Mystery For Two Podcast: true crime, treasure & history

We're back with part two of 'Mysteries at the Louvre'! In October 2025, a team of thieves disguised as construction workers broke into the Louvre’s golden Apollo Gallery and stole millions of dollars worth of French Crown Jewels in broad daylight.
A priceless crown was dropped on the sidewalk during their escape, and investigators would soon discover that the museum’s surveillance password was literally “Louvre."
We explore how the heist unfolded and the eerie parallels to an infamous crown jewel robbery during the French Revolution. Were these criminals masterminds… or just incredibly lucky? And will the jewels ever be recovered? We have some theories...
A special thanks to Sarah Schilling for assisting with research for this case.

Sources:
Andrews, E. (2016). The heist that made the Mona Lisa famous. History.com.
https://www.history.com/articles/the-heist-that-made-the-mona-lisa-famous
BBC News. (2025). Everything we know about the Louvre jewellery heist.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7nrlkg0zxo
BBC News. (2025). Four more arrests made following Louvre jewellery heist.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5zm7n8ngpo
Corbet, S., & Leicester, J. (2025). The home of the “Mona Lisa” has a new boss to steer the Louvre out of crisis after jewel heist.
https://www.britannica.com/news/2278696/38adf9f5ac5c99c16e206cc16845ca04
Leath, M. (2025). A history of heists at the Louvre: From the Mona Lisa to Napoleon’s jewels. ABC News.
https://abcnews.com/International/history-heists-louvre-mona-lisa-napoleons-jewels/story?id=126680032
Napoleon Foundation. (2025). Theft of jewellery belonging to Empresses Marie-Louise and Eugénie, and to Queen Hortense, from the Louvre Museum, 19 October 2025.
https://fondationnapoleon.org/en/2025/10/20/heritage-theft-of-jewellery-belonging-to-empresses-marie-louise-and-eugenie-and-to-queen-hortense-from-the-louvre-museum-19-october-2025/
NPR Staff. (2011). The theft that made the “Mona Lisa” a masterpiece. NPR.
https://www.npr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece
Ord, S. (2026). Authorities announce progress in Louvre jewellery heist investigation. Jeweller Magazine.
https://www.jewellermagazine.com/Article/14781/Authorities-announce-progress-in-Louvre-jewellery-heist-investigation
The New York Times. (2025). In just 7 brazen minutes, thieves grab “priceless” jewels from Louvre.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/world/europe/louvre-paris-robbery.html
Wilson, B. (n.d.). Vincenzo Peruggia: The man who stole the Mona Lisa. Medium.
https://brucewilsonauthor.medium.com/vincenzo-peruggia-the-man-who-stole-the-mona-lisa-71fb61cb7128
Zelazko, A. (2026). What was stolen from the Louvre. Encyclopaedia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/art/What-Was-Stolen-from-the-Louvre
Goppion. (n.d.). Mona Lisa returns to her home in an improved high-tech display case.
https://www.goppion.com/journal/mona-lisa-returns-to-her-home-in-an-improved-high-tech-display-case-by-goppion-1
Smithsonian Magazine. (n.d.). Stolen: How the Mona Lisa became the world’s most famous painting.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/stolen-how-the-mona-lisa-became-the-worlds-most-famous-painting-16406234/

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Today we dive into the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa (!!!) and the investigation that even dragged Pablo Picasso into police questioning. Plus, we set the stage for the modern-day 2025 Louvre robbery that eerily mirrors the past...

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@MysteryForTwoPodcast

A special thanks to Sarah Schilling for assisting with the research on this episode.

Sources:
NPR Staff. (2011, July 30). The theft that made the “Mona Lisa” a masterpiece. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece
Andrews, E. (2016). The heist that made the Mona Lisa famous. History.com. https://www.history.com/articles/the-heist-that-made-the-mona-lisa-famous
Everything we know about the Louvre jewellery heist. (2025). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7nrlkg0zxo
In just 7 brazen minutes, thieves grab ‘priceless’ jewels from Louvre. (2025, October 19). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/world/europe/louvre-paris-robbery.html
Four more arrests made following Louvre jewellery heist. (2025). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5zm7n8ngpo
Ord, S. (2026). Authorities announce progress in Louvre jewellery heist investigation. Jeweller Magazine. https://www.jewellermagazine.com/Article/14781/Authorities-announce-progress-in-Louvre-jewellery-heist-investigation
Leath, M. (2025). A history of heists at the Louvre: From the Mona Lisa to Napoleon’s jewels. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/history-heists-louvre-mona-lisa-napoleons-jewels/story?id=126680032
Mona Lisa returns to her home in an improved high-tech display case. Goppion. https://www.goppion.com/journal/mona-lisa-returns-to-her-home-in-an-improved-high-tech-display-case-by-goppion-1
Wilson, B. (n.d.). Vincenzo Peruggia: The man who stole the Mona Lisa. Medium. https://brucewilsonauthor.medium.com/vincenzo-peruggia-the-man-who-stole-the-mona-lisa-71fb61cb7128
Stolen! How the Mona Lisa became the world’s most famous painting. (n.d.). Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/stolen-how-the-mona-lisa-became-the-worlds-most-famous-painting-16406234/

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A mummified “mannequin” hanging in a 1970s amusement park turned out to be something far stranger: the real body of outlaw Elmer McCurdy. What began as a strange prop on a funhouse ride unfolds into one of the most bizarre afterlife stories in American history. This is the unbelievable journey of the outlaw who kept traveling after death!

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Sources
https://www.history.com/articles/elmer-mccurdy-mummy-dead-outlaw
https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/15/archives/wax-model-identified-as-oklahoma-bandit.html
https://williams-williams-michael.medium.com/elmer-mccurdy-outlaw-mummy-7521975d08c6
The Valley Tribune, Wed, Dec 14, 1977 · Page 6 “Elmer the mummified desperado”
https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2018/07/elmer-mccurdy-traveling-corpse/
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tcrr-nitroglycerin/
https://www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/2022/04/14/oklahoma-outlaw-turned-mummy-elmer-mccurdy-inspires-musical-dead-outlaw/9427777002/

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This week we unravel the infamous “Wine and Cheese Heist” of 1976, masterminded by photographer slash chicken farmer Albert Spaggiari and his 20-man “sewer gang,” who spent months digging a secret tunnel, then casually looted a French bank vault over a holiday weekend, taking their time robbing the place while enjoying a wine and cheese picnic. But a couple of red chisels, stolen gold bars, a CIA tip-off, and one of the most cinematic courtroom escapes in history would ultimately crack the case.
A special thanks to Sarah Schilling for assistance with the research for this case!

SOURCES
The Heist of the Century: Inside the Société Générale Detectives’ Case. The New York Times. December 19, 1976.
https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/19/archives/the-heist-of-the-century-inside-the-soci-t-g-n-rale-detectives.html
French Hero-Criminal Gets Life in Absentia. The New York Times. November 8, 1979.
https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/08/archives/french-herocriminal-gets-life-in-absentia.html
Albert Spaggiari, 57, Mastermind of Notorious Riviera Bank Heist. The New York Times. June 12, 1989.
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/12/obituaries/albert-spaggiari-57-mastermind-of-notorious-riviera-bank-heist.html
Mastermind of Notorious Bank Theft in France Dies. Orlando Sentinel. June 12, 1989.
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1989/06/12/mastermind-of-notorious-bank-theft-in-france-dies/
FRANCE: Bank Heist of the Century. Time.
https://time.com/archive/6848187/france-bank-heist-of-the-century/
Suspected Mastermind on Trial for France’s ‘Heist of the Century’. The Guardian. February 12, 2018.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/jacques-cassandri-suspected-mastermind-societe-generale-france-heist-trial
French Gangster Jacques Cassandri on Trial for 1976 ‘Heist of the Century’. BBC News.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43035229
Albert Spaggiari and the Société Générale Robbery. RivRep.
https://rivrep.com/history-and-traditions/811-albert-spaggiari-and-the-societe-generale-robbery

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In 1931 Liverpool, we witness a crime that seems physically "impossible": Julia Wallace is brutally murdered inside her locked home, with no sign of forced entry and no clear way for the killer to escape. What begins with a mysterious phone call to a chess club and a nonexistent address spirals into one of history’s most famous real-life locked room mysteries.
In part two we will discuss the investigation and trial that follows the murder, all the while asking ourselves: "Did William Herbert Wallace kill his wife?"
Today's research couldn't have been possible without my friend and talented Records Custodian, Sarah Schilling. Special thanks to her!

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@mysteryfortwopodcast

Sources:
Liverpool City Police, “The Murder of Julia Wallace,” official case summary.
Court of Criminal Appeal, R v Wallace [1931], judgment quashing conviction.
Trial testimony of William Herbert Wallace and key witnesses, Liverpool Assizes, April 1931.
Curtis, J. H., The Trial of William Herbert Wallace. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1934.
Murphy, James, The Murder of Julia Wallace. 2001.
Nickell, Joe, “The Impossible Murder of Julia Wallace,” Skeptical Inquirer 45, no. 5 (2021).
“William Herbert Wallace,” Wikipedia.
“The Julia Wallace Murder,” Historic Mysteries.
William Herbert Wallace case files, williamherbertwallace.com.

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