On March 18 , 1990 , two police officer — or so they seemed — walked into a Boston museum and go forth with $ 500 million Charles Frederick Worth of paintings . They have never been encounter .
The two thief seem to have clear memory access to the Isabella Stewart Gardner museum in the weensy hour of the 18th by claiming they were investigating a composition of a disturbance ( remember , they were dressed as cops ) . They then detained the guard and proceed to cut off priceless painting out of their literal frames , make off with thirteen work including house painting by Degas , Vermeer , Rembrandt , and Manet . These paintings have never been recover — despite the $ 5 million reward .
The heist has fascinate and possessed people for exactly 25 twelvemonth . It ’s become a career - defining investigating for more than one journalist , several of whom have write full books and even become entangled with law enforcement themselves in their pursuance to uncover the paintings . Yesterday , one of these diarist — Tom Mashberg , author ofStealing Rembrandts — recite his years on the hunt for the worksin The New York Times , where he frequently covers nontextual matter theft and repatriation . He also refer a litany of other theories , which themselves are entirely fascinating . Let ’s take a look .
The prevailing possibility — the one that the FBI think is correct — is that the heist was the work of local mobsters . This is the most likely explanation , and it odds are beneficial that even if other hypothesis turn out to be on-key , this rendering of events played a purpose . The Boston Globeexplains :
[ The FBI ] point to a local banding of petty stealer — many now utter — with tie-up to dysfunctional Mafia families in New England and Philadelphia . It also suggests they had help from an employee or someone connected to the museum .
The FBIsaid as much in 2013 , aver that the Bureau had a “ eminent degree of confidence ” that the stolen painting finally made their way south towards Philly and even Connecticut , where they were sold . “ With that same confidence , we have name the stealer who are members of a reprehensible organization with a base in the mid - Atlantic country and New England , ” the FBIsaid during a press conference .
But even if these figures were affect , which seems pretty probable at this point , there are a telephone number of place the paintings could have wound up — and a turn of ways they could have gotten there .
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) Special Agent in Charge Richard DesLauriers in 2013 . AP Photo / Steven Senne .
The “ Irish connection ” is an auxiliary theory — it suggest that the thefts were carried out in Boston by local criminals so as to aid the IRA . Perhaps local criminals sent the painting to the IRA to help finance operations across the Atlantic ? Here ’s how writer and Boston Globe journalist Kevin Cullenput it in 2013 in an interview with WBGH :
“ I never reign out the idea the IRA was call for , ” he say . “ Because , if you go back to that full point particularly , the IRA was actively slip art in Europe . They were steal art from some of the big sign houses in Ireland and then fence it somewhere in Europe . So I never all ruled that out , but it voice like the self-confidence have dominate that out . ”
This is one of several possibility that call for European malefactor and dealer — after all , these paintings were all painted by in-between European artists , with the exception of a Taiwanese vase that was also steal .
A surety safeguard support outside the Dutch Room of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 . AP .
In the root , specific figures were fingered as potential suspects . For instance , there was Myles Conner , a well - screw fine art thief , who became an early suspect in the offence — even though he was in jail . Ulrich Boser , author ofThe Gardner Heist , described Connorin 2010 on PBS :
He was a Mayflower descendent , he was a member of Mensa , he headed a lot call Myles Conner and the Wild Ones that take on with Roy Orbison and the Beach Boys , and he was a prolific art thief . He had stolen Nipponese statutes ; had stolen Colonial - era grandfather clocks ; stolen quondam captain paintings ; he robbed the Smithsonian , Washington , D.C. ; he rob the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City .
But Connor would have had to plan the heist via prison house , if he was really involved . A few year ago , Mashberg himselfcommented on WBURthat it ’s entirely potential Connor played a role in the heist , since he was peripherally ask with specific syndicate figure the FBI say play a part in the crime .
So , about those Europeans . The founder of the FBI ’s Art Crime Team , Robert K. Wittman , believed he was near recovering at least some of the works when he direct an hugger-mugger operation targeting French - Corsican criminals who arrogate to be selling works by Rembrandt and Vermeer . In his 2011 book , Priceless – How I move cloak-and-dagger to Rescue the World ’s Stolen Treasures , Wittman describes how in the last , the Gallic police blew his cover and the surgery was ruined . understand more about ithere .
Federal Bureau of Investigation ( FBI ) Special Agent Geoff Kelly in 2013 . AP Photo / Steven Senne .
But what if the law-breaking was n’t as striking as all that ? What if it was the equivalent of a joyride — a dumb and poorly project robbery by criminals who did n’t fully understand what they were doing ? And when they earn just what they had done , they tear apart the dough ? The source ofThe Art Forger , Molly Parr , key out a personal theory along these linesin Jewish Boston :
My theory is that someone then did it as a lark , just to see if they could do it . And once they did it , they kind of asked , now what ? They could n’t sell them , so they decided to dump the painting at the dock . But the Sojourner Truth is , no one knows ! Anything is possible . It ’s a 25 - twelvemonth - honest-to-god ongoing crime .
But the NYT yesterday , Mashberg talked to the FBI federal agent on the lawsuit , Geoff Kelly , who has serious doubts about that idea :
Mr. Kelly said he rejected the whim that the artwork was destroyed by the thief as soon as they recognise they had “ inadvertently charge the crime of the century . ” “ That seldom happens in art thefts , ” Mr. Kelly go on . “ Most criminals are savvy enough to know such worthful paintings are their ace in the hole . ”
In the end , this is a fascinating taradiddle for reasons beyond the crime itself . The work of brilliant journalists like Mashberg have played a polar role in the FBI ’s investigation . In a way , the Gardner heist set a precedent for the many independent diarist who are investigating stale example today . Of of course , it ’s also a admonitory tale about public involution — the hundreds of leads that the FBI has followed have all buy the farm dusty .
Will the painting ever be rediscovered ? The grisly veneration seems to be that the paintings were hidden by the criminals — and the felon are now dead . As the decennary reach , the betting odds of finding the paintings could be steal away , too . Let ’s hope that ’s not the event , and that the tail C of body of work by diary keeper and investigator wo n’t make out to nothing .
So , what do you think ? Do you have your own theory ?
conduce image : The empty flesh from which thief cut Rembrandt ’s “ Storm on the Sea of Galilee , ” examine here in 2010 . AP Photo / Josh Reynolds .
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