547 - Always on the Precipice

Hello.

And welcome. To My Favorite Murder.

That's Georgia Hardstark.

That's Karen Kilgara.

And we're here to podcast at you.

Always and forever. That's the contract we signed.

With the devil.

Come with me. To hell. To podcast for the rest of your life.

Listen, I shouldn't have said to hell.

Yeah.

We love it here.

Oh, I love hell. It's the best.

Do you ever kind of do secretary actions knowing that you don't have to do any secretary jobs?

There's definitely just moments throughout my day where I think, thankful. Fucking God, this is my life.

For real.

So grateful.

My passion that I discovered in sixth grade, which is reading aloud, is my job.

And talking as much as you want.

All the time.

Yeah.

All the reasons. Yeah. Talking here, conversationally.

Yeah.

Go ahead and reading off of here.

Just read your thing. Yeah. That's pretty great.

And now you can too.

Yeah.

Take our course. For only $ 400.

We're selling something.

Yeah, we are.

Yeah, it's great. Why is this bothering me? Okay.

Everyone's selling something, and those who say they aren't are lying.

That's right.

A quote from... What?

Grimace. Oh.

I can't remember who it is.

Who's Grimace? I didn't get that.

Sorry.

That was a... The Grimace part was a joke, too.

I had a really, really big mocha frappuccino before I came here.

I had a pouch... from a new brand in my gum that's supposed to give me energy. No, it's not nicotine. It's like... A.

Little energy pouch.

Neurotropic.

What's it feel like?

I feel good so far.

Okay.

I feel like it's working.

Are you seeing multiplication in front of you and you're solving it?

I know how to play chess now.

What?

Okay, I gotta go.

Yeah. That's what I'm selling.

Okay.

Cheek pouch enhancers? Energy cheek pouches.

I'm like Gen Z. I'm so young.

You're down by the old. Farmville. I don't know any of the games people play.

Speaking of games, want to hear something funny? Yes. Vince Averill, my one and only husband.

So you say.

Is now in a band with Marcus Parks from last podcast. No. They're in a fucking band together.

And now you can too. That's fucking amazing.

Isn't that right? He plays golf with Chris Fairbanks and he's in a band with Marcus.

What does Marcus play?

He plays drums.

That's badass.

And they're, like, good.

Will you please invite me when they do a show?

Of course. I don't know when it's going to happen, but yes, of course.

Did they just start?

No, they've had quite a few practices, just jamming.

Is it, like, the heavy metal that Vince is so interested in or whatever they call it?

No, it's a little more melodic.

Oh.

This isn't the case, but it reminds me, like, Vince used to jam with his friends in New York for no reason. And one of their girlfriends called it smoking pot practice. Yeah.

That's not what this is.

They were playing electronic back then. This is different. This is different. Yeah, so I'll let everyone know. They're going to be opening for us. I thought you'd get a kick out of that.

I love it. That's really badass.

Should we tell everyone that we have a podcast network in case they don't know?

No, I think we should keep it a secret.

It's called Exactly Right Media. Here are some highlights from it.

We've got a little show called Disgraceland. You may have heard of it.

The great Jake Brennan this week will be telling the story of Alice Bagg, who is an underground feminist icon... of LA's early punk scene. It's set against the terrifying backdrop of the Hillside Stranglers. I cover them on episode 114, Civic Order.

And speaking of familiar cases, over on Hollywoodland, Jake tells the story of Rodney Alcala, the dating game killer, absolute monster. I covered that case back on episode 54 called Valet Area.

What's going on in those titles?

Don't know.

They don't seem familiar.

Then, over on Wicked Words, Kate Winkler Dawson welcomes back Dawson Fearnow to discuss the state of Arizona's secret role in the Federal Witness Protection Program. Amazing topic.

Arizona, you got some explaining to do.

It's no secret. We've seen all those 80s movies.

They dig into the stories of mob informants who were given new identities but couldn't manage to stay out of trouble.

That's where the movie My Blue Heaven starts. Yes. Is that exactly? That's right. Fear Now is such a rad last name, isn't it? Yeah. And on brief recess, Michael and Melissa address all of the online buzz around Michael joining the new season of The Traitors, including the most important question, did Alan Cumming like him best? Of course he did.

How do you not?

I mean, the two of them together, get them a sitcom. It's happening. These couches are working. Plus, they break down the Supreme Court's rejection of Trump's appeal involving the $ 5 million judgment he owes E. Jean Carroll.

Yeah, go listen to that.

Important stuff.

Yes, absolutely.

And then another Bravo leb graced this network this week over on I Said No Gifts. Bridger welcomes back comedian and host of Bravo's Love Hotel, And despite Joel once again arriving with a gift on the show, they chop it up about car accidents, threats from space, and salad.

Love all those things.

Sure.

And in the merch corner, we have a brand new license plate frame. It says, my favorite murder. This is terrible. Keep going. Do we need to put these on our cars?

Not much for wearing your own merch.

That's true.

That's my stance.

That's fair. And it's just in time for National Traffic Awareness Month. You know how passionate we are.

Every year. Every year we tell you. We sit you down and we say, it is traffic awareness.

You know it. It's been in your calendar.

Stop ignoring it.

With a little cupcake for months. Get aware. How dare you. What's happening?

A little cupcake.

Keep going, drive safely, and grab yours at exactlyrightstore.com. And if you see me driving my borrowed Hyundai with this, throw me a cupcake. Wow, this is working.

Get that pouch out of your mouth and stop it.

Your water is moments from fucking falling over.

There's some out of it.

There we go.

It's always on the precipice.

Okay.

I'm first.

Yeah.

Get out of my way.

I'm going to sit here quietly like I always do.

I'm going to tell you a little story that I had heard of like distantly. This is one of those like a faraway forensic files kind of memory that you have.

And it's interesting the truth behind it.

Okay. It's July 2nd, 1993, and we're in Pahang, Malaysia. And an ambitious 49-year-old state assemblyman named Maslin Idris is nowhere to be found. Maslin is a busy guy, so his family is used to going even sometimes full days without hearing from him. But now several days have passed, and they're worried, so he's reported missing to the police.

Twenty days later, on July 22nd, his remains are found, and there are three people that suspicions fall on. But in the media frenzy that follows, only one of them becomes the enduring face of this case. That person's name is Mona Fendi. And this is one of the most notorious true crime cases in Malaysian history. This is the story of the witch doctor murders, the murder of Maslin Idris.

Oh, my God.

The main sources used today are articles from the Malaysian newspapers The Star and The New Straits Times, as well as reporting that by Mitzi Zaretto, and the rest of them are in our show notes. So now it's January of 1956, and a baby named Mazna Ismail is born into a small conservative community. As she grows up, she gets really into singing and performing, and she fantasizes about moving to a big city and getting famous. And although she does take a more conventional path in life by marrying and having a child, She never gives up on that dream.

She never lets go of it. But by the time.

She's 30, she's divorced and raising her baby, Diana, alone. And that is until she meets 29-year-old sound engineer Mohamed Afandi Abdul Rahman. In most reporting, they refer to him as Afandi, and so that's what I'll call him too. So Mazna and Afandi have this whirlwind romance, and they're married very soon after they meet. And she likes to call her new husband her number one fan. And Afandi is ready and eager to use his music industry knowledge and connections to make her a star.

So it's the perfect love story.

Got it. And this is when Mazna decides that she needs a stage name. So she renames herself Mona Fendi. And that's an homage to her husband, who is now her manager as well, because it sounds like his name, Mohamed Afandi.

Oh.

So in 1987, the couple records and self-releases Mona's debut album.

She names it Diana One.

Oh, I love it.

There's Mona.

Mona has jewelry goals, like the gold bangles and gold necklaces and stuff.

Also, Mona looks like she's in Tropic Thunder.

She does.

In a way that is shocking and hilarious.

Totally does.

But this one's for Diana. Diana number one. She's number one.

So it isn't, as you had guessed, it isn't a chart topper, but a few of her songs actually do get airtime in Malaysia.

Afandi even manages.

To book her on a couple of TV shows, although that doesn't really go anywhere. So a few years pass, and basically nothing pans out. So Mona decides she's going to change course. She puts the music business behind her, and both she and Afandi pivot to shamanism.

Okay.

That's right.

Yes. Now, in Malaysia, there's a long cultural tradition of shamanism. Their word for it is bomoh, and bomohs use their connection to the spiritual world to offer traditional medicines through conducting rituals and talismans. Some of them even practice magic in the hope of addressing the person, their client's issues.

The clients ask for help improving physical health, attracting a romantic partner, growing their net worth, the standard stuff that you go to anyone for, really, for help. So it's kind of unclear what would put someone on that career path, although a relative of Afandi's will later say that he had a strong interest in mysticism and that he studied, himself studied, under various bomos. But many sources are a little more cynical about the couple's motives, and they basically just accuse the two of opportunism, probably because they target rich people. Sure. So Mona ingratiates herself with wealthy potential clients by lying about her connections to Malaysian royalty, just like I do.

We all can.

You always do. It works. You've got to manifest that shit, right?

You've got to.

And you've just got to be believable as you do it. So I'm the heiress to the Malaysian fortune of.

Neurotropics.

Of neurotropics.

So either sometimes she lies about being connected to Malaysian royalty or high-level politicians.

And basically.

That gives her gravitas. Then she's establishing trust with people. They think she's a player. She's also a glamorous 30-something woman with real charisma who wasn't an entertainer. So that automatically sets her apart from the stereotypical Beaumont, which is.

Like an old man, basically. She's not your dad's Beaumont.

So it all comes together, and Mona is able to establish herself as a spiritual authority in to the point where she begins to bottle and sell a tonic called the Light of Mona Fandi.

Don't make me say it.

It's her version of sweet honesty.

She's like, splash it on, and you two can bathe in the light.

And you can burn and burn. Oh, my God.

It's worse than Gina Tay. Fandi, meanwhile, starts opening martial arts studios that blend the usual practice with his and Mona's own brand of mysticism. Mm-hmm.

So cult karate.

Yeah, I was going to say, we got cult vibes going, for sure.

It's at this martial arts studio that he meets a troubled young man in his early 20s named Jeraime Hussein. So Jeraime has had a very difficult upbringing. He's lived in poverty, never got an education. He's been struggling with substance abuse. But he comes to this studio looking to better himself. And Afandi decides to take him under his wing.

He hires Jeraime Hussein. to act as his and Mona's personal assistant, they all become very close. So now it's 1993. Mona's 37, Afandi is 36, and Jiraymi is around 23. Their Bomo martial arts venture is working out for them. They claim to be able to do things like cure impotence and help customers maintain their youth. And enough people buy into this fantasy that it provides a very comfortable lifestyle for them. So they're making good money. This is when a man named Mazlan Idris comes into the picture.

Mazlan is an ambitious state assemblyman with a goal of someday being elected Pahang's chief minister.

The equivalent here.

Would like be a state legislator who's trying to become a governor.

Got it.

And Mazlan is reportedly introduced to Mona and Afandi through a friend. He's a wealthy guy. He's also a true believer in this kind of spiritual magic. And their services are not cheap. So he goes to them and they sell him a supposedly magical hat and cane combo that costs him 2.5 million ringgit, which when converted— is worth more than a million dollars in today's money. Shut up.

Yes.

Just to start spreading the news?

Just to hello my baby all over the place.

Do the prayers and do the stuff while he's sitting there. But once it gets into like objects that are blessed or cursed or whatever, it's like, what are you doing?

Well, your religion shouldn't have merch.

Should it? No.

No.

I mean, ours does, but we're not affiliated with any.

And we've admitted it from the fucking beginning. That's right. That's our branding.

So they claim that this hat-cane combination is going to make him invincible.

Great.

So Mazlan is, because he's a believer, he clearly trusts Mona and Afandi, and he wants to make this important purchase. But at the moment, his cash is tied up in several properties that he owns. So he basically pulls all the cash he can together, and then he offers them a bunch of land titles as basically collateral until he can liquidate some other things to get more cash.

Don't liquidate things.

He's got to for hat and cane. He could be the WB frog if he just put his mind to it. So on July 2nd, 1993, Maslin withdraws 300,000 ringgit from the bank, and then he disappears. Mm-hmm. Days later, his family reports him missing, and a search ensues. One day after Maslin disappears, Mona and Afandi go on a next-level shopping spree in Malaysia's capital of Kuala Lumpur. They spend the next several days in a five-star hotel. They buy a brand-new Mercedes, jewelry, and electronics, and they pay for it all in cash. The classic greenhorn move.

When someone goes on a shopping spree, you know they're not spending their own money. That's right. It's like, That's right. You just aren't. Yeah. Because you wouldn't do that if you like had an attachment to you making that money. Right.

You just got something you didn't earn and you're like, gimme, let me exchange it.

Yeah.

For all my dreams.

Let me make bad financial decisions with someone else's money, not your own.

Yeah. Yeah. So they pay for everything in cash, and then to top it all off, Mona checks into a hospital and gets multiple very expensive cosmetic surgeries.

Deep plain face.

A neck lift, an upper bleph.

We only know one, so we know she got multiple, but the one we know for sure is that she got a breast augmentation.

Everything else was undetectable, right?

It was such good surgery. They were like, you're so refreshed.

Something looks different about you.

You look exactly the same way you did in high school. I love if anybody says that to me. I go, plastic surgery. It's plastic surgery all over the map.

There's no hide. Why would you hide it? You don't need Botox because I have Botox.

That's right.

I don't need Botox because I've already gotten it.

It's filled with Botox.

I could barely move my fucking face. Nothing is real.

Nothing is real.

The New Straits Times will later report that, quote, to prove that her body was still supple for a 38-year-old, Mona asked the staff at the Five Star Hotel to feel up her breasts.

End quote.

I feel like people who get breast implants go really wild with that.

They need that kind of five-star hotel worker approval. Validation.

You there, down the hall. Do you want to feel them?

You know.

So now it's July 13th.

It's been almost two weeks since Maslin Idris's disappearance. And it is being covered extensively in the news. He is a government official. So just when Mona and Afandi are peaking in this spending frenzy that they're on, Jeraimi is arrested under suspicion of drug possession, which in Malaysia is a very serious offense. When they take him into custody, it's such a serious offense that he confesses to a totally different crime, and he tells the officers he helped kill Maslin Idris.

Wow. Like, he's better off having been an accomplice in a murder.

No one knows why he confessed or did it that way, but there is a source that suggests He was intoxicated, and he was confused about the arrest. He thought he was being arrested for the other thing he did. Although he, in his appeal, he accuses the police of using force during questioning and basically saying he did it.

He confessed under duress.

Either way, Jeraime confesses, and he implicates both Mona and Afandi. And then in the coming days, police locate and unearth Maslin's remains. Mm-hmm.

They were buried under a construction site for one of his own properties.

Wow.

And this part is horrible and graphic, as all true crime stories lead to. But Maslin's body was hacked into 18 pieces. And according to the New Straits Times, knives and an axe, as well as what the police describe as, quote, an altar and statues of deities were found nearby. Wow. Yeah. So Mona Afandi... and Jeraime are all arrested, even though Mona is still healing from her plastic surgeries. They're all charged with murder, and a joint trial begins a year later in September of 1994. The story presented by prosecutors is gruesome, and it's tragic, and essentially this is what happened.

Maslin showed up on July 2nd with 300,000 ringgit, the money he was supposed to bring for the ritual he believed he was buying. They basically brought him to a bathtub and And it was filled with flowers. And they told him to lay back with his eyes closed and envision the money that.

He brought doubling.

And as he did that, Jeraime basically came and attacked him with an axe, killing him instantly.

So it was a plan. I was thinking maybe accidental or they poisoned him on accident or something.

No. They eventually prove it was completely premeditated.

Wow.

The part that I can never get over, which is they dismember the body. and bury the remains.

How do you find two people who want to do that like you do? You know what I mean? Yes. One person alone is unfathomable. Yeah. And then you're all like, hey, guys.

Jeraime was reportedly given little more than half of the cash that Maslin brought to the ritual and And then Mona and Afandi took the rest of that cash plus the land titles that Maslin used as his IOUs, and the two of them drove off to Kuala Lumpur. During the trial, it comes out that Afandi almost immediately tried to claim those properties as his and Mona's own by forging Maslin's signature. Under oath, Mona and Afandi immediately turn on Jeraime.

Jeraime, sorry.

The 20-something-year-old kid?

Yes. They immediately turn on him. And they blame it all on him. They claim that Moslin still owed them for their services so they would have no reason to want him dead because then they couldn't get paid. On the stand, Afandi tries to actually explain away the forged signatures that were on the land titles. by saying, quote, Okay.

There's no reason.

There's no if-then. No. I can't follow.

The prosecutors argue that this crime is premeditated and that the couple created a situation where they knew Maslan would be carrying a lot of money and they planned to murder him. One motive for the murder is that getting Maslan's properties is the real payoff And it's worth much more than all the incremental money they would have made off of him charging him as a client.

Right.

For hats and canes. And how many more things can you actually sell to a person?

One of those fake mustache, like, glasses deals.

That thing? $ 500, 000. Yeah. Okay.

So now it's the trial. And the public is shocked and captivated at every turn. And every day there's an onslaught of news reports that cover the proceedings. So murders in Malaysia are rare, but the brutal murder of a sitting politician where one of the killers is a woman and that woman is a shaman is unheard of. So Mona becomes the object of the public's fascination. Of course, she's young, she's chic, she's a bomo, and that's already made her a unicorn.

But Mona's behavior in the courtroom... really raises the intrigue levels.

Do you have pictures of her? Oh, yes.

Mona walks into the courtroom every day doing an all-teeth smile as she goes in and out.

That's her smile every day.

That's actually plastic surgery. She got her face.

She can't move it back.

She looks thrilled. It's very unsettling.

So that's how she looked going in and out every single day. She wore very chic clothes.

She had a full face of makeup.

She dressed to the nines like And she basically did this walk like it was a paparazzi walk.

It's such an out-of-touch thing to do that you kind of— it makes a little more sense that that's what she thinks she should be doing.

Yes.

Even acting like she— Isn't guilt. You know, it's like this is weird. That's weird. She needs like an emergency PR person.

Well, she was a singer, not an actor.

Right.

So she could only really cover herself that way. Here's another just.

Yeah, that is a joyous face.

She just I think she loves the camera. And it is that idea of like, I mean.

This is the story so many times when people want to be artists or want to go that direction and it doesn't work out.

Hitler, for example.

Hitler himself. It is such a weird pipeline. And then it's like showbiz.

Yeah. Anyway can get it. Yeah. Great.

I think those people, they should figure out that they can order those cameras and the flashes on Amazon.

And you can just do that for yourself.

Oh, take a photo of yourself?

Walk to the bathroom and make it a red carpet event. Why not?

Sure.

If you love it that much.

I mean, it looks like if you cover the police people, it looks like she's in a sitcom in the 80s. We're going to do it.

She's in a commercial for pantyhose.

Yes.

Yes, completely.

Crazy.

You can look at those pictures and be like, she's so chic. What's she all about? Or what is she doing? What is happening?

She also gets— it doesn't stop.

There— She inexplicably refers to all the people following this case as her fans.

Oh, dear.

She memorizes the names of all the reporters in the room. She thanks the court photographers for taking her photo.

Oh, jeez. She's Delulu.

Yes.

And no one expects to see this at a murder trial.

And even though she's one of three people, you know, involved in this crime or being accused of this crime, in the courtroom, it's only Mona.

Yeah.

As the press covers her, rumors of her so-called black magic powers spread to the point that she's thought of less as a murderer or a con artist and more of a supernatural being who has just made a human sacrifice. Yes.

Wow.

Yeah. When it becomes an international story, you may remember when it hit the U.S., they referred to her as a witch doctor. So it's just a complete circus. One reporter for Malaysia's The Star newspaper writes about an exchange where a court reporter saw Mona's other side when he, quote, accidentally pushed against her and in a flash, the irate Bomo spat at the poor man, the spittle hitting him in the arm. Everyone froze as the man duly dropped his camera and everything he was carrying fell and sped to the washroom to clean himself. The fear of enraging one believed to have supernatural powers is very real after all.

Wow. Yes. Not just it's gross.

Yeah.

It's, oh my God, like she's cursing.

Cursing, yeah.

Okay. So now it's February of 1995 and the trial's over and the jury has gone out to deliberate. It takes them less than an hour before coming back with their verdict. All three defendants are found guilty. At this time, a murder conviction in Malaysia is an automatic death sentence.

Yeah.

Anti-death penalty advocates immediately start lobbying for a reduction of their sentences. No one thinks these people are innocent. But advocates argue that given the media circus around the trial, and especially around Mona herself, there's no way any of them had an impartial jury.

It took the whole country by storm.

So Mona Afandi and Jeraimi spend six years on death row while police investigate to see whether they're linked to any other disappearances or unsolved murders involving dismembered bodies or ritualistic deaths or anything. Shit.

Nothing comes of it.

Okay.

But their sentence stands. And so one day in November of 2001, the three defendants are allowed several hours to say goodbye to their families, and they are executed.

Mona is 45 years old. Afandi is 44 years old. And Jeraime is 31 years old.

Wow.

And reportedly, I'm sorry to like this, but reportedly Mona's final words are, quote, I will never die.

My soul will live on forever, even after my demise.

Wow. Intense. Yes. She's not fucking around. I'll give her that.

It's a threat.

Yeah. Thanks to this case in part, Malaysia, like India, Pakistan, and Singapore, no longer has a jury system. Oh. It's abolished in 1995, a couple of years after this trial, and now all cases in Malaysia are determined by a judge.

There are people who debate which is better.

They both have flaws, you know, although many people believe a jury trial is the symbol of democracy. More recently in 2023, and thanks again to the efforts of anti-death penalty advocates, Malaysia's mandatory capital punishment for crimes like murder, drug trafficking, treason, and other offenses is is finally repealed.

Judges can still issue a death penalty. It's no longer an automatic sentence. Oh, do you have a joint in your pocket?

Yeah. Goodbye. So scary.

Meanwhile, Mona's role in Malaysian culture has transformed with time. She was a cultural boogeyman, the kind kids tell each other scary stories about at sleepovers. Yeah. And the story does reemerge when Malaysian people are unhappy with their national politicians.

Oh, shit.

Uh-huh.

So there was like a tweet that eventually was deleted. It was like their politics. Somebody had done something and somebody tweeted something like, it turns out Mona Fandi was right.

Yeah. That's a threat.

Right? Either way, it does seem like Mona Fandi was right because she isn't dead yet.

Wow, yeah.

And that's the story of Mona Fandy, the so-called witch doctor murderer.

Wow, I don't know that story at all.

Same.

Great job.

Oh, thank you, thank you.

I have a heist for you.

Oh, you do?

I sure do.

What a wonderful gift.

Put on your top hat and get your cane, and let's get ready.

I just need to manifest a magical cane and hat. What kind of hat are you picturing?

Just a straw hat?

Oh, I'm hello my baby.

Yeah, totally right. That you can punch through the top if you want to.

Or like a magician's like deep one where you put a little bunny, cute little bunny out of it.

Yeah, that's where you put all your money.

Well, speaking of money and heists and magic, the story I'm going to tell you today is a 1980s London heist, which at first baffled the police, but police get a lucky break and they're introduced to an Italian thief, who bursts on the London scene and commits at least six armed robberies in just a couple of years. Yep. This is the story of the Knightsbridge security deposit heist. And the main source for the story is an episode of the show Britain's Biggest Heist. And the rest of the sources can be found in the show notes. It's July 12th, 1987.

And we're in London's Knightsbridge neighborhood. Do you know it at all?

I've heard of it.

Okay. Well, it's a very fancy neighborhood, southern edge of Hyde Park, and it's home to the most famous department store in the world, Harrods. It's also home to the less touristy but just as expensive and fashion-y Harvey Nichols. This is a neighborhood where people are coming and going with a lot of money and very expensive clothes.

They used to always talk about Harvey Nichols on Absolutely Fabulous.

Oh, amazing. So it makes sense that right in the middle of this neighborhood is the Knightsbridge Security Deposit, a small office that houses 4,000 safe deposit boxes in a secured central vault. Yay. We love safe deposit boxes.

Mysteries.

These boxes are used by wealthy people who want to keep cash or jewelry in a safe place, but also likely by drug dealers and money launderers. Anyone can have a— Do you.

Have a little secret in there?

Exactly. Like, no one can look in them.

That's right.

You can put anything in there.

I love the idea, though, of, like, leaving a key behind when you die and they go to find what's in there.

Weird treasure from World War II.

Yeah.

Hidden things.

G.U.L.s.

Family secrets.

I think more people should fuck with people when they die. with their security deposit box.

They just like set a timer and take a picture of themselves sitting on a chair in an empty room.

It's like, where were they?

Right. Or treasure map.

Okay.

The bank is owned and managed by a man named Parvez Latif. And on the afternoon of July 12th, he has an appointment with a pair of potential customers who want to tour the facilities to potentially rent a box. The facilities. The facilities. Here's a photo of Parvez. So he's the owner of This whole area. He reminds me of Perfect Strangers.

Oh, yeah.

Bronson Pinchot.

Totally.

So 80s, that hair.

This is a cool guy. He went to Cambridge and then you met him at the train station.

And like one button undone at the top, probably.

Let's go get an espresso.

Definitely has like a gold necklace on. You can see it.

It's down there.

Yeah.

And it's got the little Italian horn on it.

That's right.

I'll totally stop talking if you need me to.

I really wish you wouldn't.

Okay. Stop.

Parvez is in his late 20s. He's very young to own such a high-profile business, and he had opened the business just a year earlier. But guess what? He has wealthy parents. Presumably, they fronted him the money, or some of the money, at least, to open the business.

Sorry.

You can just open a security deposit box business. I guess that's what you've been telling me for five minutes. But like it just dawned on me. Right.

It's not like owned by a bank.

Right.

It doesn't have to be like in a bank.

That's edgy.

It is weird. I guess I never like a P.O. box business. You'd think that you'd have to have some sort of ties to the fucking U.S. post office. I think. But no.

Do you not?

I guess. Well, I don't know about that. You must have to have some.

I want to see their contracts and their agreements. Certifications and everything. Please.

Please. He went to night school to get his certification.

Security deposit, which means I can.

Yes, you can too. When the two potential clients arrive, Parvez brings them downstairs to the basement where the vault is. And as soon as they're inside the vault, one of those potential clients, who, as you might have guessed, has actually no interest in renting a safe deposit box, he pulls out a sawed-off shotgun and holds it to Parvez's back.

The two thieves then take Parvez to the security control room. There's another guard there. They take him before he can trigger an alarm. And the thieves handcuff both men and lock them in the room outside the vault entrance. And then there's one other remaining guard. They grab him, also bring him down at gunpoint. So Parvez and the two guards sit in the ante room, listening to banging coming from inside the vault. So this is what's funny to me, is they don't have a sophisticated plan to get, you know, steal the keys to get into each They just start smashing the shit out of them, like literally. The vault is made of solid steel and houses 4,000 boxes, but only 800 are actually being used at the moment. The

three hostages hear the thieves make a few trips up and down the stairs. They hear another person come in and join the thieves. And so a supervisor is scheduled to come in by about 5. The thieves grab him, hold him at gunpoint, put him with the rest of the staff, and then the thieves flee.

Hmm.

The case is handled by the London Metropolitan.

What?

Metropolitan.

Jesus.

That was, can that be perimenopause? Could be.

Could be the pocket. It's the sachet in your cheek.

Oh, that's what it is. The case is handled by the London.

There's always another side.

I couldn't get the word metropolitan.

That's the one drawback. They say it on the commercial.

What?

When you put the pouch in.

Just know you'll never be able to say that. The Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad, which we've talked about before, so named because they fly from district to district as needed. From interviewing the staff and looking at the destroyed inside of the vault, the investigators can tell that the thieves smashed the boxes with something like a sledgehammer, loosened them.

That had to feel good. Loosen them from the wall, pry them out, and then smash them open.

What about all the precious gems and things that would be in there that if you smash it, like, I think they smashed it open.

To get, yeah. Like, pried it open.

But my vase.

That's on you, dude.

True.

That's on you.

Why did you put it in there? It doesn't even fit in there.

You didn't put any bubble wrap around it or nothing? Just threw it in.

I was on my way to the grocery store.

And so they couldn't tell from different colored markings on the locks which boxes were being used. It's kind of suspicious that they already knew what to look for, right? So they wasted no time with the 1,200 boxes that hadn't been in use. Of the 800 boxes that were in use, the thieves broke into 121 boxes, but they did go for the largest ones first. Smart. Yeah, but then also, I don't know, like when you go for your big presents, small presents, get the small ones.

It's always a regret.

Yeah. Yeah.

That's so true.

Yeah. Because it's always something weird, like a pair of boots or whatever. We're like, oh, that's not exciting.

It's like, trigger the eye. Okay.

I'd say medium box.

Medium box, too.

Yeah.

I just want film, unmarked film canister.

With what?

Mysteries, secrets.

And you shall. I'm going to grant that to you.

Thank you.

Tallying up all the losses from those 121 boxes is complicated, of course, because not all the victims... are going to come forward, and we don't really know. There's no fucking sign-in sheet.

Especially the ones that are like, hey, you stole my stolen.

Porn and bad things.

Exactly.

That's why it's in a safety deposit box.

Right.

People use safe deposit boxes as a way to hide assets, either because they don't want tax authorities to know their true net worth or because possibly what's in the box isn't legal for them to even own. So like a gun or, you know, drugs and things. Ultimately, 12 of the 121 affected box owners are never found. 12 people are like, all good. I'm out.

You can have it. You can keep it.

Still, as the investigation proceeds, the tally of the value of stolen goods creeps up and up. And, you know, they don't have an exact amount, but it finally stands at a staggering 60 million pounds.

For just a couple boxes?

For the 121 boxes.

Oh, yeah.

But still. And that's what people are reporting. Because someone would be like, oh, that necklace was totally worth a hundred thousand pounds. But, you know, I'm sure a lot of stuff was insured.

Right.

And then.

Or priceless beyond. Totally.

Naming.

Also, didn't we hear from someone, a listener, saying that you can't put cash, or that's just probably in the States, you can't put cash in a safe deposit box? Oh, is that true? I remember hearing someone write in, write in, everyone, about your safe deposit box experiences. We always want those.

Bankers. Get involved in this show for once.

What did you see? So it's not clear what mix of assets, cash, it could be precious stones, gold, securities made up this 60 million pounds. But in today's U.S. dollars, it would be worth about... And you have to do the conversion, too. So that's going to really throw you.

Can you just give me a hint? Are they usually above us or less than? This number is way above us.

Oh, okay.

Then should I just go for 110 million pounds?

289 million. You had the right idea, but yes.

But just not high enough.

Yeah.

$ 289 million.

At the time of the investigation, though, the total is thought to be closer to 40 million pounds. And in court, it's put at between 2 and 20 million pounds. There's just no way to know. But even with the, like, low estimate, it makes the theft the largest in U.K. history. Wow.

Right. I'm so jealous of after they got away from that safety deposit store.

Oh, just sitting on the ground, crisscross applesauce.

Yes, but it's like, did they rent a really nice hotel room?

Yeah.

But no, because they would see all those 100 security departments.

No, they didn't steal the boxes. They cracked them open.

And took the stuff.

And just, you know.

So they went in with all their duffel bags, Jason Statham style. I love that we both have the same.

For you listening at home and not watching on Netflix, Karen and I just threw both at the same time imaginary bundles of fucking treasure over our shoulders.

But then like dump it on a thing and then just start going, what did we get?

Have you seen the, on Instagram, I'm sure it's on TikTok too, there's like a chick who like, gets a bag full of silver things that are about to be melted down for like, you know, silver production. And it's all these antique things. And it's almost like she's doing treasure hunting at the junk shop. She can buy a bag of silver and it's all these little like antique lighters, old spoons, old like pieces of jewelry.

Just treasure.

Why do we have to melt it down?

Because you need to make more, I guess.

I don't know.

They melt the shit down all the time. The gold and the silver.

That's weird.

Send it to us. It's safe here.

At myfavoritemurderergmail.com.

It's safe.

Send your safety deposit boxes.

Put the phone number at the bottom of the screen.

I'm just reflecting and talking about the extreme greed in me because there is this like It's that idea of, like, it feels like Antiques Roadshow times a thousand.

I don't even think it's free, though, because I don't even need to keep it.

Oh, that's true. I just want to see it. Yeah, I just want to see what it is.

Keep one or two pieces that are special.

Stick a ruby in my pocket?

Sure.

Right. But otherwise, I just want to look at it and read the letters.

And know the secrets. Yeah.

Yes. We're on the same page. Okay, great.

I'm so glad we're not disagreeing about this.

In The Irish Independent, Brian Campbell writes, quote, As well as cash and diamonds, there were priceless pictures, antiques, heroin and cocaine. Yeah. Then he says actor George Hamilton lost 38,000 pounds from his box. What's Hamilton doing with all that money in there?

It's all suntan, like self-tanner.

And then still in the quote, while a member of the Saudi royal family lost gems and cash worth a quarter of a million. Imagine being that wealthy. You must have many safe deposit boxes as a way to like spread it out.

And little hidey holes.

Totally.

That's right.

Every time you take a trip, you're like. Well, we're here to see Hamilton, but I guess I'll go stick some of my riches into a safe deposit box.

George Hamilton? Email us and let us know how this affected you. What was in your safe deposit box? This is our only chance.

Yes, please, George Hamilton. I've watched you on television since I was five years old. I've always been a fan, although I'm not a tan person. I support you and your white suits and your tan skin.

Looks great. So handsome.

Truly of a time. Please tell us what is in your security box. There's got to be a great niece murdering out. George Hamilton.

I feel like we got him everywhere.

Michelle, tell your uncle.

Mackenzie, get in there and tell him.

Tell your great uncle.

Trust me, these girls need to know.

Thank you. My favorite murder at Gmail. Or just call us. Still in the quote. The family of jewelry magnate. Algernon Asprey lost a million and a Greek shipping tycoon lost his precious rubies and diamonds. Russian actress Lyudmila Romanova claimed her paper proving her descent from the Tsar had gone missing.

Mine too.

Same.

I was just trying to get a table and my certificate. Because they give out certificates?

Yes. Yes.

Oh, I guess birth certificates.

Oh, right.

That would make sense.

Not high school.

Not something like the czar sign.

Ludmilla, you're in.

Checkmate. Am I related to you? Check yes, no, maybe. What's the date today? I have to date this. Oh, you weren't asking.

That's how good the acting is.

That was great.

I drop into reality.

There are some rumors that we're out of the quote. There are some rules that royals are among the victims, including rumors of Prince Charles and Princess Diana being among the victims. But again, this place has only been in business for a year, so it's hard to tell. The examination of the crime scene takes eight days, but there's a stroke of luck. It looks like one of the thieves, while he was fucking hacking at those, had steel and shit, must have smashed his hand. And so there's a bloody fingerprint left at the scene. And this is the one thing it gives it all away. You are fucked.

If it wasn't for those meddling kids, I would have gotten away with it. Kind of great.

That's like, how about you're more delicate next time with the safety deposit boxes?

Kind of on you. So there are databases of fingerprints, of course, but there's no automated system to compare them. So basically this print has to be visually compared. The fact that they had to do that way back when is... Bananas.

Wild.

And eventually they find a hit off the Interpol fingerprint database. The print belongs to a 34-year-old man named Valerio Vichai. Super Italian. You love him. He's wanted for several major crimes in Italy. Take a look.

Valerio.

If he didn't have the unibrow, would you?

That's literally exactly what my eyebrows look like in sixth grade, A. B, yes. Look at that head of hair. And also, this is going to be one of the most withholding yet bossy and in-your-life men.

It's quite a combination.

He knows where to, like, drop a nice good girl every now and then.

You know what it is?

Even though you're a fucking feminist.

He's like.

He loves a feminist. He loves a bossy lady. He loves people that remind him of his mother. And he's like, I'm not going to go around robbing individual people. I'm just going to save it up, make a plan, and then smash a bunch of shit at the safety deposit box store.

This guy, he's your, like, bad boy.

He is.

So he'd been born to well-to-do parents in Italy. His father's a lawyer. His mother owns a boutique.

What?

Just that he's rich.

Yeah, he's rich. He'd gone to university in Rome and studied philosophy. Wow. But had fallen in with a neo-fascist gang.

Oh. Bro.

And this had eventually segued into a life of crime. It doesn't seem like there's any political motive. That was just a fleeting fancy. You know, falling into fascism is much, much easier.

Than a lot of people think. It's happened a lot.

Is this your, like, warning to everybody?

To you. To you.

He'd been convicted of at least 15 robberies in Italy, but had fled the country. And he's known for being a playboy, of course. He dresses flashily. He's into flashy cars. And he's also known for being a womanizer. But you could change him, I bet. I will.

Once I get my hands on his safety deposit boxes, I'm just using him.

That's how you tame the wild beast.

There is a character in this. Oh, yes. The Independent's James Dalrymple writes, quote, the Italian master criminal was an inept blunderer. A man almost always under the influence of cocaine. He was wanted for at least 57 major crimes throughout Europe and would later admit to five armed robberies in England prior to the Knightsbridge job.

How's he the blunderer if he's getting away with 50 robberies?

If they know he did it, he's not getting away with it.

Well, they're not arresting him. Leave him alone.

Would you stop defending this neo-fascist philosophy?

Let me romance.

Rich guy? So once the police know Valerio is involved, they can put together a list of known associates. And at the same time, they start tracking down a white getaway van. They learn that over the course of the heist, the thieves had put up a sign on the security deposit's front door saying that the business had to close unexpectedly.

That's all it takes.

Due to heist.

Back from lunch at noon or whatever.

Heist over at 2 p.m.

They also learned that at least some of the thieves had worn some kind of maintenance uniform in order to look like workmen. Always carry a ladder with you. You can get in anywhere. We always say that.

A nice 12-foot ladder gets you anywhere. Investigators figure out that.

The three accomplices who were on the scene with Valerio are David Poole, Stephen Mann, and Peter O'Donohue. The only one who looks like someone that I would cast is Stephen Mann.

Stephen Mann?

Guess who he is. Who is that?

It's the guy from The Bear.

It's Eton. Who's also Vince. Evan Moss-Backrack from Girls and from The Bear. It's so uncanny.

It's.

So good. Yeah.

Like has the sleepy look.

Yeah.

And then there's two other dudes.

Okay.

So here's David Poole. Let's see who would play him.

Oh.

I have no idea. That just looks like such a classic.

Giamatti. You're not going to.

Oh, Giamatti.

I mean, come on.

Definitely. Definitely Giamatti. And then we've got Peter O'Donoghue. Oh, so he's in like flock of fucking seagulls or some shit.

Peter O'Donohue, it's like your weird arty cousin where you're like, can you just wear a normal shirt?

There's going to be people there that I know.

Like that hair, you cut it to go that way? Or is it just the 80s, like blow it that way?

Well, and also just kind of like if we're trying to rob this security, it's a safe deposit box store. How about we're low key this time? And then you can do your hair expressions later on at the club. Save it for the club, Peter.

Okay. So all of them are known to Scotland Yard, but none of them are part of the regular circle of thieves that usually carry out the most daring and skillful heists. Like, this is ragtag. In the weeks following the heist, these three are all still going to their regular bars and clubs. Oh, God, take me there in the 80s. Well, Valerio seems to be gone. But a month passes. And in that time, investigators find out that immediately after the robbery, Valerio had bought a black Ferrari Testarossa.

Yes.

Your favorite.

Immediately buy a Ferrari if you rob somebody. It's such a good idea.

So low key.

It's exactly what you should do.

But again, someone else's money. You buy a Ferrari Testarossa with someone else's money.

I think there's a vibe to it, too, of like, get this off my hands. It's like hot and crazy. So just like I needed to immediately transfer to why I did this, which.

Is to have this car.

Yes.

But they can't seem to actually find Valerio or the car. They believe he had left the country with a woman, don't get jealous, named Pamela Seamarks. So this woman comes into the picture. Now, there is like no information about her online here. And the photos aren't great either. But She's fucking gorgeous.

Pamela.

She's like, oops.

She's got LA looks hair.

Doesn't she look like a California girl who just like got tangled up with the wrong guy?

She was like, I was on my semester abroad.

Yes.

And I left my crimping iron at home. My mistake.

And that left me exposed to the elements and an Italian like him.

She's got an oops on her face so hard. So it looks like the two of them flew to Israel to sell some of the stolen goods to an established fence.

I'm so sorry. I will stop talking after this.

Don't stop.

Them flying to Israel makes me go, did they find World War II documents? Right?

That's the thing I'm obsessed with?

Oh, I didn't even think about that.

Taking it back to, like, this is supposed to be yours?

Yes. Yes.

And here's proof. That would make them the good guys.

I know. What if they're the bad good guys? My favorite thing.

Oh, my God.

Bad guy, good guy.

I didn't even think about that. Mm-hmm. Or it's just corrupt there.

Or it's an easy place to sell stuff. We don't know.

And then they plan to go to Colombia to set up a brand new life. So police know that prior to the robbery, Valerio had been staying at this hotel. It doesn't exist anymore, unfortunately. I definitely looked it up. It's now called Thistle Hyde Park Hotel. So shout out.

But....

It's across the park from Knightsbridge. So it's like clear he fucking did it. Yeah. And they keep dropping by this hotel for about a month after the robbery, hoping that Valerio will check back in. Then they find out that the Ferrari has been spotted in the area.

They drove it to Israel.

They drove to Israel and drove back. But investigators have learned another very important detail in the intervening months. While they're monitoring Valerio, they pull phone records, his phone records. And they realize that the fence in Israel... A man named Israel Pincus had placed several phone calls from his office directly to the security center in the weeks after the robbery. So it's looking very much like our original victim, the guy who owns the security deposit box store or whatever, maybe has something to do with it. And maybe was in on it the whole time.

Inside job.

It's an inside job. His plan had been to get an insurance payout and to get a cut of the stolen goods.

That's why he opened the whole safety deposit box store in the first place?

Probably. And then also, like, them knowing what color to look for that had the boxes that had, like, stuff in it.

He went through and.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Well, that's in no way in the spirit of safety deposit boxes.

No.

You can't... You're the holder of the trust of those people.

Yeah, 100%. I hope he hears me. Investigators had also learned that our girl Pamela Seamarks, who is dating... Our richy rich bank robber Valerio had previously been dating Parvez, the guy who owns the shop.

Oh, my.

Sometime around the time of the robbery, she had started dating Valerio instead. And it seems like she met. Through, like, just dropped one for the other. Yeah.

You know?

I just want more information. And there isn't any. Like, that love triangle.

Yes.

And then, like, put their in on this fucking heist together.

Yeah, exactly. How long was the breakup between?

There wasn't. I don't think there was a breakup. Like, there was no between.

One to the other?

Yeah. Like, dump this guy.

What if it was something beautiful where it was like, Valeria was like.

You know what?

Go.

You're meant for him.

Yeah.

Or vice versa.

You know how men always do. Yeah. You know how Matt always thinks fucking rationally and straight.

And for others.

Yeah. So they believe that Valerio and Pamela had returned to London real quick on their way to Columbia to get the Ferrari to ship it to Columbia. One last stop, you know?

Like they don't have fucking fancy sports cars in Columbia. Yeah.

Yeah. Why would they have any there?

And like send someone else to do it then. You have so much money to send someone else to do it.

Yes.

On August 11th, investigators see Valerio leaving the hotel and getting into the Ferrari, the fucking Ferrari that everyone knows about. And they follow him along the northern boundary of Hyde Park to Marble Arch, where police then surround the car and order him out. Inside the Ferrari, police find close to two million pounds in cash and jewelry. Send it along.

Put it in a.

Nice cardboard box and ship it.

As well as plane tickets. It's the whole thing. Some of the jewelry had been specifically reported missing after the heist. So he's got the fucking hot goods on him.

Hot goods on him.

Bro. At first under questioning, Valerio admits to the robbery and actually admits to five other robberies in London in the couple of years that he's been in the country.

We don't want to know. Piano, piano.

We don't even want to know. But refuses to name any accomplices. Oh. According to some tellings of the story, police then tell Valerio that they will assume Pamela, his fucking girlfriend, had been the main accomplice and will charge her if he doesn't give everyone else up.

Threatening the woman he loves.

Yep. And it works.

This is a Hallmark movie.

I know. Hallmark? Yeah. This gets Valerio to talk and the whole story comes out. According to other tellings of the story, one of Valerio's associates who helped with the robbery, Stephen Mann... had cracked under interrogation and also gave up everyone else, including Parvez, the guy who owns the shop.

Was Stephen Mann the one with the haircut?

No, that was Peter. Stephen Mann is.

From the bear.

Yeah, from the bear. Got it. He gives everyone up. Maybe he's got like a monologue and then, you know.

They're screaming, they're smoking. It's going to be amazing.

So the story comes together like this. Valerio had met Parvez months before the robbery and had actually become a client using one of the safe deposit boxes himself. Parvez had allowed him to rent the box without actually putting his name on the registry or showing ID. And he had then over time learned that the security cameras at the building didn't work. And Parvez was generally lax about the rules that other criminals like and that other criminals likely left their spoils in the deposit box. So he was chill with thieves and criminals. And so they put their shit in there. And then a thief and criminal came and took all the thieves and criminal stuff. That's a dangerous game.

You can't be loosey-goosey with the safety deposit boxes.

That's why we keep them at banks and don't go indie.

Right.

And shockingly, Parvez was struggling to keep the business afloat, despite his business plan and business model.

What if you leave your business card in the phone booth? Maybe that would help.

Over time, he figures out that Parvez would be amiable to the scheme and convinces him to be involved. It seems like both Parvez and Valerio were party-loving guys in their 30s who had wealthy parents, so it's possible. You saw the haircut?

You saw what they were doing?

It's possible they ran in connected circles, and at some point along the way, Valerio meets Pamela and steals her away. Fuck.

They're old friends.

Maybe.

Depends on how you write it. During the space of the investigation, police learned that many things had gone wrong on the day of the robbery. There were issues with the radio communication and with where the various getaway cars had been parked. Can you imagine walking out with— fuck, man!

Walking out with an orange cone. This is our— this is our— tell me back. It's a— It's a big Ferrari.

This case, this bag I'm having on my shoulder, nothing. Down the block. It's just cats.

Three more blocks. Come on.

At one point, unable to communicate with the man posted outside the building, Valeria had emerged from the building and had run straight into several police officers who were looking for a missing child and just moved on.

She screamed and screamed.

She's in the bag. Investigators learn one more piece of information that never seems to be totally verified. It seems that Valerio's father, the lawyer, had been in London at the time of the robbery, and some believe he knew about it, but there's no way to know.

You wouldn't pull your dad in. It'd be stupid. If your dad's a lawyer— I mean, you might pull Marty in, but— Yeah, my dad, yes. Your rich lawyer Italian dad, no. He wants nothing to do with your shenanigans. You've been embarrassing the family for years.

For real. He's told you time and again.

Yeah.

Look at your brother. He's thriving. Why can't you be like your brother?

So sorry. You're telling me that I loaned you that money so you could open a safety deposit box.

Store and it was insincere? You didn't really care? How dare you? That wasn't your dream?

You know how seriously this family takes safe deposit boxes. Okay. So the case goes to trial around the end of 1988 and everyone is found guilty. Valerio is given the harshest sentence at 22 years. Parvez is sentenced to 18 years. The associates are all sentenced to around 10 years. Pamela Seamarks is given an 18-month suspended sentence for her knowledge of the robbery. Poor girl. Valeria, I don't know why I want her to be the hero.

Yeah. She's just kind of the hangout. She's the hangout girl, it sounds like.

It's like bad decisions.

Or she loves Valeria. She loves that man.

Sure.

And she'll do anything for his Ferrari.

Valeria serves the beginning of his sentence at Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight. And while he's there, he wears a T-shirt that says, I love Knightsbridge. and has a clown's face on it with dollar signs for eyes. That's so punk rock. Wait, will you describe it again? He wears a t-shirt that says, I love Knightsbridge, and it has a clown's face on it with dollar signs for eyes.

That's really, is he Banksy? That's crazy.

He might be. Then in 1992, he was extradited to Italy under the Treaty of Strausburg, your favorite treaty.

It's one of the best ones.

Yeah, which was one of several big developments around solidifying the EU at the time. So he's then in prison in Pescara. You been there?

Pescara's gorgeous, and there's really good fresh seafood.

On the Adriatic coast.

Yeah.

But shortly after that, he is put in a program that lets him leave the prison, go to work every day, come back home to have a couple hours of sleep at night in the prison, and Wow. He gets a job.

That's not prison at all.

No.

That's just having an apartment.

In the shape of a prison. He gets a job with a publisher. And in April 2000, when Valerio is about 45 years old and out on his usual day release, he and an accomplice are pursued by police. They say that maybe one of his day jobs was planning a fucking another heist. What? Really? Yeah. So they think he and his accomplice have been planning to either rob a bank or kidnap a member of a high profile Italian family.

There's a brief chase and then there's a shootout and Valerio dies in the shootout.

They kill him.

Wow.

I looked up Pamela. All I could find was a note that says she retreated to private life as a housewife in the home counties, avoiding any further public spotlight.

Yeah, that would make sense. Yeah.

She's someone's meemaw now.

She's a lady, yeah, standing in the back of the room at the talent show. And she's like, if you'd asked me.

You don't even know.

You have no fucking clue what I've seen.

This is why you ask your grandma. Yes. At fucking Thanksgiving or whatever the equivalent is, Boxing Day.

Grandma, me ma, did you ever have an Italian lover that was a bank robber?

Yes.

Tell us and then write it at myfavoritemurder at Gmail.

Write now.

The neurotropics are working. Only about 10 million pounds was ever recovered from the stolen safe. So did Pamela actually run off with more?

I mean, one would hope.

I hope.

What if she has a safe deposit box? And when she dies, her granddaughter, her great-granddaughter— Gets to.

Smash it open.

Yeah. I was going to say, what if she— because she's the one person that doesn't buy a Ferrari. She's the one person that doesn't immediately go on a spending spree. Yeah.

She truly got away with it.

She keeps those rubies in a special place in her closet. Yeah. This is why you have to go through your grandparents' closets.

She opens her closet and she's got her rubies on a little shelf.

And a little photo.

And a little painting of just the unibrow. Because no one can know. It's her secret.

Dreams of safe deposit boxes every night. Only about 10 million pounds was ever recovered from the stolen safe deposit boxes. Around 12 box owners have never come forward at all.

Criminal dirty birds.

Those are the ones we want the most. Curves.

What are you doing?

And that is the story of the Knightsbridge security deposit heist.

I promise to never drink a venti frappuccino again.

Same with whatever I fucking did.

God, that was fun.

A meth pouch, clearly.

What do they put in our stuff? That was great.

That was fun. Thank you.

That was really good. Fun times. And your skin looks amazing.

What?

It looks amazing right now.

Thank you. 63 days, alcohol-free.

Incredible. It looks great.

Thank you. Wow.

That's so nice to hear. It's fun to have fun, but it's even better when you look great.

Absolutely. This is hard.

We've had to stare at each other for 10 years. It's not easy.

Can you do me a favor and pluck your eyebrows at least?

Please get rid of that fucking chin hair.

Well, good job.

Good job. What we just did is what podcasting is. Yeah. Forcing people to listen to us. Totally.

Basically. Don't listen to any of these newfound podcasters trying to talk about, you know.

Real shit.

Interviewing celebrities. That's radio.

That's for others. Exactly.

That's talk shows. This is the one.

This is the your two friends amped up on a chemical. We're not going to talk about which one. Jess. Or Judge.

Really stressing through life.

Just really powering through life. Story by story.

Because we love you. And don't get murdered. Goodbye. Elvis, do you want a cookie?

This has been an Exactly Right production.

Our managing producer is Molly Smith.

Our consulting producer is Kate Schellenbach.

Our creative lead is Allison Agosti.

Our associate producer is Tessa Hughes, and our editor is Aristotle Acevedo.

This episode was mixed by Liana Squalacci.

Our researchers are Maren McGlashan and Allie Elkin.

Email your hometowns to myfavoritemurder at gmail.com and follow the show on Instagram at myfavoritemurder.

Listen to My Favorite Murder on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Or watch new episodes every week on Netflix. Search for My Favorite Murder, add us to your list, and hit the double thumbs up button. Goodbye.

547 - Always on the Precipice

Kapitelklicken springt direkt hin

Shownotes

Transkriptvom Podcast bereitgestellt · Zeitmarken springen hin