[MSN] St Patrick's Day Art Heist

[Museum Security Network Mailinglist]

St. Patrick’s Day Art Heist
By Charles Vincent Sabba Jr.
Rahway News Record
March 8, 2007

It was 01:24 am, on Mar 18, 1990, hours after the bagpipes in the St.
Patrick’s Day Parade were silenced, long after the Guinness on tap was
flowing a little slower and the poetry of Yeats was being recited with
much softer voices by people who were just as intoxicated by the poet’s
words as they were the stout. At 01:24, two thugs dressed as Boston police
officers showed up at the side doors of the Isabella Stewart Gardner
Museum. They told the guards that they were investigating a noise
complaint and were permitted to enter. The guards were bound and gagged
and the thieves stole $500 million worth of art, including works by
Vermeer, Rembrandt, Degas, and Manet. Seventeen years later this case is
still unsolved and the paintings are still at large. The FBI has
interviewed a long list of suspects over the years. Among that list, two
notorious art thieves with Irish Mob connections stood out: Myles Connors,
who has admitted to committing over twenty art thefts, and an antiques
dealer named William Youngworth. Their names are synonymous with art theft
in New England. Connors once bargained his way out of prison by brokering
the return of a Rembrandt that was stolen from the Boston Museum of Fine
Arts; Youngworth has admitted to stealing that Rembrandt on Connors behalf
when he was only sixteen years old. The two offered to orchestrate the
return of the Gardner art, but they demanded a promise of immunity as well
as the $1 million reward (now $5 million) that was being offered for the
works return. The Feds refused to make deals because there was a suspected
Irish Republican Army link. They also believed that if the culpable
parties received a reward, art would get stolen more frequently from
museums in the US.
     William states that he was one of the masterminds of the heist, but
was incarcerated when the crime was committed. Word got out that the
virtually defenseless museum was about to revamp its security system
and it was imperative that the job went down expeditiously. The crew
who committed the heist was made up of professional criminals, but
not knowledgeable art thieves. They passed up more valuable works
such as Titian’s “Rape of Europa” for lesser works like the drawings
by Degas, and hacked two Rembrandts from their frames, one of which
Billy claims is probably damaged beyond repair. William states that
an IRA arms supplier named Joe Murray possessed the paintings until
he was murdered by his wife. This is when Youngworth claims he
temporarily took charge of the masterpieces.
     I have known William for a long time.  During a 2006 visit he made to
New York, I escorted him and his lovely wife around Chelsea, the
Manhattan art gallery district. I took him to the James Cohen Gallery
on W. 26th St to view what I thought was the hottest exhibition
around. Upon looking at the large art works of the artist Trenton
Doyle Hancock, William exclaimed “I wouldn’t even steal this work,
let alone buy it!” This stated in earshot of the gallery’s owner!
Billy is a funny guy.
   Billy is not big on contemporary art. His personal tastes lay in
American Impressionism. He also likes Hudson River School works and
Winslow Homer’s seascapes.
  Billy stated: “My favorite is Michelangelo Caravaggio, then Titian. And
Rembrandt! If I were to pick off another (steal) it would be Van Gogh’s
self portrait at Harvard’s Fogg Museum. I have studied stealing that one
more than anything else.”
     Billy now lives an honest life and has a very successful antique
business he operates off of eBay. I recently questioned him about the
antiques business and any thoughts he might have on the 17th
anniversary of the art heist.
   Charlie Sabba : Tell us about the eBay operation.
   William Youngworth: The antiques business, more specifically, the
vintage and period furniture, is going very well. We have made the
transition from operating the conventional street level shop to
strictly running an e-commerce operation. While I’d love to tell your
readership about our eBay operation, I can’t because I operate our new
business using other people in front of me. I still fear reprisal from
the Justice Department. This makes the fourth time in my life where I
have had to re-build from nothing. We pay our taxes and operate a
completely legal entity where our customers get the best goods
available in New England.
  CS: The City of Rahway is now establishing itself as the most important
cultural center in NJ. Obviously antique shops will be a part of this.
Are there any hip little artistic cities in Massachusetts that you can
think of where we can look for ideas?
   WY: You should study the City of North Hampton, Mass. Rahway, and its
proximity to New York City, has the perfect opportunity to attract a
cultured populace by showing that the arts, and a higher plane of
thought and expression, are welcome in Rahway. What comes hand in hand
with that is a chance for Rahway to increase its property values by
showing visitors that Rahway can be, and is, an enclave of culture.
  CS: You told me in the past that you were contemplating starting up a
stolen art recovery business. You definitely have “insiders” knowledge.
Have you made any grounds in this?
  WY:  I have already tossed my hat into the ring of the stolen art and
antiquities asset recovery business. Last year I took on half a dozen
cases and closed them all with resounding success. I find this work very
easy for me in where I can approach a party who has absconded with my
client’s property and clearly demonstrate to them very quickly that
whoever I happen to be working for will not tolerate being abused and by
bringing me into the situation I quickly show the wrong doer that
justice can take on many forms and they have stolen from the wrong
person.
  CS: Speaking of possible recoveries, the $500 million dollars worth of
Gardner art is still missing, any new thoughts seventeen years later?
  WT: I hold little promise for the Gardner Museum, they have pursued some
very bad advice and clearly demonstrated that their words hold very
little truth or meaning.
  CS: In a recent Sky TV documentary you countered three British experts
testimony that the works are being held by Irish gangsters in West
Ireland. An art dealer called “Turbo” stated he saw the stolen Vermeer
in Dublin and you said that was absolutely not possible. Where can we go
from here to retrieve America’s treasures? Is this story a book closed
and out of print for ever?
  WY: It is my best belief that the remaining artworks formerly belonging
to the Gardner have reached their way into the hands of persons and
governments that have a very long term game plan on their mind. If the
Gardner were indeed serious about getting that art returned they would
use their political muscle to have an amnesty announced proclaiming that
no one will be charged with any crime conjunction with the robbery. As
for these experts proclaiming to have seen the Vermeer in Ireland, well
if you spoke to them long enough I wouldn’t be surprised to also hear
them say that the Vermeer is hanging on a wall in Bigfoot’s cave. These
people have some serious need for attention but they offer little else
but some amusement.
  CS:  You have just been interviewed for Rolling Stone. What is the
article about?
  WY: Yes, the Rolling Stone feature will be coming out soon and it will
be revealing. Jim Bamford, the author, is a truly capable journalist
with a skill for separating fact from fiction. We will just all have to
wait and see what direction the article takes, but with our service men
and women dying in some insane war without its own legitimate goals or
values, stolen paintings mean little.
  CS: On a closing note, how are you going to celebrate St Patrick’s Day?
  WY: I do little celebrating these days. I am just happy to come home and
curl up on the couch with my little family around me. Simple pleasures
to one who has had few are better than anything else the world has to
offer one who has lived hard without any intention of dying fast.
  CS: Happy St. Patrick’s Day pal.
  WY: Thank you.

Rahway News Record Artist Colony Column:
www.new-jersey.ws/modules.php?name=News&new_topic=67