Ridiculous Crime

Aspiring artist Arno Funke, aka Dagobert, just wanted to make a living doing what he loved. And he did, for a time, because in addition to art he loved bombs and extortion plots, and weird contraptions. His antics captivated a nation and made for great headlines, but those kind of capers just can't last. Luckily, the artist in him prevailed and he was able to delight and captivate the public in a legal way after all.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Christmas in July! Start drafting those letters to Santa — that's just how John Duval Gluck would have wanted it. He scammed the wealthy of New York society into doing good for poor kids, sending the kids gifts from Santa himself. Until one man asked to see the receipts.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For years, an erstwhile Baron smuggled glass eyes into Hoboken, until he was busted by customs. He later petitioned to officially change his name to reflect his status as the illegitimate son of a Viscount. When he told the romantic and rather dubious tale of his parentage in court? Not a dry eye in the house.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Criminals decide to steal the body of beloved film star Charlie Chaplin. They call his widow and ask for a ransom. His widow isn't interested. What becomes of The Tramp's remains? Guess you'll have to listen and find out. Come for the crime, stay for Zaron's absurd reenactment of the ransom calls.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Throughout the ages, con artists have successfully convinced people to buy into fake businesses, fake social or political movements, even fake identities. But it took a truly confident trickster, a brazen Scotsman, to fool people into sinking their life savings into a completely fake country.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Fed up with local politics, a UFO investigator and his band of misfits conspire to take down their enemies. And expose government plots to conceal alien activity. And equip a school bus with state of the art paranormal detecting gadgets. And threaten the President. And hang out at his mom's house. You know, normal stuff.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Get drunk? Check. Steal a plane? Check. Fly it back to the bar you'd been partying in earlier? Check. Tommy "Fitz" Fitzpatrick had only a few steps in his plan to become a legend. How he executed that plan and took it to new heights makes him the posterboy for mid-century ridiculousness. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 1876, a small time gang plotted to kidnap Abraham Lincoln. He'd been dead eleven years, but they didn't let that stop them. They planned to trade the late leader's body for their imprisoned counterfeiter comrade's freedom. Guess what -- it didn't work.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In 2016, the artist Maurizio Cattelan created a masterpiece: a solid goild toilet. After a successful exhibition in New York, the commode was shown in the UK. It was there that the loo went adieu. Who took it? Why? The police had suspects, but will they be able to flush them out?See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What do you get when you mix an obsession with cryptids, money to burn, Buddhist monks, geopolitics, relic theft, lingerie, and Jimmy Stewart? You get this ridiculous tale.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.