What are the '7 Most Notable Robbery and Theft Cases in History' that Had a Huge Impact on Society?
Robbery and theft cases sometimes attract strong public attention due to the boldness of the crime and the scale of the damage, and in some cases movies are made based on the incident. All That's Interesting, an overseas media outlet, introduces 'Seven Most Notable Robbery and Theft Cases in History' that had a major impact on the public.
7 Of The Biggest Heists In History That Left Police Baffled
◆1: Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston houses paintings, sculptures, tapestries and other artworks from around the world. In the early hours of March 18, 1990, two men disguised as police officers approached the museum and asked the security guard for admission to the museum.
The night was St. Patrick's Day, a popular holiday in Boston, where many Irish immigrants live, and the guards did not seem suspicious of the pair's claim that they had received a noise complaint. They eventually handcuffed the guard and confined him to the basement. In the meantime, the thieves stole 13 artworks, including three Rembrandts , five Degas , one Vermeer , an ancient Chinese cup, and a carving of a hawk from Napoleon 's military flag.
The total damage from this robbery is estimated at more than 55 billion yen, with Vermeer's ' Concert ' worth more than 200 million dollars (about 22 billion yen). At the time of writing, nearly 30 years after the incident, the culprit has not been arrested and the whereabouts of the artworks remain unknown.
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◆2: Lufthansa Airlines robbery
The 1978 Lufthansa robbery at Kennedy International Airport in New York resulted in the theft of approximately $5 million in cash and $1 million in jewelry. The total damage was estimated at $23.4 million at the time of writing, making it the largest crime in the history of the United States at the time.
The incident began when Louis Werner, an employee of Kennedy International Airport, got into gambling debt and leaked the idea of 'stealing cash from Lufthansa cargo to repay the debt' to his mafia lender. Mafia member Jimmy Burke , who learned of this idea, devised a robbery plan with several of his associates and put the plan into action on December 11, 1978. The robbers who broke into the Lufthansa cargo terminal at Kennedy International Airport took employees hostage and succeeded in stealing cash and jewelry in just over an hour.
However, the investigation began when the driver of the robbery, Edward Parnell, neglected to dispose of the getaway car and left it parked in front of his girlfriend's house. Burke killed those involved in the robbery one by one to silence them, but he was arrested in 1979 and sentenced to life in prison for murder. The case was also the subject of the movie ' Good Fellas .'
◆3: The Antwerp diamond theft
Diamond trading is a major industry in Antwerp, Belgium, where rough diamonds from all over the world are gathered. Of course, diamonds are stored under strict security, but Leonardo Notarbartolo, a professional thief, came up with a plan to overcome this problem by becoming a 'diamond trader.'
Notarbartolo, who began his plan in 2000, rented a tenant in an office building for diamond traders in the center of Antwerp and investigated the security inside the building while posing as a legitimate jeweler. The basement of this building was equipped with a safe deposit box for traders, and Notarbartolo had visited the safe deposit box many times as a jeweler and was familiar with the security guard. After 18 months of research and planning, Notarbartolo gathered experts from all over Europe. A total of five thieves broke into the safe on the night of February 16, 2003, and stole diamonds worth more than $100 million (about 12 billion yen at the time).
However, Pietro Tavano, one of the members of the theft ring, neglected to incinerate the receipts and the empty jewellery bags, leading the police to arrest Notarbartolo and four others. The remaining member, who was said to be an expert in forging keys, has yet to be caught, and the stolen jewels have never been found.
◆4: Robbery of pizza delivery man with bomb collar
On August 28, 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Wells delivered a pizza to a television tower in Erie , Pennsylvania. During the delivery, Wells was fitted with a 'collar-shaped bomb' and given a document that said, 'If you want the key to remove the collar bomb, complete the following tasks.'
Wells followed the instructions and robbed the bank, taking about $8,700 in cash (about 1.04 million yen at the time), but was caught by police standing next to his car. After telling them about the bomb, Wells was made to sit on the ground and the police called the bomb squad, but the collar bomb exploded three minutes before the squad arrived, killing Wells.
Authorities investigating the case concluded that a woman named Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was the mastermind behind the robbery and conspired with other accomplices to frame Wells. Prosecutors said Wells was also involved in the original robbery plan, but Wells' family disputes this claim. Diehl-Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison and died in prison in 2017.
◆5: The theft of the Mona Lisa
The Mona Lisa , housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris, is known as one of Leonardo da Vinci 's most famous paintings. The reason behind the rise in fame of the Mona Lisa was the theft of the Mona Lisa in 1911.
On August 20, 1911, Vincenzo Peruggia hid inside the Louvre and waited until the next day, when the museum was closed. Peruggia, who had previously worked at the Louvre, changed into a smock worn by museum workers and was able to move around the museum on a closed day without raising suspicion. When he came to the Mona Lisa, Peruggia waited until there were no people around, then hid the painting under his clothes and took it out.
The police investigation was difficult, and even led to the false arrest of poet Guillaume Apollinaire . Peruggia kept the Mona Lisa in his apartment for about two years, but was arrested in 1913 when he tried to sell it in Italy. Peruggia claims that he wanted to return the Mona Lisa to his native Italy, but this claim is doubtful because he was planning to sell the Mona Lisa.
Ironically, the Mona Lisa gained fame as a result of the theft, and is said to be worth $860 million at the time of writing.
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◆6: The DB Cooper Incident
The 'DB Cooper Incident,' which occurred on November 24, 1971, is the only unsolved hijacking case in the long history of commercial aviation. A man calling himself Dan Cooper boarded Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, which was flying from Portland, Oregon to Seattle, Washington. Cooper was in his mid-40s and was wearing a black raincoat, business suit, and shirt.
As the plane took off, Cooper told the flight attendant that there was a bomb in his briefcase and demanded that he land at the airport, hand over $200,000 in cash (about 60 million yen at the time) and four parachutes, and refuel Flight 305 upon landing. Cooper was calm and polite, and after receiving the cash and parachutes at Seattle-Tacoma Airport, he released the passengers.
After Cooper received the cash and parachute, the plane took off again and headed to Reno, Nevada, where Cooper is believed to have parachuted out of the tail of the aircraft during the flight. Flight 305 eventually landed at Reno, but Cooper and the cash were not on board. Although some progress was made later, such as the discovery of some of the cash, Cooper's true identity remains unknown at the time of writing.
In 2016, 45 years after the incident, the FBI announced it was voluntarily closing its investigation.
7. The Great Train Robbery of 1963
Train robberies, which were common in the 19th century, decreased in the 20th century, but one train robbery that occurred in 1963 shocked the public. A group of robbers, including veteran criminal Bruce Raymonds, had received information that 'millions of pounds (billion yen at the time) in cash were being carried on a train from London to Glasgow,' and planned to rob the train.
On the night of August 8, 1963, the robbers manipulated the signals to stop the train, then boarded the stopped train and punched the conductor unconscious. They then threatened the driver and forced him to steer the train to the area where the truck was stopped, where they transferred the cash to the truck. The stolen cash was 2.6 million pounds, which is equivalent to 40 million pounds (about 5.5 billion yen) in today's value.
Police investigations led to the arrest of ten members of the gang by the end of 1963, with three more arrested over the next five years.
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