The cheerful St. Patrick’s Day on March 18th 1990 at Boston saw everybody completely occupied with the green festival of the masses, completely oblivious to a dark plan taking shape and being implemented – a task that is going to leave Boston scarred with a great loss.
The Isabella Stewart Gardner museum was approached by two unwelcomed police officers in its 4-storeyed grandeur that held some of the greatest treasures of art. The police officers forced their way in with the authority that their uniforms gave them and hand cuffed the two guards inside the building under grounds of suspicion. The police officers were thieves in disguise; their motive would not have been too difficult to understand given that they were standing in the compounds of a museum holding many priceless art works.
The lost works:
The thieves quickly paved their way through 13 pieces of art in about 81 minutes including many 4 Rembrandts. To any art-lover this count would be enough to force a tear drop. However, more than the loss of precious art, this theft which accounted to an estimated loss of $500m is also officially the greatest property theft till date. Empty frames still hang in the Gardner museum as a sad reminder of the loss but also as a hopeful placeholder for the return on the works.
The Quest:
The news of the great loss did not take time to trigger investigations to be branched out towards every possible corner. Though the progress of these investigations had been put to several pit falls, and hindrances due to several internal matters; however, the search continued and is claimed to be fast-paced.
Over the last few years, the FBI has short listed on many places. FBI’s Richard DesLauriers confirmed that the agency believes the theft to be conducted by a criminal organization from New England and the Mid Atlantic States. Authorities are also said to believe that the art works were later taken to Connecticut and Philadelphia years after the theft, and there were attempts of sale, successful or unsuccessful, that were made in Philadelphia about a decade ago.
Carmen Ortiz, a US attorney, confirmed that as the statute of limitations has expired the accused will be facing full charges, but she signalled towards potential immunity deals to retrieve the art.
The Fumble:
As is expected and needed from mass media, press of all kinds have been hovering above every authority in charge of the case. DesLauriers have been constantly dodging all questions of identity of the thieves as he believes any revelation of this kind can delay the investigation further.
Last year, a Connecticut man – Robert Gentile – was reportedly under suspicious eyes for the crime but later he pleaded guilty for a weapons and prescription drugs case. His lawyer confirmed that Gentile testified of having no connection to the theft but only certain acquaintances which that authorities suspect as accused.
FBI now reveals that they have finally solved the mystery of who stole the art work but to many a disappointment, they are still not disclosing the information. This leads to more speculations and a scope of further twists and turns to the already daunting theft at Isabella Stewart Gardner museum located in Boston.
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