July 7, 2020 ▸ History, True Crime

Episode 496: Gardner Museum Heist: Half a Billion Dollar Mystery

Subscribe: TuneIn | RSS

On this episode of the world famous Sofa King Podcast, we explore the largest art heist in American history, the Gardner Museum Heist. In 1990, thirteen pieces of art were stolen from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The grade total? A whopping half $600 million dollars. Just one painting was worth half of that. The FBI thinks it was done by a group of local Irish mobsters, and though the statute of limitations is past, it is still an active case as the FBI hopes to retrieve the art back.

The Gardner museum was troubled. The FBI discovered a plot for Whitey Bulger’s Irish mob to rob the place with a storm of smoke bombs. After this, the museum upgraded its security. However, the museum was on hard financial times, and they were limited by the wealthy (deceased) Gardner’s wishes. The museum had to stay as is, no renovations, no exceptions, so every upgrade of security was a breach of this agreement

Eventually, some motion sensors and outdoor cameras were installed, but it wasn’t enough. Because on the night of March 18^th, two robbers dressed as police men came to investigate “a disturbance” and handcuffed the two night guards to pipes in the basement with tape across their faces. The robbers took their time. They were in the museum for 81 minutes. They tripped motion sensors in two rooms, but somehow, they went back and forth without activating sensors. The FBI still can’t figure that one out.

They stole painting from Rembrandt, Degas, and Vermeer. In fact, Vermeer’s painting, The Concert, is considered the most expensive single item ever stolen in the world. So, what happened when a reliable contact came forward wanting to give the paintings back to the Gardner Museum in 1994? How did the FBI learn the identities of the thieves, and why was there never an arrest? What is the connection to the Irish mob? What are the theories about where the art ended up? Why did the robbers take some stuff worth next to nothing but left the most expensive painting hanging up on the third floor? Why do people think the security guard named Rick Abath was involved? Listen, laugh, learn.

Visit Our Sources:

https://www.gardnermuseum.org/about/theft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Stewart_Gardner_Museum_theft

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/gardner-heist-suspect-released-prison-1703613

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAxZSdNej-I

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyNdZmrqNFE&list=PLfJ_d5dtb0oG_u6AwgAL8px7X4_LQO_Az&index=39

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noX0jW9E6NU

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isabella_Stewart_Gardner

https://news.artnet.com/art-world/isabella-stewart-gardner-heist-solved-283368