The “Reformed” Master Criminal Who Hoodwinked the Authorities
To the authorities’ delight, Jonathan Wilde fell upon the criminal underworld like a ton of bricks. He broke up gangs and sent criminals to the gallows by the dozen. During his career as a thief-taker, at least 120 people were executed based on Wilde’s testimony, and information that he furnished the authorities. He also set up a side business as a private detective to recover stolen goods for a fee. However, he failed to inform his clients that it was his thieves who had stolen their goods in the first place. “Recovery” simply came down to Wilde sifting through his warehouses of stolen property. Wilde had not gone legit but had simply hoodwinked everybody.
The Thief-Taker General became an even bigger kingpin, and delivered competitors to the authorities simply as a mean to rid himself of rivals. He was finally brought down when a criminal whom Wilde had double-crossed turned around and accused the Thief-Taker General of fencing stolen goods. An investigation confirmed the allegation, and Wilde was arrested. Many of his underlings then turned crown evidence against him, and the fact that England’s greatest crime fighter had also been its greatest criminal all along came out. Wilde was swiftly tried, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, where he had sent so many others to their doom.
