[MSN] Police investigating a bank heist ring have recovered an antique piece of jewelry that was made for Queen Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Empress Sisi, the Winnipeg Police Service said Friday.

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Police investigating a bank heist ring have recovered an antique piece of
jewelry that was made for Queen Elisabeth of Austria, better known as
Empress Sisi, the Winnipeg Police Service said Friday.
The Koechert Diamond Pearl or Star of Empress Sisi (or Sissi) was found in a
house in Winnipeg during a raid at the cusp of a two-year investigation of a
string of bank break-ins across Canada, police said in a statement.

It was stolen by a "highly sophisticated thief" in June 1998 from an alarmed
and secure glass display on exhibition at Castle Schonbrunn in Vienna,
Austria, police said.

The exhibit had marked the centennial anniversary of Empress Sisi's
assassination.

The wife of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Sisi (1837-1898) was renowned for her
tragic life, her beauty and ankle-length hair, a strict diet and exercise
regime to maintain her 20-inch (50-centimeter) waistline, as well as a
series of reputed lovers.

She was stabbed in the heart in at age 61 by a young anarchist in Geneva,
and her last words were reportedly: "What happened to me?"

Police have charged Gerald Blanchard with possession of the stolen gem, as
well as seven alleged accomplices, including an 83-year-old Vancouver man,
with a total of 101 charges of fraud, conspiracy, forging credit cards and
theft.

Constable Jacqueline Chaput of the Winnipeg Police Service told AFP the Star
of Empress Sisi would eventually be returned to Austria.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/