Both OKeefe and Gusciora had been interviewed on several occasions concerning the Brinks robbery, but they had claimed complete ignorance. The person ringing the buzzer was a garage attendant. Again, the FBIs investigation resulted merely in the elimination of more possible suspects. 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. Following the federal grand jury hearings, the FBIs intense investigation continued. Since Brinks was located in a heavily populated tenement section, many hours were consumed in interviews to locate persons in the neighborhood who might possess information of possible value. 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.. A new BBC crime drama series follows the gripping twists and turns of what was dubbed the "crime of the century" in the 1980s. They were held in lieu of bail which, for each man, amounted to more then $100,000. Within two months of his return, another member of the gang suffered a legal setback. Yet, it only amounted to a near perfect crime. Shortly after 6.40am, six armed robbers in balaclavas entered a warehouse at Heathrow airport belonging to security company Brink's-Mat. All right, he told two FBI agents, what do you want to know?. It was given to him in a suitcase that was transferred to his car from an automobile occupied by McGinnis and Banfield. Commonly regarded as a dominant figure in the Boston underworld, McGinnis previously had been convicted of robbery and narcotics violations. The group were led . Although he had been known to carry a gun, burglaryrather than armed robberywas his criminal specialty, and his exceptional driving skill was an invaluable asset during criminal getaways. OKeefe wore crepe-soled shoes to muffle his footsteps; the others wore rubbers. The roofs of buildings on Prince and Snow Hill Streets soon were alive with inconspicuous activity as the gang looked for the most advantageous sites from which to observe what transpired inside Brinks offices. If Baker heard these rumors, he did not wait around very long to see whether they were true. They put the entire $200,000 in the trunk of OKeefes automobile. The Brinks case was front page news. This was in their favor. (Geagan, who was on parole at the time, left the truck before it arrived at the home in Roxbury where the loot was unloaded. Had any particles of evidence been found in the loot which might directly show that they had handled it? His case had gone to the highest court in the land. Police recovered only $58,000 of the $2.7 million stolen. None proved fruitful. (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 heist happened on Prince Street in Boston's North End on Jan. 17, 1950. This vehicle was traced through motor vehicle records to Pino. The Brink's cargo trailer was. Although the attendant did not suspect that the robbery was taking place, this incident caused the criminals to move more swiftly. 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 . I think a fellow just passed a counterfeit $10.00 bill on me, he told the officer. This man subsequently identified locks from doors which the Brinks gang had entered as being similar to the locks which Pino had brought him. There had been three attempts on his life in June 1954, and his frustrated assassins undoubtedly were waiting for him to return to Boston. The families of OKeefe and Gusciora resided in the vicinity of Stoughton, Massachusetts. The hideout also was found to contain more than $5,000 in coins. One Massachusetts racketeer, a man whose moral code mirrored his long years in the underworld, confided to the agents who were interviewing him, If I knew who pulled the job, I wouldnt be talking to you now because Id be too busy trying to figure a way to lay my hands on some of the loot.. All efforts to identify the persons responsible for the theft and the persons who had cut up the truck were unsuccessful. Two of the gang members moved toward the door to capture him; but, seeing the garage attendant walk away apparently unaware that the robbery was being committed, they did not pursue him. 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. 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. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 1984 for involvement in the Brink's Mat job. The wall partition described by the Boston criminal was located in Fat Johns office, and when the partition was removed, a picnic-type cooler was found. The FBI further learned that four revolvers had been taken by the gang. As the truck sped away with nine members of the gangand Costa departed in the stolen Ford sedanthe Brinks employees worked themselves free and reported the crime. In the years following a shared event, like an assassination, everyone remembers where they were when it happened. While some gang members remained in the building to ensure that no one detected the operation, other members quickly obtained keys to fit the locks. They had brought no tools with them, however, and they were unsuccessful. Before the robbery was committed, the participants had agreed that if anyone muffed, he would be taken care of. OKeefe felt that most of the gang members had muffed. Talking to the FBI was his way of taking care of them all. Investigation revealed that Geagan, a laborer, had not gone to work on January 17 or 18, 1950.). As this bag was being emptied later that evening, the glasses were discovered and destroyed by the gang. On the night of January 17, 1952exactly two years after the crime occurredthe FBIs Boston Office received an anonymous telephone call from an individual who claimed he was sending a letter identifying the Brinks robbers. BOSTON Friday, Jan. 17, 2020 marks 70 years since a group of armed and masked men stole millions of dollars from an armored car depot in the North End in what the FBI still calls "the crime of the century.". What happened in the Brink's-Mat robbery? In addition to mold, insect remains also were found on the loot. Three of the newspapers used to wrap the bills were identified. On this day, Jawarski made history by pulling off the nation's first armored car robbery. The Great Brinks Robbery of 1950 met all of these requirementsa great pile of cash disappeared with no evidence, leads, or suspects. After each interview, FBI agents worked feverishly into the night checking all parts of his story which were subject to verification. 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. After the truck parts were found, additional suspicion was attached to these men. Minutes later, police arrived at the Brinks building, and special agents of the FBI quickly joined in the investigation. 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. A systematic check of current and past Brinks employees was undertaken; personnel of the three-story building housing the Brinks offices were questioned; inquiries were made concerning salesmen, messengers, and others who had called at Brinks and might know its physical layout as well as its operational procedures. Among the early suspects was Anthony Pino, an alien who had been a principal suspect in numerous major robberies and burglaries in Massachusetts. Officials said the incident happened at a Wendy's in a strip mall at 87th and Lafayette, right off the Dan Ryan Expressway. Terry Perkins. The Brinks Job, 1950. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. Between 1950 and 1954, the underworld occasionally rumbled with rumors that pressure was being exerted upon Boston hoodlums to contribute money for these criminals legal fight against the charges in Pennsylvania. OKeefe was bitter about a number of matters. All of them wore Navy-type peacoats, gloves, and chauffeurs caps. Those killed in the. His explanation: He had been drinking at a bar in Boston. Seventy years ago today, a group of men stole $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks. Another week passedand approximately 500 more citizens were consideredbefore the 14-member jury was assembled. He received a one-year sentence for this offense; however, on January 30, 1950, the sentence was revoked and the case was placed on file.. A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. While the others stayed at the house to make a quick count of the loot, Pino and Faherty departed. The mass of information gathered during the early weeks of the investigation was continuously sifted. On August 1, 1954, he was arrested at Leicester, Massachusetts, and turned over to the Boston police who held him for violating probation on a gun-carrying charge. In the years following the infamous 1983 Brink's-Mat robbery, many of the criminals and police alike were killed, leading to speculation there might be . 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. After these plans were reviewed and found to be unhelpful, OKeefe and Gusciora returned them in the same manner. Investigation established that this gun, together with another rusty revolver, had been found on February 4, 1950, by a group of boys who were playing on a sand bar at the edge of the Mystic River in Somerville. At 4:20 p.m. on January 6, 1956, OKeefe made the final decision. A search of the hoodlums room in a Baltimore hotel (registered to him under an assumed name) resulted in the location of $3,780 that the officers took to police headquarters. Through the interviews of persons in the vicinity of the Brinks offices on the evening of January 17, 1950, the FBI learned that a 1949 green Ford stake-body truck with a canvas top had been parked near the Prince Street door of Brinks at approximately the time of the robbery. Brinks customers were contacted for information regarding the packaging and shipping materials they used. And the gang felt that the chances of his talking were negligible because he would be implicated in the Brinks robbery along with the others. By this time, Baker was suffering from a bad case of nerves. On November 26, 1981, six armed men from South London broke into the Brink's-Mat warehouse near London Heathrow. Serious consideration originally had been given to robbing Brinks in 1947, when Brinks was located on Federal Street in Boston. He. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. From interviews with the five employees whom the criminals had confronted, it was learned that between five and seven robbers had entered the building. In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. The robbery saw six armed men break into a security depot near London . On October 11, 1950, Gusciora was sentenced to serve from five to 20 years in the Western Pennsylvania Penitentiary at Pittsburgh. OKeefe had left his hotel at approximately 7:00 p.m. Pino and Baker separately decided to go out at 7:00 p.m. Costa started back to the motor terminal at about 7:00 p.m. Other principal suspects were not able to provide very convincing accounts of their activities that evening. Henry Baker, another veteran criminal who was rumored to be kicking in to the Pennsylvania defense fund, had spent a number of years of his adult life in prison.
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