Today is Friday, December 25th, 2020.

On this day in 1950, four Scottish nationalists broke into Westminster Abbey and stole

the stone of destiny, an ancient symbol of Scottish royalty.

Welcome to Today in True Crime, a Spotify original from Parkast.

Today we're covering the shocking theft of the Stone of Destiny.

Let's go back to London in the early morning hours of

December 25, 1950.

Ian Hamilton, Alan Stewart, and Gavin Vernon put their combined weight onto the small crowbar. The law students

had no experience breaking and entering, but they were willing to take great risks to liberate

their quarry. The hulking pine door slowly budged open with every effort, but all the creaking

and cracking threatened to expose them.

A Westminster watchman could be lurking around any corner.

As the doors inched open, the intruders gave one last heave.

Finally, the entrance opened with a crash. The three men rushed into the abbey,

shut the doors behind them, and waited in silence. For sirens, for footsteps, but none came.

The Scots had successfully found themselves inside the Poets' corner of Westminster Abbey in London.

But breaking into one of the most beloved churches in all of England was only step one of their plan.

Step two, steal the stone of destiny.

For centuries, this ancient relic was a crucial piece of the Scottish Royalty's coronation ceremony,

and now Ian, Alan, and Gavin were determined to return it to its rightful place.

By the time the men arrived in the Confessor's Chapel, where the stone was held,

they'd gotten much further than they'd

...