1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:05,440 Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to this day in History class, where 2 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: we uncover the remnants of history every day. Today is 3 00:00:10,560 --> 00:00:23,159 Speaker 1: March eighteen. The day was March eighteenth, nine in the 4 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,480 Speaker 1: wee hours of the morning. At around midnight, a car 5 00:00:26,640 --> 00:00:29,600 Speaker 1: rolled up to the side entrance of the Isabella Stewart 6 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: Gartner Museum in Boston, Massachusetts. Two men disguised as police 7 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,080 Speaker 1: officers pushed the museum buzzer, said they had received a 8 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:42,040 Speaker 1: call for a disturbance and asked to be let in. 9 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:45,960 Speaker 1: The guard agreed to let them in the employee entrance 10 00:00:46,280 --> 00:00:49,920 Speaker 1: and stepped away from his post. The men then handcuffed 11 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: that security guard and a second one and tied them 12 00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,240 Speaker 1: up in the museum's basement, and by the time they 13 00:00:56,320 --> 00:01:00,600 Speaker 1: left the museum, the thieves had stolen thirteen insanely expensive 14 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:04,640 Speaker 1: works of art and a bronze Eagle finial. It was 15 00:01:04,720 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: the most valuable recorded art theft ever. Here's how they 16 00:01:09,200 --> 00:01:15,080 Speaker 1: got away with such a massive heist. That morning, Bostonians 17 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: were still out after partying on St. Patrick's Day, But 18 00:01:19,240 --> 00:01:22,440 Speaker 1: when one of the men pushed the buzzer at am 19 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:25,880 Speaker 1: and said they were policemen, a museum guard named Richard 20 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: Abbot saw their uniforms and decided to let them in 21 00:01:29,360 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: against protocol. They pretended to arrest Abboth, cuffing him, and 22 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:37,800 Speaker 1: when another security guard showed up to the scene, they 23 00:01:37,800 --> 00:01:42,039 Speaker 1: cuffed him too. At that point, the impersonators admitted that 24 00:01:42,080 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 1: it was no arrest but a robbery. The thieves took 25 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:49,640 Speaker 1: the guards to the basement of the museum, then handcuffed 26 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: them two pipes and duct tape their heads, hands and feet. 27 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 1: Because those two guards were the only people on watch 28 00:01:56,760 --> 00:01:59,720 Speaker 1: at the museum, it basically became a free for all, 29 00:02:00,680 --> 00:02:03,240 Speaker 1: well at least after they disarmed the video cameras in 30 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:08,519 Speaker 1: the building. As Isabella Stewart Gartner's collection contained thousands of paintings, 31 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:13,160 Speaker 1: rare books, sculptures, textiles, and other costly imprecious pieces of art, 32 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: the thieves had hit the jackpot. The thieves went up 33 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:20,440 Speaker 1: to the Dutch room on the second floor, where they 34 00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: removed a sixteen twenty nine self portrait of Dutch painter 35 00:02:24,480 --> 00:02:28,560 Speaker 1: Rembrandts off the wall, but in a comedic turn, they 36 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: couldn't get the wooden panel out of his heavy frame, 37 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:37,040 Speaker 1: so they left it unceremoniously on the floor. However, that 38 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:40,359 Speaker 1: didn't stop them from going to town on other masterpieces. 39 00:02:41,160 --> 00:02:44,040 Speaker 1: They cut Rembrandt's Christ in the Storm on the Sea 40 00:02:44,080 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: of Galilee out of its frame and did the same 41 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: with Rembrandt's double portrait called a Lady and Gentleman in Black. 42 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,720 Speaker 1: They also took the concert and oil painting by Vermeer. 43 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:00,519 Speaker 1: They also plucked a bronze Chinese beak are called a 44 00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,800 Speaker 1: goo from a table in the Dutch Room, along with 45 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:06,480 Speaker 1: a couple of other items, and dipped off to a 46 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,400 Speaker 1: room called the Short Gallery on the same floor. In 47 00:03:10,400 --> 00:03:13,799 Speaker 1: that gallery they stole off with five day God drawings 48 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:17,800 Speaker 1: and oddly enough, a bronze eagle finial that was on 49 00:03:17,880 --> 00:03:20,919 Speaker 1: top of a Napoleonic flag they failed to make away with. 50 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:24,200 Speaker 1: Then they moved on to the Blue Room on the 51 00:03:24,240 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: ground floor, where they took Shay Tortoni, an oil portrait 52 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,799 Speaker 1: by French impressionist Manet. After making two trips to their 53 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,160 Speaker 1: car with the art, the thieves escaped at two forty 54 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,760 Speaker 1: five in the morning, just an hour and twenty one 55 00:03:39,760 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: minutes after they began their heist. Museum directors, private investigators, 56 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: and the FBI have looked into the theft. Suspects were 57 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: ruled out, including the guards and a museum director who 58 00:03:53,280 --> 00:03:58,400 Speaker 1: died in and in fact, the FBI said agents knew 59 00:03:58,400 --> 00:04:02,320 Speaker 1: who the thieves were in but couldn't release their names 60 00:04:02,840 --> 00:04:06,760 Speaker 1: and they were dead anyway. Tons of people have claimed 61 00:04:06,760 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: they've seen the paintings, but none of the artworks have 62 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:15,360 Speaker 1: been recovered. Unfortunately, most stolen artwork is not returned. The 63 00:04:15,400 --> 00:04:19,600 Speaker 1: statute of limitations on the theft expired in so the 64 00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,080 Speaker 1: thieves couldn't be charged anyway. Considering how that thieves treated 65 00:04:24,120 --> 00:04:27,680 Speaker 1: the artwork immaturishly when they stole them from the museum, 66 00:04:27,720 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: there's a good chance the works met a devastating fate, 67 00:04:31,839 --> 00:04:34,320 Speaker 1: but many people are holding out hope that they'll make 68 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: their way back to the collection. The works that were 69 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,120 Speaker 1: stolen are valued at about five million dollars total. Today 70 00:04:42,240 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: they are empty frames where they used to hang, and 71 00:04:45,160 --> 00:04:49,000 Speaker 1: the museum is offering ten million dollars to anyone who 72 00:04:49,040 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: can point them to all thirteen artworks in good condition. 73 00:04:54,279 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: I'm Eves Jeff Cooke, and hopefully you know a little 74 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: more about history today than you did yesterday. As a 75 00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:06,919 Speaker 1: little bonus information about this heist, Federal investigators have thought 76 00:05:06,960 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: that mafia members were involved in the museum stuff and 77 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: rumors have floated around that the Irish Republican Army had 78 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,240 Speaker 1: something to do with it. The late crime boss Whitey 79 00:05:19,279 --> 00:05:23,120 Speaker 1: Bulger has even been a target of suspicion regarding this stuff, 80 00:05:23,680 --> 00:05:27,720 Speaker 1: but the museum denies this theory. Look, I know it's 81 00:05:27,760 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: really hard to give up a Vermere that's worth millions 82 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:34,360 Speaker 1: of dollars, But if you have any information about any 83 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:36,800 Speaker 1: of the items that were stolen this day, or if 84 00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: you have just any other cool facts about the museum heist, 85 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: then feel free to let us know on Facebook, Instagram 86 00:05:43,839 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: or Twitter at t d i HC Podcast, Thanks for 87 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,440 Speaker 1: listening today and we'll see you again tomorrow with more 88 00:05:52,520 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: tidbits from history.