# The Dead Man’s Line: The Tony Kiritsis Hostage Case

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/redrum-true-crime-586498/the-dead-man-s-line-the-tony-kiritsis-hostage-case
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/redrum-true-crime-586498/the-dead-man-s-line-the-tony-kiritsis-hostage-case.md
Podcast: [REDRUM true crime](https://stenobird.com/podcast/redrum-true-crime-586498)
Published: 2026-05-25T06:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://rss.pdrl.fm/1eca9d/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/arttrk.com/p/ARTS0/rss.art19.com/episodes/fdf2d9c6-cdf3-4bea-878a-40dd8b38ee15.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
Audio file: https://rss.pdrl.fm/1eca9d/pscrb.fm/rss/p/clrtpod.com/m/arttrk.com/p/ARTS0/rss.art19.com/episodes/fdf2d9c6-cdf3-4bea-878a-40dd8b38ee15.mp3?rss_browser=BAhJIg90cmFuc2NyaWJyBjoGRVQ%3D--952c5701c84ad333c69d5faa668f8177091704f0
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/redrum-true-crime-586498/episodes/the-dead-man-s-line-the-tony-kiritsis-hostage-case
Duration seconds: 1783

## Resource

In February 1977, a routine morning at a mortgage office in downtown Indianapolis would erupt into one of the most chilling hostage situations ever captured on camera. What began as a dispute over land, debt, and frustration between a borrower and a mortgage company quickly spiralled into something far more dangerous… when Tony Kiritsis walked into Meridian Mortgage armed, prepared, and carrying something he called a “Dead Man’s Line.” What followed was a 63-hour standoff that unfolded in plain sight. Through office hallways, across city streets, and eventually into the heart of downtown Indianapolis - all while a terrified hostage was forced to stay inches away from a loaded weapon rigged with a homemade trigger mechanism designed to fire if anything went wrong. Police followed closely behind, but every attempt to intervene risked turning a hostage situation into an instant execution. News crews arrived quickly, and what they captured would turn this case into something almost unthinkable… a real-time crisis broadcast as it unfolded. As negotiations broke down and demands escalated, the situation stretched far beyond a simple hostage crisis. It became a moving standoff across the city, with escalating tension, public confrontation, and moments where one wrong step could have changed everything in an instant... Sign up for the free REDRUM newsletter, full of all things true crime, as well as a run down of all the latest REDRUM cases. This will only ever come to you once a month... I'm no fan of spam. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/W79H87S Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/redrumtruecrime/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/redrumtruecrime/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/redrumtruecrime You can email me: redrumtruecrimepodcast@gmail.com SHOP MERCH: redrumtruecrime.mysh…

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## Transcript

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