Norway’s Most Wanted | 5

Summary

Big Time Podcast: "Norway’s Most Wanted | 5" – Detailed Summary

Title: Norway’s Most Wanted | 5
Release Date: April 21, 2025
Host: Steve Buscemi
Reporter: Sean Flynn
Producer: Campside Media / Piece of Work Entertainment

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Introduction

In the gripping fifth episode of Big Time, titled "Norway’s Most Wanted," host Steve Buscemi delves into the extraordinary life of Martin Pedersen, Norway’s most notorious bank robber. Reported by Sean Flynn, the episode chronicles Pedersen's transformation from a privileged upbringing to a legendary figure in the world of sophisticated heists. This detailed summary unpacks the key moments, discussions, insights, and conclusions drawn throughout the episode.

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Early Life and Inspirations

Martin Pedersen begins by introducing himself, highlighting the often-misrepresented aspects of his criminal career.

Martin Pedersen (00:50): “Not once did they say 19 bank robberies. That is a very essential point.”

Pedersen hails from a wealthy family in Turnsboro, Norway. Despite a comfortable upbringing, tragedy struck when his father passed away unexpectedly when Martin was just 20 years old. This loss, coupled with his mother's financial struggles leading to the sale of their family home, left Martin feeling lost and seeking direction.

Inspired by the charismatic gentleman thief character from the French TV series Saint Lupin, Pedersen's initial foray into crime was meticulous and calculated, reflecting his desire to emulate the suave and sophisticated persona he admired.

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The First Heist: A Gentleman Thief

Pedersen recounts his first act of theft, which marked the beginning of his unconventional criminal career.

Martin Pedersen (05:32): “I was so proud of myself because I got the window up. It was no alarms, no nothing.”

In Easter 1974, Martin meticulously planned and executed a burglary, stealing five Edward Munch lithographs from a wealthy widow's residence. His intention was not to amass wealth but to challenge himself and society’s norms. The meticulous nature of his first heist set the tone for his future endeavors, emphasizing elegance and minimal confrontation.

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Transition to Bank Robberies

Feeling unfulfilled by his mundane job and inspired by cinematic depictions of charming outlaws, Pedersen decided to escalate his criminal activities to rob banks—a move that would define his legacy.

Martin Pedersen (09:08): “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. I saw also that Norway was going to be a very rich society because of oil. And then I said to myself, why don't I steal from the rich, the banks?”

Equipped with a military-grade machine gun obtained through deception, Pedersen meticulously scouted his first bank in the small village of Seim. His ability to blend into different roles—such as a Swedish man needing currency exchange—demonstrated his acting prowess and strategic thinking.

A second heist followed soon after, where Martin used a loaded revolver, leading to unintended chaos and his eventual realization of the moral weight of his actions.

Martin Pedersen (18:48): “I want them to get out of it. Really out of it.”

This incident marked a turning point, pushing Pedersen to refine his methods, emphasizing non-lethal intimidation while grappling with his conscience.

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Escalation and Artistic Approach

Martin Pedersen continued his spree, amassing nearly $10 million through 19 bank robberies between September 1974 and May 1980. Each heist was characterized by elaborate planning, diverse disguises, and psychological manipulation aimed at evading law enforcement.

Martin Pedersen (22:14): “I had to be smart. And the smartest thing was to vanish. Where is he?”

Pedersen's approach was not merely about theft but transforming each heist into a performance, showcasing his desire to blend artistry with criminality. His incorporation of theater techniques allowed him to commit crimes with a level of sophistication rarely seen in typical bank robbers.

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The Final Heist and Capture

Pedersen's ambition culminated in his most audacious plan: robbing the Central Bank of Norway. Partnering with his old schoolmate Bjorn, Pedersen orchestrated a complex heist involving carjackings and meticulous staging to divert police attention.

Martin Pedersen (28:18): “I would not shoot at them whatever happens. That was sacred.”

Despite the flawless execution, unforeseen complications arose when Pedersen attempted to launder the stolen money by exchanging the newly minted bills in Switzerland. His meticulous efforts to alter the currency's appearance by soaking them in his swimming pool ultimately led to his downfall.

Martin Pedersen (31:21): “So I had them in my swimming pool.”

When Pedersen attempted to withdraw the laundered money, the Central Bank of Norway recognized the sequential serial numbers, triggering an investigation that traced the funds back to him. Despite his elaborate disguises and false leads, a combination of diligent police work and a tip from a suspicious local led to his arrest in November 1981.

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Life After Crime

Convicted of multiple bank robberies, Martin Pedersen served eight years of his 12-year sentence. During his incarceration, he dedicated himself to education, eventually becoming the lawyer his mother always wished him to be.

Upon release, Pedersen attempted to reintegrate into society by opening Munch's Cafe—a nod to his initial theft of Edward Munch lithographs. The cafe became a local landmark, adorned with replicas of the stolen artwork and newspaper clippings celebrating his infamous exploits.

Martin Pedersen (43:42): “Welcome to my humble restaurant.”

Despite his efforts to lead a legitimate life, Pedersen's past continued to haunt him. Encounters with inquisitive tourists and lingering suspicions underscored the lasting impact of his elaborate criminal career.

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Conclusion

"Norway’s Most Wanted | 5" presents a nuanced portrayal of Martin Pedersen—a man driven by artistic inspiration and personal loss into a life of sophisticated crime. The episode meticulously details his rise as Norway's most prolific bank robber, emphasizing his unique blend of charisma, strategic planning, and theatricality. However, it also sheds light on the psychological toll and moral conflicts that ultimately led to his capture and transformation into a respected lawyer. Pedersen's story serves as a compelling exploration of the thin line between artistry and criminality, and the enduring quest for identity and redemption.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Introduction of Pedersen's charisma:

  “But none of these villains are as charismatic, smooth, or as Norwegian as today's subject.”
  (00:06)

• Admission of 19 bank robberies:

  “Not once did they say 19 bank robberies. That is a very essential point.”
  (00:50)

• First heist reflection:

  “I felt a little proud. It was me against the society, in a way.”
  (07:07)

• Motivation for bank robberies:

  “Why don't I steal from the rich, the banks? I don't give it to the poor, but I give it to myself and my family.”
  (08:53)

• Realization of power during robbery:

  “It was me. It was very strange again.”
  (12:48)

• Evolving into method acting:

  “I had to be smart. And the smartest thing was to vanish.”
  (22:14)

• Final heist planning and execution:

  “I would not shoot at them whatever happens. That was sacred.”
  (28:18)

• Reflection on criminal identity:

  “I was a super criminal. But I wanted to get out of it.”
  (42:38)

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Final Thoughts

Martin Pedersen's story, as narrated in this episode, is a testament to the intricate dance between crime and character. His journey from a privileged youth to a legendary bank robber, and ultimately to a reformed lawyer, underscores the complexities of human motivation and the enduring impact of one's choices. Big Time masterfully captures these elements, offering listeners a captivating dive into the life of Norway’s most wanted man.

Transcript

[Steve Buscemi]

Steve Buscemi here. I've played a lot of bad guys over the years. Gangsters, kidnappers, con artists.

[Martin Pedersen]

Mr.

[Steve Buscemi]

Pink sounds like Mr. Pussy. How about if I'm Mr. Purple? Blood has been shed. We've incarred wrists. Jerry, untie him. Oh, but before you do, put a bullet in his fucking head. But none of these villains are as charismatic, smooth, or as Norwegian as today's subject. A gentleman bank robber and a master of the escape. Two things that have to work in perfect harmony, it turns out. I'm Steve Buscemi, and you're listening to Big Time, an Apple original podcast from Piece of Work Entertainment and Campside Media in association with Olive Productions. Today's episode, Norway's Most Wanted, is reported by Sean Flynn.

[Sean Flynn]

Could you just start by introducing yourself?

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah, but one thing I just wanted. I said mess with your interview. But what they did a little wr. These people had made this documentary about me. Not once did they say 19 bank robberies. That is a very essential point. You know, I robbed 19 banks.

[Sean Flynn]

Well, let's just start them with. With 19 bank robberies. Why did you rob 19 banks?

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah, it's a little difficult to answer that question. My name is Martin Pedersen, and I come from a wealthy family in Turnsboro, a little city in Norway, south of Norway. And I grew up with a very good father and mother and had a very, very good life.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin Petersen is sort of a legend in Norway. People don't recognize him on the street. It's more of a trivia question. Fame. Who is Norway's biggest bank robber? It's him, Martin. In fact, that's the title of a Norwegian documentary that he just mentioned. Norgis Stusta Bankraner. This is a judgment call, by the way. The biggest bank robbery in Norway was pulled off by a guy named David Tosca in 2004. $13.5 million. But Tosca had 12 people working with him, and a cop got killed. Martin never killed anyone, and he worked solo for most of his criminal care. Between September 1974 and May 1980, Martin robbed at gunpoint 19 banks. And he got away with the equivalent today of almost $10 million. But when Martin tells me the story, he starts with his father.

[Martin Pedersen]

I love my father very much. He was the nicest man you can imagine.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin's father was a grocer, also sold insurance, did very well. He also came from money. The family lived in a big house that Martin's grandfather had built, and it was filled with antiques and art. Martin was the baby of the family. His father doted on Him.

[Martin Pedersen]

I wanted more to be an actor. I wanted to go to the actor school in Oslo.

[Sean Flynn]

Did your father support that?

[Martin Pedersen]

He supported me. Everything. Every year when the school ends, we make a shove in the school big. So thousands of people come. And I was the head of that. And he was there every day looking, oh, that's my son. I'm so proud.

[Unknown Narrator]

When Martin was 20 years old, his father died. It was unexpected. A heart attack. And for Martin, shattering. Not long after, his mother, worried about her finances, sold the house, Martin's childhood home. Martin was feeling lost, alone. So he got married just to have security.

[Martin Pedersen]

And instead of then going to Oslo to become an actor, she got me to start a teacher school in Tunberg.

[Sean Flynn]

Did your mother want you to be a teacher?

[Martin Pedersen]

No, definitely not. That wasn't good enough for her. She wanted me at least to be a lawyer, but she accepted that.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin, however, did not want to be a teacher. In his heart, he was still an actor. And then one day he heard about this amazing character.

[Martin Pedersen]

I was sitting with a couple of guys and they were talking about this thing that was in tv. It was a series about a gentleman and he was stealing paintings. But he did it with style. He had white gloves. He was Saint Lupin. It's a French series, and I was fascinated by it.

[Unknown Narrator]

One of those guys he was talking with knew of a rich man, a shipbuilder, who had Edvard Munch lithographs hanging in his house. Munch is a Norwegian icon and one of the most influential artists of the 19th and 20th centuries. If the name is unfamiliar, that's probably because it's pronounced Munch, but spelled like Munch. You'd definitely recognize his most iconic work, the Scream, even if you only saw it on a coffee mug or in an Internet meme.

[Martin Pedersen]

Even though we had paintings and many things, we didn't have Edward Munch. That was very rare. And then suddenly I woke up one night and I thought, ah, should I take those pictures? It will be a challenge. It was just a fantasy in the beginning. And I. I found out where this ship owner lived. And he was dead. But his widow was living there.

[Unknown Narrator]

That was the beginning, how it started. A young man, heartbroken and adrift, play acting as a French TV thief. But it worked. Easter 1974. The widow was away. Martin snuck up to her house in the dark.

[Martin Pedersen]

I was so proud of myself because I got the window up. It was no alarms, no nothing, you know, and in I go. Suddenly I was in a house that was even much, much bigger and more beautiful. Than my mother and father's. They also had Picasso things there. But I should be a gentleman, you know. So I took only five pictures of it with Munch, and I let the rest be.

[Unknown Narrator]

He left through the front door, which he realized could only be locked from the inside.

[Martin Pedersen]

When I went out, the door was then open. Anyone could come in. And I didn't want real thieves to come there, you know, I was a real thief myself, but I didn't want thieves to come in and do something bad to the property. So I wonder, what do I do? Someone has to close the door. So I thought about calling the police in Tonsberg, but I was afraid that they had a tape recorder. So I called the newspaper transfer and I told them with a different voice that the door was open, it had been a break in there, and they had to close the door. And they did. I got away with it. I took them out of the frames and I put them out behind a very big painting that I had inherited from my father. They were hanging there for years.

[Sean Flynn]

How did you feel about it?

[Martin Pedersen]

I felt a little proud. It was me against the society, in a way. And the police said this was a masterpiece because they had stolen that and that it must be someone who had wanted that. Why didn't they take all? And it was little me. Just these teachers, students.

[Unknown Narrator]

A masterpiece. In this little fantasy, Martin imagined himself to be an elegant thief, a sophisticate. And now the reviews were in. The police were convinced a debonair bandit clearly was afoot in Martin's real life. His wife gave birth to their first son later that spring. He was studying to be a teacher. The responsibility, the routine already were suffocating.

[Martin Pedersen]

But I felt not good about my life. So I said to myself, then no other person knew this. Why don't I rob a bank so I could buy a house like the house my mother had sold? Not the same house, but something like it. But, you know, you need a gun to rob a bank. You cannot come in with a pen or your finger. I didn't have a gun.

[Unknown Narrator]

Wait, hold up here.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah.

[Sean Flynn]

So you went into an empty house, or a house where nobody was home.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah.

[Sean Flynn]

And took five lithographs.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah.

[Sean Flynn]

And then you have a new baby.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah.

[Sean Flynn]

And you think you would like a nice house.

[Unknown Narrator]

So. Yeah, let's rob a bank.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah, A nice house for the family. For him, too.

[Sean Flynn]

You know, there's a lot of ways to get a nice house that don't.

[Unknown Narrator]

Involve robbing a bank.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah.

[Sean Flynn]

Where did rob a bank come from?

[Martin Pedersen]

You know, Butch Cassidy and the sun kid. You remember 1969, Robert Redford and those, you know, charming guys. I'm. I'm okay. Charming myself. And I saw also that Norway, which was going to be a very rich society because of oil. And then I said to myself, why don't I steal from the rich, the banks? I don't give it to the poor, but I give it to myself and my family.

[Unknown Narrator]

At least this was not a reckless impulse, a spur of the moment cash grab. Martin prepared. First he got a gun. He disguised himself as a military officer and drove to a barracks.

[Martin Pedersen]

And I just saluted in the gate and I saluted back. And then I went to this barrack and it was a little late, so there was no one there. And it was very simple to take that machine gun, put it under my coat, and then I went out again. Then I had a gun.

[Unknown Narrator]

Then he studied, researched, scouted. He chose a small bank in a nearby village called SEM. Only four, maybe five people working cash in wooden drawers behind the counter and a stairway leading down to the vault. No cameras. This was 1974 in a small Norwegian town. But remember, the point was to steal a lot of money.

[Martin Pedersen]

So four or five days before, I called the bank telephone. And I've been acting a lot since I was a young boy, you know. So I made my voice old and I said in Norwegian, then, my name is John, I don't know, Hansen from Oslo, you know, I have a little cabin down there not so very far from your little sweet town. And my wife and I, we've been so lucky now to win 250,000 in a lottery. We're going to go there on Friday. Can you please order 250,000 extra from the Norwegian Central bank so we can come and get it? Oh yes, please do that. The woman said, we're glad to order money for you, sir. So I ordered money for my own bank robbery.

[Unknown Narrator]

The day of the robbery, he took a train to a different town about 15 miles south of Seim.

[Martin Pedersen]

I went there in the railway station, into the toilet and changed. And when I came out, I was a totally different guy. I had a wig, I had this, I had that. I don't recall if I had beer that time, but I also wear a long coat. And then I went around in the streets.

[Unknown Narrator]

He's looking for a car to steal one with the keys in it. Because Martin doesn't actually know how to steal a car. It took a while.

[Martin Pedersen]

Many people saw me. They didn't see Martin Peterson. They saw totally different guy. And Then suddenly I saw a car and I jumped in and started it and I drove away.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin got to the bank and immediately there's a problem. A taxi right out front, near a big window with a clear view of the stairway to the vault where the money Martin ordered should be safely locked up.

[Martin Pedersen]

I waited and waited, but the time went and it was closed at 4:00. And I hoped he could go, but he didn't. And then I had to go.

[Unknown Narrator]

The bank was about to close, but Martin caught the bank manager just in time.

[Martin Pedersen]

And I also had decided to talk Swedish. He said in Swedish, then, hello, I'm a Swede. Can you please let me change some money? I don't have any Norwegian money. I need to change Swedish money. Yes, sir. Come in, she said. And we went in. And then when we come in, she got a shock of her life, I think, because suddenly this man took out this machine gun.

[Unknown Narrator]

There were no bullets in the gun. That's intentional. Martin wanted to be scary, not deadly. But he's the only one who knew that.

[Martin Pedersen]

I yell out in Swedish, then don't do anything. I'll shoot you if you try. And they automatically fell to the floor, all of them. And it was very strange, because I never had such power before. I nearly looked around. Who has got this power? And it was me. It was very strange again.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin was the only one who knew his machine gun wasn't loaded.

[Martin Pedersen]

And then I said, I want your money.

[Unknown Narrator]

He tossed a bag to the manager, told her to fill it with cash from the drawers. But the big money, the money he ordered, was downstairs in the vault. And that taxi driver who could see the stairs to the vault, he was still outside.

[Martin Pedersen]

But I couldn't stay there for so long. I could not know if they had pushed a button alarm to the police or something.

[Unknown Narrator]

There was no time to raid the vault. So Martin abandoned the quarter million kroner he'd ordered, left with what he got from the drawers. He walked to the car calmly and drove away. He hid his gun and the money where he could find them later, ditched the car, then slipped into the woods and lost the disguise. He came out in a tracksuit and jogged home to Tonesburg.

[Martin Pedersen]

And when I met somebody, I was smiling and happy. It was sunshine and everything. And then I got away with it. But then a couple of days later, I picked up these things again. And then I was rich. But it wasn't so much money as I had hoped.

[Unknown Narrator]

So it wasn't a flawless job. But he did all right. 230,000 kroner enough to buy a house, which was the whole point.

[Martin Pedersen]

It was a ship owner's house, beautiful house with a big property. And we moved in. But it needed a lot of decorations, new things because it was old. And what did I do? I called this one and that one and do this, do that in the garden and everything, you know. And the money went away like. Like birds.

[Sean Flynn]

What did your wife say?

[Martin Pedersen]

I told everybody that because they knew that I was into art and such, that I sold art. But I didn't make any money, you know. It was more a dream that I should be. That.

[Unknown Narrator]

At the spring of 1975, Martin was broke.

[Martin Pedersen]

I thought to myself, okay, I have to rob one more then. But that should be the last one.

[Unknown Narrator]

He repeated the entire process. He got a new gun because he'd thrown the first ones from a bridge. Believing that he wouldn't be committing any more armed robberies. He got a revolver, a.357 Magnum from a mail order catalog. Then he picked out a bank, cased it, robbed it and got away clean.

[Martin Pedersen]

And I was so happy. I felt like. I cannot tell you how happy I felt because I fooled him totally, you know. And. And I had lots of money now. So then I was the ordinary family man again. And nobody knew what I was doing.

[Unknown Narrator]

Well, some people wondered.

[Martin Pedersen]

There were rumors about me importing things, drugs and such. But nobody believed it because I was a good looking man with the short hair, perfect behavior, always smiling, being good to people, you know. But I was not acting, that is me. But then after a while I wanted to get out of nowhere because it was little narrow for me. Small. I drove down to south of France, a very beautiful area in our part of the world. And of course I knew lots about Monaco, south of France. I love that, you know, a little upper class and all that. Because that's where I come from anyway. Yachts and all that. When I went to the casino in Monte Carlo, of course I was in a black suit with a tie and I was drinking gin tonic or martini stir not so what you call. I'm not crazy or anything. But I liked that life. I liked it and I wasn't quite happy. I married this girl that I didn't love. And at that time, you know, there were no aids. So I was together with lots of girls.

[Unknown Narrator]

This seems to have been the point where Martin began to drift into method acting. Into becoming the character he thought he was only playing. He'd been a gentleman thief three times, two banks at an art heist. Why go back to that boring, ordinary family man schtick. Why not act out the upside of gentleman thieving? The definition of gentleman has, we hope, evolved. But this was the 70s and Martin leaned hard into his best James Bond. Womanizing and gallivanting. That's the pop psychology take.

[Martin Pedersen]

I spent very much money on this trip. I spent what would be half a million Norwegian crowns on 14 days. Yeah.

[Unknown Narrator]

Soon enough he was broke again.

[Martin Pedersen]

So the money. And then. Must I do this again? So, okay, then once more, but not more.

[Unknown Narrator]

Must he do it again? No, he wanted to because he was good at it. And that playboy lifestyle ain't gonna fund itself. He went through all the usual steps. But there was one detail that was different significantly from his first robbery. Martin was using a revolver.

[Martin Pedersen]

What is the thing about the revolver? You have to see the barrels. So I had to put in the bullets.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin's playing his part with a loaded gun. At the bank only two people are working. A young woman and the manager, a big man.

[Martin Pedersen]

I ordered him into the back room because I knew the money was there. The girl, she went straight in. But he was little. What the fuck is happening? His brain didn't manage this. And then he attacked me. And the man was much stronger than me. Big guy.

[Unknown Narrator]

The manager had Martin pinned to a table. Martin was worried about getting caught, but he was also worried about his gun.

[Martin Pedersen]

In this fight, I had to have it far away from him, from me, from anyone. Because if it goes, it was a.357 Magnum. Could blew anyone's head off.

[Unknown Narrator]

The manager tried to pull off Martin's hat, part of his disguise.

[Martin Pedersen]

And he did. But he also took my wig off.

[Unknown Narrator]

Weeps.

[Martin Pedersen]

And then he saw me as I was. And he got shocked. And I cannot recall why. He got up or something, but he did. And then I said, now you must go away or I'll shoot you in your legs. And he didn't. He attacked me again.

[Unknown Narrator]

The manager swung at Martin. Martin put his hands up to protect his face.

[Martin Pedersen]

And then. It's the biggest explosion I've ever heard. It said. It was not like you see in the movies. Bang. It was an explosion like it was dynamite.

[Unknown Narrator]

The bullet didn't hit anyone. But the noise attracted attention.

[Martin Pedersen]

I had to think. I get how to get out of this now. I'll just forget the money, I was thinking myself. But the door was locked and the key was not there. I couldn't get out there. And then I said to the man, Boom. Just a boom to frighten him. And then he didn't touch me. Now he Understood the situation.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin went out a window, jumped six feet to the ground. Outside, people were staring, moving toward this strange loud noise.

[Martin Pedersen]

I had to fire twice up in the air. And then I moved away. And then I went to this old car. It was an old green Audi. And I sat in and fuck. Not very funny. But then suddenly it started. And then whoosh. And then I was home free. So this was a total fiasco. And then I didn't have so much money then. So what should I do?

[Unknown Narrator]

Let's consider the options. One would have been to get a job and stop robbing banks before someone got killed or he got arrested. Or two, he could become a better bank robber. Martin went with number two.

[Martin Pedersen]

Now I have to be a traveling man in bank robberies. I will go now, rob a bank every second month. Quick in, quick out. Quick in, quick. I cannot take the control of a big bank. So I drove around sudden Norway, then on the other side of the fjord, and everywhere. And I did this quick in, quick, out of five, six, seven banks.

[Unknown Narrator]

In one sense, this flurry of robberies was almost routine. Martin followed the same practice steps each time. But in another sense, each new job had its own hint of artistry. Martin tried out new disguises, new accents during his robbery. One minute he was a criminal, the next.

[Martin Pedersen]

And suddenly was an English fisherman with fishing gear and dressed more as an Englishman. You know, little upper class English. Can you please tell me where I can find a nice fishing spot? Sir, such things, you know. I was in the theater.

[Sean Flynn]

Where did you get the idea to put that much deception into the back end, instead of just trying to get as far away as fast as you could?

[Martin Pedersen]

I had to be smart. And the smartest thing was to vanish. Where is he? And then nobody can find you. Some bankruptcy said, drive and drive and then meet the police and bom, bom, bom. I would not do that. No, no, no, no, no. Never. So that was the way I used psychology as much as I could. They believed it every time.

[Unknown Narrator]

They believed it every time. 14 times, in fact. That's a lot of banks. Cats don't have that many lives. Martin stopped using live rounds after he almost killed that manager. But it still haunted him. A gentleman thief can't have blood on his hands. And at some point you become more thief than gentleman.

[Martin Pedersen]

I wanted them to get out of it. Really out of it. And I began to get bad conscience. I even went to the police to report myself. But when I came in there, I lost my courage. And it was not a good time, really. It Was very bad time.

[Unknown Narrator]

Why?

[Martin Pedersen]

Because I couldn't get out of it. I was the biggest bank robber. The first bank robbery. Two was even bigger. And I was a nice man.

[Unknown Narrator]

It wasn't me, except it kind of was. Martin might have wanted out, but he wanted out on his terms. He didn't want to fade away, leave nothing but a string of unsolved and apparently unrelated robberies. He wanted one big score. The stuff of legends.

[Martin Pedersen]

The Central bank of Norway.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin wanted to rob the Central bank of Norway.

[Martin Pedersen]

After bank number 14. I said to myself, now or never.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin knew he couldn't rob the Central bank by himself. A job that big, a stage that big required a supporting cast. So he found a partner, an apprentice, a Sundance Kid, a Bonnie to his Clyde, a Pit to his Clooney. An old schoolmate, Bjorn.

[Martin Pedersen]

He was a sportsman. So I thought, if he can be with me, if he can come with me, we can take a really big bank. Because then we can control. No one will attack, you know. I was afraid to be attacked again.

[Unknown Narrator]

Now Martin has to decide which branch of the Central bank of Norway they should rob. He chose the nearest one in Dramen, a mid sized city southwest of Oslo. He went there one day to look around.

[Martin Pedersen]

There was this man with a gun, police in the door. But there were no cameras or nothing. And the world was quite open, it's true. And there were these shelves there. Not books, but hundreds of millions. And I nearly get problem breathing. This was up the second floor and there was no windows there. No one can see what happened. And I thought then, that is the ideal bank to rob.

[Unknown Narrator]

And yet this already was more complicated than most jobs. Martin and Bjorn would need to get to the second floor and then back down, Ideally saddled with cumbersome bags of cash. All without getting shot by that armed guard.

[Martin Pedersen]

It was legal for him to shoot me.

[Unknown Narrator]

The guard, the second floor. These were just problems to be solved. Martin was patient. He watched the bank, learned its rhythms, when and how people came and went. And eventually he discovered an elegant solution.

[Martin Pedersen]

When it was day before. Pensions, you know, lots of pensions were paid out in cash. And I saw that the police, they picked up lots of sacks with money.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin saw a weakness, a vulnerability in the way those sacks of money left the bank, which was this. The police put them in the back of a car. Not an armored car or one car in a convoy of cars. Just a regular police car. A little Scandinavian station wagon with blue lights on top. All Martin and Bjorn had to do was carjack that station wagon.

[Martin Pedersen]

Everything had to Be perfect. This was in the middle of a big city. The police, they had guns. They could shoot us down any way they wanted. If we get in too early, perhaps the police car was still going with the motor on. And then it could just give gas and drive us down. If you'd taken the key out, he could throw the key to the car. Anything was possible. So it has to be perfect.

[Unknown Narrator]

As always. The most important part of this job would be getting away. Vanishing. Martin and Bjorn stole three cars and placed them strategically around the city, each ready to be used in a delicate choreography.

[Martin Pedersen]

So I had like in the theater. Theater tried it out.

[Unknown Narrator]

Rehearsal.

[Martin Pedersen]

Rehearsal, yes. Just to see that it worked. And I was the boss and I was the architect. So we cut it off twice. I said, forget it, it's not perfect. Now we cannot do it. So we rubbed some banks in between. Small banks just have something to do.

[Unknown Narrator]

4. They robbed four banks to have something to do. And then. Monday, May 19, 1980. Showtime. Martin and Bjorn had parked one of their stolen cars in a little courtyard where the police would load the cash into their station wagon. They were out on the street watching, waiting. They saw the police car, the one that would pick up the money, pull into the courtyard.

[Martin Pedersen]

I came in and I shouted them that this was a bank robbery. We had this American stars and stripes hats on. Yeah, we wanted to blame the Americans. No, no, I love the Americans. I promise you.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin's357 is loaded this time.

[Martin Pedersen]

So I would not shoot at them whatever happens. That was sacred. But I had planned to shoot up in the wall. The concrete will fall down on them and they will be afraid and they will not dare to use their guns. We were acting.

[Unknown Narrator]

But they couldn't believe that Martin fired one round into the wall.

[Martin Pedersen]

That was frightening. So they did what we said.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin demanded the key to the loaded up station wagon, then got behind the wheel.

[Martin Pedersen]

Then I took the car and put on the siren and everything and the blue lights. And I drove out into the street very quick. And he followed me in the other car, this Bjorn.

[Unknown Narrator]

They went screaming through the streets of Dramen. Martin in a stolen police car, blue lights flashing. Bjorn following in a stolen car. Like a reverse police chase. But no one chased after them really. By coincidence, half the city's police force, half was at a training seminar three hours away. There simply weren't enough cops to chase the bad guys. Martin and Bjorn drove to where they'd stashed another one of their stolen cars. One the police haven't seen them driving.

[Martin Pedersen]

And then we Loaded all the money, the sacks over to the other car. And I also dressed out as a beautiful woman with long dress, blonde hair, makeup. I did the best I could. Then he lay down on the floor with little fur over him so he looked like a dog. And then I drove back as a woman. Little feminine, you know. And we drove exactly the same way back. And after a while we come to this police thing. And I waved to them.

[Unknown Narrator]

Maybe a little over the top, but it worked. The police waved on this nice lady and her dog. They drove a bit further, stashed the money somewhere safe, then split up. They caught separate trains to Oslo.

[Martin Pedersen]

I remember I was very eager to see how much money we've got. So I took this note off one of the sacks. Only one sack.

[Unknown Narrator]

Each sack has a tag on it that said where it was supposed to go and how much was in it.

[Martin Pedersen]

And when I was in the train, I went to the toilet and I took this up. And it says, Kongsberg Post Office 1.4 million.

[Unknown Narrator]

And there were six more sacks altogether. They'd stolen 10 million kroner. Adjusted for inflation, that's 7.5 million American dollars.

[Martin Pedersen]

I was so happy. You won't believe it. Finally. Finally I can get out of this. End of story. And I was so happy.

[Unknown Narrator]

If you rob a central bank branch, there's a decent chance you're going to get a lot of currency just entering circulation. Crisp new bills. All of them will have a serial number, likely sequential ones, and the bank will know what those numbers are. Sometimes those bills will be from the same press run. Martin did not see that coming.

[Martin Pedersen]

KJ19. They started all of them. And Jesus, I couldn't come to terms where he'd spend them. So what should I do?

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin thought about it and decided his best course of action would be to take those new numbered Norwegian bills to Switzerland and exchange them for Swiss francs. Bills that had not been stolen and wouldn't draw suspicion when he spent them. He ran that idea past Bjorn.

[Martin Pedersen]

I asked him if he wanted to come with him. No, Martin. I have enough money now here. They will spend the used money. No. So I don't want you to do it yourself. Yeah, okay, then I'll do it myself.

[Unknown Narrator]

Not all the money they stole was brand new. So they split it up in such a way that Martin had all the new bills and Bjorn could walk away whole. But then Martin realized there's another complication. A sharp edge that needed to be sanded down. If spending those pristine new bills in Tonesburg would be suspicious, cashing in Thousands of them at Swiss banks would be a screaming alarm. So Martin used a little theater magic. He made them look old.

[Martin Pedersen]

So I had them in my swimming pool.

[Unknown Narrator]

He laundered his Central bank hall, physically washed it in his swimming pool, which of course was bought with money he'd stolen from other banks. If one fancies himself a gentleman thief, that is an awesome flex.

[Martin Pedersen]

I'm very fond of classical music, so I have the most hard. And Beethoven, whatever. And I had champagne. I was happy down there. I. So nice. And I. It went so okay, you know, when my wife was at work and I was the only one who knew this.

[Sean Flynn]

So your wife was at work and you have giant stacks of brand new bills.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah, but I. I didn't. It was on my 35,000 is a lot of money, a lot of bills.

[Sean Flynn]

And you put them all in your swimming pool?

[Martin Pedersen]

Not all. Not all. Little by little, you know, because it is so much.

[Unknown Narrator]

After the better part of a year. Martin had an enormous pile of artificially weathered and chlorine soaked bills to transport to Switzerland. But as a general rule, one can't cross international borders with millions in undeclared cash. It has to be smuggled.

[Martin Pedersen]

So I am disguised as a priest, look as innocent as possible. But what I did also was I had to take a new passport picture. Because my passport picture was very old. I looked like a fresh new passport picture when I went away as the priests. I had a Bible and some Christian magazines. I was the priest all the time. And I was stopped at the border. They looked at me, talked with me. They didn't look at the car, they didn't examine the car. But it was very well hidden, indoors and everywhere, you know, it wasn't a.

[Unknown Narrator]

Disguise so much as a costume. Martin hadn't hidden his face at all, hadn't pasted on a beard or puttied up his nose. He had to look like his new passport photo. But so what? He was in a foreign country. A year after the robbery, he guessed the police had given up investigating months earlier.

[Martin Pedersen]

So I felt like a businessman in a way. And it went very well. So when I had gone then to many, many, many banks, I said myself, okay, they don't care at all. And then I was back to Ceres to tell. And I had all this money. And I thought to myself, what shall I do now? The inflation is 10%, so in next year I will lose 10% of all this. So I have to do something smart now.

[Unknown Narrator]

He made some investments, legitimate ones, insofar as you can make legitimate Ones with stolen money. And he did very well. He bought some commercial property, started to.

[Martin Pedersen]

Develop it, and everything was good. And I was so happy.

[Sean Flynn]

And you've gone legit, You've gone legitimate?

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah. Then I'm straight. And then the money comes. It was so nice. I had a big Mercedes. I parked it outside my property. When people said, Good morning, Mr. Peterson. Nice to see you, Mr. Peterson. Hello. And I smiled at everybody, the actor and, you know. And I felt like I felt in the clouds, really, because I was out of it.

[Sean Flynn]

So how'd you get caught?

[Martin Pedersen]

I didn't know that they didn't need all those 35,000 bills in Switzerland. They didn't buy those bills to sit on them. It was a business deal for them, you know. So they bought it from here for a certain price, and they sold it to whom? The Central bank of Norway. Okay, I should have thought of that. And then the people working in the Central bank of Norway, they recognized the bills.

[Unknown Narrator]

Paper currency has serial numbers.

[Martin Pedersen]

Remember KJ19. They started all of them.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin is completely screwed. He just doesn't know it yet.

[Martin Pedersen]

Two policemen went to Switzerland and they went from bank to bank. They asked, how does it look?

[Unknown Narrator]

This was old school shoe leather, police work, asking bank tellers what they remembered about the guy who exchanged Norwegian kroner for Swiss francs. And some of them remembered just enough.

[Martin Pedersen]

And they made these phantom drawings. It didn't look so much like me, but my nose was there in a way. And they described the man as very polite and all that, you know. And then they put this drawing out in the newspapers in Norway, the television. Who is this? There was this woman in Tonsberg, and she was the one who thought, oh, Martin Petersen. He has spent a lot of money. Can it be Martin Petersen? And she gave my name to the police.

[Unknown Narrator]

A lot of people gave a lot of names to the police. 80 or so altogether. Police gathered the passport photos of those 80 or so people.

[Martin Pedersen]

Mine was brand new.

[Unknown Narrator]

Uh oh.

[Martin Pedersen]

And then one day, the police turned out to my house.

[Unknown Narrator]

That was in November 1981, 18 months after the Central bank job.

[Martin Pedersen]

They were not hard, they were not violent. They didn't have guns even. They said, we have to take you to Drummond to question you about the robbery there. It was one of the worst moments of my life. I couldn't believe it. Like my brain didn't accept this.

[Sean Flynn]

What did you say?

[Martin Pedersen]

No. Then when I came there.

[Sean Flynn]

No before then. When the police are standing at your door saying, we have to take.

[Martin Pedersen]

Yeah. I said, what is it? I don't know anything about that, but. Yeah, but anyway, you have to come with us. And they put me in the back seat of an ordinary car. I think it was a Volvo. And the two policemen in civil, without any uniform, sitting in front. They drove me to police in Drummond. And then I had made up my mind to tell them the truth straight away. I said that to the police. There were six, seven policemen there. And I told them I robbed 19 banks. They smiled and nearly laughed. So I had to prove it. They didn't believe it at all, because 19 banks is a lot of banks. So I told them about what happened, down to smallest detail.

[Unknown Narrator]

There is, from one perspective, beauty in those smallest of details. Any lunkhead can point a gun at a bank teller and demand money. And those lunkheads almost always get caught. Martin got away with 19 bank robberies because of everything that came before that moment. The planning, developing the characters and the accents and disguises, the rehearsals, the little touches designed specifically to throw investigators off his tail.

[Martin Pedersen]

I had put false clues, you know, I put cigarettes in the cars, I put beer empty, I put a ring. But that was bought in Copenhagen. That has not been in the newspapers. You know, such things.

[Unknown Narrator]

He revealed those details for two reasons. One, since they'd never been made public, the police would understand that only the real robber would know them. Two, they are sublime. Martin was creating characters, bank robbers, all of them, but still each one a character with a backstory and habits and quirks. It was inevitable, really, that he would confess it all.

[Martin Pedersen]

I was in the theater, but I wanted more to be an actor. So I've been acting lots in theater since I was a little boy. I was in the theater.

[Unknown Narrator]

Martin had written and directed 19 performances, almost all of them flawless. And if one wasn't flawless, he improvised, never broke character, and yet no one had ever applauded. Confessing was his curtain call.

[Martin Pedersen]

And I have to show them the routes I've been driving and such. And then they understood. Jesus Christ, it's true. The prisoners guard came one day and said, you have to come with me. And I did. And there was this library there, but in the middle there was this long table, at least 10 meters long, and it was white linen. There was Coca Cola, nice food, ahead of the police all around Norway. Here they came to me and said, thank you so much, Mr. Peterson, for telling us the truth. We are so happy now. And then we sat down and they laughed a little that I had dressed out as a woman and such. And then the head of them said, what are you going to do now? No, I have to do my time, of course. But I'll become a jurist, lawyer. They smiled, all of them, I can promise you, from one ear to the other. Because this they don't believe.

[Unknown Narrator]

And I'm not sure I believe that story. Still, it's a nice scene. Martin and his no longer stumped pursuers having a chuckle and a meal together. The Coca Cola is a nice touch. Bjorn eventually was arrested, convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison, though he was released after less than 3. As for Martin, he was convicted on multiple counts of bank robbery in the spring of 1982 and sentenced to 12 years in prison. With time off for good behavior and such. He served only eight. He made very good use of those years. Scandinavian attitudes towards crime and punishment are considerably more pragmatic than, say, American ones. Martin went to school, university, then law school. He became the lawyer his mother always wanted him to be.

[Sean Flynn]

You robbed 19 banks, but somehow don't. Don't seem to have been seen as a bad guy.

[Martin Pedersen]

No, I got. I was some sort of a hero in a way then also.

[Sean Flynn]

Why?

[Martin Pedersen]

Because I did it a little gentlemanly. Even some of the bank managers that I robbed came to visit me in prison and I said, I'm so sorry, and I hugged them.

[Sean Flynn]

Did you consider yourself a criminal?

[Martin Pedersen]

Not really, no. Of course I was a criminal. I was a super criminal. But I wanted to get out of it. I planned it only once. I threw the gun away, you know, out into the sea. But I was very weak. Weak for beautiful things, for having parties, for being a good man, you know? And then I was. I feel that I was, in a way, forced on, forced on, forced on. But then when I. At the end, I decided to sell my house and. And then invest in real business. And I did, in a way. But that was too late.

[Unknown Narrator]

About the time Martin was getting out of prison in 1990, his mother bought a three story building in the center of Osgoodstrand, a little village on the fjord south of Oslo and only a few miles from Tonesburg, where he grew up. Martin moved into the top two floors, which left the ground floor vacant.

[Martin Pedersen]

Then I got an idea. What if I make that into a restaurant or coffee shop and call it the Munch's Cafe? Because Edward Munch is famous all over Norway and he has been living here in Ostra.

[Unknown Narrator]

That's true. Munch had a small house overlooking the fjord.

[Martin Pedersen]

That would be smart to use the name Edward Munch. I had to ask the Munch family for Munch. They said, you have to say Munch, that is to pronounce it. And you have to buy all the paintings from us, all the work, and also religious notes, of course. And I did. And then they gave me permission to call it Munch's Cafe.

[Unknown Narrator]

There's a fair amount of cheek in that name, considering Martin began his former life of crime by stealing Munch lithographs from a wealthy widow. Those pieces were eventually returned, but he did hang copies of at least two of those, one called Madonna, the other Jealousy. In his cafe, he also had a wall of framed newspaper clippings about his exploits.

[Martin Pedersen]

Coming, coming. Welcome to my humble restaurants. And then I said, who are you? I know you. I know. Yeah, I'm the bank robber.

[Unknown Narrator]

That's how I heard about him. Two of those tourists are friends of mine, and they told me about this charming gentleman they met in this Norwegian village. Martin still lives above the cafe with his fourth wife and their toddler son, but he sold the cafe last year. He's 71 years old now, and his knees are shot. He started running marathons in prison with a Soviet spy. And you know what? It's a good story. But it's at this point when you're being charmed by this man and these stories that you have to remind yourself, just for the record, that robbing banks is very bad, especially when you're pointing guns at people. Martin, of course, knows this, just as he knows that he badly traumatized some people in his outlaw days. And yet, all these years later, he's still playing a bank robber. The character has evolved. He's kind of a scamp now, and Martin brings him out whenever it seems appropriate, which is more often than one would think. One afternoon, Martin and I, along with his wife and son, went to Oslo to tour the Munch Museum. It's in a new building by the Opera House. We saw only part of it because it's enormous and because Martin was a week away from getting a knee replaced. We took photos in front of some of the original paintings that he stole lithographs of all those years ago ago. It was fun. We got separated on our way out. I found him after a few minutes near the gift shop with four befuddled German tourists. Martin was chuckling. They don't believe me, he said. Go on, tell them. I didn't have to ask what he was talking about. It's true, I told the Germans, Norway's biggest bank robber. Their eyes got a little wide and they smiled as if we'd pulled off some mildly amusing party trick. And it seemed, just for a second, like they might even politely applaud.

[Steve Buscemi]

Next week on big time how 50 million bees go Missing. This has been Big Time, an Apple original podcast produced by Piece of Work Entertainment and Campside Media in association with Olive Productions. It's hosted by me, Steve Buscemi. This episode was reported by Sean Flynn. Our story editor is Audrey Quinn. Lane Rose is our showrunner and managing producer. Our production team includes Amy Padula, Rajeev Gola, Morgan Jaffe, and associate producer Dania Abdelhamid. Fact checking by Mary Mathis with translation support by Jessica Robinson sound design and mixing by Shawnee Aviram. Our theme was written by Nicholas Principe and Peter Silberman of Spatial Relations. Campside Media's executive producers are Josh Dean, Vanessa Gregoriadas, Adam Hoffman, and Match. Share Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. Thanks for listening.