[MSN] Grand jury to hear art theft case

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

  Grand jury to hear art theft case


    Ex-worker tells of subpoena

By Stephen Kurkjian, Globe Correspondent  |  December 17, 2007

A federal grand jury is scheduled to hear evidence this week into one of 
Boston's most enduring unsolved criminal cases, the 1990 theft of 
priceless artwork from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, according to 
a former employee who worked at the museum at the time.

The former worker said two FBI agents questioned him about his 
recollection of the theft several days ago and handed him a subpoena to 
testify before the grand jury in Boston tomorrow.

The agents told him they were gathering facts on the case and were 
hoping that the grand jury would "shake things up" in the long-stalled 
investigation, said the former worker, who asked not to be identified.

The agents did say that they were pursuing the possibility that the 
theft may have been carried out by three individuals - and not two as 
has long been publicly believed, the former employee said.

On Friday, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan's office 
declined to comment on the grand jury, stating that the office never 
confirms or denies the existence of such a session.

A spokeswoman for the Gardner Museum also declined comment.

The former museum employee read portions of the subpoena to the Globe 
and said it was signed by Brian T. Kelly, a veteran prosecutor in the US 
attorney's office. Kelly has helped spearhead the federal investigation 
into and the crackdown of James "Whitey" Bulger's criminal enterprise.

Thirteen pieces of artwork, including three Rembrandts and a Vermeer, 
were stolen from the museum, which is located in the Fenway, during the 
early morning of March 18, 1990. According to press reports, two men 
dressed in Boston police uniforms persuaded the museum's night watchman 
to allow them access to the museum by contending they had been sent to 
investigate a disturbance in the museum's outdoor courtyard.

Once inside, the two disguised as police officers tricked the watchman 
into leaving his desk, which contained the only alarm to the outside 
world, by telling him he looked like someone on whom they had a default 
warrant, according to press reports. After he had left his post, the 
watchman and a second guard, who had been doing rounds at the time, were 
handcuffed, bound with masking tape, and then tied up in separate spots 
in the basement of the museum, according to press reports.

For nearly 90 minutes, the thieves made their way through the museum's 
darkened galleries, ripping paintings from the walls and in some cases 
cutting masterpieces from their frames.

Among the stolen pieces was the only seascape that Rembrandt ever 
painted, "Storm on the Sea of Galilee," and "The Concert," by Vermeer, 
one of the most valuable paintings in the Gardner collection.

Over the years, the crime achieved notoriety as the largest unsolved art 
theft in world history with the value of the stolen works estimated 
between $300 million and $500 million.

The theft was vigorously investigated at the outset by the FBI, which 
assigned more than 40 agents to the case.

Several museum employees, including the two guards, were given lie 
detector tests, but no hard leads ever developed.

Over the years, hundreds of leads have been pursued by federal 
authorities but invariably they involved vague tips from 
well-intentioned individuals or some less well-intentioned ones who were 
trying to inveigle money from the museum.

The Gardner has had a $5 million reward posted for the return of the 
artwork in good condition for more than a decade.

Stephen Kurkjian can be reached at kurkjian at globe.com 
<mailto:kurkjian at globe.com> 

http://www.boston.com