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The FOX True Crime Podcast w/ Emily Compagno

Edwin Rist's Bizarre Feather Heist

The FOX True Crime Podcast w/ Emily Compagno

Fox News

True Crime

4.8708 Ratings

🗓️ 20 May 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Edwin Rist was a prodigal flautist and a legend within the fly-tying community. After moving to London to focus on his musical career, Rist took his obsession with exotic feathers and rare birds to a new level. In 2009, Rist broke into the British Natural History Museum at Tring, stealing over 200 exotic bird skins. Yet despite being only an amateur burglar, Rist was able to evade capture for over a year.   Author Kirk Johnson heard about the bizarre heist from within the fly fishing community, and took it upon himself to uncover the full story, detailing its significance in his book, The Feather Thief. Follow Emily on Instagram: @realemilycompagno If you have a story or topic we should feature on the FOX True Crime Podcast, send us an email at: [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

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0:33.6

To catch a salmon, you'll likely reach for a brightly colored lure, something chartreuse, fuchs, or cerulean.

0:41.3

If you have the means, you may prefer to use a fly, intricately crafted with threads, feathers, and a hook.

0:48.3

Catching a salmon can be a challenge, even for some of the most skilled and dedicated fishermen.

0:55.0

What shouldn't be a challenging catch is apprehending an amateur burglar who stole 299 rare

1:02.0

and extinct birdskins from one of Britain's most esteemed museums.

1:07.0

However, 20-year-old Edwin Rist proved to be one of the most elusive criminals to puzzle English authorities in recent decades.

1:15.6

Rist was a prestigious floutist, as well as a master fly tire who developed a name for himself within the fly fishing community during his teenage years.

1:24.8

After being accepted into the Royal Academy of Music, Rist moved from the United

1:29.1

States to the United Kingdom to focus on his musical career. But Rist, still obsessed with exotic

1:35.9

birds and rare feathers, was determined to get his hands on them. And so on June 23rd, 2009,

1:42.7

he did exactly that.

1:45.5

I'm Emily Campano, and this is the Fox True Crime podcast.

2:23.3

...and... After performing a concert featuring pieces by Haydn, Mendelson, and Handel at the Academy, Rist left London, embarking on a train to the British Natural History Museum at Tring.

2:32.3

Equipped with a suitcase, a flashlight, a wire cutter, and a glass cutter, Rist smashed a glass window and broke into the museum.

2:40.0

While inside, Rist stole 299 skins from naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace's Birds of Paradise collection.

2:51.6

Museum officials subsequently found the shattered glass,

2:54.6

but believed it was the result of a burglar who got cold feet,

...

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