Writing from walter.beckman@yahoo.com, Warren sent B. J. Gooch an e-mail confirming Beckmans December 16 appointment at the Rare Book Room to view the Audubons and a few other items. Warren called Gooch back to change Walter Beckmans appointment to three P.M. On the morning of December 16, Warrens carefully scripted plan began to unravel almost immediately. (Throughout the interviews with the three, it became clear that Chas was the odd man out among the group. Even if we wanted to, they won't let us. And then they came up with the issue of getting these appraised. Shortly thereafter he was introduced to a Lexington Catholic alumnus who was making an easy living in identity theft. Chas turned the G.T.A.V. Phase 1 begins at the bungalow when all four get into what Warren designated the G.T.A.V., or the Go-to-and-Away-Vehicle, all disguised as old men. Then, everything becomes meta. It was definitely a terrifying thing. When the four boys were arrested the news was met with disbelief, as none of them had been in any serious trouble before. What becomes apparent, as first faintly and then irreversibly, is the painting as a negative apotheosis of color and form, which Reinhardt defended himself against. It was just funny because we've been in a lot of places that they've been, Eric says. The phone number was registered to a Gary Reinhard of Lexington, Kentucky. Its great to be the inspiration for this project., 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. We figured, All right, well, now we just got what we thought would be impossible possibly taken care of, Spencer tells me. Still shaken from her ordeal, Gooch, in her 50s, told police that shortly after entering the Rare Book Room with the two men she had been struck on the arm with a Taserlike weapon, her hands and feet were bound with zip ties, and a wool cap was pulled over her eyes. They also did considerable research on the Internet, using such key terms as auction house appraisals, stun guns, and Swiss bank accounts. For inspiration, they watched heist movies like Oceans 11 and Snatch. 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. For one, its cheaper, and this allowed me to work less and spend more time with my young daughter. Warren and Spencer readied themselves early without waking the others, silently showering, shaving, and putting the finishing touches on their outfits. They take you in the Special Collections and show you these books, Spencer remembers, including Transy's 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. We did the robbery as a way to escape, Eric says. She agreed. His work and practice demonstrates not only the redemptive power of art but the struggle of all artists to articulate and convey their voice and message in an increasingly noisy and distracted world. Phase 2 ends when the loot is loaded into the G.T.A.V. See, we have no choice now but to create something new, someplace else. We're going to need more people, Warren remembers thinking. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. They were 20 steps ahead [of the librarian]. Buried in the files was a series of e-mails to Christie's in New York. 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?. Suddenly without Eric's mock-ups, software, and equipment, Warren thought of Spencer. The F.B.I. We told B.J. In fact, wedged in their backpacks was nearly three-quarters of a million dollars worth of books and manuscripts: an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection ($25,000), an illuminated manuscript from 1425 ($200,000), a set of the two-volume 15th-century horticultural masterpiece entitled Hortus Sanitatis ($450,000), 20 original Audubon pencil drawings ($50,000), and Audubons A Synopsis of the Birds of North America ($10,000). Like if we ever get caught, we're talking about international issues, way past interstate commerce or whatever the hell it is.. The ground floor quickly filled with shouting cops, screaming young women, and a few dazed men in boxer shorts. After four years in New Jersey I was released back to Lexington where I lived with my parents and continued to paint. Gooch agreed to reschedule for 11 the next morning. He was visibly unnerved, Warren remembers. Because this is so much bigger than anything weve done before, Eric says. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. I developed techniques that no one that I know of has done. Calculated, mathematical, loose, painterly, spontaneous, 2021 Spencer Reinhard all rights reserved, Please send me the price list, I am interested in purchasing an original Reinhard. Warren was already busily working out the problem, returning for advice to his underworld contact: What if we had some artwork that we wanted to sell? Warren remembers asking him. If not, we were going to get caught and it was going to be a crazy story., And now that weve diverted from that path, we feel liberated, Warren tells me, waving his arms around the room. In fact, wedged in their backpacks was nearly three-quarters of a million dollars' worth of books and manuscripts: an 1859 first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection ($25,000), an illuminated manuscript from 1425 ($200,000), a set of the two-volume 15th-century horticultural masterpiece entitled Hortus Sanitatis ($450,000), 20 original Audubon pencil drawings ($50,000), and Audubon's A Synopsis of the Birds of North America ($10,000). In early 2006, they began serving their sentences in federal prison, with no possibility for parole. In early February 2005, the F.B.I. When an agent called, he got a voice-mail recording, This is Spence. The other two would wait around the block in the S.U.V. Once safely back in Lexington, the two created a Yahoo account and sent off the e-mail in which they claimed to have unspecified rare books in their possession, using the name Terry, as instructed. A female detective went undercover as a Transy student, tailing Spencer while a team staked out the yellow bungalow. With each taking one end of the Audubons, they made their way to the staff-only elevator. 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. 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. The first call went out to the National Crime Information Center, alerting law enforcement to be on the lookout for a gray minivan with temporary plates, the description of a vehicle seen screeching away from the library. Four students stole priceless books from Transylvania University. Lifting a technique straight from the film Reservoir Dogs, Warren assigned code names based on color: Mr. Green (Spencer), Mr. Yellow (Warren), and Mr. Black (Eric)as in the film, emotions turned testy when he assigned Mr. 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. (The librarian who chased them out of the library did tell police the correct total of four thieves, even though she had seen only three.) Improvising on the plan, he kicked Eric and Warren out on the street, believing three men in a gray minivan would draw too much attention. Warren called Gooch back to change Walter Beckman's appointment to three P.M. On the morning of December 16, Warren's carefully scripted plan began to unravel almost immediately. Even if they did steal the books, for example, how would they ever sell them? Bam. He then explains: "And as for the boy, his parents were believers, and we feared that he would overburden them by transgression and disbelief. It was very punishing, that first couple of months in college. Around Halloween, Warren drafted a working plan, which he presented to the other three in the basement. (Because Spencer was a Transy student, he risked being recognized in the library.) This is the story you didnt get from the film. Spencer was arrested in a simultaneous raid on his dorm room at Transy. During a meeting in the basement, Warren convinced the other two that they were going to need a fourth, principally to help haul the nearly 250 pounds in Audubon folios out of the library. When I get up there, B.J. Phase 3 is the escape, which involves switching the G.T.A.V. 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. agents poured in over the wreckage. Returning five minutes later with a rolling red suitcase in tow, Spencer opened it on the conference table. [This librarian] doesnt know what were carrying, but shes like, Where did these kids come from? Eric says. A female detective went undercover as a Transy student, tailing Spencer while a team staked out the yellow bungalow. Believe me, you haven't heard the last of us yet.. Churchill's statement can be agreed with. It was hard for us. 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. In a duffel bag by his bed an F.B.I. In his talk, Spencer speaks to how he found a unique, unexpected sense of freedom and honesty in his art, not constrained by societal influences or monetary pressures. 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. 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. Chas promised to return to pick them up in another car after dropping the minivan off at his mom's house. I get the call on the cell phone. She described one of the young men as about six feet tall, with bleached-blond hair, well dressed in a nice suit, and very talkative. Before rendering her decision, the judge made preliminary findings that each of the boys was equally culpable, that the value of the books stolen would include only those physically removed from the building, and although Gooch suffered no bodily injury, the stun pen was in fact a dangerous weapon. Chas cursed Warren as an incompetent, and condemned the other two as burnouts, demanding that the three figure out a way to get the books appraised so they could move on to the next phase of the plan. He also didnt have photos, photocopies, documentation, or even the slightest ability to intelligently discuss the books. The others spent time in the library, too, taking notes on staff routines and viable escape routes. All rights reserved. I'm expecting when I get up there it's going to be taken care of and I'm just going to start lifting books. In terms of the dollar amount involved and the extraordinary circumstances, the theft was one of the most significant in its history. The books were much heavier than the boys had projected, and the pair could handle only three at a time. In fact, they all tell me that as the planning picked up in the months before the heist, the three of them came to believe that it was their best and perhaps last chance to create a viable life for themselves after college. That afternoon they worked their way back uptown, to scope out Christies steel-and-glass headquarters before their Tuesday appointment. 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. That's what we were doing, kind of living this little Matchstick Men, college kind of life.. . The press invariably described them as good boys from good familiesupper-middle-class kids afforded every opportunity, the ones with the most to lose. Number one on that list was failure to create a business plan. 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