Today we dive into the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa (!!!) and the investigation that even dragged Pablo Picasso into police questioning. Plus, we set the stage for the modern-day 2025 Louvre robbery that eerily mirrors the past...

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A special thanks to Sarah Schilling for assisting with the research on this episode.

Sources:

NPR Staff. (2011, July 30). The theft that made the “Mona Lisa” a masterpiece. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2011/07/30/138800110/the-theft-that-made-the-mona-lisa-a-masterpiece

Andrews, E. (2016). The heist that made the Mona Lisa famous. History.com. https://www.history.com/articles/the-heist-that-made-the-mona-lisa-famous

Everything we know about the Louvre jewellery heist. (2025). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7nrlkg0zxo

In just 7 brazen minutes, thieves grab ‘priceless’ jewels from Louvre. (2025, October 19). The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/world/europe/louvre-paris-robbery.html

Four more arrests made following Louvre jewellery heist. (2025). BBC News. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cr5zm7n8ngpo

Ord, S. (2026). Authorities announce progress in Louvre jewellery heist investigation. Jeweller Magazine. https://www.jewellermagazine.com/Article/14781/Authorities-announce-progress-in-Louvre-jewellery-heist-investigation

Leath, M. (2025). A history of heists at the Louvre: From the Mona Lisa to Napoleon’s jewels. ABC News. https://abcnews.go.com/International/history-heists-louvre-mona-lisa-napoleons-jewels/story?id=126680032

Mona Lisa returns to her home in an improved high-tech display case. Goppion. https://www.goppion.com/journal/mona-lisa-returns-to-her-home-in-an-improved-high-tech-display-case-by-goppion-1

Wilson, B. (n.d.). Vincenzo Peruggia: The man who stole the Mona Lisa. Medium. https://brucewilsonauthor.medium.com/vincenzo-peruggia-the-man-who-stole-the-mona-lisa-71fb61cb7128

Stolen! How the Mona Lisa became the world’s most famous painting. (n.d.). Smithsonian Magazine. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/stolen-how-the-mona-lisa-became-the-worlds-most-famous-painting-16406234/

A mummified “mannequin” hanging in a 1970s amusement park turned out to be something far stranger: the real body of outlaw Elmer McCurdy. What began as a strange prop on a funhouse ride unfolds into one of the most bizarre afterlife stories in American history. This is the unbelievable journey of the outlaw who kept traveling after death!

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Sources

• https://www.history.com/articles/elmer-mccurdy-mummy-dead-outlaw
• https://www.nytimes.com/1977/04/15/archives/wax-model-identified-as-oklahoma-bandit.html
• https://williams-williams-michael.medium.com/elmer-mccurdy-outlaw-mummy-7521975d08c6
• The Valley Tribune, Wed, Dec 14, 1977 · Page 6 “Elmer the mummified desperado”
• https://blogs.loc.gov/headlinesandheroes/2018/07/elmer-mccurdy-traveling-corpse/
• https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/tcrr-nitroglycerin/
• https://www.oklahoman.com/story/entertainment/2022/04/14/oklahoma-outlaw-turned-mummy-elmer-mccurdy-inspires-musical-dead-outlaw/9427777002/

This week we unravel the infamous “Wine and Cheese Heist” of 1976, masterminded by photographer slash chicken farmer Albert Spaggiari and his 20-man “sewer gang,” who spent months digging a secret tunnel, then casually looted a French bank vault over a holiday weekend, taking their time robbing the place while enjoying a wine and cheese picnic. But a couple of red chisels, stolen gold bars, a CIA tip-off, and one of the most cinematic courtroom escapes in history would ultimately crack the case.

A special thanks to Sarah Schilling for assistance with the research for this case!

SOURCES

• The Heist of the Century: Inside the Société Générale Detectives’ Case. The New York Times. December 19, 1976.
• https://www.nytimes.com/1976/12/19/archives/the-heist-of-the-century-inside-the-soci-t-g-n-rale-detectives.html
• French Hero-Criminal Gets Life in Absentia. The New York Times. November 8, 1979.
• https://www.nytimes.com/1979/11/08/archives/french-herocriminal-gets-life-in-absentia.html
• Albert Spaggiari, 57, Mastermind of Notorious Riviera Bank Heist. The New York Times. June 12, 1989.
• https://www.nytimes.com/1989/06/12/obituaries/albert-spaggiari-57-mastermind-of-notorious-riviera-bank-heist.html
• Mastermind of Notorious Bank Theft in France Dies. Orlando Sentinel. June 12, 1989.
• https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1989/06/12/mastermind-of-notorious-bank-theft-in-france-dies/
• FRANCE: Bank Heist of the Century. Time.
• https://time.com/archive/6848187/france-bank-heist-of-the-century/
• Suspected Mastermind on Trial for France’s ‘Heist of the Century’. The Guardian. February 12, 2018.
• https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/12/jacques-cassandri-suspected-mastermind-societe-generale-france-heist-trial
• French Gangster Jacques Cassandri on Trial for 1976 ‘Heist of the Century’. BBC News.
• https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43035229
• Albert Spaggiari and the Société Générale Robbery. RivRep.
• https://rivrep.com/history-and-traditions/811-albert-spaggiari-and-the-societe-generale-robbery

In 1931 Liverpool, we witness a crime that seems physically "impossible": Julia Wallace is brutally murdered inside her locked home, with no sign of forced entry and no clear way for the killer to escape. What begins with a mysterious phone call to a chess club and a nonexistent address spirals into one of history’s most famous real-life locked room mysteries.

In part two we will discuss the investigation and trial that follows the murder, all the while asking ourselves: "Did William Herbert Wallace kill his wife?"

Today's research couldn't have been possible without my friend and talented Records Custodian, Sarah Schilling. Special thanks to her!

Follow us on instagram

@mysteryfortwopodcast

Sources:

Liverpool City Police, “The Murder of Julia Wallace,” official case summary.

Court of Criminal Appeal, R v Wallace [1931], judgment quashing conviction.

Trial testimony of William Herbert Wallace and key witnesses, Liverpool Assizes, April 1931.

Curtis, J. H., The Trial of William Herbert Wallace. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1934.

Murphy, James, The Murder of Julia Wallace. 2001.

Nickell, Joe, “The Impossible Murder of Julia Wallace,” Skeptical Inquirer 45, no. 5 (2021).

“William Herbert Wallace,” Wikipedia.

“The Julia Wallace Murder,” Historic Mysteries.

William Herbert Wallace case files, williamherbertwallace.com.

In 1931 Liverpool, we witness a crime that seems physically "impossible": Julia Wallace is brutally murdered inside her locked home, with no sign of forced entry and no clear way for the killer to escape. What begins with a mysterious phone call to a chess club and a nonexistent address spirals into one of history’s most famous real-life locked room mysteries.

In part one, we meet William Herbert Wallace and his wife Julia, and follow the strange chain of events that lead up to her murder. In part two we will discuss the investigation and trial that follows, all the while asking ourselves: "Did William kill his wife?"

Today's research couldn't have been possible without my friend and talented Records Custodian, Sarah Schilling. Special thanks to her!

Follow us on instagram

@mysteryfortwopodcast

Sources:

Liverpool City Police, “The Murder of Julia Wallace,” official case summary.

Court of Criminal Appeal, R v Wallace [1931], judgment quashing conviction.

Trial testimony of William Herbert Wallace and key witnesses, Liverpool Assizes, April 1931.

Curtis, J. H., The Trial of William Herbert Wallace. London: Geoffrey Bles, 1934.

Murphy, James, The Murder of Julia Wallace. 2001.

Nickell, Joe, “The Impossible Murder of Julia Wallace,” Skeptical Inquirer 45, no. 5 (2021).

“William Herbert Wallace,” Wikipedia.

“The Julia Wallace Murder,” Historic Mysteries.

William Herbert Wallace case files, williamherbertwallace.com.

One morning in August 1994, a small town in Washington watched as translucent, gelatin-like blobs of goo fell from the sky, making people violently ill, and sparking a mystery that recently resurfaced 30 years later. From medieval “star jelly” to real cases of fish raining from the sky around the world, this episode explores bizarre happenings in nature.

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@MysteryForTwo

Sources:

The UnBelievable with Dan Aykroyd, Season 2, Episode 1

“The Day Blobs Rained Down on Oakville,” The Chronicle

“Return of the Blobs: SW Washington Revisited by Decades-Old Gooey Mystery,” KUOW

“Can You Solve the Mystery of the Oakville Blobs?” KUOW

Gordon, Benjamin Lee. Medieval and Renaissance Medicine (1959)

Belcher, Hilary & Swale, Erica. “Catch a Falling Star,” Folklore (1984)

“Star Jelly,” Wikipedia (with historical medical references)

“Lluvia de Peces: The Rain of Fish,” Atlas Obscura

“Animal Rain: A Real Phenomenon?” Sinapsi e Diaria

“Why Does It Rain Fish in Honduras?” CaterPickles

During a midnight shoot for Titanic in Halifax, nearly 80 cast and crew members, including director James Cameron, suddenly began hallucinating after eating bowls of lobster chowder. This mystery begs the question: who spiked the chowder?

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Sources:

• https://www.newspapers.com/article/star-phoenix/31135045/
• https://www.newspapers.com/article/calgary-herald/31137984/
• https://www.businessinsider.com/titanic-pcp-laced-chowder-mystery-what-happened-2024-4
• https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/12/titanic-pcp-chowder
• https://globalnews.ca/news/10462345/titanic-movie-set-pcp-chowder-halifax-details/
• https://www.vulture.com/2022/12/25-years-later-no-one-knows-who-spiked-the-titanic-chowder.html
• https://mysticsciences.com/ghost-stories/ghosts-of-the-titanic-haunting-tales-that-endure-time/

A man is found unconscious behind a Burger King dumpster with no name, no past, and no record of ever existing, launching one of the strangest identity mysteries the FBI had ever seen. This episode unravels the decades-long search to uncover who “Burger King Doe” really was, and how the mystery was finally solved.

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instagram.com/mysteryfortwopodcast

Sources:

• https://isogg.org/wiki/Benjaman_Kyle
• https://newrepublic.com/article/138068/last-unknown-man
• https://abcnews.go.com/Health/man-amnesia-finds-family-searching-11-years/story?id=33864237
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2079505/
• https://www.transylvaniatimes.com/front_page/benjaman-kyle-asks-who-am-i/article_49997a20-73bd-5c7a-86c9-e12784dc462b.html
• https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-amnesia-20151004-story.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nwpvh7E0Mc