28. The Thief Catcher Gets Caught
Jonathan Wilde also set up a side business as a private detective, recovering stolen goods for a fee. He failed to inform his clients that it was his thieves who had stolen their goods in the first place, and “recovery” simply amounted to Wilde sifting through his warehouses of stolen property.
He was finally brought down when a criminal double-crossed by Wilde accused him of fencing stolen goods. An investigation confirmed the accusation, and Wilde was arrested. That was when many of his underlings took the opportunity to turn crown evidence against him until his whole scheme of simultaneously being England’s greatest crime fighter and greatest criminal came out. He was swiftly tried, convicted, and hanged at Tyburn, where he had sent so many others to their doom.
