Maybe a couple more years down the line having a couple of little ones running around. One of them had options and from them, chose a life of crime. Their criminal pastimes overlapped, too. Shortly after the heist, according to the New York Times, a stolen Manet was spotted in the apartment of George Reissfelder. And he grabbed me by the hair, and then-- and then-- and of course, I was stupid. HORAN: David Turner told Boser that the FBI said, essentially, 'we know you did it.'. And that's it. Back in 1992, Kerry, as a private attorney, had secured the early parole of a career criminal, George Reissfelder, who had pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a police officer in Florida . David Turner was in the passenger seat. Investigating further into Reissfelder, you discover that he died within a year after the heist of suspicious acute cocaine poisoning. And about 5'10", maybe 170, -75 pounds. I know Richard and know he is trying to help me recover our art. HORAN: And before then he was saying that his brother hadn't done it, but it was seeing that painting that convinced him that his brother must have done it. Wife: Eugene Reinsfelder. SANTOS: A helicopter. And that's from very seasoned State Police investigators, as well. And know he would have. David A. Turner was considered a suspect in the Gardner heist early on in the investigation. And John Kerry and Roanne Sragow are going to, you know, be his best friends forever now." Donna told me, I distinctly recall that painting the man in the high hat, Reissfelder said. Yeah, no more ads! RODOLICO:In a letter dated Oct. 26, 2003, Turner proposes that Blanding write a book about his life. The Senior VP of the Celtics is reserved regarding his personal life. His first wife left him. In the documentary, Reissfelder's sister-in-law said that she . He was wanted for questioning by the police in regards to the Gardner Museum heist, the largest museum robbery in U.S. history, a case still open and featured on the TV show Unsolved Mysteries, Marks wrote. Jan 04, 2022, 08:02 ET. George Reissfelder In 2006, an inmate in prison for murder wrote Anthony Amore, the Gardner Director of Security, a letter. Crime boss Carmello Merlino, who we met in the last episode, was hardly the last best suspect to come out of a crew of criminals based in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. I was working a supply job, but I had just taken the flight aptitude selection test, and I had, like, the second-highest mark in the battalion. This is the story of David Turner and George Reissfelder, two men who prove that the criminal life is an equalizing one that erases distinctions like where you came from and where you could have gone. Doubtful the thief took off his hat to show his unique hair style to the two Gardner guards. My brother did it. Janice Santos was 22 years old and in the Army National Guard when she married George Reissfelder just two months after his release from prison in 1982. The two robbers were George Reissfelder and Lenny DiMuzio, both of whom died within a year of the heist. HORAN:And running through this story, Boser says, is a tale of two cities. You know, you gravitate to the people that you know. Reissfelders connection to Merlino, 71 who died in prison in 2005 while serving a 47-year sentence for his involvement in the failed armored car depot hold-up became the stuff of presidential election campaign attack ads in 2004. In 2013, when federal officials held a press conference to announce what they regarded as a break in the case, Amore spoke as the Gardner Museums representative. And I looked at the Bureau of Prisons' website, which shows a release date. Sikellis says he believes whoever pulled off the Gardner heist had been hired by higher-level criminals and the thieves knew nothing of who masterminded the theft or where the artwork wound up. William Reissfelder is 58 years old and was born on 10/10/1963. It was Oct. 16, 1982, and Santos was in the Army National Guard. Robert Sikellis says Turner was one of the coldest criminals hed ever met. Beauchamp remained on the lam for a decade before being caught. He told Reissfelder and Turner that they should steal a piece of art as a sort of crime insurance. BOSTON, MA - MAY 11: George Reissfelder sits in the office of his attorney Roanne Sragow at One Post Office Sq. I'm a prisoner at MCI Norfolk. Undisclosed sources in the investigation believed that the thieves the FBI identified were George Reissfelder and Leonard DiMuzio, both involved in the Merlino gang and both deceased shortly after the robbery in 1991. RODOLICO: But the reason the Boston FBI was so interested in David Turner in the first place is because of other crimes he is alleged to have gotten away with. He has even accompanied federal agents on the numerous searches of homes and other properties. She finally managed it in 1989. They, they, uh, sent my prints to Washington, trying to match up with prints at the Gardner. In details of David Turners alleged robberies, it was hard to miss the hallmarks of the Gardner heist. Now a disgraced ex-fed, Connolly is in federal prison for a racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James Whitey Bulger and others. KURKJIAN: It showed he was turning in a vehicle, a rental car, at the Fort Lauderdale airport, and using his credit card to pay for that vehicle. In taking on the role at the Gardner, he also took on the responsibility of assisting the FBI in solving one of historys most bedeviling museum heists. Robert L Reissfelder Construction. This is the story of two men. BLANDING: I can show you one of these letters that I found where he says, "I'm happy to share this information about the Gardner Museum, as well as these other crimes that, that I have knowledge of." I don't know that he could have pulled it off. 1/12: RODOLICO: Amore says Richard Reissfelder put him in touch with someone else whod also seen Manet's "Chez Tortoni" in George Reissfelders apartment. He couldn't watch me. So the question is, whether they went through with that idea and now share the distinction of taking part in the greatest art heist in history. SANTOS: He was frothing at the mouth about this thing. Guarente's wife claimed he gave two of the paintings to Connecticut mobster Robert Gentile, but in February 2021 Gentile seemed to deny any involvement with the heist. Some believe that Merlino associates, including David Turner and Robert Guarente, were plotting the Gardner heist while the cocaine trafficking probe was underway. The other wasnt. He has written two books: Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Story of Notorious Art Heists (with reporter Tom Mashberg) in 2011 and The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds and Forgeries in the Art World in 2015. TURNER: I've seen memos that they sent directly to, uh, the director of the FBI saying that they believe I was a participant. BEAUCHAMP: And when I started seeing the FBI sketches of them I thought, those disguises weren't really all that good. While they might be very different sports, NBA basketball and association football rely on statistics to make important decisions often enough to have some . The car in from of the museum says guilty. In 2010, Guarente's wife, Elene, told the FBI that shortly before her husband's death, he gave two of the stolen paintings to a Connecticut mobster, Robert Gentile, during a rendezvous at a. Prominent chin. In her book, Seinfeldia, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong gives the full story . Background. Why wouldn't he be inside? David Turner had been a standout athlete in high school, described as charismatic and loyal by friends. Im Jack Rodolico. I still remember that very, very vividly. During the same interview, Reissfelder said he believes his older brother is one of the two men depicted in new Boston Herald composite sketches of the two thieves who dressed as cops and robbed the Gardner before dawn on March 18, 1990. Last year, Jason Alexander spoke about why George Costanza's fiance, Susan, was killed off on Seinfeld. Robert Beauchamp, one of those contacts, has stated that Reissfelder and David Turner, another devotee of Merlinos garage, visited him often in Massachusetts state prison during this term and in the vaguest of terms told him they were planning a major robbery and asked how they might hide the valuables in the immediate aftermath. At the . And eventually Merlino decided on the Gardner. Their BuildZoom score of 103 ranks in the top 10% of 139,240 Massachusetts licensed contractors. They showed David Turner was in Florida on March 15, three days before the robbery. They told me they had information from several sources that I was an actual participant in the robbery. People like Carmello Merlino. Well, I thought so, you know, but, you know, in hindsight what did I know about love, you know? It was visceral. And when he saw it, he, I can only describe it as jumped in his chair and became very upset and told me I'm paraphrasing he said, "Anthony, I have to tell you. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes) Justin Quinn. Carmello Merlinos coke-dealing operation out of TRC Auto Electric was thriving. RODOLICO:That first letter started a correspondence between Blanding and Turner that lasted for several years. According to criminal defense attorney Martin Leppo, who defended many of those tied to the heist, the fact that the FBI still hasnt recovered the paintings, its clear the robbery was carried out by people who knew what they were doing. Why? What did he give? William Reissfelder currently lives in Westwood, MA; in the past William has also lived in Norwell MA and Coppell TX. For everything that points toward these particular suspects there's something that points away. HORAN: But someone else could have. You make a note in your casebook, and go back to reading the witness statements and looking at the suspect sketches. Reissfelder is the first person to claim hes seen the stolen Manet since it was filched from the Gardners ground-floor Blue Room. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was constructed under the guidance of art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) to house her personal art collection. It is still the most famous art crime in American history. RODOLICO: This is investigative reporter Michael Blanding. Reissfelder, a retired National Guard military policeman, became aware of the famed burglary after being contacted last year by Amore, who has run the investigation since 2005. View George Reinsfelder's 1940 US census record to find family members, occupation details & more. Hed heard his late brothers name mentioned in connection with the Gardner heist, and he wanted to clear his brothers name. In a case prosecuted by Sikellis in 1995, Turner was acquitted of pulling off a late night robbery of Bostons famed restaurant Cheers. KURKJIAN: Well, the Spy Store had all sorts of James Bond-type equipment. HORAN: George Reissfelder does resemble the police artists sketch of one of the suspects. She looks submissive. I mean, he showed no emotion whatsoever. HORAN: And Im Kelly Horan. Early life [ edit] Rainsford was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. Swap that painting for freedom. Easy. Turner has steadfastly denied that he has cooperated with authorities in the Gardner case but The Boston Globe reported in 2016 that federal officials shaved seven years off of his 38-year sentence, a reduction that puts his release in 2025. 35: Daughter: Louise Reinsfelder. When he was arrested, he tried to pull a gun on the police and landed back in a Bay State prison. This one in particular really caught my attention because it mentioned the Gardner Museum robbery. I was 23 years old. His kids were taken away. TURNER: You know, they wanted to know about the Gardner Museum. Writing from prison, Turner expressed his belief that the FBI had set him up for one crime -- the planned Loomis Fargo heist -- in order to squeeze him on another: the Gardner. RODOLICO: So, who is David Turner? Well, I was married at one time to George Reissfelder. What did he look like back then and, you know, what drew you to him? It is-- it is crazy how valuable they are. In the same year, she won Gold Canada's Player of the Year. JACK RODOLICO: David Turner and George Reissfelder found themselves pulled into the gravitational orbit of crime boss Carmello Merlino at TRC Auto Electric at the same time the late 1980s. Charlie Pappas agreed to testify that he had been the getaway driver for Turner and his accomplice in that robbery. The two young men had been inseparable for years. Robert Sikellis is the former assistant attorney general for Massachusetts who spent years in the 1990s trying to put David Turner behind bars for those crimes. There was a murder of a gay social worker who gave Turner and Pappas a ride home from Provincetown, and he turned up dead that night. HORAN: Now, David Turner has always said hed never cooperate with authorities investigating the Gardner heist. Anthony Amore showed the drawing to Janice Santos. HORAN: Just not places like TRC Auto Electric. Reissfelder did not stick with the Inmate #6875309 look after a couple of weeks from his release from prison as the photo (far right) taken six years before the Gardner Heist shows. TYSONS CORNER, Va., Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pangiam, a technology company defining the future of authentication and trusted movement, announced the . They had listening devices that could pick up two-way radios. And it's not. George Reissfelder was already seen as a celebrity when he started hanging out at Carmello Merlinos auto repair shop in Dorchester in the late 1980s. And seemed wholly uninterested and unconcerned with what was going on around him although he was not-- not-- not a dumb person, that's for sure. The other one was middle aged and beaten down and had done hard time for a murder he didnt commit. Robert Beauchamp says the idea to steal paintings as crime insurance was his. One of the places the FBI looked the longest was TRC Auto Electric in Dorchester just four miles from the estimable museum. STEPHEN KURKJIAN: Seven years reduction off a criminal sentence? Clara J Reissfelder. And when these two men met, the lucky one was young and handsome and had also, it is alleged, gotten away with murder. And after you pass by those two it seems like an exercise in futility, but I went through the other 11 pieces. There are no credit card receipts for the day of the heist, March 18. Bowl haircut. Even as that documentary aired, Santos was trying to find the courage to leave Reissfelder. Former Wife Of George Reissfelder. I mean, if you knew who it was you could just look at it and tell them it was who it was. Let's just be clear, right. The two men had their paths meet in the late '80s when they both were drawn into Merlino's cocaine business. Lived In Milford NH. RODOLICO: Two thieves relying on an inside guy, wearing disguises, using handcuffs in the middle of the night at the end of a holiday weekend. It remains the most valuable art crime in the nation's history. He was very capable. Access is free so discover George Reinsfelder's story today. Remember the two suspects who fled TRC and crashed their car after FBI agents pursued them? So he offered Reissfelder, who still visited him in prison sometimes with David Turner in tow some advice. Maria was adopted by another family many years ago, and has changed her name from Reissfelder. . That way when they got in too deep with their cocaine business, they'd have something to turn into authorities to make a deal. HORAN: As ever, suspicion clung to David Turner, but charges didnt. BOSER:My name is Ulrich Boser, and I'm the author of "The Gardner Heist." The late Merlino himself was a person of interest in the Gardner case see Meet the Suspects for April 26. 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