who was involved in the brinks robbery

According to the criminal who was arrested in Baltimore, Fat John subsequently told him that the money was part of the Brinks loot and offered him $5,000 if he would pass $30,000 of the bills. The alibi, in fact, was almost too good. [14] They each wore a chauffeur cap, pea Each robbers face was completely concealed behind a Halloween-type mask. At the centre of The Gold are the detective Brian Boyce, played by Hugh Bonneville, and Kenneth Noye, played by Jack Lowden. The thieves quickly bound the employees and began hauling away the loot. 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. On September 8, 1950, OKeefe was sentenced to three years in the Bradford County jail at Towanda and fined $3,000 for violation of the Uniform Firearms Act. A few months prior to the robbery, OKeefe and Gusciora surreptitiously entered the premises of a protective alarm company in Boston and obtained a copy of the protective plans for the Brinks building. 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. During the regular exercise period, Burke separated himself from the other prisoners and moved toward a heavy steel door leading to the solitary confinement section. The new proceedings were based upon the fact that Pino had been arrested in December 1948 for a larceny involving less than $100. In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. The person ringing the buzzer was a garage attendant. Because the money in the cooler was in various stages of decomposition, an accurate count proved most difficult to make. The robbers did little talking. When the pieces of the 1949 green Ford stake-body truck were found at the dump in Stoughton on March 4, 1950, additional emphasis was placed on the investigations concerning them. Rumors from the underworld pointed suspicion at several criminal gangs. His case had gone to the highest court in the land. WebGordon John Parry, Brian Perry, Patrick Clark, and Jean Savage were all convicted at the Old Bailey. Many problems and dangers were involved in such a robbery, and the plans never crystallized. The FBIs jurisdiction to investigate this robbery was based upon the fact that cash, checks, postal notes, and United States money orders of the Federal Reserve Bank and the Veterans Administration district office in Boston were included in the loot. Local officers searched their homes, but no evidence linking them with the truck or the robbery was found. After the truck parts were found, additional suspicion was attached to these men. Brian Reader, 76, was jailed over the 26m Brink's-Mat armed robbery in 1983. On January 12, 1953, Pino was released on bail pending a deportation hearing. In its determination to overlook no possibility, the FBI contacted various resorts throughout the United States for information concerning persons known to possess unusually large sums of money following the robbery. 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. 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. The full details of this important development were immediately furnished to the FBI Office in Boston. I think a fellow just passed a counterfeit $10.00 bill on me, he told the officer. Adding to these problems was the constant pressure being exerted upon Pino by OKeefe from the county jail in Towanda, Pennsylvania. One of his former girl friends who recalled having seen him on the night of the robbery stated that he definitely was not drunk. Following the federal grand jury hearings, the FBIs intense investigation continued. 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. McGinnis previously had discussed sending a man to the United States Patent Office in Washington, D.C., to inspect the patents on the protective alarms used in the Brinks building. 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. Much of the money taken from the money changer appeared to have been stored a long time. All but Pino and Banfield stepped out and proceeded into the playground to await Costas signal. The ninth man had long been a principal suspect. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites. For example, from a citizen in California came the suggestion that the loot might be concealed in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston. Pino also Gusciora now had passed beyond the reach of all human authority, and OKeefe was all the more determined to see that justice would be done. The gang at that time included all of the participants in the January 17, 1950, robbery except Henry Baker. Yet, when he was Edward O'Grady, Officer Waverly Brown and Brink's guard Peter Paige were killed during the Oct. 20, 1981, robbery in Nanuet, New York. There was Adolph Jazz Maffie, one of the hoodlums who allegedly was being pressured to contribute money for the legal battle of OKeefe and Gusciora against Pennsylvania authorities. Since he claimed to have met no one and to have stopped nowhere during his walk, he actually could have been doing anything on the night of the crime. OKeefe and Gusciora reportedly had worked together on a number of occasions. WebWho Was Involved In The Brinks Robbery? 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. A number of them discontinued their operations; others indicated a strong desire that the robbers be identified and apprehended. The alibi was strong, but not conclusive. In addition, although violent dissension had developed within the gang, there still was no indication that any of the men were ready to talk. Based on the available information, however, the FBI felt that OKeefes disgust was reaching the point where it was possible he would turn against his confederates. Allegedly, other members of the Brinks gang arranged for OKeefe to be paid a small part of the ransom he demanded, and Costa was released on May 20, 1954. Prominent among the other strong suspects was Vincent James Costa, brother-in-law of Pino. On October 11, 1950, Gusciora was sentenced to serve from five to 20 years in the Western Pennsylvania Penitentiary at Pittsburgh. Pino paid a small ransom but then decided to try to kill O'Keefe. Serious consideration originally had been given to robbing Brinks in 1947, when Brinks was located on Federal Street in Boston. 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. A federal search warrant was obtained, and the home was searched by agents on April 27, 1950. Five bullets which had missed their mark were found in a building nearby. Both men remained mute following their arrests. This was a question which preyed heavily upon their minds. Many tips were received from anonymous persons. The amusement arcade operator told the officer that he had followed the man who passed this $10.00 bill to a nearby tavern. The truck that the robbers had used was found cut to pieces in Stoughton, Massachusetts, near O'Keefe's home. Examination revealed the cause of his death to be a brain tumor and acute cerebral edema. All identifying marks placed on currency and securities by the customers were noted, and appropriate stops were placed at banking institutions across the nation. Instead, they said the trailer was targeted near Frazier Park in the mountains along I-5. Shortly thereafterduring the first week of Novembera 1949 green Ford stake-body truck was reported missing by a car dealer in Boston. WebGordon John Parry, Brian Perry, Patrick Clark, Jean Savage and Anthony Black were all given between five and 10 years in prison for their part in the crime. All were guilty. Commonly regarded as a dominant figure in the Boston underworld, McGinnis previously had been convicted of robbery and narcotics violations. (Costa, who was at his lookout post, previously had arrived in a Ford sedan which the gang had stolen from behind the Boston Symphony Hall two days earlier.). They apprehended Faherty and Richardson on May 16 in Dorchester. The robbers killed Peter Paige at the Nanuet Mall in front of a bank. Like Gusciora, OKeefe was known to have associated with Pino prior to the Brinks robbery. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. During the period in which Pinos deportation troubles were mounting, OKeefe completed his sentence at Towanda, Pennsylvania. This phase of the investigation was pursued exhaustively. During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. When the employees were securely bound and gagged, the robbers began looting the premises. Of the eleven people involved in the robbery, eight would receive life sentences after a trial, with two others dying before they could be convicted. The only physical evidence left at the crime scene was a cap and the tape and rope used to bind up the employees. The pair recruited criminal Kenneth Noye, an expert in his field, who Before his trial in McKean County, he was released on $17,000 bond. Extensive efforts were made to detect pencil markings and other notations on the currency that the criminals thought might be traceable to Brinks. Following their arrests, a former bondsman in Boston made frequent trips to Towanda in an unsuccessful effort to secure their release on bail. He was through with Pino, Baker, McGinnis, Maffie, and the other Brinks conspirators who had turned against him. Only $58,000 of the $2.7 million was recovered. All were paroled by 1971 except McGinnis, who died in prison. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Great_Brink%27s_Robbery&oldid=1134169121, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 17 January 2023, at 09:19. 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. 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. WebNext year January 2023 to be precise will mark 30 years since the Brink's depot in Rochester was looted for $7.4 million, then the fifth largest armored car company heist in As the robbers sped from the scene, a Brinks employee telephoned the Boston Police Department. Speaking on film for the first time since the robbery almost 40 years ago, Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Boyce, head of the investigation and DC Tony Yeoman, disclose the challenges they faced and the strategy they used in On January 13, 1956, the Suffolk County grand jury returned indictments against the 11 members of the Brinks gang. WebThe Brinks Robbery The idea for the heist came from Joseph Big Joe McGinniss, but career criminal Anthony Fats Pino. The serial numbers of several of these bills were furnished to the FBI Office in Baltimore. Before fleeing with the bags of loot, the seven armed men attempted to open a metal box containing the payroll of the General Electric Company. Prior to his murder, It ultimately proved unproductive. He claimed there was a large roll of bills in his hotel roomand that he had found that money, too. Two days before Maffies release, another strong suspect died of natural causes. Captain Marvel mask used as a disguise in the robbery. Many of the details had previously been obtained during the intense six-year investigation. They spent about twenty minutes inside the vault, putting money into large canvas bags. Using the outside door key they had previously obtained, the men quickly entered and donned their masks. FBI agents tried to talk to O'Keefe and Gusciora in prison but the two professed ignorance of the Brink's robbery. A thorough investigation was made concerning his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950. In addition, McGinnis was named in two other complaints involving the receiving and concealing of the loot. Costa claimed that after working at the motor terminal until approximately 5:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, he had gone home to eat dinner; then, at approximately 7:00 p.m., he left to return to the terminal and worked until about 9:00 p.m. Each of these leads was checked out. 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. From interviews with the five employees whom the criminals had confronted, it was learned that between five and seven robbers had entered the building. Gusciora died on July 9. OKeefe did not know where the gang members had hidden their shares of the lootor where they had disposed of the money if, in fact, they had disposed of their shares. All right, he told two FBI agents, what do you want to know?. There were recurring rumors that this hoodlum, Joseph Sylvester Banfield (pictured), had been right down there on the night of the crime. Livvy standing in the middle of two masked people involved in kidnap gangs. Following the robbery, authorities attempted unsuccessfully to locate him at the hotel. (Geagan and Richardson, known associates of other members of the gang, were among the early suspects. The most important of these, Specs OKeefe, carefully recited the details of the crime, clearly spelling out the role played by each of the eight defendants. Fat John and the business associate of the man arrested in Baltimore were located and interviewed on the morning of June 4, 1956. 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 his brief stay in Boston, he was observed to contact other members of the robbery gang. They had brought no tools with them, however, and they were unsuccessful. (A detailed survey of the Boston waterfront previously had been made by the FBI.) [21] Any information police could get from their informers initially proved useless. 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. Jeweler and also a bullion dealer, John Palmer, was arrested. Neither Pino nor McGinnis was known to be the type of hoodlum who would undertake so potentially dangerous a crime without the best strong-arm support available. Pino had been questioned as to his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950, and he provided a good alibi. He was not involved in the Brinks robbery. Nonetheless, the finding of the truck parts at Stoughton, Massachusetts, was to prove a valuable break in the investigation. 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. At least four movies were based, or partially based, on the Great Brink's Robbery: Coordinates: .mw-parser-output .geo-default,.mw-parser-output .geo-dms,.mw-parser-output .geo-dec{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .geo-nondefault,.mw-parser-output .geo-multi-punct{display:none}.mw-parser-output .longitude,.mw-parser-output .latitude{white-space:nowrap}422202N 710327W / 42.3672N 71.0575W / 42.3672; -71.0575. After a couple of attempts he hired underworld hitman Elmer "Trigger" Burke to kill O'Keefe. O'Keefe later claimed that he had never seen his portion of the loot after he had given it to Maffie for safekeeping. Two days after Christmas of 1955, FBI agents paid another visit to OKeefe. [17], Immediately following the robbery, Police Commissioner Thomas F. Sullivan sent a mobilization order for all precinct captains and detectives. None proved fruitful. 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.. All were denied, and the impaneling of the jury was begun on August 7. As of 2004, it was He had been convicted of armed robbery in 1940 and served several months in the Massachusetts State Reformatory and the Norfolk, Massachusetts, Prison Colony. This incident also took place in Dorchester and involved the firing of more than 30 shots. Even if released, he thought, his days were numbered. All had been published in Boston between December 4, 1955, and February 21, 1956. 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. As long as he was in prison, he could do no physical harm to his Boston criminal associates. While the theft was originally intended to be a burglary, rather than an armed robbery, they could not find a way around the building's burglar alarm. 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. Some persons claimed to have seen him. Three and one-half hours later, the verdict had been reached. Neither had too convincing an alibi. During this operation, one of the employees had lost his glasses; they later could not be found on the Brinks premises. 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. 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. The conviction for burglary in McKean County, Pennsylvania, still hung over his head, and legal fees remained to be paid. Among the early suspects was Anthony Pino, an alien who had been a principal suspect in numerous major robberies and burglaries in Massachusetts. After continuing up the street to the end of the playground which adjoined the Brinks building, the truck stopped. Adolph Maffie was convicted and sentenced to nine months for income tax evasion. Even after these convictions, OKeefe and Gusciora continued to seek their release. A few weeks later, OKeefe retrieved his share of the loot. WebNahome was a "financer" and associate of the Adams family, who were also suspected of having been involved in the laundering of the Brink's-Mat gold. An official website of the United States government. Prior to this time, McGinnis had been at his liquor store. [3] After five aborted runs, Costa finally gave the go-ahead on the night of January 17, 1950. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. 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. Even fearing the new bills might be linked with the crime, McGinnis suggested a process for aging the new money in a hurry.. After careful checking, the FBI eliminated eight of the suspects. OKeefe was bitter about a number of matters. McAvoy wanted members of the Arif crime family, specialists in armed robbery, on the job. And it nearly was. 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. The Bureau was convinced that it had identified the actual robbers, but evidence and witnesses had to be found. The FBI approached O'Keefe in the hospital and on January 6, 1956, he decided to talk. An appeal was promptly noted, and he was released on $15,000 bond. While action to appeal the convictions was being taken on their behalf, the eight men were removed to the State prison at Walpole, Massachusetts. OKeefe was sentenced to three years in Bradford County Jail and Gusciora to 5-to-20 years in the Western State Penitentiary at Pittsburgh. More than 100 persons took the stand as witnesses for the prosecution and the defense during September 1956. ), (After serving his sentence, Fat John resumed a life of crime. The robbery received significant press coverage, and was eventually adapted into four movies. [18] The total amount stolen was $1,218,211 in cash and $1,557,183 in checks and other securities. At the Prison Colony, Baker was serving two concurrent terms of four to ten years, imposed in 1944 for breaking and entering and larceny and for possession of burglar tools. At the time of Bakers release in 1949, Pino was on hand to drive him back to Boston. 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. He later was to be arrested as a member of the robbery gang. Andrew Cuomo commuted her 75-year-to-life sentence to time served and made her eligible for parole for the three slayings in the OKeefe wore crepe-soled shoes to muffle his footsteps; the others wore rubbers. Since the robbery had taken place between approximately 7:10 and 7:27 p.m., it was quite probable that a gang, as well drilled as the Brinks robbers obviously were, would have arranged to rendezvous at a specific time. Before the robbers could take him prisoner, the garage attendant walked away. Others fell apart as they were handled. Examination by the FBI Laboratory subsequently disclosed that the decomposition, discoloration, and matting together of the bills were due, at least in part, to the fact that all of the bills had been wet. After O'Keefe was released he was taken to stand trial for another burglary and parole violations and was released on a bail of $17,000. WebBrian Robinson was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to 25 years in prison. It was given to him in a suitcase that was transferred to his car from an automobile occupied by McGinnis and Banfield. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. As the investigation developed and thousands of leads were followed to dead ends, the broad field of possible suspects gradually began to narrow. On March 4, 1950, pieces of an identical truck were found at a dump in Stoughton, Massachusetts. acknowledges it was involved in the gold transport. Subsequently, he engaged in a conversation with McGinnis and a Boston police officer. Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. Released to McKean County, Pennsylvania, authorities early in January 1954 to stand trial for burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods, OKeefe also was confronted with a detainer filed by Massachusetts authorities. 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.. Veteran criminals throughout the United States found their activities during mid-January the subject of official inquiry. Less than $60,000 of the more than $2.7 million stolen would ever be recovered. [14], Seven of the group went into the Brink's building: OKeefe, Gusciora, Baker, Maffie, Geagan, Faherty, and Richardson. On June 17, 1954, the Boston police arrested Elmer Trigger Burke and charged him with possession of a machine gun. When the robbers decided that they needed a truck, it was resolved that a new one must be stolen because a used truck might have distinguishing marks and possibly would not be in perfect running condition. While OKeefe and Gusciora lingered in jail in Pennsylvania, Pino encountered difficulties of his own. A private security and protection company was co-ordinating the shipment of $20 million worth of gold and high-value goods when they were stolen from Toronto Pearson International Airport. Both of these strong-arm suspects had been questioned by Boston authorities following the robbery. On the night of January 18, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora received $100,000 each from the robbery loot. Race tracks and gambling establishments also were covered in the hope of finding some of the loot in circulation. The fiber bags used to conceal the pieces were identified as having been used as containers for beef bones shipped from South America to a gelatin manufacturing company in Massachusetts. Underworld rumors alleged that Maffie and Henry Baker were high on OKeefes list because they had beaten him out of a large amount of money. Apparently, they had planned a leisurely trip with an abundance of extracurricular activities.. By Beth Rose. 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. If Baker heard these rumors, he did not wait around very long to see whether they were true. Two hours later he was dead. On the afternoon of July 9, he was visited by a clergyman. A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. After a period of hostility, he began to display a friendly attitude. In the end, the perfect crime had a perfect endingfor everyone but the robbers. FBI.gov is an official site of the U.S. Department of Justice. The other keys in their possession enabled them to proceed to the second floor where they took the five Brinks employees by surprise. In the hours immediately following the robbery, the underworld began to feel the heat of the investigation. Like the others, Banfield had been questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950. Minutes later, police arrived at the Brinks building, and special agents of the FBI quickly joined in the investigation. This cooler contained more than $57,700, including $51,906 which was identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. McGinnis, who had not been at the scene on the night of the robbery, received a life sentence on each of eight indictments that charged him with being an accessory before the fact in connection with the Brinks robbery. As the truck drove past the Brinks offices, the robbers noted that the lights were out on the Prince Street side of the building. 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. You get me released, and Ill solve the case in no time, these criminals would claim. 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. In July 1956, another significant turn of events took place. Both are real characters. 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. WebHe was the police intelligence officer who identified Noye as a suspect in the notorious Brink's-Mat 26m gold bullion robbery and began the surveillance operation from an old The results were negative. The FBIs analysis of the alibis offered by the suspects showed that the hour of 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, was frequently mentioned. From this lookout post, Costa was in a position to determine better than the men below whether conditions inside the building were favorable to the robbers.

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