The Crime of the Century: How the Brinks Robbers Stole Millions and the Hearts of Boston
The first history in thirty years of Boston's most celebrated heist details the inside story of what was dubbed "the crime of the century" and how the robbery caught the imagination of Boston and the world.
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On January 17, 1950, seven robbers in Halloween masks walked into a counting room of the Brink's armored car garage on Prince Street in Boston and walked out with $2.5 million in cash, checks, and securities. It was the largest robbery in U.S. history to date. Yet not a shot was fired, not a drop of blood was shed. The robbers simply said, "This is a stick-up," before gagging and tying up the guards. Within minutes they escaped into the night with bags stuffed with money, leaving almost no clues behind. For six years, authorities worked to crack the case. Just before the statute of limitations ran out, one of the robbers, who believed he was cheated out of his share, ratted out his comrades. The subsequent trial captivated a city, as details of the caper finally came to light. Yet most of the loot was never found, and over the years Bostonians have speculated on where it went. Even after the case was solved and the culprits were jailed, the Brink's robbery continued to fascinate the public. How did a ragtag group of petty criminals- Irish, Italian, and one Jew-somehow pull off a nearly perfect crime? Hollywood made two movies that portrayed the robbers as working-class heroes. A closer examination of the robbery, however, reveals a darker side. What first appeared to be a daring, bloodless caper turned deadly when the lure of the cash and the fear of imprisonment turned friend against friend. Soon the criminal code of silence was being enforced with the blast of a machine gun. To this day mystery and intrigue surround the Brink's robbery even as it continues to grip the imagination of Boston. The Crime of the Century is a fascinating caper and a portrait of Boston in the postwarera. Boston Globe The petty criminals who robbed the Brink's garage in Boston's North End nearly 60 years ago are among the city's favorite folk heroes. Author Stephanie Schorow, formerly a reporter at the Boston Herald, enlivens her book with new material from police archives and her own hunt for the money still missing.
Introduction viiCleaned Out 1"Biggest Robbery in U.S. History" 9The Investigation Begins 23Meet the Masterminds 45No Detail Left to Chance 69"The Crime of the Century" 87The Noose Tightens 98Breaking Specky 116The Trial of the Century 134Lights, Camera, Robbery 155The Myths 173Does Crime Pay? 184Afterword 199A Brief time Line of the Brink's Robbery 205Acknowledgments 209Notes 211Sources 223Index 229
\ From Barnes & Noble"This is a stick-up." What began with four simple words on January 17, 1950, became the Great Brinks Robbery, the biggest heist in American history. The seven thieves who pulled off the Brinks armored car job in garish Halloween masks left almost no clues; the FBI and Beantown police were reduced to sifting through gangster rumors and other false leads. The Crime of the Century tracks the notorious crime from planning to exposure and beyond.\ \ \ \ \ Boston GlobeThe petty criminals who robbed the Brink's garage in Boston's North End nearly 60 years ago are among the city's favorite folk heroes. Author Stephanie Schorow, formerly a reporter at the Boston Herald, enlivens her book with new material from police archives and her own hunt for the money still missing.\ \
