Sport's Strangest Crimes

Double Solitary: Anthony Curcio never imagined himself in prison. He was too smart. Too clever. Too unassuming to ever get caught. But he never expected a homeless man to act as his foil, ruining the perfect crime by witnessing and then acting on the one detail Anthony forgot. The error caused Anthony and his family to see the double life he'd been living. And he embarked on a journey more perilou...

News of the robbery spreads around the state. Everyone is talking about the way the armoured car robber got away.

Back From the Brinks: It's game day in Anthony Curcio's hometown. Only this time, he's robbing an armored car instead of catching touchdown passes. He had everything prepped and mapped out, down to the tiniest of detail. But nothing, not one single thing, could have prepared him for the rush of actually setting the plan in motion. From BBC Sounds and Radio 5 Live, Sports Strangest Crimes presents,...

The Playbook: Anthony Curcio was in desperate need of cash. The housing hustle left him deep in debt. But he couldn't get any cash. No one could. No one, except large banks, bailed out by the US government. They had all the cash he needed. So he decided to steal it. But creating a method to rob a bank would take the type of planning and preparation generals use for war, or rather, football coaches...

Good Form: Anthony Curcio loved the life of crime. The double life. He fancied himself a blue collar Thomas Crown, pursuing pills over Pissarros. His various heists enabled him to live the American Dream, own a house, marry his high school sweetheart and start a family. He was also close to walking away from crime, until he bought that house and learned that an even bigger hustle was happening acr...

Just Say No: Anthony Curcio had used his second chance at football. Used it well. He built his body and refocused his mind on the sport. But football is football, a sport loved for its precise brutality. And Anthony tears a ligament in his knee. His dreams of playing are over. And yet, for once in his life, he doesn't care. It's all due to a little pill prescribed to him from a doctor. This little...

Anthony Curcio is the most unexpected person you will ever meet. At first glance, he appears as simply a suburban dad who wears khaki pants, Cactus Jacks, coaches his daughters in basketball, and drives a modest truck. You soon learn that he was once a high school football star, with the dream, and, more importantly, the speed, to play professionally. But that's not the interesting part. Anthony C...

Friday Night Lights Out: Anthony Curcio is the most unexpected person you will ever meet. At first glance, he appears as simply a suburban dad who wears khaki pants, Cactus Jacks, coaches his daughters in basketball, and drives a modest truck. You soon learn that he was once a high school football star, with the dream, and, more importantly, the speed, to play professionally. But that's not the in...

Two decades on, fresh intel from a mafia source threatens to blow the case wide open. Italian journalist Lorenzo Bodrero takes us through the present day-inquiry, and the shocking new evidence that has come to light. New witnesses, new theories, and new evidence all surface - nearly 20 years on, are we any closer to finding out what really happened to Marco Pantani? Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with t...

Mystery bruises, missing cash… driven by Tonina Pantani, 2 inquiries into Marco’s death follow. Family members present new evidence, alleging that Pantani was beaten, forced to drink cocaine, and murdered - but it all comes to nothing. The second inquiry is dismissed - and it seems like the pirate has been put to rest for good. That is, until 2020… Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain...

Italy, and the world, are struck by grief at the death of the pirate. But as mourners throng the streets of Cesenatico, those closest to Marco are possessed by an undercurrent of suspicion. We speak to the woman who knew Marco best - his mother, Tonina Pantani - about the Marco she knew - and about her gut instinct that something about the ‘crime’ scene seems wrong.. Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with...

After his disqualification from the 1999 Giro, Marco Pantani is devastated and withdrawn. His cocaine abuse worsens, and he becomes obsessed with clearing his name. Friends and family watch on, helpless, as his career begins to slip away - and then, on Valentine’s Day 2004, some devastating news shocks Italy: the Pirate has is dead. Narrated by Hugh Dennis, with the voices of Iain Ferrier and Hele...

As corruption allegations run rampant, all roads seem to lead back to the mafia. But what connections did organised crime have to sport? And is there even any such thing as ‘The Mafia’? Today, we’re giving you an episode you can’t refuse as we delve deep into the heart of organised crime in Italy, with the help of mafia expert Professor John Dickie, and Italian journalist Lorenzo Bodrero. New epis...

Convinced of a setup, Pantani is paranoid and following the money adds fuel to the fire. Why was there so much money in 90s cycling? And who was trying to get their hands on it? With the help of leading cycling historian Professor John Foot, Italian historian Dr Francesca Billiani, and Phil Liggett MBE, we learn how, over the course of the 90s, cycling went from a niche continental sport, to a bil...

It’s 1999, and Marco Pantani is riding high after his Tour de France victory - both the bad boy of cycling, and the saviour of the sport. The 1999 Giro D’Italia seems to be made for him, and he leads the race by over 20 minutes - until a late-stage disqualification stops the pirate in his bike tracks. With the other riders overjoyed, rumours about criminal betting, conspiracies - and even the mafi...

When cyclists begin dying in alarming numbers, all eyes are on a mysterious new drug. But what is EPO? How does it work? And could it be used to manipulate a race result?. With the help of Professor David Cowan OBE, we hear how it might have been possible to take performance enhancing drugs, and successfully evade detection. But we also hear how playing with your body’s chemistry has a darker side...

With doping, drug funds, and dawn raids, the 1998 Tour de France is one of the most infamous races in cycling history. In the aftermath of the Festina Affair, it looks like the Tour will be damaged for good. But one man emerges victorious - Marco Pantani, the plucky underdog, and new-found saviour of the sport. But not everyone is thrilled with his seemingly super-human victory... and the voice of...

In February 2004, 20,000 mourners lined the streets to pay their respects at the funeral of superstar cyclist, Marco Pantani. In November 2021, a new inquiry into Pantani’s death was announced - this time investigating the theory that the Italian mafia might have been involved in his murder. But in episode one, it’s 1990, and promising amateur Marco Pantani is just beginning to make his mark… With...

When Italy’s greatest cyclist is mysteriously found dead, sensational allegations of mafia involvement see the world of cycling collide, headfirst, with the murky underworld of organised crime. Over the course of this podcast, we’ll travel from the mountains of rural Italy, to the shady commercial underbelly of a sport on the rise, as - two decades on - the police, historians and our cycling-obses...

A whopping 17 seasons have passed since the ‘Spygate’ controversy and Lewis Hamilton’s debut rocked F1. That’s a long time in a highly technical sport, so what does F1 look, feel and sound like now? And with Hamilton and Alonso still racing, how has their fierce rivalry fared over the past 15 years? As the 2023 season approaches, Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Spygate returns for a bonus episode to cha...

The 2007 Formula 1 season remains a source of high drama and heated debate. With Lewis Hamilton’s stunning debut, his bitter rivalry with Fernando Alonso, and a driver’s championship that went right down to the wire – it’s one of the most controversial in Formula 1 history, with more twists and turns than a racetrack. In this bonus episode of Sport’s Strangest Crimes: Spygate, F1 journalist Sarah...

The 2007 season reaches a nail-biting climax. McLaren and Ferrari are neck-and-neck down the final straight – but Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are at each other’s throats. The World Championship is decided by a single point in a thriller that will go down in F1 history. But even as the season officially ends, the Spygate scandal leaves a lasting legacy: reputations are wrecked, relationships...

If the 2007 F1 season is a game of chess, then we’re just one move away from checkmate. But whose piece will fall? Following Alonso’s revelations in Hungary, McLaren is dancing on the ledge - and the FIA know it. With new evidence and new allegations, they summon the team back to Paris for a second hearing, and this time, the risks are even bigger than before – and their rivals Ferrari are ready t...

Long: It’s all quiet on track and in the garages during Formula 1’s summer shutdown, but F1’s halls of power are very much open for business. And if you want a seat at the table then you need to know the rules of the game or you won’t survive. McLaren’s prodigal son has returned with his tails between his legs, but the damage has already been done. Concerned that his personal honour is on the line...

Violent g-force, cockpit temperatures over 40C, and the constant threat of a crash: Formula 1 drivers are under intense physical pressure on the track. But what happens when emotional pressures boil over? At the Hungarian Grand Prix in August, McLaren is about to find out…and how. An extraordinary incident in the pitstop seems to suggest Fernando Alonso is playing tricks on Lewis Hamilton - but as...