty good. What's up at you? 0:00:09.200 --> 0:00:11.240 As much? Not that much? 0:00:11.880 --> 0:00:14.720 It's ridiculous. I'm so glad you asked. 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:15.520 I know me too. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:17.480 You lived in the South for a while, as did I, 0:00:17.840 --> 0:00:20.680 so I know that you're familiar with biblical theme parks. 0:00:20.960 --> 0:00:22.680 Yeah, right, Well there was one in. 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:26.239 Northern Kentucky called Arc Encounter, Okay, and it's an encounter 0:00:26.400 --> 0:00:29.960 with Noah's Ark, right, I want to make that clear. Yeah, 0:00:30.120 --> 0:00:33.199 So they had a huge Noah's Ark replica and like 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:35.440 a bunch of other stuff. Right, it was just like 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:39.120 a whole just imagine lots of like, oh, there's two 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:40.320 animals and two animals. 0:00:40.840 --> 0:00:42.600 You get the idea, right. Well. 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.960 In twenty nineteen, the Washington Post ran a headline updating 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:49.159 people on how things are going at the Noah's Ark 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:53.640 theme park Arc Encounter. And I love this headline just 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:55.840 for the subtle irony. And I thought you would too. Yes, 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:59.240 here's the headline. Lawyers for Noah's Ark Theme Park are 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:05.520 suing it's in insurance company for rain damage. It turns 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:10.399 out there was a landslide that encountered the arc encounter 0:01:11.600 --> 0:01:14.000 ruined it, like like a million dollars worth of damage, 0:01:14.160 --> 0:01:16.040 and the insurance companies were like, you should have seen 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:16.480 this coming. 0:01:16.520 --> 0:01:18.600 I mean, really, repress. 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:20.240 Anybody should see this coming. 0:01:20.640 --> 0:01:23.360 It's you, and you can't claim act of God, because 0:01:23.840 --> 0:01:26.520 come on now, I thought that was awesome. 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:27.360 It's incredible. 0:01:27.360 --> 0:01:30.080 There's a whole lawsuit filed and everything. I didn't look 0:01:30.080 --> 0:01:31.720 to see if they want or lost. I just liked 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.520 the lawsuit. I like the whole Yeah, nineteen if. 0:01:34.480 --> 0:01:37.640 You want to look it up, good luck, arc encounter encounter. 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:39.360 So there you go. Ridiculous. 0:01:39.360 --> 0:01:41.479 That is ridiculous. Do you want to know what else 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:42.200 is ridiculous? 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:42.680 Oh my god? 0:01:42.720 --> 0:02:08.160 Yes, Ethical crime. This is Ridiculous Crime A podcast about 0:02:08.200 --> 0:02:13.240 absurd and outrageous caper's heists and cons. It's always ninety 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.600 nine percent murder free and one hundred percent ridiculous. 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:19.200 Oh damn right, hot dog. 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.760 If I got a corker for you today, really. 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:25.400 By this guy, he's the cork don't put it back in. 0:02:25.720 --> 0:02:29.000 He's He's destined to be a ridiculous crime all star. 0:02:29.320 --> 0:02:31.440 Really, yeah, I praise. 0:02:31.320 --> 0:02:33.680 And there's there's so much to him. I just need 0:02:33.720 --> 0:02:34.440 to dive right in. 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:35.600 Okay, I'm here. 0:02:35.840 --> 0:02:39.360 Name Arthur Berry b A R R Y. 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:41.799 Thank you for spelling. I would probably be my head 0:02:41.840 --> 0:02:43.240 be going. Is it the day? Is it with A? 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:45.040 It's with with A? You? 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:52.600 Ethnic background Irish American? Place of birth Worcestern, Massachusetts. 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:53.040 Oh, I know. 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:59.480 You're a birth eighteen ninety six. Number of siblings eleven. 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:03.320 It was ninth of twelve kids. That's a lot of 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:04.440 kids to keep track of. 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:05.600 Yeah, you think you know. 0:03:06.360 --> 0:03:08.640 So it's not really shocking that he fell in with 0:03:08.680 --> 0:03:10.440 the wrong crowd pretty early. 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:11.240 Because he was out of the house. 0:03:11.400 --> 0:03:14.320 Yeah, he's like, please, there's no room in here. And 0:03:14.680 --> 0:03:18.640 he fell under the sway of a local hood fellow 0:03:18.720 --> 0:03:20.320 by the name of Loull Jack. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:23.600 Like from Lowell, Massachusetts. It's like, I'm Lowell Jack. Right 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:25.119 to work on your nickname, son. 0:03:25.360 --> 0:03:30.200 According to the Utterly Interesting blog, that one Lowell Jack 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:34.200 was quote a notorious safecracker known for brewing up nitro 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:37.960 glycerine in back rooms. As a boy, Arthur's job was 0:03:38.000 --> 0:03:41.600 to ferry this volatile cargo to accomplices in nearby towns. 0:03:41.760 --> 0:03:44.960 That is both a dangerous job and hobby. Like, oh, 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:45.400 what do you do? 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:47.560 I'm mixed up nitro? I mean like you do know, 0:03:47.600 --> 0:03:49.680 like you drop a few drops, it can go boom. 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:51.400 That's a great first job. 0:03:51.560 --> 0:03:53.320 Yeah, as a kid, like, don't spill this. 0:03:53.680 --> 0:03:56.680 My first job was tutoring reading when I was a 0:03:56.680 --> 0:03:58.920 freshman in high school. It was your first job. 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:01.760 Technically it was paper boy, paper boy. Yeah, I started 0:04:01.760 --> 0:04:02.800 when I was like ten years old. 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.640 You know, Arthur running nitro. Yeah, everyone's got a good 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.560 first job. By the time he was fifteen, he was 0:04:09.680 --> 0:04:12.440 way beyond that. Those just like a nitro boy, I 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:14.640 imagine he was a full time robber boy. 0:04:14.800 --> 0:04:15.720 Oh there you go. Yeah. 0:04:15.800 --> 0:04:19.000 His first job made him one hundred dollars and that's 0:04:19.040 --> 0:04:20.799 like thirty five hundred dollars today. 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.000 So he wasn't a cut purse like sneak thiever. 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:26.680 No, he was breaking any city. 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:27.240 I got you. 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.560 It's not bad, but it was. It wasn't elegant. It 0:04:30.600 --> 0:04:34.760 was dirty work, not wet work, but not posh, and 0:04:34.960 --> 0:04:37.320 Arthur wanted to eventually be posh. 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:38.680 Yeah this matter to him. 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:41.400 Yeah, so he did. He did his first stint inside, 0:04:41.400 --> 0:04:44.120 he got arrested and went to jail. When he was eighteen. 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:46.159 Oh it was actual jail, not like boys school. 0:04:46.240 --> 0:04:48.680 Well it kind of, he was all grows up. It 0:04:48.720 --> 0:04:52.520 was actually a wrongful conviction, but whatever. He got sent 0:04:52.560 --> 0:04:53.480 to reform school. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.479 Oh so he did, yeah, right at the line. 0:04:55.560 --> 0:04:58.239 And then he decided, you know what, this this is terrible. 0:04:58.440 --> 0:05:00.360 I'm going to join the army. That'll be better. 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:04.680 Oftentimes then, especially because this is right around World War One, 0:05:05.040 --> 0:05:05.480 that's the thing. 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.120 Nineteen eighteen rolls around. He gets sent to Europe to 0:05:08.120 --> 0:05:10.680 fight in World War One, and he was a hero 0:05:10.839 --> 0:05:14.480 there in flanders Field. He was a medic. He took 0:05:14.520 --> 0:05:18.560 a leg wound, breathed in some poison gas. The usual 0:05:18.640 --> 0:05:23.040 for that time and place. Now, a hero should get 0:05:23.040 --> 0:05:23.520 a medal. 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:25.920 No, typically, Yes, he was. 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:29.279 Recommended for the Distinguished Service Cross, but he didn't get it. 0:05:29.360 --> 0:05:32.240 Was he an official medic or more like in a 0:05:32.320 --> 0:05:34.560 like a volunteer working with the Red Cross where he's 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:35.200 not going to get it. 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.919 No, No, he was an official he was, Yeah, but 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:43.080 he didn't get it because he failed the swimsuit category. 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:47.360 He was actually did you know I picture everything? I 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:47.919 know you do? 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.039 He was actually disqualified because he'd gone a wall for 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:54.840 a bit soaking up the nightlife. 0:05:54.320 --> 0:05:56.160 In Paris while he was injured. 0:05:56.320 --> 0:06:00.720 Yeah, he took off. It was worth itbsolutely worth it, 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:04.360 I thought, you said, R and R. He comes back 0:06:04.400 --> 0:06:07.279 to the States in nineteen nineteen, a man who has 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:11.040 seen a lot too much. Probably he couldn't get a 0:06:11.120 --> 0:06:15.599 legit job. You know, he had a record and he 0:06:15.640 --> 0:06:17.680 didn't have any marketable skills. 0:06:17.880 --> 0:06:20.360 He maybe suffering from the PTSD as we got. 0:06:20.240 --> 0:06:23.000 Her back then to shell shock one thousand yard stare. 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:25.240 So he went back to the work that he did 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:28.200 know criming. Ah, there you go, and like he had 0:06:28.200 --> 0:06:30.279 a taste of the good life in France. You know, 0:06:30.320 --> 0:06:33.000 he'd snuck into these nightclubs. He saw how the other 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.200 half lived it down exactly. He set his sights on 0:06:36.240 --> 0:06:39.560 those swells. So, according to this author Joe Pompeio, great 0:06:39.560 --> 0:06:43.799 writer quote, he inserted himself into New York high society, 0:06:44.000 --> 0:06:47.640 crashed parties, seemed to fit in in his tucks. But 0:06:47.760 --> 0:06:50.159 what he was really doing was casing the mansion so 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:52.680 he could come back later, put a ladder up against 0:06:52.680 --> 0:06:54.880 the window and steal as many jewels as he could, 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.360 hitting the fat cats. You love to see it around, 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:01.800 calling himself Arthur J. 0:07:02.040 --> 0:07:04.920 Gibson okay, and sounds fake. 0:07:05.480 --> 0:07:07.760 And he went all in on like the act, like 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:11.840 you know, Ethos. He wore the right clothes. He used 0:07:11.880 --> 0:07:18.440 that mid Atlantic Eastern New England English like Boston Brahman accent. Yeah, 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:22.960 what's sometimes called the Harvard lockjaw. So of course she's 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:27.520 the greatest novels. The English language was lit soon like 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.320 that coming you know, thank you. He was acting like 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:35.320 he knew and so this let him crash some incredible 0:07:35.360 --> 0:07:38.160 parties filled with incredibly. 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:40.000 Wealthy people names I would know well. 0:07:40.040 --> 0:07:43.679 At those parties, in these luxurious mansions he strolled around, 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.080 he memorized floor plans, he cased the joint Martini in hand, 0:07:47.440 --> 0:07:50.280 and they are names you will know. He was still 0:07:50.320 --> 0:07:52.040 getting the hang of it, though, and he managed to 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.440 get arrested in nineteen twenty two to the old time. 0:07:54.920 --> 0:07:57.000 When he got out, he started working with a guy 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:03.520 named Boston Billy Williams. Boston Boston Billy aka James Monaghan, 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:06.280 so close enough they did. 0:08:06.880 --> 0:08:10.200 His crime name was Boston Billy Williams Bustin Billy. 0:08:10.560 --> 0:08:12.000 That is not anywhere near his real name. 0:08:12.120 --> 0:08:13.720 No, his real name is James Monaghan. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:15.600 So he's like, no, call me. I want a name 0:08:15.640 --> 0:08:18.200 that's easy to remember, like William Williams. No, that's not right, 0:08:18.400 --> 0:08:19.120 Bill Williams. 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:23.640 No, No, Boston, Billy, Boston, Billy Williams. 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:27.160 They each did solo jobs, but mostly they worked as 0:08:27.200 --> 0:08:30.320 a team, and they'd sneak in and burgle homes that 0:08:30.480 --> 0:08:33.959 Arthur had already scoped out. So this is in Connecticut, 0:08:34.120 --> 0:08:37.520 and then like Nassan Westchester Counties in New York posh 0:08:37.600 --> 0:08:42.160 zones in nineteen thirty two. He later said, quote I 0:08:42.200 --> 0:08:45.160 only robbed the rich. If a woman can carry around 0:08:45.160 --> 0:08:48.320 a necklace worth seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars, she 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:53.000 knows where her next meal is coming from. Right amen. 0:08:54.000 --> 0:08:58.679 So Arthur later wrote, quote I discovered that Thursday was 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:02.600 the customary maid's day off in most wealthy communities. I 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:06.760 cultivated these shy strollers and a gabby sorority. They turned 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.199 out to be flattered at the notice of a man 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:13.000 of apparent means. After a few cocktails, I was sympathizing 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:16.839 with them over the large and small inhumanities inflicted by 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:19.880 their employers, and gaining a rather complete picture of the 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.559 workings of their households. Heart smart man of the. 0:09:23.640 --> 0:09:26.520 People, a good listener, good exactly. 0:09:27.320 --> 0:09:29.559 So he's even more a man of the people when 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:32.280 you look at who he stole from. Per author Dean 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:36.480 job quote. His targets were the Long Island, Westchester County, 0:09:36.480 --> 0:09:40.080 and Connecticut estates of the Ultra Ridge. His victims included 0:09:40.120 --> 0:09:43.160 Percy Rockefeller, nephew of John Dee and one of the 0:09:43.280 --> 0:09:48.160 richest men in America, Tulsa oil tycoon, Joshua Cosden, Lady 0:09:48.320 --> 0:09:51.520 Edwin and Mount Batten, a member of Britain's royal family, 0:09:51.920 --> 0:09:56.920 Wall Street investing legend, Jesse Livermore bankers and industrialists, executives 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:00.600 of Chrysler and General Motors, a famous polo player, and 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:04.520 Jesse Donahue airs to the Woolworths five and dime store Fortune. 0:10:04.240 --> 0:10:06.160 Oh five and dime. They still got rich. 0:10:06.320 --> 0:10:10.440 Yeah, so this is the big leagues. He's not messing around, 0:10:10.480 --> 0:10:14.079 and he would refer to them as his clients. No, 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:17.160 And I have to say, like his sense of humor 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:21.560 and style with his whole operation was just fantastic. He'd 0:10:21.559 --> 0:10:24.120 sneak up on people while they snoozed in bed at night, 0:10:24.679 --> 0:10:27.800 tap them awake at gunpoint, and then very politely ask 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:31.040 where they kept their jewelry. Oh yeah, and he'd say, 0:10:31.080 --> 0:10:34.280 I don't mean you any harm, and then he let 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:37.000 them hang on to pieces of like sentimental value too. 0:10:37.600 --> 0:10:41.280 According to the Express UK quote, one awakened woman was 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:44.000 given an aspirin her bathrobe and a glass of water 0:10:44.080 --> 0:10:46.680 by Barry when he sensed she may faint from the 0:10:46.679 --> 0:10:49.440 fright at having her jewelry box stolen. So he's like, 0:10:49.559 --> 0:10:50.280 they're there. 0:10:50.520 --> 0:10:53.800 Calm yourself, you'll buy more. It'll be fine, It'll be fine. 0:10:54.000 --> 0:10:57.079 One socialite told the press after falling victim to him, quote, 0:10:57.160 --> 0:10:59.200 I know he's terrible, but isn't he charming? 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:01.640 And the softest boys. 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.320 I want people to say that about me. I know 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:06.360 she's terrible, but isn't she charming? We're going on the 0:11:06.440 --> 0:11:09.720 charming part, zaren close your eyes what I want you 0:11:09.800 --> 0:11:10.240 to picture. 0:11:10.320 --> 0:11:12.600 We're going in really, yes, blood blood. 0:11:18.320 --> 0:11:22.240 It's early October nineteen twenty five, and you, Arthur Berry, 0:11:22.679 --> 0:11:25.560 are strolling into the lobby of the Plaza Hotel in 0:11:25.600 --> 0:11:29.040 New York. You leave behind the crisp autumn air and 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.320 the din of Fifth Avenue and enter the cavernous yet 0:11:32.360 --> 0:11:36.160 warm reception area. It smells of bees wax, polish and 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:39.880 subtle scents from the finest candle makers in France. It's 0:11:39.920 --> 0:11:44.960 all gleaming marble and oriental rugs, gilding silver vases stuffed 0:11:44.960 --> 0:11:49.199 with fresh flowers, and an enormous crystal chandelier. It is impressive. 0:11:49.840 --> 0:11:53.160 You are nonplussed. You cross the lobby and head for 0:11:53.200 --> 0:11:56.240 the elevators, your tailored suit cutting a fine figure and 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:58.640 blending you in with the rest of the elite visitors 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:02.200 to the hotel. Step inside the elevator. It's mirrored outer 0:12:02.320 --> 0:12:07.280 doors and deeply polished wood gleaming. The elevator operator asks 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:09.839 you which floor. You tell him you're visiting the Donahues 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:13.559 and their suite. They're expecting you. He nods and presses 0:12:13.559 --> 0:12:17.160 a heavy button high on the panel. The doors glide closed, 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.480 and the elevator creaks into light. You full silk gloves 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.920 from your pocket and nonchalantly put them on. The elevator 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:28.119 operator continues to stare forward. Finally you reach your destination. 0:12:28.400 --> 0:12:31.000 The door's open with the faint thing of a bell. 0:12:31.520 --> 0:12:34.000 You nod to the operator and step into the landing. 0:12:34.640 --> 0:12:37.480 The gold leaf doors to the elevator's slide closed. 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:37.959 When they do. 0:12:38.880 --> 0:12:41.360 You walk to the door of the suite. This is 0:12:41.400 --> 0:12:46.360 the current abode of James and Jesse Donahue. He a stockbroker, 0:12:46.800 --> 0:12:49.880 she the heir to the Woolworth fortune. You've been to 0:12:49.920 --> 0:12:53.079 a party here a couple weeks ago. It's basically an apartment, 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:57.640 huge plays with large windows overlooking Central Park. You've memorized 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:01.120 the floor plan and know exactly where you're going. As 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:05.000 you expected. The door to the suite is unlocked. You'd 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:07.960 heard the missus joking about not remembering where the key was, 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.680 as there was simply no need to lock the place. 0:13:11.160 --> 0:13:14.840 It was also cozy and secure, she crowed. It's late 0:13:14.880 --> 0:13:18.080 afternoon and that pre gloaming glow lights the sweet and 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.320 warm light. You don't expect anyone to be home. You 0:13:21.360 --> 0:13:24.720 step quietly inside, and then you hear faint chatter and 0:13:24.800 --> 0:13:28.920 laughter coming from somewhere deep to your right. It's Missus Donahue, 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.400 and it's coming from the master bedroom. No problem, nerves, 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:34.920 a steal you've got. You turn to your right and 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:37.360 head for the living room area, which you know leads 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:40.600 to that main bedroom, and it's on sweet bath. You 0:13:40.640 --> 0:13:42.880 know there's nothing of value in the living room, nothing 0:13:42.880 --> 0:13:46.360 of value to you. Missus Donahue's voice gets only a 0:13:46.360 --> 0:13:49.400 little louder. You hear a second voice. It sounds like 0:13:49.440 --> 0:13:52.640 an older Russian lady. You freeze for a second and 0:13:52.679 --> 0:13:55.960 then proceed. You know that once you're in the bedroom, 0:13:56.240 --> 0:13:59.120 the cavernous bathroom is to your right and around a corner. 0:14:00.160 --> 0:14:02.440 In the bathroom cannot see those in the bedroom, and 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.839 vice versa. But the dresser you need to access sits 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:09.400 just outside the bathroom door. You peer around the corner 0:14:09.440 --> 0:14:11.360 and you see that the dual pocket doors to the 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:15.880 bathroom are almost completely closed, but a sliver ajar. Through 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:19.120 that sliver, you see Missus Donahue in the tub, feet 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:22.200 propped up at the end of it, surrounded by bubbles, 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:25.000 a glass of champagne resting on a ledge beside her. 0:14:25.560 --> 0:14:28.000 On a stool next to the tubsits a large woman 0:14:28.040 --> 0:14:32.560 in nurses whites the Russian. She rubs Missus Donahue's feet 0:14:32.640 --> 0:14:36.400 and nods along to her stories, occasionally contributing a pleasant, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:41.920 muttered acknowledgment. The hotel massuse perfect. You turn back toward 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:45.600 the dresser and scope it out. Jackpot before you sit. 0:14:45.760 --> 0:14:50.120 Two pearl necklaces, one ten carrot diamond ring, one jeweled 0:14:50.240 --> 0:14:54.360 vanity case, one diamond bar pin and two diamond set rings. 0:14:54.880 --> 0:14:57.560 You lift the valuables one by one and slip them 0:14:57.600 --> 0:15:01.200 into the interior pocket of your suit jacket. You slowly 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:05.000 and quietly close the dresser drawer while Missus Donnahue chats 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:07.600 away about trying to decide on which first coach she 0:15:07.760 --> 0:15:10.520 likes best at the shop down the street. As you 0:15:10.560 --> 0:15:14.200 walk back through the bedroom, you spuy Missus Donohue's pocketbook. 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:17.240 Might as well grab that too, and you peek inside 0:15:17.280 --> 0:15:20.600 and quickly count the money. Two hundred and seventy five dollars. 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.120 Not bad. Before you know it, you're back down in 0:15:24.160 --> 0:15:27.120 the lobby again, the doorman opening the enormous art deco 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:29.880 doors for you, nodding good evening to you as you 0:15:29.920 --> 0:15:32.720 step lightly down the red carpeted stairs and onto the 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:36.920 sidewalk of bustling Fifth Avenue. You've just made off with 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.600 seven hundred thousand dollars worth of loot. Not bad for 0:15:40.640 --> 0:15:41.760 fifteen minutes work. 0:15:42.360 --> 0:15:43.640 You know, I love that kind of work. 0:15:43.680 --> 0:15:46.840 If I can get it right, that heist would be 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:50.680 worth more than thirteen million dollars today. So well done, Saron. 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:52.160 You need to get a job on that. Sometimes you 0:15:52.160 --> 0:15:53.000 get lucky Elizabeth. 0:15:53.080 --> 0:15:55.720 Right, let's take a break and then I'll get back 0:15:55.720 --> 0:15:57.720 to you with more arthur Berry antics. 0:16:18.560 --> 0:16:20.720 All right, Zaron, you don't know that's my name? 0:16:21.440 --> 0:16:23.440 Is it? How dare you ask me that? 0:16:23.560 --> 0:16:27.320 No one ever calls me Dizzy around here anymore? Nor Woody? 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:30.520 Is there both self given nickname Dizzy Woody. 0:16:30.800 --> 0:16:31.560 That's a new one. 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.120 Well, yeah, that was before like things went bad for 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:34.640 the Uh. 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:42.480 Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, sorry to hear about that anyway. 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:48.400 Arthur Berry. Nineteen twenty five was a good year for 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:49.120 Arthur Berry. 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:50.160 Nineteen twenty five. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.560 Nineteen twenty five. Big scores in the criming and a 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:57.080 big score when it came to romance. He got together 0:16:57.120 --> 0:16:59.320 with a political worker named Anna Blake. 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.520 Political worker. I don't know. 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:06.760 I saw her described as such, and I going with that, 0:17:07.240 --> 0:17:10.320 figure it out, and I dug around, didn't get any clarification, 0:17:10.560 --> 0:17:13.359 and so I thought, okay, So I just kind of 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:17.080 imagined her sitting in like an office, like scribbling on 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:19.600 a pad and handing out campaign buttons to people. 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:21.560 Oh see, I'm over here, picturing her as part of 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:24.440 like the New York political machine, like Tammany Hall style, 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:25.800 Like she's an operative, like. 0:17:25.960 --> 0:17:29.360 Could be who knows such a wide category. 0:17:29.960 --> 0:17:31.159 Worker could be. 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:35.000 She could be pulled, ancer could be working. Then politicians, 0:17:35.000 --> 0:17:39.760 that's a political worker. Anyhow, she didn't know how Arthur 0:17:39.840 --> 0:17:40.840 had the money he had. 0:17:41.280 --> 0:17:43.479 Don't have to ask any questions, just just go with it. 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:46.919 No exactly. She never suspected it was from crime. 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:49.280 Really, it's kind of a sweet anothing girl. 0:17:49.440 --> 0:17:55.639 I guess over seven years, Arthur continued his career in jewelry. 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:57.480 Jobs, and she didn't know over seven years. 0:17:57.119 --> 0:18:00.560 His total hal would add up to more than seventy 0:18:00.560 --> 0:18:01.959 five million dollars today. 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:02.800 Wow. 0:18:02.920 --> 0:18:05.639 Yeah, he wasn't seeing that kind of money though on 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.760 a regular basis. Like he had to run everything through 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.520 a fence, and that meant he was getting pennies on 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:13.280 the dollar something. 0:18:13.400 --> 0:18:17.520 So he stole seventies, he got. 0:18:18.040 --> 0:18:20.280 Dollars, and it was still a lot what he was 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:23.800 pulling in, and he certainly spent what he made, which 0:18:23.800 --> 0:18:27.600 I could then maybe see why Anna Blake was like 0:18:28.000 --> 0:18:30.280 not aware that all this money had come in because 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:31.840 it went out before she knew about it. 0:18:32.080 --> 0:18:34.320 H So you like telling her like he went at 0:18:34.359 --> 0:18:37.040 the ponies, I was like suddenly flushing suddenly. 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:39.720 I don't know he was known to blow twenty five 0:18:39.760 --> 0:18:42.240 thousand dollars in a night on booze and gambling. 0:18:42.800 --> 0:18:44.920 Wow, and that's like, that's mostly gambling. 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.440 That's almost three hundred thousand dollars for those playing along 0:18:48.440 --> 0:18:48.840 at home. 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.320 Yeah, he wasn't good at gambling or drinking. No. 0:18:52.720 --> 0:18:56.080 According to the Winnipeg Free Press quote, Barry invested his 0:18:56.160 --> 0:18:59.560 winnings in a gambling club called the Harlequin, spent thousands 0:18:59.560 --> 0:19:02.280 in the city these clubs and speakeasies, and lived the 0:19:02.359 --> 0:19:06.119 high life while traveling to Miami in Paris. Yeah, so 0:19:06.160 --> 0:19:08.080 I mean I think that maybe she thought he just 0:19:08.200 --> 0:19:10.879 was like came from money, really, yeah, because that's what 0:19:10.920 --> 0:19:18.240 he was like pling around. Yeah, maybe she's so pretty. So, 0:19:19.040 --> 0:19:22.440 as we know, Arthur had a gift for insinuating himself 0:19:22.560 --> 0:19:26.160 into the world of America's moneyed elite, and on occasion 0:19:26.440 --> 0:19:29.479 their house guests, one of whom happened to be the 0:19:29.520 --> 0:19:32.680 Prince of Wales, the future Edward the Eighth. What Yeah, 0:19:32.840 --> 0:19:37.320 nineteen twenty four, Edward was nearing thirty and only like 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.879 a decade away from his very famous brief turn on 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:45.639 the throne. He crossed the Atlantic a lot came over here. 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:47.719 Wasn't Wallace from over here in Simpsons. Yeah. 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.400 Yeah. And among his closest American friends were Joshua and 0:19:51.400 --> 0:19:56.240 Nellie Cosden, who had ridden one of the world's largest 0:19:56.280 --> 0:19:57.880 oil refineries in Tulsa. 0:19:57.960 --> 0:19:59.840 Yeah, the Tulsa Oil Boom. Things is like. 0:20:00.119 --> 0:20:04.600 Multi million dollar fortune there long island to state, the 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:08.840 cedars in Sands Point became the Prince's favorite haunt. He 0:20:09.040 --> 0:20:12.720 loved going there, and the estate was like among the 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:16.639 North Shore's finest. There were over three hundred acres of 0:20:16.760 --> 0:20:20.280 meadow and forest, three hundred acres of meadow and forest, 0:20:20.560 --> 0:20:23.960 nearly a mile of shoreline, a mile water views in 0:20:24.000 --> 0:20:29.399 two directions toward Manhasset Bay and Hempstead Harbor Tonya. 0:20:29.480 --> 0:20:33.679 Stealing resources from an indigenous population pays off, doesn't it? 0:20:33.720 --> 0:20:33.920 Though? 0:20:34.200 --> 0:20:36.840 I think the Prince and him or her them they 0:20:36.840 --> 0:20:38.800 would definitely see eye eye on that exactly. 0:20:38.920 --> 0:20:43.280 So he put up this mansion among the old trees there, 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:47.600 laid out his own nine hole golf course, Yeah, moored 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.040 his steam yacht, the Crimper at the dock. 0:20:50.240 --> 0:20:53.480 Crimper. But the crime crimping, right. 0:20:53.400 --> 0:20:58.120 Yeah, crimp ain't easy. So the old Shanghai Kelly by 0:20:58.160 --> 0:21:01.000 the time he finished the place was valued at one 0:21:01.080 --> 0:21:04.320 point five million dollars, so that's more than thirty million today, 0:21:05.000 --> 0:21:09.680 and the Daily News had christened it Castle Petroleum Castle. 0:21:10.920 --> 0:21:13.800