A good writer knows how to grip the imagination of the reader in such a way that the words leap from the page and burn themselves in the reader’s mind. Reading the […]
Milton’s Writing Can Really Get Under Your Skin
Proof that Being a Criminal Mastermind Isn’t a Genetic Trait
Most people have heard of Al Capone, the notorious mob boss who ran Chicago from his criminal headquarters during the waning years of Prohibition. Less well known is Capone’s eldest brother, James, […]
Three Lawyers Found This Client to Be a Pain in the Neck
Josh Monson was facing trial for murder and drug charges in 2011 in Everett, Washington. Apparently unsatisfied with his defense attorney, Monson stabbed him in the neck with a pencil. That lawyer […]
How “Herbie Goes Bananas” Led to a Radioactive Disaster
Herbie Goes Bananas, the 1980 film about a Volkswagen Beetle that is seemingly alive, is widely regarded as the worst of the Herbie movies. Some might even call it a disaster. Few […]
Dishonesty Doesn’t Pay
British Member of Parliament Horatio Bottomley made a lot of money through fraud. He also lost a lot of money the same way. In a classic case of karma, in 1914 Bottomley […]
Some People Just Aren’t Good With Animals
Benjamin Herman Siegel of southern Florida was arrested in January, 2015 and charged with battery and cruelty to animals after allegedly striking employees with a bearded dragon and putting the bearded dragon […]
Never Argue With a Judge — Even When He Calls Himself an Idiot
When Tristan Ellis, a notorious burglar, showed up in front of Australian Judge Dean Mildren on March 29, 2004, it was the third time that year he had been arrested. The judge […]
Cleaning Up in Real Estate — the Con Man’s Way
Mithilesh Kumar Srivastava (1912-2009), also known as “Natwarlal,” was a noted Indian con man who repeatedly sold the Taj Mahal; the Red Fort; the Indian presidential residence, Rashtrapati Bhavan; and the Parliament […]
Perhaps They Will Find That Part About “Thou Shall Not Steal”
The most shoplifted book in the United States is the Bible. Nationwide, bookstores net about $16 billion in sales every year, according to the American Booksellers Association. Stores estimated that they lose […]
Appropriate Name in the End
In the late 1880s, Lester Moore worked as a Wells Fargo Station Agent in the Mexico-United States border town of Naco, Arizona. One day a man named Hank Dunstan arrived at the […]
The Jury Has Deliberated… And Deliberated… And Deliberated….
The longest U.S. jury deliberation in a civil lawsuit took place in a 1992 California trial in which a woman and her son sued the City of Long Beach for preventing the opening […]
A Handy Last Request
Convicted murderer James W. Rodgers was put in front of a firing squad in Utah in 1960. When asked if he had a last request, he replied, “Bring me a bullet-proof vest.”
Leave ‘Em Laughing
Convicted murderer George Appel’s final words before being executed in the electric chair in New York in 1928 were – “Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel.”
Take a Bite Out of Crime
In Vermont, a wife must obtain written permission from her husband before wearing false teeth. source
The Man Who Sold the Eiffel Tower
Victor Lustig was one of the most successful con men of all time. His first con was to show people a device that could print $100 bills. The only problem, he would […]
