1 00:00:00,760 --> 00:00:04,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, I know, multimillion dollar art heists or something we 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:06,800 Speaker 1: usually see on TV or in the movies, But they 3 00:00:06,840 --> 00:00:09,799 Speaker 1: happened in real life too, as we saw last month 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:13,000 Speaker 1: in the robbery at the Louver Museum in Paris. While 5 00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:15,920 Speaker 1: they rounded up the robbers in that case, up to now, 6 00:00:16,320 --> 00:00:19,840 Speaker 1: they haven't recovered this centuries old French royal jewels that 7 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:22,800 Speaker 1: were stolen. But did you know there was a world 8 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: record art theft in Boston thirty five years ago with 9 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:30,080 Speaker 1: paintings stolen that were worth more than the Louver's jewels. 10 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:35,640 Speaker 1: I'm Patty Steele, a fake mustache, crummy security, and hundreds 11 00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: of millions of dollars disappears into thin air. That's next 12 00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:49,480 Speaker 1: on the backstory. The backstory is back. We're all sort 13 00:00:49,479 --> 00:00:52,319 Speaker 1: of amazed that one of the most high profile art 14 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 1: museums in the world could have such crummy security. Last 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,600 Speaker 1: month in Paris, the Louver Museum was robbed by some 16 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,039 Speaker 1: pretty basic everyday criminals. One guy was last arrested after 17 00:01:04,200 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: ramming his car into an ATM to get some cash, 18 00:01:07,600 --> 00:01:11,360 Speaker 1: and another has a record involving mostly traffic tickets. So 19 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:14,759 Speaker 1: how did these guys break into the museum that houses 20 00:01:14,840 --> 00:01:18,240 Speaker 1: the Mona Lisa Well. They had a small truck with 21 00:01:18,280 --> 00:01:21,200 Speaker 1: an extension ladder and backed it up to a balcony 22 00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:25,000 Speaker 1: outside the museum gallery that held the priceless jewels. They 23 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 1: smashed through the glass and then broke open the cases 24 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 1: holding the jewels and took off. Turns out the museum 25 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:35,160 Speaker 1: had few outdoor cameras and none were pointed at the 26 00:01:35,200 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: window where the robbers broke in. Plus the ones they 27 00:01:38,560 --> 00:01:43,120 Speaker 1: did have were really really old, pretty crummy equipment. And 28 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:47,119 Speaker 1: guess what this isn't all that unusual. The biggest art 29 00:01:47,160 --> 00:01:51,080 Speaker 1: heist in history happened thirty five years ago in Boston, 30 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: and the robbers got away with thirteen pieces of art, 31 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:58,480 Speaker 1: today worth at least six hundred million dollars, the highest 32 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:03,280 Speaker 1: value museum robbery in world history. Isabella Stewart Gardner was 33 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:06,000 Speaker 1: born into a wealthy family in New York City in 34 00:02:06,040 --> 00:02:09,120 Speaker 1: eighteen forty. She fell in love with art as a 35 00:02:09,160 --> 00:02:12,720 Speaker 1: young teen and dreamed of opening her own museum one day. 36 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: When she was just twenty years old, she married her 37 00:02:16,000 --> 00:02:20,040 Speaker 1: very wealthy husband, John Lowell Gardner from Boston, and that's 38 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:23,600 Speaker 1: where they lived. Sadly, they lost their only child when 39 00:02:23,639 --> 00:02:26,639 Speaker 1: he was less than two years old, so they immediately 40 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 1: began traveling and collecting art, spending a total of ten 41 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:34,200 Speaker 1: years on the road collecting art from all over the world. 42 00:02:34,919 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: The pair raised John's brother's kids after their parents had died, 43 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: and they joined them on their collecting trips. At home 44 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:46,119 Speaker 1: in Boston, Isabella was a noted socialite. She was well liked, 45 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: but she was considered a character. At one point, she 46 00:02:49,560 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: showed up for a Boston Symphony Orchestra concert, usually a 47 00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:57,880 Speaker 1: black tie occasion, wearing a big white headband with giant 48 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: red letters on it reading, oh you red socks. The 49 00:03:02,040 --> 00:03:04,720 Speaker 1: local press said it caused a panic in that very 50 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:08,880 Speaker 1: stuffy audience. After her husband died in eighteen ninety eight, 51 00:03:09,400 --> 00:03:12,520 Speaker 1: Isabella began to build the museum the two had dreamed 52 00:03:12,520 --> 00:03:18,679 Speaker 1: of to house all their art, which included paintings by Rembrandt, Monnet, Vermier, Bocelli. 53 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:21,960 Speaker 1: She had her building design to look like a palazzo 54 00:03:22,040 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: in Venice, her favorite destination. When it was done, she 55 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: moved into an apartment on the top floor and began 56 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,359 Speaker 1: laying out her museum. In some cases, she had pieces 57 00:03:33,400 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: of her fabulous gowns cut off and displayed under some 58 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:40,800 Speaker 1: of her priceless paintings to make the display more personal. 59 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:44,200 Speaker 1: She wanted the public to come in and enjoy these 60 00:03:44,280 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 1: beautiful paintings. When the museum opened in nineteen o three, 61 00:03:48,760 --> 00:03:51,840 Speaker 1: she had the Boston Symphony there to entertain, and she 62 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,200 Speaker 1: handed out glasses of champagne and doughnuts to the crowd. 63 00:03:55,960 --> 00:03:59,160 Speaker 1: She continued to live upstairs until her death in nineteen 64 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 1: twenty four, wandering through the galleries to move pieces around 65 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: when she was in the mood. But here's the thing. 66 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:09,920 Speaker 1: In her will, she specified that no changes to the 67 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: museum should be made after her death. No paintings could 68 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: be sold, and none added to the collection. She didn't 69 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:20,680 Speaker 1: want any additions done to the museum. She left millions 70 00:04:20,720 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: of dollars for upkeep, but by the nineteen eighties they 71 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:27,159 Speaker 1: were running low on funds. The museum was not in 72 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:30,960 Speaker 1: great shape, and it didn't even have decent insurance. In 73 00:04:31,040 --> 00:04:34,120 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty two, after a plot to rob the museum 74 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,320 Speaker 1: was uncovered, they did add some infrared motion detectors and 75 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,360 Speaker 1: a closed circuit TV system with just four cameras placed 76 00:04:42,400 --> 00:04:45,840 Speaker 1: around the outside of the building, but no cameras were 77 00:04:45,880 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: installed inside because of the expense they hired a few 78 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: more security guards who were paid about minimum wage, and 79 00:04:53,560 --> 00:04:56,159 Speaker 1: if there was a robbery, the guards could only reach 80 00:04:56,240 --> 00:04:59,640 Speaker 1: the cops via a single panic button at the security desk. 81 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:04,040 Speaker 1: Now it's twelve thirty in the morning. On Sunday, March eighteenth, 82 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety the area around the museum was busy with 83 00:05:08,040 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: folks celebrating Saint Patrick's Day. People saw two men in 84 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: police uniforms parked in a hatchback about one hundred feet 85 00:05:15,920 --> 00:05:19,920 Speaker 1: from the museum's side entrance. The two museum guards who 86 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:22,320 Speaker 1: were on duty, had been told that one of them 87 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:25,360 Speaker 1: should patrol the galleries with a walkie talkie and a 88 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:29,320 Speaker 1: flashlight while the others sat at the security desk. During 89 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,919 Speaker 1: the first patrol, fire alarms went off in several rooms, 90 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: but there was no fire or smoke. They assumed that 91 00:05:36,839 --> 00:05:40,120 Speaker 1: some type of malfunction had occurred and they just disabled 92 00:05:40,120 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: the panel. At one twenty am, the thieves walked to 93 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 1: the side door and rang the buzzer. They told the 94 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:50,039 Speaker 1: guard at the security desk they were police officers looking 95 00:05:50,080 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 1: into a disturbance and needed to come inside. The guard 96 00:05:53,400 --> 00:05:56,280 Speaker 1: could see them on the closed circuit TV and saw 97 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,960 Speaker 1: they were wearing police uniforms, so he just let them in. 98 00:06:00,920 --> 00:06:03,120 Speaker 1: They asked if anyone else was in the building, and 99 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: the other guard was called up to security. The officers 100 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:09,599 Speaker 1: asked the tude to step away from the security desk 101 00:06:10,200 --> 00:06:13,200 Speaker 1: that cut them off from the panic button, and at 102 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:16,560 Speaker 1: that moment one of the young guards realized that one 103 00:06:16,560 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 1: of the fake cops was wearing a fake mustache. They 104 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,479 Speaker 1: forced the guards against a wall, spread their legs, and 105 00:06:23,600 --> 00:06:26,920 Speaker 1: handcuffed them. They wrapped their heads and eyes with duct 106 00:06:26,960 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: tape without even asking directions. They took the guards to 107 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:33,880 Speaker 1: the basement and handcuffed them to a steam pipe and 108 00:06:33,960 --> 00:06:37,000 Speaker 1: a workbench. They told the young guards that if they 109 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:40,839 Speaker 1: cooperated and didn't share much with cops, they'd receive a 110 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,719 Speaker 1: reward in about a year. For the next hour and change, 111 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:49,120 Speaker 1: the robbers removed paintings from their frames, smashing glass to 112 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,080 Speaker 1: get at some of them. They left a large Rembrandt 113 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,680 Speaker 1: behind because it had been painted on wood rather than canvas, 114 00:06:56,080 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: so it would be hard to move. In all, thirteen 115 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:04,119 Speaker 1: priceless pieces of art were snatched. Interestingly, before the robbers left, 116 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:06,760 Speaker 1: they went back to the basement and asked the guards 117 00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:10,440 Speaker 1: if they were comfortable then they grabbed the video cassettes 118 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: from the closed circuit TV and left the building. The 119 00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,040 Speaker 1: next guard shift got there later in the morning and 120 00:07:17,080 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: they couldn't get inside. The security director, who had keys, 121 00:07:20,680 --> 00:07:24,040 Speaker 1: was called in. He couldn't find the overnight guards anywhere 122 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,880 Speaker 1: and called the police. After searching, they found the guards 123 00:07:27,920 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 1: still chained up in the basement. Art experts estimate the 124 00:07:31,920 --> 00:07:36,000 Speaker 1: value of the theft at up to six hundred million dollars, 125 00:07:36,080 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: making it the most valuable museum heist in world history. 126 00:07:40,320 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: So that was thirty five years ago. Has any of 127 00:07:43,240 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: the stolen work been found? How about the robbers? Nope 128 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,240 Speaker 1: and nope. There was speculation the mob might have been involved, 129 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:54,200 Speaker 1: but no one's been fingered for the heist, despite a 130 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:57,960 Speaker 1: ten million dollar reward, And funny enough, the statute of 131 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:01,800 Speaker 1: limitations in the case expired in nineteen ninety five, so 132 00:08:01,920 --> 00:08:05,560 Speaker 1: the thieves and anybody else involved can't even be prosecuted 133 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,080 Speaker 1: if they are caught. The museum still has the empty 134 00:08:09,120 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 1: frames on display as a reminder of what happened that 135 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:18,200 Speaker 1: night and the artwork vanished into thin air, but possibly 136 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: sitting in a hidden private collection, maybe in a mountaintop 137 00:08:22,240 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: castle or on a massive yacht where someone who wanted 138 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,880 Speaker 1: the treasures, no questions asked is enjoying them. I hope 139 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:34,120 Speaker 1: you're enjoying The Backstory with Patty Steele. Please leave a 140 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,160 Speaker 1: review and follow or subscribe for free to get new 141 00:08:37,200 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: episodes delivered automatically. Also feel free to dm me if 142 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,839 Speaker 1: you have a story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, 143 00:08:43,840 --> 00:08:52,880 Speaker 1: It's Patty Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele. I'm 144 00:08:52,880 --> 00:08:57,479 Speaker 1: Patty Steele. The Backstory is a production of iHeartMedia, Premiere Networks, 145 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:01,520 Speaker 1: the Elvis Durand Group, and Steel Trapper Duductions. Our producer 146 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,880 Speaker 1: is Doug Fraser. Our writer Jake Kushner. We have new 147 00:09:04,920 --> 00:09:08,440 Speaker 1: episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Feel free to reach out 148 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: to me with comments and even story suggestions on Instagram 149 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:15,120 Speaker 1: at Real Patty Steele and on Facebook at Patty Steele. 150 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:18,480 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to the Backstory with Patty Steele. The 151 00:09:18,559 --> 00:09:21,520 Speaker 1: pieces of history you didn't know you needed to know.