The Antwerp Diamond Heist and the Gads Hill Train Robbery: History Daily Swap
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Welcome back to the Underworld Podcast. The podcast where two journalists who are purported all over the world take you through various stories of international organized crime and all the fun things that go with it. I am your host, Danny Gold, and I'm here as always with Sean Williams, who is now in New Zealand. Sean, what's going on, bud? It's sunny. There's lots of trees, trees and hills, my favorite things in the world. Done a lot of hiking, pretending I'm an outdoorsy person now I'm living here.

it. Yeah, it's chill. It's a tiny country. It's not like Europe. Exciting, exciting, exciting stuff. Exciting stuff going on. Yeah, we got a bunch of good episodes coming up for you guys. I'm working on one now about the Andrangheta with a special Italian journalist.

Got one going on about the Clublands Mafia ecstasy stuff in New York City and Miami in the 90s. Sean, you got a couple of things you got going on now. Yeah, yeah. I've been looking into like Amazon Rainforest Mafias. We've got a show on like criminal megachurches coming up. There's Maori bikers here in Wellington in New Zealand. It's going to be cool.

And there's also some pretty juicy stuff I had to leave out of my reporting on Joe Exotic. If anyone remembers that guy, including this gangster down south in Florida who feeds his narco rivals to the tigers. So there's that. But I'm also off on assignment soon-ish to India. So we're going to put some stuff on the show from that trip as well. Some really cool kind of gang related stories. So yeah, there's plenty coming up. Just a...

Staying topical, man. You're just bringing out that Joe Exotic content about two and a half years later than everyone else. Still not sore about getting that Netflix show deal.

Yeah. Anyway, this week we have a episode swap we're doing with History Daily, but we've got some good crime episodes coming for you guys. This is actually a 271 first on the Antwerp Diamond Heist in 2003, which was one of the biggest heists in history. And then there's one on, I think, a train robbery with Jesse James, who we all know and love. But

This is a show that they're going to be airing one of our episodes. They themselves do a new episode every day telling you fascinating stories of what happened on this day in history. New episodes, I think every single day, history, famous battles, fashion first, technology, religion, politics, all stuff like that. The episodes are only 15 minutes long, or 20 minutes long, something like that. So we've got two of them coming up.

And you will learn interesting things. And then you can tell us whether it's better than our podcast or vice versa. Should we switch up to daily shows then? Yeah, God, that's never going to happen. But anyway, that's what we got going for you guys today. Please enjoy and tune in next week. Bonus episodes, patreon.com, justinandworldpodcast. Or you can sign up on iTunes. It's February 17th, 2003.

On an overcast Monday morning in Antwerp, Belgium, a security guard approaches the front door of a large concrete building. He punches in the entry code, unlocking a set of bulletproof glass doors, and then steps inside the lobby of the Antwerp World Diamond Center. This fortress-like building is the epicenter of the Antwerp Diamond District, a one-square-mile section of the city where over 80% of the world's rough diamonds are cut, polished, and sold.

The security guard whistles as he crosses the lobby, his shoes squeaking on the parquet floor. Every day, millions of dollars worth of diamonds are traded right here in the diamond center. And before being sold and shipped, many of the diamonds are stored inside safe deposit boxes locked in a vault directly beneath this building. That's where the security guard is going to make sure the vault is secure before the day's trading begins. But the guard's not worried.

The Diamond Center's vault is among the strongest in the world. It's defended by 10 impregnable layers of security, including heat and motion sensors, Doppler radar, closed-circuit TV cameras, and a lock with over 100 million possible combinations. Bypassing just one of those layers of security is inconceivable. Overcoming all of them is impossible.

The security guard descends two floors in an elevator and emerges in the basement. He twirls his keys around his index finger as he strolls up to the door of the vault. But then he stops. The vault door is ajar. Tentatively, the security guard approaches and peers inside. His stomach lurches. The doors of the safe deposit boxes have all been flung open and their contents ransacked. Loose diamonds and gold bars are strewn across the floor.

The security guard spins on his heels and sprints to the nearest telephone. Reports will soon emerge that an estimated $100 million worth of diamonds and gold were stolen from the Antwerp Diamond Center in what the press will dub the "Heist of the Century."

But as the diamond industry reels in shock, the authorities will already be following a bizarre trail of breadcrumbs that will lead them right to the group of thieves who almost carried out the perfect crime on February 16, 2003. From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is History Daily. History Daily

History is made every day. On this podcast every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is February 16th, the Antwerp Diamond Heist.

It's the summer of 2001, three years before the heist of the century. A dark-haired middle-aged man walks up to the front entrance of the Antwerp World Diamond Center. He nods at the security guard, who recognizes him and buses him through. Leonardo Notabartolo is a diamond importer from Italy, who for the past year has been renting an office inside the center. Every morning he comes into work, passes through security, and then disappears inside his office.

Occasionally, he can be seen elsewhere in the building, wandering corridors or depositing diamonds in the vault. He's an ordinary-looking person, Caucasian, slightly overweight, wearing plain button-downs with a pen clipped to his breast pocket. Nobody pays him much attention. To them, he's just another face passing in the hallway.

But if anybody were to pay Leonardo close attention, they might notice that the pen clipped to his shirt pocket is not a pen at all. It's a miniature camera. And when he takes trips to the vault, Leonardo is not really depositing diamonds. He's documenting the precise layouts of the corridors, the locations of the surveillance cameras, and the combination codes for the locked doors. Leonardo is not a diamond importer.

He's a master thief, and his current target is his most difficult challenge yet: the impenetrable vault of the Antwerp Diamond Center. When Leonardo first rented his office in the center, he wasn't intending to break into the vault. Rather, he used it as a base to commit other, smaller robberies around the Diamond Center.

But a few months ago, Leonardo was approached by a dealer with whom he'd conducted illicit business in the past. The dealer offered to pay Leonardo $130,000 to answer a simple question: Can the Diamond Center's vault be robbed? At first, Leonardo thought the dealer was crazy. After all, he already knows the vault is impenetrable. But then he shrugged and said sure. He figured it would be the easiest $130,000 he'd ever make. And so, with a miniaturized camera hidden in a pen,

Leonardo began taking pictures. And over the course of several months, while posing as an office worker, Leonardo documented everything. The building's layout, the extensive surveillance systems, and most crucially, the vault itself. Then Leonardo reports his findings to the dealer.

He tells him that the Antwerp Diamond Center's vault is built to repel the most cunning of thieves. Its solid steel, three-ton door can withstand 12 hours of continuous drilling. To even reach the innermost door, a burglar would have to bypass multiple security cameras, infrared heat and motion sensors, light sensors, and a lock with over 100 million possible combinations and an impossible-to-replicate foot-long key.

Finally, metal plates on the side of the door form a magnetic field that, when broken, triggers an alarm. And then, even inside the vault, the steel and copper safe deposit boxes require their own keys and combinations. In short, Leonardo tells him the answer is no. Robbing the Antwerp Diamond Center is not possible. The dealer thanks him for his time, and Leonardo believes that's the end of it.

But then, five months later, the same dealer asks Leonardo to meet him at an abandoned warehouse outside Antwerp. There, the dealer shows him something extraordinary. An exact replica of the Diamond Center's vault, copied precisely from the photographs Leonardo provided. And standing alongside the replica are four men. Not wanting to reveal their identities, the dealer only gives their aliases.

The first man is a renowned alarm specialist known as The Genius. Next, there's The Monster, a tall, muscular man and gifted electrician. The King of Keys is a wizened old locksmith and one of the world's best key forgers. Lastly, there's a man Leonardo recognizes from his childhood in Italy, a veteran thief named Speedy. The dealer then introduces Leonardo to the others as The Artist. Having constructed an exact replica of the vault,

The dealer wants Leonardo and these four other men to practice breaking into it. And once they've mastered that task, the dealer wants Leonardo to orchestrate the world's most daring heist. In exchange, Leonardo will receive a portion of whatever they manage to steal from the Diamond Center. It's an insane plan that any normal person would walk away from. But Leonardo is a professional thief, and he knows this is the job of a lifetime. If the plan succeeds, he will likely end up with millions.

So with a twinkle in his eye, Leonardo says yes. It's a Friday afternoon at the Antwerp Diamond Center on February 14th, 2003. Most of the center's workers have left for the weekend. But not Leonardo Notabartolo. He takes the elevator down to the vault where a security guard buzzes him through. Once inside, Leonardo acts fast.

He produces a can of hairspray from his jacket and in one discreet motion sprays the heat and motion center with a fine aerosol mist. This simple but effective technique will temporarily disable the sensor for at least 48 hours, more than enough time for Leonardo and his crew to do their work. Leonardo slips the can back into his jacket pocket, then exits the vault and walks right past the guard who has no idea what's just happened.

Two days later, in the early hours of the morning on Sunday, February 16th, Leonardo parks his rental car on a quiet side street in the Diamond District. Leonardo is the mastermind of this heist, but he's not as nimble as he once was. So he stays behind in the getaway car while the other four thieves, the genius, the monster, Speedy, and the King of Keys clamber out of the car carrying empty duffel bags. With wordless precision, the thieves execute their plan.

The King of Keys picks the lock of an adjacent office building. From there, they enter a garden that adjoins the Diamond Center. Using a ladder stashed in the bushes, they clamber up to a second-floor balcony and enter in through a window. Next, they follow a maze of corridors to a darkened stairwell which leads them down to the vault. Along the way, they place plastic bags over surveillance cameras. Then, the Genius removes an aluminum slab from his bag and fastens it to the two magnetic plates fixed to the vault door.

This allows him to unscrew the magnets without breaking the magnetic field and triggering the alarm. Prior to the break-in, the King of Keys forged a master key to the vault. But he doubts he'll need it. The guards have been getting lazy as of late. So before using his forged key, the King checks a utility closet just outside the vault. And sure enough, the original key is there hanging from a hook.

With a self-satisfied smile, the King unlocks the door, while the Genius enters the combination code gleaned from Leonardo's reconnaissance. The Genius turns the handle and the vault door swings wide open. But next, the thieves will need to step inside the vault, where heat and motion sensors are located.

But two days earlier, Leonardo disabled the sensors with a can of hairspray. Still, the sticky aerosol layer won't hide the body heat of four men. So only the monster slowly and methodically steps into the pitch-dark room. He carefully lifts the ceiling panel and using a pair of tweezers reroutes the wiring system that controls the sensors. It's now safe for the others to enter the vault.

The King of Keys swiftly picks the lock on every safe deposit box, while the other three fill their duffel bags with uncut diamonds, bundles of cash, and gold bullion. Meanwhile, outside, Leonardo anxiously taps the steering wheel, watching the street fill with the pre-dawn light.

Finally, at about 6 a.m., Leonardo looks in the rearview mirror and sees his accomplices racing towards him, their eyes flashing with exhilaration. As Leonardo puts the car in gear, he's confident they've just pulled off the perfect crime.

Twelve hours later, Leonardo and his longtime associate Speedy are driving along the highway out of Antwerp towards Brussels. The thieves have split up and are heading to Milan where they plan to regroup and divide the loot. In the backseat of the car is a garbage bag. It's filled with trash but also contains incriminating evidence, photographs and various documents related to the heist. They need to find somewhere discreet to burn it all.

So they pull off the highway and follow a dirt road to a remote patch of woodland. There, Leonardo gets out and explores the area to ensure the coast is clear. So far, everything has gone flawlessly. But Leonardo is worried about Speedy, his longtime acquaintance. Speedy is known to lose his cool under pressure, and Leonardo hopes Speedy can keep it together until they arrive in Milan.

But that's not what happens. When Leonardo returns to the car, he finds Speedy having a panic attack, manically emptying the garbage bag into the undergrowth, hyperventilating as he tries to discard the evidence.

Leonardo eventually calms him down. But just as Speedy regains composure, his eyes flash with fear again and says someone's coming. It's not just in Speedy's head. Leonardo hears it too. Voices closing in on their location. There's no time to properly dispose of the evidence. The thieves jump in the car and drive off, leaving the trash littered on the ground, praying that no one will find it.

In a few days' time, the thieves regroup in Milan and divvy up the spoils. But it quickly becomes clear that something's not right. Many of the bags they pulled from the safe deposit boxes are either empty or contain far less than they expected. Leonardo and his team left the Diamond Center with what they were told would be more than $100 million worth of valuables. But when they take an inventory, there's only about $20 million worth.

Leonardo tries to contact the diamond dealer, the person responsible for the whole affair, but the dealer is nowhere to be found. As Leonardo thinks back to the bizarre origins of the heist, it slowly begins to dawn on him that they've been set up. Perhaps Leonardo considers other dealers at the diamond center knew about the impending heist. Perhaps they removed their valuables from the vault right before the robbery and now intend to claim they've been stolen.

Leonardo thought he pulled off the perfect crime, but now is forced to consider the more likely truth. He and the rest of his team have been made patsies in an elaborate scheme to commit insurance fraud. It's Monday, February 17th, 2003, the day after the heist. A 59-year-old retired grocer named August Van Kamp is out rabbit hunting when he spots something that makes his blood boil. Somebody has littered on his property.

But when he begins cleaning up, he finds documents marked with the words "Antwerp Diamond Center." It doesn't mean much to him. Trash is trash. And Van Camp angrily dials the police muttering about the good-for-nothing kids whom he presumes left it there. Normally, the police ignore Van Camp and he calls them often to complain. But this time, when Van Camp tells them what he's found, they send someone over right away.

After the heist, authorities were perplexed. There were no witnesses, and the thieves left behind no fingerprints, no evidence, until they found the trash on Van Camp's property.

One of the potential clues is a half-eaten salami sandwich bought from a store in Antwerp. Detectives review security camera footage from the store and identify Ferdinando Fanato, an electrician and convicted thief. Leonardo knows him as "The Monster." There's also a business card bearing the name of Elio Di Norio, an Italian alarm specialist connected to a string of robberies, "The Genius."

Finally, the police find a receipt for a video surveillance system that bears the name "Leonardo Notabartolo, the Artist".

Then, a raid of Leonardo's apartment in Italy leads police to the most critical piece of evidence of all: 17 unpolished diamonds stolen from the vault in Antwerp. Soon, four of the five thieves will be in police custody, including Leonardo's longtime acquaintance Speedy, who will be identified as Pietro Tavano. Only the King of Keys manages to evade arrest, never to be found again.

In 2009, six years into his 10-year prison sentence, Leonardo Notabartolo gives an exclusive interview to an American reporter. During the interview, Leonardo insists that he was set up by the diamond dealer who organized the heist as an elaborate insurance scam and that his team only made away with $20 million worth of valuables.

But the authorities cannot confirm if Leonardo is telling the truth. Many believe he concocted the insurance fraud story to conceal the fact that he stashed away the rest of the $100 million worth of valuables before his arrest. And it has since emerged that Leonardo and his fellow thieves belong to a shadowy network of Italian criminals known as the School of Turin.

As a result of this discovery, there are many who believe that Leonardo was never approached by a diamond dealer, but that he came up with a plan on his own, and he assembled the crew to help him pull off the largest diamond heist in history.

But nothing is certain, because most of what is known about the Antwerp diamond heist is based on the testimony of Leonardo himself. But what's indisputable is that the world's most audacious heist, the robbing of the Antwerp Diamond Center, which took place on February 16, 2003, was spoiled by a bag of garbage. ♪

Next on History Daily, February 17, 1815, future President James Monroe presents the Treaty of Ghent to the British ambassador in Washington, marking the official end of the War of 1812.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily. Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Music and sound design by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Joe Viner. Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser. It's a cold afternoon on January 15th, 1874.

A stagecoach driver grips the reins and guides his horses along a route from Malvern to Hot Springs, Arkansas. It's a long 20-mile journey, and so far it's been uneventful. The driver is grateful for that, and so are his passengers. One of them is a man named G.R. Crump, a former Confederate soldier. The U.S. Civil War between the North and South has been over for nearly a decade.

But now the country faces another crisis: an economic depression. Hundreds of banks have closed and countless Americans are out of work. So Crump is grateful to be employed at all, working as a representative of a cigar and tobacco company. Most of the other passengers are asleep, but Crump's eyes are wide open. He knows trips like these are dangerous, and he won't rest easy till he reaches his destination.

Just then, the driver pulls up on the reins and the coach comes to a sudden stop. Crump nearly falls out of his seat as the rest of his passengers wake with a start. There's a commotion outside. When Crump lifts the window curtain to have a look, a bandit points a revolver in his face. The highwayman wears a long blue coat, with his hat pulled down low over his eyes and his face covered with a handkerchief. The masked man orders Crump and the other passengers to get out of the coach with their hands in the air.

When Crump steps outside, there are four more bandits waiting. They order the passengers to hand over all their valuables. Crump's hands tremble as he gives them his wallet and watch. The bandits then rummage through the interior of the coach, where they find a package belonging to a shipping outfit called the Southern Express Company. Inside are stacks of cash. After the loot is secure, one of the bandits steps forward and says, "If there is anyone here who has served the Confederacy, you'll get his possessions returned."

Nervous, Crump raises his hand and says, "I was a Confederate." After Crump gives his name and rank, the bandit immediately hands his belongings back. "We don't rob Southern veterans," he explains. "Northern men drove us to outlawry, and we intend to make them pay for it." With that, the bandits mount their horses and ride off to the wooded hills with as much as $2,000, the equivalent of nearly $50,000 today.

After arriving in Hot Springs, Crump and the other passengers relay what happened to townsfolk who quickly form a posse and ride out after the criminals. But they will never find them, and their identities will never be confirmed.

Still, many think they already know who's responsible. The James Younger Gang and its notorious leader, outlaw Jesse James. And soon, Jesse will build upon his already growing legend when he and his gang commit one of the most infamous crimes in the history of the American Old West on January 31st, 1874. From Noiser and Airship, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is History Daily. History Daily

History is made every day. On this podcast every day, we tell the true stories of the people and events that shaped our world. Today is January 31st. Jesse James pulls off the Gadds Hill train robbery.

It's January 15th, 1874, moments after the Hot Springs stagecoach heist. As Jesse James and his gang flee the scene, their immediate goal is to get as far away as they can, as fast as they can. Jesse leads his gang off the main road and north into the woods bound for Missouri. Jesse is no stranger to the life of an outlaw. At the age of just 17, he left his home in Missouri to fight as a Confederate in the Civil War.

After the South lost the conflict, he came back home to Missouri, where he helped found one of the most notorious gangs in the American Old West. The James Younger gang is mostly made up of former Confederate soldiers. Men like Frank James, Jesse's older brother, and Cole Younger, and several of his brothers. In the years that followed, Jesse and his gang committed multiple crimes.

But they didn't gain much notoriety until about five years ago, in December of 1869, when Jesse robbed a bank in Missouri and shot and killed the cashier. The news of that murder was the first time Jesse's name appeared in the papers. Since then, Jesse's crime spree has continued, mainly with more bank heists. But recently, Jesse and his gang have been trying their hand at stagecoach robberies, like the one they just pulled off.

In the two weeks after the Hot Springs heist, Jesse and his gang continue their long journey north and eventually cross state lines back into Missouri. On the afternoon of January 30th, they arrive in the small lumber town of Mill Spring to rest and purchase supplies.

While there, they visit McFadden's, a notorious gambling joint filled with shady and violent characters. But Jesse and his gang keep a low profile and stay out of trouble. They've traveled nearly 300 miles since the stagecoach robbery. Jesse doesn't want to risk a run-in with the law now, not when they're so close to their final destination.

Jesse and his gang are headed for a little hamlet called Gad's Hill, Missouri. It's a small place of no account in the wooded Ozark wilderness of southeastern Missouri. There's little there but a few houses, a general store, and an old abandoned sawmill. But Jesse is headed to Gad's Hill because it's also home to a small railroad platform where Jesse plans to stage yet another heist. But they're not there yet.

Back in McFadden's, Jesse and the gang keep their heads down. They finish their meal, purchase provisions, and ride out of town. They continue north for another 10 miles or so before running out of daylight. So they decide to stop for the night at the home of a widow just outside Piedmont, Missouri.

When the widow hears a knock at the door, she's surprised to see Jesse and his band of rugged, road-weary travelers standing on her porch. When Jesse asks if they can stay the night, she says yes against her better judgment. With Christian charity in her heart, she puts her fears aside and invites the men inside.

When they remove their overcoats, though, she notices their revolvers and double-barreled shotguns. She's terrified, but doesn't ask questions. She gets them a hot meal and a warm bed, but she herself doesn't sleep much that night. But bright and early the next morning, Jesse and his gang are readying to go. Jesse pays the widow for her trouble, and the men gallop off towards Gad's Hill.

This is not the only time Jesse has supposedly stopped for shelter at the home of a widow. On another occasion, Jesse and his gang were reported to have spent the night at a house in Tennessee. Over supper, Jesse noticed that the widow was distraught. When he asked her what was wrong, she broke down sobbing and told her that rent was due the next day. Her husband was dead. She didn't have the money to pay it. Her landlord was not a generous man, the woman explained, and she was certain he would evict her and her children.

When Jesse asked her how much she owed, the woman told him $1,500, an enormous sum. But hearing this, Jesse fetched his money bag and gave the woman what she needed. After Jesse and his gang departed, they waited in the woods till the landlord came for the money to make sure he didn't try to take advantage of her.

It was stories like these that earned Jesse a reputation as a Robin Hood of the Wild West, a noble villain who robs from the rich and gives to the poor. But not everyone agrees with this characterization of the notorious outlaw. Many see him as just a bitter confederate who refuses to accept that the South lost the war, one who takes out his anger on honest, hardworking Americans.

What is certain is that on the morning of January 31st, 1874, as Jesse and his gang ride for Gad's Hill, Jesse isn't thinking about giving to the poor, just robbing the rich. His mind is fixed on the daring heist he's about to pull off, an infamous crime that will help make Jesse James a legend. It's January 31st, 1874, on a cold, quiet afternoon in Gad's Hill, Missouri.

Inside the local General Store, a young 16-year-old boy named William Ferris warms his hands by the stove. He's waiting for his father to come to town on the Little Rock Express train which is set to arrive this afternoon. Gadds Hill is home to only a dozen or so people. A few of the men of the town chat with Billy at the General Store. Their wives are at home while their children, bundled up, play in the streets.

At around 3 o'clock, one of the children looks up to find five men on horseback riding into town. They are wearing white hoods over their heads, with holes cut out for their mouths and eyes. The children run away in terror, and quickly the bandits descend on the general store. When they bust inside with guns drawn, Billy and the townsmen put their hands in the air. The bandits take the shopkeeper's rifle and as much as $800 in cash.

Next, they round up the boy Billy, the shopkeeper, and the rest of the townspeople, including the women and children, and corral them near the train platform. There, the bandits order the men to build a bonfire to keep everyone warm while they wait for the train to arrive.

At a little before 5 pm, the Little Rock Express, a small steam locomotive, closes in on Gadds Hill, guided by its conductor, Mr. Chauncey Alford. Under Chauncey's charge is a dozen crew members and roughly 25 passengers. In the distance, Chauncey sees a man standing on the tracks holding a red flag, and he knows exactly what that means: danger ahead. So Chauncey hits the brakes, bringing the train to a slow crawl before it eventually stops.

As Chauncey hops off the train, he notices the man on the tracks is wearing a white hood. Before he can react, four other hooded bandits appear with guns drawn. One of them grabs Chauncey by the collar, points a revolver in his face and barks, "Stand still or I'll blow the top of your head off!" Crew members and concerned passengers alike poke their heads out of windows to see what's going on. The lead bandit shouts, "If a shot is fired out of the train, I will kill the conductor!"

Immediately, the other bandits spring into action. They round up conductor and crew and lead them to the train platform. One bandit stands nearby, guarding them. The remaining two hop on board. Before making it to the passenger cars in the rear, the bandits find a locked safe guarded by a young man who worked for a shipping company.

One of the bandits points a shotgun at his chest and says, "Give me your pistol, you son of a bitch." Without blinking, the young man hands over his revolver and the key to the safe. Inside, the bandits find just over $1,000. Next, the bandits make their way to the passenger cars. The bandit leader calls out to the riders, "Is there anyone on this train named Pinkerton?"

He's referring to the famous detective, Alan Pinkerton. Back during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln hired Pinkerton to run a network of Union spies. After the South surrendered, Pinkerton started his own private detective force, the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. But the leader knows Alan Pinkerton is not on board the train. He's making a joke.

But for outlaws like him, Alan Pinkerton is no laughing matter. The Pinkerton National Detective Agency has put an end to many an outlaw's career. There's no doubt this bandit, given the chance, would shoot Pinkerton dead. The bandits make orderly work going up and down the train's aisles, looting each passenger. They gather purses, wallets, watches, anything of value at all.

Then, the bandits return to the train platform where the train's crew is being held at gunpoint. They take everything from them as well, including the conductor Chauncey, who is forced to hand over $50 and a gold watch. Then the bandits climb on their horses and ride off into the sunset. By some accounts, the bandits' total take is as much as $12,000, nearly $300,000 today.

No one was hurt and no shots were fired. Conductor Chauncey Alford fires up the Little Rock Express and gets the passengers to their destination without further incident.

As Jesse and his gang escaped north on horseback, they took off their white hoods. But it's unclear why they even needed them. Back at the train, Jesse James clearly wanted this robbery to be known as his handiwork. Before leaving, he handed one of the passengers a pre-written press release that will later appear in newspapers across the region. The press release was titled "The Most Daring Robbery on Record".

The Gadds Hill robbery was indeed daring and will attract attention. But not just from the media. Alan Pinkerton will learn about Jesse James' criminal activities too, and he'll put his Pinkerton detective agency on the case. Later writing, I hear that the Jameses and Youngers are desperate men and that when we meet it must be the death of one or both of us. There's no use talking. They must die.

It's a cold January evening, about one year after the Gads Hill train robbery. Around midnight, agents of the Pinkerton Detective Agency swarm around a farmhouse in Clay County, Missouri. This is the place that Jesse and Frank grew up, and these agents have reason to believe the infamous outlaws are inside.

Ever since the Gads Hill train robbery, Alan Pinkerton has been hot on Jesse's trail. In the months that followed, a series of violent encounters left one of Jesse's gang members, John Younger, dead. It left more than a few Pinkerton detectives killed as well. As a result, Alan Pinkerton vowed vengeance on Jesse. And now these agents are here to extract their boss's revenge.

Carefully, one of the detectives approaches the farmhouse and throws a firebomb inside. Within minutes, the house is ablaze. Jesse and Frank are not home as the detectives hope, but other members of the James family are. Jesse's nine-year-old half-brother will die in the fire. His mother will survive, but her arm will be so badly injured in the fire, it will need amputation.

News of the death of the boy and injury to Jesse's mother spreads, growing popular sympathy for Jesse James and his gang, burnishing his Robin Hood reputation and making villains out of the Pinkertons.

But there is no doubt why many law enforcement officials wanted to see Jesse and his gang behind bars. By some estimates, over the course of their 15-year crime spree, the James Younger gang will steal over $200,000, nearly $4.9 million today. They will kill at least 17 men.

In the end, Jesse will pay for his crimes, but not at the hands of Alan Pinkerton. In April 1882, Jesse will be shot in the back by Robert Ford, a fellow gang member who betrayed him for reward money.

The first train heist in the state of Missouri was one of Jesse James' most infamous crimes. It added to his fame and fortune just as he intended. But the heist, which took place on January 31st, 1874, also set in motion a bloody chain of events that would lead to his downfall. ♪

Next on History Daily, February 1st, 2009, Icelandic politician Johanna Sigurdadur is sworn in as the country's prime minister, becoming the first woman to hold that post in Iceland and the world's first openly gay head of government.

From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily. Hosted, edited, and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Misha Stanton. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written and researched by Stephen Walters. Executive producers are Stephen Walters for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.