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

On August 22, 1972, John Wojtowicz and Salvatore Naturile attempted to rob a branch of Chase Manhattan Bank at 450 Avenue P in Gravesend, Brooklyn. A third accomplice fled before the robbery began after spotting a police car. Rather than escaping with the cash, Wojtowicz and Naturile held seven bank employees hostage for fourteen hours. Wojtowicz, a former bank teller, had working knowledge of bank operations, but the plan unravelled completely.

Naturile was shot and killed by an FBI agent during the final moments of the standoff. Wojtowicz was arrested and sentenced to 20 years at Lewisburg Federal Penitentiary, serving five. The story became the basis for the 1975 film Dog Day Afternoon, starring Al Pacino.

ID 164823257 © Photovs | Dreamstime.com

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Kidnapping Organised Crime Prison Robbery USA

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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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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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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

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