S19 Ep28: Alcatraz Ghost Story: Roy Gardner's Amazing Train Robberies, Escapes, & Lifelong Love W/ Brian Stannard
Darkness Radio
Darkness Radio
4.7 • 3.2K Ratings
🗓️ 5 March 2024
⏱️ 120 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Before the 1920s found their roar, a charismatic gambling addict named Roy Gardner dominated news headlines with daring train robberies and escapes from incarceration. Nicknamed "the Smiling Bandit," Gardner spilled no blood––except his own––as he cut a felonious path across the western United States! Once imprisoned for the long term in federal prisons, including Alcatraz, the most notorious prison's second-most-notorious inmate won over some unlikely champions. Both Gardner's wife, Dollie, and a police officer who once arrested him launched extensive campaigns for Gardner's release on the vaudeville circuit, claiming a brain operation would cure his lawless ways. Was Gardner a good man who made bad decisions as the victim of injury and circumstance? Or was his charming personality merely the poker face of a scoundrel?
Author Brian Stannard joins TCT to talk about the character and life of Roy Gardner, his lifelong love with Dollie, the allure to crime, and why it all fell apart in the end for Roy!
Get your copy of "Alcatraz Ghost Story..." here: https://bit.ly/4c2jgGj
PLUS: AN ALL NEW DUMB CRIMES/STUPID CRIMINALS WITJH BOB DENNIS!!!
Check out Bob's podcast "Urban Legends, Stranger Truths": https://www.darknessradioshow.com/p/urban-legends-stranger-truths-with-bob-dennis/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | And then. Welcome in to the best in True Crime Podcasting. This is True Crime Tuesday. I'm your host Tim Des. |
| 0:28.0 | I have an interesting story for you guys today folks and it comes from a book that I got to read over the weekend |
| 0:35.3 | that absolutely enthralled me it's a book called Alcatraz Ghost Story Roy Gardner's |
| 0:40.4 | amazing train robberies escapes escapes, and lifelong love. |
| 0:44.1 | And it's exactly as it's put on the page. |
| 0:47.2 | It's a story about a man who is a train robber, |
| 0:51.9 | a man who's an incredible athlete, a man who's an incredible athlete a man who has his ups and downs a man who's an addict and a man who is going for that big score but always seems to trip over his own feet and ends up |
| 1:06.0 | deeper in a hole even though he's got good aspirations and it seems like the man is snake |
| 1:12.1 | bit that's the best way to put it. We're going to delve into Roy's life and |
| 1:17.0 | His tragic fall from grace his continuing fall from grace as we continue on into a story and it really is a |
| 1:24.9 | sad story. The author of this wonderful book is Brian Standard. Brian worked out at |
| 1:30.7 | Alcatraz for four years and has some amazing stories about Roy and how he |
| 1:37.4 | developed this fascination with Roy Gardner is fascinating especially |
| 1:40.6 | since you had more I guess you want to say popular criminals or more |
| 1:47.5 | notorious criminals like Al Capona machine gun Kelly out there. I'm going to |
| 1:51.2 | bring Brian into the program now Now let's welcome in to |
| 1:53.3 | True Crime Tuesday. Brian Standard, hi Brian, how you doing? Very good. Thank you |
| 1:58.0 | Tim. Thank you again for having me out here. I really look forward to this. So one |
| 2:01.8 | quick correction, so I currently work at a address I'm still |
| 2:05.0 | working out there yes oh I'm sorry I'm I misunderstood so you of course so I |
| 2:10.0 | started working there four years ago and I'm still working there I'm off today so oh all right well I love talking about Alka Jazz even on my days off I I could talk about Alka Drras indefinitely whenever my wife and I go to |
| 2:24.1 | dinner parties or house party she has to sure everybody Brian is not on cocaine |
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