1
00:00:17,809 --> 00:00:20,854
If we could go back
to the scene of the crime now,
2
00:00:20,937 --> 00:00:23,898
with DNA and forensic investigations,
3
00:00:23,982 --> 00:00:26,067
it'd be a much different crime scene.
4
00:00:31,322 --> 00:00:32,490
It's 1990.
5
00:00:33,033 --> 00:00:34,951
You had Boston Police first on scene.
6
00:00:35,577 --> 00:00:38,496
By the time the FBI gets there,
the scene's been disturbed.
7
00:00:42,917 --> 00:00:44,794
So, I was very interested in
8
00:00:44,878 --> 00:00:47,005
where's the evidence,
what's the evidence,
9
00:00:47,088 --> 00:00:50,508
and I'd like to review it
to understand what happened.
10
00:00:55,638 --> 00:00:58,516
We knew that the thieves
took the VHS tape...
11
00:00:59,809 --> 00:01:01,061
the night of the robbery,
12
00:01:01,144 --> 00:01:03,772
but I wanted to know
if we had the prior VHS tapes.
13
00:01:04,481 --> 00:01:07,734
That's what I went to.
I got the tape, went to the night before.
14
00:01:07,817 --> 00:01:11,237
I wanted to see, "How does opening
the outside door work?"
15
00:01:22,457 --> 00:01:24,000
You can see a car pull up.
16
00:01:24,584 --> 00:01:27,045
You can't really tell
what kind of car it is.
17
00:01:33,134 --> 00:01:35,011
You can see an individual get out.
18
00:01:35,512 --> 00:01:39,516
I couldn't tell what they were wearing.
They could've been in a police uniform.
19
00:01:41,726 --> 00:01:43,853
There should be no way
they're getting in.
20
00:01:43,937 --> 00:01:45,230
That's a locked door.
21
00:01:45,313 --> 00:01:46,731
There's a guard there.
22
00:01:47,524 --> 00:01:49,692
And the protocol is nobody gets in.
23
00:01:52,445 --> 00:01:54,280
Rick was working that night.
24
00:01:58,201 --> 00:02:00,036
The person was just buzzed right in.
25
00:02:02,247 --> 00:02:03,623
Right through both doors.
26
00:02:04,916 --> 00:02:07,752
The night of the robbery,
it happened the same way.
27
00:02:08,920 --> 00:02:10,046
That struck me as odd.
28
00:02:22,684 --> 00:02:23,852
Was it organized crime?
29
00:02:25,019 --> 00:02:26,688
Was it a crime of opportunity?
30
00:02:28,022 --> 00:02:29,482
Was it an inside job?
31
00:02:42,412 --> 00:02:44,539
They said, "Boston Police."
32
00:02:45,748 --> 00:02:47,292
And I buzzed them in.
33
00:02:49,085 --> 00:02:52,881
Boston, a quiet museum,
a daring robbery.
34
00:02:52,964 --> 00:02:56,092
I'm the guy who opened the door.
They're looking at me.
35
00:02:56,176 --> 00:02:58,386
The biggest art heist in history.
36
00:02:58,469 --> 00:03:00,513
The 13 art treasures stolen
37
00:03:00,597 --> 00:03:02,640
are worth a half a billion dollars.
38
00:03:03,349 --> 00:03:05,852
Take a look at these composite drawings.
39
00:03:05,935 --> 00:03:08,438
There's no shortage of possible suspects.
40
00:03:08,521 --> 00:03:13,151
Gardner Museum
doubling its reward up to $10 million.
41
00:03:13,234 --> 00:03:15,195
How do you eliminate people?
42
00:03:15,278 --> 00:03:17,071
Why not kill these people?
43
00:03:18,198 --> 00:03:21,034
I had no idea what I was going into.
44
00:03:21,117 --> 00:03:23,203
It was just horrifying.
45
00:03:23,286 --> 00:03:27,999
The empty frames
are all that remain on the museum walls.
46
00:03:54,817 --> 00:03:57,904
After the robbery,
I think it was a couple of weeks.
47
00:03:59,072 --> 00:04:03,660
I'm sure I heard through the grapevine
that Rick was the guy.
48
00:04:05,161 --> 00:04:07,956
And then he just showed up one day
in Harvard Square.
49
00:04:10,500 --> 00:04:12,418
I could tell that it was... You know.
50
00:04:12,502 --> 00:04:14,003
It was rough for him.
51
00:04:16,798 --> 00:04:18,675
He just seemed defeated.
52
00:04:19,384 --> 00:04:21,219
He told me about what happened.
53
00:04:22,553 --> 00:04:25,515
I think I asked him,
I said, "Did you get fired?"
54
00:04:25,598 --> 00:04:28,309
And he said, "No, I quit,
55
00:04:28,393 --> 00:04:30,395
but the FBI wants me to hang around."
56
00:04:41,656 --> 00:04:45,285
16 Farrington was the house
where Rick Abath lived.
57
00:04:49,414 --> 00:04:52,917
It was sort of a frat house
kind of atmosphere in Allston.
58
00:04:54,085 --> 00:04:56,296
Sort of a college section of the city.
59
00:04:57,005 --> 00:04:58,715
And he was in a band.
60
00:04:58,798 --> 00:05:02,760
A number of the band members lived there
and other friends lived there.
61
00:05:02,844 --> 00:05:04,929
And it was a bit of a party house.
62
00:05:05,013 --> 00:05:06,931
They used to put on shows.
63
00:05:09,475 --> 00:05:13,813
They're just like cool guys.
You know, all long hair, hippie guys.
64
00:05:14,939 --> 00:05:18,026
They're the type of hippies
that like, were good at chess.
65
00:05:19,152 --> 00:05:23,448
They hung out and they went
in the basement and, you know...
66
00:05:24,282 --> 00:05:27,952
smoke weed, drink beer,
and they'd rock out.
67
00:05:30,621 --> 00:05:32,540
The band was called Ukiah.
68
00:05:34,667 --> 00:05:38,379
People found good roommates
and friends and it was just good.
69
00:05:38,963 --> 00:05:40,631
I was like 19 years old.
70
00:05:41,299 --> 00:05:42,884
Good times.
71
00:05:45,970 --> 00:05:49,974
At one point we were over there,
it was like 11:30 or whatever,
72
00:05:50,058 --> 00:05:54,437
and he was like,
"I gotta get a car to go to work."
73
00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:58,024
And I'm like, "You're kidding.
You gotta go to work now?"
74
00:05:58,775 --> 00:06:02,236
Rick Abath acknowledged
that he would show up high to work.
75
00:06:04,030 --> 00:06:05,698
He says he was sober that night,
76
00:06:05,782 --> 00:06:09,327
but we know he's not someone
that always plays by the rules.
77
00:06:32,016 --> 00:06:33,017
Come in...
78
00:06:33,684 --> 00:06:35,895
uh... clock in...
79
00:06:37,105 --> 00:06:38,481
There would be two guards.
80
00:06:47,407 --> 00:06:49,575
Sit around, walk around, basically.
81
00:06:51,536 --> 00:06:55,248
Abath's on duty that night.
The second guard, he calls in sick.
82
00:06:57,834 --> 00:07:00,628
When you hear that, you're like,
a guy called in sick that night...
83
00:07:00,711 --> 00:07:04,257
It was St. Patrick's Day.
Mulvey was an older guy.
84
00:07:05,550 --> 00:07:09,345
I had heard that he would
frequently call in sick.
85
00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:13,641
Joe Mulvey liked the job,
but he didn't need the job.
86
00:07:13,724 --> 00:07:19,105
If it had rained a lot and it was
treacherous to get out to his car,
87
00:07:19,188 --> 00:07:20,565
he would call off.
88
00:07:20,648 --> 00:07:23,776
But I don't know if Joe
would've opened the door.
89
00:07:23,860 --> 00:07:26,696
Joe was that type of guy
that would have just been like,
90
00:07:26,779 --> 00:07:30,366
"Mmm, no."
"You can wait there."
91
00:07:31,909 --> 00:07:32,994
If he had come in,
92
00:07:34,078 --> 00:07:37,248
maybe the museum
wouldn't have been robbed.
93
00:07:37,915 --> 00:07:41,669
And then you could say, "Okay,
what about the guy who covered for him?"
94
00:07:41,752 --> 00:07:42,587
Right?
95
00:07:42,670 --> 00:07:44,172
The second guard on duty
96
00:07:44,255 --> 00:07:46,340
had never worked that shift before.
97
00:07:50,261 --> 00:07:52,847
Randy, I think, took that shift.
98
00:07:52,930 --> 00:07:56,642
I think he went that night
thinking he was gonna practice trombone,
99
00:07:58,478 --> 00:08:01,981
and just do a shift
and hang out in the museum.
100
00:08:03,983 --> 00:08:07,904
The guy who covered had a couple hours'
notice that he was working that night.
101
00:08:07,987 --> 00:08:11,532
So, yeah, again,
but that was investigated.
102
00:08:11,616 --> 00:08:14,994
What is unusual is the fact
they actually got in.
103
00:08:18,456 --> 00:08:20,583
That's where I get back to the man-trap.
104
00:08:21,792 --> 00:08:23,586
There's two doors, both locked.
105
00:08:24,962 --> 00:08:28,341
You get buzzed in the first door.
The second door cannot open.
106
00:08:28,966 --> 00:08:31,093
The problem is you could be stuck there...
107
00:08:31,594 --> 00:08:33,429
impersonating Boston Police.
108
00:08:34,472 --> 00:08:36,724
I could see 'em
on the outside camera,
109
00:08:36,807 --> 00:08:38,017
walking down the street.
110
00:08:39,227 --> 00:08:40,853
They stopped, buzzed the buzzer,
111
00:08:40,937 --> 00:08:43,898
and I just leaned over
to the intercom and said, "Yeah?"
112
00:08:46,234 --> 00:08:49,737
And I buzzed them into the museum.
113
00:08:51,739 --> 00:08:55,535
The fact that this worked as planned
by those two individuals
114
00:08:56,202 --> 00:08:57,703
is hard for me to believe
115
00:08:57,787 --> 00:09:01,082
if they didn't have some knowledge
that they were getting in.
116
00:09:13,010 --> 00:09:14,845
Jesus Christ.
117
00:09:16,430 --> 00:09:18,683
Look at this. Bastards.
118
00:09:19,725 --> 00:09:21,352
My name is Steve Kurkjian.
119
00:09:21,435 --> 00:09:24,814
I am a retired newspaper reporter
with the Boston Globe.
120
00:09:25,648 --> 00:09:27,900
I was a founding member
of the Spotlight Team,
121
00:09:27,984 --> 00:09:29,110
started in 1972.
122
00:09:29,694 --> 00:09:33,656
We find out stuff, we reveal stuff,
and we do it for the public good.
123
00:09:35,157 --> 00:09:36,325
There's our boy.
124
00:09:37,118 --> 00:09:39,036
Two or three months before the theft,
125
00:09:39,745 --> 00:09:42,248
he had let people into the museum
126
00:09:42,331 --> 00:09:43,666
at midnight,
127
00:09:44,625 --> 00:09:46,168
January 1.
128
00:09:46,252 --> 00:09:47,545
A New Year's Eve party.
129
00:09:48,296 --> 00:09:51,549
He is stoned and drugged out of his mind.
130
00:09:52,633 --> 00:09:54,343
He was in a psychedelic fog.
131
00:09:56,345 --> 00:09:58,472
What? It's mind-blowing.
132
00:09:59,098 --> 00:10:04,020
That the security of this palace
133
00:10:04,103 --> 00:10:06,397
with all the majesties of art,
134
00:10:07,064 --> 00:10:09,734
was left in the hands of a guy
135
00:10:09,817 --> 00:10:13,195
who was that negligent.
136
00:10:13,738 --> 00:10:15,656
Uh, it's... it's shocking.
137
00:10:15,740 --> 00:10:18,451
Down to Magic.
Celtics 5 and 0 this season,
138
00:10:18,534 --> 00:10:19,994
when Bird scores 40 or more...
139
00:10:24,790 --> 00:10:29,712
Maybe it was two random thieves
decided to hit the Gardner that night,
140
00:10:29,795 --> 00:10:33,090
and, by a stroke of luck,
they were let in.
141
00:10:34,508 --> 00:10:36,218
I have a hard time believing that.
142
00:10:37,219 --> 00:10:38,929
It's then hard for me to believe
143
00:10:39,013 --> 00:10:41,724
they would have known about
the conservator's room.
144
00:10:42,308 --> 00:10:43,893
Know where the VHS tape is.
145
00:10:45,227 --> 00:10:47,063
Spend 81 minutes in the museum.
146
00:10:47,897 --> 00:10:50,566
It seemed to me they knew
the police were not coming.
147
00:10:57,615 --> 00:11:02,161
Richard Abath opened the door,
minutes prior to letting them in.
148
00:11:02,244 --> 00:11:05,289
He says that was his practice.
That's what he always did.
149
00:11:06,957 --> 00:11:08,626
To date, I've never seen
150
00:11:08,709 --> 00:11:12,254
what a guard opening the outside door
looked like on video.
151
00:11:12,338 --> 00:11:15,341
I was never able to find it
on the previous six days.
152
00:11:17,426 --> 00:11:21,639
If there's two guards inside and you have
security cameras and everything's alarmed,
153
00:11:21,722 --> 00:11:25,101
why are you opening that outside door
even for a couple of seconds?
154
00:11:25,935 --> 00:11:29,146
No one else I talked to
who did the night shift
155
00:11:29,939 --> 00:11:31,399
ever opened those back doors.
156
00:11:31,482 --> 00:11:33,776
Rick said he did it all the time.
157
00:11:33,859 --> 00:11:36,278
I haven't been able to confirm he did.
158
00:11:36,362 --> 00:11:38,155
If he's an accomplice,
159
00:11:38,239 --> 00:11:40,658
he's telling bad guys
who are waiting outside,
160
00:11:40,741 --> 00:11:42,743
"I'm taking over the desk."
161
00:11:43,661 --> 00:11:46,288
Now this would make Rick
a true accomplice.
162
00:11:48,958 --> 00:11:54,255
Another peculiar thing is the Chez Tortoni
was taken from the first floor,
163
00:11:54,338 --> 00:12:00,136
and also its frame was left on the chair
of the head of security,
164
00:12:00,219 --> 00:12:02,596
and that was viewed as a little bit of a...
165
00:12:02,680 --> 00:12:04,682
...to the head of security.
166
00:12:04,765 --> 00:12:06,183
A little bit of a snub.
167
00:12:06,267 --> 00:12:08,519
There was some question
about whether that was personal.
168
00:12:10,104 --> 00:12:13,691
Rick did not have a great
relationship with the security director.
169
00:12:14,567 --> 00:12:16,694
People did say Rick
was a pain in the ass.
170
00:12:17,778 --> 00:12:18,946
He acknowledges.
171
00:12:19,029 --> 00:12:23,451
He said, "I was talking all the time
about the security system sucks.
172
00:12:23,534 --> 00:12:24,702
We're in danger here."
173
00:12:26,787 --> 00:12:28,706
The theft was Sunday morning.
174
00:12:28,789 --> 00:12:32,001
Rick had put in his papers to move on
175
00:12:32,084 --> 00:12:33,794
just a few days before.
176
00:12:35,963 --> 00:12:38,716
Could Rick have snatched the painting
177
00:12:39,341 --> 00:12:42,136
and hid it when he went back to the desk?
178
00:12:52,855 --> 00:12:56,025
In 2013, I went to his house.
179
00:12:56,108 --> 00:12:58,235
Knocked, announced myself saying,
180
00:12:58,319 --> 00:13:00,196
"I want to talk about the museum."
181
00:13:00,279 --> 00:13:02,114
And he agreed.
182
00:13:03,574 --> 00:13:09,288
We drove downtown to one of the two places
in the town that allowed smoking still.
183
00:13:09,371 --> 00:13:10,790
Rick was a heavy smoker.
184
00:13:10,873 --> 00:13:12,708
I had an interview with him.
185
00:13:12,792 --> 00:13:13,959
New technology.
186
00:13:14,043 --> 00:13:17,671
I know. Let's hope it works.
All right, so...
187
00:13:18,547 --> 00:13:19,548
Here we are.
188
00:13:20,966 --> 00:13:21,801
Rick...
189
00:13:21,884 --> 00:13:23,719
- Yes, we are.
- Here we are.
190
00:13:24,762 --> 00:13:27,515
We talked,
I think probably by 7:30,
191
00:13:27,598 --> 00:13:28,891
eight o'clock at night,
192
00:13:28,974 --> 00:13:30,768
until closing time, until midnight.
193
00:13:30,851 --> 00:13:33,103
And he told me
as much as he could tell me.
194
00:13:33,187 --> 00:13:37,608
Okay, so the thing goes down.
You had already given your notice?
195
00:13:38,192 --> 00:13:39,819
- Yes.
- Why give your notice?
196
00:13:39,902 --> 00:13:42,571
It was getting in the way
of playing with the band.
197
00:13:43,948 --> 00:13:47,451
How long do you stay in town?
What happens afterwards?
198
00:13:48,244 --> 00:13:50,204
After the robbery,
199
00:13:50,287 --> 00:13:53,457
I was planning on
calling in sick that next night,
200
00:13:53,541 --> 00:13:57,545
because I had tickets
to the Grateful Dead shows in Hartford.
201
00:13:57,628 --> 00:14:00,631
So I left town and went down to Hartford
to see the shows.
202
00:14:00,714 --> 00:14:05,052
And I had a great time,
drinking and smoking reefer.
203
00:14:05,135 --> 00:14:08,472
Did a bunch of acid the first night,
mushrooms the second night.
204
00:14:09,056 --> 00:14:10,766
Then I came back to Boston.
205
00:14:11,433 --> 00:14:15,437
Do you have any idea
how the people who broke in
206
00:14:15,521 --> 00:14:17,898
knew about the museum security?
207
00:14:17,982 --> 00:14:18,982
No.
208
00:14:19,900 --> 00:14:23,070
You've been
recently questioned by the authorities
209
00:14:23,153 --> 00:14:26,115
about the Blue Room and your...
210
00:14:26,198 --> 00:14:27,533
Let's go through all that.
211
00:14:31,662 --> 00:14:33,581
According to motion sensors,
212
00:14:33,664 --> 00:14:37,668
the guard that let the robbers in
had been the last person in that room.
213
00:14:38,669 --> 00:14:42,506
The system had been reviewed by
security experts right after the robbery,
214
00:14:42,590 --> 00:14:46,594
experts that are still around today
in the industry and are well-respected,
215
00:14:47,177 --> 00:14:52,057
and claimed it was working
as it should have, night of the robbery.
216
00:15:09,783 --> 00:15:10,784
Freeze!
217
00:15:11,410 --> 00:15:14,038
It could happen like this,
capturing a thief,
218
00:15:14,121 --> 00:15:17,082
saving an irreplaceable treasure,
but it probably won't.
219
00:15:17,166 --> 00:15:21,295
Incidents like these can happen
any time or any place in a museum.
220
00:15:21,378 --> 00:15:23,881
Your job is to spot 'em
and to know what to do.
221
00:15:23,964 --> 00:15:27,551
This film deals with security,
museum security.
222
00:15:29,762 --> 00:15:31,472
Museum security is different...
223
00:15:31,555 --> 00:15:33,140
I'm Steve Keller,
224
00:15:33,223 --> 00:15:36,769
and I'm president of a company
called Steve Keller Associates.
225
00:15:36,852 --> 00:15:39,313
And we're museum security consultants.
226
00:15:40,522 --> 00:15:44,068
I did a risk assessment
at the Gardner Museum
227
00:15:44,151 --> 00:15:46,528
in the year prior to the theft.
228
00:15:48,656 --> 00:15:51,325
After the Gardner Museum theft,
229
00:15:51,408 --> 00:15:57,331
the museum asked if I would be able
to come to Boston to test the alarms.
230
00:15:57,414 --> 00:16:03,504
I had done some walk tests of the system
while I was at that visit.
231
00:16:06,423 --> 00:16:07,466
I tried everything,
232
00:16:07,549 --> 00:16:10,636
and all of those detectors
detected me each time.
233
00:16:12,429 --> 00:16:14,431
How did that happen?
234
00:16:16,433 --> 00:16:20,521
How long after the theft
were you there doing a walk-through?
235
00:16:21,146 --> 00:16:25,567
Uh, it was a... it was a couple of weeks.
236
00:16:33,075 --> 00:16:38,664
This is a printout of the alarm activity
that occurred on that night.
237
00:16:40,666 --> 00:16:44,336
When it comes to the alarm information,
238
00:16:44,420 --> 00:16:47,673
that's the main stuff right here.
239
00:16:47,756 --> 00:16:49,883
This is the important thing,
this printout.
240
00:16:53,512 --> 00:16:55,764
Have you seen this before?
241
00:16:55,848 --> 00:16:56,765
No, I haven't.
242
00:16:56,849 --> 00:17:00,310
I haven't seen the printout at all.
I wish I had.
243
00:17:01,020 --> 00:17:03,939
I wish they would have
shared things with me, but, uh...
244
00:17:04,023 --> 00:17:04,898
you know...
245
00:17:04,982 --> 00:17:07,359
I understand how it is with the FBI.
246
00:17:08,402 --> 00:17:12,322
It appears that the investigators
made notes along the columns.
247
00:17:18,954 --> 00:17:21,457
At 12:27 a.m...
248
00:17:22,750 --> 00:17:26,920
an alarm went off for a motion detector
at the exit corridor,
249
00:17:27,004 --> 00:17:29,923
and then, within the minute,
250
00:17:30,007 --> 00:17:33,385
an alarm went off on the entrance corridor
251
00:17:33,469 --> 00:17:35,554
on the other side of the Blue Room.
252
00:17:36,221 --> 00:17:39,183
There's no motion detectors
in the Blue Room itself.
253
00:17:39,933 --> 00:17:42,603
So it appears Rick
passed through the Blue Room
254
00:17:42,686 --> 00:17:44,813
and exited within the same minute.
255
00:17:51,695 --> 00:17:53,030
At 1:24 a.m.,
256
00:17:53,113 --> 00:17:57,076
the outside door to the museum
on Palace Road opened.
257
00:18:01,080 --> 00:18:05,042
And that appears to be
when the thieves entered the museum.,
258
00:18:06,335 --> 00:18:10,672
and then the next alarms occur
at 1:48 a.m.,
259
00:18:10,756 --> 00:18:13,175
which was 24 minutes later.
260
00:18:14,259 --> 00:18:18,555
Which is an awful long time
to linger in one location.
261
00:18:25,354 --> 00:18:26,814
So at 1:48,
262
00:18:26,897 --> 00:18:31,360
we start to get a series of alarms
on the second floor.
263
00:18:35,864 --> 00:18:39,243
The alarms occurred
in the Dutch Room until 1:51,
264
00:18:39,993 --> 00:18:42,538
and then you start to see
other alarms occurring.
265
00:18:42,621 --> 00:18:44,289
An alarm in the Italian Room,
266
00:18:45,124 --> 00:18:47,960
then it went to the Little Salon.
267
00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:53,507
And then there were
a long series of alarms.
268
00:18:59,513 --> 00:19:01,682
There's an alarm in the Dutch Room again,
269
00:19:01,765 --> 00:19:03,892
and then an alarm
in the second floor hallway,
270
00:19:04,726 --> 00:19:09,815
and then there were no further alarms
for four minutes.
271
00:19:14,361 --> 00:19:17,447
But then there's an alarm
in the Little Salon again.
272
00:19:20,075 --> 00:19:21,952
That just was curious to me.
273
00:19:27,124 --> 00:19:33,422
There seems to be a gap in the alarms
from 2:15 to 2:23.
274
00:19:33,505 --> 00:19:35,090
It's a period of eight minutes.
275
00:19:37,384 --> 00:19:39,469
At 2:28 a.m.,
276
00:19:39,553 --> 00:19:44,516
there's another 12 minute gap
until 2:40 a.m.
277
00:19:49,479 --> 00:19:53,275
It appears that there were no alarms
triggered on the first floor
278
00:19:53,358 --> 00:19:55,777
while the thieves were inside the museum.
279
00:19:57,613 --> 00:19:59,156
According to this printout,
280
00:19:59,239 --> 00:20:02,576
the thieves are inside the museum
for 81 minutes,
281
00:20:02,659 --> 00:20:06,496
and they didn't trigger any alarms
for 48 of those minutes.
282
00:20:08,207 --> 00:20:10,876
In those days,
you didn't saturate the museum,
283
00:20:10,959 --> 00:20:14,922
so there might have been hallways
that didn't have motion detection.
284
00:20:15,005 --> 00:20:17,966
I know they had difficulties
running wires in that building.
285
00:20:18,884 --> 00:20:22,262
They also had a fire alarm
that occurred that night.
286
00:20:22,346 --> 00:20:25,599
So it's very possible
that they had a power glitch.
287
00:20:26,725 --> 00:20:30,520
I wish that I would have been
asked about this early on,
288
00:20:30,604 --> 00:20:35,275
because it does change your understanding
of what actually happened.
289
00:20:39,154 --> 00:20:41,531
Some days you'd go into a room
290
00:20:41,615 --> 00:20:45,535
just to see if the motion sensor
would catch you.
291
00:20:45,619 --> 00:20:48,080
You know, they worked, but...
292
00:20:48,163 --> 00:20:51,541
they weren't 100% reliable.
293
00:20:52,417 --> 00:20:55,170
Well, apparently,
me on my round
294
00:20:55,254 --> 00:20:58,423
is the last time there's any alarm
in the Blue Room.
295
00:20:59,883 --> 00:21:02,511
They wanted to know
how it would be possible
296
00:21:02,594 --> 00:21:05,806
for the thieves to get that painting
out of that room.
297
00:21:06,640 --> 00:21:08,517
- How they stole the Manet?
- Right.
298
00:21:09,226 --> 00:21:11,395
Which is a perfectly reasonable question.
299
00:21:11,478 --> 00:21:13,897
And my answer is, I have no idea.
300
00:21:13,981 --> 00:21:14,982
Okay.
301
00:21:16,483 --> 00:21:19,653
But the likelihood of your sitting down,
302
00:21:19,736 --> 00:21:22,990
having a few beers, smoking a little dope
and saying something,
303
00:21:23,073 --> 00:21:25,534
- is that about...
- That's pretty likely.
304
00:21:25,617 --> 00:21:28,287
We were all bitching about
the security in that place.
305
00:21:31,999 --> 00:21:33,875
For Rick to take that painting?
306
00:21:34,751 --> 00:21:35,585
No way.
307
00:21:35,669 --> 00:21:37,296
What's he gonna do with it?
308
00:21:39,256 --> 00:21:41,800
Those guys cut the other ones
out of the frames
309
00:21:41,883 --> 00:21:43,885
and Rick gets to get away with that one?
310
00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:45,720
Please.
311
00:21:46,847 --> 00:21:49,224
I don't wanna put anything
on Rick's shoulders.
312
00:21:49,308 --> 00:21:51,143
I know Rick, he knows me.
313
00:21:51,643 --> 00:21:52,477
Um...
314
00:21:52,561 --> 00:21:54,563
If we could've charged somebody,
we would've.
315
00:21:54,646 --> 00:21:57,107
So, I think that speaks for itself.
316
00:21:57,190 --> 00:21:59,818
We never made it to the point
where we could charge somebody.
317
00:22:18,462 --> 00:22:20,339
I was completely panicking.
318
00:22:27,721 --> 00:22:31,016
And then I started singing,
"I Shall Be Released."
319
00:22:31,099 --> 00:22:33,518
♪ I see my light ♪
320
00:22:34,561 --> 00:22:37,856
♪ Come shining ♪
321
00:22:40,817 --> 00:22:45,572
♪ From the west down to the east ♪
322
00:22:46,031 --> 00:22:47,657
What happened, happened.
323
00:22:48,825 --> 00:22:50,035
For some reason,
324
00:22:50,118 --> 00:22:53,205
I seem to be the only person
involved in this thing
325
00:22:53,288 --> 00:22:55,290
who's not trying to figure it out.
326
00:22:56,208 --> 00:22:59,419
And that mainly comes down to
I'm glad to be alive.
327
00:22:59,503 --> 00:23:06,468
♪ I shall be released ♪
328
00:23:11,807 --> 00:23:14,059
I think if there is a secret within him,
329
00:23:14,142 --> 00:23:17,270
he said the wrong thing unintentionally
to the wrong person.
330
00:23:18,313 --> 00:23:23,068
Did the bad guys know that there was
only one alarm to the outside world?
331
00:23:23,944 --> 00:23:26,738
It was known by every guard
and every night watchman.
332
00:23:26,822 --> 00:23:29,324
It didn't have to be Rick
who gave them that secret.
333
00:23:39,626 --> 00:23:42,504
It was mid-September 1981.
334
00:23:42,587 --> 00:23:45,424
I was acting chief of security
at the time.
335
00:23:47,426 --> 00:23:50,095
I forget what day it was,
but it was during the day.
336
00:23:50,178 --> 00:23:52,389
Well-dressed fellow
with a briefcase came in.
337
00:23:52,472 --> 00:23:55,642
It was Detective Clark from the FBI.
338
00:23:55,725 --> 00:23:57,102
He showed his credentials.
339
00:23:57,185 --> 00:24:00,397
And when I saw the badge
and the FBI thing...
340
00:24:00,480 --> 00:24:02,065
It gets your attention.
341
00:24:08,738 --> 00:24:11,908
He said, "I just thought
you would like to know that...
342
00:24:11,992 --> 00:24:13,493
somebody is casing you."
343
00:24:14,911 --> 00:24:18,999
He told me the whole story
about this guy by the name of Royce.
344
00:24:19,082 --> 00:24:21,293
How this guy was an area lowlife.
345
00:24:22,669 --> 00:24:25,338
Royce is gonna throw a smoke bomb
in the courtyard,
346
00:24:26,423 --> 00:24:29,176
and in the ensuing confusion
347
00:24:29,259 --> 00:24:33,930
pull the Whistler and the Matisse
and, I think, the Sargent out.
348
00:24:35,182 --> 00:24:36,683
And they arrested him.
349
00:24:40,812 --> 00:24:43,023
The FBI guy, Mr. Clark,
350
00:24:43,106 --> 00:24:46,693
he said this fellow
had way too much information.
351
00:24:48,695 --> 00:24:52,699
You either have someone
who's willingly giving out information
352
00:24:52,782 --> 00:24:54,367
or you have a tapped resource.
353
00:24:58,830 --> 00:25:02,083
You could've had an insider
friendly with organized crime,
354
00:25:02,167 --> 00:25:04,336
or owed a debt to organized crime,
355
00:25:04,419 --> 00:25:07,923
or a debt to a gambler
or a drug dealer.
356
00:25:09,841 --> 00:25:11,551
And this was sort of payment.
357
00:25:13,345 --> 00:25:15,972
We'll let you in the museum
or give you information.
358
00:25:16,056 --> 00:25:17,265
It could've been that.
359
00:25:17,349 --> 00:25:21,520
Boston's a small town.
Everybody's related, didn't you know that?
360
00:25:21,603 --> 00:25:24,898
Of course there were people
in the museum that had mob ties.
361
00:25:24,981 --> 00:25:26,066
Who didn't, right?
362
00:25:26,942 --> 00:25:29,903
I think that a lot of people
had access to that place.
363
00:25:39,704 --> 00:25:42,749
Louis Royce
was an active member of the Rossetti Gang.
364
00:25:42,832 --> 00:25:45,252
And they were always looking for scores.
365
00:25:45,335 --> 00:25:46,836
Banks, armored cars.
366
00:25:48,004 --> 00:25:51,550
That tells me that the Rossetti Gang
knew through Louis...
367
00:25:52,592 --> 00:25:55,637
that this museum
was vulnerable to a theft.
368
00:26:05,146 --> 00:26:07,857
In '81, the museum's made aware
369
00:26:07,941 --> 00:26:10,777
that vipers are in the grass
and moving towards you.
370
00:26:12,862 --> 00:26:16,116
So, that would seem to me to have been
371
00:26:16,199 --> 00:26:19,661
clear indications
that it's time to get up to speed.
372
00:26:20,328 --> 00:26:25,709
It was a real eye opener
as to how vulnerable we really were.
373
00:26:27,043 --> 00:26:31,590
We sat down and talked with the director,
who was Rollin Hadley at the time,
374
00:26:31,673 --> 00:26:34,384
and a couple of other people,
and sat down and saying,
375
00:26:34,467 --> 00:26:36,678
"Here's the reality. What we gonna do?"
376
00:26:37,804 --> 00:26:41,891
I was a little taken aback that
Mr. Hadley didn't take it as serious.
377
00:26:43,435 --> 00:26:46,479
His attitude was more or less,
"They caught the guy, right?"
378
00:26:47,856 --> 00:26:52,402
I go, "Well, it didn't happen,
but something very similar can happen."
379
00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:00,702
It's inattention.
380
00:27:01,661 --> 00:27:03,705
One museum trustee, Arnold Hiatt,
381
00:27:04,706 --> 00:27:09,544
had been recently elevated
to a trustee in the museum,
382
00:27:09,628 --> 00:27:11,755
and he said,
"We have to get a new director
383
00:27:11,838 --> 00:27:15,258
who really cares about...
Who's on his or her toes."
384
00:27:15,342 --> 00:27:17,093
That's what they hired in Anne Hawley.
385
00:27:22,849 --> 00:27:27,062
I took over in September of 1989,
but it was practically 1990.
386
00:27:30,231 --> 00:27:32,108
It's such a beautiful environment
387
00:27:32,192 --> 00:27:36,237
that you almost pinch yourself
to be there every day.
388
00:27:37,572 --> 00:27:39,949
This was being in nature and art.
389
00:27:43,578 --> 00:27:47,499
The collection, at the time,
was insured for everything but theft.
390
00:27:47,582 --> 00:27:51,670
But there were lots of initiatives
that I was trying to push forward.
391
00:27:53,588 --> 00:27:58,093
The museum had yet to install
a climate control system.
392
00:27:58,885 --> 00:28:02,013
That was the priority
that I think we all saw.
393
00:28:03,306 --> 00:28:08,019
I'll never forget, it was raining
and there was actually a cloud that formed
394
00:28:08,103 --> 00:28:11,106
in the Spanish Cloister
in front of the El Jaleo,
395
00:28:11,189 --> 00:28:16,111
because the moisture outside
was as high as the moisture inside.
396
00:28:18,655 --> 00:28:22,492
There was a sewer pipe
that broke in one of the galleries.
397
00:28:23,368 --> 00:28:24,744
The cast iron gave way
398
00:28:24,828 --> 00:28:29,040
and sewage started coming down
in the middle of a gallery
399
00:28:29,124 --> 00:28:31,668
with paintings and things like this,
and it's...
400
00:28:34,170 --> 00:28:36,131
And that's not good for a museum.
401
00:28:41,136 --> 00:28:44,139
And of course
this just blindsided us completely.
402
00:28:44,848 --> 00:28:48,560
Anne Hawley,
she was so despondent.
403
00:28:49,477 --> 00:28:51,187
She called me,
404
00:28:51,271 --> 00:28:53,523
she said tearfully,
405
00:28:53,606 --> 00:28:56,025
"You never told me this would happen."
406
00:28:56,901 --> 00:28:59,446
And I said,
"I never knew it would happen."
407
00:29:01,489 --> 00:29:03,199
Were you ever warned,
408
00:29:03,283 --> 00:29:06,870
"Hey, watch out, you could get robbed,"
or anything like that?
409
00:29:07,954 --> 00:29:08,955
Yeah. No.
410
00:29:10,039 --> 00:29:13,418
When an organization or a person
becomes a victim,
411
00:29:13,501 --> 00:29:15,670
there's just a pile-on that happens.
412
00:29:17,213 --> 00:29:20,633
Calls would come in
from people in prisons
413
00:29:20,717 --> 00:29:22,302
around the country,
414
00:29:22,385 --> 00:29:24,804
that wouldn't talk to the FBI,
415
00:29:24,888 --> 00:29:27,557
they wanted to talk to me
or the security director,
416
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:32,145
because they said they had information
that they wanted to trade.
417
00:29:43,740 --> 00:29:47,994
But I certainly didn't have the skill set
to be strategizing the investigation.
418
00:29:48,578 --> 00:29:52,415
I want to refer all security questions
to the FBI.
419
00:29:52,499 --> 00:29:54,459
And then, on top of that,
420
00:29:54,542 --> 00:29:59,589
the museum got several bomb threats
and threats on people's lives.
421
00:30:02,175 --> 00:30:05,929
So, there was a whole dark side going on.
422
00:30:10,099 --> 00:30:12,435
Crime is suddenly the dark obsession
423
00:30:12,519 --> 00:30:14,145
of the opulent world of art.
424
00:30:14,229 --> 00:30:16,940
The black tie business
of champagne and culture
425
00:30:17,023 --> 00:30:19,025
and price tags big as the Ritz
426
00:30:19,108 --> 00:30:21,277
has made art burglary
a booming industry.
427
00:30:21,361 --> 00:30:24,155
A shadow enterprise stripped of romance
428
00:30:24,239 --> 00:30:27,867
that experts claim is increasingly
tied to the drug trade.
429
00:30:27,951 --> 00:30:30,036
2,950,000.
430
00:30:30,119 --> 00:30:31,120
We've come this far.
431
00:30:31,871 --> 00:30:34,749
It doesn't take
a person with a bad mind
432
00:30:34,833 --> 00:30:39,212
long to start feeling maybe there's
an opportunity here to make money.
433
00:30:39,295 --> 00:30:43,424
In the old days, a cat burglar
pried open the skylight,
434
00:30:43,508 --> 00:30:47,178
came down on the rope
and took the pictures out and so on.
435
00:30:47,262 --> 00:30:50,515
Now people walk into museums
and say, "Stick 'em up!"
436
00:30:50,598 --> 00:30:55,603
The clandestine activity
in the traffic of stolen art, worldwide,
437
00:30:55,687 --> 00:30:59,148
is probably about three quarters
of a billion dollars.
438
00:30:59,232 --> 00:31:01,025
- Billion?
- Yes.
439
00:31:01,943 --> 00:31:05,613
In the 1980s,
the crime of art theft increased,
440
00:31:05,697 --> 00:31:10,410
but it made sense,
because the value of art was rising.
441
00:31:10,994 --> 00:31:15,957
If we're talking iconic works of art
from museums and galleries here,
442
00:31:16,040 --> 00:31:21,087
the sort of things that can't be resold
through the legal art market,
443
00:31:21,170 --> 00:31:25,008
then this is used by the criminals
as collateral.
444
00:31:25,884 --> 00:31:27,093
That's how it works.
445
00:31:42,025 --> 00:31:44,944
If you are the owner of a house
446
00:31:45,778 --> 00:31:48,865
and you decide that you need
some investment money,
447
00:31:48,948 --> 00:31:50,283
you go to the bank
448
00:31:50,366 --> 00:31:53,244
and they will advance you money
against your house.
449
00:31:54,412 --> 00:31:56,831
That's exactly how the black market works.
450
00:31:59,792 --> 00:32:03,296
Back then,
cocaine was a pretty big business.
451
00:32:03,379 --> 00:32:09,469
There was a number of people involved
in that business making a buck from it.
452
00:32:11,930 --> 00:32:15,141
I lived in South Boston
in the 1980s and the 1990s.
453
00:32:15,224 --> 00:32:18,853
There was more cocaine in South Boston
than any neighborhood in the city.
454
00:32:18,937 --> 00:32:19,854
It was everywhere.
455
00:32:19,938 --> 00:32:23,316
I mean,
I literally saw people do it on bar tops.
456
00:32:23,399 --> 00:32:25,526
These were not nice establishments.
457
00:32:25,610 --> 00:32:27,695
Did not bring my wife
to these establishments.
458
00:32:27,779 --> 00:32:28,821
But it happened.
459
00:32:31,199 --> 00:32:35,036
Say, for instance,
you have a large cocaine shipment,
460
00:32:35,119 --> 00:32:37,705
say, 20 kilos of cocaine,
461
00:32:37,789 --> 00:32:43,086
but you don't have anything more
than 20,000 bucks cash to put down.
462
00:32:43,169 --> 00:32:47,757
But you have several million dollars'
worth of stolen art.
463
00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:49,926
So you give that art as security.
464
00:32:50,969 --> 00:32:52,762
And they hold the art
465
00:32:52,845 --> 00:32:57,392
until they're reimbursed
for whatever the value of the cocaine is.
466
00:32:57,475 --> 00:32:59,060
That's how that goes.
467
00:32:59,978 --> 00:33:04,107
They take
that recorded legitimate value
468
00:33:04,190 --> 00:33:07,986
and they run with anywhere
between three and ten percent of that
469
00:33:08,069 --> 00:33:11,280
as being what it's worth
on the black market to the criminals.
470
00:33:15,410 --> 00:33:19,288
Why do people steal artwork?
Well, there's a number of reasons.
471
00:33:20,289 --> 00:33:23,584
You get it because you wanna
continue to look at it.
472
00:33:23,668 --> 00:33:26,462
You want the reward.
You want the insurance money.
473
00:33:27,088 --> 00:33:31,134
You wanna save yourself from jail,
you wanna get somebody out of jail.
474
00:33:31,217 --> 00:33:33,052
So it's a good bartering piece.
475
00:33:33,136 --> 00:33:36,889
You know, there's a good example
of Myles Connor in Boston
476
00:33:37,515 --> 00:33:40,601
stealing the Rembrandt
from the Museum of Fine Art.
477
00:33:41,185 --> 00:33:43,438
Uh, his intention was, all along,
478
00:33:43,521 --> 00:33:47,525
to use that as a bargaining chip
over his next sentence.
479
00:33:47,608 --> 00:33:50,111
So you gotta look
at the motive behind the theft.
480
00:33:51,404 --> 00:33:53,406
That's all Myles.
481
00:33:55,116 --> 00:33:56,576
Myles did a lot of jail time.
482
00:33:57,243 --> 00:33:59,954
State prison time, federal time.
483
00:34:02,165 --> 00:34:03,666
It's the mid-'70s,
484
00:34:03,750 --> 00:34:08,337
and Myles had a parole violation
with the Feds.
485
00:34:08,421 --> 00:34:12,884
Then he was picked up in Mashpee
with some stolen paintings.
486
00:34:15,219 --> 00:34:20,308
I made a deal that they would reduce
his million-dollar bail down to $100.
487
00:34:21,142 --> 00:34:24,228
Believe it or not,
Myles, he's on the street now.
488
00:34:25,271 --> 00:34:28,232
I got the idea from an FBI agent...
489
00:34:29,108 --> 00:34:32,153
that said, "it'll take a Rembrandt
to get you out of this, Connor."
490
00:34:32,236 --> 00:34:33,738
I said, "Okay."
491
00:34:37,992 --> 00:34:40,661
And so, I knew there was
a Rembrandt on loan,
492
00:34:41,621 --> 00:34:43,331
and it was uninsured.
493
00:34:44,373 --> 00:34:46,709
And I knew that it could be taken.
494
00:34:49,796 --> 00:34:51,130
Myles went in,
495
00:34:51,756 --> 00:34:54,133
joined a tour that was going on.
496
00:34:54,217 --> 00:34:55,593
Had somebody with him,
497
00:34:55,676 --> 00:34:58,888
removed the painting from the wall,
went to walk out.
498
00:34:59,514 --> 00:35:00,640
The guards...
499
00:35:00,723 --> 00:35:04,685
These guards were not musicians
like at the Isabella Stewart Gardner.
500
00:35:04,769 --> 00:35:07,063
These guys were all retired cops.
501
00:35:08,689 --> 00:35:11,025
There was a phalanx of guards.
502
00:35:11,776 --> 00:35:14,403
A friend of mine was down there
with a machine gun.
503
00:35:15,571 --> 00:35:17,782
Not to shoot anybody,
504
00:35:17,865 --> 00:35:20,201
but to shoot at the feet of anybody.
505
00:35:20,910 --> 00:35:22,703
And sure enough, they came down.
506
00:35:23,204 --> 00:35:24,664
He let go of the machine gun.
507
00:35:27,166 --> 00:35:29,585
When that thing goes off,
it was like a vacuum.
508
00:35:29,669 --> 00:35:31,921
Took 'em all back.
509
00:35:32,505 --> 00:35:36,717
Except for one
that was a retired Polish cop.
510
00:35:37,468 --> 00:35:38,970
And he was convinced that...
511
00:35:39,053 --> 00:35:43,141
"I am not letting this kid
take this fucking painting on my watch."
512
00:35:44,142 --> 00:35:47,687
So, he ran down,
he latched onto the painting.
513
00:35:48,312 --> 00:35:50,815
And in the back of the van,
514
00:35:51,482 --> 00:35:53,067
I've got another friend,
515
00:35:53,151 --> 00:35:54,777
with another machine gun.
516
00:35:54,861 --> 00:35:59,574
He aims the machine gun at the guy.
I said, "Do not shoot the guy."
517
00:36:00,074 --> 00:36:01,742
He hits the guy in the head
518
00:36:02,368 --> 00:36:04,495
wh... with his gun.
519
00:36:04,579 --> 00:36:06,581
And finally the guy lets go.
520
00:36:08,833 --> 00:36:12,378
It later surfaced under a lady's bed
521
00:36:13,296 --> 00:36:16,382
to be returned to Mass State Police.
522
00:36:16,465 --> 00:36:22,263
So the Rembrandt was not used
for any monetary value.
523
00:36:22,346 --> 00:36:26,726
He got two four-year sentences
combined into one four-year sentence.
524
00:36:27,685 --> 00:36:32,356
Out of that comes this myth
within the bad-guy world,
525
00:36:33,065 --> 00:36:36,319
that having a stolen painting,
a masterpiece,
526
00:36:36,402 --> 00:36:38,154
is a get-out-of-jail-free card.
527
00:36:38,821 --> 00:36:41,449
"The Feds will deal with you.
They'll let you out of jail.
528
00:36:41,532 --> 00:36:43,034
Look what they did to Myles."
529
00:36:51,667 --> 00:36:53,502
Anybody who was a thief,
530
00:36:54,086 --> 00:36:56,756
an art thief,
knew about the Gardner.
531
00:36:56,839 --> 00:36:58,216
You had to.
532
00:37:02,553 --> 00:37:05,765
I've talked with guys and said,
"I've scoped that place out."
533
00:37:05,848 --> 00:37:08,809
I'm not gonna tell you who,
but I've scoped that place out.
534
00:37:10,019 --> 00:37:13,356
It was an easy, easy score,
as they say on the street.
535
00:37:16,609 --> 00:37:19,403
We now know
that a lot of local wise guys
536
00:37:19,487 --> 00:37:21,072
were scoping out the museum.
537
00:37:21,155 --> 00:37:22,323
They were casing it.
538
00:37:22,949 --> 00:37:27,078
But at that time,
the focus was on all these other events.
539
00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:31,040
Put it this way, back in 1990,
540
00:37:31,123 --> 00:37:32,333
if you're an FBI agent,
541
00:37:32,416 --> 00:37:35,044
the way you get a promotion,
the way you get a raise,
542
00:37:35,127 --> 00:37:36,879
do a big Mafia case.
543
00:37:37,964 --> 00:37:39,840
The culture hadn't changed.
544
00:37:39,924 --> 00:37:42,218
That was how you got
your name in the paper,
545
00:37:42,301 --> 00:37:44,178
how you got your people on the news.
546
00:37:45,554 --> 00:37:48,224
Solving an art theft
547
00:37:48,307 --> 00:37:52,687
versus a Mafia prosecution in 1990,
548
00:37:52,770 --> 00:37:55,231
what do you think
is gonna get more attention?
549
00:37:56,065 --> 00:37:59,819
There was a theft here last night.
Two Rembrandts and a Vermeer.
550
00:38:00,736 --> 00:38:03,239
- Is that why it's closed?
- Yes, that's why.
551
00:38:03,823 --> 00:38:06,993
The gates at the Gardner Museum
will stay locked
552
00:38:07,076 --> 00:38:11,247
while authorities search for clues
in the daring weekend heist.
553
00:38:14,083 --> 00:38:17,628
When the FBI gets in,
they kinda shut stuff down.
554
00:38:17,712 --> 00:38:21,465
They assert complete dominance
or control of an investigation.
555
00:38:21,549 --> 00:38:23,759
Not only not telling us what's going on,
556
00:38:23,843 --> 00:38:26,387
they're not telling the locals,
not the Staties.
557
00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:32,018
Much like a kidnapping case,
we wanted to be in it from the outset.
558
00:38:33,060 --> 00:38:35,688
When you're at the FBI academy,
559
00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:40,818
you learn about collecting evidence.
It's somewhat rudimentary.
560
00:38:40,901 --> 00:38:44,822
Dusting for fingerprints,
doing tire impressions,
561
00:38:44,905 --> 00:38:46,365
those type of things.
562
00:38:48,242 --> 00:38:50,828
We had low-level training back then.
563
00:38:50,911 --> 00:38:53,914
If the Gardner was robbed today,
it would be different.
564
00:38:55,374 --> 00:38:58,210
There were a lot of things
that weren't taken
565
00:38:58,294 --> 00:39:00,296
that we would have taken today.
566
00:39:00,379 --> 00:39:03,549
In 1990, that wasn't part of the protocol.
567
00:39:06,177 --> 00:39:08,929
And I remember going into
the conservator's room.
568
00:39:09,555 --> 00:39:12,475
That particular door was ajar.
So I dunno who opened that.
569
00:39:12,558 --> 00:39:14,643
I didn't know if the police opened it.
570
00:39:14,727 --> 00:39:17,730
Did the robbers open that door?
I'm not sure.
571
00:39:18,564 --> 00:39:20,733
That's another thing
with crime scenes now.
572
00:39:20,816 --> 00:39:24,195
We know everybody that entered
the crime scene,
573
00:39:24,278 --> 00:39:26,530
where they came from,
when they left.
574
00:39:26,614 --> 00:39:29,784
There's a person at the door
that does all of that.
575
00:39:29,867 --> 00:39:32,119
Back then, yeah, there wasn't.
576
00:39:35,039 --> 00:39:37,041
We figured if we had any luck at all
577
00:39:37,833 --> 00:39:40,836
of obtaining any type
of fingerprint, ridge detail,
578
00:39:41,587 --> 00:39:43,339
it would've been off the duct tape.
579
00:39:44,215 --> 00:39:48,010
The way we had the tape at the time,
it was removed by BPD.
580
00:39:48,094 --> 00:39:49,553
It was all balled up.
581
00:39:50,513 --> 00:39:53,599
That tape then would've been taken in.
582
00:39:53,682 --> 00:39:58,187
Liquid nitrogen would be applied to it.
It would release the bonding properties.
583
00:39:58,270 --> 00:40:02,525
You'd be able to stretch the duct tape out
so that it's straight.
584
00:40:02,608 --> 00:40:06,404
So we were hoping to do that,
but then the tape went missing.
585
00:40:08,531 --> 00:40:12,493
It's gone. It's vanished.
They don't have it. They can't test it.
586
00:40:14,495 --> 00:40:16,330
To the best of my knowledge,
587
00:40:16,414 --> 00:40:19,542
the tape was never examined
for fingerprints.
588
00:40:21,335 --> 00:40:23,003
Back then you'd sign it out.
589
00:40:23,087 --> 00:40:25,881
I'd say, "I'm giving this
to the State Police to test."
590
00:40:25,965 --> 00:40:27,633
And off it would go.
591
00:40:27,716 --> 00:40:31,929
So I don't think there was any of that
exchange of paper and whatnot.
592
00:40:32,012 --> 00:40:34,682
It went missing. I think to this day,
593
00:40:34,765 --> 00:40:38,185
they probably don't have any idea
where it's at.
594
00:40:41,605 --> 00:40:44,275
You know,
to this day, that sticks in my craw.
595
00:40:44,775 --> 00:40:48,737
Because of all the things
we probably would have found from that.
596
00:40:49,697 --> 00:40:53,075
They weren't thinking about DNA in 1990,
597
00:40:53,159 --> 00:40:55,953
but you would think that evidence
would be preserved.
598
00:40:56,912 --> 00:41:01,333
They've said, "Chances of finding anything
on duct tape from 29 years ago,
599
00:41:01,417 --> 00:41:02,835
what are the chances?"
600
00:41:02,918 --> 00:41:05,629
You don't know you don't have it,
if you don't look.
601
00:41:09,758 --> 00:41:12,136
There's never been forensic evidence,
602
00:41:12,219 --> 00:41:15,973
DNA, fingerprints,
hair, anything like that
603
00:41:16,056 --> 00:41:18,142
that says, "These are the thieves."
604
00:41:22,521 --> 00:41:26,358
I remember I was sitting in the kitchen,
I'm reading the Boston Globe,
605
00:41:26,442 --> 00:41:30,154
and seeing something about
the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
606
00:41:30,237 --> 00:41:31,405
Reading what happened,
607
00:41:31,489 --> 00:41:34,158
that it was two men
dressed as police officers
608
00:41:34,241 --> 00:41:35,409
that robbed the museum,
609
00:41:35,493 --> 00:41:37,620
it was just like the coin drop.
610
00:41:37,703 --> 00:41:39,747
Like, "Oh my God!"
611
00:41:42,208 --> 00:41:45,377
For uniformed policemen to be in
612
00:41:45,461 --> 00:41:49,340
what I recalled as a Dodge Daytona,
this little hatchback.
613
00:41:49,423 --> 00:41:50,633
That seems odd.
614
00:41:53,344 --> 00:41:57,389
When we went to make a statement
to the police in Dudley Square,
615
00:41:57,473 --> 00:41:59,600
I pointed out the patch
616
00:41:59,683 --> 00:42:02,520
that was on a uniform jacket
hanging in the room.
617
00:42:02,603 --> 00:42:05,105
Said, "It was just like that.
It was exactly that."
618
00:42:05,606 --> 00:42:06,857
Then he took it away,
619
00:42:06,941 --> 00:42:11,362
'cause he didn't want me
to presumably have my memory be informed
620
00:42:11,445 --> 00:42:13,948
by the things in the room
while taking a statement.
621
00:42:15,866 --> 00:42:19,161
It looks like these are the notes
that detectives would have taken
622
00:42:19,245 --> 00:42:21,622
when we were interviewed
at the police station.
623
00:42:22,998 --> 00:42:24,166
Interesting.
624
00:42:24,250 --> 00:42:27,795
I didn't recall giving such an explicit
description of the person.
625
00:42:28,504 --> 00:42:29,838
White male, dark hair.
626
00:42:29,922 --> 00:42:31,715
Black hair, a mustache.
627
00:42:31,799 --> 00:42:33,509
Medium to dark complexion.
628
00:42:33,592 --> 00:42:35,386
Early 30s, wide eyes,
629
00:42:35,469 --> 00:42:37,221
hair below the ears.
630
00:42:37,304 --> 00:42:39,306
Average height or a little taller.
631
00:42:41,684 --> 00:42:45,521
And I also remember seeing the sketches.
And I thought,
632
00:42:45,604 --> 00:42:49,441
"Neither of these look like the guys
that I got a really good look at."
633
00:42:54,280 --> 00:42:57,491
To my knowledge,
the folks I spoke with at the station
634
00:42:57,575 --> 00:43:00,035
were members of the Boston police force.
635
00:43:00,119 --> 00:43:03,539
I have no recollection
of ever talking to the FBI.
636
00:43:03,622 --> 00:43:07,167
None of the FBI folks
reached out to me later on.
637
00:43:08,627 --> 00:43:12,965
If it was the Boston Police,
was that information shared with the FBI?
638
00:43:13,048 --> 00:43:14,049
I don't know.
639
00:43:14,133 --> 00:43:17,469
But someone who was responsible
for the investigation
640
00:43:18,262 --> 00:43:20,806
never followed through
and contacted me again,
641
00:43:20,889 --> 00:43:22,308
and I was an eye witness.
642
00:43:24,351 --> 00:43:30,190
There were 45 agents
working the case right at the outset.
643
00:43:30,274 --> 00:43:34,153
Well, that ended soon after,
within a month,
644
00:43:35,112 --> 00:43:37,323
and those agents went on to other things.
645
00:43:37,406 --> 00:43:40,409
It then evolved down to one agent,
646
00:43:40,492 --> 00:43:42,286
who was 26 years old.
647
00:43:43,579 --> 00:43:46,332
Is that how old
the FBI agent was? He was 26?
648
00:43:46,415 --> 00:43:48,459
That tells you something right there.
649
00:43:48,542 --> 00:43:51,962
You would think, if this was the movies,
they'd make a call.
650
00:43:52,046 --> 00:43:53,297
"Hello, Mr. Desmond."
651
00:43:53,380 --> 00:43:56,425
Some guy picks up the phone
on a beach somewhere.
652
00:43:57,176 --> 00:43:58,844
"Your services are needed."
653
00:43:58,927 --> 00:44:01,764
They'd bring in some real high-powered guy
654
00:44:01,847 --> 00:44:05,100
who had done something like this
somewhere before.
655
00:44:05,184 --> 00:44:07,019
It doesn't sound like that happened.
656
00:44:08,062 --> 00:44:10,564
By the time I get involved,
it's 20 years later.
657
00:44:10,648 --> 00:44:13,817
I spent a lot of time focused on,
"What evidence do we have?"
658
00:44:21,742 --> 00:44:24,346
Was there any identification
you guys could have made
659
00:44:24,370 --> 00:44:27,081
from who had entered the museum
the night previous?
660
00:44:27,998 --> 00:44:30,751
Um, we tried to figure out who that was.
661
00:44:31,585 --> 00:44:33,170
We made the determination
662
00:44:33,253 --> 00:44:36,173
it would be best to release the video
to the public,
663
00:44:36,256 --> 00:44:39,385
and the Globe, New York Times,
and other outlets picked it up.
664
00:44:40,886 --> 00:44:43,180
The car drives up,
you see some light in it.
665
00:44:43,263 --> 00:44:47,226
I sat down with FBI assistant
special agent in charge Peter Kowenhoven,
666
00:44:47,309 --> 00:44:49,561
who took me through the 25-year-old video
667
00:44:49,645 --> 00:44:52,022
released publicly for the very first time.
668
00:44:52,106 --> 00:44:55,192
He shows me the guy
he wants your help in identifying.
669
00:44:55,275 --> 00:44:58,404
That's the individual of interest.
He just came in.
670
00:44:58,487 --> 00:45:01,490
You see the corner of his head
as it bounces back and forth.
671
00:45:03,242 --> 00:45:06,203
Begs the question,
had nobody seen that tape?
672
00:45:06,286 --> 00:45:08,706
I don't know.
I had never seen it. I don't...
673
00:45:08,789 --> 00:45:12,292
I have never spoken to anybody
that has seen the tape.
674
00:45:15,212 --> 00:45:19,550
A cold case, you don't think of that.
The stuff's been in storage for 25 years.
675
00:45:19,633 --> 00:45:22,845
You don't think of getting it out,
showing it to the public.
676
00:45:22,928 --> 00:45:26,306
You think everyone's seen it
like you have, and they haven't.
677
00:45:28,142 --> 00:45:31,770
What did you think
when that police tape comes out in 2015?
678
00:45:31,854 --> 00:45:32,855
I laughed.
679
00:45:34,189 --> 00:45:37,025
You mean to say
it took all that time to see it?
680
00:45:43,657 --> 00:45:46,660
The FBI has concluded they know who it is,
681
00:45:46,744 --> 00:45:49,121
and it was potentially
one of the employees.
682
00:45:53,250 --> 00:45:57,755
The FBI, they get a call
from a couple of ex-guards,
683
00:45:57,838 --> 00:45:58,756
one of whom says,
684
00:45:58,839 --> 00:46:01,925
"That's nothing suspicious.
That's not a mystery."
685
00:46:02,009 --> 00:46:05,512
She says, "That's Larry O'Brien,
the deputy director."
686
00:46:07,347 --> 00:46:09,767
Why are we learning about this in 2015?
687
00:46:10,851 --> 00:46:14,354
Why 25 years after the theft?
688
00:46:20,235 --> 00:46:23,071
We didn't have
much confidence in the FBI.
689
00:46:25,491 --> 00:46:27,826
It didn't seem to be the high priority.
690
00:46:29,787 --> 00:46:33,040
We didn't think we were getting,
really, their full attention.
691
00:46:37,336 --> 00:46:41,507
They seemed distracted.
I didn't know why at the time.
692
00:46:43,091 --> 00:46:46,512
After the heist,
the largest art heist in the world,
693
00:46:46,595 --> 00:46:50,057
that same week there were
these blockbuster indictments
694
00:46:50,140 --> 00:46:53,268
where 21 members
of the New England Mafia
695
00:46:53,352 --> 00:46:57,022
were charged with racketeering
and loan sharking and murders.
696
00:46:57,105 --> 00:47:00,275
I can tell you, the conversation
wasn't about the museum.
697
00:47:00,901 --> 00:47:04,238
It should lay to rest once and for all
698
00:47:04,321 --> 00:47:06,657
any doubts that La Cosa Nostra
699
00:47:07,241 --> 00:47:10,702
is a figment of law enforcement's
imagination.
700
00:47:10,786 --> 00:47:12,246
How you doin'?
701
00:47:12,329 --> 00:47:14,581
- Good. How's it going?
- Good, good.
702
00:47:14,665 --> 00:47:18,544
But it does seem like
within the criminal world here,
703
00:47:18,627 --> 00:47:20,963
these paintings were
a get-out-of-jail-free card.
704
00:47:21,547 --> 00:47:24,633
This had been done before.
This isn't just conjecture.
705
00:47:26,927 --> 00:47:28,095
Who did it,
706
00:47:29,429 --> 00:47:32,558
why did they do it,
and whom were they connected with
707
00:47:32,641 --> 00:47:36,144
that it would allow them
to get away with this art?