Count Your Lucky Stars | 07

Listen to the complete season ad-free by subscribing to Curiouscast Discovery exclusively on Apple Podcasts. May 2004 and the cars being towed into the Winnipeg Police garage. Very carefully. It's the rental car Daniel Blanchard used when he robbed the new CIBC bank branch downtown, tripping the ATMs of more than half a million dollars. The car was Daniel's getaway vehicle, but as it turns out, it was also his giveaway, because that's how the police unmasked him. He rented the car under his name instead of one of his many aliases, his real name. But before they can arrest him, police need more evidence. They need to prove that Daniel was inside the CIBC branch. And of course, Daniel left that brand new shiny bank spotless. So the car has been seized and is being stripped searched by experts from Winnipeg's major crimes unit, including Detective Ben Hakeman. It became a little bit more problematic for Dan, in terms of evidence that the police ended up with, because we towed that vehicle in for forensic examination. The forensics team scours every single inch of the rental car. Hunting for clues that might help prove Daniel Blanchard was behind the bank theft. And when they check the windshield, they get lucky. And we got his fingerprint in the vehicle, Dan's own fingerprint. In fact, that fingerprint isn't the only bit of forensic evidence they find in the car. Remember how Daniel sits tight for hours while casing banks? Brace yourselves. That's where he left his adult diapers that he had worn, so he could do a surveillance without any breaks. Nice. And with that, the police strike DNA gold. We got it all. Now armed with evidence, the team runs checks on police databases. First, across Canada, then across North America, where Bingo, they find a string of other crimes. You can look at those historical arrest records and you can see there were these other names that had been used. And it quickly becomes a bit of a snowball. But it's overwhelming. It's like drinking from a fire hose. And it's soon clear to Winnipeg investigators and superintendent Gordon Schumacher that the CIBC heist, it's just the tip of the iceberg. At that point, it was full speed ahead from my perspective to bring the curtain down on him. Just like Daniel's lucky star has finally wained and the clock is ticking. But they've got to find him first because Daniel Blanchard has completely disappeared. In curious cast and Blanchard House, I'm Seren Jones and this is a most audacious heist. Episode 7. Count your lucky stars. It's 1872 and C.C., Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary, is putting on a rare appearance in Vienna. Rare and reluctant, but duty-called. Because Archduchess Sophie, C.C.'s mother-in-law, has died. So C.C. has returned from her hideaway castle in Budapest to accompany her husband, Emperor Franz Joseph, at the funeral. Now you'll remember that C.C. and her mother-in-law weren't exactly best friends. As Austrian historian Regina Neuhauser says, C.C. despised Sophie for her interference, her constant criticism and for taking her children away from her. But now that Sophie is dead, the coast is clear. C.C. is free to take Sophie's place as head of the Viennese court. You might think she'd be thrilled, that she'd be thanking her lucky stars. But you'd be wrong. Because like Daniel Blanchard, C.C.'s a free spirit, a maverick, a thrill seeker. She's been away from Vienna for too long to be confined again. She hates the conventions of courtly life. And also like Daniel, C.C. is always looking for the next challenge. And she's found it in blood sports, fox hunting to be precise. And on horseback of course, she practices for hours. All the riders follow the pack of dogs across Hetch and Ditch, wherever they go, they had to follow. It's horrifically dangerous. The horse is galloped at terrifying speeds, hot on the heels of hounds following the scent of a fox. And remember, this is the 1870s, way before riders wore helmets and back protectors. But like Daniel, C.C.'s addicted to risk and danger. A lot of people you know fell and they gave up and they ended up in the ditches and she thrived. Well she thrived from the adrenaline at least. But not much else. Because as historian Tessa Dunlop says, C.C. was putting her body under immense stress, while still barely eating anything at all. On that she goes out and rides, properly jumping, physical exercise, for three, four hours, doing circus tricks, hopping over hedges. I mean, it is a sort of bonkers system. Inevitably, C.C. falls. She hits her head, losing consciousness. For the best part of a week, she's sick with severe concussion. Until the unthinkable. Her doctor's advice that her beautiful chastened hair through which she wore those 27 diamond stars should be cut off. She eases the weight on her bruised skull. But C.C.'s ankle-length trasses are her crowning glory. And the idea of losing her hair is terrifying. She wants wrote, "If I were to have my hair cut short, the people would fall on me like wolves." After all, who is Empress C.C. without her hair? "It was very much part of her armory and this wasn't armory that any other woman could buy. They could reproduce them by the stars, they could acquire diamonds and golden ballgangs." But they didn't have her hair. This was her power. It was her shield. So she refuses. Point blank. And she's determined to recover. In fact, C.C.'s quick to get back in the saddle. Just like Daniel, she needs to push the boundaries. She soon grows Hungary's hunting scene and sets her sights on England, where only the best riders get to hunt. She was in the saddle all day long. She was one of the very few people who was able to complete such a very tiring demanding hunting. But she was very, very, very good at it. So C.C. leaves her husband again. She sets off for England to pursue her dream. And you'll never guess who she stays with. To be precise, with the Lord Spencer in Outthorpe, who was an ancestor of Lady Diana. Princess Diana's relatives were charmed by Ampracisi, but they also worried for her safety. So they made sure she rode with a very experienced huntsman. Whose name was Bay Middleton. Middleton. You couldn't make it up. Sadly, we've checked, and Bay was not actually the Princess of Wales' ancestor. He was, however, very charming. He was so impressed by her riding talent. And then it was plain to see that she had a crash on him and he had a crash on her and she loved it. Life was beautiful. Her mental health improves. She's even able to eat a little more. Once again, and pre-seicis at the top of her game. Elizabeth was probably the best female writer in the world at her time. She was a top athlete for 10 years, and she would have won medals in the Olympic Games. I have no doubt about it. But even far from home in England, everyone wants a piece of the world's most beautiful woman. And often after the day's hunt, Cece would ride back to Lord Spencer's estate to find herself surrounded by the press, desperate to snap pictures of her for their newspapers. Now approaching 40, Cece has a few lines on her face, the odds little wrinkle, and she can't risk her public realizing she's aging. Cece would not let photographers snap her. She had a leather fan that she immediately drew out. Even when she was on horseback, she kept it stuck in the front of her saddle. There's a wonderful photograph actually of her on horseback with this great big fan in front of her face. You can still find that black and white photograph on the internet. Cece and her viciously tight corset astride a huge dark horse hiding behind her fan. Historians today believe Emperor Cece was the first ever target of the paparazzi. Constantly chased for pictures. From her writing, we know she felt assaulted by the attention. It stirs my bile when they stare at me so. I would like to creep into a shell and could die of rage. And when you look at Cece trying to fend off those early photographers, it's impossible not to think of the late Princess Diana of all those paparazzi shots of her, in which she has her hands or her handbag raised in front of her face. Cece the hunter has become the hunted. We jump to another hunt. It's 2005, where in Winnipeg, the hunt for Daniel Blanchard continues, and the major crimes unit hasn't seen a glimpse or heard a whisper from him in months. While Daniel's trying to keep a low profile, his extremely colourful past just keeps popping up on those police databases. There is more crime than there is cops. Oh, it's mind-blowing. That's Ben Hagueman. He's the police investigator whose door-to-door enquiries first revealed Daniel's true identity. And he soon discovers something else. We did business with the American Bureau of Prisons, and we received substantial information from them, some other information about how he had stolen a police car and escaped from custody. Winnipeg's major crimes unit starts to realise that Daniel is going to need special handling. That entire investigation was monumental in terms of its scope and size. And so that's what started conversations in our office about using a higher level of tactic and technique to bring Dan Blanchard to a close. In fact, it's decided that the extent of Daniel's crimes warrants his very own team. A dozen or so dedicated officers working under the code name "Project Kite". Superintendent Gordon Schimacher oversaw the project. All the guys on Project Kite, I mean, they were all high-flying type of police officers. I mean, they are highly intelligent, tenacious people. The officers selected for Project Kite specialised in different fields. Some were accrued from the financial crimes unit. Others were skilled in technology. They worked really well together and had all types of people, but all of them being super-enthusiastic and excited and having the same goal of catching the bad guy. Because they all had that same goal. Has Daniel met his match? The more Project Kite uncovered, the more invested they became. You know, it was challenging. It made for a really engaging experience as an investigator because what we were experiencing in investigating Dan was so outside of the norm that you got to buy in a little bit more emotionally. And they had to admire Daniel's dedication to his art, even if grudgingly. Dan did have a sense of pride in what he did. You could see it. For Dan, it was important to be the best at what he did. He was resourceful, he's creative, he had some real ability to plan. His execution was pretty good. You know, I could get him credit for that. But he's still a criminal. But as the weeks and months tick by, Daniel occasionally pops up on police radar, only to immediately disappear again before police can pin him down or catch him, or even call him in for questioning. And that's making Gordon a little nervous. It was clear to me that he was elusive or he could be elusive. So I guess if I had any concerns at that point, a concern would be that he would disappear and we would never see him. So Gordon steps things up. He allows Project Kite to apply to the courts to request something called a Part 6, otherwise known as a wiretap. Because the one thing the police have tracked are Daniel's phone numbers. Whenever you want a wiretap, costs escalate. You know that he has to get expensive. But as far as I'm concerned, this is just one of those investigations where you had to do it. Expensive because of the manpower needed. Someone's got to be listening 24/7 and because of the legal costs. Presenting the evidence they have already. Documents when they go to the court or to a judge to authorize wiretaps is significant. They could be thousands of pages long. In their hefty evidence file on Daniel, the team argues this wiretap is the only way to keep tabs on him. The only way of catching him. So the judge determines at the time that these wiretaps will provide an opportunity to get evidence not easily gathered through some other way. Project Kite's requests to bug Daniel's phone lines is granted. Which means from this point on, Daniel will never have a private phone conversation again. Someone from Project Kite will always be listening in whoever he dials. Now I think this is where we should hear a bit more from Danny Gunn. He's Daniel's lawyer because this is when he enters the story and when he first meets Daniel Blanchard. Project Kite is well underway but making slow progress. But enough progress for Daniel to start feeling the heat. So he decides to reach out. Brown dinner time I received a call from Mr. Blanchard on my cell phone and he said, "Well, why don't you meet me at this particular location?" And he basically gave me the coordinates for a parking lot. Now Danny Gunn's a criminal lawyer. So he's used to some of his clients being a little unusual. But this is deeply unusual. So he shares the location Daniel Blanchard had given him with his wife, just in case. He's not an intimidating figure. You know, if it came down to me having to fight him off, I suppose I probably would have won. But you know, that being said, it was just very odd. And it's about to get even stranger. He pulled up to my vehicle and jumped out, got into my vehicle and said, "Hey, let me show you something." And he handed me a small electronic gadget that I sort of looked at and like, "Well, what is this?" He said, "Well, I'll show you." The location is a bank parking lot. Of course it is. Anyway, Daniel sets off towards the spank, which is closed for the night. But he instructs Danny Gunn to keep focus on the little electronic screen. I'm looking down at the screen and I can suddenly see this fellow on the screen as he walks into the bank. Danny Gunn is stunned. He realizes that what he's looking at is a private feed of the bank's security cameras, which means Daniel Blanchard has just broken into a bank right in front of him. "Can I mic?" "Oh my god." And he waves and I was like, "Uh oh, who is this guy?" Danny quickly puts two in two together. This strange young guy must be connected to the C.I.B.C. bank heist he read about in the newspapers. "It became clear to me that he was responsible or at least involved in that event and he wanted to hire me to be his lawyer." So he must know that Winnipeg-Pelice are after him and he must want advice while he still has time. Dan would ask, "How does it work when?" "Uh, how do you know when police have sufficient information to arrest you? What is reasonable and probable grounds for an offense?" Questions that ordinarily are unusual for people to be asking. You know, normally they want to know once they've been charged how it works, but he was more interested in how police gather information, how police go about doing their job. "You can imagine it's a little surreal for Danny Gunn. Sitting in his car in the dark with a man he suspects is involved in one of the most audacious heists in Canadian history." He was - Waterly, unique. - And despite himself, Dany just can't help warming to Daniel. - Yeah, I did like him, it's true. I like them. - So Dany agrees to represent Daniel, if and when the time comes. But when Daniel steps out of the car, Dany Gunn stops him. - You know, my advice was always, "Well, don't do anything, "they don't bring the police's attention to you, Dan, "if you live your life lawfully and you abide by the rules, "then nobody's gonna bother you." - Good advice, sensible advice. But the trouble is, Daniel's already got plans. A few ions in the fire for his next adventure, his next adrenaline fix. He's never been one to follow the rules. After all, he's the man who parachuted onto a palace roof and stole a crown jewel without getting caught. Because Daniel Blanchard doesn't get caught. - Right? - Well. (laughs) - Okay. (audience applauding) - It's 1879 and we're back in Vienna to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph and his beloved Emperor Cic. Although, Cicis letters show she's not exactly thrilled about it. It's already enough to have been married for 25 years without also having to celebrate the fact. She may be Empress of Austria, but this is the first time Cicis been home in almost five years. She's been Foxhunting in Ireland and across England with the dashing Bay Middleton. - She certainly wasn't beautiful. She thought she was above duty. She set her own agenda. - Tessa Dunlop, our royal historian. - She lived a life according to her own rules. And those rules were, I mean, they were pretty outward bound, given the times. - Now, before we get crossed wires here, I just need to clear one thing up. Cicis and Bay Middleton. Yes, they went riding together. Yes, they were rumours. Yes, they really liked each other. But historian Regina Neuhauser doesn't believe there was anything physical between them. - I don't think they had an affair. The reason is Cicis' personality. I don't think that she was a highly sexed up person. - So this doesn't surprise me at all. - That's Professor Chris Farben. I was a psychiatrist and expert in eating disorders. - People who are underweight, they're sexually interested, absent, but they still may be relating to people in a very friendly, possibly flirty way, but sexually, no, while underweight, sex is not on the cards. - So Cicis' extremely restrictive diet meant she was most likely platonic. Her compulsive need to stay thin stopped anyone from getting too close, physically. Not great news for Cicis' poor husband, Franz Joseph, the man who had once showered her with stars and who, by all accounts, is still pretty smitten with his Cicis. - He held her in great esteem. They didn't always have an intimate relationship. She wasn't a conventional, biddable wife, but he respected her. - And for her part, Cicis was fond of Franz Joseph, just not in that way. There is this affection and I think friendship. But Cicis understood that her husband wanted more than she could give. So she did something completely extraordinary. Cicis found Franz Joseph a mistress. - Katharina Schrat was a convenient arrangement, right? - An Austrian actress called Katharina Schratz. Katharina was an easy way for Cicis not to have sex with her husband. And she felt bad about leaving her husband alone all the time. It was to calm down her conscience as well. - Rather an orthodox. But it means that now, Cicis free again to do exactly as she pleases. She packs her bags almost immediately and leaves Vienna. But privately, all is not well with our beautiful Empress. Years of starvation and excessive exercise are taking their toll on Cicis' health. And however she tries to stop it, the clock just keeps ticking. She was going into middle age. There was no HRT in those days. There was no sort of collagen replacements or Botox. The past and the future are stealthily catching up with Cicis. - It was a grueling battle against aging. It really was a grueling battle against aging. She found it extremely difficult to live with that. She said, "You know, I want to disappear." Let's return to 2006, to Winnipeg, where Daniel Blanchard is still nowhere to be seen. But he is being heard on the wiretap by officers like Ben Hagueman. - We're getting some great information about how he operated and the scope of the operations and it was good. - And while Daniel knows the police are on his tail, he has no idea his phones are bugged, right? - Blanchard knew that the police were on him. They knew they were interested. It's clear that he is actually fully aware that there's someone listening. And yet in spite of that, he couldn't stop talking about his crimes. - Daniel's lawyer, Danny Gunn, says Daniel Blanchard rarely censored himself. He just doesn't seem to care that the police know what he's up to. What criminal activities he's planning. - He was very mindful and aware of the various techniques that the police used. And yet he proceeded to talk about things rather clearly. - A real showman. And Daniel just loves an audience. - My impression of Dan during the time of the wiretap was that this was a guy who loved doing what he did. - And while Ben is getting some useful information, he's also enjoying getting to know the guy he's supposed to catch. He was enthusiastic and he loved talking about it. A lot of times people like to brag about the things they've done. And that was the case here. - But soon, Daniel's not just bragging about the past. He starts to brag about the future too. The things he wants to do. The things he will do. And Ben's getting to know Daniel's associates too. Realizing he doesn't always work alone. And we were able to listen to Danny. And we were able to listen to his colleagues talk in a very unguarded manner about the crimes they were committing past, present, future planning. Super interesting. - It's almost like Daniel wants the police to find him or at least to make sure they really get who they're up against. Because listening to Daniel through the wiretap, it becomes clear to Ben that Daniel's got big plans. It's making Danny gun nervous. - Over the ensuing months, I received calls from Dan Blanchard as he was traveling around Canada various times outside of Canada. Calling me to ask weird questions about different things. And it came as quite a shock to me when I found out the details of all of it. - On the wiretap, Ben starts to hear Daniel chatting with strange individuals. People he doesn't normally talk to. People overseas. We're starting to talk about what is likely a vast criminal enterprise. - Why stay in Canada when there's a whole world out there? This is Daniel Blanchard, the guy who stole the CC star, remember? He won his ticket to the Big Boys Club. So now he's caching in that ticket and going international. - And it starts to become a chapter from a Hollywood novel, right? But those overheard conversations are taking a very dangerous turn. And this time, Ben fears that Daniel Blanchard, he's in way over his head. - It was entirely within the realm of possibility that Danny was gonna end up dead. (gentle music) - You've been listening to a most audacious heist, a Blanchard house production for curious cast, hosted by me, Seren Jones. It's written and produced by Emma Jane Kirby, research by Hannah Tava-Coliseade. Original music is by Daniel Lloyd Evans, Louis Nank-Manel and Toby Matamong. Sound design and mix engineering by Toby Matamong and Louis Nank-Manel. The part of Empress CC is played by Rianne on Needs. Poetry translations courtesy of Regina Neuhauser from the book, "Empress Elizabeth of Austria." 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 Shautino-Nolan and Lawrence Grisel. For curious cast, the executive producers are Dilevelass, and Chris Duncombe. A most audacious heist is inspired by the book "Stealing CC Star" by Jennifer Bauer's Barney. Our fighters rest their lives every single day. Friday's on global. You can get you out of here, bud. This is the greatest job in the world. An all new, fire country. Fire fire, Leon. We need you to make your own rest assessment. Even the wood behind you is a wildfire. Ready game now, boys! TV's hot as show. It's off. Keeps getting hotter. Will you help? Happy to. Fire country. Only Fridays and 90s turn on global. Stream on Stack TV.