Others fell apart as they were handled. He was granted a full pardon by the acting governor of Massachusetts. Gusciora now had passed beyond the reach of all human authority, and OKeefe was all the more determined to see that justice would be done. On the night of January 17, 1952exactly two years after the crime occurredthe FBIs Boston Office received an anonymous telephone call from an individual who claimed he was sending a letter identifying the Brinks robbers. The robbers did little talking. The Brink's cargo trailer was. One of the biggest robberies in U.S. history happened here. The BBC has greenlit a documentary telling the real story of the 26M ($31.2M) Brink's-Mat robbery spotlighted in Neil Forsyth drama The Gold. I think a fellow just passed a counterfeit $10.00 bill on me, he told the officer. 00:29. Henry Baker, another veteran criminal who was rumored to be kicking in to the Pennsylvania defense fund, had spent a number of years of his adult life in prison. Each of them had surreptitiously entered the premises on several occasions after the employees had left for the day. He needed money for his defense against the charges in McKean County, and it was obvious that he had developed a bitter attitude toward a number of his close underworld associates. During their forays inside the building, members of the gang took the lock cylinders from five doors, including the one opening onto Prince Street. The Transit's heavily armed occupants had stolen the bullion less than an hour earlier from the Brink's-Mat security warehouse 12 miles away at Heathrow. During the regular exercise period, Burke separated himself from the other prisoners and moved toward a heavy steel door leading to the solitary confinement section. Brian Robinson was arrested in December 1983 after Stephen Black - the security guard who let the robbers into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, and Robinson's brother-in-law - named him to police. On September 8, 1950, OKeefe was sentenced to three years in the Bradford County jail at Towanda and fined $3,000 for violation of the Uniform Firearms Act. Minutes later, police arrived at the Brinks building, and special agents of the FBI quickly joined in the investigation. Some of the jewelry might. Pino, Costa, Maffie, Geagan, Faherty, Richardson, and Baker received life sentences for robbery, two-year sentences for conspiracy to steal, and sentences of eight years to ten years for breaking and entering at night. Those killed in the. Interviewed again on December 28, 1955, he talked somewhat more freely, and it was obvious that the agents were gradually winning his respect and confidence. Neither had too convincing an alibi. (A detailed survey of the Boston waterfront previously had been made by the FBI.) Accordingly, another lock cylinder was installed until the original one was returned. McAvoy had attempted to reach a settlement with prosecutors in the case when he offered to repay his share, but by that time the money was gone. They were held in lieu of bail which, for each man, amounted to more then $100,000. This was a question which preyed heavily upon their minds. Another old gang that had specialized in hijacking bootlegged whiskey in the Boston area during Prohibition became the subject of inquiries. The robbers carefully planned routine inside Brinks was interrupted only when the attendant in the adjoining Brinks garage sounded the buzzer. A federal search warrant was obtained, and the home was searched by agents on April 27, 1950. All efforts to identify the persons responsible for the theft and the persons who had cut up the truck were unsuccessful. An appeal was promptly noted, and he was released on $15,000 bond. After continuing up the street to the end of the playground which adjoined the Brinks building, the truck stopped. And it nearly was. This man, subsequently identified as a small-time Boston underworld figure, was located and questioned. On January 10, 1953, following his appearance before the federal grand jury in connection with the Brinks case, Pino was taken into custody again as a deportable alien. A few months prior to the robbery, OKeefe and Gusciora surreptitiously entered the premises of a protective alarm company in Boston and obtained a copy of the protective plans for the Brinks building. First, there was the money. As a protective measure, he was incarcerated in the Hampden County jail at Springfield, Massachusetts, rather than the Suffolk County jail in Boston. One of these officers quickly grabbed the criminals hand, and a large roll of money fell from it. On the 26 November 1983, half a dozen armed men broke into the Brink's-Mat depot near London's Heathrow Airport, where they were expecting to find a million pounds worth of foreign currency.. The roofs of buildings on Prince and Snow Hill Streets soon were alive with inconspicuous activity as the gang looked for the most advantageous sites from which to observe what transpired inside Brinks offices. The series surrounds the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery in which 26 million (equivalent to 93.3 million in 2021) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash were stolen from a storehouse near Heathrow Airport. The money inside the cooler which was concealed in the wall of the Tremont Street office was wrapped in plastic and newspaper. OKeefe and Gusciora reportedly had worked together on a number of occasions. On June 12, 1950, they were arrested at Towanda, Pennsylvania, and guns and clothing that were the loot from burglaries at Kane and Coudersport, Pennsylvania, were found in their possession. A few years before the Brink's-Mat robbery . Photo courtesy Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. There had been three attempts on his life in June 1954, and his frustrated assassins undoubtedly were waiting for him to return to Boston. Immediately upon leaving, the gang loaded the loot into the truck that was parked on Prince Street near the door. While OKeefe and Gusciora lingered in jail in Pennsylvania, Pino encountered difficulties of his own. (Following pleas of guilty in November 1956, Fat John received a two-year sentence, and the other two men were sentenced to serve one years imprisonment. It ultimately proved unproductive. The crime inspired at least four movies and two books, including The Story of the Great Brink's Robbery, as Told by the FBI. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. Shortly thereafterduring the first week of Novembera 1949 green Ford stake-body truck was reported missing by a car dealer in Boston. Micky McAvoy, believed by police to be the mastermind behind the robbery, was arrested ten days after the robbery. There are still suspicions among some readers that the late Tom O'Connor, a retired cop who worked Brinks security during the robbery, was a key player, despite his acquittal on robbery charges at . Extensive efforts were made to detect pencil markings and other notations on the currency that the criminals thought might be traceable to Brinks. Mr. Gilbert was 37 on the day of the attack, Oct. 20, 1981, when nearly $1.6 million in cash was stolen from an armored Brink's car outside the Nanuet Mall near Nyack. Two days before Maffies release, another strong suspect died of natural causes. 26 million (equivalent to 93.3 million in 2021 [1]) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash was stolen from a warehouse operated by Brink's-Mat, a former joint . This underworld character told the officers that he had found this money. Two of the prime suspects whose nerve and gun-handling experience suited them for the Brinks robbery were Joseph James OKeefe and Stanley Albert Gusciora. Nonetheless, the finding of the truck parts at Stoughton, Massachusetts, was to prove a valuable break in the investigation. Much of the money taken from the money changer appeared to have been stored a long time. The officer verified the meeting. The descriptions and serial numbers of these weapons were carefully noted since they might prove a valuable link to the men responsible for the crime. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. He. OKeefe was wounded in the wrist and chest, but again he managed to escape with his life. The Brinks vehicle, followed closely by guards traveling in an automobile, turned onto a stone-paved lane called Old Bethel Road. The criminals had been looking to do a. He claimed there was a large roll of bills in his hotel roomand that he had found that money, too. One of his former girl friends who recalled having seen him on the night of the robbery stated that he definitely was not drunk. Sentenced to serve from five to seven years for this offense, he was released from prison in September 1941. Two hours later he was dead. An acetylene torch had been used to cut up the truck, and it appeared that a sledge hammer also had been used to smash many of the heavy parts, such as the motor. The group were led . Well-known Boston hoodlums were picked up and questioned by police. The following is a brief account of the data which OKeefe provided the special agents in January 1956: Although basically the brain child of Pino, the Brinks robbery was the product of the combined thought and criminal experience of men who had known each other for many years. He was found brutally murdered in his car in 1987. On June 17, 1954, the Boston police arrested Elmer Trigger Burke and charged him with possession of a machine gun. Until now, little has been known about the dogged methods police used to infiltrate the criminal underworld behind the 1983 robbery. Even fearing the new bills might be linked with the crime, McGinnis suggested a process for aging the new money in a hurry.. This chauffeurs cap was left at the scene of the crime of the centurythe 1950 robbery of a Brink's bank branch in Massachusetts. Before they left, however, approximately $380,000 was placed in a coal hamper and removed by Baker for security reasons. Other information provided by OKeefe helped to fill the gaps which still existed. The gang at that time included all of the participants in the January 17, 1950, robbery except Henry Baker. At the time of their arrest, Faherty and Richardson were rushing for three loaded revolvers that they had left on a chair in the bathroom of the apartment. Armed crooks wearing Halloween masks and chauffeur . In the years following a shared event, like an assassination, everyone remembers where they were when it happened. The door opened, and an armed masked man wearing a prison guard-type uniform commanded the guard, Back up, or Ill blow your brains out. Burke and the armed man disappeared through the door and fled in an automobile parked nearby. After these plans were reviewed and found to be unhelpful, OKeefe and Gusciora returned them in the same manner. Among the early suspects was Anthony Pino, an alien who had been a principal suspect in numerous major robberies and burglaries in Massachusetts. In the series Edwyn Cooper (played by Dominic Cooper) is a lawyer who gets involved in the robbery, deciding he wants to earn some big bucks. The Brink's truck was robbed in the early morning . The other keys in their possession enabled them to proceed to the second floor where they took the five Brinks employees by surprise. Considerable thought was given to every detail. When the pieces of the 1949 green Ford stake-body truck were found at the dump in Stoughton on March 4, 1950, additional emphasis was placed on the investigations concerning them. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to . This lead was pursued intensively. He told the interviewing agents that he trusted Maffie so implicitly that he gave the money to him for safe keeping. A thorough investigation was made concerning his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950. Three years later, almost to the day, these ten men, together with another criminal, were to be indicted by a state grand jury in Boston for the Brinks robbery. Costa claimed that after working at the motor terminal until approximately 5:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, he had gone home to eat dinner; then, at approximately 7:00 p.m., he left to return to the terminal and worked until about 9:00 p.m. What Happened To The Brinks Mat Robbery? The fiber bags used to conceal the pieces were identified as having been used as containers for beef bones shipped from South America to a gelatin manufacturing company in Massachusetts. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. Allegedly, other members of the Brinks gang arranged for OKeefe to be paid a small part of the ransom he demanded, and Costa was released on May 20, 1954. Masterminded by Brian 'The Colonel' Robinson and Mickey McAvoy, the gang hoped to make off with 3 million in cash, a sum that's now equivalent to just over 9 million. On this day, Jawarski made history by pulling off the nation's first armored car robbery. Investigation revealed that Geagan, a laborer, had not gone to work on January 17 or 18, 1950.). The serial numbers of several of these bills were furnished to the FBI Office in Baltimore. In addition, although violent dissension had developed within the gang, there still was no indication that any of the men were ready to talk. Based on the available information, however, the FBI felt that OKeefes disgust was reaching the point where it was possible he would turn against his confederates. Perkins was handed a 22-year jail sentence for that one, but absconded from open prison in 1995 and managed to . The missing racketeers automobile was found near his home; however, his whereabouts remain a mystery. The mass of information gathered during the early weeks of the investigation was continuously sifted. . Six members of the gangBaker, Costa, Geagan, Maffie, McGinnis, and Pinowere arrested by FBI agents on January 12, 1956. At the time of his arrest, there also was a charge of armed robbery outstanding against him in Massachusetts. Even after these convictions, OKeefe and Gusciora continued to seek their release. Police who arrived to investigate found a large amount of blood, a mans shattered wrist watch, and a .45 caliber pistol at the scene. Faherty had been questioned on the night of the robbery. The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink's building in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1950. Three years later, Great Train Robber. In 1997, Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt robbed the armored car company of $17 million. Unfortunately, this proved to be an idle hope. From their prison cells, they carefully followed the legal maneuvers aimed at gaining them freedom. Adding to these problems was the constant pressure being exerted upon Pino by OKeefe from the county jail in Towanda, Pennsylvania. (Burke was arrested by FBI agents at Folly Beach, South Carolina, on August 27, 1955, and he returned to New York to face murder charges which were outstanding against him there. Instead, they found three tonnes of gold bullion. Fat John announced that each of the packages contained $5,000. On February 5, 1950, however, a police officer in Somerville, Massachusetts, recovered one of the four revolvers that had been taken by the robbers. Before his trial in McKean County, he was released on $17,000 bond. Had any particles of evidence been found in the loot which might directly show that they had handled it? Each of the five lock cylinders was taken on a separate occasion. Many tips were received from anonymous persons. The names of Pino, McGinnis, Adolph Jazz Maffie, and Henry Baker were frequently mentioned in these rumors, and it was said that they had been with OKeefe on the Big Job.. Except for $5,000 that he took before placing the loot in Maffies care, OKeefe angrily stated, he was never to see his share of the Brinks money again. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the details of this incident were furnished to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI. At the outset, very few facts were available to the investigators. During the period in which Pinos deportation troubles were mounting, OKeefe completed his sentence at Towanda, Pennsylvania. After nearly three years of investigation, the government hoped that witnesses or participants who had remained mute for so long a period of time might find their tongues before the grand jury. By fixing this time as close as possible to the minute at which the robbery was to begin, the robbers would have alibis to cover their activities up to the final moment. More than $7 million was stolen in a brazen holdup at a Brink's armored car service in Rochester in 1993. Captain Marvel mask used as a disguise in the robbery. Race tracks and gambling establishments also were covered in the hope of finding some of the loot in circulation. Shortly after 6.40am, six armed robbers in balaclavas entered a warehouse at Heathrow airport belonging to security company Brink's-Mat. Commonly regarded as a dominant figure in the Boston underworld, McGinnis previously had been convicted of robbery and narcotics violations. They did not expect to find the Aladdin's cave to contain some 26m in gold bullion and diamonds that they stumbled upon. Each of these leads was checked out. Both of these strong-arm suspects had been questioned by Boston authorities following the robbery. The removal of the lock cylinder from the outside door involved the greatest risk of detection. With the death of Gusciora, only eight members of the Brinks gang remained to be tried. Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. He advised that he and his associate shared office space with an individual known to him only as Fat John. According to the Boston hoodlum, on the night of June 1, 1956, Fat John asked him to rip a panel from a section of the wall in the office, and when the panel was removed, Fat John reached into the opening and removed the cover from a metal container. OKeefe was bitter about a number of matters. Even with the recovery of this money in Baltimore and Boston, more than $1,150,000 of currency taken in the Brinks robbery remained unaccounted for. If local hoodlums were involved, it was difficult to believe that McGinnis could be as ignorant of the crime as he claimed. Two of the gang members moved toward the door to capture him; but, seeing the garage attendant walk away apparently unaware that the robbery was being committed, they did not pursue him. If passing police had looked closer early that Saturday morning on November 26, 1983, they would have noticed the van was weighted down below its wheel arches with three tons of gold. In addition, McGinnis was named in two other complaints involving the receiving and concealing of the loot. After dousing security guards with petrol and threatening them with a lit match if they didn't open the safes, the six men made an amazing discovery when they stumbled upon 3,000kg worth of gold bars. Underworld sources described him as fully capable of planning and executing the Brinks robbery. All right, he told two FBI agents, what do you want to know?. Since the robbery had taken place between approximately 7:10 and 7:27 p.m., it was quite probable that a gang, as well drilled as the Brinks robbers obviously were, would have arranged to rendezvous at a specific time. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) _ A Catholic priest and an ex-guerrilla from Northern Ireland were convicted Monday of charges related to the $7.4 million robbery of a Brink's armored car depot. Because the money in the cooler was in various stages of decomposition, an accurate count proved most difficult to make. Between 1950 and 1954, the underworld occasionally rumbled with rumors that pressure was being exerted upon Boston hoodlums to contribute money for these criminals legal fight against the charges in Pennsylvania. An inside man by the name of Anthony . Despite the fact that substantial amounts of money were being spent by members of the robbery gang during 1954, in defending themselves against legal proceedings alone, the year ended without the location of any bills identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. ), (After serving his sentence, Fat John resumed a life of crime. In the hours immediately following the robbery, the underworld began to feel the heat of the investigation. The police officer said he had been talking to McGinnis first, and Pino arrived later to join them. Former inmates of penal institutions reported conversations they had overheard while incarcerated which concerned the robbing of Brinks. He subsequently was convicted and executed.). That prison term, together with Pinos conviction in March 1928 for carnal abuse of a girl, provided the basis for the deportation action. A second shooting incident occurred on the morning of June 14, 1954, in Dorchester, Massachusetts, when OKeefe and his racketeer friend paid a visit to Baker. McGinnis previously had discussed sending a man to the United States Patent Office in Washington, D.C., to inspect the patents on the protective alarms used in the Brinks building. The Brink's-Mat robbery remains to this day one of Britain's biggest and most audacious heists. On November 26, 1981, six armed men from South London broke into the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow. When questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950, Richardson claimed that after unsuccessfully looking for work he had several drinks and then returned home. He claimed he had been drinking in various taverns from approximately 5:10 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. From masked gunmen and drugs to kidnappings and bags of cash, the $7.4 million robbery had it all. Local officers searched their homes, but no evidence linking them with the truck or the robbery was found. Even before Brinks, Incorporated, offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible, the case had captured the imagination of millions of Americans. Prior to this time, McGinnis had been at his liquor store. While Maffie claimed that part of the money had been stolen from its hiding place and that the remainder had been spent in financing OKeefes legal defense in Pennsylvania, other gang members accused Maffie of blowing the money OKeefe had entrusted to his care. Several hundred dollars were found hidden in the house but could not be identified as part of the loot. Two of the participants in the Brinks robbery lived in the Stoughton area. The Great Brinks Robbery of 1950 met all of these requirementsa great pile of cash disappeared with no evidence, leads, or suspects. In the end, the perfect crime had a perfect endingfor everyone but the robbers. OKeefes racketeer associate, who allegedly had assisted him in holding Costa for ransom and was present during the shooting scrape between OKeefe and Baker, disappeared on August 3, 1954. He, too, had left his home shortly before 7:00 p.m. on the night of the robbery and met the Boston police officer soon thereafter. They put the entire $200,000 in the trunk of OKeefes automobile. Both OKeefe and Gusciora had been interviewed on several occasions concerning the Brinks robbery, but they had claimed complete ignorance. Although the attendant did not suspect that the robbery was taking place, this incident caused the criminals to move more swiftly. When the robbers decided that they needed a truck, it was resolved that a new one must be stolen because a used truck might have distinguishing marks and possibly would not be in perfect running condition. On January 11, 1956, the United States Attorney at Boston authorized special agents of the FBI to file complaints charging the 11 criminals with (1) conspiracy to commit theft of government property, robbery of government property, and bank robbery by force and violence and by intimidation, (2) committing bank robbery on January 17, 1950, and committing an assault on Brinks employees during the taking of the money, and (3) conspiracy to receive and conceal money in violation of the Bank Robbery and Theft of Government Property Statutes. During these weeks, OKeefe renewed his association with a Boston racketeer who had actively solicited funds for the defense of OKeefe and Gusciora in 1950. Other members of the robbery gang also were having their troubles. At the Prison Colony, Baker was serving two concurrent terms of four to ten years, imposed in 1944 for breaking and entering and larceny and for possession of burglar tools. At the time of Bakers release in 1949, Pino was on hand to drive him back to Boston. In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. The $2.775 million ($31.3 million today) theft consisted of $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders, and other securities. You get me released, and Ill solve the case in no time, these criminals would claim. Underworld rumors alleged that Maffie and Henry Baker were high on OKeefes list because they had beaten him out of a large amount of money. There were the rope and adhesive tape used to bind and gag the employees and a chauffeurs cap that one of the robbers had left at the crime scene.
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