who was involved in the brinks robbery

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. Three of the newspapers used to wrap the bills were identified. Apparently, they had planned a leisurely trip with an abundance of extracurricular activities.. He advised that he and his associate shared office space with an individual known to him only as Fat John. According to the Boston hoodlum, on the night of June 1, 1956, Fat John asked him to rip a panel from a section of the wall in the office, and when the panel was removed, Fat John reached into the opening and removed the cover from a metal container. Two members of the gang were quickly caught but the He later was to be arrested as a member of the robbery gang. Each of them had surreptitiously entered the premises on several occasions after the employees had left for the day. Shortly thereafterduring the first week of Novembera 1949 green Ford stake-body truck was reported missing by a car dealer in Boston. Other information provided by OKeefe helped to fill the gaps which still existed. 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. [14], Seven of the group went into the Brink's building: OKeefe, Gusciora, Baker, Maffie, Geagan, Faherty, and Richardson. The only physical evidence left at the crime scene was a cap and the tape and rope used to bind up the employees. WebOn the evening of January 17th 1950, a group of armed gunmen entered the Brinks Building on Prince Street and robbed the company of $1.2 million in cash and $1.6 million in Ten of the persons who appeared before this grand jury breathed much more easily when they learned that no indictments had been returned. Using the outside door key they had previously obtained, the men quickly entered and donned their masks. 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. Their hands were tied behind their backs and adhesive tape was placed over their mouths. More than 100 persons took the stand as witnesses for the prosecution and the defense during September 1956. It was positively concluded that the packages of currency had been damaged prior to the time they were wrapped in the pieces of newspaper; and there were indications that the bills previously had been in a canvas container which was buried in ground consisting of sand and ashes. Pino was determined to fight against deportation. Two of the gang members moved toward the door to capture him; but, seeing the garage attendant walk away apparently unaware that the robbery was being committed, they did not pursue him. Apparently suspicious, OKeefe crouched low in the front seat of his car as the would-be assassins fired bullets that pierced the windshield. 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. While OKeefe and Gusciora lingered in jail in Pennsylvania, Pino encountered difficulties of his own. On January 11, 1956, the United States Attorney at Boston authorized special agents of the FBI to file complaints charging the 11 criminals with (1) conspiracy to commit theft of government property, robbery of government property, and bank robbery by force and violence and by intimidation, (2) committing bank robbery on January 17, 1950, and committing an assault on Brinks employees during the taking of the money, and (3) conspiracy to receive and conceal money in violation of the Bank Robbery and Theft of Government Property Statutes. Faherty had been questioned on the night of the robbery. The FBI approached O'Keefe in the hospital and on January 6, 1956, he decided to talk. Immediately upon leaving, the gang loaded the loot into the truck that was parked on Prince Street near the door. Rumors from the underworld pointed suspicion at several criminal gangs. The trip from the liquor store in Roxbury to the Brinks offices could be made in about 15 minutes. OKeefe was sentenced on August 5, 1954, to serve 27 months in prison. The Great Brink's Robbery was an armed robbery of the Brink's building in the North End of Boston, Massachusetts, on January 17, 1950. [13] Most of the cash stolen was in denominations of $1 to $20, which made it nearly impossible to trace the bills through serial numbers. They were held in lieu of bail which, for each man, amounted to more then $100,000. The thieves quickly bound the employees and began hauling away the loot. On October 11, 1950, Gusciora was sentenced to serve from five to 20 years in the Western Pennsylvania Penitentiary at Pittsburgh. Police who arrived to investigate found a large amount of blood, a mans shattered wrist watch, and a .45 caliber pistol at the scene. Livvy standing in the middle of two masked people involved in kidnap gangs. Executive producers are Tommy Bulfin for the BBC; Neil Forsyth and Ben Farrell for Tannadice Pictures; and Kate Laffey and Claire Sowerby-Sheppard for VIS. [17] Approximately a million dollars in silver and coins was left behind by the robbers, as they were not prepared to carry it. The $2.775 million ($31.3 million today) theft consisted of $1,218,211.29 in cash and $1,557,183.83 in checks, money orders, and other securities. From the size of the loot and the number of men involved, it was logical that the gang might have used a truck. The mass of information gathered during the early weeks of the investigation was continuously sifted. Of the eleven people involved in the robbery, eight would receive life sentences after a trial, with two others dying before they could be convicted. Burlap money bags recovered in a Boston junk yard from the robbery, Some of the recovered money from the robbery. 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. Occasionally, an offender who was facing a prison term would boast that he had hot information. Because the money in the cooler was in various stages of decomposition, an accurate count proved most difficult to make. This vehicle was traced through motor vehicle records to Pino. [16] At 7:10 pm, they entered the building and tied up the five employees working in the vault area. Thieves stole more than $1.2 million in cash and another $1.5 million in checks and. Almost immediately, the gang began laying new plans. This cooler contained more than $57,700, including $51,906 which was identifiable as part of the Brinks loot. At approximately 9:50 p.m., the details of this incident were furnished to the Baltimore Field Office of the FBI. Released to McKean County, Pennsylvania, authorities early in January 1954 to stand trial for burglary, larceny, and receiving stolen goods, OKeefe also was confronted with a detainer filed by Massachusetts authorities. Richardson had participated with Faherty in an armed robbery in February 1934. In September 1949, Pinos efforts to evade deportation met with success. That prison term, together with Pinos conviction in March 1928 for carnal abuse of a girl, provided the basis for the deportation action. (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. Reports had been received alleging that he had held up several gamblers in the Boston area and had been involved in shakedowns of bookies. Other members of the robbery gang also were having their troubles. 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. Allegedly, he pulled a gun on OKeefe; several shots were exchanged by the two men, but none of the bullets found their mark. It appeared to him that he would spend his remaining days in prison while his co-conspirators would have many years to enjoy the luxuries of life. 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. Banfield drove the truck to the house of Maffies parents in Roxbury. Binoculars were used in this phase of the casing operation. During this visit, Gusciora got up from his bed, and, in full view of the clergyman, slipped to the floor, striking his head. On November 16, 1959, the United States Supreme Court denied a request of the defense counsel for a writ of certiorari. In the back were Pino, OKeefe, Baker, Faherty, Maffie, Gusciora, Michael Vincent Geagan (pictured), and Thomas Francis Richardson. Less than $60,000 of the more than $2.7 million stolen would ever be recovered. Burke traveled to Boston and shot O'Keefe, seriously wounding him but failed to kill him. To muffle their footsteps, one of the gang wore crepe-soled shoes, and the others wore rubbers. Later, when he counted the money, he found that the suitcase contained $98,000. Both of these strong-arm suspects had been questioned by Boston authorities following the robbery. Veteran criminals throughout the United States found their activities during mid-January the subject of official inquiry. Underworld figures in Boston have generally speculated that the racketeer was killed because of his association with OKeefe. This incident also took place in Dorchester and involved the firing of more than 30 shots. Within a week, six of the Brinks suspects Costa, Anthony Pino, Henry Baker, Michael Vincent Geagan, Adolph Jazz Maffie, and Joseph McGinnis were arrested by FBI agents. He claimed there was a large roll of bills in his hotel roomand that he had found that money, too. In the succeeding two weeks, nearly 1,200 prospective jurors were eliminated as the defense counsel used their 262 peremptory challenges. Many of the details had previously been obtained during the intense six-year investigation. Here, we look at the people involved and where they are now. It was later claimed that most of O'Keefe's share went to his legal defense. Extensive efforts were made to detect pencil markings and other notations on the currency that the criminals thought might be traceable to Brinks. 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. I think a fellow just passed a counterfeit $10.00 bill on me, he told the officer. He received a one-year sentence for this offense; however, on January 30, 1950, the sentence was revoked and the case was placed on file.. In addition, McGinnis was named in two other complaints involving the receiving and concealing of the loot. Speaking on film for the first time since the robbery almost 40 years ago, Detective Chief Superintendent Brian Boyce, head of the investigation and DC Tony Yeoman, disclose the challenges they faced and the strategy they used in Among the early suspects was Anthony Pino, an alien who had been a principal suspect in numerous major robberies and burglaries in Massachusetts. [14] They each wore a chauffeur cap, pea Well-meaning persons throughout the country began sending the FBI tips and theories which they hoped would assist in the investigation. During an interview with him in the jail in Springfield, Massachusetts, in October 1954, special agents found that the plight of the missing Boston racketeer was weighing on OKeefes mind. Others fell apart as they were handled. And it nearly was. 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. Burke, a professional killer, allegedly had been hired by underworld associates of OKeefe to assassinate him. He had been convicted of armed robbery in 1940 and served several months in the Massachusetts State Reformatory and the Norfolk, Massachusetts, Prison Colony. Through long weeks of empty promises of assistance and deliberate stalling by the gang members, he began to realize that his threats were falling on deaf ears. OKeefe and Gusciora had been close friends for many years. On August 29, 1954, the officers suspicions were aroused by an automobile that circled the general vicinity of the abandoned car on five occasions. Before his trial in McKean County, he was released on $17,000 bond. As the truck drove past the Brinks offices, the robbers noted that the lights were out on the Prince Street side of the building. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. 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. On June 17, 1954, the Boston police arrested Elmer Trigger Burke and charged him with possession of a machine gun. 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. 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. 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. Subsequently, OKeefe left his carand the $200,000in a garage on Blue Hill Avenue in Boston. In December 1954, he indicated to the agents that Pino could look for rough treatment if he (OKeefe) again was released. Even fearing the new bills might be linked with the crime, McGinnis suggested a process for aging the new money in a hurry.. Like the others, Banfield had been questioned concerning his activities on the night of January 17, 1950. Brinks customers were contacted for information regarding the packaging and shipping materials they used. 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. This is good money, he said, but you cant pass it around here in Boston.. Unfortunately, this proved to be an idle hope. The missing racketeers automobile was found near his home; however, his whereabouts remain a mystery. Even Pino, whose deportation troubles then were a heavy burden, was arrested by the Boston police in August 1954. (Geagan and Richardson, known associates of other members of the gang, were among the early suspects. McAvoy wanted members of the Arif crime family, specialists in armed robbery, on the job. OKeefe paid his respects to other members of the Brinks gang in Boston on several occasions in the spring of 1954, and it was obvious to the agents handling the investigation that he was trying to solicit money. 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. During this operation, a pair of glasses belonging to one of the employees was unconsciously scooped up with other items and stuffed into a bag of loot. He had been short changed $2,000. Adding to these problems was the constant pressure being exerted upon Pino by OKeefe from the county jail in Towanda, Pennsylvania. In addition, McGinnis received other sentences of two years, two and one-half to three years, and eight to ten years. An immediate effort also was made to obtain descriptive data concerning the missing cash and securities. Returning to Pennsylvania in February 1954 to stand trial, OKeefe was found guilty of burglary by the state court in McKean County on March 4, 1954. Their plan was to enter the Brinks building and take a truck containing payrolls. Andrew Cuomo commuted her 75-year-to-life sentence to time served and made her eligible for parole for the three slayings in the 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. WebBoudin plead guilty to murder and robbery for her role as a passenger in the getaway U-Haul van, where the $1.6 million taken from the Brinks armored truck outside the Minutes later, police arrived at the Brinks building, and special agents of the FBI quickly joined in the investigation.

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