A man walked into the Corn Exchange Bank at Elkton, South Dakota, on the afternoon of August 25, 1938, and announced, quote, “This is a holdup.” Bennie and Stella Dickson were Depression-era bank robbers and outlaws who successfully stole what authorities then estimated to be more than $50,000 over an eight-month period. They were tagged by the FBI as Public Enemies No. 1 and 2., and J. Edgar Hoover, who led the bureau at that time, compared them to other notorious criminals of the era including John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, “Babyface” Nelson, and “Pretty Boy” Floyd. That's quite a cast of crooks. But were they?

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Lester Warfel Brockelhurst, Jr. was the president of the Mormon church's Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and he was a Sunday school teacher -- he was generally and genuinely known as a, “good boy.” But in his early 20s, he picked up a new nickname: "crime tourist,” after he and his girlfriend, Bernice Felton, pulled off multiple robberies and killed three men during a six-week crime spree that spanned across more than a dozen states in 1937.

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This story is one of murder, but it's also a tale of woe. It begins when a young ship's steward named Frederick 'Freddy' Bywaters became involved with a married woman named Edith Thompson. They had known each other growing up in the same London suburb as her husband Percy Thompson; and, it was generally considered that Freddy would marry Edith's sister, Avis. But life doesn't always work out the way you think it will -- and he ended up being executed for Percy's murder. And so did Edith. History now suggests maybe she wasn't a woman who killed for her lover, but, rather, a witness to the event. Were Freddy and Edith partners in murder, or was Edith sentenced to death for adultery?

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Joseph Bowers is considered the first prisoner to try escaping Alcatraz, but was killed during his attempt. The next to attempt it was a pair of conspiring inmates named Ted Cole and Ralph Roe. Both men had long rap sheets and were known escape risks -- including from high security facilities. As a last resort, each was sentenced to time at the most inescapable prison in the United States: Alcatraz. With hindsight, and it's easy for us to say with time on our side, maybe they should have been kept apart, because these prisoners-in-crime totally escaped Alcatraz Island, and were never seen again.

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Helen Golay and Olga Rutterschmidt were sentenced in July of 2008 to life in prison for the murders of Paul Vados and Kenneth McDavid. The women, who were both in their 70s, appeared to be in the business of rescuing down-on-their-luck men in Los Angeles, but it was a deadly ruse. Instead, theymanipulated their marks with offers of free food and housing, and then manipulated them into helping them open life insurances policies – with the women listed as beneficiaries. Helen and Olga then killed these men in staged hit-and-run car accidents, on which they collected payouts totaling in the millions. Let's meet these Black Widow murderers and their victims.

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Federal prosecutor Daniel Wenner described the case as, “the bloodiest, most violent betrayal of the badge this city has ever seen.” Two decorated New York City police detectives, Stephen Caracappa and Louis Eppolito, committed various illegal activities on behalf of the Five Families of the American Mafia, spanning from the mid-1980s to 1990. This is the story of how their moonlighting gig was discovered by efforts of the FBI, DEA, as well as prosecutors, investigators, and staff of the United States Attorney’s Office – and a woman named Betty Hydell.

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Ray and Faye Copeland were husband and wife serial killers and the oldest couple ever sentenced to death in the United States. Their known victims include at least five farmhands -- more men are still considered missing and likely also murdered, though their remains have not been found. This is a story about nearly a dozen hired laborers who disappeared from the Copeland farm in the 1980s.

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Train robberies are often thought of as a 19th century problem, like when Jesse James and his gang of outlaws famously pulled off the world's first robbery of a moving train, on July 21, 1873, in Iowa. And, of course, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, who liked to rob banks and trains -- and famously blew up the a Union Pacific Railroad train the morning of June 2, 1899. The business of train robbery was BIG business in post-Civil War America. But robberies did continue into the 20th century. And we’re going to talk about three Oregon brothers who botched one, in an attempt to steal currency that may or may not have been on board. Let us introduce you to Ray, Roy, and Hugh DeAutremont.

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