News, reviews, interviews & clues
....behind a perfect plan.
Editor to Gardnerheist.com:
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK: As most readers are already aware there's no lack of Gardner heist news either online on TV or on radio. Seems like new theories about the robbery and seemingly new clues on whodunit percolate up almost daily. And yearly, especially at the Gardner heist anniversary date, March 18th, "hot" heist news items erupt everywhere. To date, hundreds of thousands of Gardner heist pages are scattered all over the Internet, but there has never been a single news source dedicated solely to the Gardner heist itself. Until now. Welcome to gardnerheist.com.
Gardnerheist.com Daily News will carry the best of what's out there, including links to other Web sites with specific and interesting content relating to the great heist.
We review the latest Gardner offerings--like the only book to date that deals exclusively with the Gardner heist--author Ulrich Boser's appropriately titled, "The Gardner Heist: The True Story of the World's
Exclusive video...coming soon!
First up: Exclusive new video interviews with connoisseur art thief and now celebrated author of "The Art of the Heist", Myles Connor, soon to be consultant to the Hollywood bio pic of his memoir. Riveting stuff!
Next:An insider profile of the man who started the Leppo Media Group, Martin K. (Marty) Leppo.
Then:A quartet of interviews with Gardner heist experts...from both sides of the law!
Largest Unsolved Art Theft " (2009). See Gardner book review. And we'll catch up with Tom Green to check on the progress of his upcoming offering: "The Perfect Plan: The Gardner Heist". See Tom Green update.
Please make the Gardnerheist.com News Page your must-see resource for all things Gardner heist.
This month we're launching a very special regular column called "The Butler Did It". The column takes a close look at and analyzes some of the newest theories and clues to date about the world-famous heist. No one knows who really pulled off the Gardner heist, so the butler is still in the running. In the end, maybe we'll find out that the butler really did do it. Outrageous? That's the point. No one knows for sure who pulled off history's richest art heist. Common sense dictates, overlook no one, even the butler. Hence, our "The Butler Did It" column, which even offers up some of its own ideas on the who, what and where of the Gardner heist. For instance, today's column looks into the question of the duct tape used by the robbers to bind the Gardner guards. New forensic techniques now allow law enforcement to lift fingerprints from objects previously impossible to test in fingerprint analysis. Like the now-famous duct tape used during the robbery.
See below for what "The Butler Did It" has to say about it all. Thanks for coming to Gardnerheist.com. We appreciate your interest.
---The Editors
The Gardner Duct Tape: Overlooked Clue?
A regular column on overlooked and underlooked clues, notions, theories, & oddities, even the bizarre: Thoughts as good as any in the ongoing mystery that is the Gardner heist.
BOSTON: The Gardner guards, the only people to have seen the heist unfold and, better yet, to have seen the robbers face to face, watched in grave fear for their lives as the robbers systematically duct taped them. Although the guards can't positively be sure about it, the hands of the two thieves masquerading as Boston cops might have been bare... as in no gloves! If so, important hard evidence may be at hand.
The reason that tidbit is crucial is because Massachusetts State Police discovered a new forensic technique. In 2002, they used it to lift fingerprints...old ones...off duct tape. Liquid nitrogen.
As reported in Forensic Science International, the team used liquid nitrogen to separate layers of duct tape, then applied "super glue" to encase and then lift off the fingerprints of a suspected murderer. The result: hard evidence. Enough to secure a conviction in the case.
That being an acknowledged lab technique, let's wind back the clock to 1990 and to the cartons of Gardner heist evidence carted away to FBI labs. Did someone remember to pack the aforementioned duct tape into one of those cartons? If so, there may be a real break in the 20-year-old heist looming on the surface of the tape. Real fingerprints! That's a lot more definitive than any hard evidence that has been acquired to date. Namely, none.
According to former FBI Special Agent Thomas McShane, one of the first to thoroughly check the Gardner crime scene for evidence, the guards were "elaborately trussed-up with duct tape," including their hands, ankles, mouths, chins, and heads. That's a lot of tape! McShane reported later in his book, "Loot: Inside the World of Stolen Art" that the Gardner had been wiped clean of any fingerprints and, for that matter, wiped clean of any other scrap of potential evidence as well. Okay then, let's concede that the thieves we're really good housekeepers, but just maybe they may have overlooked something in the basement: all those yards of duct tape.
Some hard evidence may lurk on the tape. If the FBI unstashed the Gardner evidence boxes, rummaged around for the duct tape, and then applied the State Police recipe of liquid nitrogen to it, maybe a solution to whodunit at the Gardner could take a step closer to reality.
--the Butler
For a good look at the "Unlucky 13"pieces of priceless artwork stolen from the Gardner on March 18, 1990, plus some basic statistics about each, the FBI's official site is very informative and a must-see. Click here:
e on TV or on radio. Seems like new theories about the robbery and seemingly new clues on whodunit percolate up almost daily. And yearly, especially at the Gardner heist anniversary date, March 18th, "hot" heist news items erupt everywhere. To date, hundreds of thousands of Gardner heist pages are scattered all over the Internet, but there has never been a single news source dedicated solely to the Gardner heist itself. Until now. Welcome to gardnerheist.com. 
Movie trailer "Stolen!"