402: The Reno Redfield Heist w/ Gavin Schmitt

Most Notorious! A True Crime History Podcast

Erik Rivenes

True Crime, History, Education

4.7 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 21 August 2025

⏱️ 67 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The 1952 burglary of eccentric multi-millionaire LaVere Redfield’s mansion in Reno, Nevada was the largest of its time, but also a comedy of errors. "Masterminded" by a French-Canadian woman with a questionable relationship to Redfield, it also included a failed safecracker and a crew of Italian-American hoodlums from the Milwaukee underworld. My guest is historian, author and podcaster Gavin Schmitt, and he shares details from his book Big Safe: The Milwaukee Crew and the Reno Redfield Heist. The author's website: https://gavinschmitt.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	I'll now hand you over to my best man, Eddie.
0:04.0	Wow, wow, wow, second time's a charm, eh, Billy Boy?
0:09.0	Oh God.
0:10.0	Substitution, courtesy of Paddy Power, embarrassing Eddie, makes way for sensible Samuel.
0:15.0	Cool, that was close.
0:16.0	You might not always pick the right starter, but your sub can still deliver.
0:19.0	Because with Paddy's super sub, your bet rolls over to the player coming on. Paddy Power. Valid on selected leagues and
0:24.3	markets only. Pre-match and in-play bets on qualifying player outcome selections only. T's and Cases
0:27.6	and exclusions apply. 18 plus scummelware. Dot Europe ablaze. It was an age of
0:34.1	enlightenment and progress, but also of tyranny and depression. It was an age of
0:38.6	glory and an age of tragedy. One man stood above it all. This was the Age of Napoleon.
0:45.3	I'm Everett Rummage, host of The Age of Napoleon podcast. Join me as I examine the life and times
0:51.2	of one of the most fascinating and enigmatic characters in modern history. Look for the age of Napoleon wherever the Most Notorious podcast. I'm Eric Riveness.
1:31.4	Thanks for tuning in. And it is so great to have Gavin Schmidt with me today. He has researched the
1:38.1	dark side of Wisconsin history for decades and has written multiple books related to Wisconsin True Crime, including the book
1:46.4	that is the topic of our interview today. Big Save, the Milwaukee crew, and the Reno Redfield
1:52.9	Heist. And by the way, he knows an incredible amount about the Milwaukee Mafia, so much so that he hosts
2:00.5	the Milwaukee Mafia podcast and Fox
2:03.8	City's Murder and Mayhem podcast. And it is so great to meet you, Gavin. I'm surprised we haven't
2:10.8	connected before because we're neighbors in a sense. I'm a crime guy in Minnesota and here you are
2:16.9	in Wisconsin. Yeah, my pleasure. Yeah, I thought about that too. I was like, you know, I'm not a college sports fan, but if I was, I'd give you some crap. So, screw you, gophers. No, but I don't care. It's not really my thing. Yeah, I was thinking about saying something derogatory about the Packers.
2:36.4	Yeah, you can. You can. It's, you know, I'm a casual sports fan. I don't make my life
	...

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