Long before Las Vegas, one man built an empire on violence, bootlegging, and bribery. This week, Rachael dives into the extraordinary life of Owney Madden—the Hell's Kitchen street thug who survived multiple assassination attempts, became one of the most powerful figures in organized crime during Prohibition, and quietly transformed himself into a respected businessman.

From brutal gang wars in New York to controlling a vast liquor empire, Madden's fingerprints were all over some of the most infamous chapters in American crime history. But despite his reputation, he managed to evade the fate that claimed so many of his rivals, living out his final years far from the streets that made him a legend.

How did one of the deadliest gangsters of the 20th century escape prison, outlive his enemies, and rewrite his own story? Pour yourself a stiff drink—this is the unbelievable rise of the man they called "The Killer".

For decades, ranchers across southern Colorado have awakened to a nightmare: cattle found dead under impossible circumstances — surgically precise incisions, organs removed, and almost no blood left behind. Rumors spread from lonely highways to isolated ranchlands: UFOs, cults, government experiments, predators… or something even stranger.

In this episode of Seven Deadly Sinners, retired police officer Greg Feinman comes to our ranch in Southern Colorado to tell us what he witnessed firsthand while investigating one of the West’s most chilling mysteries. From bizarre crime scenes to frightened ranchers and unexplained evidence, Feinman shares a case that still haunts him.

Were these mutilations elaborate hoaxes, covert operations, or phenomena beyond explanation? The deeper we dig into southern Colorado’s dark open plains, the stranger the story becomes.

In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men dressed as Boston police officers walked into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and disappeared into history carrying over $500 million worth of stolen art. Paintings by Rembrandt van Rijn, Johannes Vermeer, and Edgar Degas vanished without a trace in what remains the largest unsolved art heist in modern history.

This week on Seven Deadly Sinners, we dive into the suspects, mafia connections, bungled investigations, and chilling theories surrounding the infamous Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft. Who pulled it off? Where is the missing artwork now? And how does a crime this massive stay unsolved for decades?

Some masterpieces are priceless. Some secrets are deadly.

SHOW NOTES:

https://www.gardnermuseum.org/
https://www.fbi.gov/history/cases-and-criminals/isabella-stewart-gardner-museum-heist
https://www.bostonglobe.com/