All but Pino and Banfield stepped out and proceeded into the playground to await Costas signal. OKeefe had no place to keep so large a sum of money. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. Veteran criminals throughout the United States found their activities during mid-January the subject of official inquiry. In the years following a shared event, like an assassination, everyone remembers where they were when it happened. On November, 26, 1983, three tonnes of solid gold bullion was taken by six armed robbers from the Brink's-Mat security depot near Heathrow Airport. 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. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. 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. Five bullets which had missed their mark were found in a building nearby. (McGinnis trial in March 1955 on the liquor charge resulted in a sentence to 30 days imprisonment and a fine of $1,000. The truck pieces were concealed in fiber bags when found. Subsequently, he engaged in a conversation with McGinnis and a Boston police officer. OKeefe wore crepe-soled shoes to muffle his footsteps; the others wore rubbers. Following their arrests, a former bondsman in Boston made frequent trips to Towanda in an unsuccessful effort to secure their release on bail. An immediate effort also was made to obtain descriptive data concerning the missing cash and securities. Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. Seventy years ago today, a group of men stole $1.2 million in cash and $1.5 million in checks. While OKeefe and Gusciora lingered in jail in Pennsylvania, Pino encountered difficulties of his own. Six armed men stole diamonds, cash and three tonnes of gold bullion from a warehouse close to . On January 10, 1953, following his appearance before the federal grand jury in connection with the Brinks case, Pino was taken into custody again as a deportable alien. During 1955, OKeefe carefully pondered his position. Former inmates of penal institutions reported conversations they had overheard while incarcerated which concerned the robbing of Brinks. The. 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 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. Two of the participants in the Brinks robbery lived in the Stoughton area. 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. 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. 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. Shortly before 7:30 p.m., they were surprised by five menheavily disguised, quiet as mice, wearing gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints and soft shoes to muffle noise. Even if released, he thought, his days were numbered. They did not expect to find the Aladdin's cave to contain some 26m in gold bullion and diamonds that they stumbled upon. After dousing security guards with petrol and threatening them with a lit match if they didn't open the safes, the six men made an amazing discovery when they stumbled upon 3,000kg worth of gold bars. 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. Brian Robinson was arrested in December 1983 after Stephen Black - the security guard who let the robbers into the Brink's-Mat warehouse, and Robinson's brother-in-law - named him to police. 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. As this bag was being emptied later that evening, the glasses were discovered and destroyed by the gang. 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. 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. Although Gusciora was acquitted of the charges against him in Towanda, he was removed to McKean County, Pennsylvania, to stand trial for burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods. As of January 1956, more than $2,775,000, including $1,218,211.29 in cash was still unaccounted for. Two other men, ex-Brink's guard Thomas O'Connor and unemployed teacher Charles McCormick, were acquitted. Subsequently, this machine gun was identified as having been used in the attempt on OKeefes life. 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. Many problems and dangers were involved in such a robbery, and the plans never crystallized. 00:29. They moved with a studied precision which suggested that the crime had been carefully planned and rehearsed in the preceding months. Pino previously had arranged for this man to keep his shop open beyond the normal closing time on nights when Pino requested him to do so. Terry Perkins. A detective examines the Brinks vault after the theft. Had any particles of evidence been found in the loot which might directly show that they had handled it? 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. (Burke was arrested by FBI agents at Folly Beach, South Carolina, on August 27, 1955, and he returned to New York to face murder charges which were outstanding against him there. 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. An automobile identified as the car used in the escape was located near a Boston hospital, and police officers concealed themselves in the area. After these plans were reviewed and found to be unhelpful, OKeefe and Gusciora returned them in the same manner. BY The Associated Press. An attempted armored truck heist in South Africa was caught on camera recently; it illustrates the dangers of the job. What happened to the other half of the Brink's-Mat gold? This man subsequently identified locks from doors which the Brinks gang had entered as being similar to the locks which Pino had brought him. Special agents subsequently interviewed Costa and his wife, Pino and his wife, the racketeer, and OKeefe. Those killed in the. Prominent among the other strong suspects was Vincent James Costa, brother-in-law of Pino. 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. Early in June 1956, however, an unexpected break developed. Born in Italy in 1907, Pino was a young child when he entered the United States, but he never became a naturalized citizen. The casing operation was so thorough that the criminals could determine the type of activity taking place in the Brinks offices by observing the lights inside the building, and they knew the number of personnel on duty at various hours of the day. In July 1956, another significant turn of events took place. Pino, Richardson, and Costa each took $20,000, and this was noted on a score sheet. The Brinks Mat Robbery: The real story that inspired The Gold. 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.. After continuing up the street to the end of the playground which adjoined the Brinks building, the truck stopped. Both of these strong-arm suspects had been questioned by Boston authorities following the robbery. The FBI further learned that four revolvers had been taken by the gang. In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. Two other Baltimore police officers who were walking along the street nearby noted this maneuver. In the fall of 1955, an upper court overruled the conviction on the grounds that the search and seizure of the still were illegal.). In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. In 1997, Loomis Fargo employee David Ghantt robbed the armored car company of $17 million. Pino had been questioned as to his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950, and he provided a good alibi. A detailed search for additional weapons was made at the Mystic River. 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. OKeefe and Gusciora reportedly had worked together on a number of occasions. A thorough investigation was made concerning his whereabouts on the evening of January 17, 1950. Somehow the criminals had opened at least threeand possibly fourlocked doors to gain entrance to the second floor of Brinks, where the five employees were engaged in their nightly chore of checking and storing the money collected from Brinks customers that day. The loot was quickly unloaded, and Banfield sped away to hide the truck. 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. There had been three attempts on his life in June 1954, and his frustrated assassins undoubtedly were waiting for him to return to Boston. This was a question which preyed heavily upon their minds. By fixing this time as close as possible to the minute at which the robbery was to begin, the robbers would have alibis to cover their activities up to the final moment. Geagan claimed that he spent the evening at home and did not learn of the Brinks robbery until the following day. 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. 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. Occasionally, an offender who was facing a prison term would boast that he had hot information. 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. The theft occurred in July when a Brink's big rig paused at a Grapevine truck stop while transporting jewelry from a Northern California trade show to the Southland. Paul Jawarski (sometimes spelled Jaworski) in a yellowed newspaper . All efforts to identify the gang members through the chauffeurs hat, the rope, and the adhesive tape which had been left in Brinks proved unsuccessful.
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