In Search of Lost Crime

On February 28th 1985, there is a blazing fire in a forest below Paris. When people stop to help it turns out that there's a car on fire, a Citroën 2CV. Outside is Bruno Joushomme, a 22 year old man. Inside the engulfed car is his wife, 61 year old Evelyne Laborde.  Was this a trigic accident or was it in fact... Murder?   Don't forget to subscribe! More historical crimes? Follow me on @insearchof...

When Megan and Harry Tooze were murdered in 1993, the local police had just one lead — and it was a strange one: a light-blue porcelain teacup... Don't forget to subscribe! More historical crimes? Follow me on @insearchoflostcrime on Instagram or buy my book! Wicked Walks through Spain: Hiking along historical Spanish crime scenes . It's a collection of ten of my most bizarre true crime stories, a...

The woman who made Nazis fall in love with chatbots  In December 2025, a Nazi dating site was deleted, live on stage, by a woman dressed as the Pink Power Ranger. If this doesn't make you want to listen to this podcast, nothing will ;-)   Listen today and don't forget to subscribe! More historical crimes? Follow me on @insearchoflostcrime on Instagram or buy my book! Wicked Walks through Spain: Hi...

New Year's Eve 1921 At Hollandspoor Station in The Hague, the train from Amsterdam has just arrived. A passenger about to board the first-class compartment sees a body on the floor.  In a pool of blood....  The murder of this prominent Dutch lawyer was never solved and would keep Dutch society riveted to their newspapers for years. Was it a robbery gone wrong? A suicide? Or was it something to do...

Maria Catherina van der Linden-Swanenburg, also known as Goeie Mie, or 'Kind Mary', was a Dutch mass murderer who killed at least 27 people and was suspected of killing over 90. Mostly her own family memebers and her neighbours. How did she get away with it for so long and what drove her to kill most of her family? And what is the delightful Dutch word for pin worms?  Listen right now! In Search o...

In a plotline that seems to come straight out of a Dan Brown movie, in 2011 a priceless medieval manuscript is stolen from the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. What follows is a web of bizarre twists and turns, blackmail, infighting, backstabbing, greed and... REVENGE.   On July 7th, 2011, cathedral organist Joaquín Barreira walks into Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, just before morning mass. O...

In a plotline that seems to come straight out of a Dan Brown movie, in 2011 a priceless medieval manuscript is stolen from the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral. What follows is a web of bizarre twists and turns, blackmail, infighting, backstabbing, greed and... REVENGE.   On July 7th, 2011, cathedral organist Joaquín Barreira walks into Santiago de Compostela Cathedral, just before morning mass. O...

On January 11th, 2003, Maria Angels Ribot leaves work at the usual time. She parks her car in her usual parking space: number 15, on the fourth floor of Calle Beltran in the posh Putxet district of Barcelona. She walks to the elevator as usual. But then something unusual happens: she suddenly sees a stranger step out of the shadows. That's strange, because to get into the parking garage you need a...

On January 11th, 2003, Maria Angels Ribot leaves work at the usual time. She parks her car in her usual parking space: number 15, on the fourth floor of Calle Beltran in the posh Putxet district of Barcelona. She walks to the elevator as usual. But then she sees a stranger step out of the shadows. That's strange, because to get into the parking garage you need a special key. How did this guy get i...

On April 22nd, 1984, a man in his forties drives a white Mercedes to Estación de Francia, a busy railway station in Barcelona. He has three children in the car with him: five-year-old Ramón, four-year-old Ricard, and two-year-old Elvira.  'Sit here for a moment,' the man tells the three. 'I'm just gonna go and get us some candy.' Time ticks by, but the man never returns. No candy either. The three...

In 1979, one of the biggest criminals from the 1930s died quietly in a fancy apartment in Torremolinos. Alvin "Creepy" Karpis was behind countless bank robberies, kidnappings, and murders. For years, he was one of America's most wanted criminals with the FBI constantly on his tail. Karpis was also the prisoner who spent the longest time incarcerated at the infamous Alcatraz prison. In 1979, the po...

In December 1928, a large crate arrives at Mediodía station in Madrid, nowadays known as Atocha Station.  The paperwork shows that the crate was sent from Barcelona on December 7 and has been sitting there for four and a half months, waiting for someone to pick it up. No one ever comes for it, so according to the rules, the station master will now open the crate and sell the contents. As soon as t...

In the early morning of July 15, 1915, sixteen-year-old Joaquín Barniello walks into the Finca de Malladas, a huge manor farm. The Count of Malladas's farm is one of the biggest employers around, mainly raising pigs. Joaquín works there as a seasonal worker. It's oddly quiet today. Joaquín kind of expected this, since even though there are usually about fifty people working on the farm, pretty muc...

In the early morning of July 15, 1915, sixteen-year-old Joaquín Barniello walks into the Finca de Malladas, a huge manor farm. The Count of Malladas's farm is one of the biggest employers around, mainly raising pigs. Joaquín works there as a seasonal worker. It's oddly quiet today. Joaquín kind of expected this, since even though there are usually about fifty people working on the farm, pretty muc...

On the night of April 11th, a priceless, 15th-century masterpiece is stolen from Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent. Thieves manage to run off with a side panel of the Ghent Altarpiece. What follows, reads like a crime novel: threatening letters, ransom demands, deathbed confessions, secret codes, international conspiracies, Templars, Nazis, the Holy Grail, murder and … a cheese theft. Almost a hundred...

On the night of April 11th, a priceless, 15th-century masterpiece is stolen from Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent. Thieves manage to run off with a side panel of the Ghent Altarpiece. What follows, reads like a crime novel: threatening letters, ransom demands, deathbed confessions, secret codes, international conspiracies, Templars, Nazis, the Holy Grail, murder and … a cheese theft. Almost a hundred...

On February 17, 1934, the lifeless body of King Albert I of Belgium was discovered at the foot of a peak in Marche-les-Dames. The king has a large head wound and has clearly been dead for some time. A climbing accident, according to the official sources.  But before the king is even cold in his grave,  the first rumors start popping up. Why was the king out there, climbing alone in the mist? Why w...

The Ibis hotel on Avenida Kansas City in Sevilla may look like your average hotel. It has hot showers, friendly staff and cold, if indifferent, beer. What makes this hotel more memorable is that it comes with a built in Crime scene. Every year on the 28th of February, all of Andalusia celebrates Andalusia Day and when they do they usually honour the father of the Andalusian idea, Blas Infante. Who...

(Part 2 of 2) 🐟 On  September 13th 1915 a Norwegian steamship comes across a drifting  herring lugger in the middle of the sea. The ship, from the Dutch port of Katwijk, has been dismantled, the crew is  singing hymns incessantly and on the deck they see... Pools of blood. 🐟 The ship would go down in history as the Gekkenlogger, the Crazy Lugger, and in Katwijk they still prefer not to talk abou...

(Part 1 of 2) 🐟 On  September 13th 1915 a Norwegian steamship comes across a drifting  herring lugger in the middle of the sea. The ship, from the Dutch port of Katwijk, has been dismantled, the crew is  singing hymns incessantly and on the deck they see... Pools of blood. 🐟 The ship would go down in history as the Gekkenlogger, the Crazy Lugger, and in Katwijk they still prefer not to talk abou...

Maria Catherina van der Linden-Swanenburg, also known as Goeie Mie, or 'Kind Mary', was a Dutch mass murderer who killed at least 27 people and was suspected of killing over 90. Mostly her own family memebers and her neighbours. How did she get away with it for so long and what drove her to kill most of her family? And what is the delightful Dutch word for pin worms?  Listen right now! In Search o...

In the early morning of 21 April 1932, a gunshot rings out in a bungalow in the small Florida town of Coral Gables. The victim is a young man, one Haden Clarke and he appears to have committed suicide: he has left behind two letters for his housemates, aviation pioneers Jessie 'Chubbie' Miller and Captain Bill Lancaster. But when the police find the diaries of Haden's roommate, Captain Bill, these...

In the early morning of 21 April 1932, a gunshot rings out in a bungalow in the small Florida town of Coral Gables. The victim is a young man, one Haden Clarke and he appears to have committed suicide: he has left behind two letters for his housemates, aviation pioneers Jessie 'Chubbie' Miller and Captain Bill Lancaster. But when the police find the diaries of Haden's roommate, Captain Bill, these...

In the early morning of 21 April 1932, a gunshot rings out in a bungalow in the small Florida town of Coral Gables. The victim is a young man, one Haden Clarke and he appears to have committed suicide: he has left behind two letters for his housemates, aviation pioneers Jessie Chubbie Miller and Captain Bill Lancaster. But when the police find the diaries of Haden's roommate, Captain Bill, these s...

(Part 2 of 2) 🐟 On  September 13th 1915 a Norwegian steamship comes across a drifting  herring lugger in the middle of the sea. The ship, from the Dutch port of Katwijk, has been dismantled, the crew is  singing hymns incessantly and on the deck they see... Pools of blood. 🐟 The ship would go down in history as the Gekkenlogger , the Crazy Lugger, and in Katwijk they still prefer not to talk abo...