Gardner Heist Thieves Named by the FBI

According to Breitbart News, this month, the FBI has confirmed the identities of the thieves who robbed 13 paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in 1990. Breitbart News reports that law-enforcement sources have identified two career criminals, George Reissfelder and Lenny DiMuzio, as the perpetrators. Both men died within a year of the crime. Reissfelder was a career criminal who was convicted of murdering a guard during a robbery in 1966, but current Secretary of State John Kerry, who was appointed to represent Reissfelder in 1982, was able to get the conviction overturned. After being set free, Reissfelder got involved with a local group of burglars, armed robbers, home invaders and murderers headed by a man named Carmelo Merlino. One of the members of the group was DiMuzio. Sources revealed to Breitbart News that they believe Merlino set up the Gardner heist for Reissfelder and DiMuzio. Merlino was convicted of robbery and died in federal prison of diabetes in 2005.

The missing artworks have never been found, despite a $5 million reward offered by the museum for their return. Included among the stolen works were a Manet, three Rembrandts and The Concert by Vermeer, currently estimated at $250 million. Though investigators have pursued other individuals linked to Merlino who may have had knowledge of their whereabouts, the works have not been located, despite the difficulty of selling such famous masterpieces on the black market.

More via Breitbart News and The New York Times. Thank you Blaise Niosi for the heads up.

Tags: art, art crime, Art Law, art theft, artlaw, crime, museums, Property, theft