Dark Stories: On This Day In True Crime History - Dark Stories True Crime Tours

2004: The Scream and Madonna Stolen at Gunpoint from Oslo Museum

In broad daylight on 22 August 2004, masked gunmen entered the Munch Museum in Oslo, Norway, and tore two priceless works from the walls: the 1910 version of Edvard Munch’s iconic The Scream and his enigmatic Madonna. A quick-thinking bystander photographed the thieves as they fled to a getaway car. Fragments of the gilded frames were later found nearby, and fears circulated that the paintings had been deliberately destroyed to eliminate evidence.

Norwegian police arrested a suspect in April 2005, and in early 2006 six men stood trial. Three were sentenced to between four and eight years in prison. Then, in August 2006, police announced they had recovered both works. The Scream bore moisture damage to its lower-left corner; Madonna showed tears and holes on her right side. Before restoration, the Munch Museum exhibited the damaged paintings to the public for five days, drawing more than five thousand visitors.

Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893). Photo: Børre Høstland/National Museum of Norway. CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

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Armed Robbery Art Theft Europe Norway Oslo Robbery Trial

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1854: Hanged at Brisbane Gaol for the Killing of a Station Manager

In March 1852, Adolphus Henry Trevethan, a station manager at Rawbell in the Burnett District, was killed during a tense confrontation with a large group of armed men on his property. He had gone out to negotiate and was returning with tobacco and pipes when he came running back, hand pressed to his chest, crying ‘I’m a dead man’ before dying of multiple stab wounds within hours.

The accused was tried at the Brisbane Circuit Court, where witness James Carney testified against the accused. Found guilty and sentenced to death, the condemned man walked to the scaffold on 22 August 1854, ascending it without resistance and dying without a struggle.

Noose at historic Tombstone courthouse courtyard, Arizona

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Australia Brisbane Burnett District Execution Murder QLD Trial

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1931: A Death Pact Rooted in Spiritualism Kills a Family of Seven in Carlisle

In the suburb of Carlisle, near Perth, Roderick Davies and family ended their days, leaving behind six farewell letters that described the killings as a spiritual calling. The family had become consumed by a belief in life after death, with Dorothy writing to her mother in Victoria that she had been ‘writing under spiritual control for months’ and had long known they would all be ‘going on soon.’

The coroner, Mr T. Y. A. Lang, described the motive bluntly: a desire for ‘a short road to an attractive hereafter.’ In his letter to police, Davies wrote that he had taken the lives of his wife and children ‘for reasons it would be impossible for me to explain.’ Dorothy’s final words to her mother were: ‘Life holds nothing; Death promises everything.’

Death pact newspaper clipping from Trove 1931 Mirror Perth

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Australia Carlisle Family Tragedy Inquest Murder Perth Spiritualism Suicide WA

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1911: The Mona Lisa Stolen from the Louvre by a Museum Employee

In the early hours of 21 August 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia, an Italian handyman who had worked at the Louvre, hid inside the museum overnight, lifted Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the wall, concealed it under his coat, and walked out. The theft went unnoticed for nearly 24 hours. The empty hooks on the wall were initially assumed to mean the painting had been taken for photography.

Peruggia kept the masterpiece hidden in his Paris apartment for over two years before attempting to sell it to an art dealer in Florence. He was arrested in December 1913, and the painting was recovered intact. Peruggia claimed he had acted out of Italian patriotism, believing the work had been stolen by Napoleon and deserved to be returned to Italy. He served just seven months in prison.

Empty gallery wall after Mona Lisa theft 1911

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Art Crime Europe France Paris Theft

2004: The Scream and Madonna Stolen at Gunpoint from Oslo Museum

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1854: Hanged at Brisbane Gaol for the Killing of a Station Manager

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1931: A Death Pact Rooted in Spiritualism Kills a Family of Seven in Carlisle

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1911: The Mona Lisa Stolen from the Louvre by a Museum Employee

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