Seinfeld. Reissfelder died of a cocaine overdose in 1991. Collection. HORAN: Two months after George Reissfelders release, Janice Santos married him. So, um, eventually, after I didn't go to enough drills I got thrown out of the military thrown out with a dishonorable discharge. And, you know, just painted this picture of this, you know, real all-American kid, you know, somebody who was like really going places. I hope to hear from you soon. Law enforcement was watching it closely, and would take it down in 1991. HORAN: Reissfelder was vicious to Santos. Now a disgraced ex-fed, Connolly is in federal prison for a racketeering and obstruction of justice convictions stemming from his relationship with James Whitey Bulger and others. Reissfelder said he recognized his brothers appearance in the digital painting the Herald is calling Suspect One. Nicole C. Wolf, a medical illustrator and animator, prepared the image after weeks of input from one of the two Gardner watchmen who was on duty the night of the theft. You decide to look into George Reissfelder deeper. And suddenly, they just took off a bunch of years. He'd been shot, if I remember, twice in the mouth, if memory serves. Their paths converged in the late '80s at TRC Auto Electric in Merlino's cocaine business. And I noticed that the release date had changed. And that's it. And about 5'10", maybe 170, -75 pounds. The feeling was that he was a very dangerous individual. RODOLICO: Could you just describe him physically? Here he is in the 1986 documentary about wrongfully imprisoned men, "Exonerated: The Wrong Man.". Charlie Pappas agreed to testify that he had been the getaway driver for Turner and his accomplice in that robbery. He had that painting.". Turner dangled tantalizing hints about the Gardner heist and other unsolved crimes, but eventually stopped communicating with Blanding. He's in a tough position, right? August 24, 2022 8:00 am ET. People like Carmello Merlino. Thats when it really dawned on me. You can try. Im convinced they had my brother killed with an overdose of cocaine, said Reissfelder, who was notified of his brothers passing by Merlino. BEAUCHAMP: It was a homosexual relationship. And I told him probably the best museums to rob would be university or college ones because they probably have the least amount of security. Reissfelder was a 26-year-old father with a criminal record for armed robbery, domestic. Witnesses told investigators they saw Reissfelder at the crime scene. This is David Turner, on a lousy phone line from prison, after his luck had run out. And this is-- was always my problem, you know. HORAN: As ever, suspicion clung to David Turner, but charges didnt. But no Manet. He was teary-eyed. HORAN: Charlie Pappas had been shot twice in the mouth. Bill Reissfelder, Boston Celtics, Chief Financial Officer & Executive Vice President - RealGM George Reissfelder and Lenny DiMuzio are believed to have posed as police officers to gain access to the museum, tying up security guards and stealing 13 historic artworks by the likes of Johannes Vermeer and Rembrandt van Rijn worth an estimated $500 million. These are five hundred million dollars worth of art that's stolen. 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. And when Janice Santos first learned about the heist, she had an immediate intuition about who that was. Turner has steadfastly denied that he has cooperated with authorities in the Gardner case but The Boston Globe reported in 2016 that federal officials shaved seven years off of his 38-year sentence, a reduction that puts his release in 2025. BOSTON, MA - MAY 11: George Reissfelder sits in the office of his attorney Roanne Sragow at One Post Office Sq. And so right away I was intrigued by it and wrote right back to the person who wrote me the letter, which was a fellow by the name of David Turner. REISSFELDER: I was fortunate. display: none; HORAN: Now, David Turner has always said hed never cooperate with authorities investigating the Gardner heist. TURNER: I've seen memos that they sent directly to, uh, the director of the FBI saying that they believe I was a participant. All this negative publicity. Mr.. She worked solely off the description given to her by one of the guards who had seen both thieves. This is the story of David Turner and George Reissfelder, two men who prove that the criminal life is an equalizing one that erases distinctions like where you came from and where you could have gone. 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. According to multiple sources, the team's CFO was seen attending several Celtics games with his family. HORAN: Sikelliss first run at David Turner in the so-called Cheers robbery ended in an acquittal. HORAN: A search of George Reissfelders apartment turned up a cache of stolen goods, including drugs and weapons. Last Seenis a production from WBUR and The Boston Globe. And heres someone who spent years trying to follow the trail of both of them. His brother believes that Merlino. It was visceral. Reissfelder was a 26-year-old father with a criminal record for armed robbery, domestic abuse against his wife and passing bad checks when he was fingered for the Oct. 14, 1966, shooting death of railway clerk Michael Shaw. I just want this crime against civilization to be solved, Reissfelder said. No one would be happy about it, but you woulda thought, you know, once they had arrested us and, you know, the paintings didn't show up, you know, they would have gotten reasonable with us. AMORE: And I replied and said, On a scale of one to 10, how certain are you? And the person replied, 10.. At 2:15 P.M., the prisoner, George A. Reissfelder, 42 years old, was unmanacled in the Suffolk County Superior Court when the District Attorney's office declined to oppose his lawyer's motion that . SIKELLIS: The feeling was to, you know, to really take a run at David Turner. TYSONS CORNER, Va., Jan. 4, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Pangiam, a technology company defining the future of authentication and trusted movement, announced the . Just a warning: What youre about to hear is disturbing. And I kept telling Reissfelder the same thing: "Sooner or later you guys are gonna get popped because you're dealing with the scum of the earth with junkies, and as soon as one of them gets busted, you know, they have diarrhea of the mouth. The paintings frame was found on one of the chairs in the empty office of the museum security supervisor the next morning. Thats what Boston Globe reporter Shelley Murphy wondered in 2016, when she made a sharp discovery. George Reissfelder In 2006, an inmate in prison for murder wrote Anthony Amore, the Gardner Director of Security, a letter. The publicity was mostly because of the legal defense work of John F. Kerry, and Kerrys law partner. He was on the lam for three years until he was caught passing a bad check in Florida. Reissfelder was caught after three years and sent back to Massachusetts. And then there was a home invasion robbery that happened in 1990 where allegedly Turner and Pappas came and invaded the home of this couple, and made off with $130,000 in cash and jewelry. 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. Im truly struck by how earnest he and his entire family have been, Amore said. That way when they got in too deep with their cocaine business, they'd have something to turn into authorities to make a deal. His name was Charlie Pappas. And know he would have. Dressed as police in order to fool the night watchmen, the two escaped with 13 pieces of artwork. The other wasnt. In 2013, when federal officials held a press conference to announce what they regarded as a break in the case, Amore spoke as the Gardner Museums representative. RODOLICO: So, who is David Turner? BEAUCHAMP: And when I started seeing the FBI sketches of them I thought, those disguises weren't really all that good. 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. He was employed as a milkman for H.P. . RODOLICO: Way too much, George. He told Reissfelder and Turner that they should steal a piece of art as a sort of crime insurance. 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. In the documentary, Reissfelder's sister-in-law said that she . I mean, he showed no emotion whatsoever. According to news report published two months before Reissfelders release, four Boston police detectives and Special Agent John J. Connolly of the Boston FBI office quoted informants as telling them that Sullivan and at least two other men none of them Reissfelder were involved in the holdup. RODOLICO: When we come back the other guy. Sikellis says he believes whoever pulled off the Gardner heist had been hired by higher-level criminals and the thieves knew nothing of who masterminded the theft or where the artwork wound up. Rare Pope Creek Poppy Jasper Rough Slab!Gorgeous RARE Top Pope CreekPoppy Jasper Rough Slab ! (Photo by Joseph Runci/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) Likely the most informed reporter in Boston on the citys rich organized crime history, Murphy was co-author of the New York Times best-seller Whitey Bulger: Americas Most Wanted Gangster and the Manhunt That Brought Him to Justice. In recent years, Murphy has spearheaded the coverage of the Gardner investigation for The Boston Globe with such articles as the most likely theories for the theft of the artwork; how federal investigators had cut seven years from one suspects long prison sentence to gain his cooperation in the case and how a long-ago Boston mob figure had passed on to the FBI a key tip about the whereabouts of the paintings in the late 1990s. for 35 years before retiring. AMORE: I always start with "[Christ In The] Storm On The Sea Of Galilee," which is the one that's most commonly recognized by people. Thats all I want. He was a cool customer, as they say. This time he was found dead from cocaine poisoning a suspected mob hit that was never proven, he wrote. In 2014, the FBI identified the thieves present at the museum as George Reissfelder and Lenny Dimuzio, who both died within a year of the robbery. It is-- it is crazy how valuable they are. While nothing directly tying him in the Gardner theft was found in his apartment, Reissfelders brother later told investigators later that he had seen what he thought to be Manets Chez Tortoni, one of the 13 artworks stolen from the Gardner, as having hung for a time over his brothers bed. Fred Reissfelder. This has badly upset my family. The Gardner Museum. 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. I don't want to take any blame for the Gardner. Bill Reissfelder Sales Operations at Klaviyo . RODOLICO: In 1973, Robert Beauchamp was sentenced to life in prison for murder. She claims to have seen Manet's "Chez Tortoni" hanging in a "froufrou frame" in her. 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. The other had none, and defaulted to one. He has even accompanied federal agents on the numerous searches of homes and other properties. I think that the day (George) died, the art was taken by those bums who killed him.. He was buying spy equipment from a Miami shop called the Spy Shops of Miami. When I see this I have the same reaction every time. Beauchamp is serving a life sentence at MCI-Norfolk for second-degree murder. And he said, "You can't leave me. Within 11 years, the former Jamaica Plain resident was found dead of cocaine poisoning in his Quincy apartment, in March 1991, according to police. And he grabbed me by the hair, and then-- and then-- and of course, I was stupid. Robert Sikellis says Turner was one of the coldest criminals hed ever met. Amore says he will not rest until the paintings are found. The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum was constructed under the guidance of art collector Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840-1924) to house her personal art collection. 1/12: If Beauchamp had harbored any doubt at all about whether his old friend and lover had pulled off the Gardner heist, he didnt once he saw the police sketches of the suspects. So that seems pretty impressive. I said that wasn't the release date that was there before. HORAN: David Turners rap sheet is both long and incomplete. Stay up-to-date with important news developments, delivered right to your inbox. Thank you! KELLY HORAN: This is the story of two men. Clara J Reissfelder. Several sources say that the franchise's CFO was spotted at several Celtics events with his family. Find the origins, meaning of the Reissfelder name, photos, and more. Reissfelders late brother George made headlines in 1982 when he was freed from prison after serving 16 years for a murder he did not commit. KURKJIAN: It showed he was turning in a vehicle, a rental car, at the Fort Lauderdale airport, and using his credit card to pay for that vehicle. George Reissfelder. SANTOS: He was frothing at the mouth about this thing. RODOLICO: The people he knew were from prison. We were never able to prosecute anyone for that. The other one was middle aged and beaten down and had done hard time for a murder he didnt commit. SANTOS: There were none. Although Kerry would use the case to promote his then-budding political career, Reissfelder did not use it to his advantage, returning to his bad habits of using cocaine and hanging out with criminal contacts, both of which were in full supply at Merlinos garage. Edward D. Cowhig of Gate of Heaven Church in South Boston that Reissfelder was innocent. Would they let him go? HORAN: In 2009, Anthony Amore, working with the Boston Herald newspaper, hired a forensic medical artist to redo the police sketches of the Gardner heist suspects. Why wouldn't he be inside? The man who would become his cellmate, George Reissfelder, had been in since 1967, serving a life sentence for a murder he said he did not commit. I got a call from a State Police lieutenant, and we all rushed to the scene. George Rainsford (born 31 July 1982) is a British actor, best known for his portrayal of Jimmy Wilson in the medical drama Call the Midwife and Ethan Hardy in Casualty, for which he has been nominated for a Best Actor award in the 2017 TV Choice Awards . One of them was born lucky. 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. BOSTON, MA - AUGUST 30: George Reissfelder waves to photographers as he arrives at Suffolk Superior Courthouse in Boston on Aug. 30, 1982. RODOLICO:That first letter started a correspondence between Blanding and Turner that lasted for several years. The FBI claims Gentile tried to sell the paintings to an undercover FBI agent but the mobster denies any involvement. SANTOS: The George that I knew wasn't-- He never-- he couldn't think on his feet. HORAN: Just not places like TRC Auto Electric. BEAUCHAMP: Well, he was halfway decent-looking. 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. BOSER: I do believe that David Turner is going to go down in history alongside the Boston Strangler, alongside Whitey Bulger, as one of the most notorious criminals to come out of Boston. So I mean, so very quickly, within the first two weeks, it was violent. So that's how I saw it, that I knew that he initially was supposed to get out on one date. During the same interview, Reissfelder said he believes his older brother is one of the two men depicted in new Boston Herald composite sketches of the two thieves who dressed as cops and robbed the Gardner before dawn on March 18, 1990. We have-- we had very clear suspicions as to who that was, given he was a cooperating witness, but unfortunately we never had enough evidence to prosecute. In interviews with the Sunday Herald and Fox TVs Americas Most Wanted, Richard C. Reissfelder, 66, said he saw the famed painting Chez Tortoni by Edouard Manet being displayed by his late brother, George. The other wasnt. And that's from very seasoned State Police investigators, as well. Both resembled police sketches of . And the last one was "Chez Tortoni." 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