Stolen Art Watch, Gardner Art Heist, Alex Boyle Shoots at a Moving Target !!

The Hon Alex Boyle Interview July 2011

1) How would you describe yourself in relation to the art world and in turn the Stolen Art Underworld?

Art dealer and art historian, being from New York, the center of the art trade it gives me a unique place to monitor the interesting trends and developments in the market. I prefer the regular art market, but in chasing the story of the Gardner heist it made great sense to learn more about the underworld, a perverse reflection of the regular market, which also because of the five families of the mafia is centered around New York City.

(2) What is your favourite colour?

Blue

(3) What is your favourite curse word?

Son of a *****

(4) Where were you born?

Westchester county, northern suburb of New York City

(5) What profession were your parents in?

Father was a journalist for Time-Life and my mother was a mathematician who worked on the design of 1^st generation surface to air missiles at M.I.T.

(6) The Gardner Heist of 1990 has provoked many theories, how was the Gardner Art Heist planned and by whom?

A crew of criminals associated with Myles Connor (in jail at the time), including Robert Donati, David Turner and William Merlino used police uniforms supplied by Peter Boylan (echoing the 1962 Great Plymouth Mail heist) to look like real cops when they knocked on the Gardner Museums door late St. Patrick's Day 1990. The Italians naturally thought every Irish cop in Boston would be cross eyed drunk that night too.

(7) Who actually carried out the Gardner heist?

David Turners photo matches the police sketch and I would say William Merlino was the other fellow dressed like a cop. Once the security guards were tied up, who knows who else came in to help the first two, since I heard the late Robert Donati (killed a year later for threatening to talk) was intricately involved in the planning as well

(8) Were the thieves given a shopping list of items or did they decide once they gained entry to the Gardner Museum?

Donati was behind the walk about and as such guided by past tours with Connor, so he selected what he thought important. The people at the Gardner told me they were stunned the Titian's Rape of Europa wasn’t taken, but I responded to that “Rape Scenes” are not commercial, they are tough sells, while Vermeers Concert painting is the ultimate high end commercial gentile painting and very easy to sell such a refined decorative subject.

(9) The use of authentic looking Police uniforms and radios could point to a Police insider, the name Boylan came up, does that resonate with you at all and if not, what does the tactics of the Gardner thieves tell us about the robbery, professional or amateur?

Peter Boylan supplied the uniforms, so the heist proceeded in a super professional manner right out of the long lost playbook for the 1962 Plymouth (Massachusetts) Mail robbery which is where guys dressed like cops, uniforms supplied by Gerry Angiulo, took a mail truck for almost $2 million. Fat Vinny Teresa wrote about that score in his book, “My Life in the Mafia.”

(10) Post theft, what happened next?

William Merlino and his uncle Carmello (a made guy in the New England Patriarcha family) handled the artowrk, the Flinck stayed in the states with them fencing it to a gay old master dealer from Newport, RI named Ed Pawlin. The rest of the stuff was kicked upstairs to the boss of the Family, “Cadillac Frank” Salemme. Salemme had a "sit down" with the Genovese in New York at a place called Friar Tucks, there it was agreed that the Genovese and Boston would split the proceeds with a commission going to the dealer, Andrew Crispo who handled the sale to his European client. The paintings were shipped from Boston to Halifax to Genoa Italy then described to me as being trucked by Italians known to former boss Fat Tony Salerno to a dealer in Paris named Andre Candillier.

(11) Who took control of the Gardner art post-theft?

The wiseguys said to me the Italians in Genoa brought the works to Candillier (one of truckers being an Italian-American who moved back to Italy, but who remained a liason between the US and the Sicilians) who took delivery of it, I think for getting any restoration work done, but the end purchaser for the two or three best works was the late Baron Thyessen

(12) What journey did the Gardner art take post-theft?

The sit-down to discuss the details of the sale in Catskill, NY while the paintings went from Boston to Halifax to Genoa to Paris then to Switzerland and/or England

(13) Who were the post-theft handlers?

New England family (Merlinos and Salemme), Genovese family of NY, dealer Andrew Crispo, Genoan truckers to Candillier

(14) The Irish connection has provoked many a column inch but where do you see any Irish involvement in the Gardner Art Heist, before, during or post-theft?

Only rumors after the fact. Once it gets to the British Isles, anything is possible, but the IRA has a strict ban on crimes in prime fund raising areas like New York and Boston, so any IRA guy involved in a huge theft in Boston would have faced ultimate sanction, death, with the body left in public for others to see an example.

(15) The Gardner Museum has offered a $5 million reward for recovery of all the Gardner art “In good condition” what are your thoughts on the validity of this reward offer?

I think it remains likely though reneging for various reasons is common.

(16) The Boston Assistant D.A. Brian Kelly has offered tentative immunity to anyone stepping forward to help recover the Gardner art, but they would have to reveal all they know and waive their 5^th Amendment rights and even testify against those who may be involved in the handling of the Gardner art as the statute of Limitations has run out on the actual theft, is this a sincere offer or just window dressing for the public?

That is fine print designed to maximize their appeal, but allow them maximum lee way to put the squeeze on somebody they perceive as getting in the way of their ambitious agenda(s)

(17) Where do you think the Gardner art is at this time, together or separate?

Separate. Completely chopped up like the smoldering wreck of a car on cinder-blocks on the side of the Major Deegan Expressway in New York City, circa 1977 in "The Bronx Is Burning."

(18) What actions could lead to the recovery of the Gardner art, other than Law Enforcement cracking the case?

Keeping earlier promises made by the FBI, like letting people out of prison, whom they already gave that promise to for solving double homicides, That would be a way to show good faith is real and not just some bs. “hey when we are done with you we leave you in the can to rot forever,” like they have done to people I know.

(19) What are your thoughts about doubling the Gardner Museum reward to $10 million to provoke new interest as it seems to have done in the Whitey Bulger case?

Bring it on.

What would you like God to say to you when you finally meet?

Can I stay up here?

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Stolen Art Watch, J W Carney Jr Handed James "Whitey" Bulger Brief !!

Judge taps high-profile defender for mob boss Bulger

Former Boston mob boss and accused murderer James "Whitey" Bulger will have a high-profile criminal defense attorney, J. W. Carney, represent him at public expense, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

Magistrate Judge Marianne Bowler rejected the prosecution's argument that Bulger should not get publicly funded counsel in his pending trial for racketeering, 19 counts of murder and other crimes.

There was no evidence that Bulger had the means to pay for his defense, Bowler said, setting his arraignment for July 6.

Bulger, 81, is the former leader of the notorious Winter Hill Gang, a mostly Irish-American organized crime operation based in Boston.

He had been sought by the authorities over murders committed in the 1970s and 1980s, many of them brutal slayings, and charges of drug dealing, extortion, money laundering and conspiracy.

Carney, named as one of the five best private criminal defense lawyers in Massachusetts by Boston magazine, takes the reins in what is expected to be a lengthy and complex case.

Bulger, who had been on the FBI's Most Wanted List, and long-time girlfriend Catherine Greig had some $820,000 of cash on hand when they were arrested last week in California after a 16-year FBI manhunt.

According to prosecutors, Bulger and Greig were able to finance a comfortable lifestyle during their time in hiding, replete with Las Vegas gambling trips and jaunts to Mexico to buy medications.

But proceeds of criminal activities cannot be used to bankroll a defense. Bulger has said through counsel that he did not want his family to be tapped to help pay for his defense.

Bulger, in an orange prison-issue jumpsuit, was in court for Bowler's ruling and for an earlier hearing, when a federal judge ruled on how his lengthy rap-sheet would be prosecuted.

Judge Mark Wolf allowed the government to dismiss a 1994 racketeering-focused indictment and focus on 19 murder charges contained in a separate indictment, while denying a defense bid to consolidate all the charges.

A conviction on just one count of murder in Massachusetts could send Bulger to prison for life, and authorities have said that focusing on the murder cases could bring quicker justice to the families of Bulger's alleged victims.

Judge Wolf said it was not clear that lumping the two indictments together, as Bulger's provisional attorney Peter Krupp requested, had any legal basis.

Brothers William "Billy" Bulger, the former Massachusetts Senate President, and John "Jackie" Bulger, a retired court clerk magistrate convicted of perjury in 2003, were seated in court, as were families of some of Bulger's alleged murder victims.

Stolen Art Watch, Judge Mark Wolf, Carmen Ortiz, Whitey Bulger, Gardner Art, Art Hostage Offers Sanity Amongst Madness !!

‘Whitey’ Bulger lawyer asks to consolidate 1995, 2000 charges

http://www.boston.com/Boston/metrodesk/2011/06/whitey-bulger-lawyer-asks-consolidate-cases/wX0shf8rCGh4Q1bEsllShP/index.html

The lawyer for James ‘Whitey’ Bulger has asked a judge to consolidate the two cases against his client, arguing that federal prosecutors are “forum shopping” as they seek to drop an earlier, less serious case against his client.

Prosecutors, said attorney Peter Krupp, are attempting to “game the system.”

“Such forum shopping is disfavored,” Krupp wrote in a court filing today in which he attempted to get both cases consolidated under Chief US District Judge Mark Wolf.

Bulger, the alleged crime boss who allegedly participated in 19 murders during a vicious reign in Boston’s underworld, was captured last Wednesday in Santa Monica, Calif., where he had been living a quiet life in an apartment several blocks from the beach.

He was returned to Boston on Friday and prosecutors and the defense have sparred vigorously since then, first over whether he should get a court-appointed attorney and now over prosecutors’ decision to drop one of the cases against him.

Prosecutors said Tuesday they wanted to drop 1995 charges against Bulger so they could focus on charges brought in 2000. They said the latter case was stronger, involved more serious allegations, and would bring justice sooner to the families of murder victims.

The 1995 charges, which did not contain murder allegations, were assigned to Judge Wolf. The 2000 charges are assigned to US District Judge Richard Stearns.

Krupp has suggested that prosecutors are attempting to avoid having the case heard by Wolf, who held hearings in the late 1990s about the Boston FBI office’s corrupt relationship with Bulger. Bulger had served as an FBI informant while he committed his alleged crimes.

Krupp, in a filing today before Wolf, said that after Wolf had raised “difficult questions” in those hearings, prosecutors had chosen not to amend the 1995 charges but to include a new set of allegations in a later indictment. The prosecutors intended, Krupp argued, to get the case assigned not to Wolf, but to a new judge.

Saying the more recent case should instead be consolidated with the earlier case before Wolf, he argued that the 2000 charges “are directly related” to the 1995 charges and “involve the same time period, overlapping defendants, and, in many cases, identical or effectively identical allegations.”

“The government’s apparent forum shopping is contrary to the public interest and undermines public confidence in the judicial process,” he said.

Krupp also argued that consolidation would save “considerable judicial resources,” noting that Wolf is familiar “with the relationship between the parties and much of the factual predicate underlying the allegations” in the more recent case.

Retired Lawyer, 74, a ‘Glorified Fence,’ Gets 7 Years in Cezanne Case

A 30-year stolen art saga has ended with a seven-year federal prison sentence for a 74-year-old retired lawyer with dementia who was described by the judge in the case as a "glorified fence."

Robert Mardirosian, a retired Massachusetts lawyer, was sentenced yesterday for attempting to profit from the seven stolen paintings by famed Impressionist Paul Cezanne that he says a client left in his office loft after spending a night there, reports the Boston Globe. The paintings were stolen from a private home in 1978, in what reportedly was the state's biggest art theft ever, and the client, David Colvin, was shot to death in 1979.

Mardirosian says he found the art works in his office loft in 1980. Instead of returning them to the owner, however, he put them in storage in Switzerland and eventually agreed to return the most valuable one in 1999 exchange for title to the other six. However, that transaction resulted in a federal court conviction for possession of stolen property earlier this year, as discussed in an earlier ABAJournal.com post.

The Cezanne initially returned to its owner, Bouilloire et Fruits, was then sold at auction for nearly $30 million.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark Wolf gave Mardirosian less than the 10 years the prosecution had sought, but far more than the two years of home confinement that Mardirosian's attorney had recommended.

"The only reason I'm sentencing a 74-year-old man in the early stages of dementia is because you were calculating enough to get away with this for 30 years," the judge stated, explaining that it was important to set an example for any other lawyers who might be tempted by opportunities to profit from crime.

"You started as a lawyer," Wolf told Mardirosian. "As far I'm concerned, you became a glorified fence."

The judge hasn't yet decided whether to release Mardirosian pending an appeal.

Art Hostage Comments:

Time for some Art Hostage magic.

To overcome the need for the public to pay for the defence of Whitey Bulger, Art Hostage calls for Whitey Bulger to organise the safe return of the Gardner Art and the Gardner Museum putting the $5 million reward into a fund that Lawyers for Whitey Bulger can use to cover the costs of defending him.

This way the Gardner art comes home, the tax paying public of Boston avoid paying for the legal defence of Whitey Bulger, and Carmen Ortiz can solve two cases in one go.

Judge Mark Wolf, who has experience in cases of high value stolen art such as the Cezanne case from 2008, can preside over this deal and make sure all parties adhere to their word with regards recovery of the Gardner art, paying of the reward and immunity from prosecution for the return of the Gardner Art.

OK, some may argue rewarding Whitey Bulger for the return of the Gardner art is distasteful but remember the reward is saving the taxpayers of Boston several million dollars in Lawyers fee's and of course the Gardner art coming home would be a beacon of hope to come out of this whole debacle.

Perhaps Judge Wolf would be so impressed the Gardner art has returned because of his timely intervention he may excuse himself from the Whitey Bulger case and allow Judge Stearns to preside. The Whitey Bulger team may also not object as this way all parties get something and of course the Gardner Museum and wider public get to see Vermeer's The Concert and Rembrandt's Storm on the Sea again. A further temptation is the prospect of the Boston Public not having to pay the millions in Lawyers fee's to allow Whitey Bulger the defence he is entitled to under the Constitution.

So, to recap, the Gardner art surfaces, the Gardner Museum places the $5 million into an account for the defence of Whitey Bulger, Carmen Ortiz issues immunity for recovering the Gardner Art as well as the case transferred to Judge Stearns and Judge Wolf becomes the hero on all fronts, a true American legend.

And what, you might ask, does Art Hostage want ?

Nada, zero dime, zero dollars of the Gardner Museum reward, clear enough ?

Breaking News:

BOSTON — James "Whitey" Bulger has been brought to the federal courthouse in Boston, apparently to meet with his attorney.

Neither prosecutors nor Bulger's lawyer would comment on why Bulger was at the courthouse Wednesday. He did not have a hearing scheduled.

He is expected to be in court Thursday for a hearing on his request to get a taxpayer-funded attorney.

During a hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Mark Wolf held a private sidebar discussion after Bulger's lawyer said it would be difficult for him to meet with his client. Bulger is being held at the Plymouth County Correctional Facility in Plymouth, about 40 miles south of Boston.