I was expecting to play soccer quite a lot, but the coach was a completely different person once I got on the team, he tells me. They take you in the Special Collections and show you these books, Spencer remembers, including Transys prized Birds of America, by John James Audubon, a four-volume set of life-size engravings the pioneer wildlife artist completed in London in 1838. As a precautionary measure, they left the books in the car. It was the sense of redemption that I hadn't anticipated. The ground floor quickly filled with shouting cops, screaming young women, and a few dazed men in boxer shorts. With a long, thin face and bleached-blond hair and sideburns, he appeared younger than Gooch had expected. Among them was the 2002 photo from the Lexington Herald-Leader of Spencer and Warren playing soccer. It'll show up on your profile and if approved, on this page. The three then take the staff-only elevator down to the bottom floor and escape out the west fire exit. And so I see Warren go back.. . (Through his attorney, Allen declined to be interviewed.) onto nearby Fourth Street and careened through traffic before stopping a mile farther on, in front of a predominantly black housing project. Warren also ordered four stun guns over the Internet. 's computers. Warren was like, I've talked to these guys. Spencer called himself Mr. Stephens. Built over old tobacco fields in the 80s, they feature ponds with fountains, cookie-cutter brick Colonial houses, street names like Ironbridge Drive and Turnberry Lane, and regulations authorizing penalties for unkempt yards and tacky lawn Santas. When Eric let him in on the plan, Chas mocked the three as deluded potheads, he recalls. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The whole operation would have to be completed by 12:30 P.M., as the boys say Chas needed to return the Dodge Caravan to his mother in time for her to sell it, and Spencer and Eric had to get to their final exams in sociology and tennis, respectively. When Eric let him in on the plan, Chas mocked the three as deluded potheads, he recalls. If we got away with it, wed be in Europe living this crazy life thinking we were Oceans 11 types. 's all-time most significant art-theft cases. She also said that she was so suspicious and put off by the young mens youth and demeanor that she had recommended to her boss that they not pursue the business. [Warrens] like, Come on up, Eric remembers. In the weeks following the book heist, law enforcement followed leads at Transy and reviewed countless hours of security footage from the U.K. computer lab, to which a police technician had traced the e-mail from Walter Beckman to Gooch. The truth is, but for one obvious, big mistakethe trip to Christiesthey probably would have gotten away with it, a Lexington police detective told me. I get the call on the cell phone. As she inspected the items, Halloran dutifully took notes, then asked a few questions regarding their provenance, which Spencer answered as best he could under the circumstances. Faced with overwhelming evidence, they all eventually confessed. It was very punishing, that first couple of months in college. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. Because the boys pleaded guilty, many of the case's crucial details remain unknown even to law enforcement. The books were much heavier than the boys had projected, and the pair could handle only three at a time. I developed techniques that no one that I know of has done. In their senior year the two became local celebrities after a dramatic photo appeared in the Lexington Herald-Leader showing Lexington Catholic star goalkeeper Lipka and Tates Creek forward Reinhard battling midair during a playoff game. (Through his attorney, Allen declined to be interviewed.) Both boys were spitting images of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. So we go back down to the bottom floor just to get away from her. Realizing that the only way out was through the main floor, they took the elevator up once again and carried the books into a back stairwell that led to another exit. For footwear he went with clean white sneakers. 2021 Spencer Reinhard all rights reserved. . By five P.M., Warrenas Beckmanwas back on the phone with Gooch explaining that he had missed his appointment because he had been out of town on business. After high school I chose to attend Transylvania University where I would continue to play soccer and study art. (Throughout the interviews with the three, it became clear that Chas was the odd man out among the group. Warren went up to the third floor to meet Gooch, while Eric waited downstairs for him to call. We figured the more obvious [we were], the less likely [we would be suspected]., As it was already nearing the end of the school year, and there was a lot of planning yet to be done, they agreed to postpone the theft until at least the fall. After a brief discussion they chose Chas Allen, a handsome, clean-cut U.K. business major who had started the lawn-care company with Eric the previous summer. See also Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain? she remembered the man saying. Serving a seven-year prison sentence following his involvement in a notorious heist (portrayed in the film American Animals), Spencer Reinhard was committed to not losing the best years of his life. He turned to his own art, determined to refine his craft and technique. Two weeks into his stay, Reinhard, an ardent ornithologist, whose works draw inspiration from late Dutch-American abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, feels that his greatest artistic asset is his versatility. [Beckman] said, B.J., a nickname her friends and colleagues used for her, she told officers. The day of the heist was to be Thursday, December 16, one of the last days of final examsthe library would be nearly empty. Afterward, they returned to the Hilton for an early night. At only $200 a month, the price was right, as Warren was broke after having shut down his and Spencers fake-ID business and dropping out of U.K. for the semester to focus full-time on the heist. They stopped talking entirely and disbanded. Boom. Each has a different style of facial hairmuttonchops (Lipka), a Fu Manchu (Borsuk), a Tom Selleck (Reinhard)which Lipka informs me they had carefully trimmed for my visit. Spencer, feeling increasingly disaffected with school life himself, readily accepted the offer. 2023 Cond Nast. He said his name was John. By far the most common theory around town was that the heist had been just a frat prank that spun way out of control. As they took their seats in the conference room, Warren explained that he and Mr. Stephens are the sole representatives of Walter Beckman, whom he described as a very private individual from Boston who had recently inherited several valuable rare books and manuscripts. But before long they were put to chase once again, this time by two local thugs. Spencer gives me 500 bucks, in my pocket. As far as they could see, there were only two ways out: either getting away with the crime or getting arrested for it. He was told to look for a bearded, heavyset man in a solid-blue sweater. Chas not only lived in the yellow bungalow but also was a part owner of it with his father, a prominent Lexington real-estate investor. Seeing something in the wayward Warren, the preppy grifter pitched him the idea of selling fake Kentucky driver's licenses in the U.K. dorms. My son was born in January, so its been a busy time and I plan to take full advantage of the freedom I will have in Jamaica, Reinhard stated. And the woman there says, We had a set just like this that we sold four years ago for like $12 million. It could have been eight. agent discovered the stolen books, all undamaged, as well as the five-page typed plan for the heist, an accounting ledger, wigs, instructions for opening a Swiss bank account, and stun guns, which had apparently arrived after the robbery. A week later came a terse reply, telling Terry that, if he wanted to sell something, he was going to have to come in person to Amsterdam, as that is where I do business. Both Spencer and Warren were thrilleduntil they realized it would require traveling with a passport. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldn't be able to pull it off alone. Around Halloween, Warren drafted a working plan, which he presented to the other three in the basement. Forensically examining Instagram accounts, interviews, and police reports, author Kathleen Hale reconstructs their relationship, and ultimately Petitos murder. That night they had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, followed by drinks at the hotel bar, where Warren chummed up to an Iraq veteran, Spencer almost started a brawl after knocking a table full of drinks over, and Eric picked up a middle-aged Brazilian tourist. and having to sign a fucking book. By hitting the ball back into Warren's court, Spencer thought he would keep that thrilling flicker of criminality burning for a bit longer, while fully expecting there to be an insurmountable obstacle somewhere down the road. Ad Choices. We felt bad., Warren and Eric rode the elevator to the basement, but they couldnt find the fire exit. A female detective went undercover as a Transy student, tailing Spencer while a team staked out the yellow bungalow. By one o'clock that afternoon, the 227-year-old liberal-arts college was swarming with campus police, uniformed Lexington Police, plainclothes detectives, and forensic teams, as well as local news crews covering the developing Transy Book Heist, a crime that would one day be listed among the F.B.I. By one oclock that afternoon, the 227-year-old liberal-arts college was swarming with campus police, uniformed Lexington Police, plainclothes detectives, and forensic teams, as well as local news crews covering the developing Transy Book Heist, a crime that would one day be listed among the F.B.I.s all-time most significant art-theft cases. We will be stronger, better, wiser for going through this together, the three of us. If we go in there they're not going to suspect that we stole these. Like many aspiring art students Spencer believed that the academic community he was joining would inspire and enlighten him, exposing him to new experiences and methods. Far from being social outcasts, they had been popular athletes, and two were on some form of college scholarship. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. In between soccer practice, classes, painting, and studying, Spencer drew detailed sketches of the inside of the Special Collections Library and the adjacent Rare Book Room, making several appointments with the Special Collections librarian, Betty Jean Gooch, to scout the premises. The severity of the requested sentences was predicated on the dual propositions that, although the Audubon volumes had never been physically removed from the library, according to the letter of the law they were nonetheless stolenincreasing the monetary value of the crimeand that the Black Cobra Stun Pen used to subdue B. J. Gooch not only inflicted physical harm but was in actuality a dangerous weapon. Worse still for the defendants, B. J. Goochs ordeal had become a cause clbre among librarians, many of whom wrote letters to the judge arguing against leniency. I took my zip ties and I put them around her feet and put them around her arms. It was about at that point that Gooch remembers Warren saying, Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain?. All four were brought to Lexington police headquarters and individually interrogated by F.B.I. In exchange, Barry slipped him an e-mail address with instructions to sign off any communication with the name Terry. Spencer assembled his outfit with even greater care. Because this is so much bigger than anything we've done before.. Cops entered the basement, a dank pit reeking of marijuana, and found Warren sprawled out on a mattress. We told B.J. When they arrived on campus in the replacement G.T.A.V., they couldn't find a parking space anywhere near the library. I still feel like I have a long way to go to reach my full potential, and I think Jamaica will be an integral step in that direction., American visual artist Spencer Reinhard, an artist-in-residence at Blue Macaw in Boscobel, St. Mary, The ornithologist in Spencer Reinhard takes gaze. Eric dropped the books, and he and Warren made a run for it. (Having seen their fair share of heist movies, they knew how dangerous it was to leave a paper trail.) They also noticed a group of people lingering in the Rare Book Room. Warren called me one night and hes like, We need to get together. That was the point all along. Warren made an appraisal appointment at Christies in New York for Walter Beckman, a pseudonym inspired by the soccer star David Beckham. In the morning, Warren says, he left two messages with Leckey's secretary and two more that afternoon. So we get the passport from the dude, plane tickets. At first, we wanted to move to the States as quickly as possible, but we began to see the benefits of living in South America. All rights reserved. Titled A Plan to Fail, it was part of a series he had done on the crime for a local art gallery while out on bond. The meeting ended after 30 minutes, and Ms. Halloran escorted the two out, assuring them that shed be in touch after conferring with her superiors on the best way forward. The press invariably described them as good boys from good familiesupper-middle-class kids afforded every opportunity, the ones with the most to lose. Get the latest chatter, from Kensington Palace and beyond, straight to your inbox. 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