The Face that Witnessed a Murder
New England Legends Podcast
Jeff Belanger
4.9 • 1K Ratings
🗓️ 19 March 2026
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In Episode 437, Jeff Belanger and Ray Auger investigate the former Malden Bank building in Malden, Massachusetts, to witness the site of America's first armed bank robbery that included a murder. On December 15, 1863, 17-year-old bank employee Frank Converse became the victim of a gunman who made off with thousands of dollars in the heist. But whodunit and why? The event still haunts the old building.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I love the smell of a brewery, the malt, the hops. |
| 0:08.7 | I am with you, Ray. |
| 0:10.0 | I can practically taste the beer already. |
| 0:12.6 | Here they come. |
| 0:14.2 | Thank you. |
| 0:15.7 | Cheers. |
| 0:16.3 | Cheers. |
| 0:17.9 | We're sipping suds at the Faces Brewery in Maldon, Massachusetts. We are. Not that beer alone isn't a worthwhile reason to go anywhere, but why are we at this brewery, Jeff? So this building has seen some history, right? I can imagine. From the outside, it looks like a bank building. That's exactly what this building was. Yeah, it used to be the first national Bank of Malden. Yeah, I can see that. |
| 0:42.0 | It's a two-story white marble building on the corner of Pleasant and Middlesex Streets. |
| 0:46.8 | From the street, it looks exactly like a bank building. A building whose roots go all the way back to 1851. And this building has seen a murder most foul. And the killer almost got away |
| 0:53.1 | with it, except one face saw him do it. |
| 0:56.1 | Today that murder still haunts this old building and that face, believe it or not, is still |
| 1:00.5 | around. Get your beer topped off, Ray, and check the shoes you got on your feet. We've come to |
| 1:05.5 | Malden, Massachusetts to search for the face that saw a murder. |
| 1:12.9 | Hey, I'm Jeff Belanger. |
| 1:14.2 | Welcome to episode 438 of the New England Legends podcast. |
| 1:17.6 | And I'm Ray Osier. |
| 1:18.4 | Thank you for joining us on our mission to chronicle every legend in New England one story at a time. |
| 1:22.9 | From true crime to true hauntings, ghost monsters, roadside oddities, and all the other wicked |
| 1:28.2 | strangeness that makes our region like no other place. |
| 1:31.5 | Did you know that most of our story leads come from you? |
| 1:34.0 | Well, this one did. |
... |
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