In the latest twist in the attempt to solve the world's costliest art heist, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has recently hired a former top FBI agent who believes an imprisoned antiques dealer may hold the key for securing the return of the artworks.
According to letters obtained by the Globe, Larry A. Potts -- the former head of the FBI's criminal division who was involved in the bureau's disastrous siege at Ruby Ridge, Idaho -- was hired by the museum in April. One of his first moves: a polite, respectful letter to William P. Youngworth last month urging him to help crack the case once and for all.
"It is clear to me, as it is to those associated with the museum, that you remain the key to bringing this to a successful resolution," Potts wrote Youngworth. "You have the capability, with my help, to put this behind you and be a hero."
It was unclear whether Potts's words signal a break in the nine- year-old case or an attempt to get Youngworth to talk by appealing to his considerable ego. Potts did not return a phone call and a museum spokeswoman declined to comment.
In his reply last week, Youngworth, who is serving a two- to three-year sentence in MCI-Shirley on unrelated charges, agreed to help, but indicated that it wouldn't come cheap.
"Yes, I would be delighted to help you and the Gardner Museum recover their former property," Youngworth wrote on June 21. "Kindly remit $50 million dollars U.S. and a signed immunity agreement issued by the Attorney General of the United States."
By yesterday, however, Youngworth had toned down his rhetoric.
He released a statement that praised the museum for hiring Potts and for contacting him directly instead of through the federal authorities, whom he grew to distrust during their 1997 negotiations. In the past, federal prosecutors and FBI agents were openly doubtful that Youngworth actually had access to the stolen paintings and felt he lacked credibility.
"It is clear from the fact of Mr. Potts' letter that I am credible and can effectuate the artworks' return," Youngworth's statement said. Still, Youngworth -- who is scheduled for a parole hearing this summer -- would not say whether he intends to cooperate.
Two years ago, Youngworth made headlines by contending that he could solve the crime and secure the return of the 13 pieces of art that were stolen from the museum in a daring, early-morning robbery.
Though he said he was not involved in the March 18, 1990, theft at the museum, Youngworth insisted he knew where the paintings were and could broker their return through his contacts in the criminal underworld.
In exchange, Youngworth wanted a deal: the $5 million reward posted by the museum and law enforcement's agreement to drop pending criminal charges against him. He also demanded they release his friend, Myles Connor Jr., a skilled art thief with a long criminal record who was serving time in federal prison.
But the US attorney's office in Boston and state authorities wouldn't meet Youngworth's demands. They also suspected that Connor may have known who was responsible for the Gardner heist.
Youngworth then angrily charged that the impasse proved that law enforcement hadn't placed a high enough priority on the artwork's return.
The talks with Youngworth broke down for good after the bureau tested microscopic paint chips purportedly from either of two rare Rembrandt paintings stolen in the heist. The results indicated that the chips could not have come from either work.
Youngworth later claimed that the chips might have been from a Vermeer, which also had been stolen from the Gardner. Within months, he was serving time for possession of a stolen car and operating it without registration.
Potts, who is vice president of Investigative Group International Inc., a Washington-based private detective firm, retired from the FBI in August 1997. His final two jobs with the bureau were as head of its criminal division and as second in command of its Boston office.
During the 1990s, he was placed on administrative leave for more than a year while the Justice Department investigated his role in the deadly siege at Ruby Ridge, which ended in the deaths of three people, including the unarmed wife of white supremacist Randy Weaver and US Marshall William F. Deegan of Quincy. No charges were filed as a result of the probe.
On June 9, Potts visited Youngworth in prison, but Youngworth refused to meet with him, according to the letter Potts wrote to Youngworth the following week. Potts explained that the museum had hired him to work on the case and he was sensitive to Youngworth's position.
Potts did not specify why, considering Youngworth's credibility problems with investigators, he and museum officials believe that Youngworth is still central to the case.
"While, as many people are quick to point out, there is some discrepancy in the evidence concerning your knowledge of the whereabouts of the stolen items, I believe there are a couple of very strong indications that you have, or at least had at one time, access to those paintings," Potts wrote.
The letter also states: "I appreciate your need for assurance that you will not be at risk by assisting in the return of the stolen art from the Gardner Museum and I assume that you would have other expectations as well, to include financial. There is a high degree of probability that I can help you."
To prove his good faith, Potts included a copy of a letter by Anne Hawley, director of the Gardner Museum, confirming that Potts had been hired.
"As you know, it has been almost ten years since the theft and we are most anxious to do everything possible to obtain the return of our treasures so they can again be part of the cultural life of our city, nation and the world," Hawley wrote.
Investigative Group International is one of the country's most prominent private investigative firms, specializing in sensitive cases in both business and crime.
Headed by Terry Lenzner, a lawyer with Boston roots, the firm has worked for the museum investigating the theft on and off since 1990. Since being brought into the case in April, Potts told Youngworth, he had spent "a considerable amount of time" reviewing the case.
Copyright Boston Globe Newspaper
