
Infamous Crimes of the 20th Century
12 Clips
Investigating infamous criminals and murders from the 1920s, these videos focus on true crime cases that shocked the world.
Playlist
This Famous Machine Gun was an Essential Gangster Accessory
From: America in Color: Organized Crime
- 1m 36s
- HD
Nicknames made the gangster, and certainly added to their roguish mystique. But there was nothing romantic about their weapon of choice: the rapid-firing instrument of death known as the Tommy Gun.
How They Caught the Lindbergh Baby's Kidnapper
From: Catching Killers: Plant Evidence
- 3m 23s
- HD
A wooden ladder used in the abduction of the Lindbergh baby became a key piece of evidence when a wood expert managed to trace one of its rungs back to a missing floorboard in the suspect's home.
The Crime of the Century
From: Stories from the Vaults: Villains and Rogues
- 2m
- HD
Famous architect Stanford White commissioned scandalous portraits of Evelyn Nesbit, driving her husband Henry Thaw to murder.
Is Donald Harvey the Most Prolific Serial Killer in America?
From: Catching Killers: Cause of Death
- 3m 29s
- HD
Find out how forensic pathologists determined that Donald Harvey, a mild-mannered hospital worker who called himself the "Angel of Death", murdered nearly 100 people.
How DNA Helped Catch a Killer, 31 Years Later
From: Catching Killers: DNA Profiling
- 3m 5s
- HD
To prove that Dennis Rader is BTK - and not the "normal guy" he seems to be - the police have to get creative with DNA testing.
This Interview Strategy Led a Serial Killer to Confess
From: Catching Killers: Criminal Profiling
- 3m 4s
- HD
When the Green River Killer is convicted of murder, the FBI brings in Dr. Mary Ellen O'Toole, leading expert in psychopathy, to get the killer to confess to 44 unsolved homicides.
The Bones Under Gacy's House
From: Catching Killers: Skeletal Secrets
- 3m 12s
- HD
Identifying all of the skeletons found under Gacy's house will take years, but by reading the clues in the bones, forensic anthropologists can tell what kind of person the Killer Clown targeted.
This Was the Birth of DNA Profiling
From: Catching Killers: DNA Profiling
- 3m 15s
- HD
In 1983, police in Leicestershire, England struggle to make their case - until they join forces with scientists, who are just discovering the potential of DNA profiling.
This Gangster Made a Killing With His Off-Shore Gambling Haven
From: America in Color: Organized Crime
- 2m 31s
- HD
Gambling was illegal in California during the 1930s. Anthony "Tony The Hat" Cornero got around it by setting up a floating casino, three miles off the coast, which soon had him raking in almost 00,000 a month.
How Americans Found a Clever Loophole in the Prohibition Act
From: America in Color: The 1920s
- 2m 17s
- HD
Just because the country had voted to outlaw alcohol, didn't mean that people would comply. The legal case wasn't much helped by a quirky loophole which allowed people to drink existing supplies at home.
Prohibition Inspired a New Generation of Rebellious Women
From: America in Color: The 1920s
- 2m
- HD
One of the social side effects of Prohibition was it inspired many women to break out and challenge the conservative norms of society. These women were dubbed 'Flappers.'
Why Prohibition Was Set Up to Fail Right From the Start
From: America in Color: Organized Crime
- 1m 48s
- HD
From the very beginning, prohibition was set up to fail. With only 1,500 agents charged with stopping the flow of alcohol into the U.S., most people continued drinking as they had done before.
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