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Unresolved

Mike DeBardeleben (Part Four: Unsub)

Unresolved

Unresolved Productions

True Crime, Society & Culture, History

4.52.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2024

⏱️ 43 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

"I'll tell you what's going down. I had an ex-old lady who really pissed me off and f***ed me over. I just want to get back at women."

After his arrest in May 1983, the Secret Service began looking into the background of 43-year-old Mike DeBardeleben to determine what he had been up to. Agents knew that the "Mall Passer" had been counterfeiting and distributing his own bogus $20 bills, but evidence indicated he had been up to much more than that over many years, stretching back to over a decade beforehand.

As investigators nationwide began charting DeBardeleben's path through the country, they discovered that it happened to correlate with a number of other crimes. And coincidentally, Mike DeBardeleben managed to match suspect descriptions in not only unsolved rape cases, but even homicides...



Research, writing, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Music composed and created by Micheal Whelan

Additional music includes "Unresolved Mysteries" by Ailsa Traves (podcast theme song, end credits)

Learn more about this podcast at http://unresolved.me

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Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/unresolved--3266604/support.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Book your ticket to happiness with Sun Express Airlines. Amazing! In the optical center sale you can get 30 to 50% off frames from the biggest brands, even

0:25.2

luxury brands.

0:26.8

From the second to the 31st of January, there's up to 50% off the most popular brands of

0:31.4

sunglasses and prescription glasses.

0:33.4

There's even up to 50% off hearing aids.

0:36.1

Up to 50% off in the optical center sale.

0:39.2

Don't wait, bring the whole family and make the most of it.

0:43.0

Sale offers can't be combined with other current offers.

0:47.0

See in store for T's and C's.

0:49.0

This episode contains graphic content that may not be suitable for all ages.

0:57.0

Listen or discretion is advised.

0:59.0

If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis. Help is available. Call or text 988 or chat with someone at 988 Lifeline.org.

1:09.7

Those outside of the US, reach out to someone at your local crisis center or hotline.

1:15.0

Please do not suffer in silence. Following an extensive investigation, 43 year old Mike De Bartelaben was arrested in May of 1983.

1:31.2

Having been tracked by the Secret Service for nearly four years, they'd been following the trail of a serial counterfeiter dubbed the mall passer, whose scheme centered around creating his own $20 bills and then using them in malls across America.

1:44.8

He would hit up several shops within each mall, purchase small items, and pocket the change,

1:49.7

ultimately amassing hundreds of thousands of dollars across most of the continental United States.

1:56.0

After his arrest in Tennessee in May of that year, investigators with the Secret Service began looking

2:00.6

for proof of DeBaralbun's printing machine,

2:03.2

since they weren't sure yet if he was working alone

2:05.8

or if he was just a single part of a larger operation.

2:09.0

They theorized that he had been working alone,

...

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