On January 11th, 2003, Maria Angels Ribot leaves work at the usual time. She parks her car in her usual parking space: number 15, on the fourth floor of Calle Beltran in the posh Putxet district of Barcelona. She walks to the elevator as usual.
But then something unusual happens: she suddenly sees a stranger step out of the shadows. That's strange, because to get into the parking garage you need a special key. How did this guy get in here? More importantly: why is he walking towards her?
She hugs her bag a little tighter to her body and starts pressing the elevator button, hoping it will come soon. But then she sees the knife…

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts!

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime

Or buy my new book: Wicked Walks though Spain: Hiking along Spanish historical crime scenes. Check it out on Amazon.com or send me a message on Liz@Doffeltje.nl

100% of the proceeds go to the care and rescue of (elderly) dogs in Portugal and Spain.

On January 11th, 2003, Maria Angels Ribot leaves work at the usual time. She parks her car in her usual parking space: number 15, on the fourth floor of Calle Beltran in the posh Putxet district of Barcelona. She walks to the elevator as usual.
But then she sees a stranger step out of the shadows. That's strange, because to get into the parking garage you need a special key. How did this guy get in here? More importantly: why is he walking towards her?
She hugs her bag a little tighter to her body and starts pressing the elevator button, hoping it will come soon, but then she sees the knife…

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts!

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime

Or buy my new book: Wicked Walks though Spain: Hiking along Spanish historical crime scenes send me a message on Liz@Doffeltje.nl

On April 22nd, 1984, a man in his forties drives a white Mercedes to Estación de Francia, a busy railway station in Barcelona. He has three children in the car with him: five-year-old Ramón, four-year-old Ricard, and two-year-old Elvira.

'Sit here for a moment,' the man tells the three. 'I'm just gonna go and get us some candy.'

Time ticks by, but the man never returns. No candy either. The three abandoned kids are taken in by the police. When the police ask for the names of their parents, they say they don't know. Just Papa and Mama. The oldest brother, Ramón, remembers some fragments of their previous lives. There was a green Jaguar, a fountain in Paris and oh yes, a gun.

It will take almost forty years before the mystery of these three abandoned children is solved. And even then, they are left with a lot of unanswered questions.

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts!

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime

Or buy my new book: Wicked Walks through Spain - A Hiker's Guide to Spain's Historic Crime Scenes - It is available for pre-order on Amazon.com

In 1979, one of the biggest criminals from the 1930s died quietly in a fancy apartment in Torremolinos. Alvin "Creepy" Karpis was behind countless bank robberies, kidnappings, and murders. For years, he was one of America's most wanted criminals with the FBI constantly on his tail. Karpis was also the prisoner who spent the longest time incarcerated at the infamous Alcatraz prison. In 1979, the police find his remains in his apartment under highly suspicious circumstances.
Was it a suicide or had Creepy's criminal past finally caught up with him?

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts!

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime
Or buy my new book: Wicked Walks through Spain - A Hiker's Guide to Spain's Historic Crime Scenes - It is available for pre-order on Amazon.com

In December 1928, a large crate arrives at Mediodía station in Madrid, nowadays known as Atocha Station. The paperwork shows that the crate was sent from Barcelona on December 7 and has been sitting there for four and a half months, waiting for someone to pick it up. No one ever comes for it, so according to the rules, the station master will now open the crate and sell the contents.

As soon as they pull out the first nails from the wooden lid, the storage room starts to fill with a horrible odour. "I thought it had to be another spoiled ham," the manager later recounts in an interview. When they lift the lid, they first see old newspapers and then some sheets, followed by a human leg, including a foot with a shiny shoe. It turns out that the crate contains the half-decayed, chopped up pieces of a man. Not just any man, but an extremely well-dressed male, about thirty years old, dark, tall, and broad-shouldered. With - even after all those months - beautifully manicured hands and wearing silk underwear. A very well taken care of specimen. The only thing missing? His head.

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts!

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime

Or buy my book: Smalltalk Survival: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Talk-Survival-meaningful-graceful-ebook/dp/B09DW91Z77

Or my upcoming book, Camino Negro, A Hiker's Guide to Spain's Historic Crime Scenes. Available from the end of May.

In the early morning of July 15, 1915, sixteen-year-old Joaquín Barniello walks into the Finca de Malladas, a huge manor farm. The Count of Malladas's farm is one of the biggest employers around, mainly raising pigs. Joaquín works there as a seasonal worker. It's oddly quiet today. Joaquín kind of expected this, since even though there are usually about fifty people working on the farm, pretty much everyone's got the day off to celebrate. In the nearby village of Moraleja, they're having their yearly San Bonaventura festival. Every year, people from all over the area come to this festival to eat, drink, sing, and dance their hearts out. Joaquín had a pretty wild time at the festival last night, but now it's back to work. The pigs aren't going to feed themselves.

The silence starts getting more and more oppressive. It's just way too quiet around the farm - there should at least be a farmhand, some maids, and their kids are usually running around as well. Joaquín heads to the barn. It's dark in there and something smells... off. Metallic. He pushes the door open a bit further. And that's when he comes across a bloodbath.

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts!

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime

Or buy my book: Smalltalk Survival: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Talk-Survival-meaningful-graceful-ebook/dp/B09DW91Z77

Or my upcoming book, Camino Negro: A Hiker's Guide to Spain's Historic Crime Scenes. Available from the end of May.

In the early morning of July 15, 1915, sixteen-year-old Joaquín Barniello walks into the Finca de Malladas, a huge manor farm. The Count of Malladas's farm is one of the biggest employers around, mainly raising pigs. Joaquín works there as a seasonal worker. It's oddly quiet today. Joaquín kind of expected this, since even though there are usually about fifty people working on the farm, pretty much everyone's got the day off to celebrate. In the nearby village of Moraleja, they're having their yearly San Bonaventura festival. Every year, people from all over the area come to this festival to eat, drink, sing, and dance their hearts out. Joaquín had a pretty wild time at the festival last night, but now it's back to work. The pigs aren't going to feed themselves.

The silence starts getting more and more oppressive. It's just way too quiet around the farm - there should at least be a farmhand, some maids, and their kids are usually running around as well. Joaquín heads to the barn. It's dark in there and something smells... off. Metallic. He pushes the door open a bit further. And that's when he comes across a bloodbath.

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review wherever you listen to podcasts!

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime

Or buy my book: Smalltalk Survival: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Talk-Survival-meaningful-graceful-ebook/dp/B09DW91Z77

Or my upcoming book, Camino Negro, A Hiker's Guide to Spain's Historic Crime Scenes. Available from the end of May.

For this episode I read El Crimen de Malladas by Luis Roso.

On the night of April 11th, a priceless, 15th-century masterpiece is stolen from Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent. Thieves manage to run off with a side panel of the Ghent Altarpiece. What follows, reads like a crime novel: threatening letters, ransom demands, deathbed confessions, secret codes, international conspiracies, Templars, Nazis, the Holy Grail, murder and … a cheese theft.

Almost a hundred years after the theft, the panel still hasn't surfaced. And this was not the first time this painting had been stolen. It is actually considered the most stolen painting in history. Why do people keep stealing this particular painting? Could the answer finally be found in the tomb of King Albert I of Belgium?

If you'd like to support this podcast: please share this episode, leave a comment or give me a five star review.

More In search of Lost Crime? Follow me on Instagram: @insearchoflostcrime

Or buy my book: Smalltalk Survival: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Talk-Survival-meaningful-graceful-ebook/dp/B09DW91Z77

Or my upcoming book, Camino Negro, A Hiker's Guide to Spain's Historic Crime Scenes. Available from the end of April.