July 13, 2021 • 39 mins
Five infamous paintings go missing after a high stakes robbery in France. Only someone super skilled could have pulled it off. And this was partially true, as the perpetrator was very good at what he did. But the museum was partially at fault as well.
Visit Patreon.com/mugshotpod to find out how you can support the show and get early, ad-free access to episodes as well as bonus episodes. Any donation is appreciated and goes right back into helping produce the show.
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Music by:
Swelling
"Night II"
Meydan
"Insomnia Pt. 1"
SoundCrate
"Squad"
SoundCrate
"Shady Dealings"
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Sources:
The ‘Spiderman’ Art Heist and the Five Missing Masterpieces (thedailybeast.com)
The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist | The New Yorke
For Paris ‘Spiderman,’ Stealing 5 Museum Masterpieces Was No Sweat - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
'Spiderman' art thief Vjeran Tomic jailed in Paris - BBC News
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/feb/20/spider-man-burglar-jailed-musee-dart-moderne-heist-vjeran-tomic-theft-paris
Defendent Claims He Threw Out $107 Million in Stolen Art | artnet News
Visit Patreon.com/mugshotpod to find out how you can support the show and get early, ad-free access to episodes as well as bonus episodes. Any donation is appreciated and goes right back into helping produce the show.
Mugshot merchandise can be found at mugshotpod.threadless.com. Get shirts, mugs, and more!
Music by:
Swelling
"Night II"
Meydan
"Insomnia Pt. 1"
SoundCrate
"Squad"
SoundCrate
"Shady Dealings"
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Sources:
The ‘Spiderman’ Art Heist and the Five Missing Masterpieces (thedailybeast.com)
The French Burglar Who Pulled Off His Generation’s Biggest Art Heist | The New Yorke
For Paris ‘Spiderman,’ Stealing 5 Museum Masterpieces Was No Sweat - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
'Spiderman' art thief Vjeran Tomic jailed in Paris - BBC News
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/feb/20/spider-man-burglar-jailed-musee-dart-moderne-heist-vjeran-tomic-theft-paris
Defendent Claims He Threw Out $107 Million in Stolen Art | artnet News
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
You're listening to Mugshot. I'm yourhost, Lindsay. This episode of Mugshot
was co created by Abby Martin,who assisted with research and writing. I
apologize for my absence lately. UnfortunatelyI had a very unexpected and emotional emergency
surgery that caused a delay. ButI'm doing much better and I'm thrilled to
(00:31):
be back on as normal of aschedule as my children will allow, since
they're still home for summer. Today'smugshot name Vierin Tweech, arrested for art
theft. Every few years, Hollywoodputs out a spine tingling, high stakes,
(00:54):
dramatic heist movie, you know thekind. They typically start a handsome
and classy man who often operates alonein the highest secrecy, absconding with the
most valuable babbles, and for thattwo hour time frame, viewers are amazed
by the tension and the release thatcomes from the suspension of reality. After
(01:15):
the credits finished rolling and the popcornis swept from the floor, viewers go
home entertained, but hardly enlightened orinspired to try their own heist. For
the skeptics in the audience, there'sthe ever inescapable fact that crime and larceny
are not simply a dashing tuxedo combinedwith a daring plan. High profile thefts
(01:38):
are difficult to pull off unless youplan on secretly amassing treasure that will never
see the light of day or yieldany financial benefit. You've simply stolen something
that'll land you in the clink themoment you sell it, unless you're someone
like Spider Man. No, notthat Spider Man. There are ways of
(02:01):
making stolen jewels into different pieces ofjewelry. For example, if the Hope
Diamond or the Crown Jewels were stolentonight, the thieves in theory could cut
and divide their spoils into several smallerand unidentifiable styles, resulting in a baguette
style ring here, a princess cuttennis bracelet over there, which in turn
(02:23):
can at least be sold with lessscrutiny. But this principle of the high
profile thefts intensifies when applied to certainitems, such as the paramount paintings churned
out by the likes of, sayPicasso. You can't pass off a Rembrandt
or a Picasso as anything other thanwhat they are. Those who purchase authentic
(02:45):
bonafid art are actually a very smallcommunity who are obsessed with the provenance of
what they're buying. To steal worklike these is madness. However, the
absurdity of these thefts and limits ofreality have never mattered when it came to
the mind of Vierr and Tomitch,who had the compulsory urge to own any
(03:07):
artwork that quote spoke to him bywhatever means he deemed necessary and most expedient.
A quick check of Vierr and Tomitch'sbank account told him that if he
wanted so much as a postage stamp, he was going to have to steal
it. Born in Paris in nineteensixty eight to a pair of Bosnian emigrants,
(03:30):
the small family struggled to adjust toa new country while raising a baby.
At the age of one, Viranwas relocated to live with his grandmother
back in Bosnia while his mother recoveredfrom a life threatening illness, a move
that, in his own words,negatively shaped his future as he resented being
(03:50):
so distanced from family at a youngage. Vie and Tomitch was a live
wire, proving to be a handfulfrom an early age. Not only was
he deviously smart, he inflicted iton those around him, constantly prinking or
waterline bullying his friends and family members. By the time he returned to Paris
(04:13):
at the age of eleven, Tomeachwas incredibly agile and enjoyed playing in a
Parisian cemetery near his family's apartment,Tomeach and a few of the other neighborhood
boys entertained themselves by creating a gamein which they would jump from one tombstone
to another. Each boy would bedared to hop onto more and more distant
(04:34):
headstones and memorials until he fell.During this irreverent game of chance, Tomeach
found that he was naturally exceptional andsoon found a way to further challenge his
already excellent mastery of the game.If you can hop from this gravestone to
this gravestone, maybe you should tryscaling a mausoleum and jumping from it onto
(04:59):
another memorial. Soon he was beingdared by the other gang members to see
if he could scale this brick wallor that stony bridge, and tom each
found that he could. He laterrecalled to reporter Jake Halburn of The New
Yorker quote observing them, it gaveme the desire to touch them to climb
(05:19):
up their peaks. This skill wouldlater further be honed while serving in the
French Army. The other skill thatthe young man possessed was unsurprisingly art.
Growing up with his Parisian heritage,the young boy often found himself drawn into
galleries and doing sketches on his own, hoping to emulate the masters of several
(05:45):
different artistic eras. He expressed whatjoy he felt to his father when he
picked up a paintbrush. The contentmentfar surpassed anything he had ever experienced and
made him absolutely certain that he wasdestined to be forever linked with art,
and he would be correct. Tomichthe senior was a mechanic and did his
(06:09):
best to discourage his son from tryingto take up painting as a profession versus
a hobby. He felt there wassome nugget of truth to the old trope
about starving artists, and he woulddo anything to keep his son from languishing.
Instead of leading a financially stable life, including offering his son a job
(06:29):
working with him. Viern was hurtby his father's lack of support, which
caused a rift between the two.The father and son seemed to butt head
so frequently and undesirably that Vierre andTomiich spent as little time as possible within
the critical shadow cast by his father. Beyond this, his parents did their
(06:51):
fair share of fighting, which madethe home turbulent. For the preteen.
This meant that he spent less andless time at home and more time out
on the streets. Thus, theless time he spent with his family,
the more unsavory his activities became.The days of playing on graves was soon
(07:12):
eclipsed by Tomach's first theft. Anirresistible pull drew the young delinquent into a
library, where he discovered two booksthat had to be over a hundred years
old. It was, in hismind his own little piece of history that
he could easily snag and sell.His big entrance and exit were not through
(07:34):
any door, but through an unsecuredwindow. In and out he went successfully,
but before he could sell the books, a playmate's older brother returned them
anonymously. The condensed and scattered informationregarding the early life of Tomeach lends to
(07:55):
the image that he clearly enjoyed.The myths and rumors that surrounded the thief
make him seem larger than life,but perhaps not quite as big as his
ever growing rap sheet. What startedout as pennyanti crimes like helping himself to
old library books during closed hours,began to grow as his need for money
(08:18):
increased. At this point, Virenhad run away from his oppressive family and
taken up with a group of similarlydisgruntled teens. The group slept rough in
an abandoned warehouse, savoring the freedomat first, but soon the price of
their freedom became apparent when they beganto need the basic necessities food and water,
(08:41):
the most chief among them. Ina concentrated effort, the youths began
to steal anything they could get theirhands on. While some of the thieves
were merely passable, Tomich excelled.His intelligence and agility made Vieren a great
set to his group, who tothis point had been stealing random pieces of
(09:03):
glassware and anything else that they thoughtmight catch bargain hunting shoppers at the surrounding
second hand shops. Unsatisfied and unchallenged, Tomeach began wandering Paris's upper class neighborhoods
that clearly would lend to more fruitfulplundering To round out the cash flow,
(09:24):
they often bought and resold drugs comparedto the garden variety thief Tomeach showed great
prudence in restraint by the seemingly excessiveamount of reconnaissance. It was common for
the burglar to watch for weeks beforeentering his target locations, and once he
had trespassed, often it had beena dozen times before he actually left with
(09:48):
valuables like gold, jewels, hiddencash, anything that could fetch a price,
including art by renoirs. During hisvisits, Verin would meticulously search without
disturbing a single thing. He wouldwrap his knuckles on various surfaces, looking
(10:11):
for hidden panels and cubbies built intowalls and furniture. If he found a
safe, he would make a mentalnote to bring a tool or two the
next visit, but never more thanhe could easily carry while scaling up walls
and sliding down fire escapes into thewindows of his victims. Over the next
(10:31):
visits, he would find the leastdamaging and apparent ways to saw into safes
and dismantled furniture, concealing what heso coveted. A little work at a
time made it easier not to arousesuspicion until he was certain that he had
retrieved every possible item into his jackpot. It was a simple yet well executed
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principle of common sense caution. Thepace and scope of his pilfering was incredible,
turning enough profit for him to acquiresome expensive clothing, as well as
an expansive network of the type ofcriminals that fill every metropolis. Tomeach,
(11:15):
much to his delight, began tohave a reputation with many of the fences
that he brought valuables to, earninghim the nickname of spider Man, in
homage to his extreme skill scaling buildings. But for the seemingly endless stream of
successful robberies, Tomeach had not remainedanonymous to the Parisian authorities. By the
(11:39):
time that Tomeach began to plan hisbiggest heist, he had already served a
year's worth of time for armed robberyof a bakery. In an act of
spontaneity, his car ran out ofgas. Upon realizing he had left his
wallet at home, he simply raninto the nearest bakery, robbing them for
(12:00):
cash. He had an additional thirteenarrests, ranging from drug and weaponry arrests
to an arrest for the theft ofa privately owned Renois painting in two thousand,
according to the New Yorker article quote. In the fall of two thousand
and an episode that subsequently made thepapers in France, he used a crossbow
(12:22):
with ropes and carabineers to sneak intoan apartment while its occupants were asleep and
stole two Renois, a Durain,a Eutrillo, a Brock, and various
other works a hall worth more thana million euros end quote. But as
disastrous as the Renois incident and therobbery were, som each was still learning.
(12:48):
Don't steal art, it's valuable andgorgeous, but not easily fenced.
Don't use your own vehicle during daylightto commit armed robbery. You will be
caught. This practical side of Vierand Tomeach was in direct contrast to a
more mystical personality he also showed whenhe regaled his fellow squatters and later reporters
(13:11):
with his heists. The stories oftenwere peppered with dramatic moments that gave him
an almost psychic ability to feel universalvibrations and see auras around items and locations.
Many of his marks were abandoned early, according to himself, who allegedly
felt waves of unease that made himfeel the urge to flee without taking anything,
(13:37):
a premonition of sorts. The worldwas Tomeach's oyster who knew the secrets
of the universe, which put himin the catbird seat. One afternoon,
Tomeach was walking, perhaps enjoying thebeauty of Paris in springtime, when he
approached a building that screamed of theold Art Deco style popular in the late
(14:01):
nineteen thirties. It was the museDart Moderne de la Ville de Paris,
more succinctly known to the locals andwell informed tourists as the m a M.
The museum was optimistically conceived and builtin the height of the Great Depression,
having opened in nineteen thirty seven,it was originally intended to be a
(14:24):
cultural focal point in the International Expositionthe same year. Staring in the large
windows, Tomiga's train of thought wassparked into action. For one, the
windows looked as if they hadn't beencared for or updated in their lifetime other
than an occasional code of paint.He gleefully recognized their construction to be similar
(14:48):
to those he had cased and intrudedthrough in the past. It would be
child's play to create his own entranceto the museum during off hours. While
his brain churned through this epiphany,a second and third followed after he did
a little further inspection of the property. Yes, there were obvious security measures
(15:11):
in place, but the downside withany of these measures is that institutions like
the M a M become complacent withthem. Day after day of security guards
becoming bored with no action to occupythem, things become lacks, which in
turn creates a foothold for a breach, and opportunities were everywhere within the M
(15:35):
a M. He immediately noted thatthe non functional motion censors far outweighed the
functional ones. The small centered lightswere non existent in the broken censors.
Additionally, while he was outside,he made a mental note of one camera
with a semi obstructed view of thefront entrance, and once inside to each
(16:00):
saw no other cameras he could easilyobserve unnoticed, and was free to wander
in case the property. At hisleisure. Wandering around the popular attraction,
Vieran was overtaken by the need tobreak into the mam It was a compulsion
at this point, seeing all ofthe various opportunities staring him right in the
(16:22):
face on the inside. One paintingcaught his eye specifically, which sealed all
of his desires. There, hangingon a wall was a painting by Ferdinand
Leget titled still Life with a Candlestick. The work was unmistakably a product of
(16:44):
the Cubist movement and just the excusehe needed. But first he had to
be rational and methodical. He hadto develop a plan before we continue.
Let's take a quick break. Welcomeback from the break. When we left
(17:11):
off, Spider Man knew he wasgoing to break into the museum. He
just needed to determine how. Firstand foremost on his to do list was
to visit one of his most reliableconnections. As Viern had progressed and his
network of fences grew, so didthe items that he was to be on
(17:33):
the lookout for. His favorite fencewas a man named Jean Corvez. In
the five or so years that Tomichand Corvez worked together, Corvez had often
reminded him that he should not onlykeep in tiptop climbing shape in order to
bring him the best stuff first,of course, but to also keep his
eyes open for a liege painting hewas willing to pay. Who the buyer
(18:00):
was Corvez never really made clear,but that was not uncommon to the relationship
between any burglar and fence. Theless that everyone knew about the supply and
demand of the stolen items, theless could be league to authorities. After
visiting Corvez and explaining what he hadseen, the deal was struck. After
(18:22):
Tomach felt that he had enough informationto be comfortable with the situation. Corvez
said he would be willing to payforty three thousand dollars for a legitimate lige
if Tomeach could nab it from them am. So it began. Tome
Each started by watching the museum atevery hour he had to spare. His
(18:45):
new obsession was knowing what the museumlooked like at each minute of the day,
inside and out, at every angle. One evening, he noticed that
same set of windows that originally caughthis attention. When the museum was closed
for the night, a sliding accordionlike grill was brought to the center and
(19:08):
padlocked together, and what seemed likea feeble acknowledgment that the bay windows might
not be enough of a deterrent.Every night after closing, there was a
security guard that entered the area andclosed the grill with a simple padlock on
the inside, so that the frontof the padlock faced the works of art
(19:30):
versus someone looking through a window.It was not an insurmountable challenge for someone
as seasoned as Tomeach. As forthe security guard, Vieran was pretty sure
that he only saw him once totwice a night. The guard made his
rounds, but likely was sitting comfortablywaiting to clock out, maybe watching the
(19:55):
camera's feed to be sure. Hewould have to exercise a little more caution
than usual, as this was notsome empty apartment. There was someone who
was actually put there to listen forpeople like him. To make an easier
job of eventually sneaking in, hecasually made a middle of the night visit
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to strip the paint and rest offof the old screws holding the window into
the facade of the museum, whichwas done using liquid chemicals. A quick
cover up of the newly stripped screwswas added so they wouldn't stand out to
someone who, on the off chancemight be looking. After many nights,
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the time had finally come for Vierreand Tomich to pull off the biggest heist
he had ever planned. On Maythe twentieth, two thousand and ten,
he approached the m am with abag full of low tech items in his
aid. Just as predicted, theguard made his three am round past the
(21:00):
window he would soon dismantle, hanginga black sheet against the window. A
quick glance out the window would seemto look like a dark night. Next,
he backed out the screws that heldthe window in place. His prep
on the window had been successful,and they came out quietly. In a
(21:22):
tribute to his methodical system, hepiled the screws gently on the window sill
near the corner. Once the windowwas ready to come out, he used
a pair of garden variety gloves withlarge suction cups sewn on. By pressing
the palm of his gloved hands ontothe window, he noiselessly lifted and gently
(21:44):
set them aside, just as hehad with the screws. From the handybag,
came out a pair of run ofthe mill bolt cutters, which he
used to snap the padlock that heldthe chain in place. For the grate
healthily like the cat burglar he was. He slid the great aside and stepped
inside, avoiding all of the censorsthat he knew weren't working anyway. A
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bit ironically, this was his biggestjob ever, yet it was so easy
he didn't truly need his spider likeskills that had served him so well.
After a brief few moments inside,he backed out again through the curtain that
he had hung, and waited outof sight for a quarter of an hour.
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This was the mark of how cautiousand how aware he was, because
in the event that there was additionalsecurity in place, such as censors wired
to a window, he couldn't seeif an alarm had gone off and the
police showed up. This would tellhim if it wasn't safe to proceed with
the robbery. The police never came, and Tom each felt the undeniable draw
(22:59):
of the art within, including thelege. He proceeded back into the museum
and began to give himself a privatetour. The targeted artwork was sitting there
waiting for him, but that didn'tmean he necessarily had to rush. Within
a stone's throw of the famous Cubistpainting was Matissa's Pastoral, Picasso's Dove with
(23:25):
green peas, Modigliani's Woman with aFan and olive Tree near Lestoc by Broc.
The irresistible pool that had always compelledVierantmach felt in the vicinity of anything
of value and art in particular,took over the typically calm thief, and
he knew that he would be leavingwith more than just the lige. He
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began with the commissioned robbery, cuttingit from its frame, and followed with
Picasso, Broc, Matisse and Modilia, a decision made in the moment that
would affect the future outcome of hissuccess. Oddly, the frenzied Caper ended
not with the sound of a guardon patrol, as one might think.
(24:15):
In fact, none of the threeon duty were aware of a thing,
but ended rather with the eye contacthe had made with another work of Modiliani's,
The Woman with Blue Eyes. Somethingabout this painting, in particular made
the hair on the back of hisneck stand up. In a letter to
reporter Jake Halpern, who reported inThe New Yorker, Tolmit recalled quote,
(24:41):
when I went to get it offthe wall, it told me, if
you take me, you will regretit for the rest of your life.
I will never forget what this womanwith blue eyes did to me. When
I touched it to take it outof its frame, the feeling started instantly,
a fear that came over me likean iceberg, a freezing fear that
(25:03):
made me run away. Quote.It was not until the next morning that
the world discovered the tragedy that struckthe museum under the cover of night.
The news traveled at nearly the speedof light through Paris, all of France,
the whole of Europe, and theworld. People were bewildered. How
(25:26):
could this have so easily happened?Who could have just strolled away with such
valuable history. The museum did havesecurity cameras, but the quality was so
poor the footage offered very little inthe way of a potential suspect. Then
it was learned that the alarms inthe museum were in need of repair for
(25:48):
the past two months. The reportsgrew in their surprise as the total loss
was calculated. A person or personsunknown had simply walked out a ground floor
window with one hundred and fifteen milliondollars worth of paramount significance to the art
community. Some reports claim it wasdouble that whoever had done this was instantly
(26:15):
added to the annals of history,but Tolmiche's partner in crime, Corvez,
was not thrilled. It was goingto be hard enough to not attract authorities
for one painting, the Laja,but five stolen paintings of the highest profile
were now liberated and needing to besold. They met in a pre arranged
(26:37):
location, a parking garage. Corvezreluctantly agreed to take them and do his
best to find buyers. He paidfor the Lajee by handing over a shoe
box packaged with the agreed sum.In the following days, Vieran's paranoia grew
to an unbearable plateau. First wasthe fact that he had handed over all
(27:00):
of the paintings to Corvez. Whatif something happened to Corvez, he would
never see another penny or the artworkagain. He insisted on knowing who would
take over in the event of Corvez'sapprehension or death. Tomich forced Corvez to
promise that if anything happened, therewould be a person who would step into
(27:22):
his shoes. Eventually, Corvez agreed, but refused to give a name.
Instead, he just said you'll knowwhen you meet them. Additionally, the
police knew that Tomiich had stolen artin two thousand and he did have fourteen
previous offenses. Should they connect thedots, it could easily lead to an
(27:47):
arrest, a simple fact the cautiouscriminals should have considered before. He had
a nice wad of cash from thisjob, but he needed someplace to hide
it and to lay low in theevent that the police searched his home.
After racking his brain, he hadan idea. There was a sex worker
(28:08):
that he was on trustworthy terms with. After all, they both had professional
secrets that made her more likely tohold his close. She had often entertained
tome each in her home, andunlikely without her knowledge, he taped all
of the money he had received fromCorvez on the underside of a chair in
(28:29):
her apartment where he spent the night. She never minded if he dropped by.
It seems that they had a casualrelationship that was not one of romance
or necessarily one of her profession either. It seems that they were just intermittently
involved, but she would not objectto his presence when he decided to retrieve
his money. As the months passed, much to his surprise, the police
(28:56):
had not approached either he or Corvez. True to fashion, the evidence of
who robbed the museum was minimal tothe extreme. The only thing that hinted
of a possible perpetrator was a descriptiongiven to the police by a young man
who frequented the skate park across thestreet from the museum. Surprisingly, the
(29:18):
young man gave a detailed, andas it turned out, accurate description of
a gentleman he had noticed watching themuseum. Somehow, the authorities still had
not made the connection between the descriptionand Tomeech. Meanwhile, the press and
the people of France, who werenaturally distraught by the loss of such fine
(29:41):
art as Picasso, were also fascinatedby the seamless crime. It didn't take
long for the press and their avidreaders to liken whoever had pulled this off,
to Arsene Lupin, a fictional thiefwho, despite his occupation, was,
above all else a gentleman. Tomachloved this comparison, as he had
(30:03):
never set out to physically hurt anyoneand always did everything possible to avoid confronting
his victims or security guards. Asmuch as this comparison pleased him. On
another level, he desired for peopleto regal him as the person who pulled
this off. Meanwhile, Corvez hadimmediately sold the Liege to a buyer who
(30:27):
he had lined up, but thebuyer quickly became uncomfortable and disillusioned with the
piece as the coverage of the robberyincreased. The buyer reportedly returned the painting
to Corvez and never even bothered totry to get a refund. He just
didn't care to risk it any longer. Corvez was now again in possession of
(30:51):
five high profiles stolen paintings, withno buyers wanting to take the risk.
Corvez eventually cut a deal for Modiglianiwith a man named a Jonathan Burne,
who was an art lover and likelynot entirely unaware of where the status of
the Modigliani he so loved came from. It was at this time that the
(31:14):
mam Hall was split up. TheModiliani that Burne had bought went to stay
in a safety deposit box where itwasn't placed on any official list for its
contents. The others disappeared into ashop that Burne owned. This was a
move that was clearly devised by criminalsto prevent themselves falling victim to theft perpetrated
(31:37):
against them. The weak security atthe m AM was in direct contrast with
the high tax system Burne had putin place to protect the high dollar watches
he sold and repaired. Burne hada large armoire that easily concealed all of
the canvases between the back of itand the wall it was against. The
(32:02):
team of fences had begun discussing thepossibility of finding a buyer for one,
or potentially all of the paintings inthe Middle East, where there would be
less scrutiny as to whether or notthey were hot. They were also coming
up on the one year anniversary ofthe heist, and with every day that
passed, they too became sloppy andcomplacent. Flights to and from Tel Aviv
(32:28):
were not going unnoticed. As ithappens, Tomita's paranoia was not unjustified from
the beginning. The police actually hadhim on their short list of who could
have done this. To make mattersworse, there was allegedly an anonymous tip
that came in suggesting that he maybe responsible, but interestingly for a criminal
(32:53):
who was paranoid of getting caught.It seems that this tip came from someone
who overheard the thief bragging about thejob at a party, So why wasn't
he immediately arrested. Over the yearsince the museum was robbed, they had
to move with extreme caution regardless ofwho the thief was. Any sudden movements
(33:16):
on the part of law enforcement wouldtip off the thieves. If they felt
cornered, the canvasses could be lostforever or destroyed to hide all incriminating evidence,
and that's exactly what happened. Authoritiesbegan by studying Tomach's cell phone data,
(33:37):
which showed that he was indeed inthe area at the time of the
crime. Of course, this isonly circumstantial, although it certainly didn't look
good that when you called his phone, his voicemail message stated, if you
want to buy paintings or works ofart or exceptional jewelry, do not hesitate
(33:59):
to contact me. Among the manypaintings, there are five that are extremely
expensive. But while watching toome eachthey were able to nab him for a
robbery that he committed in May oftwenty eleven. He was short of cash
and not aware that the French policewere watching. When they had seen enough,
(34:20):
a warrant was issued and the authoritiesuncovered all of his equipment used in
this robbery, which looked eerily familiarand just like that. Still feeling the
need to be praised for the talentedthief he was, Tomich spilled all the
beans. He wasn't afraid of jailtime, but the idea of never getting
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credit for the m Am masterpiece wastoo much to bear. The way the
public admired the thief called to himtoo strongly. He was finally able to
take credit for the robbery and regalanyone who would listen with the dramatic and
supernatural story of his heist, includingthe woman with the blue eyes that stopped
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his further plundering. This was terriblenews for corvez In Burne, as a
tandem raid was orchestrated on both oftheir businesses and homes. Burne was tipped
off and police arrived at both locations, not realizing that four out of the
five paintings were hidden behind the armois. The two fencemen were eventually arrested,
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and Burne was quick to announce thatbetween the police leaving his watch shop after
the raid, he had gathered allfive of the paintings and destroyed them before
throwing the remains in the trash.The two day trial came in January of
twenty seventeen, and all three menwere found guilty after testimonies against one another
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and wire tap conversations from their respectivephones were presented. Interestingly, each of
the men displayed three distinct personality traitsthat further convicted them in the minds of
judge and jury in the matter oftheir guilt. Horvez was quick to claim
that he never set Tomich out tosteal anything. He was just trying to
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operate an honest and upright business.In other words, he claimed he mentioned
wanting a ligee painting, but thatdidn't mean he hired someone to steal it.
What Tomeach did with that information wason Tomeach. Meanwhile, Burne broke
down and was completely remorseful about thedestruction of the art foremost and his participation
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in the illegal activities secondary Vier andTomeitch, now aged forty nine, openly
basked in his achievement, stating atone point quote it's one of my biggest
and easiest hests. Harriett was learnedthat not only were the motion detectors not
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operational during the heist, but noneof the other anti intrusion measures were either.
There were other window gates that werebroken, signals that never made it
to the guards, and other deterrentsthat should have long since been repaired.
At the end, Burne was sentencedto six years in prison, Corvez seven
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years, and Vier and Tomeitch eightyears, altogether twenty one years served for
their theft and destruction of one hundredand fifteen million dollars worth of art.
There is one last PostScript to thisstory, which is known to this day
as the biggest valued art heist inhistory, and that is the actions of
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Burne before his arrest. Almost everybodyinvolved in the story has serious doubts as
to whether he actually did roy thecanvases. To be sure, he gave
a performance in court that included tears, but something about his testimony rang false.
The vagueness and lack of details inthe destruction of the art created more
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questions than answers. It's known thatthe men tried to sell the paintings overseas.
Perhaps they're there, or perhaps they'rebehind a wall somewhere, much like
Burne's old watches. Burne has neveraltered his story, but everyone, including
Vieran Tomeitch, believed that the fivemasterpieces are out there and intact, waiting
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to resurface from the black market orat the hands of industrious investigators who still
hope to find the last pieces ofthe puzzle. Tomich, Corvez and many
others who worked on the case maintainedthat Burne was just too smart a man
to have thrown them away, butfor now, no one but burn knows
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for sure. That concludes this episodeof Mugshot. You can follow Mugshot on
all social media outlets at the handleat mugshot pod to stay up to date
or just stay hi. You canalso email me at mugshot pod at yahoo
dot com. Until next time,stay out of trouble or you may end
(39:28):
up pictured in your very own mugshot.
You're listening to Mugshot. I'm yourhost, Lindsay. This episode of Mugshot
was co created by Abby Martin,who assisted with research and writing. I
apologize for my absence lately. UnfortunatelyI had a very unexpected and emotional emergency
surgery that caused a delay. ButI'm doing much better and I'm thrilled to
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be back on as normal of aschedule as my children will allow, since
they're still home for summer. Today'smugshot name Vierin Tweech, arrested for art
theft. Every few years, Hollywoodputs out a spine tingling, high stakes,
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dramatic heist movie, you know thekind. They typically start a handsome
and classy man who often operates alonein the highest secrecy, absconding with the
most valuable babbles, and for thattwo hour time frame, viewers are amazed
by the tension and the release thatcomes from the suspension of reality. After
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the credits finished rolling and the popcornis swept from the floor, viewers go
home entertained, but hardly enlightened orinspired to try their own heist. For
the skeptics in the audience, there'sthe ever inescapable fact that crime and larceny
are not simply a dashing tuxedo combinedwith a daring plan. High profile thefts
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are difficult to pull off unless youplan on secretly amassing treasure that will never
see the light of day or yieldany financial benefit. You've simply stolen something
that'll land you in the clink themoment you sell it, unless you're someone
like Spider Man. No, notthat Spider Man. There are ways of
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making stolen jewels into different pieces ofjewelry. For example, if the Hope
Diamond or the Crown Jewels were stolentonight, the thieves in theory could cut
and divide their spoils into several smallerand unidentifiable styles, resulting in a baguette
style ring here, a princess cuttennis bracelet over there, which in turn
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can at least be sold with lessscrutiny. But this principle of the high
profile thefts intensifies when applied to certainitems, such as the paramount paintings churned
out by the likes of, sayPicasso. You can't pass off a Rembrandt
or a Picasso as anything other thanwhat they are. Those who purchase authentic
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bonafid art are actually a very smallcommunity who are obsessed with the provenance of
what they're buying. To steal worklike these is madness. However, the
absurdity of these thefts and limits ofreality have never mattered when it came to
the mind of Vierr and Tomitch,who had the compulsory urge to own any
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artwork that quote spoke to him bywhatever means he deemed necessary and most expedient.
A quick check of Vierr and Tomitch'sbank account told him that if he
wanted so much as a postage stamp, he was going to have to steal
it. Born in Paris in nineteensixty eight to a pair of Bosnian emigrants,
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the small family struggled to adjust toa new country while raising a baby.
At the age of one, Viranwas relocated to live with his grandmother
back in Bosnia while his mother recoveredfrom a life threatening illness, a move
that, in his own words,negatively shaped his future as he resented being
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so distanced from family at a youngage. Vie and Tomitch was a live
wire, proving to be a handfulfrom an early age. Not only was
he deviously smart, he inflicted iton those around him, constantly prinking or
waterline bullying his friends and family members. By the time he returned to Paris
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at the age of eleven, Tomeachwas incredibly agile and enjoyed playing in a
Parisian cemetery near his family's apartment,Tomeach and a few of the other neighborhood
boys entertained themselves by creating a gamein which they would jump from one tombstone
to another. Each boy would bedared to hop onto more and more distant
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headstones and memorials until he fell.During this irreverent game of chance, Tomeach
found that he was naturally exceptional andsoon found a way to further challenge his
already excellent mastery of the game.If you can hop from this gravestone to
this gravestone, maybe you should tryscaling a mausoleum and jumping from it onto
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another memorial. Soon he was beingdared by the other gang members to see
if he could scale this brick wallor that stony bridge, and tom each
found that he could. He laterrecalled to reporter Jake Halburn of The New
Yorker quote observing them, it gaveme the desire to touch them to climb
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up their peaks. This skill wouldlater further be honed while serving in the
French Army. The other skill thatthe young man possessed was unsurprisingly art.
Growing up with his Parisian heritage,the young boy often found himself drawn into
galleries and doing sketches on his own, hoping to emulate the masters of several
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different artistic eras. He expressed whatjoy he felt to his father when he
picked up a paintbrush. The contentmentfar surpassed anything he had ever experienced and
made him absolutely certain that he wasdestined to be forever linked with art,
and he would be correct. Tomichthe senior was a mechanic and did his
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best to discourage his son from tryingto take up painting as a profession versus
a hobby. He felt there wassome nugget of truth to the old trope
about starving artists, and he woulddo anything to keep his son from languishing.
Instead of leading a financially stable life, including offering his son a job
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working with him. Viern was hurtby his father's lack of support, which
caused a rift between the two.The father and son seemed to butt head
so frequently and undesirably that Vierre andTomiich spent as little time as possible within
the critical shadow cast by his father. Beyond this, his parents did their
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fair share of fighting, which madethe home turbulent. For the preteen.
This meant that he spent less andless time at home and more time out
on the streets. Thus, theless time he spent with his family,
the more unsavory his activities became.The days of playing on graves was soon
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eclipsed by Tomach's first theft. Anirresistible pull drew the young delinquent into a
library, where he discovered two booksthat had to be over a hundred years
old. It was, in hismind his own little piece of history that
he could easily snag and sell.His big entrance and exit were not through
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any door, but through an unsecuredwindow. In and out he went successfully,
but before he could sell the books, a playmate's older brother returned them
anonymously. The condensed and scattered informationregarding the early life of Tomeach lends to
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the image that he clearly enjoyed.The myths and rumors that surrounded the thief
make him seem larger than life,but perhaps not quite as big as his
ever growing rap sheet. What startedout as pennyanti crimes like helping himself to
old library books during closed hours,began to grow as his need for money
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increased. At this point, Virenhad run away from his oppressive family and
taken up with a group of similarlydisgruntled teens. The group slept rough in
an abandoned warehouse, savoring the freedomat first, but soon the price of
their freedom became apparent when they beganto need the basic necessities food and water,
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the most chief among them. Ina concentrated effort, the youths began
to steal anything they could get theirhands on. While some of the thieves
were merely passable, Tomich excelled.His intelligence and agility made Vieren a great
set to his group, who tothis point had been stealing random pieces of
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glassware and anything else that they thoughtmight catch bargain hunting shoppers at the surrounding
second hand shops. Unsatisfied and unchallenged, Tomeach began wandering Paris's upper class neighborhoods
that clearly would lend to more fruitfulplundering To round out the cash flow,
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they often bought and resold drugs comparedto the garden variety thief Tomeach showed great
prudence in restraint by the seemingly excessiveamount of reconnaissance. It was common for
the burglar to watch for weeks beforeentering his target locations, and once he
had trespassed, often it had beena dozen times before he actually left with
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valuables like gold, jewels, hiddencash, anything that could fetch a price,
including art by renoirs. During hisvisits, Verin would meticulously search without
disturbing a single thing. He wouldwrap his knuckles on various surfaces, looking
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for hidden panels and cubbies built intowalls and furniture. If he found a
safe, he would make a mentalnote to bring a tool or two the
next visit, but never more thanhe could easily carry while scaling up walls
and sliding down fire escapes into thewindows of his victims. Over the next
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visits, he would find the leastdamaging and apparent ways to saw into safes
and dismantled furniture, concealing what heso coveted. A little work at a
time made it easier not to arousesuspicion until he was certain that he had
retrieved every possible item into his jackpot. It was a simple yet well executed
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principle of common sense caution. Thepace and scope of his pilfering was incredible,
turning enough profit for him to acquiresome expensive clothing, as well as
an expansive network of the type ofcriminals that fill every metropolis. Tomeach,
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much to his delight, began tohave a reputation with many of the fences
that he brought valuables to, earninghim the nickname of spider Man, in
homage to his extreme skill scaling buildings. But for the seemingly endless stream of
successful robberies, Tomeach had not remainedanonymous to the Parisian authorities. By the
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time that Tomeach began to plan hisbiggest heist, he had already served a
year's worth of time for armed robberyof a bakery. In an act of
spontaneity, his car ran out ofgas. Upon realizing he had left his
wallet at home, he simply raninto the nearest bakery, robbing them for
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cash. He had an additional thirteenarrests, ranging from drug and weaponry arrests
to an arrest for the theft ofa privately owned Renois painting in two thousand,
according to the New Yorker article quote. In the fall of two thousand
and an episode that subsequently made thepapers in France, he used a crossbow
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with ropes and carabineers to sneak intoan apartment while its occupants were asleep and
stole two Renois, a Durain,a Eutrillo, a Brock, and various
other works a hall worth more thana million euros end quote. But as
disastrous as the Renois incident and therobbery were, som each was still learning.
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Don't steal art, it's valuable andgorgeous, but not easily fenced.
Don't use your own vehicle during daylightto commit armed robbery. You will be
caught. This practical side of Vierand Tomeach was in direct contrast to a
more mystical personality he also showed whenhe regaled his fellow squatters and later reporters
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with his heists. The stories oftenwere peppered with dramatic moments that gave him
an almost psychic ability to feel universalvibrations and see auras around items and locations.
Many of his marks were abandoned early, according to himself, who allegedly
felt waves of unease that made himfeel the urge to flee without taking anything,
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a premonition of sorts. The worldwas Tomeach's oyster who knew the secrets
of the universe, which put himin the catbird seat. One afternoon,
Tomeach was walking, perhaps enjoying thebeauty of Paris in springtime, when he
approached a building that screamed of theold Art Deco style popular in the late
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nineteen thirties. It was the museDart Moderne de la Ville de Paris,
more succinctly known to the locals andwell informed tourists as the m a M.
The museum was optimistically conceived and builtin the height of the Great Depression,
having opened in nineteen thirty seven,it was originally intended to be a
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cultural focal point in the International Expositionthe same year. Staring in the large
windows, Tomiga's train of thought wassparked into action. For one, the
windows looked as if they hadn't beencared for or updated in their lifetime other
than an occasional code of paint.He gleefully recognized their construction to be similar
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to those he had cased and intrudedthrough in the past. It would be
child's play to create his own entranceto the museum during off hours. While
his brain churned through this epiphany,a second and third followed after he did
a little further inspection of the property. Yes, there were obvious security measures
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in place, but the downside withany of these measures is that institutions like
the M a M become complacent withthem. Day after day of security guards
becoming bored with no action to occupythem, things become lacks, which in
turn creates a foothold for a breach, and opportunities were everywhere within the M
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a M. He immediately noted thatthe non functional motion censors far outweighed the
functional ones. The small centered lightswere non existent in the broken censors.
Additionally, while he was outside,he made a mental note of one camera
with a semi obstructed view of thefront entrance, and once inside to each
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saw no other cameras he could easilyobserve unnoticed, and was free to wander
in case the property. At hisleisure. Wandering around the popular attraction,
Vieran was overtaken by the need tobreak into the mam It was a compulsion
at this point, seeing all ofthe various opportunities staring him right in the
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face on the inside. One paintingcaught his eye specifically, which sealed all
of his desires. There, hangingon a wall was a painting by Ferdinand
Leget titled still Life with a Candlestick. The work was unmistakably a product of
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the Cubist movement and just the excusehe needed. But first he had to
be rational and methodical. He hadto develop a plan before we continue.
Let's take a quick break. Welcomeback from the break. When we left
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off, Spider Man knew he wasgoing to break into the museum. He
just needed to determine how. Firstand foremost on his to do list was
to visit one of his most reliableconnections. As Viern had progressed and his
network of fences grew, so didthe items that he was to be on
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the lookout for. His favorite fencewas a man named Jean Corvez. In
the five or so years that Tomichand Corvez worked together, Corvez had often
reminded him that he should not onlykeep in tiptop climbing shape in order to
bring him the best stuff first,of course, but to also keep his
eyes open for a liege painting hewas willing to pay. Who the buyer
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was Corvez never really made clear,but that was not uncommon to the relationship
between any burglar and fence. Theless that everyone knew about the supply and
demand of the stolen items, theless could be league to authorities. After
visiting Corvez and explaining what he hadseen, the deal was struck. After
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Tomach felt that he had enough informationto be comfortable with the situation. Corvez
said he would be willing to payforty three thousand dollars for a legitimate lige
if Tomeach could nab it from them am. So it began. Tome
Each started by watching the museum atevery hour he had to spare. His
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new obsession was knowing what the museumlooked like at each minute of the day,
inside and out, at every angle. One evening, he noticed that
same set of windows that originally caughthis attention. When the museum was closed
for the night, a sliding accordionlike grill was brought to the center and
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padlocked together, and what seemed likea feeble acknowledgment that the bay windows might
not be enough of a deterrent.Every night after closing, there was a
security guard that entered the area andclosed the grill with a simple padlock on
the inside, so that the frontof the padlock faced the works of art
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versus someone looking through a window.It was not an insurmountable challenge for someone
as seasoned as Tomeach. As forthe security guard, Vieran was pretty sure
that he only saw him once totwice a night. The guard made his
rounds, but likely was sitting comfortablywaiting to clock out, maybe watching the
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camera's feed to be sure. Hewould have to exercise a little more caution
than usual, as this was notsome empty apartment. There was someone who
was actually put there to listen forpeople like him. To make an easier
job of eventually sneaking in, hecasually made a middle of the night visit
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to strip the paint and rest offof the old screws holding the window into
the facade of the museum, whichwas done using liquid chemicals. A quick
cover up of the newly stripped screwswas added so they wouldn't stand out to
someone who, on the off chancemight be looking. After many nights,
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the time had finally come for Vierreand Tomich to pull off the biggest heist
he had ever planned. On Maythe twentieth, two thousand and ten,
he approached the m am with abag full of low tech items in his
aid. Just as predicted, theguard made his three am round past the
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window he would soon dismantle, hanginga black sheet against the window. A
quick glance out the window would seemto look like a dark night. Next,
he backed out the screws that heldthe window in place. His prep
on the window had been successful,and they came out quietly. In a
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tribute to his methodical system, hepiled the screws gently on the window sill
near the corner. Once the windowwas ready to come out, he used
a pair of garden variety gloves withlarge suction cups sewn on. By pressing
the palm of his gloved hands ontothe window, he noiselessly lifted and gently
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set them aside, just as hehad with the screws. From the handybag,
came out a pair of run ofthe mill bolt cutters, which he
used to snap the padlock that heldthe chain in place. For the grate
healthily like the cat burglar he was. He slid the great aside and stepped
inside, avoiding all of the censorsthat he knew weren't working anyway. A
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bit ironically, this was his biggestjob ever, yet it was so easy
he didn't truly need his spider likeskills that had served him so well.
After a brief few moments inside,he backed out again through the curtain that
he had hung, and waited outof sight for a quarter of an hour.
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This was the mark of how cautiousand how aware he was, because
in the event that there was additionalsecurity in place, such as censors wired
to a window, he couldn't seeif an alarm had gone off and the
police showed up. This would tellhim if it wasn't safe to proceed with
the robbery. The police never came, and Tom each felt the undeniable draw
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of the art within, including thelege. He proceeded back into the museum
and began to give himself a privatetour. The targeted artwork was sitting there
waiting for him, but that didn'tmean he necessarily had to rush. Within
a stone's throw of the famous Cubistpainting was Matissa's Pastoral, Picasso's Dove with
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green peas, Modigliani's Woman with aFan and olive Tree near Lestoc by Broc.
The irresistible pool that had always compelledVierantmach felt in the vicinity of anything
of value and art in particular,took over the typically calm thief, and
he knew that he would be leavingwith more than just the lige. He
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began with the commissioned robbery, cuttingit from its frame, and followed with
Picasso, Broc, Matisse and Modilia, a decision made in the moment that
would affect the future outcome of hissuccess. Oddly, the frenzied Caper ended
not with the sound of a guardon patrol, as one might think.
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In fact, none of the threeon duty were aware of a thing,
but ended rather with the eye contacthe had made with another work of Modiliani's,
The Woman with Blue Eyes. Somethingabout this painting, in particular made
the hair on the back of hisneck stand up. In a letter to
reporter Jake Halpern, who reported inThe New Yorker, Tolmit recalled quote,
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when I went to get it offthe wall, it told me, if
you take me, you will regretit for the rest of your life.
I will never forget what this womanwith blue eyes did to me. When
I touched it to take it outof its frame, the feeling started instantly,
a fear that came over me likean iceberg, a freezing fear that
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made me run away. Quote.It was not until the next morning that
the world discovered the tragedy that struckthe museum under the cover of night.
The news traveled at nearly the speedof light through Paris, all of France,
the whole of Europe, and theworld. People were bewildered. How
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could this have so easily happened?Who could have just strolled away with such
valuable history. The museum did havesecurity cameras, but the quality was so
poor the footage offered very little inthe way of a potential suspect. Then
it was learned that the alarms inthe museum were in need of repair for
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the past two months. The reportsgrew in their surprise as the total loss
was calculated. A person or personsunknown had simply walked out a ground floor
window with one hundred and fifteen milliondollars worth of paramount significance to the art
community. Some reports claim it wasdouble that whoever had done this was instantly
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added to the annals of history,but Tolmiche's partner in crime, Corvez,
was not thrilled. It was goingto be hard enough to not attract authorities
for one painting, the Laja,but five stolen paintings of the highest profile
were now liberated and needing to besold. They met in a pre arranged
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location, a parking garage. Corvezreluctantly agreed to take them and do his
best to find buyers. He paidfor the Lajee by handing over a shoe
box packaged with the agreed sum.In the following days, Vieran's paranoia grew
to an unbearable plateau. First wasthe fact that he had handed over all
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of the paintings to Corvez. Whatif something happened to Corvez, he would
never see another penny or the artworkagain. He insisted on knowing who would
take over in the event of Corvez'sapprehension or death. Tomich forced Corvez to
promise that if anything happened, therewould be a person who would step into
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his shoes. Eventually, Corvez agreed, but refused to give a name.
Instead, he just said you'll knowwhen you meet them. Additionally, the
police knew that Tomiich had stolen artin two thousand and he did have fourteen
previous offenses. Should they connect thedots, it could easily lead to an
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arrest, a simple fact the cautiouscriminals should have considered before. He had
a nice wad of cash from thisjob, but he needed someplace to hide
it and to lay low in theevent that the police searched his home.
After racking his brain, he hadan idea. There was a sex worker
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that he was on trustworthy terms with. After all, they both had professional
secrets that made her more likely tohold his close. She had often entertained
tome each in her home, andunlikely without her knowledge, he taped all
of the money he had received fromCorvez on the underside of a chair in
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her apartment where he spent the night. She never minded if he dropped by.
It seems that they had a casualrelationship that was not one of romance
or necessarily one of her profession either. It seems that they were just intermittently
involved, but she would not objectto his presence when he decided to retrieve
his money. As the months passed, much to his surprise, the police
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had not approached either he or Corvez. True to fashion, the evidence of
who robbed the museum was minimal tothe extreme. The only thing that hinted
of a possible perpetrator was a descriptiongiven to the police by a young man
who frequented the skate park across thestreet from the museum. Surprisingly, the
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young man gave a detailed, andas it turned out, accurate description of
a gentleman he had noticed watching themuseum. Somehow, the authorities still had
not made the connection between the descriptionand Tomeech. Meanwhile, the press and
the people of France, who werenaturally distraught by the loss of such fine
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art as Picasso, were also fascinatedby the seamless crime. It didn't take
long for the press and their avidreaders to liken whoever had pulled this off,
to Arsene Lupin, a fictional thiefwho, despite his occupation, was,
above all else a gentleman. Tomachloved this comparison, as he had
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never set out to physically hurt anyoneand always did everything possible to avoid confronting
his victims or security guards. Asmuch as this comparison pleased him. On
another level, he desired for peopleto regal him as the person who pulled
this off. Meanwhile, Corvez hadimmediately sold the Liege to a buyer who
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he had lined up, but thebuyer quickly became uncomfortable and disillusioned with the
piece as the coverage of the robberyincreased. The buyer reportedly returned the painting
to Corvez and never even bothered totry to get a refund. He just
didn't care to risk it any longer. Corvez was now again in possession of
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five high profiles stolen paintings, withno buyers wanting to take the risk.
Corvez eventually cut a deal for Modiglianiwith a man named a Jonathan Burne,
who was an art lover and likelynot entirely unaware of where the status of
the Modigliani he so loved came from. It was at this time that the
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mam Hall was split up. TheModiliani that Burne had bought went to stay
in a safety deposit box where itwasn't placed on any official list for its
contents. The others disappeared into ashop that Burne owned. This was a
move that was clearly devised by criminalsto prevent themselves falling victim to theft perpetrated
(31:37):
against them. The weak security atthe m AM was in direct contrast with
the high tax system Burne had putin place to protect the high dollar watches
he sold and repaired. Burne hada large armoire that easily concealed all of
the canvases between the back of itand the wall it was against. The
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team of fences had begun discussing thepossibility of finding a buyer for one,
or potentially all of the paintings inthe Middle East, where there would be
less scrutiny as to whether or notthey were hot. They were also coming
up on the one year anniversary ofthe heist, and with every day that
passed, they too became sloppy andcomplacent. Flights to and from Tel Aviv
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were not going unnoticed. As ithappens, Tomita's paranoia was not unjustified from
the beginning. The police actually hadhim on their short list of who could
have done this. To make mattersworse, there was allegedly an anonymous tip
that came in suggesting that he maybe responsible, but interestingly for a criminal
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who was paranoid of getting caught.It seems that this tip came from someone
who overheard the thief bragging about thejob at a party, So why wasn't
he immediately arrested. Over the yearsince the museum was robbed, they had
to move with extreme caution regardless ofwho the thief was. Any sudden movements
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on the part of law enforcement wouldtip off the thieves. If they felt
cornered, the canvasses could be lostforever or destroyed to hide all incriminating evidence,
and that's exactly what happened. Authoritiesbegan by studying Tomach's cell phone data,
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which showed that he was indeed inthe area at the time of the
crime. Of course, this isonly circumstantial, although it certainly didn't look
good that when you called his phone, his voicemail message stated, if you
want to buy paintings or works ofart or exceptional jewelry, do not hesitate
(33:59):
to contact me. Among the manypaintings, there are five that are extremely
expensive. But while watching toome eachthey were able to nab him for a
robbery that he committed in May oftwenty eleven. He was short of cash
and not aware that the French policewere watching. When they had seen enough,
(34:20):
a warrant was issued and the authoritiesuncovered all of his equipment used in
this robbery, which looked eerily familiarand just like that. Still feeling the
need to be praised for the talentedthief he was, Tomich spilled all the
beans. He wasn't afraid of jailtime, but the idea of never getting
(34:43):
credit for the m Am masterpiece wastoo much to bear. The way the
public admired the thief called to himtoo strongly. He was finally able to
take credit for the robbery and regalanyone who would listen with the dramatic and
supernatural story of his heist, includingthe woman with the blue eyes that stopped
(35:05):
his further plundering. This was terriblenews for corvez In Burne, as a
tandem raid was orchestrated on both oftheir businesses and homes. Burne was tipped
off and police arrived at both locations, not realizing that four out of the
five paintings were hidden behind the armois. The two fencemen were eventually arrested,
(35:31):
and Burne was quick to announce thatbetween the police leaving his watch shop after
the raid, he had gathered allfive of the paintings and destroyed them before
throwing the remains in the trash.The two day trial came in January of
twenty seventeen, and all three menwere found guilty after testimonies against one another
(35:54):
and wire tap conversations from their respectivephones were presented. Interestingly, each of
the men displayed three distinct personality traitsthat further convicted them in the minds of
judge and jury in the matter oftheir guilt. Horvez was quick to claim
that he never set Tomich out tosteal anything. He was just trying to
(36:19):
operate an honest and upright business.In other words, he claimed he mentioned
wanting a ligee painting, but thatdidn't mean he hired someone to steal it.
What Tomeach did with that information wason Tomeach. Meanwhile, Burne broke
down and was completely remorseful about thedestruction of the art foremost and his participation
(36:44):
in the illegal activities secondary Vier andTomeitch, now aged forty nine, openly
basked in his achievement, stating atone point quote it's one of my biggest
and easiest hests. Harriett was learnedthat not only were the motion detectors not
(37:04):
operational during the heist, but noneof the other anti intrusion measures were either.
There were other window gates that werebroken, signals that never made it
to the guards, and other deterrentsthat should have long since been repaired.
At the end, Burne was sentencedto six years in prison, Corvez seven
(37:25):
years, and Vier and Tomeitch eightyears, altogether twenty one years served for
their theft and destruction of one hundredand fifteen million dollars worth of art.
There is one last PostScript to thisstory, which is known to this day
as the biggest valued art heist inhistory, and that is the actions of
(37:50):
Burne before his arrest. Almost everybodyinvolved in the story has serious doubts as
to whether he actually did roy thecanvases. To be sure, he gave
a performance in court that included tears, but something about his testimony rang false.
The vagueness and lack of details inthe destruction of the art created more
(38:15):
questions than answers. It's known thatthe men tried to sell the paintings overseas.
Perhaps they're there, or perhaps they'rebehind a wall somewhere, much like
Burne's old watches. Burne has neveraltered his story, but everyone, including
Vieran Tomeitch, believed that the fivemasterpieces are out there and intact, waiting
(38:40):
to resurface from the black market orat the hands of industrious investigators who still
hope to find the last pieces ofthe puzzle. Tomich, Corvez and many
others who worked on the case maintainedthat Burne was just too smart a man
to have thrown them away, butfor now, no one but burn knows
(39:02):
for sure. That concludes this episodeof Mugshot. You can follow Mugshot on
all social media outlets at the handleat mugshot pod to stay up to date
or just stay hi. You canalso email me at mugshot pod at yahoo
dot com. Until next time,stay out of trouble or you may end
(39:28):
up pictured in your very own mugshot.
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