We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. I mean, he showed no emotion whatsoever. Amore gave Reissfelder a museum tour and showed him images of the 13 stolen treasures. Richard Reissfelder, who lives in Massachusetts, said when he saw the painting prior to his brothers death, he did not recognize it as one of the missing Gardner items. And when he got out, he was denied compensation for his wrongful conviction. Digital content was produced in partnership with The ARTery, WBUR's arts and culture team. I mean, it was--, it was--, it was chilling to be in the same room at times. 1. Remember the two suspects who fled TRC and crashed their car after FBI agents pursued them? I'm a prisoner at MCI Norfolk. Reissfelder, a retired National Guard military policeman, became aware of the famed burglary after being contacted last year by Amore, who has run the investigation since 2005. And he said, "My brother did it. (Courtesy Joe Runci/Boston Globe) George Reissfelder was already seen as a celebrity when. HORAN: On March 11, 1991, almost the anniversary of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery, George Reissfelder died. BOSER:The Gardner is the perfect vehicle to tell the story of Boston. One of them was born lucky. Charlie Pappas was a second-generation coke dealer for Carmello Merlino. So that's how I saw it, that I knew that he initially was supposed to get out on one date. his is the story of two men. HORAN: Two months after George Reissfelders release, Janice Santos married him. SANTOS: He was frothing at the mouth about this thing. One of them had options and from them, chose a life of crime. Just a warning: What youre about to hear is disturbing. George Reissfelder, on the other hand, left prison in 1982 after serving 16 years for a murder he didnt commit. In this episode, we take a closer look at David Turner and George Reissfelder two criminals with very different backgrounds who found themselves pulled into the gravitational orbit of Merlino in the late 1980s. Prominent chin. The other wasnt. Fred Reissfelder. Reviews. It's just rumor and conjecture, you know. Bill Reissfelder, Boston Celtics, Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President - RealGM He calls it the perfect vehicle to tell the story of Boston., It, in my mind, represents so much of the citys respect for art and culture, its value of learning, and the sort of really richer ideas, and then also represents, you know, this other side of the city that is rough, and dirty, and criminal, and we have this tension that, you know, rests at the center of it all.. Robert Beauchamp, one of those contacts, has stated that Reissfelder and David Turner, another devotee of Merlinos garage, visited him often in Massachusetts state prison during this term and in the vaguest of terms told him they were planning a major robbery and asked how they might hide the valuables in the immediate aftermath. They told me they had information from several sources that I was an actual participant in the robbery. But let me be very clear. The night of the robbery, thieves removed the Manet painting from its gilded frame. Find the origins, meaning of the Reissfelder name, photos, and more. According to both men, Reissfelder immediately recognized the Manet painting, which depicts a formally dressed man sitting at a table outside the Tortoni cafe in Paris. His body was found after reputed New England Mob figure and Dorchester drug lord Carmello Merlino told firefighters that he had not heard from his friend in several days. And after you pass by those two it seems like an exercise in futility, but I went through the other 11 pieces. More than a decade before, he had drawn front-page headlines and network TV interviews when he was freed from prison after serving 16 years on the wrongful conviction of a murder charge. RODOLICO: In 1980, assistant district attorneys Roanne Sragow and John Kerry yes, that John Kerry took on Reissfelders claims of innocence. And when these two men met, the lucky one was young and handsome and had also, it is alleged, gotten away with murder. The late Merlino himself was a person of interest in the Gardner case see Meet the Suspects for April 26. Bill Reissfelder is a married man with a wife and family. SANTOS: There were none. But his former sister-in-law, Donna Reissfelder, said in the docuseries that she may have unknowingly helped him hang one of the stolen paintings in his apartment. RODOLICO: In 1973, Robert Beauchamp was sentenced to life in prison for murder. Reissfelder, who bore a remarkable resemblance to the sketch drawn of one of the thieves, died of a cocaine overdose in July 1991. I stood up at the cell door, looked out at the cell block it was quiet. The target would be the true crime, artsy type., Let me know what you think. REISSFELDER: I was fortunate. He hasn't shared any details about his wife and children until now. I don't think he masterminded it, though. And when these two men met, the lucky one was young and handsome and had also, it is alleged, gotten away with murder. AMORE: She'd never seen George Reissfelder in her life. And when these two men met, the lucky one was young and handsome and had also, it is alleged, gotten away with murder. Bowl haircut. I hope to hear from you soon. Janice Santos was 22 years old and in the Army National Guard when she married George Reissfelder just two months after his release from prison in 1982. But Anthony Amore, head of security for the museum, has said that based on Beauchamps statements the FBI and the U.S. Attorneys Office searched homes in Dedham; Lewiston, Maine; and Orrington, Maine, but each time, investigators came up empty. While they might be very different sports, NBA basketball and association football rely on statistics to make important decisions often enough to have some . Theyve asked nothing from me in return for all of the assistance they have provided, even in the face of very real personal pain.. Steal a painting. Steve Kurkjian explains. According to criminal defense attorney Martin Leppo, who defended many of those tied to the heist, the fact that the FBI still hasnt recovered the paintings, its clear the robbery was carried out by people who knew what they were doing. HORAN: Robert Beauchamp says that when Reissfelder was released in 1982, Merlino was waiting for him with a job at TRC Auto Electric. Juliana Reifelder (geboren Wipfler) Son: Johann Georg Reifelder View the Record view all Immediate Family Juliana Reifelder wife Johannes George Reifelder son Johann Caspar Reifelder (Reisf. George A. Reissfelder was found dead of an apparent drug overdose 51 weeks after the heist, on March 11, 1991, in his Quincy apartment. Our colleague Steve Kurkjian thinks he knows. Celtics assistant GM Mike Zarren travels to Italy to share player tracking techniques with soccer club Atalanta. George Reissfelder In 2006, an inmate in prison for murder wrote Anthony Amore, the Gardner Director of Security, a letter. A day after top House Democrats released their $56.2 billion budget plan for next fiscal year, the branch on Thursday whisked to passage a $1.1 billion tax relief bill that also makes statutory changes to the state's tax cap law and rainy day fund. And George Reissfelder is, I guess, a prime suspect in the robbery, the theft. HORAN: So someone returned a car that had been rented in David Turners name. You know somewhere on the outside, standing guard? HORAN: Why do you think he couldn't have done it? KURKJIAN: Well, the Spy Store had all sorts of James Bond-type equipment. The museum opened to the public in 1903, and Gardner continued to expand the collection and arrange it until she died in 1924. George Reissfelder and David Turner were both pulled into the gravitational orbit of crime boss Carmello Merlino at TRC Auto Electric in Dorchester in the late '80s. One of them was born lucky. RODOLICO: So, four years before the Boston FBI sting on TRC Auto Electric that would finally put David Turner in prison, Robert Sikellis, who had tried and failed twice to do so, had an epiphany about Turners alleged robberies: They looked an awful lot like the Gardner heist, but on a much smaller scale. He was sentenced to life in prison and incarcerated at the old Walpole state prison, where he maintained his innocence. Within 11 years, the former Jamaica Plain resident was found dead of cocaine poisoning in his Quincy apartment, in March 1991, according to police. His brother believes that Merlino. The Boston man was released from jail in 1982 after he was wrongfully . It wasnt long after his release that Kerrys poster boy continued his criminal ways, quickly involving himself with a Mafia-controlled drug ring in Boston. Last time, we told you about the FBI sting in 1999 that brought Merlino and that criminal enterprise down. The tension between those who possess the Old Masters, and those who would risk everything to steal them. Jan 04, 2022, 08:02 ET. Hood & Sons in Charlestown, Mass. father Anna Reifelder mother Anna Catharina Reifelder sister view all Johannes Reifelder's Timeline These are five hundred million dollars worth of art that's stolen. As the investigation progressed, the FBI turned their attention to the Merlino gang, a Boston Mafia crime family full of a number of the most likely suspects. RODOLICO: Over the years, Beauchamp has told many versions of his theory about the Gardner heist and the whereabouts of the paintings. Her divorce from Reissfelder was finally granted in 1990, the same year his name would be added to the list of men whose name has been attached to the Gardner heist. He has written two books: Stealing Rembrandts: The Untold Story of Notorious Art Heists (with reporter Tom Mashberg) in 2011 and The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds and Forgeries in the Art World in 2015. In 1990, two men stole 13 works of art valued at approximately $500 million dollars from a Boston Museum. Back in 1992, Kerry, as a private attorney, had secured the early parole of a career criminal, George Reissfelder, who had pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of a police officer in Florida . Immediate Family Johanna Ronellenfitsch wife Ignatius John Rollenfitch son Barbara A Leuthner daughter Vincent Ronellenfitsch son Cecelia Ronellenfitsch daughter Clara Ronellenfitsch daughter Agatha Ronellenfitsch daughter Johanna Ronellenfitsch daughter Marie Ronellenfitsch daughter Maria Theresia Ronellenfitsch mother Georg Joseph Ronellenfitsch Amore praised Reissfelders efforts to help the museum. Here he is in the 1986 documentary about wrongfully imprisoned men, "Exonerated: The Wrong Man.". There are clues that seem to let him off the hook. BEAUCHAMP: And when I started seeing the FBI sketches of them I thought, those disguises weren't really all that good. RODOLICO: From WBUR Boston and The Boston Globe, this is Last Seen. This is David Turner, on a lousy phone line from prison, after his luck had run out. A year later, Reissfelder and William Silky Sullivan of Charlestown were convicted of first-degree murder and armed robbery during a $20,000 payroll holdup at the Railway Express Agency at South Station. I married a beautiful young girl. RODOLICO: Some time after Reissfelders death, his brother, Richard Reissfelder, who has also since died, reached out to Anthony Amore. And the last one was "Chez Tortoni." Reissfelder family history, genealogy, and family tree. They escaped in April 1974 and lived on the lam until Reissfelder was arrested on July 5, 1977, in Jacksonville, Fla., for passing a bad check. Background. George Albert Reissfelder Jr 1940-1991 Mary "Maria" Petrillo 1938-2007 Spouse and Children George Albert Reissfelder Jr 1940-1991 Male Mary "Maria" Petrillo 1938-2007 Female Parents and Siblings George Albert Reissfelder Sr 1901-1976 Male Emma G Schnabel 1904-1967 Female Siblings (4) Phyllis Reissfelder 1925-1936 Female I fought back. You know, you gravitate to the people that you know. But the celebratory scene from his release date on Aug. 30, 1982, did not last for Reissfelder, then 42. Alexander . SANTOS: So he wouldn't let me leave the house, so I couldn't go to work. Thats because Turner was one of the men, alongside Carmello Merlino, arrested in that early morning Loomis-Fargo vault sting on TRC Auto Electric. Reissfelder drove a red Dodge Daytona, similar to the car the students saw outside the Gardner.. KURKJIAN: This was a ploy by him in order to later tell the investigators, Oh, I was in Florida at the time.. RODOLICO: Two thieves relying on an inside guy, wearing disguises, using handcuffs in the middle of the night at the end of a holiday weekend. Maybe a couple more years down the line having a couple of little ones running around. That's not how it works. Bill Reissfelder Sales Operations at Klaviyo . Im truly struck by how earnest he and his entire family have been, Amore said. Investigates Possible Suspects In America's Biggest Art Heist. What was he cooperating on? Robert Sikellis says Turner was one of the coldest criminals hed ever met. A poem a previous boyfriend had written threw him into a rage. William Reissfelder is 58 years old and was born on 10/10/1963. Reissfelder was a 26-year-old father with a criminal record for armed robbery, domestic. And that's from very seasoned State Police investigators, as well. The Senior VP of the Celtics is reserved regarding his personal life. And so, what role would he have played? Maria was adopted by another family many years ago, and has changed her name from Reissfelder. Previously, he had worked as a specialist for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Anthony Amore says Reissfelder had few prospects. He'd been shot, if I remember, twice in the mouth, if memory serves. HORAN: David Turners high school career had been dotted with superlatives. Beauchamp contends that Reissfelder and David Turner visited him in Bay State Correctional Facility in Norfolk numerous times in 1988 and 1989 and without providing details, mentioned intentions for a museum robbery. #ada-button-frame { The museum and the FBI have responded skeptically to Beauchamps claims about the art. Thats all I want. The following year, her divorce would come through, and her ex-husband would join a cast of men named in connection to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery. He was on the lam for three years until he was caught passing a bad check in Florida. What if he couldnt give them the paintings, but could give them something useful? Carmello Merlinos coke-dealing operation out of TRC Auto Electric was thriving. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates, join our Facebook group to discuss the investigation and if you have a tip, theory or thought, we want to hear it. 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