Never-Before-Seen Art Heist Video Released by FBI [With Video]

On Thursday, the FBI released never-before-seen video that relates to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum art heist, an infamous incident which reputed mobster Robert Gentile, from Manchester, is reported to have information about.

Twenty-five years after the notorious burglary of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, law enforcement officials are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying an unauthorized visitor to the museum the night before the theft. That person entered the museum through the same door as the thieves in the middle of the night, 24 hours before the theft.

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The video footage, captured by Museum security cameras 24 hours before the Gardner heist, shows an automobile pull up next to a rear entrance of the Museum. The car matches the general description of a vehicle that was reported to have been parked outside the Museum moments prior to the theft on March 18, 1990.

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The video also shows an unidentified man exiting the automobile and then being allowed inside the Museum, against Museum policy, by a security guard. That event occurred at 12:49 p.m. on March 17, 1990, almost exactly 24 hours before the thieves entered the museum through the same door.

While the images of both the vehicle and the unidentified man are low resolution, law enforcement officials hope that releasing the footage will assist with identifying the man or the vehicle in the video.

Anyone with information regarding the video should call the FBI at 617-742-5533 or the Isabella Gardner Museum at 617-278-5114.

A $5 million reward has been offered by the Museum for information that leads directly to the recovery of all of the stolen items in good condition. The recovery of an individual object will result in a portion of the reward, based upon the object’s market value relative to the other stolen objects.

In the early morning hours of March 18, 1990, two white males dressed in Boston Police uniforms gained entrance to the Gardner Museum by advising the security guard at the watch desk that they were responding to a report of a disturbance within the compound. Against Museum policy, the guard allowed the thieves into the facility. Upon entry the two thieves subdued the on-duty security personnel, handcuffed them, and secured both guards in separate remote areas of the Museum’s basement. The suspects did not brandish weapons, nor were any weapons seen during the heist. No panic button was activated and no Boston Police notification was made during the robbery. The video surveillance film from the evening of the robbery was seized by the thieves prior to departure. They did not take the video footage from the night before.

The combined value of the 13 works of art stolen during the Gardner theft is at least $500 million, though they are considered priceless within the art community. The following objects were stolen during the burglary and have been missing for the past 25 years:

• Vermeer’s “The Concert”
• Rembrandt’s “A Lady and Gentleman in Black”
• Rembrandt’s “The Storm on the Sea of Galilee”
• Rembrandt’s “Self Portrait”
• Govaert Flinck’s “Landscape with an Obelisk”
• A Shang Dynasty Chinese Bronze Beaker from 1200-1100 BC
• Degas’ “La Sortie du Pelage”
• Degas’ “Cortege Aux Environs de Florence”
• Degas’ “Three Mounted Jockeys”
• Degas’ “Program for an Artistic Soiree” (charcoal on white paper)
• Degas’ “Program for an Artistic Soiree” (less finished charcoal on buff paper)
• Manet’s “Chez Tortoni”
• Napoleonic Eagle Finial

On Friday, Fox CT reported that the FBI says that both suspects in the heist are deceased. The FBI previously announced that it knew who stole the artwork, though they refused to elaborate at the time, saying only that the investigation was now focused on recovering the missing artwork.

Video courtesy of the FBI.