Catch A Falling Star | 09

Listen to the complete season ad-free by subscribing to Curiouscast Discovery exclusively on Apple Podcasts. "It's 4am on the 23rd of January 2007. And Detective Ben Hagueman's in Chilawak, British Columbia, shivering in an unmarked police car. Slides and engine switched off. Eyes peeled for Daniel Blanchard." "We had some information suggesting that Bank was going to go down in Chilawak and Danny was going to be responsible for that." Which is why Ben's hiding in the shadows on high alert, waiting to pounce. "Please put together a plan for Dan Blanchard take down day so take down day. That's a rest day." Ben's been waiting months for this moment. He's listened to hours and hours of Daniel on the wiretap. He's studied hundreds of thousands of documents and he's mapped all Daniel's hideouts and addresses right across Canada. Ben's so ready for this. Problem is, he's been sitting in the car for hours. Eyes fixed firmly on the dark doors of the bank. And there's no sign of Daniel. So where is he? As it happens, Daniel's at home a hundred miles away in Vancouver, sleeping very soundly in his bed. He's streaming about whatever Bank Thief's stream about. ATM's spilling pristine dollar bills. Volt doors, springing open, spilling sacks of gold. Thing is, Daniel shouldn't be sleeping at all. He should be rubbing the bank in Chilawak, skimming the cash machines of everything they've got. To pay back the boss, an international gang leader whose diamonds and cash went missing on Daniel's watch. Daniel promised the boss he would do this job. Detective Ben Hagueman and his team heard him say so when they bugged his phone. Except of course, he's a no-show. Leaving Detective Ben Hagueman stuck two hours away from Daniel's home, waiting fruitlessly to arrest a bank robber who'll never come. Looks like Daniel's pulled a fast one again. Well, not so fast. Because this time, Superintendent Gordon Schumacher isn't taking any chances. When takedown day occurred, we had teams in four places, Vancouver Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto. This time, investigators have all their ducks in a row. The actual number of police officers, total that were involved in this case, would be significant. And when Ben realizes that Daniel's got cold feet about the bank heist? When it became evident that the bank wasn't going to go down, execution was called. The execution of Plan B, that is. Because if Daniel won't come to them, then the police will just have to go to Daniel. Pay him a little visit at home, even if it isn't a social call. Did they knock down Dan's door? Look, I don't remember if they knock down Dan's door. I think we can safely say they knocked down Dan's door. I mean, who answers the doorbell at 4 in the morning? So there's Daniel Blanchard, handcuffed in his pajamas, being bundled into a police van in the dark, still stupid with sleep. Gained over. Maybe not quite. Have you forgotten that Daniel has a lucky star? The C-C star? The C-C star, Diamond. It was a very, very fancy bargaining chip. Daniel still has something to cling onto in his hour of need. But what about C-C? Because her day of reckoning is also coming. But C-C has given away every single last star she had. From Curious Cast and Blanchard House, I'm Seren Jones. And this is a most audacious heist. [Music] Episode 9. Catch a falling star. Vancouver jail cells are not exactly five star luxury. Let's face it, they're not meant to feel welcoming. And yet, lying on his hard bunk with his rough grey blanket covering his skinny frame, Daniel Blanchard seems to be in his happy place. He said that he had the best night sleep that first night in jail. Jennifer Bauer's Barney is one of the very few journalists who's ever interviewed Daniel Blanchard. Apparently Blanchard was quite relieved that a lot of this was over with, because he was no longer hiding. You can be the most brilliant thief, but it does weigh on you as a human being. The next morning, bright and early, a refreshed Daniel gets a visitor, a very tired visitor who's been up most of the night, waiting fruitlessly for Daniel outside of Chilawak Bank. Oh, jeez, yeah, I met Danny. Sure I did. Detective Ben Hagueman and Daniel Blanchard have never met in the flesh before. But somehow, he feels like he and Daniel go way back. It was not like a first meeting for me. That might sound strange to hear, but don't forget we had been seeing photos of this guy for a long time now. Photos of human various identities and names. He's been listening to him on the wiretap for months. And so he wasn't a stranger. Now we know how Daniel usually behaves around cops. He's cocky. He likes to outsmart them, or at least try to escape. But not this time. We have arrested some really volatile bad individuals. And that was not what I was seeing in the cell in Vancouver, jail. And I would suggest that he's fearful. Perhaps in those early moments, I think it's probably a fair description. Basically, Daniel realises that this time, the game is really over. There's no way out. Of course, Daniel's known for a while that his day of reckoning was coming. He'd clocked that the police were tailing him and that they'd been bugging his phones. So he'd probably guess that have a fair bit of info on him by now. But little by little, it becomes clear that super-intend Gordon Schumacher's team has gathered far more on him than he ever suspected. We had mountains of evidence. We had to actually rent a warehouse. A huge warehouse where we had all the evidence kind of lined up. And that was before the SWAT team who captured Daniel took a little look around his house, where they found a proper Aladdin's cave. There was a secret room in that residence that was loaded with a host of criminal evidence. It was super interesting. It was basically a police officer's dream come true. A sort of show and tell scrapbook of Daniel's entire career. Items from other crime scenes, some of his tech that was used to support his own surveillance, of those other banks and branches of banks that had been robbed in the past. There's more. The blanchored kept everything. He had videotapes of him committing crimes. He had credit card printing machines. He had the plane tickets. He had different IDs. All of that was gold to the investigation. All in all, police confiscated over 60,000 items. They had to hire a huge van to carry all the exhibits to HQ in Winnipeg. So sitting with him in his prison cell that morning, Detective Ben dripped feed Daniel this information. Then lists the charges they planned to bring against him, which are, let's say, considerable. It was able to set those seeds in his mind that, oh yeah, the police have overwhelming evidence here. It's probably up for me. But Daniel becomes aware that the cops know way more than he'd hoped. He politely asks if he can use the telephone. I was his first call. His lawyer, Danny Gunn. with a fundamental advice you give someone upon arrest is not to say anything. And the reason that you do that is too full. Danny Gunn spells this out to his nervous client. Number one is whatever you say can be used against you. But the second part is even if what you say is truthful and honest and straightforward, that statement at least in Canada may never actually be heard by a jury or the judge. So even if Daniel fully confesses, the prosecution can choose to keep his cooperation quiet and never present that good behaviour to the very people who'll be sentencing him. So my general advice is not to say anything and that's the part where Dan I think clearly didn't. It might advise very very carefully. Now Daniel's a simple guy. If someone's nice to him, he's nice to them. He likes to play fair. And think in part the success that was experienced in having Danny come clean was born out of how he was treated and he was treated respectfully. And so there is that payoff. It's a quid pro quo situation. You scratch my back and I'll scratch yours. I mean know that being respected is very important to Daniel. So in the Vancouver police station for his first interview, little by little he starts to open up to Detective Ben Hagueman against his lawyer's advice. He was hinting to us that oh yeah you know I mean understand what you're talking about I might know that I could be in a position to tell you more about that but early on he was hedging. But we know Daniel likes to talk right to boast a little about his exploits and Ben sees that too. So he quickly takes advantage of it. This was very much a textbook example of wanting to feed that ego. You're asking him Dan I find it so interesting what you're doing Dan. Most people don't operate like this Dan. Can you tell me are you willing to tell me you know and then it leads to more right. Flattery will get you anywhere or at least it does with Daniel Blanchard and with Ben's soft soap approach Daniel's early nerves soon melt away. So by the time Ben's ready to bring Daniel home to Winnipeg Daniel's backed his old self, relaxed and very chatty. You know I brought him back on the plane so we sat together on the plane the whole the whole way. We're all buddies you know what I mean. I'm buddies chat right. So Danny Guns' advice to watch his mouth goes right out of Daniel's head. He just finally had an audience where he could fully explain the details of his escapades to because he was an unusual guy. He wanted to be able to talk about these events. He was proud. But we all know that pride comes before a fall. It's September 1898 and 60-year-old Empress Seacy of Austria is somewhere she shouldn't be. She's in Geneva in Switzerland, a republican country which police one is not a safe place right now. Not from Monarch anyhow. In fact not for any aristocrats because their security cannot be assured. Regina Neuhauser is an Austrian historian and tour guide. She had been warned Switzerland was a hot bit of anarchists. Anarchists who think that anyone with blue blood in their veins is a leech on society. Someone who deserves to die. So as an Empress Seacy's most definitely got a target on her back. But Seacy refused to heed the warnings that royals weren't welcome. Because Seacy believes she's untouchable. Seacy was completely naive about the situation she did not believe that anybody could harm her. She did not believe that. So defiant. Seacy checks into a hotel. She does at least use a false name. But here's where she could have done with a guiding hand from Daniel Blanchard. The thing was that Seacy always travelled and ran alias and it was the Countess of Horns names. But it was always the same alias. The Countess of Horns names. Right. Now as Daniel Blanchard could have told Empress Seacy using just one alias false nobody. Plus a Countess. Well a Countess still counts as nobility right. So still likely to anger anarchists. Anyway Seacy's vanity meant that she refused to get into character. So she blew her cover immediately. And everybody in the hotel knew who was hiding behind the Countess of Horns names because she also insisted to be addressed in the right way. Not as Countess but as her majesty. You see Seacy simply doesn't really care anymore. Since her only son Rudolf died by suicide she's lost her zest for life. She's given away her iconic diamond stars and dresses only in black. She's stick thin but still spends hours each day power walking trying to lose even more weight and to chase away her brooding thoughts. The shadows of mental health this used the darkness the difficulties were haunting her more in the latter part of her life. Royal historian Tessa Dunlop. She talked a lot about death. She thought a lot about death and I think even had the terrible tragedy of Rudolf's shocking death not occurred she would have struggled with this latter decade being in her 60s. It's never a comfortable time for a woman who was formerly considered to be a great beauty. These days Seacy makes sure no one sees her. She always hides her face behind a parasol but one day while she's walking with her lady in waiting she meets a little boy and his sister. He's called Alphons. He's a minor prince in fact. So for them Seacy lifts her veil. She just talked a little bit to the children and then the children went home and said to their granny grandma we have seen the Empress today and then she solemnly said children never forget this day because today you've seen the most beautiful woman in the world and then the boy said but grandma she's full of wrinkles. But wrinkles or no wrinkles if even children recognize the Empress then its clear Seacy's countess disguise isn't worth a cent and that spells danger because someone else has recognized Seacy someone who doesn't like the rich or the royals. Also in the time was this Italian crazy called Luchini. Luigi Luchini is an anarchist abandoned by his mother he grew up at an orphanage in Italy before being taken on as a servant by a Sicilian Duke and that's where Luchini begins to feel resentful and his big protest was against the ruling class the aristocrats their pointless they're sort of sucking the land dry. Luigi Luchini has come to Geneva on murderous business literally murderous business he wants to kill a French prince but when that French prince fails to arrive Luchini comes up with a backup plan. On a beautiful sunny autumn day Luchini takes a stroll around the lake looking for another suitable target and there right in front of him is a tall woman in a black morning coat trimmed with eagreth feathers walking quickly while her maid jogs behind trying to keep pace. The tall woman is hiding her face behind a parasol but Luchini's no fool he knows immediately who she is Seacy Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary far more important than a prince she fell down and initially she thought she'd just been punched in the chest she was able to get up again she's getting on board a vessel and she walks up the plan gaskin for breath their boarded the ship and there she fainted but Seacy hasn't been punched she's been stabbed it's early morning spring 2007 we're back in Winnipeg and so's Daniel actually he's been here for a month or so now dividing his time between his jail cell and the police interview room a lot of coffees been drunken this room over the past few weeks because Daniel's been doing a lot of talking he's fast up big time and that means a guilty plea which is sweet to music to detective Ben Hagueman's ears. "There was this come to Jesus moment where he was able to talk about, you know, look, this is what I've done and that's my life, right?" But Daniel's eagerness to spill the beans is a bit of a headache for his lawyer, Danny Gunn. Because now that Daniels decided to plead guilty, Danny has to try to get his client, the lightest sentence possible. And Daniel's not making that easy. He ratted on himself, essentially, was what happened and oftentimes took responsibility for others. Because some of Daniel's associates have also been arrested. But Daniel wants to protect them. He believes in the principle of honor amongst thieves. When you have people who get caught, they want to blame others, they want to bring other people into it to reduce their responsibility to try and deflect. Dan didn't do any of that. He said, "No, no, this was all me. This was all my decision." Danny Gunn respects Daniel's loyalty. But right now, Daniel has charged with so many crimes that if he's convicted, the courts could pretty much throw away the key. So if Daniel went rat on his colleagues, Danny Gunn needs him to offer the police something sweeter. I said, "What do you have? What do you have for us to work with?" Which is when Daniel tells him the story about his very special Lucky Star. And he said, "Well, I've got this priceless gem with that help." And I said, "I think that probably could help, Dan. I really do." It's 1898 and in Geneva, Empress Seacy's in desperate need of help. On the boat at the lakeside, Seacy's brought round with smelling salts. She asks her maid if she's been robbed, if the man who pushed her was a thief, perhaps trying to steal her watch. You see, Seacy's corsets laced so tightly that she doesn't yet feel pain. She doesn't realise that her heart's been pierced through by Luchene's stiletto thin blade. But when her clothes are loosened, a tiny bead of blood quickly surfaces on Seacy's blouse. Her maid screams for help, but the chamber of Seacy's heart is punctured and she's bleeding internally. And within minutes, it's over. Empress Seacy slips away. This is how she wanted to die. It's uncanny, but historian Riggine Anoyhouser says just the morning before she died, Empress Seacy had visited a friend. And curiously, she'd shed a secret with her. I wish for my soul to escape to heaven through a tiny hole in my heart. Luigi Luchene's blade was as thin as a file. It's almost like Seacy guessed what was coming, like she saw the ending of her own story, written in the stars. How does one die if you are this extraordinary beauty who's always been a physical exception? Royal historian Tessa Dunlop, how do you leave this earth gracefully? Well, she couldn't have done it in any more of a dramatic style, could she? She was the star of her time and she died a star. There's a time for every star to fall, however big and bright. And Seacy's final poem show us that she felt increasingly out of sync with the world. There never was a soul who understood. I flee this world. It's pleasures too. And it's people are distant to me now. Their joys are foreign and their distress. I wander lonely as if upon a star. But where is that lonely star? Well, when 100 or so years after Seacy's passing, let's just say that her star is about to come back into orbit. With thousands of miles away in Winnipeg, Canada, where Daniel Blanchard's counting on Seacy's lonely star to save his skin. Or at least to reduce his sentence a bit, as a trade-off, you know, a bit of priceless history in return for less years inside. And that hammering you're hearing? Don't worry, that's all part of Daniel's plan. You see Daniel's now told the police about having an Austrian crown jewel in his possession, and he's offered to show them where he's hidden it. But it's fair to say, superintendant Gordon Schumacher's, having a hard job believing him. To be honest, I have to say, I didn't believe it. Initially, I thought, this is Seacy's star story. It was a bit of a make-believe, to be honest with you. Detective Ben Hagueman's not buying it either. So what I did come to learn about Dan was that he did like to bullshit a little bit with respect to his ego and storytelling. To be honest, even Daniel's lawyer, Danny Gunn's not sure where Daniel's going with this. I said, uh, well, what? The thing is, no one has even heard of the Seacy star, let alone its theft. But journalist Jennifer Bauer's Barney says the police did make one tentative phone call to Austria. They contacted Sean Brun Palace, and the palace was like, you're kidding. They couldn't believe it. Don't forget, the star's been gone for nine years. So Daniel makes Winnipeg police a promise. If they could just let him out of custody for one morning, he'll take them to Seacy's shining star. And they might want to bring a sledgehammer. The police took Blanchard and his orange jumpsuit and his handcuffs, and they said, where we going? And Blanchard said, we are going to my grandmother's house, which was just, you know, mind blowing. His grandmother's house, she pretend and Gordon Schemaqa is still convinced that Daniel's playing them. No way is a priceless crown jewel stashed in Daniel's grandma's house. I was still a non-believer, and in fact, I actually bet one of the investigators a bottle of wine that it would not be there, because I was fairly confident that it wouldn't happen. But Daniel instructs the police to bash through his grandmother's basement wall, while his bewildered and horrified grandmother looks on. What could he possibly say to her? You know, grandma, there's something I've stashed in your house that I have to go get. You know, the grandmother must have just been beside herself. Detective Ben Hagueman's also sure they're being led up the garden path. He's had grandma's place under surveillance for months. I had been by that house a hundred times on the potential chance that my catcher of you of Dan, but that never happened. But in fact, Daniel's told it exactly as it is. In between some insulation was a Styrofoam cup. Blanchard reached up, grabbed the Styrofoam cup that had been hidden and opened it up, and there was this jewel. There was a star. Yes. For the past nine years, the C.C. star had been hidden in Daniel's grandma's basement. And the police couldn't believe their eyes. They could not believe it, especially not superintendant Gordon Schumacher. An hour or so later, they were at my office door with big grins on their faces holding the C.C. star in their hands. And then I thought about the incredible journey that that the C.C. star had taken. I looked at it, I handled it, I wondered about it, and I did end up paying that bottle of wine. But it was worth it. Because to this day, Gordon Schumacher still dimes out on the story. You know, this is Winnipeg. Who would have thought that Austrian crown jewel would have shown up in the headquarters of the Winnipeg Police Service? Back in the police interview room, Daniels certainly scored some points. Everyone's star struck. Everyone wants details. And Daniels happy to oblige them, telling the tale of how he came upon C.C. star to anyone who listened. We already know the story, of course. The whole sky diving onto the churned run palace thing in the dead of night, shimmying across the wall, and prising open the window into C.C. sitting room, then ducking under the lasers to reach the glass case using his hotel button knife. to slip the screws before lifting the diamond star from its cushion and slipping it into his pocket. He loved to tell the story. It's just that no one believes him. I mean, the police do accept that he stole the gem. They've seen it with their own eyes. But the story of how he did it, he's Gordon Schumacher. I struggle with his rendition of the story. I do struggle with that. It was two James Bondish for me. I don't know if that's the case or not, but look, it makes for a great story. And actually it's not just the police who are skeptical. When you press our experts, whether historians, journalists, jewelers, or ex-special forces, pretty much all of them say the same thing. I wouldn't believe anything, Mr. Blanchard says, especially this. It's quite the claim. With the parachute, this is really quite like a James Bond story, you know. I don't really believe the whole story. No, no. Do you believe in the story of Blanchard? Not really. Surely not to this path, jumping from a little plane down to the roof, surely not. Hang on. We all know Daniel Blanchard can tell a tall story. But the skydive, the scaling of the palace wall, that's the truth, right? Isn't that what he told his lawyer, Danny Gunn, when he first announced he was in possession of the CC star? Well, that's one of the versions I've come to know. How's that? Excuse me? One of the versions? So how on earth did Daniel Blanchard steal the CC star? Have we been hoodwinked all along? You've been listening to a most audacious heist, a Blanchard house production for Curiouscast, hosted by me, Seren Jones. It's written and produced by Emma Jane Kirby, research by Hannah Tava-Colorsade. Original music is by Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nank-Manel and Toby Matamoll. Sound Design and Mix Engineering by Toby Matamoll and Louis Nank-Manel. The part of Empress CC is played by Rianne On Needs. Poetry translations courtesy of Regina Neuhauser from the book Empres Elizabeth of Austria, with special thanks to Rob Johnston and Andrew Dernford. The creative director of Blanchard House is Rosie Pye. The head of content at Blanchard House is Lawrence Grisel. For Blanchard House, the executive producers are Amika Chautino-Nolan and Lawrence Grisel. For Curiouscast, the executive producers are Dileva Lasquez and Chris Duncom. A most audacious heist is inspired by the book Stealing CC Star by Jennifer Bauer's Barney. My name is Mickey Foss. Friday, February 27th on a global. I'm Sheriff of Edgewater. For her keeping the piece, her tells Movin'N. Means every investigation. People are getting threats. It's close to home. At the end of the day, I'm responsible for this town. Secrets, loyalties and small town justice collide in a new hit drama. I'm a damn good sheriff. Sheriff Country returns Friday, February 27th on global. Stream on Stack TV.