S6 Ep1: Brief Against Death: The Murder of Victoria Zielinski
Crimes of the Centuries
Amber Hunt and Audioboom
4.7 • 4K Ratings
🗓️ 23 February 2026
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In 1957, Edgar Smith was sentenced to death for the murder of a teenage girl in New Jersey. From his prison cell, he began writing letters, essays and arguments build a case not in court, but on the page. One of those letters landed on the desk of William F. Buckley Jr. Others found their way into elite literary circles. Soon, a condemned man had powerful allies, a book deal and a growing audience convinced the system had gotten it wrong.
"Crimes of the Centuries" is a podcast from Grab Bag Collab exploring forgotten crimes from times past that made a mark and helped change history. You can get early and ad-free episodes and more over at www.grabbagcollab.com
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Some crimes are so heartbreaking or shocking that they change laws, change society, or even |
| 0:13.0 | earn the label, Crime of the Century. |
| 0:16.0 | But the stories that made headlines in decades past aren't necessarily remembered today. |
| 0:22.3 | I'm Amber Hunt, a journalist, an author, and in each episode of this show, |
| 0:27.0 | I'll examine a case that's maybe lesser known today, but was huge when it happened. |
| 0:33.8 | This is Crimes of the Centuries. |
| 0:45.8 | Thank you. This is Crimes of the Centuries. December 6, 1971. |
| 0:49.5 | Two limousines idled outside the Bergen County Courthouse in Hackensack, New Jersey. One was for Edgar Smith |
| 0:56.5 | and William F. Buckley Jr. The other was for Smith's family, friends, and the elite legal team |
| 1:02.8 | that had just wanted to miss freedom. Inside the courtroom moments earlier, Judge Morris |
| 1:08.5 | Pashman had asked Smith a direct question, |
| 1:11.5 | Did you and you alone kill Victoria Zelensky? |
| 1:16.0 | Smith's answer was equally direct. |
| 1:18.9 | I did. |
| 1:20.2 | And with that, after 14 years and nine months on death row, |
| 1:24.4 | longer than any prisoner in American history at that time, Edgar Herbert Smith, |
| 1:29.3 | Jr. walked out a free man. The limousine carrying Smith and Buckley made its way toward New York |
| 1:36.2 | City. Inside, Buckley uncorked a bottle of wine and toasted Smith's liberation. The mood was |
| 1:43.6 | celebratory, triumphant even. |
| 1:47.0 | Which isn't usually the case after someone admits an open court to murder, |
| 1:51.9 | but this case was far more complicated than average, |
| 1:54.9 | and those in Edgar Smith's corner weren't your typical supporters, |
... |
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