1 00:00:02,042 --> 00:00:04,708 - Tonight, the biggest art heist in history. 2 00:00:04,792 --> 00:00:06,000 - Some of the pieces that were stolen 3 00:00:06,042 --> 00:00:07,750 were priceless masterpieces. 4 00:00:07,833 --> 00:00:10,750 - Some have been taken carefully and unscrewed out of frames. 5 00:00:10,875 --> 00:00:12,542 Others have been cut out. 6 00:00:12,625 --> 00:00:14,542 - The men are tied up with duct tape, 7 00:00:14,708 --> 00:00:16,375 and they look like hell. 8 00:00:16,458 --> 00:00:19,000 - Half a billion dollars in masterpieces gone 9 00:00:19,042 --> 00:00:20,250 without a trace 10 00:00:20,333 --> 00:00:23,167 and a three-decade search down many paths, 11 00:00:23,250 --> 00:00:25,250 all leading nowhere. 12 00:00:25,333 --> 00:00:28,708 - The thieves knew things that only an insider would know. 13 00:00:28,792 --> 00:00:31,250 - This is not a guy who you would pick out of a lineup 14 00:00:31,375 --> 00:00:34,833 and say, oh yeah, he's some kind of a criminal mastermind. 15 00:00:34,917 --> 00:00:37,500 - Now, we'll uncover the top theories 16 00:00:37,583 --> 00:00:40,208 behind this perfectly planned heist. 17 00:00:40,292 --> 00:00:43,125 - If mobsters did steal it, who did they steal it for? 18 00:00:43,208 --> 00:00:44,542 - Was he assassinated because 19 00:00:44,625 --> 00:00:47,333 he knew something about the Gardner Museum? 20 00:00:47,375 --> 00:00:50,125 - The fact that no one's come forward after 33 years, 21 00:00:50,208 --> 00:00:51,708 that's what makes this case one 22 00:00:51,833 --> 00:00:53,208 of the world's greatest mysteries. 23 00:00:53,292 --> 00:00:56,875 - Who orchestrated the Gardner Heist and why? 24 00:00:57,000 --> 00:00:59,667 (dramatic music) 25 00:01:11,333 --> 00:01:16,167 - [Laurence] 8:15 AM on Sunday, March 18th, 1990, 26 00:01:16,292 --> 00:01:17,542 guards arrive for their shift 27 00:01:17,625 --> 00:01:20,458 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 28 00:01:20,542 --> 00:01:24,292 and are shocked to find the security desk empty. 29 00:01:24,375 --> 00:01:28,042 They radio the overnight guards but get no reply, 30 00:01:28,125 --> 00:01:31,000 so they call the Boston Police. 31 00:01:31,042 --> 00:01:32,833 - The police find the guards in the basement, 32 00:01:32,958 --> 00:01:35,375 bound and handcuffed to the pipes. 33 00:01:36,625 --> 00:01:38,667 - The men are tied up with duct tape, 34 00:01:38,708 --> 00:01:42,083 not only duct tape on their hands and feet, 35 00:01:42,167 --> 00:01:45,250 but also duct tape around their face and their eyes, 36 00:01:45,375 --> 00:01:47,083 and they look like hell. 37 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:49,458 - The first thing the police did 38 00:01:49,542 --> 00:01:52,000 after freeing the guards and getting their statements, 39 00:01:52,042 --> 00:01:54,583 was search the museum for evidence. 40 00:01:54,583 --> 00:01:57,958 - What they discover is, place has been robbed. 41 00:01:58,042 --> 00:01:59,333 - [Laurence] The police are shocked 42 00:01:59,417 --> 00:02:01,542 at what they see in two galleries. 43 00:02:01,625 --> 00:02:04,333 - Police find the galleries in disarray, 44 00:02:04,417 --> 00:02:06,833 with broken glass, paint chips on the floor, 45 00:02:06,917 --> 00:02:09,250 scraps of canvas hanging to frames 46 00:02:09,333 --> 00:02:11,375 with the paintings themselves missing. 47 00:02:11,458 --> 00:02:14,167 Some have been taken carefully and unscrewed out of frames. 48 00:02:14,250 --> 00:02:16,375 Others have been cut out. 49 00:02:16,458 --> 00:02:18,167 - [Laurence] One piece has also been taken 50 00:02:18,167 --> 00:02:20,333 from a third gallery known as the Blue Room. 51 00:02:20,500 --> 00:02:22,292 - It's the only piece taken 52 00:02:22,375 --> 00:02:25,167 from the first floor of the Garden Museum. 53 00:02:25,208 --> 00:02:26,958 - [Laurence] The theft is massive, 54 00:02:27,042 --> 00:02:32,750 13 pieces of artwork valued today at about $500 million. 55 00:02:32,833 --> 00:02:35,833 - The theft is the largest unsolved art theft in history, 56 00:02:35,917 --> 00:02:38,833 as well as the largest theft of property in America. 57 00:02:40,625 --> 00:02:44,250 - [Laurence] The Gardner Museum is a landmark in Boston, 58 00:02:44,375 --> 00:02:47,875 modeled after a 15th century Venetian palace. 59 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:51,333 It holds the private collection of heiress and art patron, 60 00:02:51,417 --> 00:02:54,208 Isabella Stewart Gardner. 61 00:02:54,292 --> 00:02:56,167 - Wanting to share her collection with the public, 62 00:02:56,250 --> 00:02:58,500 Gardner opened the museum in 1903. 63 00:02:58,542 --> 00:03:01,542 - She spent about a decade making it to her perfection. 64 00:03:01,708 --> 00:03:03,583 And it was a perfection. 65 00:03:03,708 --> 00:03:05,042 It was, when it opened, 66 00:03:05,125 --> 00:03:09,167 the largest privately owned collection of art in America. 67 00:03:10,083 --> 00:03:11,500 - [Laurence] After the robbery, 68 00:03:11,625 --> 00:03:14,833 investigators take inventory of the stolen items. 69 00:03:14,833 --> 00:03:16,833 Many are one of a kind. 70 00:03:16,875 --> 00:03:19,500 - The pieces that were stolen were priceless masterpieces. 71 00:03:19,625 --> 00:03:21,667 One was a Rembrandt seascape, known as 72 00:03:21,750 --> 00:03:23,458 "A Storm Over the Sea of Galilee." 73 00:03:23,542 --> 00:03:26,667 It's the only seascape Rembrandt ever did. 74 00:03:26,750 --> 00:03:28,833 Another piece was called "The Concert." 75 00:03:28,917 --> 00:03:30,333 It was by Vermeer. 76 00:03:30,375 --> 00:03:32,625 It's the only Vermeer that's missing in the world. 77 00:03:32,708 --> 00:03:35,000 Those two pieces alone were valued at the time 78 00:03:35,042 --> 00:03:36,792 of over $200 million. 79 00:03:39,083 --> 00:03:40,333 Some of the other pieces 80 00:03:40,417 --> 00:03:42,667 that they took were a few Degas sketches, 81 00:03:45,042 --> 00:03:48,583 a Manet called "Chez Tortoni," which was a painting. 82 00:03:48,708 --> 00:03:51,792 They took the fitting off of the first regimental flag 83 00:03:51,792 --> 00:03:56,250 of Napoleon and also a Chinese beaker. 84 00:03:56,375 --> 00:03:57,792 - [Laurence] Who could have pulled off 85 00:03:57,875 --> 00:04:01,542 such a brazen heist and how did they do it? 86 00:04:01,542 --> 00:04:03,417 - They really knew their way 87 00:04:03,500 --> 00:04:07,792 around the sort of logistical structure of the institution. 88 00:04:07,875 --> 00:04:09,208 They were really familiar 89 00:04:09,333 --> 00:04:12,083 with the institution's security system. 90 00:04:12,167 --> 00:04:13,667 And they navigated the galleries 91 00:04:13,708 --> 00:04:17,542 in a way that was around the motion detectors. 92 00:04:17,625 --> 00:04:19,792 - [Laurence] Not only did the thieves navigate 93 00:04:19,875 --> 00:04:21,375 the museum with ease, 94 00:04:21,458 --> 00:04:24,875 they appear to know the security systems. 95 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:27,542 - When police initially are investigating the crime scene, 96 00:04:27,667 --> 00:04:30,583 they find that all of the security footage tapes 97 00:04:30,667 --> 00:04:31,667 have been taken, 98 00:04:31,792 --> 00:04:33,167 and they also find that printouts 99 00:04:33,208 --> 00:04:35,625 of the motion detector data have been removed. 100 00:04:35,708 --> 00:04:37,667 The thieves are, we can assume, 101 00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:40,708 believing that they're leaving without any sort of trace 102 00:04:40,792 --> 00:04:43,375 of where they've been or what they've done. 103 00:04:43,500 --> 00:04:46,500 - The thieves knew things that only an insider would know. 104 00:04:50,500 --> 00:04:52,167 - One of the first people that they looked at 105 00:04:52,208 --> 00:04:56,042 as an insider was Richard Abath, who was a guard that night. 106 00:04:56,125 --> 00:04:57,500 - He was a security guard, 107 00:04:57,625 --> 00:05:00,583 so he knew the security system at the museum very well. 108 00:05:00,708 --> 00:05:03,833 He was a 23-year-old, self-described hippie 109 00:05:03,917 --> 00:05:07,167 who had admitted to coming to work inebriated several times. 110 00:05:07,250 --> 00:05:09,167 - He had done things over that year 111 00:05:09,250 --> 00:05:11,042 that should have gotten him fired, 112 00:05:11,042 --> 00:05:12,417 and he just got away with things. 113 00:05:12,500 --> 00:05:15,083 And I think he just got lackadaisical. 114 00:05:15,167 --> 00:05:17,958 - [Laurence] Abath tells police that on the night of the heist, 115 00:05:18,042 --> 00:05:21,792 he noticed a pair of unusual visitors outside of the museum 116 00:05:21,792 --> 00:05:23,250 after closing time. 117 00:05:23,375 --> 00:05:26,708 - Rick looks up at the closed circuit TV monitor, 118 00:05:26,792 --> 00:05:30,667 there shows two men ringing the doorbell in police uniform 119 00:05:30,750 --> 00:05:33,333 and one of them says, "Open up. 120 00:05:33,375 --> 00:05:36,125 We are here to investigate a disturbance." 121 00:05:36,208 --> 00:05:38,208 - It was St. Patrick's Day morning. 122 00:05:38,292 --> 00:05:40,542 In other words, people were partying in Boston. 123 00:05:40,625 --> 00:05:42,167 There were revelers out on the street. 124 00:05:42,208 --> 00:05:43,750 So for two police officers 125 00:05:43,833 --> 00:05:46,458 to show up at that point was not that unusual. 126 00:05:47,375 --> 00:05:48,708 - But Rick's handbook says, 127 00:05:48,792 --> 00:05:51,333 if someone comes to the side door 128 00:05:51,417 --> 00:05:54,458 and demands entrance and you cannot get rid of them, 129 00:05:54,542 --> 00:05:56,792 you call the police, but he doesn't. 130 00:05:56,875 --> 00:05:58,667 - Abath's response really wasn't the best. 131 00:05:58,792 --> 00:06:00,625 He said that he allowed these two gentlemen 132 00:06:00,708 --> 00:06:02,375 to come in dressed as police officers 133 00:06:02,458 --> 00:06:05,167 because he believed that they were Boston cops. 134 00:06:05,250 --> 00:06:06,625 - [Laurence] Abath doesn't follow 135 00:06:06,708 --> 00:06:09,792 the museum's clear security protocols that night, 136 00:06:09,875 --> 00:06:13,042 but what he does do is radio his colleague 137 00:06:13,125 --> 00:06:14,625 to come to the security desk 138 00:06:14,708 --> 00:06:17,875 because the two police seemingly want to arrest him. 139 00:06:19,375 --> 00:06:20,625 - The two police officers say 140 00:06:20,750 --> 00:06:23,542 to Rick in a sort of a offhand way, 141 00:06:23,625 --> 00:06:26,750 but convincing to Rick, "Hey, you look familiar to us. 142 00:06:26,833 --> 00:06:28,833 Do we have a warrant for your arrest?" 143 00:06:30,042 --> 00:06:33,792 And as Rick explains it, he thought, "I better go along 144 00:06:33,875 --> 00:06:35,208 with what they're asking me to do," 145 00:06:35,333 --> 00:06:38,167 which was to step around away from the back of the table 146 00:06:38,250 --> 00:06:40,333 and come out in front of us 147 00:06:40,417 --> 00:06:42,000 so we can get a good look at you. 148 00:06:43,292 --> 00:06:45,708 - These two police officers lure Abath 149 00:06:45,792 --> 00:06:48,208 and his co-night guard away from their security desk, 150 00:06:48,292 --> 00:06:49,500 which would be the only place 151 00:06:49,583 --> 00:06:51,625 that they'd easily be able to call for help 152 00:06:51,708 --> 00:06:53,000 from the outside world. 153 00:06:54,208 --> 00:06:55,583 - As soon as he's within proximity, 154 00:06:55,667 --> 00:06:57,667 they immediately place handcuffs on him. 155 00:06:57,750 --> 00:06:59,500 And when the second security guard comes in, 156 00:06:59,542 --> 00:07:00,833 he too is cuffed. 157 00:07:00,917 --> 00:07:02,667 So now these two are totally confused. 158 00:07:02,708 --> 00:07:05,000 They're wondering why are these police officers arresting them, 159 00:07:05,042 --> 00:07:07,833 and it's at that moment that one of the police officers says, 160 00:07:07,917 --> 00:07:09,000 "This is a robbery." 161 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:11,667 They lead him to the basement of the museum, 162 00:07:11,708 --> 00:07:13,167 which was very odd because, 163 00:07:13,250 --> 00:07:15,750 how would they even know that the museum had a basement? 164 00:07:15,833 --> 00:07:18,708 And then they strategically placed them about 50 feet apart. 165 00:07:18,792 --> 00:07:20,625 They duct tape them in an odd manner, 166 00:07:20,708 --> 00:07:23,292 allowing one of the security guards the ability 167 00:07:23,375 --> 00:07:27,708 to kind of peek through the spaces in between the duct tape. 168 00:07:27,792 --> 00:07:31,250 - The robbers say to both guards before leaving them, 169 00:07:31,333 --> 00:07:32,625 "Keep your mouth shut 170 00:07:32,708 --> 00:07:35,083 and you'll get your reward in a year's time." 171 00:07:35,208 --> 00:07:38,917 - [Laurence] The thieves leave the basement around 1:35 AM. 172 00:07:39,708 --> 00:07:41,583 After waiting an hour or so 173 00:07:41,667 --> 00:07:43,458 to ensure the guards are still tied up, 174 00:07:43,542 --> 00:07:45,667 they exit the museum. 175 00:07:45,792 --> 00:07:47,875 But first, they take the security tape 176 00:07:47,958 --> 00:07:51,250 and a printout of the museum's motion detectors. 177 00:07:51,333 --> 00:07:53,667 They make one crucial mistake. 178 00:07:53,708 --> 00:07:56,292 - The thieves knew to take the security tape 179 00:07:56,375 --> 00:07:57,542 and to take the printout, 180 00:07:57,667 --> 00:07:59,083 but they didn't realize 181 00:07:59,167 --> 00:08:01,375 that the hard drive had stored the movements also 182 00:08:01,458 --> 00:08:02,833 so it could be reproduced, 183 00:08:02,875 --> 00:08:05,333 and that's how we know where they went that night. 184 00:08:05,417 --> 00:08:08,583 - [Laurence] Investigators can now track all the movement 185 00:08:08,667 --> 00:08:10,667 through the museum that night, 186 00:08:10,708 --> 00:08:13,583 beginning in the gallery known as the Dutch Room. 187 00:08:14,708 --> 00:08:16,417 - The thieves travel both to the Dutch Room 188 00:08:16,500 --> 00:08:17,583 and the Short Gallery. 189 00:08:18,667 --> 00:08:20,167 The Dutch Room is where they're taking 190 00:08:20,292 --> 00:08:22,917 five important old master works, 191 00:08:23,042 --> 00:08:24,500 including the concert 192 00:08:24,542 --> 00:08:27,500 and Rembrandt's "Storm on the Sea of Galilee." 193 00:08:27,583 --> 00:08:29,667 And the Short Gallery is where they're taking 194 00:08:29,750 --> 00:08:32,417 most of the Degas works on paper, 195 00:08:32,500 --> 00:08:34,125 as well as the Eagle Finial. 196 00:08:36,042 --> 00:08:37,000 - [Laurence] In all, 197 00:08:37,083 --> 00:08:40,083 the thieves were in the museum for 81 minutes, 198 00:08:40,167 --> 00:08:42,167 leaving at 2:45 AM. 199 00:08:43,750 --> 00:08:45,833 When the police look at the motion detector data, 200 00:08:45,875 --> 00:08:48,292 they find something highly suspicious. 201 00:08:49,333 --> 00:08:51,667 - The only information shown on the motion detector data 202 00:08:51,667 --> 00:08:53,542 in the Blue Room comes from hours before, 203 00:08:53,625 --> 00:08:54,875 when Abath admits 204 00:08:54,958 --> 00:08:58,083 that that was most likely him doing his rounds. 205 00:08:58,167 --> 00:09:00,375 - To me, it's the mystery within the mystery. 206 00:09:00,458 --> 00:09:01,750 It's the theft within the theft. 207 00:09:01,833 --> 00:09:05,583 Why didn't their footsteps show up in that room? 208 00:09:07,042 --> 00:09:10,250 Rick was in that room before the bad guys showed up. 209 00:09:10,333 --> 00:09:12,042 Could he have taken it off the wall? 210 00:09:13,583 --> 00:09:15,250 - [Laurence] Investigators learn more 211 00:09:15,333 --> 00:09:20,208 about Abath's actions that night that raise alarm bells. 212 00:09:20,292 --> 00:09:22,792 - We know that Rick Abath opened 213 00:09:22,875 --> 00:09:25,292 and closed the Palace Road door. 214 00:09:26,417 --> 00:09:27,500 Why would he do that? 215 00:09:27,583 --> 00:09:29,458 That was not part of his rounds. 216 00:09:29,542 --> 00:09:32,375 That was not part of the usual protocol. 217 00:09:32,500 --> 00:09:34,000 It looks awfully fishy. 218 00:09:34,042 --> 00:09:38,417 Was he signaling the robbers it's a good time to come? 219 00:09:38,500 --> 00:09:40,167 - [Laurence] Despite their suspicions, 220 00:09:40,250 --> 00:09:42,750 investigators never amass enough evidence 221 00:09:42,833 --> 00:09:45,417 to charge Abath with the crime. 222 00:09:45,500 --> 00:09:47,000 - This is a man who has lived 223 00:09:47,083 --> 00:09:50,042 under a cloud of suspicion for his entire life, 224 00:09:50,125 --> 00:09:53,042 but this is not a guy who you would pick out of a lineup 225 00:09:53,125 --> 00:09:57,000 and say, "Oh yeah, he's some kind of a criminal mastermind." 226 00:09:57,042 --> 00:09:59,250 - [Laurence] Ultimately, he moves out of the state, 227 00:09:59,333 --> 00:10:00,833 finishes his college degree, 228 00:10:00,917 --> 00:10:02,917 and works as a teacher's aide. 229 00:10:03,958 --> 00:10:07,042 Then in 2015, he's back in the spotlight 230 00:10:07,125 --> 00:10:10,542 after the FBI released a security video from the museum, 231 00:10:10,667 --> 00:10:13,167 taken a night before the theft. 232 00:10:13,208 --> 00:10:17,333 - The FBI video shows Mr. Abath buzzing in a person 233 00:10:17,458 --> 00:10:19,417 to talk to him at the security desk, 234 00:10:19,500 --> 00:10:21,125 which was against the rules. 235 00:10:21,208 --> 00:10:22,625 So it took many years, 236 00:10:22,708 --> 00:10:26,625 almost 25 years for the FBI to release that video. 237 00:10:26,708 --> 00:10:29,625 - The museum and the FBI say, 238 00:10:29,708 --> 00:10:32,208 "We want to know who this person was." 239 00:10:32,208 --> 00:10:34,958 Rick was asked, "Do you know who this was?" 240 00:10:35,042 --> 00:10:36,833 Rick says, "I don't remember it." 241 00:10:38,167 --> 00:10:41,667 - Abath is giving inconsistent statements to the officers 242 00:10:41,750 --> 00:10:43,833 and they're not buying any of it, 243 00:10:43,917 --> 00:10:46,708 but eventually he's given two polygraphs and he passes. 244 00:10:48,042 --> 00:10:51,250 - [Laurence] So if the theft was done by an insider, 245 00:10:51,375 --> 00:10:52,750 who is responsible? 246 00:10:53,917 --> 00:10:56,167 - Whether or not Abath was the inside man, 247 00:10:56,250 --> 00:10:59,625 we know that this was not one person acting alone. 248 00:10:59,708 --> 00:11:02,333 This was a group of people planning 249 00:11:02,375 --> 00:11:03,750 and executing this heist. 250 00:11:08,792 --> 00:11:10,375 - [Laurence] After failing to find enough evidence 251 00:11:10,375 --> 00:11:13,750 to charge a night security guard at the Gardner Museum, 252 00:11:13,833 --> 00:11:17,333 investigators looking into the case are stumped. 253 00:11:17,375 --> 00:11:19,083 The FBI releases sketches 254 00:11:19,167 --> 00:11:22,167 of the thieves posing as Boston Police 255 00:11:22,250 --> 00:11:24,292 in hopes of identifying the suspects. 256 00:11:25,667 --> 00:11:26,833 - Who were these two men? 257 00:11:26,958 --> 00:11:28,708 And how did they carry out the theft 258 00:11:28,792 --> 00:11:31,417 in the very particular way in which they did? 259 00:11:31,500 --> 00:11:34,208 - [Laurence] The sketches reveal the thieves' disguises 260 00:11:34,333 --> 00:11:37,792 and present a new angle in the investigation. 261 00:11:37,875 --> 00:11:39,250 - In any type of a crime, 262 00:11:39,333 --> 00:11:41,167 the first thing investigators are gonna do is look 263 00:11:41,250 --> 00:11:44,500 at the forensic evidence that's left behind at the scene, 264 00:11:44,583 --> 00:11:46,583 interview individuals who are witnesses, 265 00:11:46,667 --> 00:11:48,333 and then look at other situations 266 00:11:48,417 --> 00:11:49,875 that occurred in that area 267 00:11:50,000 --> 00:11:53,292 that are like that, other art thefts that were unsolved. 268 00:11:53,375 --> 00:11:55,417 Those are gonna be your primary suspects 269 00:11:55,417 --> 00:11:56,958 after the insiders. 270 00:11:57,958 --> 00:11:59,292 - Investigators are really gonna look 271 00:11:59,375 --> 00:12:00,333 for key characteristics 272 00:12:00,417 --> 00:12:02,542 that may be similar to other crimes committed, 273 00:12:02,625 --> 00:12:04,083 whether they involve art 274 00:12:04,083 --> 00:12:06,917 or a similar M.O. by particular criminals. 275 00:12:10,333 --> 00:12:13,292 - Investigators looked at other crimes in the area. 276 00:12:13,375 --> 00:12:14,875 In one particular case, 277 00:12:14,875 --> 00:12:17,667 a failed theft at a similar museum. 278 00:12:17,708 --> 00:12:19,167 Like the Gardner Museum, 279 00:12:19,292 --> 00:12:22,542 the Hyde Museum Collection in the collector's former home 280 00:12:22,667 --> 00:12:24,708 and the art is very similar, high value. 281 00:12:26,042 --> 00:12:28,958 - The Hyde Collection has old masters combined 282 00:12:29,042 --> 00:12:30,833 with French impressionist works. 283 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:33,208 It's often been called the Mini Gardner 284 00:12:33,292 --> 00:12:37,500 and is another Palazzo style museum in Upstate New York. 285 00:12:37,583 --> 00:12:40,708 - [Laurence] On December 22nd, 1980, 286 00:12:40,833 --> 00:12:43,125 10 years before the Gardner Heist, 287 00:12:43,208 --> 00:12:46,083 two crooks are on their way to rob the Hyde Museum 288 00:12:46,167 --> 00:12:48,000 when they run into trouble. 289 00:12:48,083 --> 00:12:50,583 - Two men hijack a FedEx truck. 290 00:12:50,708 --> 00:12:52,042 They subdue the driver 291 00:12:52,125 --> 00:12:54,708 in the back using duct tape and ether. 292 00:12:54,833 --> 00:12:57,000 They tell her that if she behaves and cooperates, 293 00:12:57,042 --> 00:12:59,083 that she will be rewarded. 294 00:12:59,167 --> 00:13:00,792 - Some of the tools they brought along 295 00:13:00,792 --> 00:13:03,167 with them were handcuffs, duct tape, 296 00:13:03,250 --> 00:13:05,625 and knives to cut the paintings out of their frames, 297 00:13:05,708 --> 00:13:07,542 just like in the Gardner Heist. 298 00:13:07,667 --> 00:13:09,167 - [Laurence] The operation is called off 299 00:13:09,292 --> 00:13:11,500 when the thieves get caught in traffic 300 00:13:11,542 --> 00:13:14,500 and realize they can't get to the Hyde Collection 301 00:13:14,500 --> 00:13:16,208 before closing time. 302 00:13:16,292 --> 00:13:19,833 Authorities eventually catch up to the hijackers. 303 00:13:19,958 --> 00:13:22,875 - The FedEx driver is able to ID the two men 304 00:13:23,000 --> 00:13:24,667 who subdued her in the back of the truck. 305 00:13:24,792 --> 00:13:26,667 They are the con artist, Brian McDevitt, 306 00:13:26,792 --> 00:13:29,917 and his co-conspirator, Michael Morey. 307 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,750 The two men are convicted of kidnapping 308 00:13:32,833 --> 00:13:34,250 and attempted grand larceny 309 00:13:34,333 --> 00:13:36,292 and both spend several months in prison. 310 00:13:37,708 --> 00:13:39,250 - [Laurence] Both men are out of prison 311 00:13:39,375 --> 00:13:41,167 at the time of the Gardner Heist, 312 00:13:42,250 --> 00:13:46,125 but the methodology in both cases is similar. 313 00:13:46,208 --> 00:13:48,958 - While investigators are looking into the Gardner Heist, 314 00:13:49,042 --> 00:13:51,375 they're again drawn to McDevitt and Morey 315 00:13:51,500 --> 00:13:52,833 due to the similarities 316 00:13:52,958 --> 00:13:55,083 between their attempted robbery of the Hyde Collection 317 00:13:55,167 --> 00:13:57,000 and the robbery of the Gardner Heist. 318 00:13:57,125 --> 00:14:00,125 The use of duct tape to bind the FedEx driver 319 00:14:00,208 --> 00:14:02,583 and the duct tape used to bind the night guards, 320 00:14:02,667 --> 00:14:05,417 the tools to remove paintings from their frames, 321 00:14:05,500 --> 00:14:08,667 as well as this promise of if you behave, 322 00:14:08,792 --> 00:14:10,625 you will be rewarded. 323 00:14:10,750 --> 00:14:13,208 - So Michael Morey, he had an alibi. 324 00:14:13,292 --> 00:14:15,667 The other guy, Brian McDevitt, not so much. 325 00:14:15,792 --> 00:14:16,917 He didn't have an alibi, 326 00:14:17,042 --> 00:14:19,958 and he was in the Boston area that night. 327 00:14:21,750 --> 00:14:23,792 - [Laurence] The FBI spends more than a year 328 00:14:23,875 --> 00:14:26,250 investigating Brian McDevitt. 329 00:14:26,375 --> 00:14:28,000 - Brian McDevitt was a real character. 330 00:14:28,083 --> 00:14:30,750 He had a history of fraudulent activity. 331 00:14:30,875 --> 00:14:32,083 At one point, he even said 332 00:14:32,167 --> 00:14:34,083 he was a member of the Vanderbilt family. 333 00:14:34,208 --> 00:14:36,167 Later, he moved to Los Angeles, 334 00:14:36,208 --> 00:14:38,583 he joined the Writer's Guild of America and said, 335 00:14:38,667 --> 00:14:40,500 "I'm a successful screenwriter." 336 00:14:41,708 --> 00:14:43,375 - In an FBI interview, 337 00:14:43,458 --> 00:14:47,500 Morey told agents that McDevitt used the exact same language 338 00:14:47,542 --> 00:14:52,000 in the Hyde attempt that was used during the Gardner Heist. 339 00:14:52,042 --> 00:14:53,958 We know where you live, but if you behave, 340 00:14:54,042 --> 00:14:55,500 you will be rewarded. 341 00:14:56,833 --> 00:14:58,792 - The FBI are able to draw a connection 342 00:14:58,875 --> 00:15:01,000 between McDevitt and the Gardner Heist, 343 00:15:01,083 --> 00:15:04,125 given that McDevitt himself has a strong Boston accent, 344 00:15:04,208 --> 00:15:06,125 which is consistent with the description 345 00:15:06,208 --> 00:15:08,083 that Abath provided of the two thieves, 346 00:15:08,208 --> 00:15:09,917 and McDevitt himself also seems 347 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:12,542 to resemble one of the early police sketches. 348 00:15:12,625 --> 00:15:15,083 - [Laurence] In 1992, Brian McDevitt agrees 349 00:15:15,167 --> 00:15:16,500 to talk to the FBI. 350 00:15:17,542 --> 00:15:20,333 - McDevitt sits down with the FBI several times, 351 00:15:20,375 --> 00:15:22,583 each time insisting that he's had nothing 352 00:15:22,667 --> 00:15:24,083 to do with the Gardner Heist 353 00:15:24,208 --> 00:15:27,458 despite the fact that he's not able to produce an alibi. 354 00:15:27,542 --> 00:15:29,792 - [Laurence] The FBI also interviews a woman 355 00:15:29,875 --> 00:15:33,208 who Brian McDevitt was dating at the time of the heist. 356 00:15:33,292 --> 00:15:36,250 - McDevitt had this girlfriend who was over the moon with him. 357 00:15:36,333 --> 00:15:38,958 I mean, she thought he was like an artistic genius. 358 00:15:38,958 --> 00:15:41,167 He seemed very well-connected. 359 00:15:41,250 --> 00:15:43,167 He had told his girlfriend he was going down 360 00:15:43,250 --> 00:15:45,167 to New York the weekend of the heist 361 00:15:45,250 --> 00:15:48,167 to attend this big soiree put on by the Writer's Guild. 362 00:15:49,750 --> 00:15:50,917 - Upon his return, 363 00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:53,625 he told her that the FBI may question her 364 00:15:53,708 --> 00:15:54,833 and that if they did, 365 00:15:54,875 --> 00:15:56,458 she was to tell them that they had spent 366 00:15:56,542 --> 00:15:58,125 St. Patrick's Day weekend together, 367 00:15:58,208 --> 00:16:00,042 which she ultimately refuses to do. 368 00:16:00,125 --> 00:16:02,292 And McDevitt became very irate 369 00:16:02,375 --> 00:16:04,458 at the fact that she refused to lie for him. 370 00:16:04,542 --> 00:16:07,792 She learns that there was no Writer's Guild event 371 00:16:07,875 --> 00:16:09,583 over the weekend of St. Patrick's Day. 372 00:16:09,667 --> 00:16:13,000 She learns that he may not even be a screenwriter. 373 00:16:13,125 --> 00:16:15,333 McDevitt tells her that he was actually involved 374 00:16:15,417 --> 00:16:18,042 and had been paid to commit the Gardner Heist 375 00:16:18,125 --> 00:16:20,417 and that he has to flee the country. 376 00:16:20,542 --> 00:16:22,208 - She goes back and writes in her diary 377 00:16:22,292 --> 00:16:25,167 that she can't believe what he just told her, 378 00:16:25,208 --> 00:16:27,208 and she doesn't know how to process it. 379 00:16:27,333 --> 00:16:28,708 And she can't even handle it. 380 00:16:28,708 --> 00:16:31,708 And it's so huge she can't even write it down. 381 00:16:31,708 --> 00:16:35,667 All that's in her diary is that Brian did a terrible thing. 382 00:16:35,750 --> 00:16:39,708 He admitted it and I don't know how to process it. 383 00:16:39,792 --> 00:16:41,042 - Feeling uncomfortable 384 00:16:41,167 --> 00:16:42,875 and overwhelmed by the amount of information 385 00:16:42,958 --> 00:16:44,500 that's been given to her by McDevitt, 386 00:16:44,583 --> 00:16:47,000 she tells the FBI. 387 00:16:47,042 --> 00:16:50,375 - When the FBI tries to find Brian McDevitt again, 388 00:16:50,458 --> 00:16:51,958 he's gone. 389 00:16:52,042 --> 00:16:54,875 - He fled to Medellin, Colombia. 390 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:56,583 The FBI were able to trace him there, 391 00:16:56,708 --> 00:16:59,375 but he died before they were able to interview him again. 392 00:17:00,625 --> 00:17:03,333 - McDevitt's death brought investigators 393 00:17:03,417 --> 00:17:06,333 to another standstill with many questions remaining. 394 00:17:06,375 --> 00:17:09,083 Was McDevitt himself actually involved in the theft 395 00:17:09,167 --> 00:17:11,833 or was he just pretending to have been involved 396 00:17:11,833 --> 00:17:13,917 to impress anyone who would listen? 397 00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:16,042 - [Laurence] But McDevitt isn't the only 398 00:17:16,125 --> 00:17:17,500 compelling suspect in this complicated case. 399 00:17:22,333 --> 00:17:25,708 - [Laurence] In 1997, seven years after the Gardner Heist, 400 00:17:25,792 --> 00:17:28,667 a reporter from the Boston Herald gets a strange call 401 00:17:28,708 --> 00:17:32,250 from a man who claims to have information on the case. 402 00:17:32,250 --> 00:17:35,000 His name is William Youngworth, Jr. 403 00:17:36,083 --> 00:17:38,000 - He's an antique dealer with a criminal past, 404 00:17:38,042 --> 00:17:39,500 very unscrupulous. 405 00:17:39,625 --> 00:17:42,667 Youngworth contacts a reporter at the Boston Herald. 406 00:17:42,708 --> 00:17:45,083 He makes it clear that he didn't steal the paintings, 407 00:17:45,167 --> 00:17:47,000 but he says, "I know where the paintings 408 00:17:47,042 --> 00:17:49,000 from the Gardner Heist are 409 00:17:49,042 --> 00:17:52,458 and I can help you facilitate their return." 410 00:17:52,542 --> 00:17:55,417 - Youngworth told him that he had not stolen the paintings, 411 00:17:55,542 --> 00:17:58,083 but he could supply them to be recovered. 412 00:17:58,208 --> 00:17:59,958 - He tells reporters that 413 00:18:00,042 --> 00:18:02,583 he would be willing to return these pieces 414 00:18:02,667 --> 00:18:05,375 to law enforcement if the conditions are right, 415 00:18:05,458 --> 00:18:09,333 those conditions being receipt of the $5 million reward, 416 00:18:09,417 --> 00:18:12,250 complete immunity for anything surrounding the Gardner Heist, 417 00:18:12,333 --> 00:18:16,292 and leniency for himself on a separate unrelated case. 418 00:18:16,375 --> 00:18:18,333 - And the FBI is saying to Youngworth, 419 00:18:18,375 --> 00:18:20,333 "You've got to cooperate with us." 420 00:18:20,417 --> 00:18:22,125 Youngworth says, "I will cooperate 421 00:18:22,208 --> 00:18:24,625 if you give into my list of demands." 422 00:18:24,708 --> 00:18:26,667 - [Laurence] In a surprising twist, 423 00:18:26,708 --> 00:18:29,208 one of Youngworth's demands is the release 424 00:18:29,292 --> 00:18:32,750 of his good friend Myles Connor from prison. 425 00:18:32,875 --> 00:18:34,500 At the time, 426 00:18:34,583 --> 00:18:38,208 Connor is serving 10 years for transporting stolen art. 427 00:18:38,292 --> 00:18:40,083 - And Myles is a very cunning guy. 428 00:18:40,167 --> 00:18:42,833 He's very well-known to the police around Boston, 429 00:18:42,875 --> 00:18:46,208 both for art and antiques thefts. 430 00:18:46,292 --> 00:18:47,750 - Youngworth and Connor have history. 431 00:18:47,833 --> 00:18:49,792 They've been involved in criminality together, 432 00:18:49,875 --> 00:18:52,000 and it's quite possible that all of this information 433 00:18:52,083 --> 00:18:54,875 that Youngworth is offering is nothing more than a scam 434 00:18:54,958 --> 00:18:56,333 to come up with money. 435 00:19:00,042 --> 00:19:02,708 Myles Connor is a name that came up very early 436 00:19:02,833 --> 00:19:04,000 in the investigation. 437 00:19:04,083 --> 00:19:05,708 He was and probably still is one 438 00:19:05,833 --> 00:19:08,250 of the most notorious art thieves in America. 439 00:19:09,208 --> 00:19:10,583 - In the 1970s, 440 00:19:10,667 --> 00:19:13,375 he was caught by an undercover FBI agent in an attempt 441 00:19:13,500 --> 00:19:16,667 to sell stolen Andrew Wyeth artworks. 442 00:19:18,875 --> 00:19:20,042 Now, at the same time, 443 00:19:20,125 --> 00:19:22,250 around 1975 while he's out on bail, 444 00:19:22,333 --> 00:19:23,708 Connor and some associates walk 445 00:19:23,792 --> 00:19:26,000 into the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston 446 00:19:26,042 --> 00:19:27,375 and they steal a Rembrandt. 447 00:19:29,542 --> 00:19:32,167 - Myles calls his lawyer a year later and says, 448 00:19:32,208 --> 00:19:33,667 "Tell the FBI, 449 00:19:33,750 --> 00:19:36,667 if they want to get their Rembrandt back from the MFA, 450 00:19:36,750 --> 00:19:38,042 I'll give it back to them, 451 00:19:38,125 --> 00:19:40,458 but they gotta do a deal with me, I want a deal." 452 00:19:40,542 --> 00:19:42,667 He gets the painting to be brought back. 453 00:19:42,792 --> 00:19:44,167 He goes into court. 454 00:19:44,208 --> 00:19:46,875 He allows him to serve the terms together 455 00:19:46,958 --> 00:19:48,375 as one eight-year sentence. 456 00:19:48,458 --> 00:19:51,250 So Myles thinks he's got some leeway. 457 00:19:51,333 --> 00:19:53,333 - [Laurence] Investigators wonder, 458 00:19:53,417 --> 00:19:57,417 could Connor be connected to the infamous Gardner Heist? 459 00:19:57,542 --> 00:20:00,708 If so, Youngworth isn't talking. 460 00:20:00,792 --> 00:20:03,833 - Youngworth doesn't give much information 461 00:20:03,875 --> 00:20:06,167 because he has a list of demands. 462 00:20:06,292 --> 00:20:08,542 Before he fully cooperates, 463 00:20:08,625 --> 00:20:11,458 he tells the FBI, "If you fulfill these demands, 464 00:20:11,542 --> 00:20:14,375 I will get you back the paintings 465 00:20:14,458 --> 00:20:16,083 that you're looking for." 466 00:20:16,167 --> 00:20:19,250 - [Laurence] Both the FBI and the Boston Herald reporter 467 00:20:19,333 --> 00:20:21,667 are skeptical and demand proof 468 00:20:21,708 --> 00:20:24,958 that William Youngworth really does have the paintings. 469 00:20:25,042 --> 00:20:27,875 - Subsequently, the two men set up a clandestine meeting. 470 00:20:27,958 --> 00:20:30,708 The Boston Herald reporter is picked up by Youngworth 471 00:20:30,792 --> 00:20:32,083 in the middle of the night 472 00:20:32,167 --> 00:20:33,875 and driven to a warehouse in Brooklyn. 473 00:20:33,958 --> 00:20:37,208 In this warehouse, Youngworth unfurls a painting 474 00:20:37,292 --> 00:20:40,000 that the two men then examine by flashlight. 475 00:20:40,083 --> 00:20:41,542 The Herald Reporter believes 476 00:20:41,625 --> 00:20:44,875 he has seen Rembrandt's "Storm on the Sea of Galilee." 477 00:20:44,958 --> 00:20:46,458 He then returns to Boston 478 00:20:46,542 --> 00:20:49,583 where he publishes an article called "We've Seen It!" 479 00:20:49,667 --> 00:20:51,292 where they demand further evidence, 480 00:20:51,375 --> 00:20:53,750 but argue that they have seen and know the location 481 00:20:53,833 --> 00:20:56,708 of at least one of the Gardner Heist paintings. 482 00:20:56,792 --> 00:20:59,417 - [Laurence] The Herald's reporter stays on the story 483 00:20:59,500 --> 00:21:01,958 and demands even more proof. 484 00:21:02,042 --> 00:21:04,167 - Youngworth produces paint chips 485 00:21:04,250 --> 00:21:06,625 from what he claims to be the Rembrandt. 486 00:21:06,708 --> 00:21:08,167 And paint chips are very distinct 487 00:21:08,250 --> 00:21:09,833 from different time periods. 488 00:21:09,875 --> 00:21:13,042 Tracing something like lead can actually tell you 489 00:21:13,125 --> 00:21:15,583 what era a paint was made. 490 00:21:15,708 --> 00:21:18,417 - [Laurence] The Herald then turns over the paint flakes 491 00:21:18,500 --> 00:21:21,542 to the FBI for more detailed analysis. 492 00:21:21,625 --> 00:21:23,000 - In doing this scientific testing, 493 00:21:23,042 --> 00:21:24,542 we're able to determine 494 00:21:24,625 --> 00:21:28,750 that the paint chips themselves are about 350 years old 495 00:21:28,833 --> 00:21:31,417 and the materials being used in those paint chips 496 00:21:31,500 --> 00:21:33,875 are consistent with the place and time 497 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:36,625 in which both Rembrandt and Vermeer are painting. 498 00:21:36,708 --> 00:21:38,542 - But in an interesting turn of events, 499 00:21:38,625 --> 00:21:40,542 they do not match the Rembrandt painting. 500 00:21:40,625 --> 00:21:43,542 - [Laurence] Despite being dated to the same era, 501 00:21:43,625 --> 00:21:46,500 the paint chips Youngworth turned over were found 502 00:21:46,542 --> 00:21:49,208 to contain oils and pigments not found 503 00:21:49,208 --> 00:21:51,333 in the museum's stolen Rembrandt. 504 00:21:51,417 --> 00:21:54,458 - The Gardner Museum felt the investigators didn't do 505 00:21:54,542 --> 00:21:56,042 a thorough investigation, 506 00:21:56,125 --> 00:21:58,000 that they didn't compare those chips 507 00:21:58,083 --> 00:22:00,167 to every item that had been stolen. 508 00:22:00,208 --> 00:22:02,208 There was never a comparison done 509 00:22:02,333 --> 00:22:03,833 to see if, possibly, 510 00:22:03,875 --> 00:22:05,792 they could have come from the Vermeer 511 00:22:05,875 --> 00:22:08,542 who was a contemporary of Rembrandt. 512 00:22:09,500 --> 00:22:10,917 - At the end of the day, 513 00:22:11,042 --> 00:22:13,667 we don't know where Youngworth procured these paint chips. 514 00:22:13,750 --> 00:22:15,417 All we know is that they don't match 515 00:22:15,542 --> 00:22:17,708 Rembrandt's "Storm on the Sea of Galilee." 516 00:22:18,750 --> 00:22:21,042 - The officials from the Gardner Museum were left wondering 517 00:22:21,125 --> 00:22:23,417 whether or not investigators could have done more 518 00:22:23,417 --> 00:22:25,542 in terms of the comparison of the chips that were found 519 00:22:25,625 --> 00:22:27,875 and have to ask, was this possible 520 00:22:27,958 --> 00:22:31,333 that Youngworth did in fact have the Rembrandt? 521 00:22:31,375 --> 00:22:33,708 - [Laurence] Neither Youngworth nor Connor are charged 522 00:22:33,833 --> 00:22:35,750 in the Gardner case, 523 00:22:35,833 --> 00:22:38,417 but Connor claims he has info to share. 524 00:22:39,875 --> 00:22:42,417 - He said he thought about robbing the Gardner Museum. 525 00:22:42,542 --> 00:22:44,333 He also said he never did it it, 526 00:22:44,375 --> 00:22:46,000 but he did say he thinks he knows who did. 527 00:22:50,375 --> 00:22:52,500 - The Gardner Museum Heist is a high stakes crime, 528 00:22:52,542 --> 00:22:54,000 but not a violent one. 529 00:22:54,083 --> 00:22:55,542 The thieves get in and out 530 00:22:55,542 --> 00:22:57,917 without shedding a single drop of blood. 531 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:00,125 But as the FBI goes hunting 532 00:23:00,208 --> 00:23:02,708 for suspects in Boston's underworld, 533 00:23:02,833 --> 00:23:05,375 they start to realize that a fortune 534 00:23:05,500 --> 00:23:08,125 that big may be worth killing over. 535 00:23:09,458 --> 00:23:11,833 - Boston in the '90s is one 536 00:23:11,875 --> 00:23:15,375 where organized crime continues to be rampant. 537 00:23:15,500 --> 00:23:18,083 And with organized crime also come 538 00:23:18,167 --> 00:23:21,000 law enforcement informants working with law enforcement 539 00:23:21,042 --> 00:23:24,625 to help them solve crimes and gain leniency on the crimes 540 00:23:24,708 --> 00:23:26,083 that they themselves are committing. 541 00:23:26,208 --> 00:23:29,083 - [Laurence] Notorious art thief Myles Connor is no stranger 542 00:23:29,167 --> 00:23:31,125 to making deals with the FBI. 543 00:23:31,208 --> 00:23:35,625 And he points them to a dizzying new array of suspects. 544 00:23:35,708 --> 00:23:37,625 - Now, in around 1991, 545 00:23:37,708 --> 00:23:39,542 he hears that connections 546 00:23:39,625 --> 00:23:41,500 that he has within the mob are going around, 547 00:23:41,583 --> 00:23:43,875 bragging about having committed the Gardner Heist 548 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:44,917 without him. 549 00:23:48,417 --> 00:23:51,250 - While in prison, Myles Connor states today 550 00:23:51,333 --> 00:23:52,917 that he was visited by an old friend 551 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,667 who introduced him to Robert Donati. 552 00:23:55,708 --> 00:23:58,292 Now, Robert Donati was a soldier, 553 00:23:58,375 --> 00:24:02,083 a worker with the patriarchal mafia family 554 00:24:02,167 --> 00:24:04,000 out of New England. 555 00:24:04,083 --> 00:24:05,833 - Back in 1974, Connor says 556 00:24:05,917 --> 00:24:08,000 that he cased out the Gardner Museum 557 00:24:08,083 --> 00:24:09,625 with Robert Donati. 558 00:24:09,708 --> 00:24:12,000 Didn't actually follow through with the break in. 559 00:24:12,083 --> 00:24:13,542 Later in jail, 560 00:24:13,625 --> 00:24:15,542 he finds out that Donati actually went ahead 561 00:24:15,625 --> 00:24:17,667 and robbed the museum anyway without him. 562 00:24:17,708 --> 00:24:21,417 - [Laurence] And Donati hasn't been especially discreet. 563 00:24:21,500 --> 00:24:23,167 - Bobby Donati is going around town, 564 00:24:23,250 --> 00:24:25,417 bragging about having committed the Gardner Heist 565 00:24:25,500 --> 00:24:27,667 and having buried the paintings. 566 00:24:27,750 --> 00:24:30,500 The speculation is that Donati is planning 567 00:24:30,542 --> 00:24:33,417 to ransom the paintings back to law enforcement 568 00:24:33,500 --> 00:24:36,667 to help free a fellow mobster. 569 00:24:36,750 --> 00:24:37,792 - He wasn't doing it for money. 570 00:24:37,875 --> 00:24:39,708 He was doing it for a friend. 571 00:24:39,792 --> 00:24:43,000 Donati, I guess, believed that if he stole these paintings, 572 00:24:43,083 --> 00:24:44,375 maybe he could make a deal 573 00:24:44,458 --> 00:24:47,125 to try to get this friend's sentence reduced. 574 00:24:48,333 --> 00:24:49,833 - With Donati, there's another red flag. 575 00:24:49,917 --> 00:24:51,792 He was caught with police paraphernalia. 576 00:24:51,875 --> 00:24:54,667 That's another connection to the Gardner case. 577 00:24:54,750 --> 00:24:56,667 - [Laurence] In 1991, about a year 578 00:24:56,708 --> 00:24:58,458 after the Gardner Heist, 579 00:24:58,542 --> 00:25:00,917 Robert Donati disappears. 580 00:25:01,000 --> 00:25:03,667 - Robert Donati was found in the trunk of his car. 581 00:25:03,750 --> 00:25:05,542 His throat was slashed so deeply, 582 00:25:05,625 --> 00:25:07,583 he was almost decapitated. 583 00:25:07,708 --> 00:25:09,667 - There was a gang war going on. 584 00:25:09,708 --> 00:25:11,958 Was he assassinated because of the gang war 585 00:25:12,042 --> 00:25:14,625 or was he assassinated because he knew something 586 00:25:14,708 --> 00:25:16,500 about the Gardner Museum 587 00:25:16,583 --> 00:25:19,375 and he had the art in his possession? 588 00:25:19,458 --> 00:25:21,792 - It's silly to think that beyond a robbery, 589 00:25:21,875 --> 00:25:25,917 that this could now also be tied to a murder. 590 00:25:25,917 --> 00:25:28,083 - [Laurence] After the hit on Donati, 591 00:25:28,167 --> 00:25:30,875 the FBI scours any properties attached to him, 592 00:25:30,958 --> 00:25:34,458 but never finds any of the Gardner works. 593 00:25:34,542 --> 00:25:36,250 - He could have put those paintings anywhere. 594 00:25:36,333 --> 00:25:38,708 I mean, these guys had safe houses all over the place 595 00:25:38,792 --> 00:25:40,542 and perhaps the knowledge 596 00:25:40,625 --> 00:25:43,000 of where he put them died with him. 597 00:25:43,125 --> 00:25:46,500 - Donati may very well have stashed some of those paintings. 598 00:25:46,583 --> 00:25:48,000 And if what he said was true, 599 00:25:48,042 --> 00:25:50,875 then the location of those paintings died with him. 600 00:25:50,958 --> 00:25:53,500 Now, there've been rumors of a painting showing up here 601 00:25:53,583 --> 00:25:54,875 and a painting showing up there, 602 00:25:54,958 --> 00:25:57,000 but every time law enforcement tries 603 00:25:57,042 --> 00:26:00,500 to follow up on those leads, they come up with nothing. 604 00:26:00,583 --> 00:26:03,167 - [Laurence] But Donati's death doesn't stop the FBI 605 00:26:03,292 --> 00:26:07,375 from investigating more Boston crime family members. 606 00:26:07,458 --> 00:26:09,750 The trail leads next to a friend 607 00:26:09,833 --> 00:26:12,500 of Donati named Bobby Gentile. 608 00:26:12,583 --> 00:26:14,000 - Bobby Gentile was friends 609 00:26:14,125 --> 00:26:17,000 with a lot of different Boston area mobsters. 610 00:26:17,125 --> 00:26:18,000 He knew Bobby Donati. 611 00:26:18,083 --> 00:26:19,667 He knew a lot of these characters. 612 00:26:19,792 --> 00:26:22,250 And it's believed that at some point, 613 00:26:22,333 --> 00:26:25,500 he took possession of at least two of these paintings. 614 00:26:25,583 --> 00:26:28,125 So a federal judge authorizes a search warrant 615 00:26:28,208 --> 00:26:29,708 for Bobby Gentile's home. 616 00:26:29,792 --> 00:26:33,750 And inside Gentile's house is a list of all the items 617 00:26:33,833 --> 00:26:35,625 that have been stolen from the Gardner Museum 618 00:26:35,708 --> 00:26:38,083 with little price points on them. 619 00:26:38,167 --> 00:26:41,417 And next to the price points is the Boston Herald article 620 00:26:41,542 --> 00:26:43,458 from the day after the theft. 621 00:26:43,542 --> 00:26:45,792 So after Gentile's house is raided, 622 00:26:45,875 --> 00:26:47,958 he of course, remains a suspect. 623 00:26:48,042 --> 00:26:50,292 - The investigation on Gentile remained open 624 00:26:50,375 --> 00:26:51,875 for three years. 625 00:26:51,958 --> 00:26:55,583 He ultimately sold a gun to an undercover FBI agent. 626 00:26:55,667 --> 00:26:57,750 He received a five-year sentence 627 00:26:57,833 --> 00:27:00,500 for a felony possession of a firearm. 628 00:27:00,583 --> 00:27:02,750 The FBI tried to flip him, 629 00:27:02,750 --> 00:27:05,833 tried to get him to come in and talk about the paintings 630 00:27:05,875 --> 00:27:07,875 that he supposedly had, 631 00:27:07,958 --> 00:27:09,542 but he never would speak about it. 632 00:27:09,542 --> 00:27:11,417 Robert Gentile never admitted anything 633 00:27:11,500 --> 00:27:12,500 to do with the Gardner Heist. 634 00:27:12,667 --> 00:27:14,667 He did his time, got out of jail in 2019 635 00:27:14,750 --> 00:27:17,208 and died in 2021 at the age of 85. 636 00:27:18,667 --> 00:27:22,208 - [Laurence] In 2013, while Gentile is still alive, 637 00:27:22,333 --> 00:27:25,500 tips from the FBI informants point investigators 638 00:27:25,583 --> 00:27:27,917 to other members of organized crime, 639 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:31,333 a pair of low level gangsters named George Reissfelder 640 00:27:31,417 --> 00:27:32,875 and Leonard Dimuzio. 641 00:27:34,708 --> 00:27:37,833 - Both Reissfelder and Dimuzio appear similar 642 00:27:37,875 --> 00:27:41,667 to the early sketches of the two police officers, 643 00:27:41,708 --> 00:27:43,750 and they also have long rap sheets of theft 644 00:27:43,875 --> 00:27:47,000 and other sorts of violent crime in the Boston area. 645 00:27:47,042 --> 00:27:49,458 - The FBI did background investigations. 646 00:27:49,458 --> 00:27:51,750 And they were successful in getting some of the relatives 647 00:27:51,833 --> 00:27:54,083 of Reissfelder to talk to them. 648 00:27:54,167 --> 00:27:55,750 - During the background investigation 649 00:27:55,875 --> 00:27:57,083 of George Reissfelder, 650 00:27:57,167 --> 00:27:59,500 they sit down with his brother Richard. 651 00:27:59,625 --> 00:28:01,708 They show him a picture book, 652 00:28:01,792 --> 00:28:04,375 and he immediately pointed to the "Chez Tortoni" 653 00:28:04,458 --> 00:28:07,000 and he said, "Hey, I've seen that. 654 00:28:07,083 --> 00:28:08,917 It was in my brother's apartment." 655 00:28:11,042 --> 00:28:13,583 - So in addition to Reissfelder being mobbed up, 656 00:28:13,667 --> 00:28:16,167 as they say, he was also linked to the robbery 657 00:28:16,292 --> 00:28:18,250 or the possession of one of the paintings. 658 00:28:18,333 --> 00:28:19,833 - [Laurence] But soon, the investigation 659 00:28:19,875 --> 00:28:22,250 hits a familiar snag. 660 00:28:22,333 --> 00:28:23,917 - Reissfelder meets an untimely death. 661 00:28:24,042 --> 00:28:26,292 He dies of a cocaine overdose. 662 00:28:27,333 --> 00:28:30,333 Investigators go to his home, they look for the painting. 663 00:28:30,417 --> 00:28:31,417 They find nothing. 664 00:28:32,625 --> 00:28:34,667 - Shortly after George Reissfelder died, 665 00:28:34,792 --> 00:28:36,667 his longtime criminal partner, 666 00:28:36,750 --> 00:28:38,917 Leonard Dimuzio, he disappeared. 667 00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:40,458 And then a few months later, 668 00:28:40,542 --> 00:28:42,333 he was found dead as well. 669 00:28:42,417 --> 00:28:46,542 - [Laurence] Four possible suspects all turning up dead, 670 00:28:46,625 --> 00:28:49,042 just as investigators close in. 671 00:28:49,042 --> 00:28:52,792 To some, it seems like more than a coincidence. 672 00:28:52,875 --> 00:28:55,583 - There were many mafia members who were associated, 673 00:28:55,667 --> 00:28:58,125 involved around the Gardner Heist, 674 00:28:58,208 --> 00:29:00,000 and it would be in their best interest 675 00:29:00,125 --> 00:29:03,417 to not speak on that criminality. 676 00:29:03,500 --> 00:29:04,708 Bad things could happen 677 00:29:04,792 --> 00:29:06,917 if they shared information that they know. 678 00:29:07,875 --> 00:29:10,417 - The silence wasn't necessarily surprising. 679 00:29:10,500 --> 00:29:12,167 That's a part of mob culture. 680 00:29:12,250 --> 00:29:14,875 But if we speculate about where the paintings could be, 681 00:29:14,958 --> 00:29:16,000 they could be anywhere. 682 00:29:16,125 --> 00:29:17,125 They could be buried in the ground, 683 00:29:17,208 --> 00:29:18,458 they could be in a storage unit. 684 00:29:18,542 --> 00:29:20,000 They could be in somebody's house 685 00:29:20,042 --> 00:29:21,458 or on a boat somewhere. 686 00:29:21,542 --> 00:29:22,375 We never know. 687 00:29:26,375 --> 00:29:27,917 - [Laurence] Much of the Gardner Heist investigation has 688 00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,333 focused on the thieves who stole the artwork 689 00:29:30,375 --> 00:29:31,875 from the building. 690 00:29:31,958 --> 00:29:34,042 But where did the paintings go next? 691 00:29:34,125 --> 00:29:38,000 And who would have the power and the money to buy them? 692 00:29:38,000 --> 00:29:40,500 - There's a few things that really bother investigators 693 00:29:40,542 --> 00:29:41,875 and myself about this case. 694 00:29:42,000 --> 00:29:43,833 The paintings that were taken 695 00:29:43,875 --> 00:29:47,042 and all of the artwork that were taken are so famous 696 00:29:47,125 --> 00:29:48,750 that they could never be sold. 697 00:29:50,208 --> 00:29:53,292 - You can't just walk into an auction house hopefully 698 00:29:53,375 --> 00:29:55,917 and put up one of these works for auction. 699 00:29:56,042 --> 00:29:58,625 - It's hotter than hot, it's white hot. 700 00:29:58,708 --> 00:30:01,375 It's so famous, it's so valuable, 701 00:30:01,458 --> 00:30:03,667 and it's so reported on. 702 00:30:03,708 --> 00:30:05,292 I mean, this was a story 703 00:30:05,375 --> 00:30:08,667 that made headlines across the globe. 704 00:30:08,792 --> 00:30:10,333 - Generally, artwork is recovered 705 00:30:10,375 --> 00:30:13,208 when there's a death and someone contacts authorities 706 00:30:13,292 --> 00:30:15,167 to say that they found something, 707 00:30:15,208 --> 00:30:18,542 or it's recovered in the midst of another investigation. 708 00:30:19,833 --> 00:30:21,917 - [Laurence] In 2017, 709 00:30:21,917 --> 00:30:24,292 the Gardner Museum doubles its reward, 710 00:30:24,375 --> 00:30:26,958 but no new leads emerge. 711 00:30:27,042 --> 00:30:29,958 - Despite the fact that it's a $10 million reward, 712 00:30:30,042 --> 00:30:32,167 no one has come forth with any information 713 00:30:32,292 --> 00:30:34,792 that has led to the recovery of any of the works. 714 00:30:36,250 --> 00:30:38,042 It's pretty puzzling to think about 715 00:30:38,167 --> 00:30:40,792 why the works that were stolen were actually taken 716 00:30:40,875 --> 00:30:44,042 and more expensive works were left behind. 717 00:30:44,125 --> 00:30:46,250 - The thieves, we know, spent about 718 00:30:46,333 --> 00:30:48,000 81 minutes moving systematically 719 00:30:48,083 --> 00:30:49,833 through both the Dutch room and the Short Room, 720 00:30:49,875 --> 00:30:52,792 removing what some have described as a laundry list 721 00:30:52,875 --> 00:30:55,042 or shopping list of artworks. 722 00:30:55,125 --> 00:30:56,708 - Although some of the paintings 723 00:30:56,792 --> 00:30:57,917 that were taken were masterpieces, 724 00:30:58,000 --> 00:30:59,958 unique pieces that can't be reproduced 725 00:31:00,042 --> 00:31:01,833 or should be recovered, 726 00:31:01,917 --> 00:31:04,083 there were some pieces that were not that valuable. 727 00:31:04,167 --> 00:31:06,625 The Degas sketches were not that valuable. 728 00:31:06,708 --> 00:31:08,292 The Finial off of the flag, 729 00:31:08,375 --> 00:31:11,833 the Napoleonic regimental flag, was valuable, 730 00:31:11,875 --> 00:31:14,833 but not to the point of these paintings. 731 00:31:14,917 --> 00:31:17,083 - So there wasn't a lot of rhyme or reason 732 00:31:17,167 --> 00:31:18,500 for some of the thefts. 733 00:31:18,583 --> 00:31:20,917 The most expensive painting there was Titian. 734 00:31:21,000 --> 00:31:23,958 But the Titian, "The Rape of Europa" is massive. 735 00:31:24,042 --> 00:31:26,958 So you couldn't really walk that out of the museum. 736 00:31:27,042 --> 00:31:29,250 - They avoided Titian's "Rape of Europa," 737 00:31:29,333 --> 00:31:31,125 but they took Vermeer's "The Concert," 738 00:31:31,208 --> 00:31:33,292 and some of these smaller works on paper, 739 00:31:33,375 --> 00:31:36,417 suggesting that there was a plan as to what would be taken. 740 00:31:36,500 --> 00:31:39,958 - [Laurence] Investigators begin to shape a new theory. 741 00:31:41,083 --> 00:31:44,667 - The art market itself is full of collectors 742 00:31:44,792 --> 00:31:48,542 whose sole purpose is to acquire works 743 00:31:48,667 --> 00:31:50,875 that they then keep in their own private collections, 744 00:31:50,958 --> 00:31:53,000 which are essentially the private storage 745 00:31:53,042 --> 00:31:54,875 for wealthy collectors. 746 00:31:54,958 --> 00:31:56,583 And we don't have any way to track 747 00:31:56,667 --> 00:31:58,125 what's traded and sold there. 748 00:31:59,083 --> 00:32:00,917 - That person would have to be very wealthy, 749 00:32:01,042 --> 00:32:02,375 tied to the black market, 750 00:32:03,375 --> 00:32:07,500 very well-versed in how the art market functions, 751 00:32:07,542 --> 00:32:10,875 very well-versed in how the museum market functions. 752 00:32:14,875 --> 00:32:16,125 Taken together, 753 00:32:16,125 --> 00:32:18,667 the works really present as a hodgepodge. 754 00:32:18,792 --> 00:32:21,917 But if you consider that the thieves may have been working 755 00:32:22,000 --> 00:32:24,500 from a private collector's shopping list 756 00:32:24,625 --> 00:32:28,208 who had holes in his or her collection to fill, 757 00:32:28,292 --> 00:32:31,375 and you consider the market value of the works together too, 758 00:32:31,500 --> 00:32:35,042 it makes that shopping list theory much more plausible. 759 00:32:36,292 --> 00:32:37,917 - Not only would this require 760 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,000 spending hundreds of thousands, if not millions, 761 00:32:40,042 --> 00:32:43,792 on ordering, smuggling, transportation, and storage, 762 00:32:43,875 --> 00:32:46,333 you also have the idea of, why aren't they just spending 763 00:32:46,375 --> 00:32:48,500 that much money on the legitimate market? 764 00:32:49,542 --> 00:32:52,375 - At the time, Anne Hawley, director of the Garden Museum, 765 00:32:52,458 --> 00:32:54,958 believed that someone had come up with a personal list 766 00:32:55,042 --> 00:32:56,958 of things that they wanted to steal 767 00:32:57,042 --> 00:33:00,000 that really they never had any intention of selling. 768 00:33:00,083 --> 00:33:01,292 This was a list of things 769 00:33:01,375 --> 00:33:03,833 that this person really just wanted to possess 770 00:33:03,917 --> 00:33:05,792 and enjoy for themselves. 771 00:33:05,875 --> 00:33:08,208 - So if someone is collecting 772 00:33:08,292 --> 00:33:11,833 and prizing these works for their own personal viewing, 773 00:33:11,917 --> 00:33:14,083 that requires a lot of storage space 774 00:33:14,167 --> 00:33:15,625 and a lot of secrecy. 775 00:33:15,708 --> 00:33:19,333 - [Laurence] There are some suspects that fit the profile. 776 00:33:19,375 --> 00:33:21,333 - So in 2013, 777 00:33:21,458 --> 00:33:23,875 Pablo Picasso's stepdaughters reported a couple 778 00:33:23,958 --> 00:33:26,125 of pieces missing from their collection. 779 00:33:26,208 --> 00:33:29,583 Turns out, they were sold by a Swiss dealer 780 00:33:29,667 --> 00:33:31,333 to a Russian oligarch. 781 00:33:31,417 --> 00:33:33,833 - Ultimately, a dealer was charged 782 00:33:33,917 --> 00:33:35,375 with handling the stolen goods 783 00:33:35,458 --> 00:33:37,583 and selling them on to the Russian collector 784 00:33:37,667 --> 00:33:41,125 who eventually returned the works to the Picasso family. 785 00:33:41,208 --> 00:33:44,375 - This is one of the most frustrating theories of them all 786 00:33:44,458 --> 00:33:47,000 because it forces us to just wait 787 00:33:47,083 --> 00:33:49,833 to see if someone slips up on the black market 788 00:33:49,875 --> 00:33:51,750 or on the open market. 789 00:33:51,833 --> 00:33:54,583 - Anybody looking to purchase these items has got 790 00:33:54,667 --> 00:33:58,000 to understand that they can't really show them off. 791 00:33:58,042 --> 00:34:00,500 You start talking at your Christmas party 792 00:34:00,583 --> 00:34:02,708 about your Vermeer, the word will get out. 793 00:34:02,792 --> 00:34:07,042 So if anybody wanted to purchase them after the fact, 794 00:34:07,125 --> 00:34:08,917 it had to be somebody who just wanted 795 00:34:09,042 --> 00:34:11,167 to look at them for himself or herself. 796 00:34:11,292 --> 00:34:13,375 And that's why they probably have had 797 00:34:13,458 --> 00:34:14,542 difficulty getting rid of the items. 798 00:34:19,375 --> 00:34:21,167 - [Laurence] The Gardner Museum Heist has always had 799 00:34:21,250 --> 00:34:23,208 an air of sophistication about it, 800 00:34:23,292 --> 00:34:25,875 but there may be even more layers to this crime 801 00:34:25,958 --> 00:34:28,125 than investigators first thought. 802 00:34:28,208 --> 00:34:30,125 - The Gardner Museum investigation 803 00:34:30,208 --> 00:34:31,542 is still an open case, 804 00:34:31,625 --> 00:34:33,792 and even though the statute of limitations has run 805 00:34:33,875 --> 00:34:35,333 on the theft, 806 00:34:35,458 --> 00:34:38,625 the statute of limitations has not run on the possession 807 00:34:38,708 --> 00:34:40,375 of the artwork itself. 808 00:34:40,458 --> 00:34:41,917 Authorities are still trying 809 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,167 to find the stolen items for sure. 810 00:34:44,250 --> 00:34:45,708 They're still interviewing people. 811 00:34:45,708 --> 00:34:47,208 They're still following leads. 812 00:34:47,292 --> 00:34:50,333 They're still using traditional law enforcement techniques. 813 00:34:50,375 --> 00:34:52,625 So it's an ongoing investigation. 814 00:34:52,708 --> 00:34:55,167 - If the paintings are safe, who has them? 815 00:34:55,208 --> 00:34:57,583 Where are they and why? 816 00:34:57,708 --> 00:35:01,750 - [Laurence] The answer may be hiding across the Atlantic. 817 00:35:01,833 --> 00:35:03,667 - There were a lot of Boston Irish individuals 818 00:35:03,750 --> 00:35:07,375 who were sympathetic to the IRA, Irish Republican Army, 819 00:35:07,542 --> 00:35:10,292 which at the time was in deep conflict 820 00:35:10,375 --> 00:35:12,125 with the British Army in Northern Ireland 821 00:35:12,208 --> 00:35:14,083 and was looking for independence. 822 00:35:18,125 --> 00:35:20,167 - The Irish Republican Army, the IRA, 823 00:35:20,250 --> 00:35:22,583 was in fact a violent group fighting 824 00:35:22,708 --> 00:35:26,833 for what they viewed as Irish Freedom and uniting Ireland. 825 00:35:26,958 --> 00:35:30,625 And for many years, they used any tactics necessary, 826 00:35:30,708 --> 00:35:33,833 whether it was bombings or kidnappings or murders. 827 00:35:33,875 --> 00:35:35,292 - And a lot of the criminals 828 00:35:35,375 --> 00:35:38,625 in Boston were funneling money, arms, 829 00:35:38,708 --> 00:35:40,875 anything they could to try to help the cause. 830 00:35:40,958 --> 00:35:43,833 So some individuals thought that it was possible 831 00:35:43,875 --> 00:35:45,792 that the IRA may have been involved 832 00:35:45,875 --> 00:35:47,417 in the theft of the paintings. 833 00:35:47,500 --> 00:35:49,833 - The 13 artworks themselves would be used 834 00:35:49,875 --> 00:35:54,958 to barter in order to gain money and weapons for the IRA efforts. 835 00:35:55,042 --> 00:35:58,000 - [Laurence] The chief proponent of this theory is Arthur Brand, 836 00:35:58,083 --> 00:36:00,000 a Dutch private investigator known 837 00:36:00,125 --> 00:36:03,333 as the Indiana Jones of the art world. 838 00:36:03,375 --> 00:36:06,208 - Renowned art detective Arthur Brand is known 839 00:36:06,292 --> 00:36:09,208 for recovering artworks for governments, 840 00:36:09,292 --> 00:36:12,708 as well as recovering things like a $25 million Picasso 841 00:36:12,833 --> 00:36:14,167 from a yacht. 842 00:36:14,250 --> 00:36:17,500 He believes that the paintings themselves are located 843 00:36:17,583 --> 00:36:19,542 in Ireland, having been taken there 844 00:36:19,625 --> 00:36:22,000 after being smuggled out of the United States 845 00:36:22,083 --> 00:36:25,833 in an effort to raise money for the cause of the IRA. 846 00:36:25,875 --> 00:36:29,750 - [Laurence] The IRA has been linked to art theft before. 847 00:36:29,833 --> 00:36:32,875 - They broke into Sir Alfred Bates home 848 00:36:32,958 --> 00:36:35,542 where they stole 19 works, including a Vermeer. 849 00:36:35,667 --> 00:36:39,333 That Vermeer today is valued by some at around $100 million. 850 00:36:39,417 --> 00:36:42,667 These works they attempted to use to barter 851 00:36:42,792 --> 00:36:46,583 for the freedom of some of their IRA compatriots. 852 00:36:46,667 --> 00:36:48,625 - We're gonna try to ransom them back 853 00:36:48,625 --> 00:36:50,958 to the insurance company or whoever would pay them. 854 00:36:51,042 --> 00:36:53,167 - [Laurence] Authorities foiled the plot 855 00:36:53,250 --> 00:36:56,167 and the paintings were retrieved within weeks. 856 00:36:56,250 --> 00:36:59,000 But there has never been an overt IRA demand 857 00:36:59,083 --> 00:37:00,458 over the Gardner paintings 858 00:37:00,542 --> 00:37:03,500 and that makes investigators doubt Brand's theory. 859 00:37:04,625 --> 00:37:06,708 - There's no indication the IRA ever had these paintings. 860 00:37:06,833 --> 00:37:09,000 They've never come forward to try to get a ransom. 861 00:37:09,083 --> 00:37:11,125 Remember, there's a $10 million reward. 862 00:37:11,208 --> 00:37:13,000 If they were trying to fund something, 863 00:37:13,083 --> 00:37:14,667 they would've gotten the reward. 864 00:37:14,750 --> 00:37:17,958 - Where is the IRA going to be exchanging these works 865 00:37:17,958 --> 00:37:19,167 to get money in arms? 866 00:37:19,250 --> 00:37:21,125 It's most likely not going to be in Ireland, 867 00:37:21,208 --> 00:37:22,583 which means then they're going to have 868 00:37:22,667 --> 00:37:26,125 to smuggle the 13 most well-known works in the world 869 00:37:26,208 --> 00:37:28,167 at the time off an island 870 00:37:28,292 --> 00:37:30,333 onto someplace like mainland Europe 871 00:37:30,417 --> 00:37:32,667 without getting caught a second time. 872 00:37:32,708 --> 00:37:35,458 - [Laurence] Some think the key link was one 873 00:37:35,542 --> 00:37:39,083 of the biggest mob figures in the northeast at the time. 874 00:37:39,167 --> 00:37:42,042 - James Whitey Bulger is the leader 875 00:37:42,125 --> 00:37:45,167 of the Irish gang in Boston in the '80s 876 00:37:45,292 --> 00:37:47,042 and the early '90s. 877 00:37:47,125 --> 00:37:49,667 And he became one of the most powerful, 878 00:37:49,708 --> 00:37:52,833 if not the most powerful criminal in Boston. 879 00:37:52,875 --> 00:37:56,167 They made their money through extortion, drug dealing, 880 00:37:56,250 --> 00:37:59,000 gambling, murder, whatever it took. 881 00:37:59,125 --> 00:38:00,750 - In addition to being a criminal, 882 00:38:00,833 --> 00:38:02,708 Bulger's a long time FBI informant. 883 00:38:02,792 --> 00:38:04,917 So you think if he did know something, 884 00:38:05,042 --> 00:38:06,417 he'd say something. 885 00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:09,167 In Boston, if anybody stole as much as a candy bar, 886 00:38:09,292 --> 00:38:10,583 Bulger's gonna know about it. 887 00:38:10,583 --> 00:38:12,167 So he's a prime candidate 888 00:38:12,208 --> 00:38:14,625 to have information about the Gardner Heist. 889 00:38:15,667 --> 00:38:18,083 - [Laurence] But there was never any evidence connecting Bulger 890 00:38:18,167 --> 00:38:19,625 to the crime itself. 891 00:38:19,708 --> 00:38:22,833 - In 1995, 5 years after the Gardner Heist, 892 00:38:22,875 --> 00:38:25,250 he's charged with the whole slew of crimes 893 00:38:25,375 --> 00:38:27,375 related to racketeering, murder, 894 00:38:27,500 --> 00:38:29,417 extortion, drug dealing, 895 00:38:29,500 --> 00:38:32,000 all sorts of very serious offenses. 896 00:38:32,042 --> 00:38:34,083 And Bulger goes on the run. 897 00:38:34,208 --> 00:38:39,000 And ultimately, he gets caught in the summer of 2011, 898 00:38:39,000 --> 00:38:43,250 16 years after he fled Boston, in Santa Monica, California. 899 00:38:43,375 --> 00:38:46,000 - Whitey Bulger was convicted of several crimes 900 00:38:46,125 --> 00:38:48,167 which included 11 murders. 901 00:38:48,208 --> 00:38:50,542 He was given ultimately two life sentences 902 00:38:50,667 --> 00:38:52,542 and charged with racketeering. 903 00:38:53,542 --> 00:38:55,500 - Not only was he a very savvy criminal, 904 00:38:55,583 --> 00:38:57,375 but he was getting tipped off by corrupt members 905 00:38:57,458 --> 00:38:58,542 of the FBI. 906 00:38:58,625 --> 00:39:00,042 So when he went into prison, 907 00:39:00,125 --> 00:39:02,167 that of course, made him a target. 908 00:39:02,208 --> 00:39:03,333 - During his time in prison, 909 00:39:03,375 --> 00:39:05,500 Bulger began to fear for his life. 910 00:39:05,625 --> 00:39:07,583 - [Laurence] If Bulger was willing to exchange 911 00:39:07,667 --> 00:39:09,375 information about the Gardner Heist 912 00:39:09,500 --> 00:39:13,167 to ensure his safety, he never had the chance. 913 00:39:13,208 --> 00:39:16,083 In 2018, without a deal in place, 914 00:39:16,167 --> 00:39:18,417 Bulger is murdered in prison. 915 00:39:18,542 --> 00:39:19,917 - Some believe that they know 916 00:39:20,000 --> 00:39:21,958 what Bulger may have revealed to the FBI. 917 00:39:22,042 --> 00:39:23,208 Given that it's known 918 00:39:23,333 --> 00:39:25,958 he shipped arms and drugs to the IRA. 919 00:39:26,042 --> 00:39:28,500 - Now that Bulger has been beaten to death in prison, 920 00:39:28,542 --> 00:39:31,167 there's no way to confirm anything from him. 921 00:39:31,292 --> 00:39:33,167 But up until the day he died, 922 00:39:33,250 --> 00:39:34,917 he never gave any indication 923 00:39:35,042 --> 00:39:39,208 that he knew where Gardner Museum's artwork was. 924 00:39:39,292 --> 00:39:41,417 - [Laurence] Investigators like Arthur Brand 925 00:39:41,542 --> 00:39:44,583 are still scouring Europe for any sign of the paintings, 926 00:39:44,667 --> 00:39:47,167 but so far, nothing's turned up. 927 00:39:47,250 --> 00:39:49,708 - This artwork belongs in Boston. 928 00:39:49,792 --> 00:39:51,167 Hopefully someday, they'll be back 929 00:39:51,167 --> 00:39:54,042 hanging in the Gardner Museum for all of us to see. 930 00:39:54,125 --> 00:39:56,167 - There's always gonna be a reminder of this heist, 931 00:39:56,292 --> 00:39:57,792 even after 33 years, 932 00:39:57,875 --> 00:40:00,000 because of the will Isabella Stewart Gardner 933 00:40:00,083 --> 00:40:01,542 left when she died. 934 00:40:01,625 --> 00:40:03,167 It states that nothing can be changed, 935 00:40:03,250 --> 00:40:04,917 nothing can be moved in the museum. 936 00:40:05,042 --> 00:40:06,542 So if you go today, 937 00:40:06,625 --> 00:40:09,042 you're gonna see empty frames where the paintings were. 938 00:40:10,292 --> 00:40:11,750 - We won't become a world class city 939 00:40:11,833 --> 00:40:13,667 until we get our artwork back. 940 00:40:13,750 --> 00:40:16,333 You can see those empty frames, they're heartbreaking. 941 00:40:16,417 --> 00:40:18,375 You walk into the Dutch Room now, 942 00:40:18,458 --> 00:40:21,167 it's like walking the first person at a wake, 943 00:40:21,250 --> 00:40:22,875 sadness, loss. 944 00:40:24,042 --> 00:40:25,750 And that's a loss for Boston. 945 00:40:29,542 --> 00:40:31,458 - More than three decades have passed 946 00:40:31,542 --> 00:40:33,833 since 13 works of art were stolen 947 00:40:33,875 --> 00:40:36,292 from the Gardner Museum in Boston. 948 00:40:36,292 --> 00:40:38,708 So far, not a single one has surfaced, 949 00:40:38,792 --> 00:40:42,750 denying the art world some of its greatest treasures. 950 00:40:42,833 --> 00:40:45,875 But with that $10 million reward still out there, 951 00:40:45,875 --> 00:40:48,583 hope remains that these masterpieces 952 00:40:48,667 --> 00:40:50,583 will come home soon. 953 00:40:50,667 --> 00:40:52,458 I'm Laurence Fishburne. 954 00:40:52,542 --> 00:40:56,542 Thank you for watching "History's Greatest Mysteries."