The museum opened to the public in 1903, and Gardner continued to expand the collection and arrange it until she died in 1924. It remains the most valuable art crime in the nation's history. And about 5'10", maybe 170, -75 pounds. George Reissfelder pictured in Netflix's This Is a Robbery "I wasn't anything involved in it. Santos likened the seven years she spent with George Reissfelder to being his prisoner. He had jealous rages and beat Santos, and he barred her from reporting for military duty. Others named Bill Reissfelder. You know, you gravitate to the people that you know. HORAN: In one scene, Santos walks behind Reissfelder, her head down. Bill Reissfelder is a husband, father, and family man. It's just rumor and conjecture, you know. Within 11 years, the former Jamaica Plain resident was found dead of cocaine poisoning in his Quincy apartment, in March 1991, according to police. Juliana Reifelder (geboren Wipfler) Son: Johann Georg Reifelder View the Record view all Immediate Family Juliana Reifelder wife Johannes George Reifelder son Johann Caspar Reifelder (Reisf. RODOLICO: When we come back the other guy. At the time of their marriage, Santos held the rank of Corporal and was on her way to flight school. They showed David Turner was in Florida on March 15, three days before the robbery. Reissfelder, who bore a remarkable resemblance to the sketch drawn of one of the thieves, died of a cocaine overdose in July 1991. Im convinced they had my brother killed with an overdose of cocaine, said Reissfelder, who was notified of his brothers passing by Merlino. In 1990, two men stole 13 works of art valued at approximately $500 million dollars from a Boston Museum. What did he look like back then and, you know, what drew you to him? I married a beautiful young girl. And that's from very seasoned State Police investigators, as well. The very man who died in prison rather than give up anything he might have known about how the Gardner heist went down or where the paintings might have been. 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. Credit card receipts. The shop was managed by crime figure Carmello Merlino. HORAN: Was David Turner in on the robbery of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum? After more than 28 years, authorities have yet to make an arrest, or recover any of the artwork stolen, in the Gardner Museum heist. I mean, it was--, it was--, it was chilling to be in the same room at times. He doesn't have access to the paintings or he'd be out of prison. We have-- we had very clear suspicions as to who that was, given he was a cooperating witness, but unfortunately we never had enough evidence to prosecute. Previously, he had worked as a specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. BOSER: I do believe that David Turner is going to go down in history alongside the Boston Strangler, alongside Whitey Bulger, as one of the most notorious criminals to come out of Boston. And so I guess Merlino basically and maybe Reissfelder and Turner to a far lesser extent started canvassing museums in the Boston area. HORAN:And someone who moved between those worlds and settled in the latter is David Turner. RODOLICO: In 1980, assistant district attorneys Roanne Sragow and John Kerry yes, that John Kerry took on Reissfelders claims of innocence. This Is a Robbery. HORAN: On March 11, 1991, almost the anniversary of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery, George Reissfelder died. I'm a prisoner at MCI Norfolk. KELLY HORAN: This is the story of two men. to Henry & Helen (Tully) Reissfelder. He was buying spy equipment from a Miami shop called the Spy Shops of Miami. George A. Reissfelder was found dead of an apparent drug overdose 51 weeks after the heist, on March 11, 1991, in his Quincy apartment. What was he cooperating on? In 2014, the FBI identified the culprits present at the museum as George Reissfelder and Lenny DiMuzio, who both died within a year of the notorious robbery. Two of his closest associates have long been on the radar of those looking into the heist. RODOLICO: Some time after Reissfelders death, his brother, Richard Reissfelder, who has also since died, reached out to Anthony Amore. SANTOS:I was 22 years old. At the time, Reissfelder was 49 and DiMuzio was 42. Although Kerry would use the case to promote his then-budding political career, Reissfelder did not use it to his advantage, returning to his bad habits of using cocaine and hanging out with criminal contacts, both of which were in full supply at Merlinos garage. And when I looked at it, I knew. And when these two men met, the lucky one was young and handsome and had also, it is alleged, gotten away with murder. Bill Reissfelder is a married man with a wife and family. I hope to hear from you soon. Reissfelder spent nearly a third of his life in prisons before authorities finally cleared him of a murder charge and let him go free in 1982. It was also being surveilled by a law enforcement operation that would take it down in 1991. BOSER: The most curious thing that happened with me and David was that he-- he wrote me this letter where he included this poem and essentially said, you know, he did not commit the Gardner theft, but he did want to be on the cover of my book. In the interview with. At the time, organized crime members seemed excited about the idea that they could trade a stolen painting in exchange for no jail time, if they were ever caught doing more unsavory business. Doubtful the thief took off his hat to show his unique hair style to the two Gardner guards. 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. I know Richard and know he is trying to help me recover our art. SANTOS: The George that I knew wasn't-- He never-- he couldn't think on his feet. I fought back. House Session Summary - Votes 150-3 To Send Senate $1.1B Tax Relief Bill State House News Service 4/13/23 4:53 PM. He was represented by U.S. Sen. John F. Kerry, who was then a private attorney, and attorney Roanne Sragow Licht, who is now a District Court judge. Multiple law-enforcement sources here have told Breitbart News that the two career criminals who committed the historic crime were Kerry's client, George Reissfelder, and a local thug named Lenny DiMuzio. Ive seen it. Turner has denied repeatedly to reporters and in court that he had any knowledge of the heist, but he associated with known felons whose names had been tied to the crime including Robert Guarente, Carmello Merlino and Stephen Rossetti. HORAN: Sikelliss first run at David Turner in the so-called Cheers robbery ended in an acquittal. Thats my brother, said Reissfelder. And then there was a home invasion robbery that happened in 1990 where allegedly Turner and Pappas came and invaded the home of this couple, and made off with $130,000 in cash and jewelry. And I looked at the Bureau of Prisons' website, which shows a release date. He has kept his wife and children's identities a secret until now. WITNESS: Anthony M. Amore, left, director of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, with Richard Reissfelder, who says his brother had the stolen Manet. All these theories are frustrating. Background. Yeah, no more ads! RODOLICO: Sikelliss break came in 1992, when a longtime friend and sometime accomplice of David Turners was swept up in the drug-trafficking sting on TRC Auto Electric. Jan 12, 1901 - Apr 15, 1993 . Reissfelder died in 1991, according to the documentary. So, if it had ever been there, where did it go? The other had none, and defaulted to one. And he grabbed me by the hair, and then-- and then-- and of course, I was stupid. Im truly struck by how earnest he and his entire family have been, Amore said. The following year, her divorce would come through, and her ex-husband would join a cast of men named in connection to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery. This is when David Turner, a free man, if not an innocent one, landed squarely on the radar of investigators for the Gardner robbery, too. That man, Robert Beauchamp, claimed that his former cell mate -- a man named George Reissfelder -- told him way back in 1990 that he had taken part in the heist. And so, what role would he have played? A prosecutor dubbed him the Teflon gangster of the South Shore.. Amore praised Reissfelders efforts to help the museum. Anthony Amore told us, his leads havent panned out. In 2015, the organization revealed the names of its primary suspects: George Reissfelder and Leonard DiMuzio, two associates of the late mobster Carmello Merlino. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. 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. Yeah. He was sentenced to life in prison and incarcerated at the old Walpole state prison, where he maintained his innocence. Their BuildZoom score of 103 ranks in the top 10% of 139,240 Massachusetts licensed contractors. A day after top House Democrats released their $56.2 billion budget plan for next fiscal year, the branch on Thursday whisked to passage a $1.1 billion tax relief bill that also makes statutory changes to the state's tax cap law and rainy day fund. The two men had their paths meet in the late '80s when they both were drawn into Merlino's cocaine business. They told me they had information from several sources that I was an actual participant in the robbery. His peers had voted him most unique and had given him the nickname Crackerjack. He had a broad, round face with wide, high cheekbones, a mop of light brown hair, and a grin that conveyed confidence and mischief. Ulrich Boser is the author of The Gardner Heist, in which he posits that David Turner and George Reissfelder were the thieves who robbed the museum. And so right away I was intrigued by it and wrote right back to the person who wrote me the letter, which was a fellow by the name of David Turner. At school in a suburb of Boston, Turner had been a standout three-season athlete. Isabella Stewart Gardner collected and carefully displayed a collection comprised of more than 7500 paintings, sculptures, furniture, textiles, silver, ceramics, 3000 rare books, and 7000 archival objects-from ancient Rome, Medieval Europe, Renaissance Italy, Asia, the Islamic world and 19th-century France and America. SANTOS: A helicopter. My brother received stolen property. Where was he? HORAN: Now, David Turner has always said hed never cooperate with authorities investigating the Gardner heist. Kerry and Sragow managed to win a new trial for Reissfelder in June 1981 based on the deathbed confession of his co-defendant, Sullivan. Fred Reissfelder. His brother believes that Merlino and his Dorchester-based crew had a role in the death. Ive seen the painting. . You have to be really planned and articulate. Reissfelder was a 26-year-old father with a criminal record for armed robbery, domestic. 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August 24, 2022 8:00 am ET. Boser typed notes as he listened to Turner on speaker phone. In her book, Seinfeldia, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong gives the full story . Charlie Pappas agreed to testify that he had been the getaway driver for Turner and his accomplice in that robbery. David Turner was in the passenger seat. David Turner had been a standout athlete in high school, described as charismatic and loyal by friends. #ada-button-frame { I never ever mentioned the Gardner. They had listening devices that could pick up two-way radios. One of them was born lucky. And I figured, "Well, he just got out of prison. What healways said was, you know, "Give us the paintings and you can go home," you know. As he lay dying of leukemia, Sullivan told the Rev. George Reissfelder was found dead in his apartment of cocaine poisoning after Merlino told firefighters that he hadnt heard from his friend in several days. The other one was middle aged and beaten down and had done hard time for a murder he didnt commit. But no Manet. 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. Just a warning: What youre about to hear is disturbing. It is still the most famous art crime in American history. DAVID TURNER: Um, you know, actually I had nothing to do with the robbery. They . HORAN: In 2009, Anthony Amore, working with the Boston Herald newspaper, hired a forensic medical artist to redo the police sketches of the Gardner heist suspects. This is the story of two men. This time he was found dead from cocaine poisoning a suspected mob hit that was never proven, he wrote. 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