Thanks for the on my post. Eric had propped the folios on the steps with his foot when the librarian appeared at the top of the stairs, beside herself with rage after finding Gooch hog-tied in the Rare Book Room. During our interview Eric told me, He was like just a weight on us. The meeting was scheduled for the next morning on the southern edge of Central Park near the Plaza Hotel. [Warrens] like, Come on up, Eric remembers. Undeterred, Warren introduced himself as Terry, firmly shaking hands before sitting down. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldn't be able to pull it off alone. Spencer was born in 1984 in Lexington Kentucky. Hosted by And then they came up with the issue of getting these appraised. Spencer was born in 1984 in Lexington Kentucky. as we left we were going to make an anonymous phone call so they knew she was up here, Eric continues. His clumsy attempt to clear his name, in a no-holds-barred interview with BBC, Gabby Petitos Life WithAnd Death ByBrian Laundrie. So we go back to the guy in Lexington and we say, Listen, we want to go somewhere, we want to go out of the country, and we need documentation, Warren explains. Warren had been convinced after spotting a suspicious man loitering near the yellow bungalowwhen he stepped outside, the man disappeared into an unmarked white van with tinted windows and sped off. Buried in the files was a series of e-mails to Christies in New York. With a long, thin face and bleached-blond hair and sideburns, he appeared younger than Gooch had expected. Warren was like, Ive talked to these guys. Ive met with them, Eric continues. The three then take the staff-only elevator down to the bottom floor and escape out the west fire exit. By early November the boys were selling fake IDs at a hundred dollars apiece, and had apparently branched out into more lucrative identity manipulations. The minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky, 125 miles from Lexington, houses approximately 1,200 inmates in multi-story cellblocks encircled by concentric layers of razor-topped fencing and fortified guard towers. He also didnt have photos, photocopies, documentation, or even the slightest ability to intelligently discuss the books. Aside from harming B. J. Gooch, Spencer, Warren, and Eric maintain that they have no regrets. The Kentucky Theatre Along the way a stoned Spencer read aloud from the purloined first edition of On the Origin of Species, particularly fascinated by the section on how the ears of domesticated animals have drooped over generations due to the disuse of the muscles of the ear from the animals not being much alarmed by danger.. Although the two hadnt really been in contact in the first few months of school, Warren knew that Spencers artistic talents would be an asset. Abstraction allows me to explore multiple paths of my creative desire. After a brief discussion they chose Chas Allen, a handsome, clean-cut U.K. business major who had started the lawn-care company with Eric the previous summer. I was nervous. Improvising on the plan, he kicked Eric and Warren out on the street, believing three men in a gray minivan would draw too much attention. The story behind their motiveand how they got caught. Realizing that the only way out was through the main floor, they took the elevator up once again and carried the books into a back stairwell that led to another exit. Spencer, meanwhile, was accepted to Transylvania on an arts scholarship, his sights firmly set on a career in graphic design. When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckey's secretary and two more that afternoon. Pink, in this case to Chas. Because of the expense, only Warren made the trip, touching down at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport on a Saturday morning in early March 2004. What they would tell me, then, is their version of eventsand the only complete account of the planning, execution, and aftermath of the heist. It was only a tennis final, Eric says, but that final that day was actually harder than I thought it was going to be. Though she couldn't recall much else about her assailants, one odd detail stood out. Returning five minutes later with a rolling red suitcase in tow, Spencer opened it on the conference table. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Ocean's 12. The contact, who identified himself only as Barry, stipulated that Warren had to bring $500 in good-faith money. A 20-man task force of Lexington police and F.B.I. What they would tell me, then, is their version of eventsand the only complete account of the planning, execution, and aftermath of the heist. I developed techniques that no one that I know of has done. Warren and Chas go up to the Rare Book Room, on the third floor, and Warren brings Gooch down hard and fast with a stun gun, making her a non-factor throughout the operation. Warren and Chas then let Eric in and they begin wrapping the Audubons in bedsheets and put any smaller books in backpacks. I was not in my ordinary largely white existence anymore. During a meeting in the basement, Warren convinced the other two that they were going to need a fourth, principally to help haul the nearly 250 pounds in Audubon folios out of the library. After a short wait, a young Christies employee, Melanie Halloran, came out to apologize, as Mr. Leckey, due to an impending public auction, would be unable to see them. I'm not going to lie. What I found incredibly valuable about prison was the multiculturalism. Wedged in among the other houses on Beaumont Avenue, a quiet residential street near the U.K. campus, is a beaten-down yellow cinder-block bungalow, with two bedrooms on the second floor and two on the first. (Big Warren declined to comment on the gambling accusations at the time.) The guys hung out together when they could, with Warren frequently conjuring up fantasiesthrough billowing clouds of marijuana smokeof post-heist life for them in the Mediterranean, complete with sleek catamarans and topless women. The guys hung out together when they could, with Warren frequently conjuring up fantasiesthrough billowing clouds of marijuana smokeof post-heist life for them in the Mediterranean, complete with sleek catamarans and topless women. The other two would wait around the block in the S.U.V. So we ate at Pazzo's pizza pub. Now we can't ever go back there. The banality of assessments, passing courses for the sake of progression and limited intellectual stimulation meant that Spencers time at university was far removed from his hoped for experience. Spencer drives me out to Lexington [Blue Grass Airport] on a Friday. 5 The British Bank Robber Foiled By His Own Handwriting. Remembering Distinguished Jamaicans Cabinet ministers of 1955 and 1959, Tricia Nicholas makes a mark in corporate governance , Brazil reckons with artistic treasures ruined in riot, A reporter at a dying paper solves a serial murder, ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and collapse of creative process, Set goals and appropriate their manifestation, Looted ancient sarcophagus returned to Egypt, Heres how your cup of coffee contributes to climate change, Digital Archives: Online editions 2006-Now. In the weeks following the book heist, law enforcement followed leads at Transy and reviewed countless hours of security footage from the U.K. computer lab, to which a police technician had traced the e-mail from Walter Beckman to Gooch. When summer break began, the three returned home to the subdivisions of South Lexington. I know the collection is extensive and anything you think I might be interested in seeing, by all means, share, he wrote. 1.7K Followers. notified all the airports in the area, dispatched officers to surrounding neighborhoods, and called the F.B.I. Several weeks before Spencer was approached by Warren about the fake-ID business, he had been on a freshman-orientation tour of Transy, including the library and its exceptional collection of rare books and manuscripts. All four, now 22, children of privilege, products of elite Lexington high schools, are serving seven-year sentences for their parts in the crime. We can never go back if we wanted toI would rather have not been busted, but all I can say is it feels right in here, and before, in college, it just never did., I remember talking to Eric and Warren one day and I was like, So what, theyre going to put us in jail, says Spencer. On the morning of December 17, 2004, Betty Jean Gooch, a librarian in the Special Collections Library at Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky, was preparing for her 11 o'clock appointment with Walter Beckman, a man she had never met. Reinhards works will be exhibited at his residencys final exhibition on May 8, culminating in May 16s big reveal. When the four boys were arrested the news was met with disbelief, as none of them had been in any serious trouble before. Still shaken from her ordeal, Gooch, in her 50s, told police that shortly after entering the Rare Book Room with the two men she had been struck on the arm with a Taserlike weapon, her hands and feet were bound with zip ties, and a wool cap was pulled over her eyes. So I kind of go, That would be pretty crazy, wouldnt it? He said, Yeah, that would be kind of crazy. I then said, You know, why dont you look into it more and well go from there? Just like . It didn't take long to tie in Eric and Chas. As they scooted down the stairs their arms gave out and they stopped to catch their breath. For added anonymity, Warren bleached his hair blond that night. The crew arrived in New York City early Sunday morning. In fact, wedged in their backpacks was nearly three-quarters of a million dollars' worth of books and manuscripts: an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection ($25,000), an illuminated manuscript from 1425 ($200,000), a set of the two-volume 15th-century horticultural masterpiece entitled Hortus Sanitatis ($450,000), 20 original Audubon pencil drawings ($50,000), and Audubon's A Synopsis of the Birds of North America ($10,000). The contact, who identified himself only as Barry, stipulated that Warren had to bring $500 in good-faith money. Wedged in among the other houses on Beaumont Avenue, a quiet residential street near the U.K. campus, is a beaten-down yellow cinder-block bungalow, with two bedrooms on the second floor and two on the first. There were all sorts of theories as to why they had done it: they were drug addicts; they had amassed large gambling debtsor Lipka's father had, and the boys did it to save the family's honor (the variant most popular with the local papers). A female detective went undercover as a Transy student, tailing Spencer while a team staked out the yellow bungalow. By five P.M., Warrenas Beckmanwas back on the phone with Gooch explaining that he had missed his appointment because he had been out of town on business. To have time to properly apply the disguises, he tried to reschedule his art-history final for later in the day on the 16th, but was unsuccessful. Well all be . Mr. Beckman now wanted these books appraised. In the fall of 2003, Warren left for the University of Kentucky on a full athletic scholarship, eager to take his game to the next level, and with vague plans of getting into politics. Us three, we were much thicker than he was.) And what Chas likely didn't know was that, for Warren, Eric, and Spencer, the actual appraisal and sale of the stolen books had become irrelevant to the mission. If not, we were going to get caught and it was going to be a crazy story., And now that weve diverted from that path, we feel liberated, Warren tells me, waving his arms around the room. Far from being social outcasts, they had been popular athletes, and two were on some form of college scholarship. Along the way a stoned Spencer read aloud from the purloined first edition of On the Origin of Species, particularly fascinated by the section on how the ears of domesticated animals have drooped over generations due to the disuse of the muscles of the ear from the animals not being much alarmed by danger.. Once the boys were inside the library, students stared at the ridiculous old-man disguises. As reported by People, poor planning and a fumbling execution including one member, Reinhard, leaving his home phone number at an action house eventually led to their capture. After a quick powwow in the stacks, the conspirators decided to abort the mission for the time being and retreated to the bungalow. Seeing something in the wayward Warren, the preppy grifter pitched him the idea of selling fake Kentucky drivers licenses in the U.K. dorms. Spencer would communicate with Warren from a cell phone, which Warren would steal from a student in the morning. We're going to need more people, Warren remembers thinking. Over the phone and by e-mail, Beckman had asked to view, among other items, a first edition of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species and four double-size folios of John James Audubons Birds of America. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. She offered to take his place. I know now that they were my best years, and if I hadnt gone to prison, they would have been lost to temptations of the so-called free world., Shuttling between his familys adopted home in California, Colombia, and Stateside, Reinhard said: The transition for me has been great. Warren introduced himself as Mr. Williams. So we ate at Pazzos pizza pub. I was surprised he didn't.. As far as they could see, there were only two ways out: either getting away with the crime or getting arrested for it. Sign up for The Gleaners morning and evening newsletters. They take you in the Special Collections and show you these books, Spencer remembers, including Transys prized Birds of America, by John James Audubon, a four-volume set of life-size engravings the pioneer wildlife artist completed in London in 1838. Phase 1 ends when the G.T.A.V. After a brief discussion they chose Chas Allen, a handsome, clean-cut U.K. business major who had started the lawn-care company with Eric the previous summer. Starting with a 1970s Pierre Cardin canary-yellow blazer that had belonged to his grandfather, he wore a dress shirt with an ostentatiously large collar and a gold silk scarf. They were skeptical, Warren recalls. and local detectives. Shortly thereafter he was introduced to a Lexington Catholic alumnus who was making an easy living in identity theft. He topped off his new living quarters with the last of his worldly belongings: a large-screen television, a DVD player, and a Sony PlayStation. The Lexington Police Department's commercial-burglary squad was assigned to the case. agents were sitting behind them the whole time, listening to their every word. It didnt take long to tie in Eric and Chas. The next day, they worked off their hangovers by checking out Ground Zero before strolling into the bustle of Chinatown for lunch. When she asked for contact information, Spencer gave her his cell-phone number. By one o'clock that afternoon, the 227-year-old liberal-arts college was swarming with campus police, uniformed Lexington Police, plainclothes detectives, and forensic teams, as well as local news. During their sentencing hearing, in December 2005, the federal prosecutor asked for 11 to 14 years each for Eric, Chas, and Spencer, and 14 to 17 years for Warren, deeming him the leader, organizer, and recruiter. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. (The librarian who chased them out of the library did tell police the correct total of four thieves, even though she had seen only three.) (Through his attorney, Allen declined to be interviewed.) is parked in front of the library and the four are in 1st Position at bottom of stairs of library.. We figured, All right, well, now we just got what we thought would be impossible . Returning five minutes later with a rolling red suitcase in tow, Spencer opened it on the conference table. Chas turned the G.T.A.V. [This librarian] doesnt know what were carrying, but shes like, Where did these kids come from? Eric says. Copyright 2023 The Gleaner Company (Media) Limited. They got security around that? Nonchalantly, very nonchalantly, I mean, just kind of shooting it between us. He was whisked into a squad car. He was told to look for a bearded, heavyset man in a solid-blue sweater. They also did considerable research on the Internet, using such key terms as auction house appraisals, stun guns, and Swiss bank accounts. For inspiration, they watched heist movies like Ocean's 11 and Snatch. Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk and Charles Allen II were all between the ages of 19 and 20 at the time of the robbery. The take could be more than $5 million. All rights reserved. Photographed by Nan Goldin at the tender age of 19, just about to release his Tony Richardson film. . Barry described himself as an older man with a long ponytail and said hed be wearing a green scarf. A uniformed doorman cheerily welcomed both boys into the lobby, where they informed reception that they were there for Mr. Walter Beckmans appointment with Thomas Leckey, Christies rare-book specialist. By that point Warren, Eric, and Spencer knew for certain they were going down. Spencer would communicate with Warren from a cell phone, which Warren would steal from a student in the morning. Though I showed artwork briefly with Ann Tower Gallery, my career as an artist has been limited to private sales and commissions, including contributing a mural to PRHBTN in Lexington in 2018. Warren was already busily working out the problem, returning for advice to his underworld contact: What if we had some artwork that we wanted to sell? Warren remembers asking him. Though they attended different high schools, both were varsity captains, and both made all-state. agent discovered the stolen books, all undamaged, as well as the five-page typed plan for the heist, an accounting ledger, wigs, instructions for opening a Swiss bank account, and stun guns, which had apparently arrived after the robbery. From the facts that were available, it appeared that a team of four men, described as Caucasian, in their 20s, had stolen some of the most prized books and manuscripts in the universitys collection, and attacked a librarian in the process. We spoke about his paintings, especially A Plan to Fail. On the morning of December 16, Warrens carefully scripted plan began to unravel almost immediately. from an unsuspecting friend and got his hands on zip ties, a wool cap, electrician's tape, and bedsheets. Im not going to lie. Warren called me one night and hes like, We need to get together. Afterward, they returned to the Hilton for an early night. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. By one oclock that afternoon, the 227-year-old liberal-arts college was swarming with campus police, uniformed Lexington Police, plainclothes detectives, and forensic teams, as well as local news crews covering the developing Transy Book Heist, a crime that would one day be listed among the F.B.I.s all-time most significant art-theft cases. , meanwhile, was accepted to Transylvania on an arts scholarship, his sights firmly set on career. Two more that afternoon than he was told to look for a bearded, heavyset man in a no-holds-barred with. Park near the Plaza Hotel tender age of 19, just about to release his Tony film. Would be pretty crazy, wouldnt it, I mean, just about to his. Techniques that no one that I know of has done issue of getting these.. When summer break began, the three even took in a no-holds-barred interview with BBC, Gabby Petitos Life Death! 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