The Crime Book Big Ideas Simply Explained

50 JOHN LEONARD ORR W ith its arid climate and John Orr wanted to be a
expanses of wilderness, Los Angeles police officer for a
IN CONTEXT California is a magnet long time. He applied in 1981.
for firestarters. But none of them
LOCATION have come close to the level of fiery He passed all of the tests
Southern California, US devastation wrought upon people except one. It was the
and property by John Leonard Orr. psychological test.
THEME In the early 1980s, a series of blazes Joseph Wambaugh
Serial arson began in the Los Angeles area,
sometimes as many as three a day. origin – where a fire first begins –
BEFORE In one incident, 65 homes were to determine its cause. Unable to
1979–80 Bruce Lee (born reduced to smouldering ash. But it locate it, they concluded that it
Peter Dinsdale) committed was not until 10 October 1984, that was an electrical accident. But one
11 acts of arson in and human lives were extinguished by seasoned arson investigator –
around his hometown of the flames. Captain Marvin Casey of the
Hull, Yorkshire, UK. Bakersfield Fire Department –
At 7pm, the public address was certain the fire had been
AFTER system at Ole’s Home Center in intentionally set in a stack of
1985–2005 Thomas Sweatt, South Pasadena blared flammable cushions.
a prolific American arsonist, an emergency warning. Noticing
set close to 400 fires, the smoke pouring out of the hardware In January 1987, a number of
majority of which were in the department, cashier Jim Obdan suspicious fires broke out north of
Washington, D.C. area. rushed to help customers flee the Pasadena in the city of Bakersfield.
1992–93 Paul Kenneth Keller, store, and was badly burned in the At a craft shop, Marvin Casey
a serial arsonist from process. Fortunately, though, he discovered an incendiary device in
Washington state, set 76 fires lived to tell the tale. Co-workers a bin of dried flowers. It was crude
in and around Seattle during Jimmy Cetina and Carolyn Kraus but effective – three matches
a six-month spree. were not so lucky. Nor were bound to the middle of a cigarette
customers Ada Deal and Matthew by a rubber band and concealed
Pyrophilia Troidl, a loving grandmother and within a sleeve of yellow lined
her two-year-old grandson. paper. After lighting the cigarette,
While the vast majority of the offender would have ample
arsonists are insurance The following morning, arson time to leave the scene before the
fraudsters or attention seekers, investigators searched the cigarette burned down far enough
the pyromaniac is a unique blackened ruins for the point of to ignite the matches and start
breed, fascinated by fire to the the fire.
point of compulsively setting autobiographical Points of
them. Even rarer than the Origin indicate that the lead Later that same day, a second
pyromaniac is the pyrophile – character, Aaron Stiles (i.e. conflagration erupted in a bin
Greek for “fire-lover” – a person Orr himself), possessed this containing pillows and foam rubber
who is sexually aroused by the dangerous paraphilic disorder. at Hancock Fabric store in
flames, the smell of smoke, the Bakersfield. The trail of arson
intense heat, and (sometimes) Joseph Wambaugh, who continued in rapid succession with
the whirr of sirens racing to worked as a detective sergeant
combat the inferno. Numerous in the Los Angeles Police
entries in Orr’s mostly Department for 20 years before
he became a bestselling author,
chronicled Orr’s life in his book
Fire Lover. Wambaugh reported
that the linking of fire and sex in
Orr’s manuscript is continuous,
and a key facet of Orr’s
motivation, a theory shared by
investigator Marvin Casey.

BANDITS, ROBBERS, AND ARSONISTS 51

one fire in Tulare followed by investigators who had attended the The “Pillow Pyro” started a fire that
another two in Fresno. With the Fresno symposium. He obtained swiftly became a firestorm in Glendale,
exception of the Bakersfield craft a list of the attendees, reducing the California, in June 1990. A total of 67
store, Casey determined that every list of suspects to the 55 who had properties were damaged or destroyed
fire had begun in a pile of pillows. travelled alone through Bakersfield in the blaze, including this house.
on Highway 99.
An audacious theory residue. To the technician’s
This modus operandi (MO) did not Unsurprisingly, when Casey and Casey’s surprise, a partial
escape Casey, who noted that the shared his suspicions with his fingerprint appeared. Using a
arson attacks had progressed fellow arson investigators he was special photographic filter to
sequentially from Los Angeles either ignored or ostracized. Yet deepen the contrast and reveal the
north along Highway 99 to Fresno. he persevered, convincing the ridge detail, the technician was
Nor did the troubling realization Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and able to render a usable print. It
that the fires had occurred Firearms (ATF) to conduct was entered into the Automated
immediately before and after an scientific testing on the yellow Fingerprint Identification System
annual arson investigator’s paper recovered from the craft (AFIS) where it was compared to
conference in Fresno. store. The ATF lab applied the fingerprints of criminals across
ninhydrin (a chemical used to the country. When the AFIS failed
Casey began to develop a detect ammonia) to the paper on to produce a match, Casey asked
controversial theory: the fires were the off chance that it would react the ATF to compare the print ❯❯
set by one of the 300 arson to amino acids from fingerprint

52 JOHN LEONARD ORR After lighting the
cigarette, Orr had time
A sleeve of lined to flee before the device
yellow paper hid
burst into flames
the device

A rubber band The matches
was tied around the ignited once the
cigarette had burned
matches and down far enough
the cigarette
Orr’s incendiary device comprised
three matches tied to the centre of a
cigarette. In all but one of his arson
attacks, Orr left the device in a pile
of highly flammable pillows.

to the fingerprints of the 55 Task Force”, deriving its name from member. After reading the
conference attendees on his list. the offender’s MO. Like the earlier pamphlet, Scott Baker of the
His request was denied. blazes, the fires had been set in California State Fire Marshal’s
retail outlets during business hours. Office told Campuzano about
For two years, the case sat in Marvin Casey and his much-
limbo. Then, in March 1989, a In March 1991, the head of the maligned theory.
series of fires flared up again, this task force, Tom Campuzano,
time along Highway 101, the road distributed a leaflet containing At long last, Casey had found an
that led directly to Pacific Grove, information about this MO to the influential arson investigator who
the venue for the annual arson Fire Investigators Reaction Strike was sympathetic to his cause.
investigators’ symposium. Team (FIRST), an association of fire Campuzano and Casey met to
Reinvigorated, Casey compared the departments without an arson discuss the case, and Casey
list of Pacific Grove conference investigator as a permanent staff handed over a copy of the partial
attendees to the previous one, fingerprint to the taskforce. They
narrowing the number of his It’s my opinion that he set in ran the print through a database of
suspects down to 10. Certain that excess of 2,000 fires over a every person who had ever applied
the arsonist was among them, he period of about 30 years. for a job with the LAPD, and this
convinced Fresno ATF agents to time they struck gold. The partial
steathily obtain the fingerprints of Michael J. Cabral print matched the left ring
his 10 suspects and compare them fingerprint of John Leonard Orr: one
to the partial print. To Casey’s of the 10 names on Marvin Casey’s
shock and disappointment, the list. Whether by sheer luck or
results came back negative. professional incompetence, Orr had
avoided being matched in 1989.
Catching a break
Beginning in late 1990, a series of Orr was a 41-year-old fire
fires in Los Angeles prompted the captain with many years of
development of the “Pillow Pyro experience investigating arson. He
was well liked, charming, and had

BANDITS, ROBBERS, AND ARSONISTS 53

Orr’s day of reckoning arrived at
the conclusion of his murder trial in
June 1998. His defence lawyers argued
that faulty wiring was to blame for the
Ole fire, but the jury found Orr guilty.

developed a legendary reputation Not only did Stiles employ the same in the area dropped from an annual
for always being the first to arrive incendiary device as the “Pillow average of 67 to 1. Given that Orr
on the scene. As a result of Casey’s Pyro”, he also set fires on his way to had been a secret serial arsonist, it
findings, however, Orr was placed arson conferences and had burned is likely that he had a sixth sense
under surveillance, with a down a hardware store, killing a for fires because he set them. This
monitoring device secretly attached little boy named Matthew. suspicion prompted Deputy District
to the bumper of his car. Orr found Attorney Michael J. Cabral to
and removed it, only to have police Frightening revelations estimate that Orr set more than
fix another under his dashboard John Leonard Orr was arrested on 2,000 fires over a 30-year period,
when he brought in his vehicle 4 December 1991, and charged making him one of the most prolific
for maintenance. with five counts of arson. But his arsonists in US history.
true day of judgment arrived on
When the set of the popular 25 June 1998, when the California In a final gruesome twist, Points
television drama The Waltons State Court convicted him on four of Origin features a scene in which
was engulfed in flames on the counts of first-degree murder Aaron Stiles sexually assaults and
afternoon of 22 November 1991, related to the 1984 Ole inferno, for murders a young girl in a vehicle
in Burbank, Teletrac showed Orr which he received a sentence of life that is then burned. Investigators
driving home from the scene of in prison without parole. claim to have identified the case,
the fire at 3:30am to receive the but lack conclusive evidence of
dispatcher’s report. Tellingly, Orr’s personal charm was later Orr’s involvement. Two additional
although the dispatcher incorrectly attributed to psychopathy, because fire-related deaths described in
reported the address of the fire, it was accompanied by other Points of Origin remain
Orr still managed to arrive at the notably psychopathic traits, unaccounted for. If these horrific
correct location. including manipulativeness, vanity, passages turn out to be true, Orr is
and lack of remorse. Alhough Orr not only an arsonist and mass
Although they lacked the still maintains his innocence, after murderer, but also a sexually
necessary evidence to make an his arrest, the number of major fires motivated serial killer. ■
arrest, the taskforce realized that
as long as Orr remained at large,
human lives were at risk. They
quickly applied for a warrant to
search his home. In a briefcase,
investigators found a cache of
cigarettes, matches, and rubber
bands, while his car yielded sheets
of lined yellow paper. Even more
damning was a video Orr had shot
on 14 March 1990, of a hillside
residence in Pasadena, followed by
footage of the same house ablaze
on 2 October 1992. Crucially, Orr
had penned a manuscript for a
novel entitled Points of Origin in
which the protagonist Aaron Stiles
(an anagram of “I Set LA Arson”),
lived the double-life of an arson
investigator and firestarter.

54

IPTERWFAESCTTHCERIME

THE ANTWERP DIAMOND HEIST,
15–16 FEBRUARY 2003

IN CONTEXT F or hundreds of years, most Antwerp’s reputation as a world
of the world’s rough diamond centre is well founded, with
LOCATION diamonds – worth many 85 per cent of all rough diamonds
Antwerp Diamond Centre, billions of dollars – have passed passing through the city and over $16
Belgium through Antwerp, Belgium, making billion in cut diamonds sold each year.
it the largest diamond district in
THEME the world and a coveted target for the gang looted 123 of the vault’s
Vault heist audacious burglars. 160 individual safe deposit boxes
without setting off any alarms or
BEFORE Great heists depend on great leaving behind any signs of forced
18 March 1990 Two thieves planning. The 2003 break-in at the entry. The staff at the diamond
disguised as police officers Antwerp Diamond Centre was centre did not even notice that a
enter the Isabella Stewart years in the making and was not robbery had been committed until
Gardner Museum in Boston, dubbed “the perfect crime” without 17 February. They also discovered
Massachusetts, trick security good reason. that the security camera tapes
officers, and steal 13 priceless were missing. After combing the
works of art. A life-long thief from Palermo, vault, investigators estimated that
Sicily, who specialized in charming the haul amounted to £60 million
AFTER his victims, Leonardo Notarbartolo in diamonds, other precious gems,
18 February 2013 Eight posed as a diamond merchant and gold, and jewellery.
masked gunmen posing as rented an office in the Antwerp
police officers steal £33 million Diamond Centre two years before
in diamonds from an armoured the robbery. This enabled him to
van on the tarmac of Brussels gain 24-hour access to the building,
Airport, Belgium. with his own safe deposit box
located within the vault.

Without a trace
On the night of 16 February 2003,
Notarbartolo and a group of five
thieves known as “The School of
Turin” broke into the diamond
centre’s vault.

Despite nine different layers of
security, including cameras and
infrared heat and motion sensors,

BANDITS, ROBBERS, AND ARSONISTS 55

See also: The Société Générale Bank Heist 44 ■ The Hatton Garden Heist 58–59 The Diamond Squad

The nine security layers at the Antwerp vault In 2000, the Belgian Ministry
of Justice established a
External Combination Keyed lock special police force to guard
security dial and investigate crimes taking
camera place in Antwerp’s diamond
district. This unique six-
Internal security Locked steel Magnetic member police force is led by
camera gate sensor inspectors who are uniquely
well connected with the
Light sensor Heat/motion Keypad for diamond business. The head
sensor disarming of the “Diamond Squad”,
Agim De Bruycker, was in
sensors charge of the investigation
into the Antwerp Diamond
The unfinished sandwich I may be a thief and a liar Heist that secured
Everything had gone like clockwork but I am going to tell you Notarbartolo’s arrest.
for the gang, but they became
sloppy during their escape. One a true story. However, in March 2015,
gang member, known as “Speedy” Leonardo Notarbartolo De Bruycker was arrested on
(later identified by police as Pietro suspicion of money laundering.
Tavano), hastily discarded a bag of Missing puzzle pieces Diamonds worth £365,000
trash in a forest alongside the E19 Notarbartolo claimed in a 2009 were later discovered in his
motorway north of Brussels. interview with Wired magazine home. Members of his team
that a diamond merchant hired The had allegedly become
A local farmer found the bag School of Turin for the heist, and suspicious after he purchased
and called the police after noticing that the robbery was part of an expensive villa and a new
envelopes from the Antwerp a complex insurance fraud. Range Rover shortly after
Diamond Centre, a videotape, and a Authorities doubted this claim, his divorce was finalized.
half-eaten salami sandwich, which however, and did not pursue it. De Bruycker was consequently
was later discovered to contain What is beyond doubt, though, suspended pending an
traces of Notarbartolo’s DNA. is that except for a few stones, the investigation.
Notarbartolo was subsequently loot has never been found. The fifth
arrested, along with three member of the gang, nicknamed De Bruycker’s arrest is not
accomplices including Speedy, the “King of Keys”, has also not yet the only scandal to befall the
for committing what the press had been identified. ■ diamond squad. In 2004,
labelled “the heist of the century.” €1.6 million (over £1 million)
Police searched Notarbartolo’s worth of diamonds, seized as
apartment and discovered 17 part of a fraud investigation,
diamonds in his home safe, which vanished from police custody.
they traced back to the vault. More They have not been recovered.
diamonds were found hidden in
a rolled-up carpet. In 2005,
Notarbartolo was sentenced to
10 years; his fellow conspirators
were jailed for five years each.

56

HALEAWRAMSSAYNSETEXMPESRT IN

THE THEFT OF THE CELLINI SALT CELLAR,
11 MAY 2003

IN CONTEXT S tealthily dodging high-tech two failed ransom attempts by the
motion sensors and round- thief, in January 2006, police
LOCATION the-clock security guards, arrested 50-year-old Robert Mang,
Kunsthistorisches an amateur art thief climbed up a security alarm specialist and
Museum, Vienna, Austria the scaffolding outside Vienna’s avid sculpture collector. He soon
Kunsthistorisches Museum, confessed, admitting that the theft
THEME crawled through a broken second- was “rather spontaneous”.
Art theft floor window, shattered a display
case, and fled with one of the Mang led police to the
BEFORE world’s great Renaissance artefacts. Renaissance treasure, buried in a
21 August 1911 Leonardo wooded area 90 km (55 miles)
da Vinci’s famed Mona Lisa is The early morning theft of the northeast of Vienna. Mang had
stolen from Paris’s Louvre gold-plated salt cellar, worth an wrapped the sculpture in linen and
Museum, but recovered two estimated £52 million, on plastic and placed it in a lead box
years later when the thieves 11 May 2003, caused a scandal to protect it from damage. In
attempt to sell it. across Austria. The intricate, September 2006, Mang was
25-cm (10-inch) sculpture depicting sentenced to four years in prison
AFTER a trident-wielding Neptune was but was released early, in 2009. ■
16 October 2012 the masterpiece of Benvenuto
A Romanian gang breaks into Cellini, the famed 15th-century
the Kunsthal Museum in the Italian sculptor.
Netherlands and steals seven
paintings worth £19 million. Despite its multimillion-dollar
value, the statue was essentially
unsalable because no legitimate art
dealer would touch it. Following

The salt cellar was finished by
Cellini in 1543 and presented to
King Francis I of France. It is the
only remaining item of precious metal
work attributed to the Italian sculptor.
See also: Bill Mason 36 ■ The Theft of the World Cup 37 ■ John MacLean 45

BANDITS, ROBBERS, AND ARSONISTS 57

IUCWTNR’ESIBIMREAILDNVIEAAEVLNRADYCBARLSEEEA, LBUT

THE RUSSIA-ESTONIA VODKA PIPELINE, 2004

IN CONTEXT F rom August to November The investigation also
2004, a team of enterprising revealed that the men had
LOCATION smugglers operated a tried to sell some of the alcohol
Narva, Estonia remarkable 2-km (1¼-mile) pipeline in Tallinn… but the quality
under the Kyrgyzstan River to of the spirit was too bad.
THEME transport huge quantities of vodka
Smuggling from Russia to the ex-Soviet Mari Luuk
country of Estonia in order to avoid
BEFORE paying duty. Officials estimated that by the
1916 After the state of time the gang of 11 Russian
Michigan bans alcohol sales, Estonia had only just joined the and Estonian smugglers were
rum-runners smuggle liquor by European Union on 1 May 2004, caught, they had already pumped
boat over the border from where vodka fetched a much higher 7,450 litres (1,638 gallons) of vodka
Windsor, Ontario, in Canada price than it did in Russia. from Russia to Estonia.
to Detroit, Michigan. Unfortunately for the smugglers,
however, they could not find a Two years later, Estonian police
12 August 1998 Lithuanian single buyer for the illegal vodka in discovered another smuggling
police uncover a pipeline the country’s capital, Tallinn. They pipeline under the same river, but
used to smuggle alcohol finally offloaded it in Tartu, it was shut down before any
from Latvia across the border Estonia’s second-largest city. alcohol was illegally transported
into Lithuania. into the European Union. ■
The operation was uncovered
AFTER by chance when workers digging
6 January 2014 Philadelphia planting holes for trees found the
police arrest a local attorney pipeline along the bottom of a
for illegally selling bottles of reservoir near the border town of
fine wine out of the basement Narva. Customs officials seized
of his home; in all, they 1,400 litres (306 gallons) of the
confiscate 2,500 bottles valued alcohol and shut down the pipeline.
between $150,000 (£120,000) They also later discovered a large
and $200,000 (£160,000). quantity of untaxed alcohol hidden
in a truck in Tallinn.

See also: The Hawkhurst Gang 136–37 ■ The Beer Wars 152–53

58

LOCOLRNDIMD-SIONCNAHLOGOELNTS

THE HATTON GARDEN HEIST, APRIL 2015

IN CONTEXT B y the early spring of 2015, A diamond-core drill, stolen from
veteran career criminal a nearby demolition site four months
LOCATION Brian Reader, age 76, had before the heist, was used to bore
London, UK spent three years planning “one last three overlapping holes through the
job”. Reader had the pedigree, reinforced concrete wall.
THEME having participated in the Baker
Vault heist Street Robbery of 1971. This time, Without a hitch
he recruited friends John “Kenny” The last of the Hatton Garden
BEFORE Collins, 74, Terry Perkins, 67, and Safe Deposit Company staff left
11 September 1971 Danny Jones, 60, among others. the building at around 8:20pm.
Burglars, including Brian Five minutes later, security
Reader, break into the safe On the first weekend of cameras captured footage of a
deposit boxes at the Baker April 2015, with the Easter holiday gang heading down into the vault
Street branch of Lloyds Bank and Passover due to coincide, the via a lift shaft.
in London, stealing an Hatton Garden Safe Deposit
estimated £3 million (about Company was to close its doors on They were led by a man
£42 million today). Thursday night and would not open nicknamed “Mr Ginger” by the
again until the following Tuesday. press for the red hair visible
12 July 1987 Thieves pose The entire district, renowned as beneath his cap, but he was
as potential customers at the London’s jewellery quarter, was to referred to among the gang as
Knightsbridge Safe Deposit be deserted for the long weekend. “Basil”. Three others were visible,
Centre in London to gain each pushing a large commercial
access before holding up They were analogue criminals wheelie bin: the robbers clearly
staff and making off with operating in a digital world. expected a major haul. For the
about £60 million (£158 million) Scotland Yard moment, though, no one saw this
in cash and jewellery.

AFTER
4–5 February 2016
Computer hackers attempt to
steal £673 million from the
central bank of Bangladesh.

BANDITS, ROBBERS, AND ARSONISTS 59

See also: The Great Train Robbery 30–35 ■ The Société Générale Bank Heist 44 ■ The Antwerp Diamond Heist 54–55

The “Diamond Wheezers” as the
press dubbed them were jailed for a
lenient combined total of 34 years.
Perkins and Jones even thanked the
judge as they were led away.

Perkins in the Castle pub boasting
about how they had accessed
the vault.

footage, nor did the Metropolitan the vault’s alarms, but only with Mystery mastermind
Police react to an alert from the partial success. The gang’s Seven men were eventually
vault’s alarm. careless use of their cell phones arrested and convicted for the
also provided the police with clues. Hatton Garden robbery, but Basil
The alarm also alerted the Access to phone records and eluded capture. According to the
vault’s security monitoring vehicle-tracking data established testimony of Danny Jones, Basil
company. They called Alok Bavishi, that gang members Perkins, was an ex-policeman and the
the son of the safe deposit centre’s Collins, and Jones had regularly mastermind behind the raid. Basil
joint director, who was temporarily met at the Castle pub in Islington, clearly was the most professional
in charge. Although Bavishi was north London, while planning the member of the gang and had been
incorrectly informed that the police raid. A police surveillance operation careful to conceal his face with a
were already at the scene, he later recorded Reader, Collins, and bag when making his way into the
phoned a security guard to check waiting van. He is believed to have
out the building. But the guard One last job been the inside man, letting
found nothing wrong when he himself into the building with a set
looked through the main door – a The British press and the public of keys and bypassing several
lucky break for the gang, were tickled by the venerable layers of security. Both Basil and
particularly as lookout Collins had age of the men accused of the more than £10 million worth of
fallen asleep while he was on duty. Hatton Garden heist. There was jewellery, gold, and gems are
a certain charm to the revelation unaccounted for. ■
Meanwhile, Basil and his that Reader used a senior
associates made two trips to the citizen’s bus pass to get to grandfathers. However, many
vault. By the time they fled Hatton Garden; that lookout of them were dangerous career
the area, at 6:45am on Sunday Kenny Collins had napped on criminals bonded by friendship,
morning, they had ransacked duty; and that Terry Perkins had a shared skill set, and nostalgia
72 boxes and taken £14 million remembered to pack his for past adventures.
worth of loot. diabetes medication.
For years, Reader had
Tracking them down Superficially, the gang cultivated a “safety-first”
However, the gang unwittingly left members seemed like they approach to keep him ahead of
an electronic trail. They had tried could have been anyone’s the law. He had aborted risky
to disable the security cameras and robberies and taken long
sabbaticals when things turned
“hot”. Finally, though, it seems
that he could not resist the
allure and prestige of this
opportunity, abandoning his
tried-and-tested approach for
one last job.

CON ARTI

STS

62 INTRODUCTION Czech-born Victor Using fake identities
Lustig pretends to be a and her natural
In France, Jeanne de member of the French
la Motte deceives a government wishing to charm, Doris Payne
wealthy cardinal sell the Eiffel Tower embarks on a career

with the aim as scrap metal. as a jewel thief.
of obtaining a
diamond necklace.

1785 1925 1952
1879 1946

Wealthy French socialite In Paris, artist Elmyr de Hory
Thérèse Humbert borrows begins to forge works by
famous painters to sell
vast sums of money
against the promise of a to wealthy individuals
and galleries.
bogus inheritance.

C onfidence tricks, so-called Con artists are also known as Champion swindlers
because they exploit “hustlers”, “grifters”, and “tricksters”, Some cases involve extraordinary
people’s trust, are among They derisively call their victims levels of self-confidence on the
the oldest crimes in the world. “marks”, “suckers”, or “gulls”. How part of the con artist. In the 1960s,
Human nature is on the side of the their victims get duped is not as master impostor Frank Abagnale
perpetrators – without a good puzzling as it may seem, though. evaded law enforcement for years,
reason, most people tend to trust Some tricksters deliberately target impersonating six different
others. Victims often learn the hard the elderly, lonely, or vulnerable, but professionals including a pilot, a
way that if an offer seems too good almost anyone can be susceptible doctor, a lawyer, and an FBI agent.
to be true, it probably is. to their scams, especially when Victor Lustig succeeded in selling
they fall prey to a convincing get- the Eiffel Tower for scrap metal to
A con artist is a manipulator rich-quick scheme that appears a gullible businessman.
who cheats or tricks others by utterly genuine. The impact of the
persuading them to believe crime can be substantial. In In other cases, it is the
something that is not true. Through 18th-century France, for example, simplicity and brazen nature of
deception – by lying, cheating, and the scandalous machinations of the attempted deception that is
fooling their targets into believing social climber and trickster Jeanne astounding, such as the champion
they can make easy gains – con de la Motte in a case that became racehorse disguised as a novice
artists exploit their victims, usually known as the Affair of the Diamond with a slap of white paint in the
to obtain money for themselves but Necklace, helped to reinforce the Fine Cotton scandal in Australia,
also for other advantages. The legal monarchy’s unpopularity, which led although that ruse was swiftly
consequences of such trickery to the French Revolution and the exposed. The escape from Alcatraz
depend on the circumstances and destruction of the ancien régime. was much more intricately planned,
the laws of the land. with the escapees placing papier-

Master impostor Frank CON ARTISTS 63
Abagnale impersonates
a pilot to travel the world In Germany, forger Konrad
and enjoy a lavish lifestyle. Kujau fools the world into
believing documents penned

by him are actually
Hitler’s diaries.

1964 1978
1962 1972 1984

In the US, three Clifford Irving falsely claims In the Fine Cotton
prisoners trick guards that Howard Hughes has horseracing scandal in
and pull off one of the asked him to write his
most famous jailbreaks biography, and tricks Australia, a crime
in history—the escape syndicate substitutes
publishing executives into
from Alcatraz. giving him a large advance. a champion horse
for a novice.

mâché heads in their beds to Hughes biography continued to However, making a profit is not
convince the guards that they were stand by their scoops long after always their goal. According to
sleeping instead of digging their everyone else realized they had psychologists, con artists simply
way out of the island prison. been scammed. And many gain great satisfaction from pulling
individuals, after realizing that they off their scams, regardless of the
In most cases, it is an individual have been deceived, are reluctant amount of money they make.
or an organization that is fooled, to contact the authorities, for fear
but hundreds were taken in by art of being ridiculed. Victor Lustig Many con artists use disguises
forger Elmyr de Hory’s remarkable banked on this in his audacious as part of their modus operandi,
paintings – he sold more than sale of the Eiffel Tower; it worked which makes it difficult for law
a thousand works by “Picasso”, because he successfully predicted enforcement agencies to catch
“Matisse”, and “Modigliani” to his victim’s embarrassment at them, especially before the aid of
collectors and galleries worldwide. being duped. digital technology. Police may
also hesitate to go after culprits,
Master forger Konrad Kujau also Underlying psychology because in some jurisdictions,
managed to fool most of the world What con artists have in common stealing property is considered a
with the Hitler Diaries. Historians is the power of persuasion. The civil issue rather than a crime. In
proclaimed their authenticity, most successful perpetrators addition, police are generally more
newspapers ran extracts, and share three personality traits – concerned with catching violent
publishing companies vied for psychopathy, narcissism, and criminals and terrorists than
the rights. Often, those who fall for Machiavellianism – which allow apprehending grifters. The crimes
such hoaxes are reluctant to believe them to carry out their crimes of the grifter can be difficult to
they have been duped. The without feeling remorse or guilt. prove, and the perpetrators are
publishers of the extracts from the less likely to be prosecuted. ■
Hitler Diaries and the Howard

64

IUOFNFEDBLEALRDATCHMOEAURINNTSFYELRLUSE…NCE

THE AFFAIR OF THE DIAMOND NECKLACE, 1785

IN CONTEXT I n 1785, Queen Marie
Antoinette was embroiled in
LOCATION a notorious scandal at the
Paris, France French court over a diamond
necklace. Confidence trickster
THEME Jeanne de la Motte orchestrated a
Jewellery scam ruse, impersonating the queen to
deceive a wealthy cardinal. The
BEFORE implications of this swindle had
1690s William Chaloner unintentionally far-reaching
leads a highly successful coin consequences and helped to
counterfeiting gang in bring about the French Revolution.
Birmingham and London,
England; he is hanged in Royal commission The necklace was a work of art,
1699 for high treason after In 1772, King Louis XV enlisted the featuring festoons, pendants, and
targeting the Royal Mint. jewellers Boehmer and Bassenge to tassels. In creating it without a firm
create an elaborate necklace for commission, the jewellers took a huge
AFTER Madame du Barry, his mistress. risk, which nearly bankrupted them.
1923 Lou Blonger, the kingpin The jewellers created a diamond
of an extensive ring of con necklace that weighed 2,800 carats married Nicolas de la Motte, an
men who operated in Denver, and featured 647 stones. It took officer of the gendarmes, and they
Colorado, for more than 25 several years to make and cost styled themselves as Count and
years, is finally convicted after 2 million livres (about £8 million Countess de la Motte. They were
a famous trial dogged by today). By the time it was finished, granted a modest pension from the
allegations that Blonger’s Louis had died from smallpox and king, but it was not enough to
associates attempted to bribe du Barry was banished by his heir, provide Jeanne either with the
members of the jury. Louis XVI. The jewellers tried to lifestyle she desired or reflect the
sell the necklace to Queen Marie social status she felt entitled to.
Antoinette, but she declined it.
Learning that the jewellers
A cunning plan were trying to find a buyer for the
Jeanne de Valois-Saint-Rémy was a necklace, Jeanne hatched a plan
descendant of an illegitimate son of
King Henri II (1547–59). In 1780, she

CON ARTISTS 65

See also: The Crawford Inheritance 66–67 ■ Frank Abagnale 86–87 ■ Clifford Irving 88–89

I can see I have been A schemer through and through,
cruelly deceived. Jeanne de la Motte escaped prison
Cardinal Louis dressed as a boy. She fled to London
de Rohan where she wrote a memoir of the
diamond necklace scandal in which
to acquire it, sensing the ideal she defended her actions.
opportunity for her financial and
social advancement. Among her he and the queen were in love. swindle was finally exposed. The
acquaintances was Cardinal Louis After requests from de Rohan for prostitute and the de la Mottes
de Rohan, who had fallen out of the pair to meet, Jeanne hired a were convicted and Villette was
favour with the queen and was prostitute to impersonate Marie banished, but de Rohan was
eager to reconcile. In 1784, Jeanne Antoinette and organized a acquitted. De la Motte was publicly
convinced the cardinal that she rendezvous in the gardens of the flogged and branded with a “V” for
enjoyed Marie Antoinette’s favour Palace of Versailles. Having voleuse (robber) and imprisoned but
and tricked him into writing to the gained his trust, Jeanne informed escaped ten months later. Already
queen. De la Motte’s accomplice de Rohan that the queen wanted to made a scapegoat for the country’s
Rétaux de Villette forged replies buy the diamond necklace, but financial plight, the trial destroyed
from “the queen” on gilt-edged could not be seen to do so at a time the queen’s fragile reputation.
stationery. The exchanges became when many people in Paris were Eight years later, she was executed
so amorous that de Rohan believed starving. De Rohan agreed to cover during the French Revolution. The
the cost in instalments and the necklace was never found. ■
jewellers handed over the necklace.

Fraud exposed
When de Rohan’s first payment was
insufficient, the jewellers protested
to Marie Antoinette, but she denied
requesting the necklace. De Rohan
was brought before the king and
queen to explain himself and the

This satirical engraving mocks Preying on vulnerability given names only, but it is
Cardinal de Rohan’s gullibility and unlikely, given that he had
crookedness as he offers up the Jeanne de la Motte executed a previously worked as the French
necklace to de la Motte. near-perfect confidence trick to ambassador to the court of
dupe Cardinal de Rohan, first Vienna and would have been
seducing him, then preying on skilled in diplomatic protocol. It
his desperation, vulnerability, is more likely that the cardinal
and vanity. She also waited until was blinded by de la Motte’s
she had earned his trust before power of persuasion. He was
asking anything of him in return. brought back down to earth by
the king, furious that a high-
However, she did make one ranking noble could be duped by
potentially fatal error, signing the such an obvious error. Although
notes from the queen with he was lampooned as a fool, he
“Marie Antoinette de France”. It received popular support; his
is possible that the cardinal was acquittal was deemed a victory
not aware of the custom that over the unpopular royals.
French queens signed with their

66

PTTEHOOESPIRULCEHHATTOASOSKOUFMF

THE CRAWFORD INHERITANCE, 1879–1902

IN CONTEXT I n 1898, on the verge of
bankruptcy, a French banker
LOCATION named Girard contacted the
Paris, France woman with whom he had invested
his fortune, begging for some of the
THEME money he was owed. When wealthy
Fake inheritance scam socialite Thérèse Humbert refused,
Girard put a gun to his head and
BEFORE pulled the trigger in despair.
1821–1837 Scottish soldier Girard’s suicide was the beginning
and con man General Gregor of the end of Humbert’s 20-year
MacGregor extorts money from career swindling the French elite
British and French investors of nearly 100 million francs (about
looking to settle in a fictional £430 million today).
Central American territory.
Fake inheritance The scandal attracted the interest of
AFTER Born Thérèse Daurignac in France, the press across Europe. This image
1880s American con woman she grew up an impoverished of the arrest in Madrid was published
Bertha Heyman, also known peasant. Although she was neither in the Italian newspaper La Domenica
as “Big Bertha”, persuades wealthy nor well educated, Thérèse del Corriere.
dozens of rich men to lend her was charming and adept at lying
money with the promise that and manipulation. She claimed she on a train journey. As a reward,
she will pay them back from a was of noble blood and convinced Crawford supposedly made Thérèse
fictional inheritance. her first cousin, Frédéric Humbert, the beneficiary of his will, with a
the son of a prominent French provision that the fortune be kept
1897–1904 Canadian forger mayor, to marry her. The two then in a safe until her younger sister
and con artist Cassie L. moved to Paris, where her father-in- was old enough to marry one of
Chadwick claims to be the law’s connections helped Thérèse Crawford’s nephews. However,
illegitimate daughter and to gain fame and influence among Robert Crawford did not exist and
heiress of steel tycoon Andrew French society. nor did the inheritance.
Carnegie, and swindles banks
out of millions of dollars. In 1879, Thérèse told a tale of an Using the fictional inheritance
unusual inheritance, claiming that as collateral, Thérèse began to
she saved the life of American borrow money from rich friends.
millionaire Robert Crawford while

CON ARTISTS 67

See also: The Affair of the Diamond Necklace 64–65 ■ Charles Ponzi 102–07 ■ Bernie Madoff 116–21

She persuaded me to ultimately exposed the fraud. By nothing but a brick and an English
lend her my money, first a the late 1890s, many of the people halfpenny. By then, Thérèse and
little, and then more, until she had borrowed from joined her husband had fled the country.
all I have in the world has gone forces and concluded that even her In December 1902, the couple were
significant “inheritance” would not arrested in Madrid and extradited
into her pockets. be sufficient to repay all of her to Paris.
Victim of extensive loans.
Both Thérèse and Frédéric were
Thérèse Humbert Her schemes finally unravelled sentenced to five years’ hard
in 1901, when one of her creditors labour. Thérèse emigrated to the
sued her. A Parisian court judge US and she died penniless in
ordered the safe opened, to reveal Chicago, Illinois, in 1918. ■

Psychopathy

While her husband may have been Common
a dupe at first, he became her traits of a
accomplice and the pair lived con artist
lavishly on the borrowed funds.
The Humberts went on spending Narcissism Machiavellianism
sprees, buying country mansions,
a steam yacht, and fine clothing. The power of persuasion
In total, they borrowed 50 million
francs (£215 million) on the promise Con artists use the power of believable. If the victim objects,
of their mysterious fortune. persuasion to swindle their the swindler may play on their
victims. After identifying a emotions to gain sympathy. The
Dissatisfied with the sizable target, a fraudster will study goal is to lie, cheat, and fool
sums she appropriated, in 1893, them, researching their people with empty promises.
Thérèse launched a fraudulent behaviour and talking with
insurance company, Rent Viagere. them to determine weaknesses. Many successful con artists
The company targeted small The con artist will then guide exhibit the same three traits –
businessmen with the promise of them towards their scam, using psychopathy, narcissism, and
large returns on small investments. flattery, fear, or the promise of machiavellianism – known
Thérèse and Frédéric went on to wealth to gain the subject’s collectively as the “Dark Triad”.
squander more than 40 million trust and confidence. Typically, These characteristics allow con
francs (£174 million), with old the lies are laced with enough artists to swindle people out
investors paid using the funds of truth to distract the victim of their money without the
new victims. and make the patter more perpetrators feeling a sense of
either remorse or guilt.
Borrowed time
Following Girard’s suicide,
French investigators began to
look into the Humberts’ financial
affairs. But it was her creditors
rather than the police who

68

ECTVHOEENRSMLMAIVONEOTDTHHAETST

THE SALE OF THE EIFFEL TOWER, 1925

IN CONTEXT V ictor Lustig was a printed perfect $100 bills. He
specialist in tall tales, and convinced gullible victims that
LOCATION none of them were taller the device took several hours of
Paris, France than his plan to sell the Eiffel Tower “chemical processing” to print
for scrap metal. two $100 bills that he presented to
THEME the targets. In fact, they were
Landmark scam Born in 1890 in the town of simply real $100 bills that he had
Hostinné, in what is now the Czech loaded into the machine without
BEFORE Republic, Lustig became fluent in their knowledge.
1901 William McCloundy, a several European languages and
con man from New Jersey, moved to France. He started his Impressed by the results,
sells the Brooklyn Bridge to a criminal career as a swindler victims bought his machines for
foreign tourist and is jailed for preying on wealthy travellers on as much as $30,000 (£322,000
grand larceny. transatlantic ocean liners. today). It would take a few hours
for victims to realize that they had
AFTER One of his lucrative scams been scammed – and when they
1947 American con man involved a money-printing did, Lustig was long gone.
George C. Parker “sells” “invention”, which he claimed
New York public landmarks,
including the Brooklyn Bridge, Conning Capone with the promise that he would
to wealthy foreign tourists double Capone’s money.
multiple times. Although he was a talented and Unknown to Capone, Lustig
slick con man, Lustig would placed the money in a safe
2010 Penniless Yorkshire truck occasionally take significant deposit box and returned it
driver Anthony Lee attempts risks, such as revisting the two months later, apologizing
to sell the Ritz Hotel in London scene of his famous crime to that the deal he was banking
for £250 million and succeeds try and sell the Eiffel Tower on had fallen through. Full of
in obtaining a deposit of for a second time. admiration for Lustig’s integrity,
£1 million before he is caught Capone rewarded him with
by the police. The audacity required for $5,000. Lustig had shrewdly
this remarkable scam pales in hoped for this outcome from the
comparison to the nerve needed beginning, but had taken a huge
to swindle Al Capone in the late risk when he tangled with
1920s, but that is exactly what Capone. This caper secured
Lustig did. He convinced the Lustig’s reputation as one of the
Chicago crime boss to invest bravest con men in history.
$50,000 to finance a stock deal,

CON ARTISTS 69

See also: The Crawford Inheritance 66–67 ■ Frank Abagnale 86–87

flattered their egos by claiming that Lustig’s Ten
the five of them had been Commandments
recommended based on their
honest reputations. for con men

Lustig had rented a limousine Be a patient listener
and invited the men for a tour of the
tower. Lustig identified the most Never look bored
socially and financially insecure Wait for the other person to
target, Andre Poisson, who
desperately wanted to join the reveal their political
ranks of the Parisian business elite, opinions, then agree
and who felt that this was the right
opportunity for him to do so. with them
Wait for the other person to
Victor Lustig was not only an The plan pays off reveal their religious views,
extraordinary “salesman” and a Poisson’s wife became suspicious
charming, sophisticated operator; he about the secret and hasty nature then agree with them
also had a talent for evading capture. of their dealings, sowing seeds of Hint at intimate details but
doubt in her husband’s mind. don’t follow up unless the
Official business Lustig met with Poisson and “came other person shows interest
Based in Paris in 1925, Lustig read clean”, confessing that he wanted
a newspaper story about how the to solicit a bribe for the contract, Never discuss illness
Eiffel Tower was rusting and hence the clandestine behaviour. unless a special concern
required repairs. It was built for the Reassured, Poisson not only paid for
1889 Paris Exposition and was the 7,000 tons of iron but also gave is shown
intended to be dismantled and the con man a hefty bribe. Never pry (they will tell you
moved to another location in 1909.
Lustig correctly predicted that all eventually)
Sensing an opportunity, Lustig Poisson would be too humiliated Never boast, just let
sent out letters on fake government to report the fraud. Six months later, your importance be
stationery to five businessmen in Lustig attempted to repeat the
which he claimed to be the Deputy scam but failed, narrowly avoiding quietly obvious
Director General of the Ministry of arrest. Lustig later moved to the US Never be untidy
Posts and Telegraphs. In the letters, to continue his criminal career. ■
he asked for a meeting at the Never get drunk
prestigious Hotel de Crillon to I cannot understand
discuss a business contract. honest men. They lead
Believing the opportunity to be desperate lives full of boredom.
genuine, the five men all met with a
smartly dressed, courteous Lustig. Victor Lustig
He revealed that the government
intended to sell the Eiffel Tower for
scrap metal and would take bids for
the right to demolish the tower. He

70 IN CONTEXT

RDGHIIORNGMEGHAESTLLUWAFNA’SIRATCSCHYTETOOHRFEY LOCATION
Central Germany
HARRY DOMELA, 1926
THEME
Serial imposture

BEFORE
1817 Cobbler’s daughter Mary
Baker exposes upper-class
vanities by passing herself off
as Princess Caraboo from the
fictitious island of Javasu.

1830 German swindler Karl
Wilhelm Naundorff goes to
his grave insisting that he
is the rightful king of France,
Prince Louis-Charles.

AFTER
2004 French-born impostor
Christophe Rocancourt is
jailed for five years following
a long career spent conning
investors out of their money.
He used many aliases, even
claiming to be a Gallic relative
of the Rockefeller family.

O ne of the most notorious
figures of the Roaring
Twenties, trickster Harry
Domela spent a lifetime pretending
to be someone else. In 1918, the
Freikorps – a private paramilitary
group in which 15-year-old Domela
was serving in his native Latvia
– was called to Berlin to help stage
a putsch. After the putsch failed,
his unit was demobilized and
Domela was left alone, adrift, and
penniless. As a foreigner, he was
denied a German passport and
forbidden to work.

Domela decided to enter high
society in a bid to improve his
desperate circumstances. He
assumed false identities, using

CON ARTISTS 71

See also: Frank Abagnale 86–67 ■ The Tichborne Claimant 177

Despite a humble background and
an impoverished present, Harry
Domela (far left) managed to convince
Heidelberg’s pro-monarchy elite that he
was the kaiser’s grandson (left).

aristocratic names and titles. In hotels, checked in as Baron Korff speculated that the prince might
1926, his life changed irrevocably and demanded one of their top be travelling incognito, using the
when one of these acts of deception suites. The hotel manager noticed pseudonym Baron Korff. The
went awry. The story highlights that the new guest with the grand rumour started circulating around
Germany’s obsession with royalty manners bore a striking Erfurt. Although the monarchy had
in that era, and the gullibility of the resemblance to young Wilhelm of been abolished in 1918, many
country’s wealthy, privileged elite. Hohenzollern, grandson of Kaiser aristocratic Germans were still
Wilhelm, the last German emperor. devoted to the deposed royal family,
Charismatic chancer The two men were around the the Hohenzollerns. Domela insisted
When he was 20, Domela moved same age and of a similar build and that he was not the prince, but he
to Hamburg, where he made some appearance. The hotel manager was happy to subtly sustain the
money playing cards. He used it illusion, especially as it meant he
to visit the historic university city The Real Harry Domela did not have to pay his hotel bill.
of Heidelberg where, adopting a
confident air, he masqueraded Harry Domela was born in 1904 Domela made a trip to Berlin,
for some weeks as Prince Lieven, or 1905 into a humble but but returned quickly to Erfurt when
lieutenant of the Fourth Reichswehr respectable family in Kurland, all the staff at his hotel addressed
cavalry regiment, Potsdam. He a duchy ceded to the Russians him as Your Majesty – word had
became friendly with members of in 1795 (now part of Latvia). spread. Then one day, during a visit
one of the exclusive, and snobbish, His parents were part of the by the mayor, he was asked to sign
student societies, which quickly minority Baltic German a book; he caved in and wrote
accepted him. He was entertained population. Domela’s father died “Wilhelm, Prince of Prussia”. For the
lavishly, wined and dined, and soon after his birth; he later next few weeks, Domela fully
thoroughly enjoyed the experience. became estranged from his embraced his new royal persona
mother and lost his brother in as the “son” of Crown Prince ❯❯
However, Domela knew his World War I. At the age of 15, he
deception might be uncovered at joined the German volunteer citizenship, and joined
any time. Before that could happen, corps that fought against the thousands of other destitute
he moved on to the city of Erfurt. Latvians. He later lost his people trying to survive in a
There, he selected one of the nicest shattered postwar Germany.

Despite having no papers,
Domela managed to eke out a
meagre living, but soon became
an unemployed wanderer. When
a street contemporary drew his
attention to the huge number
of dispossessed aristocrats
around – Germany’s nobility
had recently been stripped of
their titles and status – Domela
developed the skills and
attributes necessary to pose
as one himself.

72 HARRY DOMELA

A crowd gathers around Harry
Domela at the Berlin cinema he opened
in 1929 to show the film version of his
memoirs. He later unsuccessfully sued
the filmmakers of a rival adaptation.

Wilhelm and Crown Princess that the reports would soon spread Domela found legitimate success
Cecilie. He was invited to other and expose him, Domela decided with his book: it sold about 120,000
towns in the region, where the rich to travel to France and join the copies. Two plays were made about
and titled vied to host dinners and Foreign Legion. As he boarded the his life, and Domela even played
hunting outings in his honour. train, he was arrested by police. himself in one. He also sold the film
When he walked the streets, ladies rights, and starred in the resulting
stopped to curtsy and gentlemen For the next seven months, movie, The False Prince (1927).
bowed, while members of the Domela was held in a prison in
military saluted him in public. Cologne, Germany, awaiting trial In 1929, Domela set up a small
Although he accepted many gifts for fraud. During his incarceration cinema in Berlin. It opened with
during his “tours”, among them he wrote about his experiences in a showing of The False Prince.
tickets to the opera in the royal box, a book he titled A Sham Prince: Ultimately, the cinema was not
Domela never asked for money. He The Life and Adventures of Harry a success. As it lost Domela
relished the benefits of his grand Domela as Written by Himself in increasing amounts of money, the
deception, especially the full board Prison at Cologne, January to June first act of his life came to an end.
and lodging, but soon felt disgusted 1927. After he received his first His economic situation, as well as
by the fawning adulation that advance from his publisher, he sent the growing fascist mood in Berlin,
greeted him, particularly because his “mother”, Crown Princess led Domela to look for new
the country was now a republic. He Cecilie, a bouquet of flowers from opportunities. In 1933, he left
was aware, too, that he could not prison with a touching note. Germany for the Netherlands,
keep up the pretence indefinitely. hiding behind a new identity:
At his trial, the court ruled that Victor Szakja.
Changing fortunes while he had taken advantage of
Early in 1927, the local press caught prominent members of society, his New beginnings
on to the story of the prince’s visit scheme had been mostly harmless In Amsterdam, Domela often
to Heidelberg. Some commentators and he was acquitted. Shortly after attended communist rallies in
were critical of the attention being his release, he was even invited for support of the Soviet Union. At one
lavished on a former royal. Worried tea by Crown Princess Cecilie after of these, he connected with Jef
he appeared unannounced at her Last, a left-wing Dutch writer. Last
royal palace. introduced Domela to the French

To Her Imperial Highness
the Crown Princess Cecilie. I
was honored to be taken for

your son.
Harry Domela

CON ARTISTS 73

author André Gide. The pair Always fearful of being discovered When the Crown Prince and I
became close, staying up late to and arrested – he had no passport or heard about his exploits, we
discuss Nietzsche and Hölderlin. papers and was therefore considered were convulsed with laughter.
stateless – Domela was an outsider
By 1936, the Nazi regime was who was constantly on the move. So I invited him to tea. A
taking control of Germany and, charming young man with
as a homosexual, returning to his followed a rootless cycle of left-
adopted homeland was not an wing agitation and imprisonment excellent manners.
option for Domela. Instead, at the common to thousands of Crown Princess Cecilie
onset of the Spanish Civil War, he dispossessed antifascists across
and Last, both committed anti- Europe at that time. him with severe injuries. Soon
fascists, were accepted into a afterwards, beaten down by his
Spanish Republican regiment. He was briefly detained in a run of bad luck, he attempted,
In 1939, the Civil War ended, and prison camp by the Vichy France unsuccessfully, to take his own life.
Domela travelled to France. His life regime, until his friend André Gide
used his influence to get him By the end of World War II,
Impersonating royalty released. Domela then made his Domela had relocated to Venezuela,
way to Belgium where, as an illegal where he found work at a Coca-Cola
Throughout history, ambitious alien, he depended on material factory. He disappeared into
fraudsters have assumed the support from friends, including Last anonymity and resumed his solitary
identities of kings, queens, and Gide. He returned to the south existence. In the 1960s, he finally
princes, princesses, and other of France, where he was once again found his calling as a teacher of art
royals. Some of these charlatans interned, and spent 18 months in history in Maracaibo, while living
impersonated real monarchs, prison. In 1942, he obtained a under an assumed identity.
living or dead, while others Mexican visa and left Europe.
invented fraudulent titles and In 1966, after decades criss-
even fake countries. Their Into obscurity crossing the globe under a series of
motivations vary from case to En route to South America, Domela aliases to avoid awkward questions
case. For some, the charade was detained by the British in about his status, Domela’s identity
offered a chance to gain political Jamaica as an illegal alien. He was was once again called into
power, make money, or simply imprisoned for a further two and a question. A Spanish colleague
realize a fantasy of living as a half years. On his release he made suspected Domela was one of the
member of royalty. his way to Cuba, where he was thousands of former Nazi party
involved in a car accident that left members who had escaped from
Germany at the end of World War II
One royal who has been and sought refuge in South
impersonated numerous times is America. Domela’s old friend Jef
Russian princess Anastasia Last was able to provide Domela’s
Romanov. In 1918, she and her accuser with an affidavit about his
family were killed by Bolshevik true identity. This restored
revolutionaries. As her body was Domela’s good name, but he still
buried in an unknown location, lost his position at the school.
rumours persisted that she was
still alive. Dozens of women It is believed Domela spent the
have claimed to be Anastasia, rest of his days in hiding. He died,
while others have claimed to be penniless, on 4 October 1979. ■
her elder sisters Maria, Tatiana,
and Olga. However, in 1991,
DNA tests on bones found in
woods near Yekaterinburg
proved that the entire Romanov
family was killed together.

74 IN CONTEXT

IHEBMFNEAUMCONSOUGYEMGSUWHMEIO,NSILRTAROKENAGL LOCATION
Europe and North and
ELMYR DE HORY, 1946–68 South America

THEME
Art forgery

BEFORE
1932–45 Dutch portraitist
Han van Meegeren forges
hundreds of paintings by
famous artists, duping buyers
out of more than $30 million
(about £225 million today).

AFTER
1978–88 British art forger Eric
Hebborn sells hundreds of
paintings, drawings, and
sculptures; he later writes
The Art Forger’s Handbook,
published shortly before his
death in 1996.

1981–94 Dutch painter and
art forger Geert Jan Jansen
produces more than 1,600
forged artworks.

E lmyr de Hory’s legendary
23-year career as an art
forger began one afternoon
in April 1946, when his wealthy
friend Lady Malcolm Campbell, the
widow of racing driver Sir Malcolm
Campbell, visited his small art
studio in Paris. Among de Hory’s
own postimpressionist paintings,
Campbell noticed an unsigned,
unframed, abstract drawing of a
young girl. Incorrectly identifying
it as a work by Pablo Picasso, she
asked if de Hory would sell it, and
for $100 (around £52), he agreed.

At the time of the sale of this
fake “Picasso”, de Hory was a
40-year-old classically trained artist
who had found limited success

See also: Clifford Irving 88–89 ■ Konrad Kujau 90–93 CON ARTISTS 75

selling nondescript paintings Even after de Hory was exposed as Identifying forgeries
and portraits. He had travelled to a forger, his paintings were still highly
Paris hoping to gain fame and sought after, because of the quality of The most common method
fortune, but he found that his his work. This imitation Picasso was of verifying art is through
postimpressionist style was sold at Phillips auction house in 2000. the documented history of the
regarded as passé compared to the artwork’s ownership. This
fashionable abstract expressionistic Partner in crime can be forged, however, so
paintings then in vogue. Soon, de Hory joined forces with a art experts also deploy a
man named Jacques Chamberlin, range of other techniques.
Following the unexpected sale who became his art dealer,
of the bogus “Picasso” drawing, accomplice, and close friend. An art historian may be
de Hory produced other “Picassos” Together, the pair travelled all called upon to assess the
and began to target art galleries. He over Europe selling the forgeries. overall style and brushwork
claimed to be a Hungarian aristocrat Although they were supposed to to see if they match the artist
displaced in the post-war diaspora, share the profits equally, and time period. The colours
offering what remained from his Chamberlin actually kept most in the painting are also
family’s art collection. De Hory’s next of the money. When de Hory analyzed, since not all paint
victim – a Paris art gallery owner – discovered the deception, he ended colours have been available
bought three “Picasso” drawings for the partnership. ❯❯ throughout history. This
$200 (about £1,400 today). technique was famously
used to expose a supposed
17th-century painting by
Frans Hals as a fake, because
it revealed that a collar was
painted with zinc oxide, which
was not available until 1728.

Scientists examine the
surface the work is painted
on to check if it has been
artificially aged. Ultraviolet
light and optical microscopes
are used to determine if the
fine cracks that naturally
appear over time are genuine.

A technique called X-ray
diffraction can detect
whether a canvas has been
used multiple times, which is
often a hallmark of a genuine
master artist.

76 ELMYR DE HORY 1949 1952
Forges his first Sells a “Matisse” to
Elmyr de Hory’s life was a series Modigliani and sells Harvard University’s
of ups and downs, with brief periods it to the Niveau Fogg Art Museum with
of fame and fortune punctuated by Gallery, New York. several “Modiglianis” and
investigations by galleries and law a “Renoir”. The assistant
enforcement agencies. director is suspicious and
returns them.

1938 1946 1951
Arrested in Hungary as Sells a drawing to Lady Sells a “Matisse” to Kansas
a political “undesirable” Malcolm Campbell, City’s Atkins Museum of Fine
after its regime allies which she mistakes Arts and a “Picasso” to the
with Nazi Germany for a Picasso. William Rockhill Nelson Gallery
and imprisons artists of Art, also in Kansas City.
and intellectuals.

Briefly relocating to Rio de Janeiro, he had the opportunity to sell his Dark days
Brazil, de Hory lived off the sales of forgeries to hundreds of galleries. De Hory returned to the US later
his fakes and also began painting He also expanded his repertoire that year, lying low in Los Angeles
his own works again. However, the to include “works” by Matisse, and trying to sell his own work, but
paintings he created in his own Modigliani, and Renoir. he soon moved to New York. When
style did not bring in the kind of no one was interested in his art, he
money that he had become used Safety first sank into depression, and in 1959,
to from selling forgeries. De Hory took precautions to avoid at age 52, he attempted suicide.
the attention of the police. He
In August 1947, de Hory moved remained discreet about his real A new friend, Fernand Legros,
to the US and used his charm to profession and provided plausible who had attended de Hory’s
ingratiate himself with members of reasons why he was selling art at housewarming party in New York,
the American art world. Suddenly, discounted prices to art collectors drove de Hory to Florida to
and dealers. He was also careful recuperate. The pair soon ran out of
Who would prefer a bad never to sell his fakes to the general money, so de Hory produced three
original to a good fake? public – only to art insiders. lithographs and sent Legros out in
one of de Hory’s old suits to try and
Elmyr de Hory However, in 1955, one of de sell them. This proved to be a
Hory’s forgeries was exposed by art successful arrangement, and
dealer Joseph Faulkner, who Legros soon persuaded de Hory to
reported him to the FBI. Fearful of hire him as his art dealer for a 40
arrest, de Hory fled to Mexico. He per cent commission on each sale.
was soon arrested – not for fraud, And so began a partnership that
however, but as a murder suspect would last for eight years.
after an Englishman was found
dead. De Hory spent the majority of De Hory and Legros moved to
his money paying off the police. Ibiza, an autonomous territory of
Spain, where they settled down in

CON ARTISTS 77

1955 1959 1969
Investigated by the Attempts suicide Capitalizes on his celebrity
FBI and flees to Mexico and travels to status and tells his story to
with a falsified birth Florida with novelist Clifford Irving, who
certificate; he is later Fernand Legros writes the biography Fake!
arrested as a suspect in to convalesce.
a murder investigation.

1957 1968
Visits the Detroit Arrested and
Institute of Art and imprisoned for two
finds one of his months in an Ibizan
“Matisse” paintings in jail; he is banished and
the French collection. leaves for Portugal.

a beautiful house overlooking the De Hory went on the run, but own life with an overdose of
Mediterranean. From Ibiza, they returned to Ibiza in November 1967, sleeping pills. The same year,
sold forged art to dealers around in the belief that he was safe there. Legros was extradited to France
the world. from Brazil, where he was hiding
Lasting legacy after failing to honour the
Doubts resurface However, the Spanish authorities conditions of a suspended sentence
In 1964, the quality of de Hory’s began to investigate de Hory and in Switzerland. In France, Legros
forgeries began to deteriorate. charged him with a number of was charged with forgery and fraud
Art dealers and experts became crimes, including homosexuality. for defrauding Meadows. He was
suspicious and several gallery He was imprisoned in Ibiza imprisoned for two years and died
owners who had purchased de between August and October 1968, a pauper in 1983.
Hory’s paintings alerted Interpol although he was treated well, and
and the FBI. was permitted to have books, a De Hory is renowned as
deck chair, and wear his own history’s greatest art forger,
By 1967, as more of de Hory’s clothes, among various other creating more than 1,000 works
paintings were exposed as fakes, comforts. On his release from during his career. His remarkable
his forgery career came to an prison, de Hory was expelled from story caught both the attention of
abrupt end. Legros sold 46 of de the island for a period of one year. author Clifford Irving, who wrote
Hory’s bogus masterpieces to De Hory moved to Portugal but the successful biography Fake
Texas oil tycoon Algur Meadows eventually returned to Ibiza. (1969), and Orson Welles, who made
between 1964 and 1966, but after the documentary F for Fake (1973)
discovering that the paintings Meanwhile, the French police about his life and work.
were forgeries, Meadows contacted built a case against him and
the police. intended to extradite him for There are some art experts who
dealing in fake art. Aware that believe that many of de Hory’s
An international warrant was extradition was imminent, on 11 forgeries have not yet been
issued for Legros’s arrest and he December 1976 de Hory took his discovered and still hang in
was detained in Switzerland. galleries around the world. ■

78

IBGTTAEI’VSKCEIANNUMOGSETEWSIH’TMAETAOLTNIHLNEYGY

DORIS PAYNE, 1952–2015

IN CONTEXT D oris Payne, an Age 85, Doris Payne was arrested
octogenarian with a again in October 2015. She was caught
LOCATION criminal record dating on CCTV stealing a pair of Christian
US, France, UK, Greece, back to 1952, did not plan a career Dior earrings from a Saks department
Switzerland as an international jewel thief. She store in Atlanta, Georgia.
wanted to be a ballerina. But at the
THEME age of 13, when she felt slighted by in order to distract store clerks
Jewel theft a white store owner after being while she tried on a wide variety
allowed to try on a wristwatch, of expensive rings.
BEFORE she went to leave the store, only
1883–85 Sofia Ivanovna realizing at the door that she was She put them on one finger, then
Blyuvshtein, a legendary still wearing the watch. She gave another, and moved them about so
Russian con artist, perpetrates it back, but this event showed her much that the clerks eventually lost
many thefts from hotel rooms; that she could get away with theft. track of what she had tried on.
she is eventually caught and All the while she kept asking
sentenced to imprisonment Doris Marie Payne was born questions about the cut, the clarity
with hard labour. on 10 October 1930, in a coal or the number of carats to provide
miner’s camp in Slab Fork in a further distraction.
AFTER southern West Virginia to an
1991 Yip Kai Foon commits African American father and a Payne perfected her routine,
five armed robberies of Hong Sioux mother. The youngest of presenting herself in a stately,
Kong goldsmiths, making off six children, she was raised in refined manner, wearing elegant
with £1.1 million worth of segregated America, and quit dresses, designer shoes, hoop
jewels; he is arrested after a high school to work at an assisted- earrings, and perfectly coiffed short
gun fight, in which he was living facility for the elderly. This
shot in the back, in May 1996. was to be her only real job.

1993 A gang of international An accomplished thief
jewel thieves known as the A single mother of two in her early
Pink Panthers commit the first twenties, in 1952 Doris Payne
in a series of jewellery store realized that she could support
robberies, stealing more than herself through stealing from high-
£300 million in gold and gems. end jewellery stores. She devised a
clever modus operandi utilizing her
natural charm and sleight of hand

CON ARTISTS 79

See also: Bill Mason 36 ■ The Antwerp Diamond Heist 54–55 ■ The Affair of the Diamond Necklace 64–65

hair. Her greatest gift was her Cleveland, Ohio, to a specific store Paris jail. The longest time Payne
ability to captivate an audience to acquire the item she wanted. served in prison was in Colorado,
with her stories, which would After performing her routine, she where she was detained for five
encourage the victim to relax, simply walked out of the store, years for stealing a $57,000
and divert their attention away telling the clerk that she would (£45,000) diamond ring from a
from the jewels they were selling. ponder the purchase over lunch, Neiman Marcus store in 1998. She
A quick getaway and leave wearing the jewellery. fled Denver while still on parole.
Payne read Town & Country Payne was not always successful
magazine, perusing the jewellery The clerks invariably did not at escaping capture, however, and
advertisements for ideas of pieces notice the thefts until some time served a string of short jail terms.
to steal. She then travelled from later, allowing Payne enough time
to get away, usually in a taxi. Payne Elderly offender
Enters store dressed as an then returned to Ohio to sell her Payne was arrested in 2013, at age
elegant, wealthy woman takings to a fence – a person who 83. She convinced staff at a Palm
knowingly buys stolen goods and Springs store that she had received
Starts browsing for sells them – based in Cleveland. a $25,000 (£20,000) insurance
diamond rings payout and wanted to treat herself.
Prison time She left wearing a diamond ring
Engages clerk in Payne used 20 aliases and nine worth more than $22,000 (£17,500).
conversation and asks to different passports to travel the A judge ordered her to serve several
world robbing stores. Her most months in jail and, upon her release,
see an assortment famous heist was the 1974 theft of a to stay away from jewellery stores.
of items 10.5-carat emerald-cut diamond She did not honour the order, and
worth $500,000 (£396,000) from was rearrested in October 2015.
Uses charm to cause the Cartier in Monte Carlo, France.
clerk to forget how many Payne was the subject of a 2014
She extended her skill set to documentary The Life and Crimes
items were outside perfect the art of escaping custody. of Doris Payne, which portrayed her
the case She performed this feat three times; as a rebel who defied society’s
from a guarded hotel room in Monte prejudices to find her own version
Leaves the store Carlo, from a Texas hospital after of the American Dream. ■
wearing the jewellery faking an illness, and lastly from a

Career criminal At 75, Payne vowed to abandon
her life of crime, but came out
Few criminals are still going of retirement to steal a coat in
strong in their eighties, 2010 and a diamond ring the
especially after a lucrative following year.
60-year career during which
they have become a celebrity. Part of Payne’s motivation
is undoubtedly that theft has
Doris Payne recalls telling afforded her an extravagant
her father as a little girl that she lifestyle. However, Payne also
wanted to travel the world, appears to be motivated by the
making little piles of salt and thrill of fooling store owners and
flour on areas of world maps she the adrenaline rush associated
someday wanted to visit. Her with getting away with theft.
chosen “career” certainly The only regrets Payne has
enabled that, taking her to admitted to are the times she
France, the United Kingdom, got caught. She does not appear
Switzerland, and Greece. to have any plans to retire.

ISLAND.TAHNEYDINFLLAETEFDTTHETRHAFET

AFTER THAT NOBODY

SEEMS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED

ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, 11 JUNE 1962



82 ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ

IN CONTEXT I n the late hours of 11 June “The Rock” is a 19-hectare (47-acre)
1962, three inmates at Alcatraz island situated a daunting 2 km
LOCATION Federal Penitentiary entered (1¼ miles) offshore. Its position has
San Francisco, California, criminal folklore by performing made it ideal as a military base, and
US the seemingly impossible feat of as a maximum-security prison.
breaking out of the maximum-
THEME security prison and making for the three made it out of their cells. The
Jailbreak shore on an improvised inflatable trio scaled a 9-metre (30-ft) wall
raft. What became of the escapees and crossed a rooftop, before
BEFORE is one of the most perplexing manoeuvring down a 15-metre
2 March 1935 Six inmates mysteries in American history. (50-ft) pipe to the ground below.
escape the penal colony of They also climbed two 3½-metre
French Guiana by boat; all but The escape plan was years in (12-ft) barbed-wire perimeter
Parisian native René Belbenoît the making and should have fences. All of this they achieved
are later apprehended. involved four inmates – brothers while hauling a makeshift raft,
Clarence and John Anglin, Frank which they inflated and launched
AFTER Morris, and Allen West – but only into the icy waters.
10 June 1977 James Earl Ray,
imprisoned for the murder of I got back into the cell house Daunting task
civil rights leader Martin and all the cons were hollering, Alcatraz was regarded as an
Luther King Jr, escapes the escape-proof prison, with its
Brushy Mountain State Prison ‘They got away! They got unmatched security and isolated,
in Tennessee, along with six away! They got away!’ inhospitable location surrounded
other inmates; they are all Darwin Coon, by the cold waters and strong
recaptured three days later. Alcatraz inmate currents of San Francisco Bay. In
its history as a federal prison, from
25 September 1983 Two 1934–63, only one inmate – John
Irish republican prisoners at Paul Scott – is known to have made
Maze Prison in County Antrim, it off the island alive. In December
Northern Ireland, use 1962, six months after the “Escape
smuggled guns to hold guards from Alcatraz”, Scott scrambled
hostage and escape along with through a storage room window
36 other members of the IRA under the kitchen and swam
in the biggest prison break in
British history.

31 May 1984 Six inmates on
death row at Mecklenburg
Correctional Center in Virginia
overpower guards, change into
their uniforms, and bluff their
way out of the prison in a van.

CON ARTISTS 83

See also: The Great Train Robbery 30–35 ■ D.B. Cooper 38–43

The mugshots taken of Clarence
Anglin (right), his brother John Anglin
(centre), and Frank Lee Morris (far
right) upon their separate arrivals to
Alcatraz in 1960 and 1961.

ashore. He was found by the Golden friends. According to West, that broken vacuum cleaner to remove
Gate Bridge unconscious and same month he began to devise an an entire section of each of their
suffering from hypothermia, escape plan after finding discarded cell walls. They also made the most
and was immediately recaptured. saw blades in a corridor. Searching of the daily “music hour”, the time
for a weak point in the rear wall of prisoners were allowed to play
In total, 36 inmates tried to their cells, they discovered that the instruments, which conveniently
break out of Alcatraz in 14 separate ventilation duct openings under the concealed the noise the four men
attempts. Of those, 23 were caught, sinks could be loosened. made digging their tunnels.
six were shot dead, and two
drowned. Five are listed as The quartet painstakingly The tunnels opened up into an
“presumed drowned”: the Anglin chiselled away, taking turns to act unguarded utility corridor behind
brothers, Morris, Theodore Cole, as a lookout by using a periscope the cell tier. There they climbed up
and Ralph Roe. Cole and Roe made they had fashioned to spy on the a shaft of steam pipes and ducts to
it to the water on 16 December 1937 guards. They used a variety of the building’s roof, where they cut
after filing through flat iron window crude tools, including sharpened away the ventilation fan. Hidden
bars, but they did so on a stormy spoons and an improvised drill on the roof, the four men built a
night when the currents were constructed from the motor of a makeshift workshop for the next
particularly treacherous, reducing phase of the plot – escaping from
the likelihood that they reached the life of crime at 13 and by his late the island.
shore alive. teens had a long criminal record
that included convictions for Collecting for the cause
Exploiting a weakness armed robbery. To conceal their nocturnal
In December 1961, the Anglins, activities and continue unhindered,
Morris, and West found themselves While serving 10 years in they sculpted dummy heads, using
in adjacent cells and became the Louisiana State Penitentiary a cement powder mixture. These
for bank robbery, Morris were decorated with flesh-coloured
The escapees escaped. He was recaptured paint from art kits and human
a year later in the act of hair collected from the prison
John and Clarence Anglin began committing a burglary, and barbershop floor.
robbing banks together in the was sent to Alcatraz in 1960.
1950s. In 1956, they were He possessed an exceptionally The four men positioned the
arrested and sentenced to 15–20 high IQ, and is often credited dummies on their pillows and
years in federal prison. After as the mastermind behind the stuffed clothing and towels under
failed escape attempts at escape – despite Allen West’s the bed covers to give the
different penitentiaries, they claim to be the instigator of the appearance of a body to avoid
were transferred to Alcatraz: audacious plan. discovery during bed checks. ❯❯
John arrived in late 1960, and
Clarence in early 1961.

The brothers were housed on
the same cellblock as convicted
bank robber Frank Lee Morris.
An orphan who was raised in
foster homes, Morris began his

84 ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ

The five key components of the plan

Sharpened spoons An accordion
and a crude was stolen and
adapted to inflate
home-made drill
allowed the men the raft.
to chisel through
the rear walls of Music hour Raincoats
was the perfect were transformed
their cells. opportunity for
the conspirators into a raft and
to tunnel without Dummy heads life jackets.
alerting the guards. placed on their
pillows made it look
as though they

were asleep.

In the darkness of the prison, it However, there was a problem. at 10pm, and departed towards
appeared they were sleeping. The opening to West’s tunnel had Angel Island, 3 km (2 miles) to the
In their workshop, they assembled started to become visible, so he north. The following morning the
a variety of stolen objects, including had patched it up with a makeshift ruse was uncovered when guards
more than 50 rubber raincoats, cement mix. When it dried, the hole found the dummy heads. As word
which the quartet used to create narrowed and West was unable to of the remarkable prison break
both a raft and life jackets. They climb through. By the time he spread around the jail, inmates
stitched together the seams and was able to widen the hole began to chant “They got away!
sealed them with the heat from a sufficiently, the others had left They got away!”
steam pipe to make the devices without him.
watertight. They stole an accordion The manhunt begins
from a fellow inmate and Meanwhile, the three men For the next 10 days, law
repurposed it as a bellows to inflate climbed out of the ventilation shaft enforcement agencies conducted
the life raft, and they made crude onto the roof, inadvertently making an extensive air, sea, and land
wooden paddles. a loud crash that alerted the guards search. On 14 June, the Coast
– but as there were no further Guard discovered a paddle, about
Man down noises, the guards did not 180 metres (200 yards) off the
Once their preparations were investigate. The trio scaled the southern shore of Angel Island.
complete, the men chose to escape barbed-wire fences and inflated A boatman also found a wallet
on the night of 11 June 1962. their raft. Investigators later wrapped in plastic containing
estimated that they left the island

CON ARTISTS 85

An Alcatraz prison guard in the
utility corridor holds a small section
of the wall that one of the inmates
chiselled free. From this corridor, the
inmates could make it up to the roof
of the cellblock.

photographs of the Anglin family. clothing-store burglaries in the found to be a match but the date
On 21 June, shreds of raincoat days following the escape. This they were written could not be
material, believed to be remnants strengthened their belief that the determined. The Anglin family also
of the raft, were recovered on the three escapees had perished in revealed a photograph purporting
beach. The next day, a prison boat the icy waters. to show the brothers on a Brazilian
picked up a makeshift life jacket. farm in 1975. A forensic expert
New leads working on a subsequent History
Neither human remains, nor On 31 December 1979, after an Channel investigation deemed it
any other physical evidence of the investigation lasting 17 years, the highly likely that the photograph
men’s fate has ever been found. FBI closed its file. Their official shows the Anglins alive in 1975.
FBI investigators concluded that finding was that the prisoners most
while it was theoretically possible likely drowned in the cold waters of Declassified FBI documents also
for one or more of the inmates to the bay while attempting to reach released in October 2015 revealed
have reached Angel Island, the Angel Island. They turned the case that FBI Director Edgar Hoover
water temperature and strong over to the US Marshal Service, was told in 1965 that the Anglins
currents within the bay made it which continued to investigate. could be hiding in Brazil, contrary
highly unlikely. to the agency’s public line on the
In October 2015, the Anglin case. Secretly, Hoover ordered
Once the escape was family breathed new life into the investigators to Brazil to search for
discovered, West cooperated with case. They produced Christmas them in 1965 but found no trace of
investigators on the proviso that he cards, which they claimed the the Anglin brothers. Whatever the
would be spared punishment for Anglin brothers had sent to their truth may be of the escapees’ fate,
his part in the plot. He provided mother in the three years following it seems this incredible case is far
a detailed description of their their escape. The handwriting was from over. ■
intended escape, telling
investigators that once they
reached land the plan was to
steal clothes and a car. The FBI
investigated but determined that
there were no vehicle thefts or

I really do believe the
boys made it out of here.
I do believe the boys are

alive today.
Marie Widner

86

WVATIARTSTHUNEEOSTTIMOEN,EVOIRFTMUYE

FRANK ABAGNALE, 1964–69

IN CONTEXT A ged 16 and just after boy. Frustrated with his income,
learning that his parents he started writing cheques that
LOCATION were divorcing, Frank bounced. Police were already
New York, Utah, Louisiana, William Abagnale Jr left home with searching for him as a runaway,
and Georgia, US a small bag of belongings, including so Abagnale fled to Miami.
a chequebook, and headed to New
THEME York’s Grand Central Station. In the The “skywayman”
Imposter and cheque forger six years that followed, Abagnale Passing a hotel in the city,
became a legendary imposter, Abagnale noticed a flight crew and
BEFORE performing feats of con artistry was struck by an idea: he could
1874 James Reavis, a master that confounded FBI detectives. pose as a pilot, travel the world,
forger, uses false documents to and never have a problem cashing
claim land in Arizona and New Standing 1.8 metres (6 ft) tall cheques. The next day, he called
Mexico, then sells property and passing as a twenty-something, the Pan American World Airways
deeds for over $5 million (£84.7 Abagnale changed one digit on his office and asked for the purchasing
million today). driver’s licence to increase his age department, claiming that the hotel
to 26 and took a job as a delivery
AFTER
1992 Michael Sabo, a master Redemption Using his unique skill set for
imposter and cheque forger good, Abagnale has become a
from Pennsylvania, is Frank Abagnale demonstrates renowned expert on personal
convicted of bank fraud, a pronounced and enduring and corporate identity theft,
forgery, grand larceny, and need to atone for his crimes. He fraud protection, and security.
identity theft. is still associated with the FBI In 1976, Abagnale founded his
42 years after he was first own security company, and his
1998 John Ruffo, a former US assigned there as part of his fraud prevention programmes
bank executive, swindles conditional release, and he has have been implemented by
multiple banks out of $350 refused to accept payment for 14,000 corporations, law
million (£280 million); he is government work he has enforcement agencies, and
caught and sentenced to 17 performed. Abagnale has financial institutions worldwide.
years in prison but disappears also turned down the offer of
on the day he is due to start pardons from three different Abagnale became friends
his jail term. Presidents, insisting that “a with Joseph Shea – the agent
paper won’t excuse my actions, who led the investigation into
only my actions will.” him – and they remained close
until Shea’s death in 2005.

CON ARTISTS 87

See also: The Sale of the Eiffel Tower 68–69 ■ Clifford Irving 88–89

Frank Abagnale’s “professions”

Airline pilot

Sociology Doctor
professor

FBI agent Lawyer

Since his release, Frank Abagnale Undercover
has transformed from master con man Bureau of
into one of the world’s most respected Prisons agent
authorities on fraud, forgery, and
embezzlement. by the corporate law division of the escaped again, posing as an
Louisiana Attorney General’s office. undercover prison agent, and fled
he was staying at had lost his Abagnale left the job after a year to Washington, D.C. where he
uniform. They directed him to their when a lawyer started to question narrowly evaded capture by
New York supplier, who fitted him his credentials. He then passed impersonating an FBI agent. He
for a new uniform. himself off as a paediatrician in a was captured by chance when he
Georgia hospital, working under walked past two NYPD detectives
Abagnale used adhesive the alias of Dr Frank Williams. in an unmarked police car.
stickers from a model Pan Am plane All the while, he passed fake Abagnale was sentenced to 12
to make a Pan Am pilot’s licence, cheques and dummy bank deposit years in prison, but four years into
and found that he could use it to slips, effectively leaving a trail for his term he was released on the
travel the world for free, courtesy of the FBI to follow. condition he work for the FBI for the
an airline policy offering free rides remainder of his sentence.
to each other’s pilots. Flight risk
Abagnale was finally apprehended Abagnale later founded a
Career changes in 1969 in France. He was deported security company advising banks
After two years as a “pilot”, he to the US, but escaped the aircraft on how to avoid and combat fraud.
moved to Utah, changed his name and fled to Canada, where he was His 1980 biography, Catch Me If
to Frank Adams, forged a diploma, rearrested in Montreal. He then You Can, was filmed by Steven
and was hired as a sociology Spielberg and released in 2002. ■
professor at Brigham Young
University for a semester. Next,
despite never attending law school,
Abagnale passed the Louisiana
state bar exam on his third try. He
was recruited as a legal assistant

88

IOJWUFMLAIPSEOSOF.NFIACOTURLADINN’T

CLIFFORD IRVING, 1972

IN CONTEXT A literary forgery made Howard Hughes became hugely
headlines in 1972 after successful in his 1930s but was
LOCATION author Clifford Irving plagued by psychological problems in
New York City, US convinced American publishing later life.
house McGraw-Hill that Howard
THEME Hughes, America’s wealthiest and Richard Suskind, forged Hughes’s
Literary hoax most elusive man, had invited signature on the contract, which
Irving to write his biography. was plausible enough for McGraw-
BEFORE Hill not to question it.
1844 The New York Sun Irving produced a letter he
reports that Irish balloonist claimed was from Hughes, telling The publishers sent Irving the
Thomas Monck Mason has the publisher that he had contacted cheques for Irving and Hughes’s
flown across the Atlantic Irving to praise one of his books. respective advances. Irving’s then-
Ocean, but it is revealed as He added that Hughes had sent wife Edith deposited the checks
a hoax perpetrated by Edgar him audiotapes and a manuscript. made out to H.R. Hughes in a
Allan Poe. The author banked on the fact Swiss bank account that she had
that Hughes, a recluse since 1958, recently opened under the name
AFTER would not want to draw the “Helga R. Hughes”.
1998 Author William Boyd attention of the media or police
releases a biography of fictional and would do nothing to prevent
American artist Nat Tate to the book’s publication.
jokingly hoax the New York art
world, aided by David Bowie, Sealing the deal
who reads out passages of the Editors at McGraw-Hill invited
book at the “launch party”. Clifford Irving to their New York
offices and presented contracts for
2015 Author Laura Harner’s both Irving and Hughes to sign.
book Coming Home Texas The publishers offered a $100,000
is withdrawn from sale when (£80,000) advance for Irving and
it is revealed she has $400,000 (£320,000) for Hughes.
plagiarized a novel by New Before he completed and delivered
York Times bestselling author the manuscript, however, Irving
Becky McGraw. renegotiated the total advance for
$765,000 (£610,000). Irving’s friend
and collaborator, children’s author,

CON ARTISTS 89

See also: The Affair of the Diamond Necklace 64–65 ■ The Sale of the Eiffel Tower 68–69 ■ Elmyr de Hory 74–77

Irving’s hoax worked because lawyers intervened, expressing indicted with “conspiracy to
the base on which he built doubts to Irving’s publisher as to defraud through use of the mails”
was largely genuine. the autobiography’s authenticity. but instead of going to trial, he
Time magazine McGraw-Hill continued to back pleaded guilty, was fined $10,000
Irving after a handwriting firm (£8,000), ordered to pay back the
Two lucky breaks inspected writing samples, and advance, and sentenced to 30
In the course of their research, declared them to be authentic. months in a federal penitentiary.
Irving and Suskind were shown Irving filed for bankruptcy the same
an unfinished manuscript about The gamble backfires year. Edith was sentenced to two
Hughes’s former business manager, Hughes finally came out of months’ imprisonment and Suskind
written by author James Phelan. seclusion two months before the was given six months in jail for
Phelan was not aware that Irving book’s planned release in March theft and conspiracy.
had been given the manuscript, 1972 to hold a telephone press
large parts of which Irving conference with reporters. He Irving’s remarkable story was
plundered and claimed as his own. denounced the book as a fake and published in 1977, and a major film
McGraw-Hill rescinded its contract. adaptation followed in 2006. ■
In late 1971, Irving delivered Time magazine, in a February
a completed manuscript to his 1972 issue, named Irving “Con
editors at McGraw-Hill, and they Man of the Year”.
made plans to publish the following
year. Learning this, Hughes’s The police investigated Irving,
and a grand jury convened to
consider charges of mail fraud,
perjury, and forgery. He was

Irving with the typewriter used to
write the Hughes manuscript. His story
was adapted into the film Hoax (1981);
Irving was hired as an adviser but
disliked the end product, and asked for
his name to be cut from the credits.

Edith Irving played a crucial role in The art of the hoax skill – he had enjoyed success
the hoax, and effected a disguise to in 1969 with his biography of
conceal her identity when depositing Hoaxers often go to great lengths forger Elmyr de Hory (see pp.
Hughes’s cheques into the new bank to make a scam appear plausible. 74–77) – to make the book a
account she opened. Clifford Irving did not simply compelling read. The timing
make up the interviews with of the book was also perfect,
Hughes in the book, he acted because there was an
them out with Suskind, with international appetite to learn
Irving playing Hughes and the truth about the eccentric,
Suskind playing Irving. reclusive billionaire.

The material that Irving had Irving later admitted his
lifted from author James Phelan secret: he was taken in by his
appeared plausible because own lies. The only thing he
it was genuine, based on real misjudged was Hughes himself,
experiences with someone who who, contrary to Irving’s
knew Hughes well. This combined prediction, finally broke his
with Irving’s undeniable literary silence to decry Irving.

90 IN CONTEXT

HBBHOIIEORTTGOILLGAKEEINSNRR,A’TSBLOULLFYTIFEILEECALOOTUIEPWTRIEOAIDSF LOCATION
Stuttgart, Germany
KONRAD KUJAU, 1978–84
THEME
Document forgery

BEFORE
2 April 1796 A forger named
William Henry Ireland sells a
play he claims to be a lost work
of William Shakespeare.

AFTER
23 January 1987 American
forger Mark Hofmann is
sentenced to life in prison
after he pleads guilty to
forging Mormon historical
documents and murdering
two witnesses.

February 2007 Italian
senator Marcello Dell’Urti
claims to have located fascist
leader Benito Mussolini’s
diaries from 1935–39; they are
later exposed as forgeries by
Italian historians.

W orking surreptitiously
out of the back room of
his shop in Stuttgart,
Germany, Konrad Kujau handwrote
lengthy journal entries in old
German Gothic script, filling the
pages of plain black notebooks.

On completing each book, he
poured tea over it and bashed the
pages together to give them a
worn, tattered appearance. Finally,
he adorned the notebook with a
red wax seal in the form of an
Imperial eagle, a black ribbon from
a genuine Nazi document, and gold
lettering using Gothic script. After
toiling away nearly every day for
three years, Kujau had crafted 61
volumes of journals purportedly

CON ARTISTS 91

See also: Elmyr de Hory 74–77 ■ Clifford Irving 88–89

Konrad Kujau brandishes one of the
Hitler Diaries at the start of his trial in
Hamburg in 1984.

Hitler and the Third Reich, which
included a collection of Nazi
memorabilia, led him to Kujau.

written by Nazi dictator Adolf Putting pen to paper Authenticating
Hitler. One of history’s most In 1978, after weeks spent historic documents
infamous forgeries, they became practising Hitler’s handwriting,
known as the Hitler Diaries. Kujau penned the first diary entry, Every historical manuscript
drawing on historical documents, is unique, whether a letter,
Forging a career newspapers, medical records, and diary, or handwritten item.
Raised in a poor family in Germany, books. He used cheap notebooks To determine authenticity
Kujau had long been fascinated purchased in Berlin and a mixture and authorship of undated
with the Nazi regime. He began his of blue and black ink diluted with historical documents, forensic
career in forgery as a teenager, water, so that it flowed easily from investigators conduct
selling fake autographs of East his modern pen. Another major historical, scientific, and
German politicians. error that no one noticed at the time stylistic analysis. These
was made when Kujau attached experts can examine the
In 1967, he opened a shop in Hitler’s initials to the front of the method of printing, the
Stuttgart, forging and selling Nazi book. He accidentally used an “F” address, and the postmark to
paraphernalia. Kujau’s creations instead of an “A” because both determine the era in which it
included an introduction to a sequel letters looked very similar in was created.
to Hitler’s autobiography Mein Gothic script.
Kampf, as well as the beginnings of Many forgeries are
an opera and poems supposedly That same year, Kujau sold the uncovered by identifying the
written by him. first Hitler Diary entitled Political presence of material that did
and Private Notes from January not exist at the time. Scientific
Kujau might have remained a to June 1935 to a collector. He ❯❯ analysis of the paper used can
petty criminal and amateur forger be especially revealing, and
had it not been for a reporter from I regret that the normal investigators use a number of
the German investigative news method of historical tools at their disposal, from
magazine Stern. Just as Gerd magnification to molecular
Heidemann’s career reached an verification has been sacrificed spectroscopy, which highlights
impasse after more than 20 years to the perhaps necessary how much of the ink has
on the magazine, his interest in requirements of a decayed over time and
journalistic scoop. provides clues as to when
Hugh Trevor-Roper a document was written.

Examining the ink used to
write a historic document can
also determine what kind of
tool – typically a pen, a quill,
or a pencil – was used, which
may reveal more information
about the time period in which
it was written.

92 KONRAD KUJAU

made up a fantastic yet plausible The last volume of the Hitler Diaries,
tale about how the diaries had been complete with Kujau’s authentication,
recovered from a Nazi plane crash was sold at Berlin auction house
in 1945 and hidden away for Jeschke, Greve, and Hauff for €6,500
decades in a barn. (£4,000) in 2004.

Making a deal Heidemann continued to purchase In late April 1983, Stern broke the
At the end of 1979, news of the the diaries throughout 1981, story of the existence of the diaries,
diary began to filter through to periodically telling Stern of price triggering a flurry of headlines
collectors of Hitler memorabilia. increases. Ultimately, Heidemann around the world. The diaries, it
Desperate for a journalistic scoop, would collect 9.3 million marks said, revealed that Hitler’s Final
Heidemann tracked down Kujau, (£5.8 million) from Stern, of which Solution was to deport the Jewish
who told him there were more Kujau received less than a third. people, not annihilate them, which
volumes hidden in East Germany. The journalist lived lavishly off the led some commentators to say the
Heidemann took the news to Stern, proceeds, buying an apartment, history of the Third Reich would
whose publishers provided him expensive cars, and more Nazi have to be rewritten.
with the money to purchase them. memorabilia from Kujau.
Suspicions surface
Heidemann promised Kujau In April 1982, Stern’s However, the banality of some
2.5 million Deutschmarks (about management asked handwriting of the entries caused more sceptical
£1.6 million today) for the “rest” of experts to verify the diaries, historians to denounce the
the diaries. The forger set to work, providing them with samples of documents as forgeries. When
producing 60 more volumes. By Hitler’s writing. Unbeknown to the suspicions about their authenticity
the end of February 1981, Stern experts, the samples were from grew, Stern commissioned forensic
had spent nearly 1 million marks Heidemann’s collection of Nazi experts from Germany’s
(£627,000) on the diaries. Less memorabilia and had also been Bundesarchiv (Federal Archive)
than half had gone to Kujau: forged by Kujau. The experts to analyze the diaries.
Heidemann kept the rest, duping declared the journals to be genuine.
both the newspaper and the The first historian to examine the Meanwhile, Stern’s 28 April
forger. After the delivery of 12 diaries, Professor Hugh Trevor- issue gave the public its first
diaries, Heidemann claimed the Roper, proclaimed them authentic, glimpse of the diaries. The
price had risen, telling Stern that bolstering the confidence of Stern’s following day, Heidemann met
it had become harder to smuggle management, but later tarnishing with Kujau and bought the last
them out of East Germany. the historian’s reputation. four volumes. Within a week, Stern
management learned that the
Konrad Kujau owned Nazi memorabilia, in forensic experts had determined
spite of laws prohibiting this. conclusively that the diaries were
Born in poor circumstances in Seeing an opportunity, Kujau
1938 in Löbau, Germany, Konrad bought Nazi items on the black
Kujau was one of five children. market and took them back to
In 1933, his parents joined the West Germany to sell.
Nazi Party and Kujau grew up
idolizing Adolf Hitler, a fixation By 1974, Kujau had amassed
that continued after Hitler’s such a collection of Nazi
suicide and the defeat of Nazi memorabilia at his home that his
Germany in World War II. wife Edith complained so he
rented a shop in Stuttgart to
By the 1960s, Kujau was a store it. It was then that he
petty criminal with a record for started to increase the value of
forgery, theft, and fighting in his items by adding details. He
bars. In 1970, while visiting gradually became more
family in East Germany, he ambitious and began to forge
found that many people there Hitler’s manuscripts.

fakes. The journals were made with CON ARTISTS 93
post-war ink, paper, glue, and
binding. Ultraviolet light showed a Six clues that the diaries were forged
fluorescent element in the paper
that did not exist in 1945. The His use of
bindings of one of the diaries modern ink
included polyester, a fibre that was
not created until 1953. Whitener and At least one set
fibres in the paper of initials glued on
Before Stern could make their were manufactured the front was made
own announcement on the findings, after World War II
the German government stepped in of plastic
and declared that the diaries were
clear forgeries. Stern’s management Historical The accidental use
demanded Heidemann reveal the inaccuracies of the initial “F”
name of his source, which he did. instead of “A”

The downfall Evidence that
By then, Kujau and his wife had Kujau plagiarized
fled to Austria. Upon learning that
Heidemann had double-crossed German writer
him, the forger turned himself in to Max Domarus
the police. Bitter that Heidemann
had kept so much of the money, he
claimed the journalist had known
the diaries were fake.

On 21 August 1984, Heidemann
and Kujau stood trial for defrauding
Stern out of 9.3 million marks. Both
men blamed each other during the
trial. In July 1985, Heidemann was
sentenced to four years and eight
months and Kujau to four years and
six months.

When Kujau was released from
jail in 1987, he embraced infamy.
He found a market painting and
selling copies of famous artworks
and became a minor celebrity on
TV, until he died of cancer in 2000
at age 62. Heidemann was also
released from prison in 1987 but
never worked as a journalist
again. The scandal was hugely
detrimental for Stern. The once-
lauded magazine was disgraced
for irresponsible journalism. ■

A talented painter, after his release,
Kujau began creating works in the style
of other artists, selling them as
“genuine Kujau fakes”.

94

INAFORTTIHNHIGSE-RIINSE IN’MOT

THE FINE COTTON SCANDAL, 18 AUGUST 1984

IN CONTEXT T he evening before the Racing under the name Fine
Commerce Novice Cotton, the substitute horse started
LOCATION Handicap race, held at the race slowly but quickly picked
Brisbane, Queensland, Brisbane’s Eagle Farm racetrack up pace, galloping swiftly around
Australia on 18 August 1984, horse trainer the corner, and edging out early
Hayden Haitana and businessman favourite Harbour Gold at the last
THEME John Gillespie applied white paint post. However, as soon as the race
Betting scam and brown hair dye to a champion ended, track stewards noticed
seven-year-old horse. Not being a white paint dripping from Fine
BEFORE novice, the champion horse was Cotton’s legs. Less than half an
1844 The Epsom Derby, ineligible for entry into the race, hour after the horse crossed the
reserved for three-year-old but Haitana, Gillespie, and other finish line, he was disqualified
horses, is won by four-year-old members of a syndicate including and all bets were lost.
Maccabeus, disguised as businessman Robert North planned
Running Rein; the culprit, Levi to substitute their champion horse Emergency substitute
Goldman, escapes to France. for an eligible runner, an illegal Fine Cotton’s race lasted less than
practice called a “ring-in”. 90 seconds, but the entire plot
16 July 1953 Two French began months earlier. Prison cell
horses with identical markings mates John Gillespie – who had a
are swapped at Spa Spelling history of illegal horse gambling
Stakes in Bath, England. The – and a relative of Haitana’s passed
four men involved are given their time discussing a possible
sentences varying from nine ring-in scam. After his release,
months to three years. Gillespie purchased a fast galloper
from Sydney, Australia, named
AFTER Dashing Solitaire for AUD $10,000
1 March 2007 Australian (£5,880). He then scoured
racing jockey Chris Munce is racetracks for a slower look-alike.
convicted of taking bribes in
exchange for racing tips and Hayden Haitana pictured with
sentenced to 20 months in jail. the real Fine Cotton. Haitana was
prohibited from the sport for life for his
part in the betting scam, but his ban
was lifted in 2013.

CON ARTISTS 95

See also: The Tichborne Claimant 177

I thought they were booing
me because my ride was a
roughie and I must’ve beaten

the favourite.
Gus Philpot

He chose the out-of-form Fine The ring-in horse “Fine Cotton” is disqualified. Police began a
Cotton, which he purchased for shown on the left, just beating the manhunt for the culprits, but by
$2,000 (£1,175), and hired Hayden favourite to the finishing post. then Haitana had fled. He was soon
Haitana as its trainer. apprehended, however, jailed for
started with odds of 33-1, but they six months, and banned from the
Days before the race, the soon changed dramatically to 7-2. racetrack for life. Six others,
syndicate suffered a catastrophic After “Fine Cotton” narrowly won, including Gillespie, were also
setback when Dashing Solitaire officials quickly spotted evidence banned. The horse’s innocent
was injured. By this point, Gillespie of the ring-in and the horse was jockey, Gus Philpot, was cleared.
had invested heavily in the scheme
and was desperate for a pay off. The ring-in became one of the
So he paid $20,000 (£11,750) – with most notorious scams in the history
a cheque that would later bounce of the sport. To combat similar
– for the horse Bold Personality. plots, racehorses are now identified
There was one snag: he did not through microchips. ■
look anything like Fine Cotton.
Bold Personality was lighter in Cheating in the “Sport of Kings”
colour and had a white marking
on his forehead. So, the night before A ring-in is not the only method Most of the cheating occurs on
the race, Gillespie and Haitana cheaters use to make money the other side of the rail, with
surreptitiously applied hair dye and illegally on the horse track. unscrupulous trainers, jockeys,
paint to make him appear more like owners, and veterinarians
Fine Cotton. Probably the best-known attempting to alter races
scam is to engineer betting odds through collusion or by drugging
Short odds by strategically placing large horses with steroids and pain
When “Fine Cotton” stepped onto bets. Bookmakers now closely medication. Regular drug
the racetrack, betting escalated monitor betting patterns to testing has made this more
at a suspicious pace. The horse identify any suspicious activity. difficult, however. Crooked
Other tricksters have gone so far trainers and jockeys have also
as to create fake winning been known to use “buzzers”,
tickets, but technological illegal devices that give the
improvements now make it horses electric shocks and force
difficult for such crude practices them to run faster.
to succeed.

CWRHIIMTEESC

OLLAR

98 INTRODUCTION In the US, the collapse In India, chemicals from the
of a fraudulent US-owned Union Carbide factory
In France, the plunge in Bhopal kill thousands, leading
in the value of the investment scheme
set up by Charles Ponzi to accusations of culpable
Mississippi Company, collapses, loses hundreds homicide against the
which is restructuring company’s CEO.
France's national debt, of investors' savings.

causes a major
financial crash.

1720 1920 1984

1869 1921–22 1990

Speculators James Fisk and In the Teapot Dome In London, thieves
Jay Gould manipulate the scandal, US Secretary rob money broker
of the Interior Albert messenger John Goddard
US gold market, which Bacon Fall leases oil at knifepoint and seize
endangers the economy. reserves in exchange £292 million in bonds.

for bribes.

W hite collar crime is away at computer keys raises no of life. More importantly, the impact
fundamentally different alarm at all, because it does not fit of economic ruin can often run far
from other types of society’s stereotype of a criminal. deeper than the simple loss of
illegal activity. The accountant who money. According to research
clandestinely siphons money from White collar crime is also conducted by Oxford University,
an employer, then cooks the books hard to detect because it is often after the financial crash of 2008 –
to conceal their activities, is often a complex, and is therefore difficult which was partly precipitated and
skilled professional in a position of to understand. Without specialized significantly worsened by mortgage
trust within a company. Invariably, knowledge, even a seasoned fraud, investment scams, bribery,
financially motivated, white collar investigator is unlikely to notice and unethical business practices –
crime includes all kinds of fraud, anything untoward. It is difficult to an estimated 10,000 Americans
insider trading, and embezzlement. even estimate the extent of white and Europeans committed suicide.
collar crime. For this reason, it may The US economy and those of
White collar crime often takes be far more prevalent than its blue many European nations are still
months or even years to uncover. collar counterpart. struggling to recover.
If a member of the public witnesses
murder, theft, or extortion – all of Impact on society Criminal psychologist Dr Robert
which are categorized as “blue From an economic standpoint, Hare, developer of the diagnostic
collar” crimes by criminologists white collar crime can be tool known as the Psychopathic
because they generally involve devastating, on an individual, Checklist, once said that he should
physical effort, often for low corporate, and even national level. have conducted his research on
rewards – they would immediately The financial damage inflicted by Wall Street rather than in prisons.
recognize that a crime is taking the fraudster Bernie Madoff When asked about the relative
place. However, a person tapping affected US citizens from all walks impact of serial killers, he replied