Gardner Museum Heist Research

1990

Mayor Flynn's image in the news media cultivated by selective access by Steve Marantz Boston Globe March 18, 1990
The mayor's slective availability is part of his administrations's broader news management strategy, which involves tight, centralized control of public information, playing news organizations against one another to obtain favoroable coverage, and the regular staging of events and announcements that portray the mayor in a positive light. 

Interview with Author Jane Langton, author of the 1989 novel Murder at the Gardner, plus B-Roll footage of the Museum artrium and interior shots on the day after the robbery WCVB March 19 [20], 1990
B-roll picks up portions Museum director Anne Hawley discussing a ransom inquiry with a reporter before the reward announcemennt was made at time 7:00.  

Secret collector’s passion or ransom seen as motive Bonston Globe March 19, 1990     

Robbers Seem to Know Just What They Want New York Times March 19, 1990  

Boston Thieves Loot a Museum Of Masterpieces New York Times March 19, 1990          

$200m Gardner Museum art theft Boston Globe March 19, 1990             

Museum’s loyalists stunned, angered by its violation Boston Globe March 19, 1990        

Gardner’s museum: Majestic, eccentric Boston Globe March 19, 1990   

 
Michael, we hardly knew ye — Governor's humor steals the show at St. Patrick's Day roast Boston Globe March 19, 1990      

Boston Museum Says It Was Uninsured for Theft Fox Butterfield New York Times March 20, 1990         

  Art Stolen From Gardner Museum Was Uninsured Thieves May Find The Booty 'Too Hot To Handle' Boston Globe March 20, 1990  

Cost of theft coverage described as prohibitive Boston Globe March 20, 1990   

For a certain sleuth, it pays to get hold of the big picture by Thomas Palmer Boston Globe March 20, 1990 
The FBI does not generally rely on private investigatators when it is assisting in art-theft investgiations, according to spokesman Paul F. Cavanaugh, in the Boston office. However, agents will accept information from any source, he said.  

1M Reward Offered For Trail To Stolen Art Boston Globe March 21, 1990      

$1m inspires flood of art-theft tips by Andy Dibilis and Peter S. Canellos Boston Globe March 22, 1990    

TV program America's Most Wanted to devote an episode to the caper  Boston Globe May 11, 1990 

For Museum, a Theft Was Only the Start New York Times June 18, 1990        

Museum Robbed of Millions in Masterpieces AP March 19, 1990     

Infamous area art thief [Myles Connor] far from scene of [Gardner heist] crime Boston Globe March 20, 1990 
"[Myles] Connor says Donati and Houghton later told him that if anything happened to them, they would leave him information about where the paintings are, but he needs to be out of jail to get that information."

   Art fans flock to see empty spaces by John Larrabee USA Today March 23, 1990  Boston Globe March 19, 1990    

Khashoggi Ends Claim to Real Estate, Art:   Philippines: In exchange, racketeering charges still pending will be dropped. Property was purchased from Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos. Cristina M. Luz Los Angeles Times July 10, 1990  

1991

Museum on the mend Anniversary of art heist find the Gardner perservering by Chris Black   Boston Globe March 18, 1991 page 1   

Museum on the mend Anniversary of art heist find the Gardner perservering by Chris Black  Boston Globe March 18, 1991 page 42   

FBI seeks connection between art thefts by Andrew Blake the Boston Globe  April 16, 1991
"FBI agent William McMullin, spoikesman for the Boston office, said yesterday, "It's premature until we get all the details from the Netherlands. We don't know yet whether there is anything there worth pursuing."  

Slay victim [Leonard DiMuzio] was Rockland man Boston Globe June 15, 1991  

AP's Putzel to succeed Kurkjian as the Globe's Washington chief by Boston Globe August 13, 1991
Michael Putzel of the Associated Press has been named Washington bureau chief of The Boston Globe Globe Editor John S. Driscoll announced yesterday. He succeeds Stephen Kurkjian, who has been bureau chief for five years. Kurkjian will become news projects editor in Boston on September 1, 1991.  

Revere man [Donati] found slain in trunk of his car. Boston Globe September 25, 1991  
Donati was said to be making collections from bookmakers and loansharks on Ferrara's behalf. Originally from East Boston, Donati had a lengthy criminal record involving arson, armed robberies and the theft of securities from the Boston Stock Exchange.

What William Barr Isn't Telling His Questioners  by Jimmy Lohman Florida Flambeau November 18, 1991    

1992

Reputed mobster [Vincent Ferrara] defends his honor Matthew Brelis Boston Globe March 18, 1992:
"The average person reading the article could get the inference that I could be an informant, a stool pigeon, and it is exactly the opposite. The only thing I ever said to them was `guilty,' " said Ferrara. "I worked my whole life to keep an impeccable reputation; it may be different than your standards, but I want to be able to hold my head up," he said.      

Drug suspect said to offer stolen art in bid for mercy Boston Globe May 28, 1992 Carmello Merlino     

A Tangled 2-Year Inquiry Yields Few Answers  in Boston Art Theft by William Honan NY Times 1992
Brian McDevitt apparently came under suspicion because of the striking similarities between the Gardner theft and a bungled robbery he engineered 11 years ago at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, N.Y. He was convicted of unlawful imprisonment and attempted grand larceny, and he served several months of a two-year sentence in the Saratoga County Jail at Ballston Spa, N.Y.  

The mob's fractured family 10 years after Angiulo's arrest, the Boston Mafia is transformed Shelley Murphy and Kevin Cullen, Boston Globe 19 September 19, 1993
The New England Mafia, headed by Francis (Cadillac Frank) Salemme, is a dysfunctional family. It's smaller, greedier but less profitable, more prone to violence and less trusting of its own members. Already, some of its associates have turned informant, or turned up dead. At least five murders in Massachusetts and one in Rhode Island since 1991 have been attributed to the mob, according to law enforcement sources.  

Gardner art theft suspect [Brian McDevitt] is study in intrigue Brian McGrory, Boston Globe June 3, 1992 

1993

Screenwriter [McDevitt] questioned in Gardner Heist by Shelley Murphy Boston Globe August 7, 1993     

Gardner art theft still largest on record by Efrain Hernandze Jr. Boston Globe November 9, 1993
 "Unfortunately, in art thefts it's not unusual, in tracking these things, for it to take a long time," McMullin said.  

1994

Five Years And $300 Million -- A special report.; The Maddening Mysteries Of the Greatest Art Theft Ever" New York Times  December 15, 1994    

Time is on side of Gardner art thieves Some statutes of limitations running out as investigators  check all leads: Boston Globe December 16, 1994  

1995  

Statute of limitations to expire on Gardner Museum art theft Associated Press March 18, 1995 Although the thieves' trail is cold, authorities say they haven't given up tracking the artworks. 

1996   

Man [David Turner] freed after key witness scared off by Anthony Flint Boston Globe January 4, 1996   

One step ahead Braintree suspect in thefts, slayings [David Turner] eludes  prosecutors  Boston Globe January 20, 1996 
Here was a man described by police as a trusted lieutenant in a South Shore crime ring, who had thumbed his nose at the criminal justice system and walked away a free man. Who evaded prosecutors despite a trail of bodies -- the friend shot dead and stuffed in a car trunk in East Boston, the stranger bludgeoned and left for dead on Route 3. Who convinced a jury he didn't steal the money from two safes in the "Cheers" bar in 1991, didn't bash that employee's head with a bottle of Midori. Who earlier this month walked out of jail after a Canton woman said she was too scared to testify against him.     

Police say past caught up with Mafia enforcer [Richard F. "Vinnie" DeVincent] found slain by Kevin Cullen the Boston Globe April 5, 1996    

Priceless loss not hopeless by Brian MacQuarrie Boston Globe June 19, 1996 page 17     

Priceless loss not hopeless by Brian MacQuarrie Boston Globe June 19, 1996 page 20 

New life and growth at the Gardner by Maureen Dezell Boston Globe December 15, 1996 page N1    
New life and growth at the Gardner by Maureen Dezell Boston Globe December 15, 1996 page N6    
New life and growth at the Gardner by Maureen Dezell Boston Globe December 15, 1996 page N7 

1997

FBI enlists 'Net in Gardner probe by Maureen Dezell Boston Globe March 19,1997    

Gardner Museum ups reward from $1 million to $5 million for return of stolen art. March 19,1997    

FBI makes admission on Bulger Confirms `Whitey' was an informant by Patricia Nealon Boston Globe June 7, 1997   
What has long been suspected is now official: Fugitive crime boss James J. "Whitey" Bulger was an informant for the FBI.

Use of Bulger raises questions for FBI Kevin Cullen Boston Globe June 8, 1997  

The FBI on trial by Boston Globe June 27, 1997
The FBI's relationship with Bulger reeks of an arrangement that was, at the least, out of control and, at worst, corrupt.  

Mobster's charges put FBI on the defense. July 5 1997 Page B1  
James J. "Whitey" Bulger and Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, who, besides being considered by their peers to be the best hit men in town, were working as informants for the FBI.
Mobster's charges put FBI on the defense. July 5 1997 Page B3  
"Everybody in the this business knows that you have to make deals with bad guys, the agent acknowledges. "But at some point you have to cut them off when they're bigger than the people they're giving you."    

 Gardner heist details offered to FBI But sources say accused criminal has little to trade by Judy Rakowsky Boston Globe  Boston Globe  August 14, 1997   

 US reportedly wants to talk to Connor on Gardner theft  by Ric Kahn   Boston Globe  August 21, 1997 

We’ve seen it!  Informant shows reporter apparent stolen masterpiece by Tom Mashberg Boston Herald August 27, 1997 

Gardner rebuts `details' of heist Says ex-convict's claims are wrong by Ric Kahn and Stephen Kurkjian, Boston Globe August 27, 1997
Sources familiar with the investigation believe that Youngworth -- who has already met with the Gardner's head of security and with federal investigators -- was recycling inaccurate details from old news reports. p> Report reignites art heist probe Officials approach reporter, 2 others by Stephen Kurkjian and Judy Rakowsky August 28, 1997  
Ultimately, the investigator said, those who led Mashberg to the warehouse and showed him the painting apparently are savvy enough to realize they cannot win the immunity from prosecution they are seeking by bluffing that they have the artwork.

Moves That Hint of a Return of Stolen Art New York Times September 5, 1997             

Attorney says FBI encouraged mob shootings, Jon Marcus (AP Writer) South Coast Today  September 11, 1997 

Earlier tipster makes his pitch on stolen art page 1 by Dan Golden Boston Globe September 12, 1997
After fuming for weeks in his cell while Youngworth seized the headlines, Ellis is now going public with what he has told investigators about the Gardner theft. He says, for example, that David Houghton, an auto mechanic and art appraiser from Malden who had dated Connor's sister, planned the heist. According to Ellis, Houghton, who has since died, visited Connor in prison in Illinois three months before the theft and sought his advice.

The deal of the art  More than seven years after one of the heists of the century, the case of the missing Gardner Museum paintings provokes an all-out media war by Dan Kennedy The Boston Phoenix September 4, 1997  At the Globe, where Mashberg worked for several years and made himself supremely unpopular with his editors and some fellow staffers, there are murmurings that the reporter has gotten too close to Youngworth, and that he'll pay for his indiscretions.

Private spat may be driving Gardner talks Sources say Connor is worried about valuables Youngworth is guarding  Boston Globe  By Dan Golden and Judy Rakowsky September 4, 1997 page B1     
Private spat may be driving Gardner talks Sources say Connor is worried about valuables Youngworth is guarding  Boston Globe  By Dan Golden and Judy Rakowsky September 4, 1997 page B4      

Gardner confirms hiring attorney for discussions. by Ric Kahn and Matthew Taylor  Boston Globe September 4, 1997 also page B4     

Antiques Dealer Youngworth sentenced; hope lives for art deal by Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe September 14, 1997 page B1   

Antiques Dealer Youngworth sentenced; hope lives for art deal September 14, 1997 by Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe September 14, 1997 page B4   

Talks Continue In Boston Officials meet with convicts [William Youngworth and Myles Connor] who say they can help recover the art. by Judy Rokowsky and Stephen Kukjian  Boston Globe September 10, 1997 

  US attorney demands proof on stolen art by Ric Kahn and Judy Rakowsky Boston Globe  September 11, 1997   

Offer Made On Painting photo by Ric Kahn and Stephen Kurkjian  Boston Globe September 12, 1997   

The Great Art Caper by Steve Lopez Time Magazine November 17, 1997 
"[Myles] Connor says Donati and Houghton  later told him that if anything happened to them, they would leave him information about where the paintings are, but he needs to be out of jail to get that information."

New Deal Offered in Gardner theft
Inmates [Youngworth and Connor] insist they can arrange return by Stephen Kurkjian   Boston Globe  December 6, 1997       

Unlikely Suspect Connor Crony [David Houghton] Was No Art Expert, Others Say By Daniel  Golden and Ric Kahn  Boston Globe September 23, 1997    
"It's very easy to lay this crime off on a dead man, said a personal injury lawyer who had represented Houghton and remained friends with him.  "But I don't think David [Houghton] could find his way to  the Gardner museum." 

On the Murky Trail of Stolen Art By Ralph Blumenthal NY Times September 27, 1997
Youngworth "said they [he and Myles Connor] had been allowed two meetings in a Rhode Island prison where their discussions were undoubtedly monitored. But he said, 'If they could understand the language we were talking, good luck.'"    

Verdict, tale of photos twist Gardner case by Stephen Kurkjian and Paul Langner Boston Globe  October 2, 1997 In a case filled with enough intrigue and hairpin plot twists to fill a novel, William P. Youngworth III -- the renegade Randolph antiques dealer who says he has access to art stolen from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum -- is headed back to prison for possession of a stolen van.  

Chips Off the old Master? Paint said to come from stolen Rembrandt By Associated Press October 15, 1997

1998

Boston Art Caper (Contd): The Art of the Deal by Carey Goldberg New York Times January 13, 1998      

Art Talks on again, Youngworth claims Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe  Thursday February 19, 1998   

Stealing Beauty March 1998 Vanity Fair by Tom Mashberg 

1999 

Ex-FBI Agent asks inmate William Youngworth for help on Gardner artwork Boston Globe July 1, 1999   

Informant credited with foiling heist by Daniel Vasquez Boston Globe February 9, 1999  "Charged after being arrested were Carmello Merlino, 64, Merlino's nephew William Merlino, 38, David A. Turner, 31, and Stephen Rosetti, 40."  Note: The robbery was actually an FBI sting. The "inside man" referenced in the article was made up by the informant.  

2000  

FBI pushes for new leads Boston Herald March 17, 2000   

10 years later no sign of a real break in Gardner Musseum theft By Stephen Kurkjian  Boston Globe March 18, 2000 
W. Thomas Cassano, the lead FBI agent on the case, said he doubted that David Houghton and Robert Donati - two local, low-level hoodlums whose names surfaced during the investigation - pulled off the heist.     

Museum Reaps Unlikely Reward from the Theft Boston Herald March 18, 2000   

Historic Tale of Infamous Art Heist (First Decade Timeline)Boston Herald March 19, 2000  

Men, Fresh From Prison,   May Hold Key to Trove of Stolen Art New York Times October 14, 2000    

Gardner Case Twists and Turns Lead  to Dead Ends Tom Mashberg, Boston Herald October 24, 2000 
"There were an awful lot of organized-crime arrests made in the last 10 years, too, but we’ve had no information that way. We really have no idea who did it or why it was done."   
—W. Thomas Cassano, supervisor of the violent fugitive task force for the FBI’s Boston office and the investigator who had overseen the Gardner case since Day One.  
Boston Herald March 16, 2000     

Ex-officer finds relief in Bulger case indictment By Shelley Murphy  Boston Globe  November 12, 2000     

 "The art of the heist"   By Ed Butler The Guardian   November 18, 2000     "Many officials at the Gardner museum, and also some officers at the FBI, did favour some form of compromise [with Youngworth], but those higher up in the legal establishment had no desire to send such a message to the criminal fraternity at large. The attorney general's office in Washington warned against pandering to 'cultural terrorism.'   Alan Dershowitz, the celebrated Boston defense lawyer and himself a keen art collector, spells it out:    'It's a very short-sighted policy. If, in the end, we pay for these pictures, there will be 10 more pieces of art stolen in the next decade by people who say,    "Look, they stole the Rembrandt, they got rich, why not us?"'"    

FBI Provides Update in Gardner Art Heist Case
Antiques and the Arts Weekly November 21, 2000   W. Thomas Cassano, Supervisory Special Agent for the Gardner case since the theft, Cassano reported that a tape inside the museum showed the thieves making four forays through the galleries.  

 Lost And Found by Stephen Kurkjian Boston  Sunday Globe December 17, 2000 
There are a few absolutes that the FBI and Interpol, the international law enforcement agency, follow in negotiating the return of stolen artwork, and foremost among them is that no one who was involved in a theft or who acquired the paintings knowing they were stolen can benefit financially from their return. "To allow someone to get a reward or insurance money for stealing a painting will only encourage more thefts," says John Trahan, head of the FBI's major crimes unit in Boston, who was in charge of the investigation into the Cezanne theft.       

 2001

FBI staged robbery for leverage lawyers say  Assicuated Press Sep 26, 2001 
The FBI staged an armored car company roobery to get leverage on a group of men they believed knew the whereabout of more than $200 million in stolen museum artwork,  the defendants' lawyer told a federal jury in Boston.

  2002

Questions about informant [Chikofsky] reduce charges against ex-cop John Doherty, New Bedford Standard-Times March 4, 2002  

 2003

Gardner Museum Celebrating centennial with special exhibits and concerts by Nancy Rabinowitz Associated Press March 30, 2003       

 2004  

New theory airs on Gardner museum theft IRA, crime figure are focus of account By Shelley Murphy and Stephen Kurkjian, Boston Globe March 11, 2004 
 

Many Leads, But Slow Progress 14 Years After Gardner Heist Boston Globe  March 18, 2004    
Speculation included links to the Irish Republican Army, South American drug cartels, a private art collector, organized crime figures, or thieves trying to use the artwork as a bargaining chip to avoid prison time for another crime. "We've got some outlandish theories, but we've run them all down," said Kelly, noting that the FBI is unwilling to dismiss anyone whose name has surfaced as a possible suspect.

A dark portrait of art theft dispels the idea of glamour book review of The Irish Game: A True Story of Crime and Art July 28, 2004   
As the 14th anniversary of the theft of priceless artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Musuem approaches, a new account of the daring heist has emerged, one centering on a  Charlestown underworld figure and the Irish Republican Army. "I'm not saying who he reached out to, but Joe Murray had the ability to end this thing where everyone winds up happy, but they wouldn't pick up on him," William Youngworth said  

IRA gunrunner 'was  Boston artworks thief' Nuz Hound March 12, 2004        

 2005       

Dan Lothian Gardner heist segment transcript CNN March 18, 2005  with Harold Smith, U.S. Attorney Michael Sullivan, FBI's Geoff Kelly, and many others. March 18, 2005
"I can tell you that the guards are no longer considered suspects at this point." —FBI Gardner heist lead investigator Geoff Kelly  
Video link
"Wow. It's easy to look back and say, well, the guard shouldn't have let them in. But it is a believable way to get into a  museum, by having two guys dressed up as Boston cops responding to an alarm." —FBI SA Geoff Kelly.   
Video link    

Statement from Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum March 13, 2005     

Secrets behind the largest art theft in history  Boston Globe  March 13, 2005    “One of them looked like Colonel Klink on ‘Hogan’s Heroes.’ That’s all I can remember.” Gardner Museum Security Guard Rick Abath    

Ripped from the Walls (and the Headlines) Fifteen years after the greatest art theft in modern history the mystery may be unraveling   by Robert M. Poole Smithsonian Magazine July 2005     

 2006  

Filmmmaker [Rebecca Dreyfus Stolen] returns to scene of Gardner crime by Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe May 14, 2006
While the FBI has chased tips throughout the world, privately the investigators say they have never received a single, credible tip. 

Trailer for the 2006 Documentary Stolen 

The Avengers Boston Magazine May 15, 2006 story about Bulger prosectuors Brian Kelly, who was involved  in the Bulger investigation and Fred Whyshak
"When Connolly retired in December 1990, the FBI dropped Bulger and Flemmi as informants and began targeting them." 

The Set Up (Part One) Boston Magazine May 15, 2006 
"A few minutes later, they pulled into a parking lot in Quincy, tossed the guns into Turner’s Chevy Tahoe, and drove back to Dorchester, continuing to circle aimlessly around the neighborhood of Vietnamese lunch counters and auto service centers."    

The Set Up (Part Two) Boston Magazine May 15, 2006   
"Of Merlino's three coconspirators, Turner is the only one who could say that the FBI directly targeted him because of his suspected role in the Gardner robbery."   

2007   

'The heist of the century' The Independent April 11, 2007 (Excerpt from 'Loot' by Thomas McShane   "Suffice it to say, the informant tips coming into the Boston field office regarding the Gardner theft  were no doubt being finely screened."

Falsely Accused of the Crime of the Century Part 1 Jerry Kaplan October 30, 2007

U.S. v. Turner  August 31, 2007.  

USA v. William Merlino
Memorandum And Order On Defendant’S Motion For A New Trial November 21, 2007    

Grand jury to hear art theft case  by Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe December 17, 2007  

 2008

Suspects remain enigmas Boston Herald March 19, 2008   Unknown Suspect Nunber One  
Age: Late 20’s to mid 30’s Height: 5’7" to 5’10"    **Build:** Medium **Eyes:** Dark **Hair:** Black, short cropped **Complexion:** Fair to medium **Facial Structure:** Narrow **Facial Hair:** Wearing a dark, shiny mustache, appearing to be false **Glasses:** Wearing square-shaped, gold framed glasses **Clothing:** Fully ornamented dark blue police uniform and hat, and dark shoes, with patch on left shoulder, possibly with wording “Boston Police.” **Equipment:** Carrying a square black radio (with 5" to 6" antenna) on belt **Accent:** Possibly Boston
**Unknown Suspect Number Two**
  **Age:** Early to mid 30’s **Height:** 6’0" to 6’1" **Weight:** 180 to 200 pounds ** Build:** Fairly broad shoulders, lanky from the waist down **Eyes:** Dark **Hair:** Black, medium length, puffy with additional length in back, rounded off just over the collar **Complexion:** Fair to medium **Facial Structure:** Round **Facial Hair:** Black shiny mustache appearing to be false   **Clothing:** Same as Unknown Subject Number One **Equipment:** Same as Unknown Subject Number One **Accent:** None noted

Gardner Museum Chief repeats reward offer by Stephen Kurkjian   Boston Globe March 16, 2008
"The reality is more complicated and elusive, which is ever the way with this case."    

Putting The Pieces Togehter Boston Herald March 16, 2008     

Gardner getting new tips in search for stolen art Boston Herald March 18, 2008       

"Amore: A shoe leather sleuth" by Tom Mashberg Boston Herald June 16, 2008    

Meet The Suspects: Brian M. McDevitt March 16, 2008   

Meet the Suspects: David Allen Turner March 22, 2008   

Meet the suspects: Mobster Bobby Donati March 29, 2008   

Meet the suspects: Charles O. Pappas April 6, 2008   

Meet the suspects: Jerry Kaplan Boston Herald April 12, 2008    

Meet The Suspects Joseph P. Murray  Boston Herald April 19, 2008   

Meet the Suspects: Carmello Merlino April 26, 2008      

Meet the Suspects: George A. Reissfelder  May 3, 2008   

Meet the suspects: Myles J. Connor Jr.  May 11, 2008 

Bulger, Connolly view on '82 killing detailed Shelley Murphy Boston Globe 17 Sep 2008 
Offering a tangled look at a series of killings in the 1970s and 1980s, clouded by FBI intrigue, prosecutors are trying to convince the Miami-Dade jury that Connolly had a history of leaking sensitive information to Bulger and his sidekick, Stephen "The Rifleman" Flemmi, during his 22-year career with the bureau that left a trail of bodies. Connolly is on trial in the slaying of Boston business consultant John B. Callahan, whose bullet-riddled body was found in the trunk of his Cadillac at Miami International Airport on Aug. 2, 1982.    

  2009

The Gardner Heist: The True Story of  the World's Largest Unsolved Art Theft by Ulrich Boser 2009 (the complete book)   

Archive of Ulrich Boser writings about the Gardner heist from 2009       

The Gardner Heist: An Interview with Author Ulrich Boser ARCA February 20, 2009     
"I continued to write emails and letters,    and we built up trust and a shared understanding. And since then the museum has been exceptionally supportive...     I’m particularly indebted to director of security Anthony Amore. He’s an ace investigator; he has been very helpful to me." —Ulrich Boser
       

Real-life whodunit remains a mystery | Book Reivew The Gardner Heist by Ulrich Boser by Shelley Murphy February 27, 2009   

"Director of Security at the Gardner, Anthony Amore, takes us through the events of the [Gardner Museum]  robbery." WBUR March 12, 2009 
"At some point in the evening, and the motion detector records do not show exactly when, at least one of the thieves makes his way to the Blue Room which is here on the first floor by the courtyard.  He comes in here and comes over to the South Wall in the blue room and takes Manet's Chez Tortoni." —Anthony Amore      

A Wounded Museum Feels a Jolt of Progress March 15, 2009        

Untangling Gardner art heist: Some details tantalizing as trail grew colder by Stephen Kurkjian   Boston Globe March 15, 2009
The probe now rests primarily with one FBI agent [Geoff Kelly] who is also responsible for investigating other major thefts covered by the Bureau's Boston office. In addition, the FBI's decision to handle the case entirely on its own, without the assistance of local and Massachusetts State Police, has undercut the probe's effectiveness, according to local and State Police officers. For example, even though State and South Shore police coordinated a drug investigation that kept Merlino, Turner, and others under surveillance during the 18 months before and after the Gardner heist, the assistance of those officers was never sought by the FBI working the Gardner case.  

Suspect's brother [George Reissfelder]: ‘I saw that painting’ Boston Herald March 15, 2009    

Outdated sketches get an update Boston Herald March 15, 2009 by Tom Mashberg        

Step by step, retrace the art thieves' path by Laura Crimaldi Boston Herald March 16, 2009  "The thieves shut off a printer that spit out line-by-line data on any alarms that would be triggered by movements in the museum. But the computer hard drive still recorded their footsteps in the galleries, allowing for a partial reconstruction."      

  "Revelers recall night at museum" (Gardner Museum Eyewitness Accounts) Boston Herald March 17, 2009 by Laura Crimaldi   From the article: "That guard said he saw vehicle headlights approach the museum and two men exit a car within seconds. The guard said he was watching from a museum security monitor." But the guard Abath denied he ever saw the vehicle or the thieves exiting a vehicle. 

"The FBI conducted a three-minute interview with the male witness years later, he said. The woman said she left her phone number and address with police, but was never contacted by anyone." But the male witness, Justin Stratmen said: "I have no recollection  of ever talking to the FBI. None of the FBI folks reached out to me later on. If it was the Boston Police, was that information shared with the FBI? I don't know. But someone, who was responsible for the investigation never followed through and contacted me again, and I was an eye witness."

Interview: Ulrich Boser Going after the Gardner thieves By Jeffrey Gantz   March 24, 2009 

  Steve Keller Comment on the Boston Phoenix Ulrich Boser Interview March 24, 2009 "If the FBI interviewed everyone as poorly as they interviewed me, it's no wonder this remains unsolved. As a former police Detective in a major city and someone who knew infinitey more than they did about art crimes, I felt that they were not interested in what I might be able to tell them because they knew it all already."          

The Gardner Heistby Ulrich Boser Book Review By Richard Lacayo March 25, 2009     

PRI interview with Ulrich Boser March 27, 2009  I began to explain how I had become involved in the case, when [former FBI Gardner heist investigator   Robert] Wittman interrupted me, saying as he said in later interviews. **'Everything you know about the case, it’s all bullshit.   I can tell you that right now. It’s all speculation bullshit.'** I stumbled for a moment.   'Is there hard stuff out there?' 'I can’t get into it,' he said. 'But I’m telling you this because   I like you. You seem like a nice dude. You need to wait a little while. If you want to do a history of speculation, that’s fine.'  "I asked him about some of the people who’ve been accused of being behind the heist over the years, people like David Turner and Bobby Donati and George Reissfelder."   'Nope,' he said. 'Don’t know them.'”   

Help Solve The Mystery Of The Gardner Art Heist Boston Herald March 29, 2009  

‘Most Wanted’ to feature art heist | Boston Herald April 10, 2009            

Guard's moments before theft clouded in intrigue 
Boston Herald April 12, 2009 by Tom Mashberg "According to the museum’s records, Richard A. [Abath] set off a motion detector on the museum’s first floor. Once the thieves had control of the museum, there is no record of them setting off alarms on the first floor. Just one item among the 13 they stole was removed from the first floor – Edouard Manet’s “Chez Tortoni.” It was taken from a wall in the Blue Room. All the other pieces came from the museum’s second floor.  

Where's the Fat Man? [Richard Chicofsky] by Tom Mashberg Boston Herald April 14 2009 
Barboza wasn't Chicofsky's only victim. At least four others were conned out of more than $2 million in Chicofsky's scheme to "share" with them the reward for the return of the Gardner art, according to court affidavits. The scheme had the gulls paying Chicofsky hundreds of thousands up front, with a promise that Fat Man would pay it back with hefty interest when the Gardner reward money came through. That fraud case was dropped, reportedly due to lack of evidence.

  2010

Excerpt, Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World's Stolen Treasures by Robert K. Wittman and John Shiffman, 2010 (the Gardner heist related chapters) 

The Art of the Story Boston Magazine March 2, 2010  

DNA clues hunted in ‘90 art theft Boston Globe March 4, 2010   "Kelly acknowledged that, despite having pursued countless tips over the last two decades, investigators have received no verifiable leads on the artwork’s whereabouts or even how the theft took place." 'In the last 20 years and the last eight that I’ve had the case, there hasn’t been a concrete sighting,  or real proof of life,' Kelly said. 'At the same time, I can’t get discouraged about it.  It would be very difficult to put my heart in this investigation if I allowed myself to get discouraged.'”     

Can DNA solve 1990 art heist? UPI March 4, 2010 

‘Simpsons’ cracks case of Gardner heist Boston Herald April 13, 2010

FBI Clarifies DNA Report Boston Herald March 14, 2010    

Gardner Museum heist approaching 20th anniversary Reward, return now focus of case  Boston Globe March 14, 2010     

Turf war may have ruined  Gardner heist lead | Boston Globe April 4, 2010 (About Robert Wittman Book 'Pricesless'  

Book Tells of Undercover Operation to Recover Stolen Gardner Artwork By Dave Itzkoff April 5, 2010 (About Robert Wittman Book 'Pricesless')  
"Mr. Wittman wrote that his efforts in the investigation, called Operation Masterpiece, were sabotaged by an F.B.I. superior, called “Fred” in the book, who micromanaged his work  and tried to get him thrown off the case. 'We’d blown an opportunity to infiltrate a major art crime ring in France, a loose network of mobsters holding as many as 70 stolen masterpieces,'  Mr. Wittman wrote."    

His Heart Is in the Art of Sleuthing  By Randy Kennedy New York Times June 7, 2010    
"Robert Wittman's memoir made waves while still in galleys with its claims that the F.B.I.  botched the job of recovering the Gardner paintings,  a Vermeer, a Rembrandt seascape and possibly others  through bureaucratic infighting that caused the investigation to unravel."    

Who steals art?: Q & A; Twenty years after the Gardner heist,  detective Charles Hill says art thieves aren't so clever Boston Globe March 14, 2010 

Mass. man [William Merlino] gets 30 years in armored car plot March 12, 2011  

 2011  

1990 Robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Damforst Museum March 27, 2011  

 Whitey Bulger arrest may yield clues on Gardner heist | June 26, 2011 Boston Globe   “Just because of who he is and what he knew about crimes and corruption in Boston over the years,   the Gardner case has to be at the top of the list of other things that he gets asked about,” Donald K. Stern, former US attorney, who from 1993 to 2001 presided over the investigation into the Gardner theft as well as the hunt for Bulger, said.

  Mass. Investigators [FBI] Scoured Home Searching [Of Anthony Carlo] For Stolen Art John Zaremba Boston Herald     November 23, 2011     

 2012

Geoff Rockwell Confessions of a former Gardner Museum night guard  Alone with masterpieces, and nothing but a flashlight as a source of illumination Boston Globe January 15, 2012     

  Gardner's narrative of resiliency By Juliette Kayyem Boston Globe March 18, 2012      

Public's aid sought in ’90 Gardner Museum heist Boston Globe June 11, 2012
 Museum officials would not comment for this article. But Amore sounded optimistic recently at a lecture at the Plymouth Public Library when he said he believed the works will be found. “It’s still like trying to find a needle in the haystack, but the haystack keeps getting smaller with each lead that gets investigated,’’ he said.     

Boston Globe had role negotiating with possible Gardner heist suspect (Ransom Note) Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe November 14, 2012   

A free 2012 kindle book 'Artful Deception: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Robbery,' is a historical novel by James J. McGovern,' who worked on the Gardner Heist case as a special US attorney in 2005 and 2006.   

“The Art Forger” by B.A. Shapiro Review Boston Globe December 30, 2012  

  2013

FBI says it has identified the thieves in Gardner Museum heist; paintings' location still unknown Boston Globe by Stephen Kurkjian, Milton J. Valencia and Martin Finucane March 18, 2013  

   Art Thieves Known, FBI says Boston Globe March 18, 2013 by Stephen Kurkjian and Milton J. Valencia  
Names not divulged; trail of Gardner masterworks ended with a sale try a decade ago;  Investigators cite  progress, seek help in cracking 1990 case
"Federal investigators, in an unprecedented display of confidence that the most infamous art theft in history will soon be solved, said Monday that they know who is behind the Gardner Museum heist 23 years ago and that some of the priceless artwork was offered for sale on Philadelphia’s black market as recently as a decade ago."      

A mother's love by Editorial Board Boston Globe July 26, 2013
The FBI may be closing in on the culprits. But Gardner and the FBI are right to prioritize return of the paintings over prosecuting of those who perpetrated the crime.  
"Both the Gardner and the FBI are right to pioritize the return of the paintings over the prosecution of those wh perpetrated the crime."  

FBI Says It Has Identified Thieves In Gardner Art Heist May 18, 2013   

FBI Boston FBI Provides New Information Regarding the 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Art Heist March 18, 2013     

Gardner Museum Heist 25th Anniversary: Author Stephen Kurkjian on Noon News March 18, 2013   

The FBI recently announced it knows the identity of the Gardner Museum art heist theives. Click on the circles below to learn about some of the prime suspects.  Boston Globe Mar 19, 2013     

FBI reports tips pouring in over Gardner heist March 19, 2013      

The FBI's Art Heist Flimflam Christopher Dickey on the supposed "new information" unearthed by the FBI in the Gardner Museum art theft March 19, 2013 
"More than two decades later, no arrests have been made. No art has been recovered. And when the Feds announced Monday that they had “new information” on the heist, no meaningful details were given."  

FBI Turns Focus To Connecticut In Gardner Heist by Edmund H. Mahony Hartford Courant March 19, 2013 page 1  

FBI Turns Focus To Connecticut In Gardner Heist by Edmund H. Mahony Hartford Courant March 19, 2013 page 11    

 Tips pour in on Gardner Museum art theft 2010 call gave investigation lift Boston Globe March 20, 2013     

Philly connection to Gardner Museum heist By Kevin Cullen Boston Globe columnsit  March 22, 2013 
"So, 23 years after the ­Gardner Museum gets robbed, the feds think the art heist was pulled off by a combination of wiseguys from Boston and Philadelphia."  

A sense of urgency on Gardner Museum art recovery Works are at risk of being lost forever, observers say | by Boston Globe March 25, 2013 
“I never heard anything about any attempt by the mob to sell the artwork in Philly in 2002, and I was right there then,” said Robert Wittman, who was the FBI’s lead undercover agent for recovering stolen artwork until his retirement in 2008.    

Expert (Robert Wittman) Doubts Philly Mob's Art   Connection | BigTrial.net March 28, 2013   
“I sat next to the organized crime squad guys,” [Former FBI Special Agnet Robert] Wittman said in a telephone interview from his suburban Philadelphia office this week.  “If they had heard anything, I would have known about it. We didn’t hear a thing.”    

Chief of FBI's office [Richard DesLauriers will leave in July
DesLauriers said that he was planning to leave in the weeks before the Marathon bombs went off on April 15, but the duty of the law enforcement response kept him here."    

Ex-partner [Flemmi]: Bulger and I were FBI Informants by Port Charlotte Sun (AP July 19. 2013 "Knowingly moving stolen property across a state line would subject the thieves and anyone to prosecution under the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) seemingly regardless of how many years  after the theft the interstate transportation occurs."      

Anticipating Prosecution of the Gardner Heist Jennifer Anglim Kreder and Joseph Huber Northern Kentucky University - Salmon P. Chase College of Law  September 5, 2013 "Knowingly moving stolen property across a state line would subject the thieves and anyone to prosecution under the National Stolen Property Act (NSPA) seemingly regardless of how many years  after the theft the interstate transportation occurs."    

Framing Absence: Exhibit Inspired By Notorious Art Heist Opens At The Gardner (Anne Hawley October 25, 2013 "The museum was crawling with FBI agents, with press that were coming in from around the world," she recalled. "Also, the museum was experiencing these bomb  threats coming from people in penitentiaries that were trying to negotiate with the FBI on information they said they had — and the FBI wasn’t responding to them so they were hitting us.  You can’t paint a more difficult time."  

More Gardner Heist 2013 Links

  2014    

Gardner Heist Anniversary:   An update on investigative angles  March 16, 2014 by Ulrich Boser 

FBI speaks out about Gardner heist exclusively to FOX 25 (promo) March 21, 2014 2014       

FBI has confirmed sightings of Gardner artwork after heist (FOX25 / MyFoxBoston) May 21, 2014 
In his first TV interview, FBI Special Agent Geoff Kelly, the Bureau's leading investigator on the Gardner Case, tells FOX 25's Bob Ward the trail for the missing  Gardner artwork has not grown cold. Kelly said the Bureau has confirmed sightings, from sources the Bureau deems credible. [Like William Youngworth]
 

A Virtual Stroll Through The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum WBUR March 21, 2014       

FBI Says It Has Sources With Sightings Of Artwork Stolen From Gardner WBUR May 22, 2014  FBI Special Agent Geoff Kelly, the lead investigator, identified three "persons of interest" in the Gardner case, all with ties to organized crime: Carmello Merlino, Robert Guarente and Robert Gentile.  Merlino and Guarente have died, while Gentile has denied any knowledge of the missing work.    

FBI has confirmed sightings of Gardner artwork Boston Globe May 22, 2014   

Gardner art heist masterpieces have been   sighted, FBI agent says  Fox News 25 May 22, 2014   

Amore Fisher College March 27, 2014     

Turbo Paul Henry: Art Thief Turned Art Crime Ombudsman August 22, 2014         

Rick Abath Souncloud page October 14, 2014

Mafia Art-Heist Myster Part 1 by Scott Burnstein  November 28, 2014  

Mafia Art-Heist Myster Part PART 2 by Scott Burnstein  December 6, 2014      

Stephen ROSSETTI, Petitioner, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Respondent, Appellee December 09, 2014.      

  2015  

WBUR Interview March 12, 2015 of Stephen Kurkjian     

Ulrich Boser Book Talk February 6, 2015     

Gardner Heist 25 Years of Theories March 1, 2015    

Veteran reporter [Kurkjian] stays on scent of the Gardner heist  Dorchester News March 12, 2015        

WGBH Anne Hawley Video Interview March 17, 2015  

An open letter: Please return Gardner Museum treasures Boston Globe March 14,2015    

A crime for the ages, still a mystery, at 25 For Gardner director [Anne Hawley], a professional, personal loss Boston Globe March 14, 2015  

Search for artworks from Gardner heist continues 25 years later Boston Globe March 17, 2015    

History’s Biggest Art Heist History.com Original March 18, 2015  

Huge art heist solved? Rembrandts, Vermeer still missing USA TODAY March 31, 2015  

After 25 Years, FBI Knows Who Was Behind Daring Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist It's being pinned on a bunch of dead crooks ArtNet March 31, 2015  

FBI Solves Decades-Old Art Heist, Suspect Had Been Represented By John Kerry Breitbart March 29, 2015    

The Gardner Heist in Pop Culture by Erin Dionne March 15, 2015  

FBI should open its files on Gardner heist —The Editorial Board Boston Globe March 16, 2015     

The Biggest Art Heist in US History BBC March 17. 2015
"It wasn't a messy crime scene. The frames were left on the floor. It's not all the broken glass people would envision." Anthony Amore      

The Many Dead Ends of the Gardner Heist Investigation Boston Globe March 19, 2015   

Loss of Gardner art has left bitter, lasting impression By Sebastian Smee Globe Staff,August 6, 2015 We all love an unsolved art heist. The bravado, the brutality, the mysteries of motive and aftermath — it all seems perfectly cinema-ready.  

  What the Gardner Museum surveillance video shows Boston Globe August 6, 2015   

Video released in 25-year-old Boston art heist  CNN August 6, 2015   

New video released in infamous 1990 Boston art heist CBS News August 6, 2015  "The night watchman has somewhere in his cranium the knowledge of the identity of one of the two thieves." Stephen Kurkjian

Gardner Museum's Head Of Security Discusses Gardner heist eve video WGBH Greater Boston August 11, 2015    

Video suggests a dry run of Gardner theft Newly disclosed footage from night before shows guard admitting unidentified man Boston Globe August 6, 2015   

Gardner Heist Eve Surveillance Video released to the public August 6, 2015 U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts on youtube   

Gardner Museum guard wrote thesis on art heist Ex-watchman long matter-of-fact about opening the door to thieves Boston Globe August 6, 2015   

What we know about the security guard in the new Gardner heist video Boton Globe August 6, 2015     

Gardner Heist Thieves Are Dead The Daily Beast August 7, 2015        

With Suspects in 1990 Boston Museum Heist Dead, FBI Focuses on Finding Art by Associated Press Aug. 7, 2015     In 2013, authorities said the robbers belonged to a criminal organization based in New England and the mid-Atlantic states and took the art to Connecticut and the Philadelphia region in the years after the theft. They were offered for sale in Philadelphia about a decade ago and have not been seen since, the FBI said at the time.    

"Newly Released Gardner Video Raises Questions About Initial Investigation" WBUR August 7, 2015   "It's unreal to imagine I was there and saw them up close and that that information was not considered valuable or helpful  to the FBI," eyewitness Nancy Clougherty said.    

Gardner Museum guard doesn't recall visit Some tips come in after release of footage of encounter on night before $500m heist Boston Globe August 7, 2015   

Retiring FBI chief in Boston [Vincent Lisi] shares, yet keeps quiet by Kevin Cullen Boston Globe August 9, 2015       

FBI tracking tips spurred by video tied to 25-year-old Boston art heist Reuters August 11, 2015        

Quincy attorney [George Burke] says he may have clue to Gardner museum heist   

Attorney says former client can ID man in Gardner video by Hilary Sargent Boston Globe August 10, 2015 

Attorney George Burke Interview Surveillance Video Provides New Clue In Gardner Museum Heist CBS Boston August 11, 2015  

Possible ID in Gardner museum video Mystery man is said to have connection to crime figures Boston Globe August 10, 2015  

History’s Biggest Art Heist CBS News, December 6, 2015  

When a half a billion dollars worth of art vanished CBS Good Morning December 6, 2015
"Someone went in that  Blue Room that night and the only one that went in the room that night was the security guard according to the motion sensor printouts."     —FBI Gardner Heist lead investigator Geoff Kelly       

An interview with Stephen Kurkjian, formerly of the Boston Globe, about   art heists, investigation and journalism by J.R. Hennessey December 24, 2015   "The most important thing is to keep [your] eye on the narrative." —Stephen Kurkjian      

Latest search for   Gardner paintings came up empty by Stephen Kurkjian Boston Globe December 27, 2015   "The Gardner thieves have never been publicly identified, although in 2013 the head of the FBI’s Boston office said at a press conference that the agency knew who had pulled off the robbery and that both men were dead." Fact Check: The "the head of the FBI’s Boston office" did not say the thieves were dead in 2013 at a press conference in 2013.       

More Gardner Heist 2015 Links        

  2016  

Meet the Indiana Jones of Stolen Art (Arthur Brand) by Beckett Mufson Vice January 21, 2016   

Kurkjian Master Thieves Gardner robbery lecture Weston Library January 20, 2016  

Art & Politics: Changing Hearts and Minds led by Anne Hawley The Institute of Politics at Harvard University Feb 24, 2016        

Former FBI official  Richard DesLauriers recalls tough cases March 3, 2016    

To solve   the world's biggest art heist, engage a community's outrage by Stepehn Kurkjian Tampa Bay Times March 11, 2016     

A final attempt to recover stolen art   by Stephen Kurkjian April 1, 2016   

The Mystery of Chez Tortoni by Christopher Ehlers Dig  Boston April 22, 2016    

Retired FBI agent (Tom Cassano) shares insight on Boston art heist May 9, 2016     

Notorious Boston mobster-turned-pastor   [Robert Luisi] has clues about Gardner heist by By Stephen Kurkjian and Shelley Murphy Boston Globe July 26, 2016
In a series of interviews from his Memphis home, the 55-year-old Luisi revealed that one of those associates, Robert “Unc” Guarente, told him years ago that the stolen Gardner paintings were buried beneath a home in Florida.     

   Boston mobster turned Memphis pastor discusses $500 million art heist by Kristin Leigh and WHBQ - Memphis July 28, 2016        

New Evidence in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist Case  WERS October 11, 2016
"The motion that was detected in that room was recorded earlier in the night when Abath was making his rounds. Did Abath himself grab the Monet [Manet] even before the thieves arrived at the museum? Amore declined to comment about Abath saying he wouldn't speak about past employees."                

  2017  

Six theories behind the stolen   Gardner Museum paintings Boston Globe March 18, 2017      

 A look at all the art work that was stolen from the Gardner Museum by Heather Ciras Globe Staff   March 18, 2017          

 'We want our paintings back now': Gardner Museum doubles reward for stolen art to $10m By Shelley Murphy Boston Globe  May 23, 2017
Last week, in response to inquiries from the Globe, Kristen Setera, a spokeswoman for the FBI’s Boston office,  said investigators have identified the man, but declined to name him publicly or say whether his admission to  the museum is considered suspicious."

Boston museum hikes reward to $10M for artwork taken in '90 heist UPI May 24, 2017    

Adnan Khashoggi, High-Living Saudi Arms Trader, Dies at 81 New York Times June 6, 2017 

Will a $10 million reward solve the world's biggest art heist? CNN June 7, 2017                 

Did the FBI Lose Evidence from the Gardner Museum Heist? Duct tape and handcuffs from the robbery are missing Spencer Buell Boston Magazine June 12, 2017    

Evidence  in Gardner Museum thefts that might bear DNA is missing Stephen Kurkjian and Shelley Murphy June 12, 2017      

Another Mystery: What Happened To Evidence In The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist? by Phillip Martin WGBH June 13, 2017      

'Indiana Jones Of The Art World'   [Arthur Brand] Says He Can Solve Gardner Museum Art Heist June 20, 2017 CBS News Local         

Cracking the Biggest Art Heist in History Bloomberg News   June 20, 2017       

Martial  law victims push for faster recovery of Marcos wealth, including missing paintings CNN Philippines September 6, 2017 

Mysteries In The Museum: Crime And Deception In Art  WNPR  SEP 8, 2017 Interview with Stephen Kurkjian  

The Sword AND The Stone (Parts 1-10) by GARDNERHEIST.COM September 7, 2017 Was there a credible attempt to negotiate a deal for a return of the paintings in the days following the Gardner Heist? 

Accused Mobster Tied to Boston Art Heist [Robert Gentile] to  Undergo Psychiatric Test September 22, 2017       

The ‘Sociopath’ Scholar   [Joe Gibbons] Who Made Films of His Crimes Tried to Confess to America’s Most Famous Art Heist  Daily Beast September 29, 2017       

A Historical Examination of the Gardner Museum Heist  Basement Crime Scene by GARDNERHEIST.COM Dec 6, 2017
Descriptions of the guard, Rick Abath’s state when he is found by Boston Police in the basement of the Gardner Museum have been frequent and dramatic, yet highly divergent, in their particulars, and contradict what crime scene photos clearly show.     

 $10 million reward expiring for information on Gardner Museum heist Boston 25 News   December 14, 2017   

 $10m reward for stolen Gardner museum artwork set to expire at end of 2017   Boston Globe December 15, 2017

  2018  

$10M Reward Extended For Return Of Stolen Gardner Museum Art January 11, 2018       

This Podcast [Empty Frames] Is Trying to Solve One of the Greatest   Art Crimes in History  Margaret Carrigan The Observer February 8, 2018      

Gardner museum releases new book about infamous art   heist Boston25 News April 2, 2018   
the Boston museum robbed of $500 million worth of artwork in 1990 has published a new illustrated book about the theft that includes [two short] essays written by key staff members.
Fact Check: It is a coffee table book, with the equivlanent of one newspapers story about the Gardner heist.     

   How John Henry Overcame His Doubts And Decided To Buy The Boston Globe [in 2013] by Dan Kennedy WGBH May 14, 2018   
Henry decided to make a personal offer, without partners, to avoid conflicts of interest and so that he could run the Globe as he saw fit. “I made the decision that prospects were so dark that I could not in good conscience bring them along,” he explained. “I realized that there were such tough decisions that had to be made that in order to make them I had to be insulated from partners.”    

The Revere Public Library presents Stephen Kurkjian May 16, 2018           

WBUR   Last Seen Podcast Promo July 19, 2018          

What Happened Inside The Gardner Museum During The Heist WBUR September 15, 2018      

Episode 10: 'Last Seen' Live WBUR November 19, 2018        

Last Seen Podcast 2018 September-November 2018 Transcript (TEXT FILE)   

WBUR: Anthony Brookes interview with Kelly Horan November 19, 2018 Time 37:15       

What Happened Inside The Gardner Museum During The Heist WBUR September 15, 2018          

What Happened Inside The Gardner Museum During The Heist  WBUR  September 16, 2018
  "What we don't know is when they [the thieves] went into the Blue Room, to take Chez Tortoni  that could have been the first room they entered we don't know because no motion sensors on the first floor   went off that night, so it's difficult to say when that was taken." —Anthony Amore
   

Murdered mob boss gave stolen Boston art to IRA, says former Met detective The Guardian November 4, 2018      

[Last Seen Review]   The Mystery of the Inconclusive Podcast The New Yorker November 21, 2018     

False Facts in WBUR/Boston Globe's Last Seen Podcast, Season One Episode 1-9 December 31,  2018     

    "How Boston can still solve the Isabella Stewart Gardner case — before it’s too late  As a new true-crime podcast about the theft launches, a possible path to solving the Gardner heist mystery." [Anything is possible.] By Stephen KurkjianUpdated September 16, 2018  

 2019 

"Empty Frames" podcast discussion with Kerry Joyce about the Gardner  heist eve video and the Gardner Museum basement crimce scene January 31, 2019  

 Researchgate Stephen Kurkjian Interview March 1, 2019   

An office focused on what's missing Boston Globe March 12, 2019     

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum: 29 years after   infamous art heist by Bob Ward, Boston 25 News March 19, 2019    

   Brian Ross Investigates: Head of the FBI's Art Theft Squad Not Sure if Stolen Gardner Museum Pieces   Are Still in U.S.  June 7, 2019      

Brian Ross Investigates: Video of Interview with Head of the FBI's Art Theft Squad June 7, 2019 

Head of  the FBI's Art Theft Squad Not Sure if Stolen Gardner Museum Pieces Are Still in U.S. Brian Ross Investigates June 7th, 2019   

FBI art heist agent says missing Gardner   works may not be in U.S. by Jonathan Ng  Boston Herald June 8, 2019 

Did Whitey Bulger Pull Off  the Gardner Art Heist for the IRA? Daily Beast July 3, 2019   

A mystery for the ages: the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum heist The world’s greatest unsolved art theft continues to obsess—and stump—investigators The Art Newspaper July 17, 2019
"'I’m still wildly obsessed, more than ever,' he [Amore] says. 'I constantly think about those paintings.' Geoffrey Kelly, the FBI’s lead investigator on the theft since 2002, who works closely with Amore, considers himself 'equally obsessed.'”  

The goods on the Gardner heist Arnie Reisman and Nat Segaloff’s screenplay lays out how it went down. September 4, 2019         

  After 20 years in prison, Stephen Rossetti goes free — but Gardner art heist remains unsolved by Shelley Murphy Boston Globe October 4, 2019      

Dorchester Man [David Turner] Resentenced for Role in  Plot to Rob Armored Car Depot United States Attorney Office, District of Massachusetts November 13, 2019       

Man suspected in Gardner museum heist [David Turner] set free by Shelley Murphy Boston Globe November 13, 2019     

Man With [Anything is] Possible   Ties to Gardner Heist [David Turner] Released from Prison Fox 25 News November 14, 2019   

  2020      

Art sleuth says it’s time to change strategy on Gardner heist Indiana Jones of the Art World says offer individual rewards January 5, 2020.       

   Last Seen - America's biggest art heist Last Seen - America's biggest art heist  Radio New Zealand March 3, 2020 Article plus audio Interview with Kelly Horan    

 The Theft an Immersive Audio Walk Gardner Museum March 6, 2020 "Over the intercom from outside, the thieves say that they’re responding to a report of a disturbance. It seemed plausible. After all, it was the night of St. Patrick’s Day. Revelers are still out on the streets. Against protocol, the thieves disguised as police are buzzed in." Anthony Amore Gardner Museum Director Of Security Published March 8, 2020 Note: Insincere and outdated.  

Empty Frames podcast discussion with Kerry Joyce about Gardner heist press coverage,  the silent alarm and Gardner heist June 16, 2020 politics    

  The Case of the Empty Frames Remains Art World’s Biggest Mystery   Bloomberg  June 30 2020 "So many people have put forth so many theories that at this point it’s hard to say what’s real." ([Mission Accomplished!]  

Webinar Transcript "Behind the Scenes of the Gardner Museum Heist With Chief Investigator, Anthony Amore"  
August 1, 2020  Video: Behind-the-Scenes of the Gardner Museum Heist First Republic Bank August 1, 2020

 2021   

 More than 30 years later, Paul Calantropo claim in the Gardner Museum art heist surfaces Shelley Murphy Boston Globe  November 30, 2021  
Over the past year, Calantropo has been working behind the scenes with an unlikely assortment of sleuths — including  a retired law enforcement official, two former convicts and retired Boston Globe investigative reporter Stephen Kurkjian — in hopes of finding the artwork. In April, the group signed an agreement with the Gardner Museum.  
Fact Check: Calantropo was working behind the scenes for years with Kurkjian during a time when the retired Kurkjian wrote numerous articles about the Gardner heist case for the Boston Globe.     

Using 'the old shoe-leather thing, sleuth found 'The Scream, dissected Gardner heist Boston, Charley Hill, dies   Globe March 24, 2021   

Spinning Whitey Bulger's Grave by GARDNERHEIST.COM March 27, 2021  

The Gardner Heist Mystery  Is A Media Facilitated Coverup GARDNERHEIST.COM May 21, 2021 

  2022   

 The Loomis Fargo Depot Robbery, A Gardner Heist Fable by GARDNERHEIST.COM January 1, 2022         

  The Boston Globe and the New Fabulism (Parts 1-6)  by GARDNERHEIST.COM January 7, 2022     

Investigators suspect a link between the Gardner Museum heist and an execution-style murder in Lynn By Shelley Murphy Boston Globe  February 27, 2022    

The Boston Globe and the New Fabulism (Part 6) by GARDNERHEIST.COM May 18, 2022 
While the taller and taller tall-tales of Myles Connor's do not generally make it into the Boston Globe, many do appear at length, in the paper's "new media" projects, such as Last Seen Podcast, and the Netflix documentary, "This Is A Robbery."    

  2023 

Art Crime, Repatriation, Antiquities Trafficking Book List: A spreadsheet of books about cultural heritage crime, art law, and related things,  from art crime scholar Donna Yates    February 16, 2023 A spreadsheet of books about cultural heritage crime and related things     

  Official FBI Podcast released June 23, 2023: Inside the FBI Podcast: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist 
This is a transcript of the 16 minute podcast with a youtube link to the audio. 

  2024 

For sale: 7-bed mansion in Atlanta with ... a Rembrandt stolen 34 years ago in the Gardner heist? Boston Globe March 17, 2024        

  Gardner Heist Aftermath Post-Truth Makes Camp in the Athens of America (Part One) March 17, 2024 by GARDNERHEIST.COM     

   The Misidentifying of Reissfelder and DiMuzio as Gardner Heist suspects by GARDNERHEIST.COM March 27, 2024    A case study in how disinformation from powerful status quo interests made its way into the news feed of a top notch, top rated local news provider.  

   Isabella Stewart Gardner Art Museum Robbery: Myth Busting Video Presentation by Charles Sabba March 30,   2024        

    FBI lead investigator of Gardner heist retiring, [Geoff Kelly] speaks of recent potential sightings of stolen art  Boston 25 News April 26, 2024 
"Special Agent Kelly says the FBI knows who pulled off the Gardner Heist and how it went down." Fact Check: A year earlier Kelly said:
"We really have a good idea of how we think the heist went down back in 1990."

  2025

  On the 35th anniversary of the Gardner Museum heist, retired FBI agent offers theory on whodunnit    [George Reissfelder and Leonard DiMuzio] Boston Globe March 18, 2025
 Rick "Abath, who died in 2024, steadfastly maintained he had nothing to do with the heist. [ex-FBI Gardner heist lead investigator now retired] Geoff Kelly is convinced he did."  

"Empty Frames" podcast discussion with "Irreplacebable" Author, Charles Pinning, about his theory of Joe Gibbons' involvement March 21, 2025  

History's Worst Draft   The Big Lie The Boston Globe can't stop telling about a key historical fact of the FBI's  Gardner heist investigation. by GARDNERHEIST.COM June 18, 2025

   
Before the Heist — Pre-1990 Links   

Rick Abath Links

Rod Ramsay Links

Brian McDevitt Links

William Youngworth Links

Robert Gentile Links

Myles Connor Links

Robert Donati Links

Gardner Heist Timelines

Most authoritative, historically accurate but not perfect  Shows one thief going into the Little Salon and another into the Tapestry Room, contradicting official statements. 

Gardner Robbery Timeline  

Infographic: A Minute-By-Minute Look At The Gardner Museum Heist Boston Magazine March 18, 2013  

Illustrated Timeline of Gardner heist   

The Gardner Heist: Interview with Lead Investigator, Anthony Amore  

The Gardner Robbery in Art and The Culture

Paintings Stolen in America’s Biggest Art Heist Have Returned to Their Frames—Thanks to Augmented Reality  

Hacking The Heist: Using the magic of augmented reality, the stolen art returns back to its rightful home.  

Artist [Kota Ezawa] Recreates 13 Stolen Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Masterpieces in New Show    

Kota Ezawa: Gardner Museum Revisited at Christopher Grimes Gallery    

Interview with artist Sophie Calle discussing her two Gardner heist related exhibits: 'What Do You See?' and 'Last Seen.'  

Concepts Recalls Great American Heists In Adidas Consortium Collaboration  

Gardner Museum’s new audio tour follows the footprints  of the art thieves by Murray Whyte Boston Globe March 13, 2020
The Gardner could have hired an actor, which might have added an air of urgency, of potboiler drama. Amore, instead, sounds forlorn, his sense of loss achingly genuine. There’s something perfect about Amore’s natural cadence, slow and clear, crumbling at the edges. It leavens the story’s inherent sensationalism, brings it down to ground, moors it to reality. The theft is the Gardner’s loss, but there’s something unmistakable, in hearing his voice, that it’s just as much Amore’s.  

The Greatest Art Heist in History (feat. Martin Starr & Brett Gelman) - Drunk History  

Buzzfeed Unsolved The Thrilling Gardner Museum Heist  

Buzzfeed Unsolved Gardner Museum Heist Q + A  

Last Seen Podcast parody transcript  

Beat The Press podcast parody transcript     

Review of 2005 Documentary "Stolen" by Travis Simpkins Old review of an even older documentary but more disinformation has been put out since it came out and this website has a lot of good Gartner related material, especially images, including his own orginal artwork.   

Novels and Fiction About the Gardner Heist

"The Secrets of Alias Matthew Goldman: Does one man know where half-a-billion dollar's worth of stolen artworks are?"  

"Moxie and the Art of Rule Breaking: A 14 Day Mystery" by Erin Dionne [Children's Middle Grade Mystery & Detective Books]  

Charlesgate Confidential by  Scott Von Doviak 

"A Discerning Eye," by Carol Orange  

"The Music Lesson," by Katharine Weber    

Artful Deception: The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Rob Kindle Edition by James McGovern  

The Docent Paperback – March 3, 2016 by Tom Kenny  

Irreplaceable by Charles Pinning  

Murder at the Gardner (Homer Kelly, #7) by Jane Langton    About a theft at the Gardner Museum, it was published a year before the Gardner heist.    

Nonfiction Works About the Gardner Heist and related topics

Howard Means: "This book still needs to be written," but.... 
coming in April 2017 from Scribner: THREE MINUTES TO DOOMSDAY, by Joe Navarro, with a little help from a friend. Movie maybe to follow! from the April 13, 2015, VARIETY: George Clooney and Grant Heslov’s Smokehouse Pictures has picked up the film rights to Joe Navarro’s [not yet written at that point] “Three Minutes to Doomsday.” 

Information Warfare, Forging Communication Strategies for Twenty-first Century Operational Environments by James Farwell USMC Press 

Netflix "This Is A Robbery," 2020 Complete Transcript  I have no recollection of ever talking to the FBI. None of the FBI folks reached out to me later on. If it was the Boston Police, was that information shared with the FBI? I don't know. But someone, who was responsible for the investigation never followed through and contacted me again, and I was an eye witness. Justin Stratman, Episode 2

Netflix series "This Is A Robbery" looks at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist   Boston Globe March 11, 2021
Linda Pizzuti Henry, chief executive officer of Boston Globe Media Partners, parent company of The Boston Globe, is also an executive producer on the project. Colin Barnicle said the series draws on the work of previous investigators who “laid the groundwork," and includes interviews with a number [4] of current and former Globe reporters, criminal investigators, museum workers, and others associated with the case.

New England's Unsolved: "The Gardner heist 30 years later" Transcript Boston 25 News March 20, 2020   

How It Really Happened with Jesse L. Martin Gardner Art Heist Stealing Beauty  Transcript CNN May 19, 2024    

Master Thieves by Stephen Kurkjian, the complete book   "Hardly master thieves, the intruders pulled the majestic Rembrandt from where it hung on the far wall of the gallery and threw it to the marbled floor, shattering the glass in the huge frame." —Stephen Kurkjian "Master Thieves" page 49

Gardner Art Recovery Rewards 1990-2020

Journalists note: $5M reward for stolen art! March 18, 2008         

Gardner Museum Offers New $100,000 Reward For Item [the Napoleonic finial] Stolen During Infamous Heist 

Adnan Khashoggi, High-Living Saudi Arms Trader, Dies at 81 New York Times June 6, 2017 

$10m reward for stolen Gardner museum artwork set to expire at end of 2017 Boston Globe December 15, 2017          

Former official FBI [Richard DesLauriers]  recalls tough cases, weighs in on others Worcester Telegram June 3, 2016   

Old Dirty Boston podcast interview Anthony Amore Interview     

Stephen Kurkjian at the Southborough Library March 10, 2016   

A Tribute to Bill Cunningham from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum October 11, 2016