Milwaukee Magazine once described Walter Minx as slender and fidgety, with, "the kind of sharp-featured handsomeness that the movies had taught people not to trust." He was German-born, and immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his parents, his brother, and his sister in 1925. He aspired to be a successful American businessman; he wanted to make a fortune -- and a name for himself. He did make a name for himself, but not quite the kind as he’d hoped for. 

Milwaukee Magazine once described Walter Minx as slender and fidgety, with, "the kind of sharp-featured handsomeness that the movies had taught people not to trust." He was German-born, and immigrated to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with his parents, his brother, and his sister in 1925. He aspired to be a successful American businessman; he wanted to make a fortune -- and a name for himself. He did make a name for himself, but not quite the kind as he’d hoped for.

Humans have always committed crimes. What can we learn from the criminals and crimes of the past, and have humans gotten better or worse over time?

Criminalia

The Story of Walter Minx, the Sears Extortionist and His Homemade Submarine

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/cbc51e81-ae1f-494f-b225-b11c00f0409f/transcript

On January 9, 1990, a bank robber nicknamed the Bearded Bandit entered the First Nationwide Bank in Wilmette, Illinois, disguised with a false beard, a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and driving gloves. He carried a gun and police radio scanner, and threatened bank employees that he'd, ”blow their brains out.” While he collected from the vault, his wife prepared their getaway. The Ericksons, a husband-and-wife bank robbing duo, committed a series of armed robberies in the Chicago area in 1990 andd 1991. And when it ended, it was in a dramatic and desperate way. 

On January 9, 1990, a bank robber nicknamed the Bearded Bandit entered the First Nationwide Bank in Wilmette, Illinois, disguised with a false beard, a baseball cap, dark sunglasses, and driving gloves. He carried a gun and police radio scanner, and threatened bank employees that he'd, ”blow their brains out.” While he collected from the vault, his wife prepared their getaway. The Ericksons, a husband-and-wife bank robbing duo, committed a series of armed robberies in the Chicago area in 1990 andd 1991. And when it ended, it was in a dramatic and desperate way.

The Story of Suburban Chicago Booksellers and Bank Robbers, Jeff and Jill Erickson

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/8983a68c-257f-44d1-9ab5-b20300b9b324/transcript

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?

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?

Public Enemies No. 1 and 2: Bank Robbers Bennie and Stella Dickson vs. the G-Men

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/af122d79-0c9d-43c1-8238-b1fb01322cf1/transcript

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. 

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.

Lester Brockelhurst and Bernice Felton and the 'Crime Tourist' Murders

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/604105a3-50cd-4198-90e4-b1f40148a6ac/transcript

The Story of Walter Minx, the Sears Extortionist and His Homemade Submarine

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