A BYTE OUT OF HISTORY
The Great Brinks Robbery
02/09/07
|
|
| Thieves
stole more than $1.2 million in cash and
another $1.5 million in checks and other
securities in the 1950 Brinks heist. The
robbers were eventually captured and more
than half the money, some shown above,
was recovered. |
It
was billed as "the perfect crime."
And it nearly was.
On
January 17, 1950, employees of the security
firm Brinks, Inc., in Boston, were closing
for the day, returning sacks of undelivered
cash, checks, and other material to the company
safe on the second floor.
Shortly
before 7:30 p.m., they were surprised by five
men—heavily disguised, quiet as mice,
wearing gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints
and soft shoes to muffle noise. The thieves
quickly bound the employees and began hauling
away the loot. Within minutes, they'd 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.
The
evidence left behind? Paltry. Just some
tape and rope used to gag and bind the Brink's
employees.
Let
the investigation begin. Boston police
and Bureau agents got to work within minutes
of the bank's call—scouring the crime
scene, identifying missing items, questioning
the employees (and checking for possible disgruntled
ones), and blanketing the wider community
of criminals and their supporters.
Slowly
key clues began to emerge. In February, a
police officer found a gun stolen in the heist.
The next month, Bureau agents located the
getaway truck that was used—at least
part of it, as the criminals had cut it to
pieces and dumped it at a scrap yard.
Also
taking shape was a group of key suspects:
They
might have gotten away with it, but…
The criminals had all agreed to sit on the
money for a few years and slowly launder
it to avoid detection. But with so much
free time on their hands, they got into
trouble. O'Keefe and Gusciora landed in
jail for various crimes. The others also
had problems keeping low.
Eventually,
the oft-imprisoned O'Keefe grew bitter and
began complaining that he didn't get his
fair share of the money. After several unsuccessful
attempts on his life by his confederates,
he decided to tell the full story of the
11-man job to our agents.
In
the end, the painstaking work of the Bureau,
the Boston police, and others led to the arrest
of six gang members in January 1956. Two others
were already in prison, one was dead, and
two were placed on our Ten Most Wanted Fugitives
list and later caught. Soon more than half
of the money was recovered, and the suspects
went to trial—except Gusciora, who had
just died. On October 5, 1956, a Boston jury
found each of them guilty.
The
"perfect crime" had a perfect ending—for
everyone but the robbers.
To
read the entire, complicated story, see
our Brinks
Robbery webpage.
