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Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they earn the label crime of the century.

But the stories that made headlines and decades passed aren't necessarily remembered today.

I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist and author. And in each episode of this show, I'll examine

a case that's maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened. This is crimes

of the centuries.

Barton Key stood in Washington, DC's Lafayette Square, waving his handkerchief in the air,

hoping to catch the eye of his lover. It was their signal.

Well, one of their signals anyway. Another way he would get his lady's attention would

be to hang a string from the balcony of a lovnest he had rented in a poor section of town.

A section no one would think to look for Barton Key. He was, after all, the son of the famous

Francis Scott Key, whose poem written during the War of 1812 became the lyrics of the

Star Spangled Banner. And Barton was no slouch himself having been appointed US District

Attorney of Washington, DC by both presidents Franklin Pierce and James Buchanan.

He had waived his white handkerchief countless times from his little spot outside of the clubhouse,

where the city's rich and powerful would hang out to tell stories and drink booze near

the White House. Usually, what would happen was that Key's love interest, a 23 year old

...