The trip from the liquor store in Roxbury to the Brinks offices could be made in about 15 minutes. That same afternoon (following the admission that Fat John had produced the money and had described it as proceeds from the Brinks robbery), a search warrant was executed in Boston covering the Tremont Street offices occupied by the three men. None of these materialized because the gang did not consider the conditions to be favorable. All right, he told two FBI agents, what do you want to know?. The robbers did little talking. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. The men had thought they were robbing a sum of foreign money, but instead found three tonnes of gold bullion (6,800 ingots), with a value of 26 million back then, around 100 million today. He advised that he and his associate shared office space with an individual known to him only as Fat John. According to the Boston hoodlum, on the night of June 1, 1956, Fat John asked him to rip a panel from a section of the wall in the office, and when the panel was removed, Fat John reached into the opening and removed the cover from a metal container. Subsequently, he engaged in a conversation with McGinnis and a Boston police officer. During his brief stay in Boston, he was observed to contact other members of the robbery gang. On October 20, 1981, members of the Black Liberation Army robbed a Brink's truck at the Nanuet Mall. However, by delving into the criminal world, Edwyn. To his neighbors in Jackson Heights in the early 1990s, Sam . A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. After continuing up the street to the end of the playground which adjoined the Brinks building, the truck stopped. Although the attendant did not suspect that the robbery was taking place, this incident caused the criminals to move more swiftly. As the loot was being placed in bags and stacked between the second and third doors leading to the Prince Street entrance, a buzzer sounded. During these weeks, OKeefe renewed his association with a Boston racketeer who had actively solicited funds for the defense of OKeefe and Gusciora in 1950. Armed crooks wearing Halloween masks and chauffeur . The. Richardson had participated with Faherty in an armed robbery in February 1934. The amusement arcade operator told the officer that he had followed the man who passed this $10.00 bill to a nearby tavern. Underworld sources described him as fully capable of planning and executing the Brinks robbery. They were checked against serial numbers of bills known to have been included in the Brinks loot, and it was determined that the Boston criminal possessed part of the money that had been dragged away by the seven masked gunmen on January 17, 1950. He was not with the gang when the robbery took place. All but Pino and Banfield stepped out and proceeded into the playground to await Costas signal. Before they left, however, approximately $380,000 was placed in a coal hamper and removed by Baker for security reasons. During the preceding year, however, he had filed a petition for pardon in the hope of removing one of the criminal convictions from his record. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the details of this incident were furnished to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI. While the officer and amusement arcade operator were talking to him, the hoodlum reached into his pocket, quickly withdrew his hand again and covered his hand with a raincoat he was carrying. On November 26 1983, six armed robbers entered the Brink's-Mat security warehouse at the Heathrow International Trading Estate. A gang of 11 men set out on a meticulous 18-month quest to rob the Brinks headquarters in Boston, the home-base of the legendary private security firm. Returning to Pennsylvania in February 1954 to stand trial, OKeefe was found guilty of burglary by the state court in McKean County on March 4, 1954. Faherty had been questioned on the night of the robbery. The series surrounds the 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery in which 26 million (equivalent to 93.3 million in 2021) worth of gold bullion, diamonds, and cash were stolen from a storehouse near Heathrow Airport. For the Rockland County community, the Brink's Robbery rises to that historic standard. All efforts to identify the persons responsible for the theft and the persons who had cut up the truck were unsuccessful. Andrew J. Whitaker/Pool/USA Today Network via REUTERSStanding in shackles and a beige prison jumpsuit, the once prominent South Carolina lawyer Alex Murdaugh continued to swear he was innocent Friday as a judge slammed him as a "monster" whose conduct was worse than many offenders who got the death penalty.Judge Clifton Newman sentenced Murdaugh to life in prison for the June 7, 2021 . He was granted a full pardon by the acting governor of Massachusetts. On January 13, 1956, the Suffolk County grand jury returned indictments against the 11 members of the Brinks gang. On November 26, 1982, six armed robbers forced their way into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, the plan was to steal the 3.2m in cash they were expecting to find stored there. Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. A number of them discontinued their operations; others indicated a strong desire that the robbers be identified and apprehended. The casing operation was so thorough that the criminals could determine the type of activity taking place in the Brinks offices by observing the lights inside the building, and they knew the number of personnel on duty at various hours of the day. A t the time, the Brink's-Mat vault was thought to be one of the most secure facilities in the world. For example, from a citizen in California came the suggestion that the loot might be concealed in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston. Two weeks of comparative quiet in the gang members lives were shattered on June 5, 1954, when an attempt was made on OKeefes life. On February 5, 1950, however, a police officer in Somerville, Massachusetts, recovered one of the four revolvers that had been taken by the robbers. The Boston underworld rumbled with reports that an automobile had pulled alongside OKeefes car in Dorchester, Massachusetts, during the early morning hours of June 5. The hoodlum was taken to police headquarters where a search of his person disclosed he was carrying more than $1,000, including $860 in musty, worn bills. As the robbers sped from the scene, a Brinks employee telephoned the Boston Police Department. The truck found at the dump had been reported stolen by a Ford dealer near Fenway Park in Boston on November 3, 1949. Before the robbers could take him prisoner, the garage attendant walked away. Pino, Costa, Maffie, Geagan, Faherty, Richardson, and Baker received life sentences for robbery, two-year sentences for conspiracy to steal, and sentences of eight years to ten years for breaking and entering at night. On June 17, 1954, the Boston police arrested Elmer Trigger Burke and charged him with possession of a machine gun. Banfield, the driver, was alone in the front. He needed money for his defense against the charges in McKean County, and it was obvious that he had developed a bitter attitude toward a number of his close underworld associates. This man, subsequently identified as a small-time Boston underworld figure, was located and questioned. They were held in lieu of bail which, for each man, amounted to more then $100,000. Perhaps most remarkable, its mastermind didn't even have a criminal record when he planned it out. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. By this time, Baker was suffering from a bad case of nerves. Two of the participants in the Brinks robbery lived in the Stoughton area. The Boston hoodlum told FBI agents in Baltimore that he accepted six of the packages of money from Fat John. The following day (June 2, 1956), he left Massachusetts with $4,750 of these bills and began passing them. Even in their jail cells, however, they showed no respect for law enforcement. First, there was the money. It ultimately proved unproductive. Many tips were received from anonymous persons. The officer verified the meeting. The stolen 6,800 gold ingots, diamonds and cash would be worth 100million today. Pino had been at his home in the Roxbury Section of Boston until approximately 7:00 p.m.; then he walked to the nearby liquor store of Joseph McGinnis. On November 16, 1959, the United States Supreme Court denied a request of the defense counsel for a writ of certiorari. A federal search warrant was obtained, and the home was searched by agents on April 27, 1950. The incident happened outside of a Chase Bank in . Many problems and dangers were involved in such a robbery, and the plans never crystallized. During this visit, Gusciora got up from his bed, and, in full view of the clergyman, slipped to the floor, striking his head. Police who arrived to investigate found a large amount of blood, a mans shattered wrist watch, and a .45 caliber pistol at the scene. If passing police had looked closer early that Saturday morning on November 26, 1983, they would have noticed the van was weighted down below its wheel arches with three tons of gold. Two days before Maffies release, another strong suspect died of natural causes. Thieves vanished after stealing $2.7 million, leaving few clues. The Gold is a 2023 television series created for BBC One and Paramount+. The Brinks case was front page news. Apparently suspicious, OKeefe crouched low in the front seat of his car as the would-be assassins fired bullets that pierced the windshield. Pino was known in the underworld as an excellent case man, and it was said that the casing of the Brinks offices bore his trademark.. Of the $4,822 found in the small-time criminals possession, FBI agents identified $4,635 as money taken by the Brinks robbers. Some persons claimed to have seen him. The Brinks vehicle, followed closely by guards traveling in an automobile, turned onto a stone-paved lane called Old Bethel Road. When the employees were securely bound and gagged, the robbers began looting the premises. Each carried a pair of gloves. Their success in evading arrest ended abruptly on May 16, 1956, when FBI agents raided the apartment in which they were hiding in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Within two months of his return, another member of the gang suffered a legal setback. Three years later, almost to the day, these ten men, together with another criminal, were to be indicted by a state grand jury in Boston for the Brinks robbery. He was found brutally murdered in his car in 1987. Some of the bills were in pieces. OKeefe claimed that he left his hotel room in Boston at approximately 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950. In a series of interviews during the succeeding days, OKeefe related the full story of the Brinks robbery. An attempted armored truck heist in South Africa was caught on camera recently; it illustrates the dangers of the job. On the afternoon of July 9, he was visited by a clergyman. Continuous investigation, however, had linked him with the gang. Brian Robinson was arrested in December 1983 after Stephen Black - the security guard who let the robbers into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, and Robinson's brother-in-law - named him to police. Evidently resigned to long years in prison or a short life on the outside, OKeefe grew increasingly bitter toward his old associates. The Bureau was convinced that it had identified the actual robbers, but evidence and witnesses had to be found. On June 12, 1950, they were arrested at Towanda, Pennsylvania, and guns and clothing that were the loot from burglaries at Kane and Coudersport, Pennsylvania, were found in their possession. Allegedly, he pulled a gun on OKeefe; several shots were exchanged by the two men, but none of the bullets found their mark. Other information provided by OKeefe helped to fill the gaps which still existed. A Secret Service agent, who had been summoned by the Baltimore officers, arrived while the criminal was being questioned at the police headquarters, and after examining the money found in the bill changers possession, he certified that it was not counterfeit. Banfield had been a close associate of McGinnis for many years. It was positively concluded that the packages of currency had been damaged prior to the time they were wrapped in the pieces of newspaper; and there were indications that the bills previously had been in a canvas container which was buried in ground consisting of sand and ashes. Immediately upon leaving, the gang loaded the loot into the truck that was parked on Prince Street near the door. I think a fellow just passed a counterfeit $10.00 bill on me, he told the officer. After weighing the arguments presented by the attorneys for the eight convicted criminals, the State Supreme Court turned down the appeals on July 1, 1959, in a 35-page decision written by the Chief Justice. OKeefe was enraged that the pieces of the stolen Ford truck had been placed on the dump near his home, and he generally regretted having become associated at all with several members of the gang. Despite the arrests and indictments in January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash, was still missing. The detainer involved OKeefes violation of probation in connection with a conviction in 1945 for carrying concealed weapons. During the period in which Pinos deportation troubles were mounting, OKeefe completed his sentence at Towanda, Pennsylvania. This incident also took place in Dorchester and involved the firing of more than 30 shots. Adding to these problems was the constant pressure being exerted upon Pino by OKeefe from the county jail in Towanda, Pennsylvania. From Boston, the pressure quickly spread to other cities. As the truck drove past the Brinks offices, the robbers noted that the lights were out on the Prince Street side of the building. If Baker heard these rumors, he did not wait around very long to see whether they were true. Kenneth Noye now: What happened to the criminal depicted in The Gold after the Brink's-Mat robbery,The Gold tells the remarkable true story of a heist that went almost too well, with success bringing a host of problems At that time, Pino approached OKeefe and asked if he wanted to be in on the score. His close associate, Stanley Gusciora, had previously been recruited, and OKeefe agreed to take part. OKeefe and Gusciora had been close friends for many years. He was through with Pino, Baker, McGinnis, Maffie, and the other Brinks conspirators who had turned against him. Through long weeks of empty promises of assistance and deliberate stalling by the gang members, he began to realize that his threats were falling on deaf ears. During the period immediately following the Brinks robbery, the heat was on OKeefe and Gusciora. As a guard moved to intercept him, Burke started to run. At the time of the Brinks robbery, Geagan was on parole, having been released from prison in July 1943, after serving eight years of a lengthy sentence for armed robbery and assault. Two other men, ex-Brink's guard Thomas O'Connor and unemployed teacher Charles McCormick, were acquitted. Serious consideration originally had been given to robbing Brinks in 1947, when Brinks was located on Federal Street in Boston. As this bag was being emptied later that evening, the glasses were discovered and destroyed by the gang. Underworld figures in Boston have generally speculated that the racketeer was killed because of his association with OKeefe. Sentenced to serve from five to seven years for this offense, he was released from prison in September 1941. Inside the building, the gang members carefully studied all available information concerning Brinks schedules and shipments. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near . The names of Pino, McGinnis, Adolph Jazz Maffie, and Henry Baker were frequently mentioned in these rumors, and it was said that they had been with OKeefe on the Big Job.. On January 11, 1956, the United States Attorney at Boston authorized special agents of the FBI to file complaints charging the 11 criminals with (1) conspiracy to commit theft of government property, robbery of government property, and bank robbery by force and violence and by intimidation, (2) committing bank robbery on January 17, 1950, and committing an assault on Brinks employees during the taking of the money, and (3) conspiracy to receive and conceal money in violation of the Bank Robbery and Theft of Government Property Statutes. As long as he was in prison, he could do no physical harm to his Boston criminal associates. The eight men were sentenced by Judge Forte on October 9, 1956. During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. In addition to the general descriptions received from the Brinks employees, the investigators obtained several pieces of physical evidence. OKeefe and Gusciora reportedly had worked together on a number of occasions. Both men remained mute following their arrests. This phase of the investigation was pursued exhaustively. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. Accordingly, another lock cylinder was installed until the original one was returned. Then the lock cylinders were replaced. Examination revealed the cause of his death to be a brain tumor and acute cerebral edema. On November 26, 1982, six armed robbers forced their way into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, the plan was to steal the 3.2m in cash they were expecting to find stored there. On the 26 November 1983, half a dozen armed men broke into the Brink's-Mat depot near London's Heathrow Airport, where they were expecting to find a million pounds worth of foreign currency.. The robbers removed the adhesive tape from the mouth of one employee and learned that the buzzer signified that someone wanted to enter the vault area. The Great Brinks Robbery of 1950 met all of these requirementsa great pile of cash disappeared with no evidence, leads, or suspects. There was James Ignatius Faherty, an armed robbery specialist whose name had been mentioned in underworld conversations in January 1950, concerning a score on which the gang members used binoculars to watch their intended victims count large sums of money. OKeefe was the principal witness to appear before the state grand jurors. The Transit's heavily armed occupants had stolen the bullion less than an hour earlier from the Brink's-Mat security warehouse 12 miles away at Heathrow. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to . Another old gang that had specialized in hijacking bootlegged whiskey in the Boston area during Prohibition became the subject of inquiries. They had brought no tools with them, however, and they were unsuccessful. During November and December 1949, the approach to the Brinks building and the flight over the getaway route were practiced to perfection. On the evening of January 17, 1950, employees of the security firm Brinks, Inc., in Boston, Massachusetts, were closing for the day, returning sacks of undelivered cash, checks, and other material to the company safe on the second floor. Adolph Maffie, who had been convicted of income tax violation in June 1954, was released from the Federal Corrections Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, on January 30, 1955. Gusciora also claimed to have been drinking that evening. (Following pleas of guilty in November 1956, Fat John received a two-year sentence, and the other two men were sentenced to serve one years imprisonment. The defense immediately filed motions which would delay or prevent the trial. Unfortunately, this proved to be an idle hope. He claimed he had been drinking in various taverns from approximately 5:10 p.m. until 7:45 p.m. If passing police had looked closer early that Saturday morning on November 26, 1983, they would have noticed the van was weighted down below its wheel arches with three tons of gold. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) _ A Catholic priest and an ex-guerrilla from Northern Ireland were convicted Monday of charges related to the $7.4 million robbery of a Brink's armored car depot. Democrat and Chronicle. The Great Brinks Robbery was the biggest armed robbery in U.S. history at the time. Even before Brinks, Incorporated, offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible, the case had captured the imagination of millions of Americans. Investigation revealed that Geagan, a laborer, had not gone to work on January 17 or 18, 1950.). When this case was continued until April 1, 1954, OKeefe was released on $1,500 bond. Binoculars were used in this phase of the casing operation. The pardon meant that his record no longer contained the second conviction; thus, the Immigration and Naturalization Service no longer had grounds to deport him. Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. The planning and practice had a military intensity to them; the attention to detail including the close approximation of the uniform of the Brinks guards was near . (Investigation to substantiate this information resulted in the location of the proprietor of a key shop who recalled making keys for Pino on at least four or five evenings in the fall of 1949. Photo courtesy Boston Public Library, Leslie Jones Collection. Terry Perkins. This vehicle was traced through motor vehicle records to Pino. Many of the details had previously been obtained during the intense six-year investigation. Interviewed again on December 28, 1955, he talked somewhat more freely, and it was obvious that the agents were gradually winning his respect and confidence. While on bond he returned to Boston; on January 23, 1954, he appeared in the Boston Municipal Court on the probation violation charge. Due to unsatisfactory conduct, drunkenness, refusal to seek employment, and association with known criminals, his parole was revoked, and he was returned to the Massachusetts State Prison. Race tracks and gambling establishments also were covered in the hope of finding some of the loot in circulation. On June 19, 1958, while out on appeal in connection with a five-year narcotics sentence, he was found shot to death in an automobile that had crashed into a truck in Boston.). OKeefe had no place to keep so large a sum of money. Both had served prison sentences, and both were well known to underworld figures on the East Coast. Shortly before 7:30 p.m., they were surprised by five menheavily disguised, quiet as mice, wearing gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints and soft shoes to muffle noise. On January 12, 1953, Pino was released on bail pending a deportation hearing. This occurred while he was in the state prison at Charlestown, Massachusetts, serving sentences for breaking and entering with intent to commit a felony and for having burglar tools in his possession. In a film-style series of events, criminals broke into the. The descriptions and serial numbers of these weapons were carefully noted since they might prove a valuable link to the men responsible for the crime. In the hope that a wide breach might have developed between the two criminals who were in jail in Pennsylvania and the gang members who were enjoying the luxuries of a free life in Massachusetts, FBI agents again visited Gusciora and OKeefe. Considerable thought was given to every detail. McGinnis had been arrested at the site of a still in New Hampshire in February 1954. CHICAGO (CBS) - A woman has been charged after more than $100,000 was stolen from Brinks truck outside Edgewater bank on Monday afternoon. Despite the lack of evidence and witnesses upon which court proceedings could be based, as the investigation progressed there was little doubt that OKeefe had been one of the central figures in the Brinks robbery. Seventy years ago today, a group of men stole $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks. He claimed there was a large roll of bills in his hotel roomand that he had found that money, too. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. Charged with unlawful possession of liquor distillery equipment and violation of Internal Revenue laws, he had many headaches during the period in which OKeefe was giving so much trouble to the gang. In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. In September 1949, Pinos efforts to evade deportation met with success. The heist happened on Prince Street in Boston's North End on Jan. 17, 1950. From masked gunmen and drugs to kidnappings and bags of cash, the $7.4 million robbery had it all. And it nearly was. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. In a report which was released on January 16, 1953, the grand jury disclosed that its members did not feel they possessed complete, positive information as to the identify of the participants in the Brinks robbery because (1) the participants were effectively disguised; (2) there was a lack of eyewitnesses to the crime itself; and (3) certain witnesses refused to give testimony, and the grand jury was unable to compel them to do so. Inside this container were packages of bills that had been wrapped in plastic and newspapers. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life.
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