Crime

Alcatraz Island, located in San Francisco Bay, is best known as the site of the notorious former federal prison, but its history extends far beyond that. Here, we answer six common questions about the national landmark.

From the Unabomber to Bonnie and Clyde, these 13 terrorists and outlaws triggered some of the most massive manhunts in criminal history.

And how did the infamous 1971 skyjacker vanish into thin air with $200,000? Some claim that new clues could finally crack the case.

Through extortion, bribery and embezzlement, mobsters made labor racketeering a major source of income after Prohibition.

In 1931, a Commission of crime families began running New York City rackets, initiating an era of colorful nicknames and violent power struggles.

From the Osage murders to the Oklahoma City bombing, these crimes stand among the biggest and most complex the Bureau has faced.

These famous figures met their death after contact with toxins such as arsenic, hemlock, cyanide and a certain lethal tree sap.

Thirty-one-year-old Leo Frank, a Jewish factory superintendent, was kidnapped from prison in Atlanta, Georgia and lynched by an antisemitic mob on August 17, 1915. The attack, which is the only Jewish lynching in U.S. history, followed a hugely sensational trial.

A crew of hijackers, killers, loan sharks and thieves made off with $5.8 million in cash and jewels.

Robbers have used tunnels, explosives and even surfboard repair foam to make off with millions.

It took an influx of dam workers, exiled Los Angeles gambling operators and mob figures to build 'sin city.'

Against the odds, Stephanie St. Clair became Harlem's 'Queen of Numbers,' facing down corrupt cops and violent mobsters.

It's the most spectacular unsolved crime in gangland history. Mobster Al Capone had an airtight alibi.

The federal penitentiary housed not only hardened criminals, but also people the government wanted to make an example of.

To ditch the infamous federal penitentiary, inmates tried everything from paper-mâché masks to a military impersonation to a bloody revolt.

Public Enemy #1 was transferred to the now-infamous island prison a few weeks after it opened.

After he parachuted from a 727 passenger plane with ransom money—and disappeared—newspapers started receiving weird letters, some with coded messages.

Holmes allegedly killed as many as 200 by luring visitors to his lair during the Chicago World's Fair. But historians say many of the stories about Holmes, the "devil," may be myth.

When FDR found out how beholden New York politicians were to mobsters, he ordered the Seabury commission to investigate.

America’s most notorious gangster sponsored the charity that served up three hot meals a day to thousands of the unemployed—no questions asked.

Her ordeal helped draw attention to a national epidemic of spousal abuse.

Gambino family crime boss Frank Cali’s murder is the first Mafia don assassination in New York City since John Gotti had “Big Paul” Castellano killed in 1985.

Countries are calling on the museum to return looted items like the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles and 4,000 bronze sculptures from the Kingdom of Benin.

The notorious gangster was recruited as an FBI informant. It turned it out that corrupt FBI agents were the ones informing him.

After a long, desperate search, it would be Ted Kaczynski's own words that would lead to his capture.

Who sent the series of letters in the wake of the 9/11 attacks? Investigators zeroed in on a possible culprit.

From managing his image to possibly paying off law enforcement, Clyde's mother supported her son throughout his criminal career.

A 2013 letter to the FBI, if real, suggests the Anglin brothers and Frank Morris survived one of the most daring—and dangerous—prison breaks of all time.

The terrified tsarevich volunteered to relinquish his claim to the throne, but that wasn't enough to appease his powerful father.

In 1983, two men stabbed and dragged a Black man to death for dating a white woman. One of the murderers has finally been convicted.

One company wanted to hawk tourist rides in it—along the infamous 405 freeway chase route.

Payne, deciding she was ‘never going to be under the thumb of a man,’ took to a life of crime, traveled the world and mastered the jewel heist.

Former Manson Family member Dianne Lake recalls dumpster diving, orgies and singalongs. 'We were there to serve Charlie.'

Russian troops released a mysterious gas into the theater to incapacitate the rebels. But it also proved deadly for the captives.

Kaczynski, who would later become known as the infamous Unabomber, was subjected to a controversial and disturbing psychological experiment as a young student at the Ivy League school.

The FBI documented Old Blue Eyes’ every move for 40 years.

Ted Kaczynski, nicknamed the Unabomber, sent a series of deadly mail bombs and wrote an anti-technology manifesto before he was captured at his cabin in 1996.

Throughout history, tattoos have played an important role in the espionage game.

Kitty Genovese was a woman whose 1964 murder in Queens, New York, sparked false reports about neighbors who witnessed the crime but refused to get invovled.

Melvil Dewey helped create a new profession for women—and harassed them at every step of the way.

One immigrant group’s journey from outsiders to shaping 20th-century law enforcement.

A lot of it had to do with that well-honed 'Crazy Charlie' act.

Follow leads, read articles and attempt to crack a case that remains unsolved to this day.

Some have been broken, while others remain stubbornly resistant to code-crackers.

The elusive killer has never been found. Here are the crimes attributed to him.

Here's why they were suspected—and why they were ruled out.

A Parisian police clerk created scientific methods for capturing images of murder and mayhem.

Innocent Italian-Americans got caught in the crosshairs of a bigoted mob.

Fear of Mexican immigrants led to the criminalization of marijuana.

Here are the stories of eight infamous serial killers, from Jack the Ripper to Ted Bundy, to part-time clown John Wayne Gacy.

The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago—known at the time as the Columbian Exposition—celebrated the 400th anniversary Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the Americas. However, the Chicago fair became better known for the so-called “Murder Castle” of H.H. Holmes, America’s first documented serial killer.

It all started with Jack the Ripper.

The Stonewall Inn was controlled by the Genovese crime family.

When the United States first launched the “War on Drugs” in the mid-20th century, not even the cleverest conspiracy theorists could have imagined the far-reaching consequences the campaign would have around the world. From the CIA allowing drug traffickers to flourish in exchange for their assistance in toppling leftist leaders abroad to the deal made […]

While much of the media is focused on Trump’s Russian skullduggery, America has quietly found itself enmeshed in the worst drug epidemic in our history. Drug overdoses, mostly from increasingly lethal opioids, now kill more people than guns and traffic accidents. A recent investigation by The New York Times of local and state authorities across the […]

LSD, or lysergic acid diethylamide, is a hallucinogenic drug that was synthesized by a Swiss scientist in the 1930s and became a symbol of 1960s counterculture.

Heroin, morphine, and other opiates trace their origins to a single plant—the opium poppy. Opium has been used both recreationally and as a medicine for centuries. Opium derivatives, including morphine, became widely used pain relievers, particularly in the 1800s. Heroin was first synthesized for medical use before physicians realized its potent addictive properties.

The grisly mass murder inside the architect’s Wisconsin house and studio took the lives of his mistress and six others.

Methamphetamine was first synthesized in 1893 and went on to a wide array of uses as a medical treatment, a weight-loss drug and a recreational stimulant.

The War on Drugs is a phrase used to refer to a government-led initiative in America that aims to stop illegal drug use, distribution and trade by increasing and enforcing penalties for offenders. The movement started in the 1970s and is still evolving today.

Drug trafficking in the United States dates back to the 19th century. From opium to marijuana to cocaine, a variety of substances have been illegally imported, sold and distributed throughout U.S. history, often with devastating consequences.

MDMA, or ecstacy, was synthesized in the early 1900s. Although it became a notorious party drug, some researchers believe that MDMA offers therapeutic benefits.

Marijuana, also known as cannabis or pot, evolved in Central Asia and has a long history of human use for industrial, medicinal and recreational purposes.

Cocaine, a stimulant drug made from the leaves of the coca plant, was used as a surgical anesthetic and in commercial products by the late 19th century.

Kidnapping is among history’s most sensational crimes.

Using all the information scientists know about the extraordinary Copper Age mummy Ötzi the Iceman, a police detective assembled a detailed picture of his murder.

The English explorer, one of Australia’s greatest heroes, is believed to be among some 61,000 bodies set to be exhumed in London to make way for a new high-speed railway.

In the early 1820s, a Scottish swindler devised one of history’s most outlandish moneymaking schemes: he invented his own country.

Check out nine facts about the brief and bloody life of the legendary outlaw.

Thomas Blood bluffed his way into the Tower of London and nearly made off with the British crown jewels.

On the anniversary of "Bugsy” Siegel’s birth, check out nine fascinating facts about one of American history’s most iconic gangsters.

The brutal 1947 murder in Los Angeles of aspiring actress Elizabeth Short has never been solved. But there is no shortage of theories.

Long before there was a Federal Bureau of Investigation, there was the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. Check out 10 little-known facts about the detective agency that helped usher in the modern era of law enforcement.

On a June night in 1962, three inmates of the federal prison on Alcatraz Island escaped from their cells and (presumably) into San Francisco Bay, never to be seen again.

A Houston forensic artist says a photograph purported to show outlaw Jesse James sitting next to his eventual killer, Robert Ford, is authentic.

From the Union officers who tunneled out of a Confederate POW camp to the 18th-century nobleman who fled the Tower of London in drag, get the stories behind eight notable prison breaks.

Ninety-five years after a dynamite-rigged carriage exploded on Wall Street, take a look back at one of the most mysterious terrorist attacks in American history.

Criminologists and amateur sleuths continue to seek out the murderer’s true identity.

Now an elite police squad tasked with the state’s most serious criminal investigations, the Texas Rangers have undergone many changes in their colorful history—and some particularly memorable characters have emerged over the years.

Percy Fawcett was an inspiration for both Indiana Jones and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Lost World,” but his 1925 disappearance in the Amazon remains a mystery to this day.

From the millionaire who shot the high-society architect to the pioneering photographer who slayed a romantic rival, find out about five famous defendants who were ultimately acquitted of murder.

Thieves stole 13 masterpieces worth $500 million from Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990. The case remains unsolved.

A book author claims to have solved one of history’s coldest cases and unmasked the identity of Jack the Ripper.

From a murderer who claimed he was a Rockefeller to a woman who passed as a male soldier during the U.S. Civil War, get the story behind six of history's most fascinating phonies.

Below, some surprising facts about the short and infamous life of the man the authorities branded 'Public Enemy No. 1.'

A Ponzi scheme is a “rob Peter to pay Paul” financial scam in which early investors are paid returns with money from later investors rather than legitimate investment activities. The most notorious perpetrator of this type of fraud is New York financier Bernard Madoff, who in 2009 pleaded guilty to masterminding a decades-long, $65 billion […]

From an ancient Roman coup d'état to a Hitler assassination attempt, get the facts on six of history’s most notorious political plots.

The influence of these men led to deadly consequences around the globe.

The Great Depression-era outlaws—and lovers—became famous for their long string of robberies and murders across the western U.S. But there's more to their story.

As Brazil disinters the remains of its former president to investigate claims he was murdered, explore 10 of history’s most famous exhumations.

From high profile capers by the likes of Jesse James and Butch Cassidy to a raid by a gang of Indian political dissidents, find out more about six of history’s most audacious rail heists.

Take a look back at one of history’s most notorious serial killers.

The search for the powerful ex-Teamster boss continues to fascinate the public—and frustrate authorities.

From river pirates to knife-wielding adolescents, get the facts on seven of 19th century New York’s most notorious street gangs.

New evidence supports historical accounts that desperate Jamestown colonists resorted to cannibalism during the harsh winter of 1609-10.

Check out some surprising facts about the World’s Columbian Exposition.

Explore 10 surprising facts about America's most infamous prison.

In most cases, millions of dollars worth of diamonds, gems and watches remain largely unrecovered.

Get the facts on six of history’s most ferocious naval rebellions.

From Vlad the Impaler to Jack the Ripper, meet seven of history’s creepiest figures.

One of history’s oldest unsolved mysteries is the identity of Jack the Ripper, the infamous serial killer who stalked and murdered at least five women in London’s East End in 1888. The brutality of the Ripper’s crimes—as well as Scotland Yard’s failure to solve the case—caused a wave of hysteria in England and inspired gory […]

During its nearly 30 years of operation (from 1934 to 1963), the federal prison on Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay housed some of America’s most notorious felons, including gangsters Al “Scarface” Capone and murderer Robert Stroud, the famous “Birdman of Alcatraz.” Dubbed “the Rock,” Alcatraz was known as the nation’s most secure prison, and […]

Explore nine fascinating facts about Lizzie Borden, who may or may not have taken an ax and given her parents lethal whacks in August 1892.

Check out seven facts about the legendary 19th-century feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families.

Two hundred years ago, an assassin gunned down British Prime Minister Spencer Perceval inside the hallowed halls of Parliament.

Famous artworks like 'The Mona Lisa' and 'The Scream' have been among the treasures stolen from museums, churches and castles.

Find out about famous gangsters who became informants for the U.S. government, including the recently captured Whitey Bulger.

We take a look at some of the most significant Mafia busts in the history of the organized crime network.

Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer who terrorized London in 1888, killing at least five women and mutilating their bodies in an unusual manner, indicating that the killer had a substantial knowledge of human anatomy.

The “Jonestown Massacre” took place on November 18, 1978, after more than 900 members of an American cult called the Peoples Temple died in a mass suicide-murder under the direction of their leader Jim Jones (1931-78). The mass suicide-murder took place at the Jonestown settlement in the South American nation of Guyana.

Lucky Luciano was a Mafia boss who took control of the Five Families of New York City and established a National Crime Syndicate before his conviction in 1936.

John Gotti took charge of the Gambino crime family in 1985. Dubbed the Teflon Don, he was convicted on several criminal counts in 1992 and later died in prison.

Bugsy Siegel rose to prominence in the organized-crime ranks of New York City before he was shot to death in his Beverly Hills home in 1947.

The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre shocked the world on February 14, 1929, when Chicago’s North Side erupted in gang violence. Seven men associated with the Irish gangster George “Bugs” Moran, one of Capone’s longtime enemies, were shot to death by several men dressed as policemen on the city's North Side.

John Dillinger was a Depression-era gangster, famed for his daring bank robberies and jail breaks, until he was shot to death by FBI agents in July 1934.

Huey Long, a populist governor and U.S. senator from Louisiana, was famed for his fiery oratory and radical reform proposals until his assassination at age 44.

Members of the Mafia, from real-life bosses like Al Capone to fictional gangsters like Tony Soprano, have captured the public imagination since the 1920s.

The Mafia, an organized-crime network based in Italy and America, evolved in Sicily among locals who banded together for protection from occupying forces.

Alcatraz is a former federal prison located on an island in San Fransisco Bay. The prison once housed some of America’s most difficult and dangerous felons during its years of operation from 1934 to 1963.

The American Mafia is an Italian-American organized crime network with operations in cities across the United States, particularly New York and Chicago. The mafia rose in power through its illicit trade in alcohol during the 1920s Prohibition era.

The American Mafia rose to power in the 1920s, before anti-racketeering laws and other techniques brought down high-ranking mobsters by the end of the century.

Al Capone was one of the most infamous gangsters in American history. During the height of Prohibition, Capone’s multi-million dollar Chicago operation in bootlegging, prostitution and gambling dominated the organized crime scene.