An old proverb from Northern England goes, “Where there’s muck, there’s brass,” which implies that those who don’t mind getting their hands filthy can frequently make good money. For Albert Spaggiari, the mastermind of the largest bank heist in French history, that was undoubtedly the case. He left no trace of the whereabouts of the millions he had stolen.
Spaggiari, who was born in 1932, was a tearaway who was constantly in trouble for stealing. When the boy was three years old, his mother, a lingerie shop owner, quickly got married again, but the boy disliked his stepfather. After leaving his family at the age of 17, he enlisted in the Parachute Regiment to fight the communist army of Ho Chi Minh in Indochina.
Spaggiari was a tough soldier who received two wounds and a bravery award. However, his previous weakness reappeared, and in 1953 he was taken into custody for breaking into a milk bar in Hanoi in order to steal the goods. He was imprisoned and returned to France wearing irons.
Spaggiari appeared to have changed his ways by the late 1960s; he got married to a nurse, relocated to the South of France, and set up shop in Nice for photography. His talent and charm quickly made him more and more in demand for social events and other weddings.
But his fingers were itching, and he was itching for action. Plans for a strong heist also started to form in his mind when he discovered that the Société Générale bank’s walls were in close proximity to the Nice sewer system.
He first rented a safety box in the bank’s vault and placed a loud alarm clock that was programmed to go off at midnight inside of it as a precaution. To ensure his plans were not interrupted, Spaggiari checked for seismic or acoustic detection alerts.
He didn’t have to worry. Similar to the owners of the Titanic, who believed their ship could not sink, the bank believed its vault could not be breached.
He then gathered a group of Marseilles-based criminals who made their way into the sewers. They dug an eight-meter (26-foot) tunnel, which Spaggiari insisted be shored up, and a mine shaft. They also installed hundreds of meters of electrical cables to provide lights while for two months in the summer of 1976, they waded through human waste every night.
Along the concrete-reinforced tunnel’s walls were sexist images of women, and police subsequently discovered food scraps, wine bottles, and cigarette packs.
They broke into the vault on Friday night of the three-day Bastille Day weekend, used a welding gun to seal the door from the inside, and broke open 371 safety deposit boxes before making an escape early on Monday.
Some reports state that Spaggiari fed his men wine and pâté, and that they had a picnic lunch inside the vault, where they looked through the various safety deposit boxes for hours.
The value of the haul would never be known because the bank had no idea what was inside the boxes. The estimated value of the cash and jewels varied from 30 million to 100 million francs.
When the shocked bank’s locksmiths finally succeeded in opening the door, they discovered deposit boxes strewn all over the floor, the gang’s uneaten food remains, and a chalkboard bearing the words “Sans Armes, ni Violence, ni Haine” (without weapons, violence, or hate).
A few weeks later, the police apprehended one of the thieves who named the entire gang, including Spaggiari, after receiving a tip. As a photographer, he traveled to the Far East with the Mayor of Nice and was detained when the plane returned.
Spaggiari requested to see the judge in his chambers during his trial. Suddenly, he dashed to a window, threw it open, and jumped out. “Au revoir,” he waved before roaring off while perched atop a motorbike belonging to one of his accomplices. He was never seen by the French police again.
The judge sentenced him to life in prison while he was away. For the remainder of his life, Spaggiari traveled back and forth between Europe and South America, and it is thought that he occasionally visited his wife in France. He had been living in Italy under a false identity for a number of years when he passed away from lung cancer in 1989.
The French biopic “Sans arme, ni haine, ni violence” about Spaggiari was released in theaters in 2008. It showed him as an adventurous thief mixed with comedic fantasist, stranded by an Argentine hotel pool.
English thriller writer Ken Follett partially rewrote French journalists René-Louis Maurice and Jean-Claude Simoën’s book “The Heist of the Century,” which was inspired by a book written by Spaggiari and published in 1977 and titled “Sewers of Gold.”
Unanswered Questions: The Mystery Surrounding Spaggiari’s Disappearance
For decades, investigators and the general public have been confused by the question of whether Spaggiari was able to actually escape prosecution. There have been no verified sightings or reliable leads regarding his whereabouts despite intensive efforts to locate him. That he disappeared into the shadows and left the world full of unanswered questions and fascinating memories is a possibility.
There are a lot of speculations and theories regarding Spaggiari’s disappearance. Some people think he passed away suddenly, while others think he lived a quiet life in obscurity. The mystery and appeal of the man who stole 45 million francs and dared to vanish without a trace are only increased by the lack of hard evidence.
A woman accidentally tipped $7,723 for coffee and some cake and never get the money back
In 2018, a woman accidentally paid $7732 for a cup of coffee and a cake at a Swiss café after accidentally entering her PIN code as a tip. She never received a refund.
Woman found guilty of murdering her husband after a parrot repeated the victim's 'last words'
In 2017, a woman named Glenna Duram shot her husband five times before attempting suicide. Soon after, the couple’s pet African Grey parrot, the only witness to the crime, started repeating the words “don’t f*****g shoot!” It is thought to have been the pair’s last exchange. Duram survived and was found guilty of first-degree murder.
The Horrific story of Ariel Castro and the Cleveland abduction
Cleveland abduction victims Gina DeJesus, Michelle Knight, and Amanda Berry were forced to live in Ariel Castro's house of horrors for 10 years. He raped and beat them until they escaped in 2013.
Japanese man accidentally switched at birth grew up in poverty while other baby lived life on privilege
In 2013, a 60-year-old Japanese man found out that he had been accidentally switched at birth. His biological parents were wealthy, but he was given to a struggling, single mother. While the infant who took his place grew up with all the luxuries and became the president of a real estate company, he grew up poor and became a truck driver. He later sued the San Ikukai Hospital in Tokyo that made this awful mistake in 1953.
Scientists separated triplets at birth for a controversial experiment and had no idea what they were doing
As part of an experiment, a set of triplets was intentionally separated at birth and given to three sets of parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds. It was discovered in 1980, when two of the triplets attended the same college.
The Great Greek Swimming Pool Scandal: When Satellites Exposed a Tax Evasion Wave
Only 324 residents of a wealthy neighborhood in Athens admitted to owning swimming pools on their tax returns. To verify the truth, Greek tax authorities studied satellite photos of the area and found a total of 16,974 pools. The majority of people had simply lied about their assets to save on taxes.
Quaker Oats Fed Children with Radioactive Oatmeal
In the 1940s and 1950s, Quaker Oats and MIT conducted experiments on radioactive iron and calcium-containing cereal. The diet was part of a study to see if the nutrients in Quaker oatmeal traveled throughout the body. In January 1998, a $1.85 million settlement was reached for 30 victims who came forward.
The great robbery: 300 million yen robbery
In 1968, a car driven by bank employees was pulled over by a motorcycle cop claiming the car had been rigged with a bomb. The cop got under the car to “defuse” the device. When the car started to smoke, everybody ran. Then the “cop” just drove the car away. The 300M Yen robbery remains unsolved
The Heartbreaking Story Of Robert Turner, The Boy Whose Mother Died Because 911 Failed Him
Five-year-old Robert Turner of Detroit witnessed his mother Sherrill die from a heart condition in February 2006, all because two 911 operators mistook his desperate calls for help for a prank.
Susan Kuhnhausen Killed the Hitman Sent to Kill Her
Susan Kuhnhausen's ex-husband hired a hitman to assassinate her. Susan "made a decision to live" in that terrifying moment.
During the 1996 Olympic bombing, Richard Jewell falsely accused of committing the crime after saving dozens of people
Richard Jewell, an American security guard, discovered a bomb during the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta and assisted in the evacuation, but was later wrongfully accused and faced public scrutiny. He was cleared, but it had a lasting impact on him until his death in 2007 at the age of 44.
Man dressed up as his dead mother to keep home, benefits
A 51-year-old man in Brooklyn named Thomas Parkin dressed up as his dead mother Irene for six long years since 2013 and collected her social security checks. He did other real estate frauds too that totaled up to $115,000.
Recipient of suicide victim's heart kills himself 12 years later
In 1995, Sonny Graham received a transplanted heart from a suicide victim. He then committed suicide in the very same manner as the donor.
D.B. Cooper: Man who hijacked a plane and jumped out with a $200,000
On November 22, 1971, DB Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727, drank a whisky, smoked a fag, and then jumped out of the plane with $200,000. He was never again seen.
The story of Nike's famous tagline "Just do it"
Nike’s inspiration for their slogan “Just do it.” came from a man who was about to get executed, and his final words to the firing squad was “let’s do it!”
The truth behind the murder of Cara Knott
After the murder of Cara Knott in 1986, a local news station filmed a ride-along segment with a highway patrol officer named Craig Allen Peyer who talked about women’s safety and gave tips on what to do when stranded on the road. That same officer later turned out to be the “Knotts killer.” He was convicted of the crime in 1988.
Moondyne Joe: The story of Australia's most notorious prison escapee
A man named Joseph Bolitho Johns (A.K.A Moondyne Joe) broke out of Australian prisons so many times that the police were compelled to build a special cell just for him. He escaped from that as well.
Reason Behind The Suicide Of Christine Chubbuck Live On Air
Actor Rebecca Hall had serious reservations about tackling the macabre story around why Chubbuck killed herself in 1974. So what changed her mind?
Chilling Story Behind the Amber Hagerman’s Murder And The AMBER alert system
Amber Hagerman is the reason we have the Amber alert or a child abduction emergency alert system. As of April 2019, 957 children rescued specifically because of AMBER Alert. To this day, the Amber behind Amber alert is still waiting for justice.
A woman finds her ex-boyfriend living in her attic 12 years after they broke up
Most people have heard of "things that go bump in the night," but for one South Carolina lady, that "thing" was her ex-boyfriend, whom she discovered living in her attic more than 12 years after they broke up.
Chinese Couple Sell Their Three Children to Play Video Games
A young Chinese couple has sold all their three children in exchange for money to play online games at internet cafes.
Albert Einstein’s brain after it was stolen from his body
Albert Einstein's brain was taken by the opportunistic pathologist who performed his autopsy hours after he died and kept in two jars for 30 years. The stolen brain of Albert Einstein was preserved in a cookie jar for 30 years until being discovered by a journalist.
Man who robbed bank to get away from wife sentenced to home confinement
In 2017, a 70-year-old man robbed a Kansas City bank, then sat down in the lobby waiting for the Police to arrive stating he’d rather live in jail than with his wife. He was arrested but rather than thrown in a cell he was sentenced to 6 months of home confinement.
'Super obedient' lookout parrot trained by Brazilian drug dealers is seized by police
In 2019, police in Brazil seized a 'super obedient' lookout parrot trained by drug dealers. According to reports, the bird had been taught to alert criminals to police operations by shouting: "Mum, the police!" As soon as the police got close, he started shouting.
Story of Dennis Lynn Rader, the BTK Killer
Dennis Lynn Rader is an American serial killer known as BTK who worked for a home security company and installed systems in the homes of numerous citizens who were concerned about the murders he himself had committed.
