The Art of Crime

Today, we're joined by a very special guest to remember the life of Elliott Speer.  If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast .   

Today, we look at how the conventions of detective fiction informed--and misinformed--the investigation into the murder of Elliott Speer.   Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com .   If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast . 

In 1937, former Mount Hermon employee S. Allan Norton was ambushed at home by a trespasser with a shotgun. Norton identified his attacker as Thomas Elder, prime suspect in the unsolved murder of Elliott Speer. Members of the community held their breath as Elder went to trial for the attempted murder of Norton, hoping that proceedings would shed light on the shooting of Headmaster Speer.   For show...

Within a week or two of the shooting of Elliott Speer, Dean Thomas Elder, second-in-command at Mount Hermon School for Boys, became the prime suspect in the crime. After amassing as much evidence as possible agains Elder, District Attorney Joseph Bartlett called an inquest that would determine whether Elder would stand trial for the homicide. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofc...

In 1934, police were initially baffled by the murder of Elliott Speer. Then, one day, while an investigator was combing over the bookshelves in Speer's study, he happened upon a murder mystery that blew the case wide open.   Show notes and full transcripts are available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com .    If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcr...

The son of an internationally renowned Presbyterian preacher, Elliott Speer became headmaster of the Mount Hermon School for Boys, a religiously oriented boarding school, in 1932. On the night of September 14, 1934, a trespasser murdered Speer in his own home, devastating his family, his colleagues, and the rest of the community. Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.c...

Introducing season 5 . . . Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com .  If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast . You can also sign up for an Apple subscription for bonus content, early access, and ad-free listening.

Thanks to everyone who submitted questions and comments!   As promised, here's a link to Netherlandish Proverbs: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Netherlandish_Proverbs .   If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast .  

In 1990, two men entered the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston and stole something like $500 million worth of art, in what became the most infamous art heist in U.S. history. Today, we're joined by retired museum professional Frederick J. Fisher, who thinks that the Gardner affair may have been a sequel to an earlier effort to rob a different institution, the Hyde Collection, located in Gl...

Today, we're joined by acclaimed author and filmmaker Barry Avrich to talk about one of the most colossal art fraud cases in New York history. It all started when a woman named Glafira Rosales walked into the storied Knoedler Gallery with a painting she claimed to have been created by Mark Rothko. The ensuing fiasco ended in catastrophe for the gallery.    The Devil Wears Rothko by Barry Avrich is...

This week, I'm re-releasing one of my all-time favorite episodes of The Art of Crime, "Shooting Andy Warhol: Valerie Solanas." It originally aired ac ouple years back, during seasons 2 of the podcast, Assassins. It looks at how playwright, writer, and all-around hellraiser Valerie Solanas shot and nearly killed Andy Warhol in 1968. For show notes and full transcripts, visit www.artofcrimepodcast.c...

Today, we're joined by the fabulous Amanda Matta, host of the Art of History podcast, to talk about theft and New York's Metropolitan Museum. On the one hand, the Met has acquired a good chunk of its collection by dubious means, including the purchase of looted objects. On the other hand, the museum itself has become the target of thieves, leading to some of New York's most astounding art heists....

One Monday morning in 1958, Nina Lawson, Mistress of Wigs at the Metropolitan Opera, came into work to discover that someone had stolen thirty thousand dollars' worth of wigs from the Met. The theft made national headlines, and the FBI joined the hunt for the culprits.   Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com .   If you'd like to support the show, please consider be...

Today, I'm thrilled to share an episode of a wonderful podcast, ArtMuse. This is part one of a two-part episode about Audrey Munson, sometimes referred to as "America's first supermodel." She inspired more than a dozen prominent statues throughout New York. After reaching the height of her fame, she got roped into one of the early twentieth century's most sensational homicide trials, right up ther...

In 1931, a trio of thieves stole a rare book by Edgar Allan Poe worth more than half a million dollars from the New York Public Library. To bring them to justice, the library called in G. William Bergquist, an investigator who specialized in recovering stolen books.

In 1927, blond-haired bombshell and future movie star Mae West performed the lead role in a play about a prostitute titled SEX . The risqué production launched her to stardom on Broadway. There was just one problem--it also launched her straight into a jail cell.   Show notes and full transcripts available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com.   If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming...

In the Roaring Twenties, Arthur Barry stole millions of dollars' worth of jewels from some of New York's wealthiest residents. Today, we talk about the cat burglar's audacious capers with best-selling author Dean Jobb, whose new biography of Barry is titled A Gentleman and a Thief. For more about Jobb's writing, visit his website at https://www.deanjobb.com/ .   If you'd like to support the show,...

In 1901, Broadway chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit met Stanford White, the fabulously wealthy and influential architect who designed Madison Square Garden. They formed a relationship that ended in murder six years later, right in the middle of a crowded performance at Madison Square Garden.   If you'd like to support the show, please consider becoming a patron at www.patreon.com/artofcrimepodcast .   For...

In the 1860s and '70s, hundreds--maybe thousands--of Italian children migrated to New York to make money as street musicians. They worked for bosses known as padroni, living in squalor and suffering abuse at the hands of their employers. In 1873, the plight of these little street performers unleashed outrage in New York and neighboring states, which prompted the federal government to take action....

In 1990, three separate art heists took place in the week leading up to Christmas, baffling New York authorities as well as the FBI. In this special holiday episode, we look at police efforts to recover the stolen artworks as well as the many mysteries that hover over the case to this day.   Music featured in this episode: "Deck The Halls" by Alexander Nakarada (CreatorChords) | https://creatorcho...

Today, we're joined by best-selling author Margalit Fox to talk about Fredericka "Marm" Mandelbaum, who rose to the top of New York's underworld as a criminal fence and financial backer of bank burglaries in the 1860s and '70s. Earlier this year, Margalit published a brand-new biography of the crime boss, titled The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum, which you will most assuredly enjoy if you like this pod...

In the late 1860s, gentleman bank robber George L. Leslie arrived in New York and started working for Fredericka Mandelbaum, one of the city's most notorious crime bosses. Leslie always claimed to have studied architecture in college and drew on his training to mastermind some of the most daring heists of the century, earning the nickname of "King of Bank Robbers." His reign would prove short-live...

In 1817, Italian-born painter Francesco Mezzara had a spat with his patron, New York attorney Aaron Palmer. As the feud escalated, Mezzara painted an insulting picture of Palmer and put it up for auction. Mezzara was giddy when the picture fetched $40—but not for long. Soon, he stood accused of criminal libel on account of the offensive portrait.   If you'd like to support the show, please conside...

In this special Halloween episode, we explore an urban legend that emerged from the trial of Levi Weeks. After the verdict came down, a vengeful Catherine Ring is said to have cursed Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and Justice John Lansing, causing all three to die lamentable deaths.   Show notes available at www.artofcrimepodcast.com .    If you'd like to support the show, please consider becomin...

On January 2, 1800, a group of New Yorkers discovered the body of a missing local in the disused Manhattan Well. The Manhattan Well Murder, as the crime came to be known, led to a sensational trial, in which two of America's Founding Fathers participated. Given the intense public interest in the homicide, publishers raced to print the first—and fullest—account of the proceedings, spawning a new ge...