His peers had voted him most unique and had given him the nickname Crackerjack. He had a broad, round face with wide, high cheekbones, a mop of light brown hair, and a grin that conveyed confidence and mischief. This time he was found dead from 'cocaine poisoning' a suspected mob hit that was never proven," he wrote. HORAN: Carmello Merlino. What if he couldnt give them the paintings, but could give them something useful? HORAN: On March 11, 1991, almost the anniversary of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum robbery, George Reissfelder died. Richard Reissfelder, who lives in Massachusetts, said when he saw the painting prior to his brothers death, he did not recognize it as one of the missing Gardner items. Early life [ edit] Rainsford was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. JACK RODOLICO: David Turner and George Reissfelder found themselves pulled into the gravitational orbit of crime boss Carmello Merlino at TRC Auto Electric at the same time the late 1980s. HORAN: The type of equipment that could help a guy waiting outside of a museum while its being robbed. Reissfelder described his brother as a follower who was hardened by his prison experience and fell in with a bad crowd upon his release. And then it got to where I was-- I wanted to leave, or wanted him out of there. RODOLICO: So, who is David Turner? The late Merlino himself was a person of interest in the Gardner case see Meet the Suspects for April 26. Would they let him go? HORAN: David Turners 38-and-a-half-year prison sentence was suddenly seven years shorter. In taking on the role at the Gardner, he also took on the responsibility of assisting the FBI in solving one of historys most bedeviling museum heists. And they're gonna say, 'oh, he's my supplier, Reissfelder.' But let me be very clear. And when he got out, he was denied compensation for his wrongful conviction. He tried to insert himself into this case. I got a call from a State Police lieutenant, and we all rushed to the scene. And he said, "My brother did it. 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. And then also represents this other side of the city that is rough, and dirty, and criminal, and we have this tension that rests at the center of it all. He went through her stuff, looking for evidence that he couldnt trust her. She left the museum with a $3.6 million endowment, and her will stipulated that the . Stay up-to-date with important news developments, delivered right to your inbox. Even as that documentary aired, Santos was trying to find the courage to leave Reissfelder. And when these two men met, the lucky one was young and handsome and had also, it is alleged, gotten away with murder. For seven years, I was . BOSER: The most curious thing that happened with me and David was that he-- he wrote me this letter where he included this poem and essentially said, you know, he did not commit the Gardner theft, but he did want to be on the cover of my book. HORAN: In one scene, Santos walks behind Reissfelder, her head down. The Boston man was released from jail in 1982 after he was wrongfully . After Kerry and Sragow won him a new trial, then-Suffolk County District Attorney Newman Flanagan decided against re-trying the case against Reissfelder. But not before he shared a few poems about him written by a fellow inmate. Pangiam. Michael Blanding was a staff writer at Boston Magazine when he first received a letter from Gardner heist suspect, David Turner, who had been ensnared in the February 1999 sting on TRC Auto Electric. Crime boss Carmello Merlino, who we met in the last episode, was hardly the last best suspect to come out of a crew of criminals based in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. I never ever mentioned the Gardner. Because one of his accomplices from TRC had brought along a hand grenade for the Loomis-Fargo vault heist, David Turner had also received a long sentence. Reissfelder and DiMuzio were suspected of being part of the "Merlino gang," a crew of lower-level associates with alleged ties to the Boston Mafia. There are clues that seem to let him off the hook. 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. During a one-day furlough in 1974, Reissfelder fled the state. Doubtful the thief took off his hat to show his unique hair style to the two Gardner guards. like follow. The two men had their paths meet in the late '80s when they both were drawn into Merlino's cocaine business. RODOLICO:In a letter dated Oct. 26, 2003, Turner proposes that Blanding write a book about his life. HORAN: Now, David Turner has always said hed never cooperate with authorities investigating the Gardner heist. And that's from very seasoned State Police investigators, as well. 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. RODOLICO: Way too much, George. At the time, Reissfelder was 49 and DiMuzio was 42. Id love some day to own my own house. 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. Last year, Jason Alexander spoke about why George Costanza's fiance, Susan, was killed off on Seinfeld. The feeling was that he was a very dangerous individual. HORAN: Robert Beauchamp says that when Reissfelder was released in 1982, Merlino was waiting for him with a job at TRC Auto Electric. In 1992, two years after the heist, his fingerprints were sent to the FBIs lab, along with those of several others, to determine if they could be found on items taken from the crime scene. The tension between those who possess the Old Masters, and those who would risk everything to steal them. for 35 years before retiring. And John Kerry and Roanne Sragow are going to, you know, be his best friends forever now." This hits you anywhere, you're dead." 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. Court records indicate surveillance photographs captured Reissfelder and Merlino together at the drug kingpins Dorchester auto body shop, TRC Auto Electric Co., where a $1-million-a-year cocaine ring was run. RODOLICO: When we come back the other guy. In the documentary, Reissfelder's sister-in-law said that she . He is running on the 2018 Republican ticket for the office of Secretary of State in Massachusetts. Hear Michael Blanding read from one of them, The Sting, here: Former Assistant Massachusetts Attorney General. Some of Turners letters, Blanding says, offered tantalizing hints about the Gardner heist and other unsolved crimes. William Reissfelder currently lives in Westwood, MA; in the past William has also lived in Norwell MA and Coppell TX. Because I realized at that point-- I thought maybe they'd steal maybe up to five million dollars at the most, but when it turned out to be hundreds of millions, I said, "You know what type of investigation this is going to be compared to what it would have been?". Mr.. Rare Pope Creek Poppy Jasper Rough Slab!Gorgeous RARE Top Pope CreekPoppy Jasper Rough Slab ! And he never said that he actually participated in any of the crimes, but he certainly made it seem like he had some ability to talk about them. Background. View George Reinsfelder Junior's 1940 US census record to find family members, occupation details & more. In the culmination of two years of work by Reissfelder's court-appointed Boston attorneys, Reissfelder's murder conviction, for which he had served 15 years in prison, was dismissed. We were never able to prosecute anyone for that. And that's it. TURNER: Thirty-eight-and-a-half years. This is David Turner, on a lousy phone line from prison, after his luck had run out. William Reissfelder SLED Premier Account Analyst with Granite Telecommunication North Attleboro, MA. Their license was verified as active when we last . Reissfelder is the first person to claim hes seen the stolen Manet since it was filched from the Gardners ground-floor Blue Room. Subscribe to our newsletterfor the latest updates,join our Facebook groupto discuss the investigation and if you have a tip, theory or thought,we want to hear it. In her book, Seinfeldia, Jennifer Keishin Armstrong gives the full story . 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. Anthony Amore was hired as director of security for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 2005 and still holds the position today. (Courtesy Boston Globe). What did he give? He had a-- he was very well built. So that's how I saw it, that I knew that he initially was supposed to get out on one date. It was 17 years ago. Only after he was contacted by Amore in recent months and shown all 13 items taken from the museum did he recognize the Manet painting he now says his brother at one time displayed. Resides in Mashpee, MA. And, uh, so then he grabbed me by the throat and started choking me. Reissfelder left prison a desperate man and slid back into the underworld. (AP Photo/Bill Sikes) Justin Quinn. They told me they had information from several sources that I was an actual participant in the robbery. AMORE: She'd never seen George Reissfelder in her life. In this episode, we take a closer look at David Turner and George Reissfelder two criminals with very different backgrounds who found themselves pulled into the gravitational orbit of Merlino in the late 1980s. I've seen that painting in my brother's apartment." My brother received stolen property. BOSTON, MA - AUGUST 30: George Reissfelder waves to photographers as he arrives at Suffolk Superior Courthouse in Boston on Aug. 30, 1982. It was during the period that George Reissfelder was associating with Merlino that his brother said he saw Chez Tortoni.. Both thieves were dead within a year of their breathtaking crime. Last time, we told you about the FBI sting in 1999 that brought Merlino and that criminal enterprise down. And eventually Merlino decided on the Gardner. Richard Reissfelder appears with Gardner museum director of security Anthony Amore, who holds up a picture of one of the stolen paintings. He was sentenced to life in prison and incarcerated at the old Walpole state prison, where he maintained his innocence. One of them had options and from them, chose a life of crime. Skip to main content Home Memorials Cemeteries Famous Contribute Register Sign In Register Sign In Memorial updated successfully. No one had let Reissfelder know. SHELLEY MURPHY: I was hearing some things about whether or not he might cooperate. RODOLICO:That first letter started a correspondence between Blanding and Turner that lasted for several years. Hed heard his late brothers name mentioned in connection with the Gardner heist, and he wanted to clear his brothers name. George Reissfelder was already seen as a celebrity when he started hanging out at Carmello Merlinos auto repair shop in Dorchester in the late 1980s. It was painted between 1878 and 1880. Reissfelder drove a red Dodge Daytona, similar to the car the students saw outside the Gardner.. Get popped. So, if it had ever been there, where did it go? Reissfelder was caught after three years and sent back to Massachusetts. HORAN: David Turner told Boser that the FBI said, essentially, 'we know you did it.'. He couldn't watch me. And there are others that dont. But the one detail that Beauchamp has never changed is who he says, did it: Carmello Merlino, David Turner and George Reissfelder. Maria was adopted by another family many years ago, and has changed her name from Reissfelder. Beauchamp contends that Reissfelder and David Turner visited him in Bay State Correctional Facility in Norfolk numerous times in 1988 and 1989 and without providing details, mentioned intentions for a museum robbery. SANTOS: He was frothing at the mouth about this thing. AMORE: He spent a long time 16 years in the country's toughest prison for something he hadn't done. SIKELLIS: The feeling was to, you know, to really take a run at David Turner. 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. 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. And about 5'10", maybe 170, -75 pounds. After his release, George Reissfelder associated with Carmello Merlino, an organized crime boss and drug lord whom he met in prison. 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. SANTOS: Yeah. A poem a previous boyfriend had written threw him into a rage. 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. 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. At the time, organized crime members seemed excited about the idea that they could trade a stolen painting in exchange for no jail time, if they were ever caught doing more unsavory business. HORAN: And this is George Reissfelder, remembering his worst hard time. However, the Celtics' Senior VP is conservative regarding his private life. STEPHEN KURKJIAN: Seven years reduction off a criminal sentence? Reissfelder scuttled that dream. His wife allegedly told the FBI in 2010 that her husband confessed he gave two of the paintings to alleged Connecticut mobster Robert Gentile, now in his eighties. And after you pass by those two it seems like an exercise in futility, but I went through the other 11 pieces. And in those cases it generally means cooperation. And when Janice Santos first learned about the heist, she had an immediate intuition about who that was. Investigating further into Reissfelder, you discover that he died within a year after the heist of suspicious acute cocaine poisoning. And, you know, just painted this picture of this, you know, real all-American kid, you know, somebody who was like really going places. Ive seen the painting. . I found receipts. He has kept his wife and children's identities a secret until now. Learn more about Sports. You don't even have to be a diehard Seinfeld fan to know how George's fiancee Susan died in season seven: Licking the toxic glue on the cheap wedding envelopes George had purchased . And why were the Boston FBI agents who arrested him so convinced that he knew something about the Gardner heist, they offered him a get out of jail free card to talk? And when these two men met, the lucky one was young and handsome and had also, it is alleged, gotten away with murder. 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. HORAN: Just not places like TRC Auto Electric. Then, just days before the trial was set to start in late 1995: SIKELLIS: Charlie Pappas was shot and killed on Thanksgiving eve. Mr. DiMuzio, who was shot to . Led by the convicted criminal, Carmello Merlino, these men are among the top suspects of the Gardner art heist examined in This Is A Robbery. Im truly struck by how earnest he and his entire family have been, Amore said. I know I saw it in his possession, said Reissfelder. Lived In Milford NH. She looks submissive. It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. Robert Sikellis is the former assistant attorney general for Massachusetts who spent years in the 1990s trying to put David Turner behind bars for those crimes. HORAN: And while he was in Florida, three days before the heist, Turner spent six-hundred-and-forty-five dollars and one cent in a spy supply store. Multiple law-enforcement sources here have told Breitbart News that the two career criminals who committed the historic crime were Kerry's client, George Reissfelder, and a local thug named Lenny DiMuzio. Reissfelder, who bore a remarkable resemblance to the sketch drawn of one of the thieves, died of a cocaine overdose in July 1991. Reissfelder spent nearly a third of his life in prisons before authorities finally cleared him of a murder charge and let him go free in 1982. A prosecutor dubbed him the Teflon gangster of the South Shore.. But as he began his new life, Reissfelder said he always had faith that the system that wrongly convicted him would release him. I remember his reaction the first time I asked him to look at the missing art and witnessed firsthand how genuine his reaction was to Chez Tortoni. . 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. According to both men, Reissfelder immediately recognized the Manet painting, which depicts a formally dressed man sitting at a table outside the Tortoni cafe in Paris. And I noticed that the release date had changed. Amore reached out to that person, and after a long delay came the response: Yes, theyd seen it in the apartment. BLANDING: When I was a staff writer at Boston Magazine, I received a letter from a prisoner. HORAN: I guess I wonder-- Did you guys fall in love when, when he was in prison? Updates: 13 years after the theft . Reissfelder died of a cocaine overdose in 1991. George Reissfelder waves to photographers as he arrives at Suffolk Superior Court on Aug. 30, 1982. Anthony Amore told us, his leads havent panned out. Boser typed notes as he listened to Turner on speaker phone. What healways said was, you know, "Give us the paintings and you can go home," you know. TURNER: I've seen memos that they sent directly to, uh, the director of the FBI saying that they believe I was a participant. He worked out all the time. Thats the auto body shop about four miles from the Gardner Museum that doubled as an underworld nerve center. He spent time with underworld figures from the mid-1980s until his death, and was a free man at the time of the theft, state and federal documents and witnesses say. George Reissfelder was found dead in his apartment of cocaine poisoning after Merlino told firefighters that he hadnt heard from his friend in several days. One of them was born lucky. They had listening devices that could pick up two-way radios. At school in a suburb of Boston, Turner had been a standout three-season athlete. That man, Robert Beauchamp, claimed that his former cell mate -- a man named George Reissfelder -- told him way back in 1990 that he had taken part in the heist. Read more on the Gardner heist fromThe ARTery. David A. Turner was considered a suspect in the Gardner heist early on in the investigation. Where was he? He believes his brother would not have associated with the likes of Merlino if he had been compensated by the state for his wrongful imprisonment. He has even accompanied federal agents on the numerous searches of homes and other properties. And I looked at the Bureau of Prisons' website, which shows a release date. HORAN:And running through this story, Boser says, is a tale of two cities. I will go after your-- I'll go after your family." House Session Summary - Votes 150-3 To Send Senate $1.1B Tax Relief Bill State House News Service 4/13/23 4:53 PM. HORAN:And someone who moved between those worlds and settled in the latter is David Turner. One of them was born lucky. She finally managed it in 1989. SIKELLIS: And unfortunately, by the time we sensed any connection to the Gardner Museum, Pappas was dead. Thats because Turner was one of the men, alongside Carmello Merlino, arrested in that early morning Loomis-Fargo vault sting on TRC Auto Electric. And in my mind, you know, it was-- it was a form of bragging, right? And seemed wholly uninterested and unconcerned with what was going on around him although he was not-- not-- not a dumb person, that's for sure. You make a note in your casebook, and go back to reading the witness statements and looking at the suspect sketches. Several years later, Mr. Kelly and Mr. Amore said, informants drew their attention to two associates of Mr. Merlino, George A. Reissfelder and Leonard V. DiMuzio. Composite at left shows digitally aged rendering of one of the thieves. In 1990, two men stole 13 works of art valued at approximately $500 million dollars from a Boston Museum. Pappas himself is also a person of interest in the Gardner case see Meet the Suspects for April 6. When law enforcement couldnt locate Reissfelder, a local mobster told the cops to try his residence again. He's in a tough position, right? RODOLICO: In the late 1980s, David Turner and George Reissfelders lives in crime converged. They were never able to pin Turner to the crime, however. At right is photo illustration of the late George A. Reissfelder in a police hat.
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