Edward Rulloff was a genius, speaking seven languages by the time he graduated high school -- no easy feat for someone from a poor farming family. But Rulloff was also arrogant, hot-headed and prone to violence. When his wife and infant daughter disappeared in 1844, Rulloff said they'd simply gone on a trip, though his in-laws were suspicious. Somehow, he managed time and again to slip through authorities' fingers -- once with the help of an undersheriff's son whom he'd smooth-talked into freeing him from jail. When Rulloff was finally caught, some argued that his life should be spared and his brain studied, and he went down in history as one of America's smartest and most slippery criminals.

"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history.

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