1 00:00:00,430 --> 00:00:02,050 It was the biggest art heist 2 00:00:02,050 --> 00:00:03,780 in American history. 3 00:00:03,780 --> 00:00:06,290 Half a billion dollars worth of paintings 4 00:00:06,290 --> 00:00:09,135 snatched from the walls of a Boston gallery. 5 00:00:09,135 --> 00:00:12,800 (suspenseful music) 6 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,320 The haul included a rare Vermeer 7 00:00:15,320 --> 00:00:17,813 and paintings by Rembrandt and Degas. 8 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:20,980 That was 16 years ago. 9 00:00:20,980 --> 00:00:25,140 Since then, teams of FBI agents have worked on the case. 10 00:00:25,140 --> 00:00:28,630 The robbery has entered the realms of criminal folklore. 11 00:00:28,630 --> 00:00:31,650 And as the police investigation is dragged on, 12 00:00:31,650 --> 00:00:33,470 there has been no shortage of rumors 13 00:00:33,470 --> 00:00:36,550 and theories about where the paintings are. 14 00:00:36,550 --> 00:00:39,730 The question is, who is telling the truth? 15 00:00:39,730 --> 00:00:42,993 And will the Boston masterpieces ever be found? 16 00:00:54,108 --> 00:00:57,358 (bright bagpipe music) 17 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:15,610 It's the biggest day of the year for Irish Americans. 18 00:01:15,610 --> 00:01:17,740 The celebrations for Saint Patrick's Day 19 00:01:18,900 --> 00:01:21,103 and nowhere more so than in Boston. 20 00:01:22,490 --> 00:01:24,420 It is here more than anywhere else 21 00:01:24,420 --> 00:01:26,783 that Irish Americans have made their home. 22 00:01:27,707 --> 00:01:29,000 There's Shamus. 23 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:31,120 But Saint Patrick's Day 1990 24 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,989 would have an infamous place in Boston's criminal history. 25 00:01:34,989 --> 00:01:36,139 We love you. 26 00:01:36,139 --> 00:01:39,720 (crowd cheering) 27 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:43,053 (relaxing string music) 28 00:01:46,570 --> 00:01:48,030 In a quiet part of the city 29 00:01:48,030 --> 00:01:51,470 lies the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 30 00:01:51,470 --> 00:01:54,383 one of the most excentric art galleries in America. 31 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,970 The museum was built in the style of a Venetian villa 32 00:02:01,970 --> 00:02:04,150 to house the fabulous collection assembled 33 00:02:04,150 --> 00:02:08,113 by a flamboyant and wealthy socialite, Isabella Stewart. 34 00:02:10,670 --> 00:02:11,910 Isabella Stewart was one 35 00:02:11,910 --> 00:02:15,090 of those extraordinary Victorian women 36 00:02:15,090 --> 00:02:18,270 who in her middle life really discovered 37 00:02:18,270 --> 00:02:20,950 this great passion of hers in the arts. 38 00:02:20,950 --> 00:02:23,870 She was an extremely powerful woman 39 00:02:23,870 --> 00:02:25,523 in her own personality. 40 00:02:27,090 --> 00:02:29,210 Isabella Stewart became the center 41 00:02:29,210 --> 00:02:31,083 of an elite artistic circle. 42 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:35,870 She was a great entertainer. 43 00:02:35,870 --> 00:02:38,220 Artisan thinkers would be coming to her house 44 00:02:38,220 --> 00:02:39,380 and to the museum, 45 00:02:39,380 --> 00:02:43,680 and she wanted to make this gift to the City of Boston 46 00:02:43,680 --> 00:02:48,293 of this great palace, that there's nothing like it. 47 00:02:51,510 --> 00:02:53,810 Isabella Stewart used money inherited 48 00:02:53,810 --> 00:02:57,600 from her father to build up a priceless collection. 49 00:02:57,600 --> 00:03:00,580 2,500 artworks in all, 50 00:03:00,580 --> 00:03:02,980 including paintings from the Renaissance 51 00:03:02,980 --> 00:03:04,263 to the Impressionists. 52 00:03:07,410 --> 00:03:11,630 Among the collection, was "The Concert" by Vermeer, 53 00:03:11,630 --> 00:03:14,623 one of only 32 known works by the Dutch Master; 54 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:17,600 four Rembrandts, 55 00:03:17,600 --> 00:03:20,350 including "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee", 56 00:03:20,350 --> 00:03:22,093 his only know seascape; 57 00:03:25,397 --> 00:03:28,167 "Lady and Gentleman in Black", 58 00:03:29,980 --> 00:03:32,083 and a miniature self portrait. 59 00:03:36,790 --> 00:03:39,620 There was a series of Degas charcoal drawings 60 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:48,597 and a Manet called "Chez Tortoni". 61 00:03:52,250 --> 00:03:54,630 These were the masterpieces that disappeared 62 00:03:54,630 --> 00:03:57,903 from the walls of the museum in the 1990 heist. 63 00:03:59,080 --> 00:04:01,340 The loss was irreplaceable. 64 00:04:01,340 --> 00:04:05,280 Before she died, Isabella Stewart stipulated in her will 65 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:07,760 precisely how her collection was to be preserved 66 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:08,873 after her death. 67 00:04:11,130 --> 00:04:14,920 Many philanthropists leave wills that define 68 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,100 how they wish their gift to be treated. 69 00:04:18,100 --> 00:04:22,280 Hers is known for being especially kind of quirky. 70 00:04:22,280 --> 00:04:25,860 What her desire was to have her work of art, 71 00:04:25,860 --> 00:04:29,350 that is the museum and collection that we're in today, 72 00:04:29,350 --> 00:04:32,210 to stay as it was, as she created it. 73 00:04:32,210 --> 00:04:34,723 The collection is not to change. 74 00:04:36,100 --> 00:04:37,590 And because none of the works 75 00:04:37,590 --> 00:04:40,993 could be replaced, none of it was insured. 76 00:04:44,167 --> 00:04:46,870 (gentle music) 77 00:04:46,870 --> 00:04:50,470 Now married, Isabella Stewart Gardner opened her museum 78 00:04:50,470 --> 00:04:52,393 to the public in 1903. 79 00:04:53,470 --> 00:04:55,330 And there had never been an incident 80 00:04:55,330 --> 00:04:58,090 until Saint Patrick's night 1990, 81 00:04:58,090 --> 00:05:01,513 when the evening shift began much like any other. 82 00:05:02,570 --> 00:05:06,110 The two guards on duty that night were music students 83 00:05:06,110 --> 00:05:08,163 earning extra cash for their studies. 84 00:05:09,081 --> 00:05:11,748 (clock ticking) 85 00:05:15,143 --> 00:05:17,660 (ominous music) 86 00:05:17,660 --> 00:05:20,740 Shortly before 1:00 a.m. on March 18th, 87 00:05:20,740 --> 00:05:22,660 as the Saint Patrick's Day celebrations 88 00:05:22,660 --> 00:05:24,280 were coming to an end, 89 00:05:24,280 --> 00:05:26,380 the boredom of the night shift was broken. 90 00:05:39,904 --> 00:05:42,723 (footsteps tapping) 91 00:05:42,723 --> 00:05:44,160 (car door slams) 92 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:47,780 At about 1:20 a.m., two figures approached 93 00:05:47,780 --> 00:05:50,693 the side entrance to the museum in Palace Road. 94 00:05:55,200 --> 00:05:57,910 One of the guards was sitting at the security desk 95 00:05:57,910 --> 00:05:58,980 near the main entrance, 96 00:05:58,980 --> 00:06:01,980 watching the closed circuit TV monitors. 97 00:06:01,980 --> 00:06:04,480 The other guard was on patrol around the building. 98 00:06:07,807 --> 00:06:10,807 (footsteps tapping) 99 00:06:18,360 --> 00:06:20,410 (intercom buzzing) 100 00:06:20,410 --> 00:06:21,890 Two individuals knocked on the door 101 00:06:21,890 --> 00:06:24,920 of the Isabelle Stewart Gardner Museum here in Boston 102 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,273 posing at Boston police officers. 103 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:30,730 The two men appeared 104 00:06:30,730 --> 00:06:32,780 to be wearing police uniforms. 105 00:06:32,780 --> 00:06:35,143 The guard didn't spot the fake mustaches. 106 00:06:36,010 --> 00:06:38,610 They flashed what seemed to the guard inside 107 00:06:38,610 --> 00:06:39,853 like police badges. 108 00:06:42,240 --> 00:06:44,240 He spoke with them through the intercom. 109 00:06:45,270 --> 00:06:47,440 No one had ever been able to gain access 110 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,520 by ringing the bell, but what the guards didn't know 111 00:06:50,520 --> 00:06:52,660 was what their protocol was 112 00:06:52,660 --> 00:06:55,773 if police officers made their way to the side door. 113 00:06:57,460 --> 00:07:00,740 They claimed that they were responding to a disturbance. 114 00:07:00,740 --> 00:07:02,310 The two men told the guard 115 00:07:02,310 --> 00:07:04,660 there had been an incident in the museum grounds 116 00:07:04,660 --> 00:07:06,970 that they needed to investigate. 117 00:07:06,970 --> 00:07:09,097 The museum has gardens in the back. 118 00:07:09,097 --> 00:07:10,660 And the men behind the desk thought that 119 00:07:10,660 --> 00:07:12,580 there may have been a disturbance, 120 00:07:12,580 --> 00:07:15,040 so he made the unfortunate judgment 121 00:07:16,260 --> 00:07:19,168 of buzzing the two men in. 122 00:07:19,168 --> 00:07:22,680 (intercom buzzing) 123 00:07:22,680 --> 00:07:25,300 (phone banging) 124 00:07:25,300 --> 00:07:27,140 At 1:24 a.m., 125 00:07:27,140 --> 00:07:29,090 the guard buzzed them in through two sets 126 00:07:29,090 --> 00:07:30,643 of locked security doors. 127 00:07:36,550 --> 00:07:40,640 Once inside the building, the two supposed policemen 128 00:07:40,640 --> 00:07:43,320 ordered the guard at the desk to call the second guard 129 00:07:43,320 --> 00:07:44,563 back from his rounds. 130 00:07:45,610 --> 00:07:48,060 The guard radioed for his partner to come down. 131 00:07:49,610 --> 00:07:51,930 Meanwhile, the thieves trick the guard 132 00:07:51,930 --> 00:07:54,910 at the security desk away from the one alarm button 133 00:07:54,910 --> 00:07:57,436 that went straight to the local police station. 134 00:07:57,436 --> 00:08:02,436 (clock ticking) (suspenseful music) 135 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,620 With the guards now together at the main security desk, 136 00:08:06,620 --> 00:08:09,760 they were overpowered and taken down a flight of stairs 137 00:08:09,760 --> 00:08:11,730 into the basement of the museum 138 00:08:11,730 --> 00:08:13,503 by the two fake policemen. 139 00:08:18,060 --> 00:08:20,790 The thieves bound the guards with duct tape 140 00:08:20,790 --> 00:08:24,553 and secured them separately to posts some distance apart. 141 00:08:25,630 --> 00:08:27,753 It was now 1:48 a.m. 142 00:08:29,830 --> 00:08:32,530 The thieves returned first to the street level 143 00:08:32,530 --> 00:08:34,480 and then up a second flight of stairs 144 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:36,163 into the main gallery area. 145 00:08:42,010 --> 00:08:45,630 They went first to the Dutch Room at the top of the stairs 146 00:08:46,840 --> 00:08:48,750 and then to the Short Gallery 147 00:08:48,750 --> 00:08:50,773 above the main entrance of the museum. 148 00:08:53,985 --> 00:08:54,818 (footsteps banging) 149 00:08:54,818 --> 00:08:56,830 Their movements appear to be very erratic. 150 00:08:56,830 --> 00:08:59,797 They spent a lotta time inside the Dutch Room 151 00:08:59,797 --> 00:09:02,670 on the second floor where the greatest art 152 00:09:02,670 --> 00:09:06,033 was hung on the walls, the Rembrandts and the Vermeer. 153 00:09:09,380 --> 00:09:11,510 But they didn't spend all their time there. 154 00:09:11,510 --> 00:09:13,660 They were dashing around to the other galleries 155 00:09:13,660 --> 00:09:15,253 on the second and first floor. 156 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:20,490 They started in the Dutch Room 157 00:09:20,490 --> 00:09:21,670 and then moved through the museum, 158 00:09:21,670 --> 00:09:23,470 the Short Gallery, the Long Gallery, 159 00:09:23,470 --> 00:09:27,255 and methodically picked off 11 paintings, 160 00:09:27,255 --> 00:09:30,172 (mysterious music) 161 00:09:34,090 --> 00:09:38,073 a Chinese beaker, finial off a Napoleonic flag. 162 00:09:39,800 --> 00:09:41,130 In the Dutch Room, 163 00:09:41,130 --> 00:09:44,270 they took three of the four Rembrandt masterpieces 164 00:09:44,270 --> 00:09:47,433 that Isabella Stewart Gardner had purchased in her lifetime. 165 00:09:51,350 --> 00:09:52,900 Some of the paintings, many of them, 166 00:09:52,900 --> 00:09:54,440 were broken out of their frames 167 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:55,840 and cut out of their frames. 168 00:10:00,650 --> 00:10:04,070 The three Rembrandts they took were priceless. 169 00:10:04,070 --> 00:10:06,487 One was "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee". 170 00:10:17,140 --> 00:10:19,660 They tried to remove the fourth, 171 00:10:19,660 --> 00:10:23,050 a large 1629 self portrait, 172 00:10:23,050 --> 00:10:25,970 but had difficulty getting it out of the frame. 173 00:10:25,970 --> 00:10:28,130 Another painting ripped out of its frame 174 00:10:28,130 --> 00:10:30,117 was Vermeer's "The Concert". 175 00:10:33,519 --> 00:10:36,352 (hammer pounding) 176 00:10:44,052 --> 00:10:46,802 (frame cracking) 177 00:10:51,202 --> 00:10:53,816 A Manet was also knocked out of its frame. 178 00:10:53,816 --> 00:10:56,566 (hammer banging) 179 00:10:57,804 --> 00:11:00,386 (painting ripping) 180 00:11:00,386 --> 00:11:02,640 When you're talking about a three or 400 year old painting 181 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,680 that causes a tremendous amount of damage. 182 00:11:05,680 --> 00:11:08,940 It's damage that, when these paintings are returned 183 00:11:08,940 --> 00:11:10,340 and we certainly hope they will be returned, 184 00:11:10,340 --> 00:11:11,423 they can be repaired. 185 00:11:13,310 --> 00:11:16,230 This was not sophisticated art thieves. 186 00:11:16,230 --> 00:11:18,507 These were run-of-the-mill thieves 187 00:11:18,507 --> 00:11:20,643 who were taking advantage of a situation. 188 00:11:23,780 --> 00:11:25,130 Cutting the paintings out of the frame 189 00:11:25,130 --> 00:11:27,230 is something that would see in the movies. 190 00:11:28,775 --> 00:11:30,121 (painting rustling) 191 00:11:30,121 --> 00:11:34,480 They probably realized within 15 minutes 192 00:11:34,480 --> 00:11:37,653 that they had free access to the museum. 193 00:11:38,900 --> 00:11:41,700 They were in the museum for almost an hour and a half, 194 00:11:41,700 --> 00:11:43,520 so really time wasn't of the essence. 195 00:11:43,520 --> 00:11:45,980 They weren't racing through it so quickly 196 00:11:45,980 --> 00:11:48,113 that they had to cut it out. 197 00:11:49,351 --> 00:11:52,510 (ominous music) 198 00:11:52,510 --> 00:11:53,980 In the Short Gallery, 199 00:11:53,980 --> 00:11:56,070 the thieves targeted five drawings 200 00:11:56,070 --> 00:11:57,723 by the French artist Degas. 201 00:12:01,954 --> 00:12:04,060 It was a very eclectic collection that they took. 202 00:12:04,060 --> 00:12:06,270 There was really no rhyme nor reason for it. 203 00:12:06,270 --> 00:12:07,983 There were five sketches by Degas, 204 00:12:09,060 --> 00:12:12,750 Rembrandt, Vermeer, Flinck, 205 00:12:12,750 --> 00:12:14,330 and at the same time, they certainly knew 206 00:12:14,330 --> 00:12:16,620 to take Rembrandt's "The Storm on the Sea of Galilee", 207 00:12:16,620 --> 00:12:18,800 which was his only known seascape, 208 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:19,713 and the Vermeer. 209 00:12:23,030 --> 00:12:25,880 They neglected to take some other works in the museum, 210 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:30,023 which were, for dollar value, more valuable. 211 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:37,720 They took compact paintings which could be carried out. 212 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:40,240 Those paintings that they went after tells us 213 00:12:40,240 --> 00:12:42,850 well maybe that there was someone out there 214 00:12:42,850 --> 00:12:45,946 who had some idea as to what to take. 215 00:12:45,946 --> 00:12:48,946 (suspenseful music) 216 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:52,280 At 2:28 a.m., 217 00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:55,100 after nearly an hour of plundering, 218 00:12:55,100 --> 00:12:57,350 the thieves returned to the security desk 219 00:12:57,350 --> 00:12:59,663 on the ground floor with their booty. 220 00:13:01,700 --> 00:13:03,500 They checked the two guards in the basement 221 00:13:03,500 --> 00:13:06,010 were still alive and had not suffocated 222 00:13:06,010 --> 00:13:07,823 under their duct tape gags. 223 00:13:11,130 --> 00:13:13,070 When they left, somehow they realized, 224 00:13:13,070 --> 00:13:16,480 whether they had intelligence or not hasn't been determined, 225 00:13:16,480 --> 00:13:19,640 their movements had been seen at the front there 226 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,050 and they removed that tape from the video machine, 227 00:13:23,050 --> 00:13:26,200 and which was the only evidence that would show 228 00:13:26,200 --> 00:13:28,480 who it was that had been inside. 229 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:31,160 Their movements inside the museum were caught 230 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:34,020 on a motion device that the museum had, 231 00:13:34,020 --> 00:13:37,303 so you could track their movements from room to room. 232 00:13:39,230 --> 00:13:41,130 They ripped off the computer printout 233 00:13:41,130 --> 00:13:43,020 of the motion detector equipment, 234 00:13:43,020 --> 00:13:45,830 little realizing that everything had been recorded 235 00:13:45,830 --> 00:13:47,473 onto a hard disk. 236 00:13:50,230 --> 00:13:54,410 At 2:41, the thieves began their escape, 237 00:13:54,410 --> 00:13:57,560 making two separate trips from the museum side door 238 00:13:57,560 --> 00:13:59,143 to load their waiting car. 239 00:14:00,630 --> 00:14:03,520 As they drove off down the empty streets of Boston 240 00:14:03,520 --> 00:14:05,210 and into the night, 241 00:14:05,210 --> 00:14:07,720 no one would've believed that in the back 242 00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:12,050 was the haul of the biggest art heist in American history, 243 00:14:12,050 --> 00:14:14,033 half a billion dollars of it. 244 00:14:27,771 --> 00:14:30,771 (slow guitar music) 245 00:14:45,250 --> 00:14:47,660 At 8:00 a.m. the following morning, 246 00:14:47,660 --> 00:14:50,090 the day shift of security guards started work 247 00:14:50,090 --> 00:14:52,423 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 248 00:14:56,988 --> 00:15:01,988 (alarm blaring) (sirens wailing) 249 00:15:03,695 --> 00:15:04,810 It was at that time that they realized 250 00:15:04,810 --> 00:15:06,256 that the museum had been robbed 251 00:15:06,256 --> 00:15:07,920 and immediate notifications were made 252 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:10,430 to the Boston Police and the FBI. 253 00:15:10,430 --> 00:15:13,531 The FBI responded, along with the police at the time, 254 00:15:13,531 --> 00:15:16,273 and conducted a crime scene examination. 255 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:21,600 In the hours that followed, 256 00:15:21,600 --> 00:15:25,060 the FBI made a meticulous search of the museum, 257 00:15:25,060 --> 00:15:27,690 but they discovered very little forensic evidence 258 00:15:27,690 --> 00:15:29,563 which might identify the thieves. 259 00:15:34,100 --> 00:15:38,220 There was a palm print, a semi-palm print, caught, 260 00:15:38,220 --> 00:15:40,390 but the problem is these frames had been touched 261 00:15:40,390 --> 00:15:45,390 by others, so you could not be certain whatever fingerprint 262 00:15:45,800 --> 00:15:48,533 or palm prints you got would've come from the robbers. 263 00:15:50,680 --> 00:15:53,360 The robbers seemed to have had gloves on. 264 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:54,903 There was no actual clues. 265 00:15:58,650 --> 00:16:01,200 There were questions about the guards. 266 00:16:02,420 --> 00:16:05,830 Agents were always puzzled as to why the guards on duty 267 00:16:05,830 --> 00:16:08,873 opened the two security doors to the fake policemen. 268 00:16:13,090 --> 00:16:15,580 Stephen Kurkjian tracked down one of the guards 269 00:16:15,580 --> 00:16:17,850 some years later and is convinced 270 00:16:17,850 --> 00:16:19,750 they had nothing to do with the theft. 271 00:16:21,460 --> 00:16:25,420 This was a failure of security. 272 00:16:25,420 --> 00:16:29,690 The two men were both college students. 273 00:16:29,690 --> 00:16:33,570 They both had musical careers ahead of them. 274 00:16:33,570 --> 00:16:35,930 They were not professional security men. 275 00:16:35,930 --> 00:16:38,210 But they both had worked there for a bit of time, 276 00:16:38,210 --> 00:16:41,270 one for about eight months and one for about three months, 277 00:16:41,270 --> 00:16:43,180 and both had been trained pretty well 278 00:16:43,180 --> 00:16:46,360 and knew the ins and outs of what they were supposed to do. 279 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:48,930 The man behind the desk, 280 00:16:48,930 --> 00:16:52,840 he had been worked the night shift many times, 281 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,270 and he was a member of a rock and roll band, 282 00:16:55,270 --> 00:16:57,150 and admits that he had 283 00:16:59,633 --> 00:17:02,127 a lifetime of other interests. 284 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:08,430 There have been persistent rumors 285 00:17:08,430 --> 00:17:09,830 that the guards were in the habit 286 00:17:09,830 --> 00:17:11,763 of smoking dope while on duty. 287 00:17:17,500 --> 00:17:20,290 He said he was on his toes and he was wide awake 288 00:17:20,290 --> 00:17:22,600 and he knew what he was doing that night, 289 00:17:22,600 --> 00:17:25,793 and he just made very, very unfortunate misjudgment. 290 00:17:28,601 --> 00:17:31,999 (intercom buzzing) 291 00:17:31,999 --> 00:17:32,870 (phone banging) 292 00:17:32,870 --> 00:17:36,053 He continues to regret what he did and the mistake he made. 293 00:17:50,810 --> 00:17:53,640 The art world was rocked by the ease 294 00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:55,943 with which the Boston heist had been executed. 295 00:17:56,920 --> 00:17:59,630 Not surprisingly, security at the museum 296 00:17:59,630 --> 00:18:02,170 faced immediate criticism. 297 00:18:02,170 --> 00:18:04,540 Charles Sabba is an artist. 298 00:18:04,540 --> 00:18:07,640 He's also a New Jersey policeman with contacts 299 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,053 in the art crime underworld. 300 00:18:10,710 --> 00:18:14,560 They had a terrible security team 301 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:16,860 where they paid minimum wage to these burnout 302 00:18:16,860 --> 00:18:19,720 musician guards who were just students 303 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:22,460 or musicians who would smoke pot inside the place 304 00:18:22,460 --> 00:18:23,560 and look at Rembrandt. 305 00:18:25,610 --> 00:18:28,210 Guarding Rembrandt or being stoned looking at Rembrandt, 306 00:18:28,210 --> 00:18:30,170 there's two different things there. 307 00:18:30,170 --> 00:18:32,590 So security was nil, they didn't have insurance, 308 00:18:32,590 --> 00:18:33,730 they couldn't afford insurance. 309 00:18:33,730 --> 00:18:36,400 If you don't have insurance, you can't pay for insurance, 310 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,840 you better pay for a good security system. 311 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:42,760 They had internal alarms that went to the guard's desk, 312 00:18:42,760 --> 00:18:44,240 but that's it. 313 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:47,420 The guard had one button that went to the police station, 314 00:18:47,420 --> 00:18:48,770 and that's it. 315 00:18:48,770 --> 00:18:49,783 It was a joke. 316 00:18:51,989 --> 00:18:54,007 (knife slicing) 317 00:18:54,007 --> 00:18:55,719 (painting ripping) 318 00:18:55,719 --> 00:18:57,860 You can't blame a thief for stealing. 319 00:18:57,860 --> 00:18:59,400 He's a thief, that's what he does. 320 00:18:59,400 --> 00:19:01,390 A thief can't blame a cop for arresting him. 321 00:19:01,390 --> 00:19:03,490 I'm a copy, I arrest people, that's what I do. 322 00:19:03,490 --> 00:19:05,420 He knows I'm only doing my job. 323 00:19:05,420 --> 00:19:07,420 He chose thievery as his job. 324 00:19:07,420 --> 00:19:09,710 He's a thief, when he walks into an easy target, 325 00:19:09,710 --> 00:19:11,257 he looks around and says, "I can do this. 326 00:19:11,257 --> 00:19:13,527 "I can get in that window, I can get in that roof, 327 00:19:13,527 --> 00:19:16,030 "and I can steal that Rembrandt." 328 00:19:16,030 --> 00:19:17,987 You can't blame the thief for stealing the Rembrandt, 329 00:19:17,987 --> 00:19:20,720 but you could blame the person who was trusted 330 00:19:20,720 --> 00:19:23,600 to guard the Rembrandt and the person who's trusted 331 00:19:23,600 --> 00:19:27,700 to protect this Rembrandt, and keep it safe and sound. 332 00:19:27,700 --> 00:19:29,730 You can blame them for not doing their job. 333 00:19:29,730 --> 00:19:31,030 And that's what you have at the Gardner, 334 00:19:31,030 --> 00:19:33,590 they did not protect their artworks. 335 00:19:33,590 --> 00:19:35,233 The responsibility lies on them. 336 00:19:37,124 --> 00:19:39,874 (ethereal music) 337 00:19:49,560 --> 00:19:52,330 The FBI did have one lead. 338 00:19:52,330 --> 00:19:54,670 The thieves did not wear masks, 339 00:19:54,670 --> 00:19:56,550 and the guards were able to give police 340 00:19:56,550 --> 00:19:58,113 a description of the two men. 341 00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:04,470 These are the drawings of the two thieves. 342 00:20:04,470 --> 00:20:07,830 One was in his late 30s, about five feet nine inches, 343 00:20:07,830 --> 00:20:12,283 slim, gold wire glasses, possibly with a fake mustache. 344 00:20:16,410 --> 00:20:20,230 The other was in his early 30s, taller, heavier, 345 00:20:20,230 --> 00:20:24,073 with chubby cheeks and, again, a fake mustache. 346 00:20:25,460 --> 00:20:28,200 But these descriptions, like the fingerprints, 347 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,553 matched no one on the police database. 348 00:20:34,370 --> 00:20:37,890 Since the robbery, some of the best minds in the FBI 349 00:20:37,890 --> 00:20:39,173 have worked on the case. 350 00:20:40,770 --> 00:20:43,360 At the start, there was a team of up to 50 agents 351 00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:46,453 trying to track down the thieves and the paintings. 352 00:20:48,520 --> 00:20:51,290 Immediately after the theft, the FBI launched 353 00:20:51,290 --> 00:20:53,580 a full-scale investigation into it. 354 00:20:53,580 --> 00:20:58,460 And we felt confident, as the investigation progressed, 355 00:20:58,460 --> 00:21:00,890 that we were able to eliminate some people 356 00:21:00,890 --> 00:21:04,330 based on interviews and investigation that we did 357 00:21:04,330 --> 00:21:07,170 that they did not have any involvement in the theft. 358 00:21:07,170 --> 00:21:09,650 And that's pretty much how we've done it 359 00:21:09,650 --> 00:21:11,178 over the past 16 years. 360 00:21:11,178 --> 00:21:14,330 We get information and we get a suspect or a tip 361 00:21:14,330 --> 00:21:16,203 and we chase it down. 362 00:21:21,710 --> 00:21:23,400 The museum initially put up 363 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:26,370 a reward of $1 million for information 364 00:21:26,370 --> 00:21:29,220 that led to the return of the paintings. 365 00:21:29,220 --> 00:21:31,110 But that failed to produce any breakthrough 366 00:21:31,110 --> 00:21:32,293 in the investigation. 367 00:21:34,790 --> 00:21:37,660 The museum, meanwhile, just carried on as normal, 368 00:21:37,660 --> 00:21:40,270 except where there was once a priceless Rembrandt 369 00:21:40,270 --> 00:21:43,743 or Vermeer, there were now just empty frames. 370 00:21:48,330 --> 00:21:50,580 We've left the frames on the wall, 371 00:21:50,580 --> 00:21:53,640 because in her will she did state that things 372 00:21:53,640 --> 00:21:55,850 should stay as she created them. 373 00:21:55,850 --> 00:22:00,850 So it just seems more appropriate that we leave them there. 374 00:22:01,530 --> 00:22:05,720 It's also a bit of a reminder for people 375 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:07,588 that they're coming back, 376 00:22:07,588 --> 00:22:09,370 (laughs) that we want people to come back 377 00:22:09,370 --> 00:22:12,353 and see them in their frames when they return. 378 00:22:17,850 --> 00:22:19,970 But if the robbery from the museum 379 00:22:19,970 --> 00:22:23,280 was the biggest art heist, not only in America 380 00:22:23,280 --> 00:22:25,560 but in the history of art crime, 381 00:22:25,560 --> 00:22:28,900 soon it also became the most talked about. 382 00:22:28,900 --> 00:22:30,180 Who had done it? 383 00:22:30,180 --> 00:22:31,240 And how could a collection 384 00:22:31,240 --> 00:22:34,223 of priceless masterpieces simply vanish? 385 00:22:35,540 --> 00:22:38,253 The Boston robbery went down in folklore. 386 00:22:39,100 --> 00:22:42,170 The names of many convicted criminals were linked to it. 387 00:22:42,170 --> 00:22:44,923 Among them, William Youngworth III, 388 00:22:46,880 --> 00:22:51,880 art thief Myles Connor, and Irish mobster Joe Murray. 389 00:22:53,310 --> 00:22:55,450 But one name kept coming up, 390 00:22:55,450 --> 00:22:58,560 one of America's most notorious gangsters, 391 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,783 James Whitey Bulger. 392 00:23:06,450 --> 00:23:09,930 One man who questioned the professionalism of the thieves 393 00:23:09,930 --> 00:23:11,363 was William Youngworth III, 394 00:23:12,450 --> 00:23:15,490 a small time criminal who would later offer himself 395 00:23:15,490 --> 00:23:17,753 as a go between to get the paintings back. 396 00:23:19,590 --> 00:23:21,840 Youngworth said the thieves choice of paintings 397 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,020 and the brutal way some were ripped from their frames 398 00:23:25,020 --> 00:23:28,010 suggested they were not fully aware of the priceless works 399 00:23:28,010 --> 00:23:28,960 they were stealing. 400 00:23:31,750 --> 00:23:34,490 They had a floor plan to go by. 401 00:23:34,490 --> 00:23:37,870 And let's call it my assumption 402 00:23:37,870 --> 00:23:40,280 that they thought they were taking items 403 00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:44,010 that had significantly more value than what they took. 404 00:23:44,010 --> 00:23:47,020 Obviously, walking by Titians and Botticellis 405 00:23:47,020 --> 00:23:51,980 and Raphaels, and lifting a bunch of Degas charcoal studies, 406 00:23:51,980 --> 00:23:55,173 or lower quality watercolors by Degas, 407 00:23:56,200 --> 00:23:59,893 demonstrates a general lack of knowledge of art. 408 00:24:02,020 --> 00:24:04,410 This seems to be something comical in the fact 409 00:24:04,410 --> 00:24:06,540 that it was all within arm's reach 410 00:24:06,540 --> 00:24:10,970 and apparently that ladder was a forgotten element 411 00:24:10,970 --> 00:24:14,500 of the 1990 event. 412 00:24:14,500 --> 00:24:18,180 So, in other words, if it was beyond a arm's reach, 413 00:24:18,180 --> 00:24:19,253 it was safe. 414 00:24:22,120 --> 00:24:24,640 They certainly were professional criminals, 415 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:27,393 but art theft was not their forte. 416 00:24:30,110 --> 00:24:33,310 There was another curiosity to the robbery. 417 00:24:33,310 --> 00:24:36,230 The motion detectors also showed that the thieves 418 00:24:36,230 --> 00:24:39,400 never ventured up to the third floor of the gallery, 419 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:41,250 where Titian's "Europa", 420 00:24:41,250 --> 00:24:45,543 the museum's most valuable treasure, still hangs untouched. 421 00:24:46,510 --> 00:24:48,453 It was small comfort to the museum. 422 00:24:52,610 --> 00:24:55,770 The robbery was a tragedy really, 423 00:24:55,770 --> 00:24:58,560 not just for the museum, but really for the public, 424 00:24:58,560 --> 00:25:00,960 because works of art like that 425 00:25:00,960 --> 00:25:03,320 are part of the cultural patrimony, 426 00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:06,630 not just of the country, but of the world. 427 00:25:06,630 --> 00:25:10,860 If you can imagine not ever hearing Beethoven's 9th again 428 00:25:10,860 --> 00:25:13,450 this is the kind of loss. 429 00:25:13,450 --> 00:25:16,580 What's a light source that creates a shadow 430 00:25:16,580 --> 00:25:17,740 or the shadows like that? 431 00:25:17,740 --> 00:25:18,950 Yes, back there? 432 00:25:18,950 --> 00:25:19,783 An example-- 433 00:25:19,783 --> 00:25:21,500 Despite its devastating loss, 434 00:25:21,500 --> 00:25:23,050 the museum continued as one 435 00:25:23,050 --> 00:25:25,713 of Boston's leading cultural institutions. 436 00:25:27,120 --> 00:25:29,000 But there was an increasing frustration 437 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:30,900 that the paintings were still missing. 438 00:25:32,130 --> 00:25:35,640 Finally, four years after the robbery 439 00:25:35,640 --> 00:25:38,235 came what seemed to be a breakthrough. 440 00:25:38,235 --> 00:25:41,402 (gentle guitar music) 441 00:25:43,420 --> 00:25:47,380 In late April 1994, the museum received a letter 442 00:25:47,380 --> 00:25:50,113 from an anonymous writer offering a deal. 443 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:54,130 The museum received a letter, typewritten letter, 444 00:25:54,130 --> 00:25:57,280 sent from New York that said that if the museum 445 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,090 was willing to engage the letter writer, 446 00:26:01,090 --> 00:26:04,210 that he would be able to affect an exchange. 447 00:26:04,210 --> 00:26:09,020 What he was looking for was about $2 million, he said. 448 00:26:09,020 --> 00:26:12,280 But he wanted to make sure that the museum was interested 449 00:26:12,280 --> 00:26:13,990 and he wanted to make sure, 450 00:26:13,990 --> 00:26:16,010 because this was still within the statute of limitations 451 00:26:16,010 --> 00:26:19,880 of six years, that neither he nor the people he represented 452 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,063 were gonna get arrested for the theft. 453 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:28,410 The letters said the paintings 454 00:26:28,410 --> 00:26:31,260 were being stored in archival conditions 455 00:26:31,260 --> 00:26:32,793 and had not yet been sold. 456 00:26:33,640 --> 00:26:36,093 The museum turned the letter over to the FBI. 457 00:26:39,610 --> 00:26:42,250 The writer proposed a clandestine way 458 00:26:42,250 --> 00:26:44,113 of responding to the demands. 459 00:26:49,270 --> 00:26:51,365 He asked for a sign, 460 00:26:51,365 --> 00:26:54,410 and the sign he asked for was that a letter one 461 00:26:54,410 --> 00:26:58,053 be placed in a Globe column in an upcoming Sunday Edition. 462 00:27:01,750 --> 00:27:05,910 The Boston Sunday Globe for May 1st, 1994 463 00:27:05,910 --> 00:27:09,060 carried the hidden message and the paper got a scoop 464 00:27:09,060 --> 00:27:11,133 on the biggest art heist in history. 465 00:27:21,150 --> 00:27:24,563 A week later, the museum received a second message. 466 00:27:26,500 --> 00:27:30,110 The letter writer wrote back a week or two later 467 00:27:30,110 --> 00:27:32,980 and said he was appreciative of the museum's willingness 468 00:27:32,980 --> 00:27:34,513 to go to this extent. 469 00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:38,080 But he said, as he understood it, 470 00:27:38,080 --> 00:27:39,480 there had been a heck of a lot 471 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:43,650 of investigative undercover work put into finding out 472 00:27:43,650 --> 00:27:46,820 who he was and whom he represented, 473 00:27:46,820 --> 00:27:49,320 and he feared that that was a deal breaker. 474 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:52,323 And so he stepped back from any further negotiations. 475 00:27:55,820 --> 00:27:58,763 The letter writer was never heard from again. 476 00:28:06,293 --> 00:28:08,890 (clock ticking) (suspenseful music) 477 00:28:08,890 --> 00:28:12,660 As the years passed, the FBI kept a team of investigators 478 00:28:12,660 --> 00:28:14,330 working on the Boston case 479 00:28:14,330 --> 00:28:17,473 in an effort to find the thieves and recover the art. 480 00:28:21,871 --> 00:28:24,060 The FBI has been working this case since day one. 481 00:28:24,060 --> 00:28:28,040 We have conducted hundreds and hundreds of interviews, 482 00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:30,700 and we have followed up on countless leads, 483 00:28:30,700 --> 00:28:32,850 and I've received information that the paintings 484 00:28:32,850 --> 00:28:34,053 never left Boston, 485 00:28:34,890 --> 00:28:36,550 and we've run down leads that the paintings 486 00:28:36,550 --> 00:28:39,193 have been sent abroad to Europe, Japan, 487 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:41,370 across the country. 488 00:28:41,370 --> 00:28:43,380 We recently covered a lead out west 489 00:28:43,380 --> 00:28:46,220 where the Vermeer was supposedly being sold 490 00:28:46,220 --> 00:28:47,603 in an antique mall. 491 00:28:48,620 --> 00:28:51,830 And we had agents go there and take that painting, 492 00:28:51,830 --> 00:28:55,190 only to find out that it was just a very good copy. 493 00:28:55,190 --> 00:28:58,363 We continue to get leads on a regular basis, which is good. 494 00:28:59,860 --> 00:29:01,260 But despite this, 495 00:29:01,260 --> 00:29:04,420 the FBI were no nearer finding out who did it 496 00:29:04,420 --> 00:29:06,023 or where the paintings were. 497 00:29:08,520 --> 00:29:10,960 But a haul as big and prestigious 498 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,300 as the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery 499 00:29:14,300 --> 00:29:17,340 has spawned its own industry of former policemen 500 00:29:17,340 --> 00:29:19,910 and former criminals who want the kudos 501 00:29:19,910 --> 00:29:22,490 and the cash that goes with returning 502 00:29:22,490 --> 00:29:24,173 the masterpieces to Boston. 503 00:29:26,670 --> 00:29:29,230 Foremost among those in the criminal world 504 00:29:29,230 --> 00:29:30,563 was William Youngworth III, 505 00:29:31,650 --> 00:29:34,270 a close associate of Myles Connor, 506 00:29:34,270 --> 00:29:37,253 a notorious art thief well-known to the FBI. 507 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:40,126 (phone ringing) 508 00:29:40,126 --> 00:29:41,970 William Youngworth was an antique dealer. 509 00:29:41,970 --> 00:29:46,280 He was into rugs, the Persian rugs, the Armenian stuff. 510 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:50,230 Connors admits to having done over 30 art thefts. 511 00:29:50,230 --> 00:29:52,030 He has this huge criminal record. 512 00:29:52,030 --> 00:29:54,870 And he even sometimes was known to dress 513 00:29:54,870 --> 00:29:56,810 as a police officer to do robberies. 514 00:29:56,810 --> 00:29:59,560 He's a member of Mensa, 'cause he has a high intellect, 515 00:30:00,550 --> 00:30:05,550 but something inside that twisted very intelligent mind, 516 00:30:06,380 --> 00:30:08,430 he can't look at that beautiful painting 517 00:30:08,430 --> 00:30:11,243 and not think, "I could steal that, I want that." 518 00:30:11,243 --> 00:30:16,200 (clock ticking) (ominous music) 519 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,200 Both Youngworth and Connors 520 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,380 were prime suspects for the Boston heist. 521 00:30:21,380 --> 00:30:23,870 But there was a problem for the police, 522 00:30:23,870 --> 00:30:26,220 both were in prison at the time of the robbery. 523 00:30:28,330 --> 00:30:31,003 That didn't stop the FBI from paying them a visit. 524 00:30:32,970 --> 00:30:35,640 The first time that I was directly confronted 525 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:40,150 by any law enforcement entity behind the Gardner robbery 526 00:30:40,150 --> 00:30:44,520 was approximately 72 hours after the robbery occurred, 527 00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:47,420 when agents accused me of knowing something 528 00:30:47,420 --> 00:30:48,603 about the robbery. 529 00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:54,750 When I asked them: Why are you here asking me about this? 530 00:30:54,750 --> 00:30:57,940 I mean, I'm sure you noticed those guard towers 531 00:30:57,940 --> 00:31:00,970 and the men with the guns and the razor wire 532 00:31:00,970 --> 00:31:02,740 and all the fences you had to pass through 533 00:31:02,740 --> 00:31:05,293 to come in here and accuse me of this. 534 00:31:06,170 --> 00:31:08,700 I assure you they don't give you weekend passes 535 00:31:08,700 --> 00:31:10,493 to go out and rob things here. 536 00:31:12,860 --> 00:31:14,923 They found that a bit amusing. 537 00:31:18,610 --> 00:31:21,537 One of the agents said, "Hey, Bill, ya know what? 538 00:31:21,537 --> 00:31:23,167 "There's just not a lot of people that do 539 00:31:23,167 --> 00:31:24,267 "this type of thing. 540 00:31:24,267 --> 00:31:26,787 "It's a short list and you're on the top of it." 541 00:31:29,877 --> 00:31:31,900 (intimidating music) 542 00:31:31,900 --> 00:31:35,700 In fact, according to Billy Youngworth himself 543 00:31:35,700 --> 00:31:38,520 a decade earlier, in 1986, 544 00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:40,420 he had thought about pulling off a heist 545 00:31:40,420 --> 00:31:43,063 at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum himself. 546 00:31:44,000 --> 00:31:47,470 And in '86 a very lucrative offer was made 547 00:31:47,470 --> 00:31:50,873 for basically cleaning the place out. 548 00:31:52,160 --> 00:31:56,480 Had the '86 event happened, the damage to the collection 549 00:31:56,480 --> 00:31:59,510 would've been far more substantial. 550 00:31:59,510 --> 00:32:01,000 Everything of value woulda went, 551 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:02,980 everything of value woulda went. 552 00:32:02,980 --> 00:32:05,330 If you have the keys and the compliant staff 553 00:32:05,330 --> 00:32:07,110 and all night to work, 554 00:32:07,110 --> 00:32:09,210 why take one when you can take everything? 555 00:32:16,260 --> 00:32:18,180 If some thought Billy Youngworth 556 00:32:18,180 --> 00:32:21,830 an implausible mastermind behind the Boston heist, 557 00:32:21,830 --> 00:32:23,767 Myles Connor was not. 558 00:32:23,767 --> 00:32:26,517 (ethereal music) 559 00:32:28,550 --> 00:32:32,060 Charles Moore is a private detective in Massachusetts. 560 00:32:32,060 --> 00:32:35,473 As soon as he heard of the Boston heist, he got to work. 561 00:32:37,010 --> 00:32:41,610 I had spoken to Myles Connors sometime after the theft 562 00:32:41,610 --> 00:32:44,880 and he told me that he came up with the blueprint 563 00:32:44,880 --> 00:32:46,010 in order to pull the theft off. 564 00:32:46,010 --> 00:32:48,510 He had been in the Gardner Museum a number of times, 565 00:32:48,510 --> 00:32:49,517 had cased it a number of times, 566 00:32:49,517 --> 00:32:51,567 and thought it woulda been an easy score. 567 00:32:58,320 --> 00:33:02,090 He told me that he actually set that theft up himself 568 00:33:02,090 --> 00:33:03,820 but wasn't around to carry it out, 569 00:33:03,820 --> 00:33:05,760 and some people that he knew are the ones 570 00:33:05,760 --> 00:33:07,950 that actually pulled the theft off. 571 00:33:07,950 --> 00:33:11,040 He named those people and the names have been in the paper. 572 00:33:11,040 --> 00:33:12,940 Unfortunately, both of those are dead. 573 00:33:16,550 --> 00:33:19,250 One was murdered and the other died of natural causes. 574 00:33:21,405 --> 00:33:23,600 In my belief, those paintings are just stored someplace 575 00:33:23,600 --> 00:33:25,930 together and I think they may still be in Massachusetts, 576 00:33:25,930 --> 00:33:27,330 or somewhere in New England. 577 00:33:28,900 --> 00:33:29,960 Myles is doing the same thing that we're doing 578 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,500 where he's trying to find these paintings. 579 00:33:32,500 --> 00:33:34,431 He has no clue where they are. 580 00:33:34,431 --> 00:33:35,670 He has a lot of speculation, 581 00:33:35,670 --> 00:33:37,550 but he doesn't know where the paintings are either. 582 00:33:37,550 --> 00:33:38,970 And I'm sure that Billy Youngworth 583 00:33:38,970 --> 00:33:40,320 has no idea where they are. 584 00:33:42,730 --> 00:33:45,340 But Billy Youngworth said he has. 585 00:33:45,340 --> 00:33:49,603 In the summer of 1997, with the reward now $5 million, 586 00:33:50,740 --> 00:33:52,900 he suddenly emerged into the limelight 587 00:33:52,900 --> 00:33:56,940 to claim he could get the paintings back. 588 00:33:56,940 --> 00:34:00,210 I stated very publicly I could facilitate 589 00:34:00,210 --> 00:34:02,183 and broker the return of this artwork. 590 00:34:04,670 --> 00:34:07,930 I was asking for a blanket amnesty 591 00:34:07,930 --> 00:34:09,320 that I couldn't be charged 592 00:34:09,320 --> 00:34:11,903 with any crimes connected to the Gardner. 593 00:34:14,460 --> 00:34:16,263 So I wanted a guarantee. 594 00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,620 They would just not give one. 595 00:34:19,620 --> 00:34:24,130 So we had to sort of figure out some middle ground 596 00:34:24,130 --> 00:34:26,100 to sort of force them into doing it 597 00:34:26,100 --> 00:34:28,413 with this public story. 598 00:34:32,171 --> 00:34:35,140 (suspenseful music) 599 00:34:35,140 --> 00:34:37,950 On August 27th, 1997, 600 00:34:37,950 --> 00:34:41,857 the Boston Herald ran a story headlined "We've seen it!" 601 00:34:44,180 --> 00:34:46,160 The article said a reporter was taken 602 00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:48,240 by some mysterious figures 603 00:34:48,240 --> 00:34:50,473 to a remote warehouse in the Northeast. 604 00:34:51,560 --> 00:34:54,920 He was taken up some stairs to a storage locker 605 00:34:54,920 --> 00:34:57,083 where a rolled up canvas was pulled out. 606 00:35:01,230 --> 00:35:03,750 He was shown, what appeared to him at least, 607 00:35:03,750 --> 00:35:05,703 to be the missing Rembrandt seascape. 608 00:35:13,330 --> 00:35:16,910 Meanwhile, Billy Youngworth had gone to New York 609 00:35:16,910 --> 00:35:18,740 where he says he met executives 610 00:35:18,740 --> 00:35:21,460 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 611 00:35:21,460 --> 00:35:23,420 prepared to do a deal with him 612 00:35:23,420 --> 00:35:25,120 for the recovery of the paintings. 613 00:35:27,170 --> 00:35:29,640 I did, in fact, meet with these people. 614 00:35:29,640 --> 00:35:31,990 They advanced me a small amount of money. 615 00:35:31,990 --> 00:35:34,030 I did not ask for anything. 616 00:35:34,030 --> 00:35:38,513 And we directly get into the negotiation of the reward. 617 00:35:40,310 --> 00:35:42,480 This is that controversial part in where Youngworth 618 00:35:42,480 --> 00:35:44,700 says he got 10 grand from one of the trustees 619 00:35:44,700 --> 00:35:45,533 in the museum. 620 00:35:45,533 --> 00:35:47,840 They, I think, to this day still deny that. 621 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:49,680 He got outta the heat of the press 622 00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:51,130 and he went to New York City. 623 00:35:56,270 --> 00:35:58,630 Shortly afterward, an envelope arrived 624 00:35:58,630 --> 00:36:02,180 mysteriously from New York at the The Boston Herald offices 625 00:36:02,180 --> 00:36:04,390 containing paint chippings. 626 00:36:04,390 --> 00:36:06,160 At first, it was thought they were 627 00:36:06,160 --> 00:36:08,140 from a Rembrandt painting, 628 00:36:08,140 --> 00:36:10,473 but that idea was dismissed by experts. 629 00:36:14,250 --> 00:36:16,090 Someone else tested it, 630 00:36:16,090 --> 00:36:18,620 said it's missing a special varnish that Rembrandt used 631 00:36:18,620 --> 00:36:20,360 on his paintings during that time period. 632 00:36:20,360 --> 00:36:21,883 So it cannot be the Rembrandt. 633 00:36:22,820 --> 00:36:25,523 Con man, he's a con man, no deal. 634 00:36:29,550 --> 00:36:31,260 Rembrandt had a big workshop. 635 00:36:31,260 --> 00:36:33,890 The materials that he used were not just unique 636 00:36:33,890 --> 00:36:35,600 to his workshop either. 637 00:36:35,600 --> 00:36:39,760 So a paint sample out of context could come 638 00:36:39,760 --> 00:36:42,653 from any 17th century Dutch painting. 639 00:36:47,110 --> 00:36:49,890 But if the chips didn't come from a Rembrandt, 640 00:36:49,890 --> 00:36:51,480 could they have come from another painting 641 00:36:51,480 --> 00:36:52,423 from the museum? 642 00:36:53,431 --> 00:36:55,381 Youngworth certainly thinks they could. 643 00:36:56,930 --> 00:36:59,830 The paint chips they got, they immediately 644 00:37:00,910 --> 00:37:03,200 tested them against the wrong paintings. 645 00:37:03,200 --> 00:37:05,970 When they were pointed in the right direction, 646 00:37:05,970 --> 00:37:08,140 all they would come back and say was 647 00:37:08,140 --> 00:37:11,193 they're completely consistent with the Vermeer. 648 00:37:12,670 --> 00:37:15,200 That the color, the pigmentation, 649 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:17,870 and all of the characteristics of the chips 650 00:37:17,870 --> 00:37:20,620 were consistent with that. 651 00:37:20,620 --> 00:37:23,130 What they got was a genuine material. 652 00:37:23,130 --> 00:37:26,226 What they chose to do with it was not address it. 653 00:37:26,226 --> 00:37:29,380 (pensive music) 654 00:37:29,380 --> 00:37:31,000 But within three months, 655 00:37:31,000 --> 00:37:35,100 Youngworth was back in jail for an unconnected offense, 656 00:37:35,100 --> 00:37:38,083 his role as a possible intermediary in ruins. 657 00:37:40,830 --> 00:37:43,080 I believe that he temporarily had his hands 658 00:37:43,080 --> 00:37:44,150 on those paintings. 659 00:37:44,150 --> 00:37:46,960 People in the underworld, they don't have freedom of speech, 660 00:37:46,960 --> 00:37:48,153 you just don't talk. 661 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:50,697 And these guys came out and said, 662 00:37:50,697 --> 00:37:53,290 "We can recover these paintings." 663 00:37:53,290 --> 00:37:56,160 They had to have some kind of blessing 664 00:37:56,160 --> 00:37:58,970 or permission to say that. 665 00:37:58,970 --> 00:38:00,600 I mean, you don't just come out and say, "We can do it." 666 00:38:00,600 --> 00:38:03,820 That's a big dangerous statement to make. 667 00:38:03,820 --> 00:38:05,520 You got the heat from the law enforcement, 668 00:38:05,520 --> 00:38:07,900 from the bad guys, and from these crime bosses 669 00:38:07,900 --> 00:38:09,260 who were, they were heavy hitters, 670 00:38:09,260 --> 00:38:11,480 they weren't just some thugs on the street. 671 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:15,010 So I mean, I think he had temporarily 672 00:38:15,010 --> 00:38:16,310 held onto these paintings. 673 00:38:30,250 --> 00:38:32,500 With Youngworth behind bars, 674 00:38:32,500 --> 00:38:35,923 the FBI continue to draw a blank in their investigations. 675 00:38:38,600 --> 00:38:42,490 In the early 1990's, it was reported that an FBI agent 676 00:38:42,490 --> 00:38:45,200 flew to Japan after receiving information 677 00:38:45,200 --> 00:38:47,630 that the Rembrandt seascape had turned up 678 00:38:47,630 --> 00:38:50,050 in the private gallery of a wealthy artist 679 00:38:50,050 --> 00:38:51,903 with links to organized crime. 680 00:38:55,770 --> 00:38:58,430 Then, there were more reports that FBI agents 681 00:38:58,430 --> 00:39:02,020 went to Paris after a tip off that a French businessman 682 00:39:02,020 --> 00:39:04,850 had bought several of the missing Rembrandts. 683 00:39:04,850 --> 00:39:06,993 Again, the investigation got nowhere. 684 00:39:09,220 --> 00:39:11,750 And the most important thing is to keep an open mind. 685 00:39:11,750 --> 00:39:13,580 Without any real concrete information 686 00:39:13,580 --> 00:39:15,350 as to where these paintings have gone 687 00:39:15,350 --> 00:39:16,760 or as to who took them, 688 00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:19,530 it's important not to get cynical or jaded 689 00:39:19,530 --> 00:39:21,120 in an investigation of this nature. 690 00:39:21,120 --> 00:39:24,310 It's easy to get a little cynical 691 00:39:24,310 --> 00:39:26,713 and to think that the paintings aren't gonna be found. 692 00:39:30,758 --> 00:39:34,780 (slow suspenseful music) 693 00:39:34,780 --> 00:39:36,700 But maybe the FBI were looking 694 00:39:36,700 --> 00:39:38,033 in the wrong place. 695 00:39:40,300 --> 00:39:42,180 There is a different theory about what happened 696 00:39:42,180 --> 00:39:45,320 to the paintings from the Saint Patrick's Day robbery. 697 00:39:45,320 --> 00:39:47,570 This one starts in Boston, 698 00:39:47,570 --> 00:39:49,630 but ends on the west coast of Ireland 699 00:39:50,630 --> 00:39:53,253 via shady dealings in a Dublin hotel room. 700 00:40:01,900 --> 00:40:05,490 The Irish connection may have started with this man, 701 00:40:05,490 --> 00:40:07,590 Joe Murray, a leading figure 702 00:40:07,590 --> 00:40:09,623 among Boston's criminal fraternity. 703 00:40:11,330 --> 00:40:13,940 Murray had pleaded guilty in 1987 704 00:40:13,940 --> 00:40:16,103 to smuggling guns for the IRA. 705 00:40:17,220 --> 00:40:19,820 Whether he was behind the Boston museum robbery 706 00:40:19,820 --> 00:40:23,073 we may never know and he's not saying. 707 00:40:24,180 --> 00:40:27,623 In 1992, he was murdered by his wife. 708 00:40:28,830 --> 00:40:31,890 Some claim that the Boston gangster had been the first 709 00:40:31,890 --> 00:40:34,523 to get his hands on the paintings after the robbery. 710 00:40:35,660 --> 00:40:38,190 Our contact was promptly made after the robbery 711 00:40:38,190 --> 00:40:42,333 that these people had some severe financial pressures, 712 00:40:43,200 --> 00:40:46,420 that they went to Joe Murray 713 00:40:47,270 --> 00:40:51,110 and they put the paintings in Mr. Murray's possession 714 00:40:51,110 --> 00:40:53,990 in exchange for $300,000. 715 00:40:53,990 --> 00:40:56,723 And that's where they sat up until Mr. Murray's death. 716 00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:00,350 Others believe that even if Joe Murray 717 00:41:00,350 --> 00:41:03,790 had managed to get the paintings soon after the robbery, 718 00:41:03,790 --> 00:41:06,060 he would've been forced to hand them over 719 00:41:06,060 --> 00:41:07,883 to James Whitey Bulger. 720 00:41:12,500 --> 00:41:14,680 Whitey Bulger was the most notorious 721 00:41:14,680 --> 00:41:16,233 Boston Irish criminal. 722 00:41:17,190 --> 00:41:19,260 Then there were a number of others. 723 00:41:19,260 --> 00:41:21,740 Murray ran the gang, the Murray Hill gang, 724 00:41:21,740 --> 00:41:25,970 and it could well be that he was the organizer 725 00:41:25,970 --> 00:41:29,240 of the robbery of the Gardner Museum. 726 00:41:29,240 --> 00:41:32,450 But that once it happened, I mean, within a short time, 727 00:41:32,450 --> 00:41:34,220 Bulger then would've exerted his influence 728 00:41:34,220 --> 00:41:37,683 over Murray and become involved. 729 00:41:41,230 --> 00:41:43,060 For years Bulger was the head 730 00:41:43,060 --> 00:41:45,560 of the Irish Mafia in Boston. 731 00:41:45,560 --> 00:41:49,513 Not surprisingly, he ended up on the FBI's Most Wanted list. 732 00:41:52,870 --> 00:41:55,550 The Gardner art went from the original thieves 733 00:41:55,550 --> 00:41:57,996 into the hands of Whitey Bulger, 734 00:41:57,996 --> 00:42:00,320 who was actually lord and master of Boston 735 00:42:00,320 --> 00:42:02,200 for about 30 years. 736 00:42:02,200 --> 00:42:03,657 Well, obviously we want an update. 737 00:42:03,657 --> 00:42:05,580 We wanna know where we stand now. 738 00:42:05,580 --> 00:42:06,810 But I don't think it's something that really 739 00:42:06,810 --> 00:42:08,920 we should be actually talking on the phone about. 740 00:42:08,920 --> 00:42:12,130 Paul Turbo Hendry was a career criminal 741 00:42:12,130 --> 00:42:13,863 dealing in art and antiques. 742 00:42:15,880 --> 00:42:18,610 For years, he's been on the trail of the booty 743 00:42:18,610 --> 00:42:21,460 from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. 744 00:42:21,460 --> 00:42:24,000 He's convinced that Whitey Bulger is the key 745 00:42:24,000 --> 00:42:26,350 to solving the Boston heist. 746 00:42:26,350 --> 00:42:29,660 When Whitey Bulger obtains possession of the Gardner art, 747 00:42:29,660 --> 00:42:33,240 he then sent some of it to Ireland. 748 00:42:33,240 --> 00:42:37,793 The paintings arrived between 1990 and 1995. 749 00:42:38,870 --> 00:42:42,740 Whitey Bulger made his way to Ireland on a false passport. 750 00:42:42,740 --> 00:42:46,160 He was actually staying with the leader 751 00:42:46,160 --> 00:42:48,670 of an Irish Republican paramilitary group 752 00:42:48,670 --> 00:42:51,930 other than the IRA, not the IRA, 753 00:42:51,930 --> 00:42:56,260 and he gave the Gardner paintings to this gentleman 754 00:42:56,260 --> 00:42:58,373 to hold for safekeeping. 755 00:43:00,250 --> 00:43:03,078 They're kept relatively safe at the moment, 756 00:43:03,078 --> 00:43:05,010 but they're in the hands of people 757 00:43:05,010 --> 00:43:09,203 you would be very reluctant enough to approach. 758 00:43:10,300 --> 00:43:12,133 And they are paramilitaries obviously. 759 00:43:13,730 --> 00:43:16,570 So Bulger was now in hiding in Ireland, 760 00:43:16,570 --> 00:43:18,710 hoping that if he was ever caught, 761 00:43:18,710 --> 00:43:20,720 possession of the paintings might give him 762 00:43:20,720 --> 00:43:22,493 some leverage with the authorities. 763 00:43:23,500 --> 00:43:26,400 But Bulger's past was catching up with him, 764 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:29,100 He soon became a liability to the Irish Republicans 765 00:43:29,100 --> 00:43:30,300 who were protecting him. 766 00:43:33,190 --> 00:43:36,610 Unfortunately, in 1995, 767 00:43:36,610 --> 00:43:39,853 when Whitey Bulger was indicted on 19 murders, 768 00:43:42,530 --> 00:43:45,420 his presence in Ireland was felt to be detrimental 769 00:43:45,420 --> 00:43:47,223 to the Irish Republican cause. 770 00:43:48,540 --> 00:43:52,190 Sinn Fein and the IRA demanded that Whitey Bulger 771 00:43:52,190 --> 00:43:55,350 leave Ireland immediately, which he did do. 772 00:43:55,350 --> 00:43:57,840 He left behind the paintings. 773 00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:00,490 Since then, no one knows precisely 774 00:44:00,490 --> 00:44:01,823 where Bulger went. 775 00:44:03,670 --> 00:44:05,990 The last evidence of his trail was in fact 776 00:44:05,990 --> 00:44:09,103 in a Barclays Bank in Piccadilly Circus. 777 00:44:10,220 --> 00:44:13,940 He's reputed to have been both here in London 778 00:44:13,940 --> 00:44:17,160 and also posing as a retired doctor in the west of Ireland 779 00:44:18,410 --> 00:44:20,190 with a particular family. 780 00:44:20,190 --> 00:44:22,830 That would make sense because he's on some heart medication 781 00:44:22,830 --> 00:44:25,960 tablets that he probably found easier to get hold of 782 00:44:25,960 --> 00:44:28,200 if he were thought to be a retired doctor. 783 00:44:28,200 --> 00:44:29,960 But I was also told that the people 784 00:44:29,960 --> 00:44:33,330 he was living with sent him away, 785 00:44:33,330 --> 00:44:35,643 and it was all to do with the Gardner pictures. 786 00:44:37,016 --> 00:44:40,016 (suspenseful music) 787 00:44:46,310 --> 00:44:49,380 But in 2002 there was a dramatic breakthrough 788 00:44:49,380 --> 00:44:50,980 in the search for the paintings. 789 00:44:51,950 --> 00:44:54,980 Another former member of Britain's Art and Antique squad 790 00:44:54,980 --> 00:44:56,620 had joined the hunt. 791 00:44:56,620 --> 00:44:59,693 Once again, the trail led back to Ireland. 792 00:45:01,970 --> 00:45:04,253 I think there's a good feeling now for, 793 00:45:07,130 --> 00:45:10,593 shall we say, who controls the paintings today. 794 00:45:13,916 --> 00:45:16,260 The mystery I think now is really exactly 795 00:45:16,260 --> 00:45:17,493 where the paintings are, 796 00:45:18,950 --> 00:45:20,430 whether they're still together. 797 00:45:20,430 --> 00:45:23,130 Certainly there is a good indication 798 00:45:23,130 --> 00:45:25,280 as to where some of the paintings could be. 799 00:45:26,800 --> 00:45:28,560 Dick Ellis' involvement, 800 00:45:28,560 --> 00:45:31,950 along with Paul Hendry, led to a sighting in Dublin 801 00:45:31,950 --> 00:45:33,780 of perhaps the most valuable painting 802 00:45:33,780 --> 00:45:36,383 from the museum robbery, the Vermeer. 803 00:45:38,500 --> 00:45:42,570 In the summer of 2002, Dick Ellis and I attended 804 00:45:42,570 --> 00:45:44,900 the American Embassy in Grosvenor Square, London 805 00:45:44,900 --> 00:45:48,400 where we met up with an FBI agent. 806 00:45:48,400 --> 00:45:51,400 I said to him that the best way that he could 807 00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:54,400 have a viewing of the Vermeer would be 808 00:45:54,400 --> 00:45:59,400 to contact an informant who goes by the name of Colin. 809 00:46:02,400 --> 00:46:05,630 The mysterious informant known only as Colin 810 00:46:05,630 --> 00:46:07,430 would act as a go between, 811 00:46:07,430 --> 00:46:09,850 setting up a meeting between the FBI 812 00:46:09,850 --> 00:46:12,020 and a member of the gang now suspected 813 00:46:12,020 --> 00:46:13,820 of holding the paintings in Ireland. 814 00:46:14,894 --> 00:46:16,400 (passersby chatting) 815 00:46:16,400 --> 00:46:19,060 The FBI agent traveled to Dublin, 816 00:46:19,060 --> 00:46:22,653 met Colin, the informant, in a hotel room. 817 00:46:25,300 --> 00:46:27,770 Dick Ellis chooses his words carefully 818 00:46:27,770 --> 00:46:30,160 to describe what apparently took place 819 00:46:30,160 --> 00:46:31,373 in the Dublin hotel. 820 00:46:32,380 --> 00:46:36,550 But he's convinced that the FBI agent saw the real thing 821 00:46:36,550 --> 00:46:39,793 and that Ireland is the key to finding the stolen art. 822 00:46:40,900 --> 00:46:44,043 The Vermeer was seen in Dublin. 823 00:46:50,703 --> 00:46:52,090 Not with other paintings, 824 00:46:52,090 --> 00:46:54,683 but certainly the Vermeer was seen, 825 00:46:55,950 --> 00:47:00,060 which would suggest that Irish influences 826 00:47:00,060 --> 00:47:01,160 control the paintings. 827 00:47:03,740 --> 00:47:07,100 The circumstances of the sighting of the Vermeer 828 00:47:07,100 --> 00:47:10,470 in 2002 are still a mystery 829 00:47:10,470 --> 00:47:13,600 and only really the FBI agent 830 00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:15,643 and Colin the informant know them. 831 00:47:16,830 --> 00:47:19,610 It may have been impossible for the FBI agent 832 00:47:19,610 --> 00:47:20,470 to have recovered it. 833 00:47:20,470 --> 00:47:22,903 There may have been guns used. 834 00:47:23,940 --> 00:47:28,940 But I am certain that if procedures had been followed, 835 00:47:30,900 --> 00:47:34,283 the Vermeer could and should have been recovered. 836 00:47:37,670 --> 00:47:40,950 Any suggestion that they could've been recovered 837 00:47:40,950 --> 00:47:45,840 at that point, I think, probably are exaggerated. 838 00:47:45,840 --> 00:47:49,430 They were not in a position to run any sort of operation 839 00:47:50,350 --> 00:47:51,730 in Ireland to recover them. 840 00:47:51,730 --> 00:47:54,610 And, frankly, by the time they were, 841 00:47:54,610 --> 00:47:56,453 the opportunity had gone. 842 00:47:57,492 --> 00:48:00,214 (airplane roaring overhead) 843 00:48:00,214 --> 00:48:03,131 (soft piano music) 844 00:48:05,880 --> 00:48:07,360 But back in America, 845 00:48:07,360 --> 00:48:09,450 Billy Youngworth discounts the theories 846 00:48:09,450 --> 00:48:11,280 about the Irish connection, 847 00:48:11,280 --> 00:48:13,803 and especially the involvement of Whitey Bulger. 848 00:48:16,210 --> 00:48:18,810 The theory that Whitey Bulger went to Ireland 849 00:48:18,810 --> 00:48:21,930 with these paintings, these are only theories 850 00:48:21,930 --> 00:48:26,930 that these armchair quote unquote art recovery experts 851 00:48:27,130 --> 00:48:29,311 have offered to the world. 852 00:48:29,311 --> 00:48:32,561 (western guitar music) 853 00:48:35,050 --> 00:48:36,660 And as a matter of fact, 854 00:48:36,660 --> 00:48:39,160 as to one certain representation made 855 00:48:39,160 --> 00:48:42,580 about a certain painting being seen in Ireland, 856 00:48:42,580 --> 00:48:44,543 I know that's just not possible, 857 00:48:45,520 --> 00:48:47,120 that that's just impossible, 858 00:48:47,120 --> 00:48:52,120 that that could no way bear any resemble to the truth, 859 00:48:52,670 --> 00:48:54,073 and I am positive of that. 860 00:48:59,980 --> 00:49:01,870 Two years after the failed attempt 861 00:49:01,870 --> 00:49:05,420 to recover the Vermeer in a Dublin hotel room, 862 00:49:05,420 --> 00:49:07,870 Youngworth emerged again to the Boston limelight. 863 00:49:13,030 --> 00:49:17,460 By 2004, Youngworth still claimed he could do a deal, 864 00:49:17,460 --> 00:49:21,240 provided the issue of immunity from prosecution was settled. 865 00:49:21,240 --> 00:49:24,270 If you're asking me publicly on the record 866 00:49:24,270 --> 00:49:27,260 if I had committed a crime 867 00:49:27,260 --> 00:49:30,380 and I was in possession of some stolen property, 868 00:49:30,380 --> 00:49:32,600 I'm going to tell you of course I wasn't. 869 00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:35,030 But I will tell you on the same token 870 00:49:35,030 --> 00:49:39,170 that when I said I coulda facilitated and brokered 871 00:49:39,170 --> 00:49:41,850 the return of the art, that I could have, 872 00:49:41,850 --> 00:49:44,260 and I had absolutely nothing to gain 873 00:49:44,260 --> 00:49:46,033 by saying I could if I couldn't. 874 00:49:49,630 --> 00:49:52,490 But there was another problem for Youngworth. 875 00:49:52,490 --> 00:49:53,920 Could the museum ever come up 876 00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:55,963 with the $5 million reward money? 877 00:49:57,151 --> 00:49:58,770 (geese honking) 878 00:49:58,770 --> 00:50:02,060 Gardner, she had no provisions in her endowment 879 00:50:02,060 --> 00:50:06,930 to take $5 million and go pay criminals a reward 880 00:50:06,930 --> 00:50:08,403 to return her property. 881 00:50:09,499 --> 00:50:12,499 (suspenseful music) 882 00:50:16,480 --> 00:50:18,480 Meanwhile, in England, 883 00:50:18,480 --> 00:50:21,300 Paul Turbo Hendry believes he is on the brink 884 00:50:21,300 --> 00:50:23,870 of putting together an elaborate deal 885 00:50:23,870 --> 00:50:28,870 involving Irish paramilitaries, Irish American politicians, 886 00:50:28,900 --> 00:50:32,270 the Irish government, Sinn Fein, 887 00:50:32,270 --> 00:50:35,043 and a clan in Limerick in the west of Ireland. 888 00:50:37,430 --> 00:50:40,250 I believe that with a political will 889 00:50:41,140 --> 00:50:44,973 there is a real opportunity to finally put this to bed. 890 00:50:46,030 --> 00:50:49,890 The Sinn Fein can use the Irish Republican Bank 891 00:50:49,890 --> 00:50:52,530 to pay the clan in Limerick. 892 00:50:52,530 --> 00:50:55,050 This will allow the Gardner paintings in Ireland 893 00:50:55,050 --> 00:50:58,420 to surface via a confessional box, 894 00:50:58,420 --> 00:51:01,840 because of the symbolism of absolution. 895 00:51:01,840 --> 00:51:05,790 Senator Edward Kennedy, Peter King, and George Mitchell 896 00:51:05,790 --> 00:51:07,850 will lobby on behalf of Sinn Fein 897 00:51:07,850 --> 00:51:10,300 to allow Sinn Fein to be able to fundraise 898 00:51:10,300 --> 00:51:12,200 in the United States of America again. 899 00:51:13,580 --> 00:51:17,540 The Irish government, allowing certain Irish Republican 900 00:51:17,540 --> 00:51:19,990 paramilitaries to be released, 901 00:51:19,990 --> 00:51:23,160 who still languish in Portlaoise Jail. 902 00:51:23,160 --> 00:51:26,520 Also, the paintings still being held around the Boston area 903 00:51:26,520 --> 00:51:29,040 can be allowed to surface. 904 00:51:29,040 --> 00:51:31,430 It means that the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 905 00:51:31,430 --> 00:51:34,500 doesn't have to go out and raise the $5 million reward 906 00:51:34,500 --> 00:51:37,250 and no reward money is paid directly to those 907 00:51:37,250 --> 00:51:38,810 who may have been involved in the theft 908 00:51:38,810 --> 00:51:41,233 or the subsequent handling of the Gardner art. 909 00:51:43,650 --> 00:51:46,940 Initially, when I came up with this analysis 910 00:51:46,940 --> 00:51:50,116 and this plan, people laughed at me. 911 00:51:50,116 --> 00:51:51,790 But then people laughed at Einstein, 912 00:51:51,790 --> 00:51:54,180 people laughed at the Wright brothers, 913 00:51:54,180 --> 00:51:55,530 and they laughed at me. 914 00:51:55,530 --> 00:51:57,230 But they're not laughing anymore, 915 00:51:57,230 --> 00:51:59,190 because it's not only plausible, 916 00:51:59,190 --> 00:52:02,730 this is the only effective way to see the return 917 00:52:02,730 --> 00:52:05,490 of the Gardner art to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum 918 00:52:05,490 --> 00:52:10,152 in Boston without financially rewarding those responsible. 919 00:52:10,152 --> 00:52:13,152 (people chattering) 920 00:52:14,180 --> 00:52:16,200 It may seem bizarre, 921 00:52:16,200 --> 00:52:18,160 but it's perhaps no less implausible 922 00:52:18,160 --> 00:52:21,090 than any other theory that surfaced over the years 923 00:52:21,090 --> 00:52:23,943 since the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was raided. 924 00:52:24,970 --> 00:52:27,480 Certainly the FBI appear no closer 925 00:52:27,480 --> 00:52:28,843 to finding out who did it. 926 00:52:29,818 --> 00:52:32,090 (upbeat suspenseful music) 927 00:52:32,090 --> 00:52:34,360 I mean, you're talking about one of the most costly 928 00:52:34,360 --> 00:52:39,010 investigations in the history of the FBI. 929 00:52:39,010 --> 00:52:41,933 And what do they have to show for it so far? 930 00:52:44,260 --> 00:52:47,290 16 years later, here we all are, 931 00:52:47,290 --> 00:52:49,293 still pointing fingers at each other. 932 00:52:53,560 --> 00:52:56,440 Not surprisingly, the FBI now seem 933 00:52:56,440 --> 00:52:58,840 less interested in catching the thieves 934 00:52:58,840 --> 00:53:00,980 than in recovering the paintings. 935 00:53:00,980 --> 00:53:04,350 Our primary focus is to get the paintings back. 936 00:53:04,350 --> 00:53:07,670 This whole theft has played out like a Hollywood movie, 937 00:53:07,670 --> 00:53:09,800 and so certainly to make it a good movies, 938 00:53:09,800 --> 00:53:11,597 we wanna have a happy ending. 939 00:53:11,597 --> 00:53:13,900 (hammer banging) 940 00:53:13,900 --> 00:53:16,050 This is not "Ocean's Eleven". 941 00:53:16,050 --> 00:53:18,450 This is not "The Thomas Crown Affair". 942 00:53:18,450 --> 00:53:19,563 This is real life. 943 00:53:21,760 --> 00:53:25,300 It has mutated over the years because of the participants 944 00:53:25,300 --> 00:53:28,033 into the Holy Grail of art thefts. 945 00:53:30,840 --> 00:53:33,130 I think you will see the paintings back as a group. 946 00:53:33,130 --> 00:53:36,860 Circumstances dictate when that will be. 947 00:53:36,860 --> 00:53:38,450 I'm optimistic that those paintings 948 00:53:38,450 --> 00:53:42,410 will go back to the Gardner Museum at some point, 949 00:53:42,410 --> 00:53:44,810 and I would hope in the not too distance future. 950 00:53:48,340 --> 00:53:50,913 We're very optimistic that they'll be returned. 951 00:53:52,169 --> 00:53:53,290 I hope it happens soon. 952 00:53:53,290 --> 00:53:55,520 But it's gonna be great when they come back, isn't it? 953 00:53:55,520 --> 00:53:57,633 We'll have a wonderful welcome back party. 954 00:54:01,350 --> 00:54:03,690 Unfortunately, I think they're going to pay 955 00:54:03,690 --> 00:54:05,103 a terrible price for it. 956 00:54:06,260 --> 00:54:09,403 And ultimately, at the end of the day, 957 00:54:10,410 --> 00:54:12,800 nobody will ever see a penny of that reward. 958 00:54:12,800 --> 00:54:14,520 There is no reward. 959 00:54:14,520 --> 00:54:17,210 It's nothing but a trunk of fool's gold 960 00:54:17,210 --> 00:54:18,893 and only a fool will chase it.