), (After serving his sentence, Fat John resumed a life of crime. OKeefe wore crepe-soled shoes to muffle his footsteps; the others wore rubbers. WebGordon John Parry, Brian Perry, Patrick Clark, and Jean Savage were all convicted at the Old Bailey. After a couple of attempts he hired underworld hitman Elmer "Trigger" Burke to kill O'Keefe. O'Keefe cooperated with writer Bob Considine on The Men Who Robbed Brink's, a 1961 "as told to" book about the robbery and its aftermath. WebHere is what we know of those involved in the robbery. You get me released, and Ill solve the case in no time, these criminals would claim. And what of McGinnis himself? The door opened, and an armed masked man wearing a prison guard-type uniform commanded the guard, Back up, or Ill blow your brains out. Burke and the armed man disappeared through the door and fled in an automobile parked nearby. Two days before Maffies release, another strong suspect died of natural causes. 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. After surrendering himself in December 1953 in compliance with an Immigration and Naturalization Service order, he began an additional battle to win release from custody while his case was being argued. 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. By this time, Baker was suffering from a bad case of nerves. This was in their favor. OKeefe claimed that he left his hotel room in Boston at approximately 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950. Banfield had been a close associate of McGinnis for many years. Thirteen people were detained in the hours following the robbery, including two former employees of Brink's. WebA Byte Out of HistoryThe Great Brinks Robbery. WebLASD confirmed this was not a typical Brinks armored car seen in a city environment. In April 1950, the FBI received information indicating that part of the Brinks loot was hidden in the home of a relative of OKeefe in Boston. All efforts to identify the persons responsible for the theft and the persons who had cut up the truck were unsuccessful. 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. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. Yet, when he was To muffle their footsteps, one of the gang wore crepe-soled shoes, and the others wore rubbers. Special agents subsequently interviewed Costa and his wife, Pino and his wife, the racketeer, and OKeefe. Each of them had surreptitiously entered the premises on several occasions after the employees had left for the day. [21] Any information police could get from their informers initially proved useless. Burke, a professional killer, allegedly had been hired by underworld associates of OKeefe to assassinate him. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. Before the robbers could take him prisoner, the garage attendant walked away. 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. At approximately 7:30 p.m. on June 3, 1956, an officer of the Baltimore, Maryland, Police Department was approached by the operator of an amusement arcade. At approximately 7:00 p.m. on January 17, 1950, members of the gang met in the Roxbury section of Boston and entered the rear of the Ford stake-body truck. Less than $60,000 of the more than $2.7 million stolen would ever be recovered. 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. It was given to him in a suitcase that was transferred to his car from an automobile occupied by McGinnis and Banfield. 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. It was later claimed that most of O'Keefe's share went to his legal defense. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. Gordon 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. This man, subsequently identified as a small-time Boston underworld figure, was located and questioned. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the details of this incident were furnished to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI. A roll of waterproof adhesive tape used to gag and bind bank employees that was left at the scene of the crime. OKeefe was the principal witness to appear before the state grand jurors. Before his trial in McKean County, he was released on $17,000 bond. Other members of the group came under suspicion but there was not enough evidence for an indictment, so law enforcement kept pressure on the suspects. Even with the recovery of this money in Baltimore and Boston, more than $1,150,000 of currency taken in the Brinks robbery remained unaccounted for. [14] By 7:37, one of the Brink's employees managed to free themselves and raise the alarm. He had been released on parole from the Norfolk, Massachusetts, Prison Colony on August 22, 1949only five months before the robbery. Apparently, they had planned a leisurely trip with an abundance of extracurricular activities.. 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. He later was to be arrested as a member of the robbery gang. 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. Jeweler and also a bullion dealer, John Palmer, was arrested. From left, Sgt. Both of these strong-arm suspects had been questioned by Boston authorities following the robbery. As a cooperative measure, the information gathered by the FBI in the Brinks investigation was made available to the District Attorney of Suffolk County, Massachusetts. The mass of information gathered during the early weeks of the investigation was continuously sifted. At 10:25 p.m. on October 5, 1956, the jury retired to weigh the evidence. On June 19, 1958, while out on appeal in connection with a five-year narcotics sentence, he was found shot to death in an automobile that had crashed into a truck in Boston.). After weighing the arguments presented by the attorneys for the eight convicted criminals, the State Supreme Court turned down the appeals on July 1, 1959, in a 35-page decision written by the Chief Justice. When OKeefe admitted his part in the Brinks robbery to FBI agents in January 1956, he told of his high regard for Gusciora. The Great Brink's Robbery, and the 70-year-old question: What happened to the money? Both OKeefe and Gusciora had been interviewed on several occasions concerning the Brinks robbery, but they had claimed complete ignorance. Livvy standing in the middle of two masked people involved in kidnap gangs. Even in their jail cells, however, they showed no respect for law enforcement. Interviews with him on June 3 and 4, 1956, disclosed that this 31-year-old hoodlum had a record of arrests and convictions dating back to his teens and that he had been conditionally released from a federal prison camp less than a year beforehaving served slightly more than two years of a three-year sentence for transporting a falsely made security interstate. Adolph Maffie, who had been convicted of income tax violation in June 1954, was released from the Federal Corrections Institution at Danbury, Connecticut, on January 30, 1955. It was billed as the perfect crime and the the crime of the century.. 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. The serial numbers of several of these bills were furnished to the FBI Office in Baltimore. 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. One of these officers quickly grabbed the criminals hand, and a large roll of money fell from it. In 1936 and 1937, Faherty was convicted of armed robbery violations. Each robbers face was completely concealed behind a Halloween-type mask. Neither had too convincing an alibi. During his brief stay in Boston, he was observed to contact other members of the robbery gang. On January 13, 1956, the Suffolk County grand jury returned indictments against the 11 members of the Brinks gang. Pino paid a small ransom but then decided to try to kill O'Keefe. 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. Investigation revealed that Geagan, a laborer, had not gone to work on January 17 or 18, 1950.). Each of the five lock cylinders was taken on a separate occasion. Veteran criminals throughout the United States found their activities during mid-January the subject of official inquiry. For example, from a citizen in California came the suggestion that the loot might be concealed in the Atlantic Ocean near Boston. Because the money in the cooler was in various stages of decomposition, an accurate count proved most difficult to make. [17] Approximately a million dollars in silver and coins was left behind by the robbers, as they were not prepared to carry it. acknowledges it was involved in the gold transport. 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. WebThe Brinks Robbery The idea for the heist came from Joseph Big Joe McGinniss, but career criminal Anthony Fats Pino. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. On January 12, 1953, Pino was released on bail pending a deportation hearing. The last false approach took place on January 16, 1950the night before the robbery. Both had served prison sentences, and both were well known to underworld figures on the East Coast. At 4:20 p.m. on January 6, 1956, OKeefe made the final decision. It was used by the defense counsel in preparing a 294-page brief that was presented to the Massachusetts State Supreme Court. After continuing up the street to the end of the playground which adjoined the Brinks building, the truck stopped. A t the time, the Brinks-Mat vault was thought to be one of the most secure facilities in the world. 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. They put the entire $200,000 in the trunk of OKeefes automobile. It was reported that on May 18, 1954, OKeefe and his racketeer associate took Vincent Costa to a hotel room and held him for several thousand dollars ransom. 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. The FBI approached O'Keefe in the hospital and on January 6, 1956, he decided to talk. In a series of interviews during the succeeding days, OKeefe related the full story of the Brinks robbery. After observing the movements of the guards, they decided that the robbery should take place just after 7 pm, as the vault would be open and fewer guards would be on duty. For other similarly-named robberies in 1981, 1983 and 2008, see, "Historical Photos: Boston's Great Brinks Robbery", "A quarter-century laterBrink's robber admits guilt to Globe", "O'Keefe Says Brink's Holdup Gang Vowed To Kill Any Member Who Periled Others", "Specs O'Keefe, Informant In Brink's Robbery, Dies", "Tony Pino, 67, Participated In '50 Boston Brinks Holdup", "Adolph (Jazz) Maffie; Last Survivor of Brink's Gang", "Six Arrests Break $1,218,211 Brink's Robbery", "Brink Robbery History Recalled After Decade", "$1,500,000 HOLDUP: 7 Masked Men Rob Brink's, Boston; Leave Another Million", "The False-Face Bandits: Greed Wrecked the Brink's Case Gang", "Gang of Nine Robs Brink's at Boston; $150,000 Reward Out", Historical Photos: Boston's Great Brinks Robbery. In June 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora were arrested in Pennsylvania for a burglary. The full details of this important development were immediately furnished to the FBI Office in Boston. 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. McGinnis had been arrested at the site of a still in New Hampshire in February 1954. He was not able to provide a specific account, claiming that he became drunk on New Years Eve and remained intoxicated through the entire month of January. 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 Almost immediately, the gang began laying new plans. He was so cold and persistent in these dealings with his co-conspirators that the agents hoped he might be attempting to obtain a large sum of moneyperhaps his share of the Brinks loot. A passerby might notice that it was missing. Pino also Other information provided by OKeefe helped to fill the gaps which still existed. When questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950, Richardson claimed that after unsuccessfully looking for work he had several drinks and then returned home. In addition, McGinnis was named in two other complaints involving the receiving and concealing of the loot. Shortly thereafterduring the first week of Novembera 1949 green Ford stake-body truck was reported missing by a car dealer in Boston. A number of them discontinued their operations; others indicated a strong desire that the robbers be identified and apprehended. 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. 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. Both men remained mute following their arrests. In the succeeding two weeks, nearly 1,200 prospective jurors were eliminated as the defense counsel used their 262 peremptory challenges. The pair recruited criminal Kenneth Noye, an expert in his field, who On June 2, 1950, OKeefe and Gusciora left Boston by automobile for the alleged purpose of visiting the grave of Guscioras brother in Missouri. The Boston hoodlum told FBI agents in Baltimore that he accepted six of the packages of money from Fat John. The following day (June 2, 1956), he left Massachusetts with $4,750 of these bills and began passing them. O'Keefe later claimed that he had never seen his portion of the loot after he had given it to Maffie for safekeeping. In September 1949, Pinos efforts to evade deportation met with success. Three of the remaining five gang members were previously accounted for, OKeefe and Gusciora being in prison on other charges and Banfield being dead. When this case was continued until April 1, 1954, OKeefe was released on $1,500 bond. Several hundred dollars were found hidden in the house but could not be identified as part of the loot. None proved fruitful. 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. The pardon meant that his record no longer contained the second conviction; thus, the Immigration and Naturalization Service no longer had grounds to deport him. Thus, when he and Gusciora were taken into custody by state authorities during the latter part of January 1950, OKeefe got word to McGinnis to recover his car and the $200,000 that it contained. Information received from this individual linked nine well-known hoodlums with the crime. As long as he was in prison, he could do no physical harm to his Boston criminal associates. 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. During these approaches, Costaequipped with a flashlight for signaling the other men was stationed on the roof of a tenement building on Prince Street overlooking Brinks. That prison term, together with Pinos conviction in March 1928 for carnal abuse of a girl, provided the basis for the deportation action. On the afternoon of July 9, he was visited by a clergyman. Like the others, Banfield had been questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950. Pino also was linked with the robbery, and there was every reason to suspect that OKeefe felt Pino was turning his back on him now that OKeefe was in jail. Within minutes, theyd stolen more than $1.2 million in cash and another $1.5 million in checks and other securities, making it the largest robbery in the U.S. at the time. Many problems and dangers were involved in such a robbery, and the plans never crystallized. [16] At 7:10 pm, they entered the building and tied up the five employees working in the vault area. During the trip from Roxbury, Pino distributed Navy-type peacoats and chauffeurs caps to the other seven men in the rear of the truck. The names of Pino, McGinnis, Adolph Jazz Maffie, and Henry Baker were frequently mentioned in these rumors, and it was said that they had been with OKeefe on the Big Job.. All denied any knowledge of the alleged incident. After a period of hostility, he began to display a friendly attitude. This incident also took place in Dorchester and involved the firing of more than 30 shots. In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. The results were negative. McGinness masterminded the crime. Ten of the persons who appeared before this grand jury breathed much more easily when they learned that no indictments had been returned. 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. Nothing suggests it was a stick-em-up robbery or strong-arm heist. The (The arrests of Faherty and Richardson also resulted in the indictment of another Boston hoodlum as an accessory after the fact). Three of the newspapers used to wrap the bills were identified. Solicitor Michael Relton was jailed in 1987 for his part in the money Pino admitted having been in the area, claiming that he was looking for a parking place so that he could visit a relative in the hospital. He was released in 2000, after serving 16 years of his term. Any doubts that the Brinks gang had that the FBI was on the right track in its investigation were allayed when the federal grand jury began hearings in Boston on November 25, 1952, concerning this crime. Apparently suspicious, OKeefe crouched low in the front seat of his car as the would-be assassins fired bullets that pierced the windshield. The following is a brief account of the data which OKeefe provided the special agents in January 1956: Although basically the brain child of Pino, the Brinks robbery was the product of the combined thought and criminal experience of men who had known each other for many years. 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. The robbery received significant press coverage, and was eventually adapted into four movies. The person ringing the buzzer was a garage attendant. Inside this container were packages of bills that had been wrapped in plastic and newspapers. Two days after Christmas of 1955, FBI agents paid another visit to OKeefe. While Maffie claimed that part of the money had been stolen from its hiding place and that the remainder had been spent in financing OKeefes legal defense in Pennsylvania, other gang members accused Maffie of blowing the money OKeefe had entrusted to his care. Even Pino, whose deportation troubles then were a heavy burden, was arrested by the Boston police in August 1954. At the time of the Brinks robbery, Geagan was on parole, having been released from prison in July 1943, after serving eight years of a lengthy sentence for armed robbery and assault. Although the attendant did not suspect that the robbery was taking place, this incident caused the criminals to move more swiftly. At the time of their arrest, Faherty and Richardson were rushing for three loaded revolvers that they had left on a chair in the bathroom of the apartment. He was granted a full pardon by the acting governor of Massachusetts. Edward O'Grady, Officer Waverly Brown and Brink's guard Peter Paige were killed during the Oct. 20, 1981, robbery in Nanuet, New York. Two weeks of comparative quiet in the gang members lives were shattered on June 5, 1954, when an attempt was made on OKeefes life. 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. Then the lock cylinders were replaced. Subsequently, OKeefe left his carand the $200,000in a garage on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston. Except for $5,000 that he took before placing the loot in Maffies care, OKeefe angrily stated, he was never to see his share of the Brinks money again. A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. As a government witness, he reluctantly would have testified against him. Brinks customers were contacted for information regarding the packaging and shipping materials they used. All identifying marks placed on currency and securities by the customers were noted, and appropriate stops were placed at banking institutions across the nation. His records showed that he had worked on the offices early in April 1956 under instructions of Fat John. The loot could not have been hidden behind the wall panel prior to that time. He had been questioned concerning his whereabouts on January 17, 1950, and he was unable to provide any specific account of where he had been.
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