January 17, 1950: Eleven thieves steal $2,775,000 from the Brink's armored car company headquarters in Boston. It remained the largest theft in U.S. history until 1984. This would be worth about $31.2 million today.
For comparison's sake: The 1978 Lufthansa heist in New York was $5,875,000; in 2022 money, about $24.4 million. So "The Brink's Job" was about 28 percent more lucrative than the Goodfellas heist.
The Brink's terminal was at 165 Prince Street, in the North End, 4 blocks east of North Station and the Boston Garden. The North Terminal Garage is on the site today. After 7 aborted runs, they went for it on January 17, 1950.
Seven of the group went into the Brink's building. They each wore a chauffeur cap, pea coat, and a rubber Halloween mask, and each packed a .38 caliber revolver. At 7:10 PM, Eastern Time, they entered the building, and tied up the 5 employees working in the vault area. They spent about 20 minutes inside the vault, putting money into large canvas bags.
Approximately $1 million in silver and coins was left behind by the robbers, as they were not prepared to carry it. The total amount stolen was $1,218,211 in cash, and $1,557,183 in checks and other securities. Most of the cash stolen was in denominations of $1 to $20, which made it nearly impossible to trace the bills through serial numbers. By 7:37, one of the Brink's employees managed to free himself and raise the alarm.
At the time, it was the largest robbery in the history of the United States, and has been called "the Crime of the Century."
The robbery remained unsolved for nearly six years. Group member Joseph O'Keefe had been imprisoned for a burglary later in 1950, served his time, got out, and demanded his share of the money. A hitman was hired so he wouldn't talk, but he survived the shooting on January 6, 1956.
The statute of limitations would have expired on January 17. The FBI approached him, and he talked. On January 12, the FBI made their arrests. On October 5, based mainly on O'Keefe's testimony, all were convicted. Only $58,000 was ever recovered.
The perpetrators:
* Joseph Banfield: Died in 1955, before he could be arrested for his role.
* Stanley Gusciora: Died in 1956, of a brain tumor, before he could be tried for his role.
* Henry Baker: Died in prison in 1961.
* Joseph McGinnis: According to O'Keefe's testimony, the mastermind behind the robbery. Died in prison in 1966.
* James Faherty: Paroled in 1969. Died in 1971.
* Anthony Pino: Released from prison in 1970. Died in 1973.
* Joseph O'Keefe: Paroled prison in 1966. Died in 1976.
* Michael Geagan: Paroled in 1969. Died in 1979.
* Thomas "Sandy" Richardson: Paroled in 1969. Died in 1980.
* Vincent Costa: Paroled in 1969, but went back to prison for cocaine trafficking in 1985. He died in prison in 1988.
* Adolph "Jazz" Maffie: Paroled in 1969. The last survivor, he died later in 1988.
*
January 17, 1950 was a Tuesday. Baseball and football were out of season. No games were scheduled for the NHL. There were 2 games in the NBA. The Minneapolis Lakers beat the Boston Celtics, 105-79 at the Boston Garden.
And the Indianapolis Olympians beat the Denver Nuggets, 101-81 at the Butler Fieldhouse (now the Hinkle Fieldhouse) in Indianapolis. The Olympians lasted into the 1953 season, then went out of business. The Nuggets began play in 1932, and joined the NBA in 1948, but went out of business at the end of this season. The name was revived in 1974, when the ABA's Denver Rockets, hoping to be absorbed into the NBA, knew they had to change their name, because the NBA already had the Houston Rockets, so they took the old Nuggets name.
No comments:
Post a Comment