Episode
S6 Ep1: Brief Against Death: The Murder of Victoria Zielinski
- Podcast
- Crimes of the Centuries
- Published
- Feb 23, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3015
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://audioboom.com/posts/8863877
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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