And so I see Warren go back.. . We told B.J. computers in the Lexington field office. Limited means forced my creativity into new areas. In early 2006, they began serving their sentences in federal prison, with no possibility for parole. 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. In terms of the dollar amount involved and the extraordinary circumstances, the theft was one of the most significant in its history. Spencer was arrested in a simultaneous raid on his dorm room at Transy. He covered his tracks by using public phones and campus computers. 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. Bam. At only $200 a month, the price was right, as Warren was broke after having shut down his and Spencer's fake-ID business and dropping out of U.K. for the semester to focus full-time on the heist. A few minutes later, a short, dark-haired young man, also dressed in a winter coat, cap, and gloves, entered the library. 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. 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. Amid safety concerns, and anxiety over the fate of a $200 million movie. Because this is so much bigger than anything weve done before, Eric says. Theyre all slim and dressed identically in cheap sneakers and a khaki uniform emblazoned with their incarceration numbers, and all have hair down to their shoulders. The F.B.I. Bam. agents were sitting behind them the whole time, listening to their every word. Spencer assembled a small wardrobe of fake beards, gray wigs, and costume glue. (Throughout the interviews with the three, it became clear that Chas was the odd man out among the group. It had been agreed that Warren, with his smooth talk, and Spencer, with his artistic knowledge, would go to the meeting. Barry described himself as an older man with a long ponytail and said hed be wearing a green scarf. 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. That night Chas snapped, they say, fearing the Christies book appraisalthe Jesus bolt holding Warrens entire heist plan togetherwas in danger of falling through. He was also less cordial and more agitated in person, asking Gooch soon after arriving if he could invite a friend along to see the books. My world view actually expanded. 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. As they ran, they stumbled again into Chas, who had returned in another car as promised, just in time to save them and drive Eric to U.K. for his tennis-class exam. Warren called me one night and he's like, We need to get together. So we would see parts like that and we would be Oh, this is just like us. Little did the three know that F.B.I. 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. Theyre one of Hollywoods brightest starsand most troubled actors. So we go back down to the bottom floor just to get away from her. you know, it's. it was. Spencer elected not to consider his consequent incarceration as the loss of his best years, but rather sought to salvage his fledgling artist career by utilising his time to develop his practice and to consider new methods and media. After four years in New Jersey I was released back to Lexington where I lived with my parents and continued to paint. He loved that it had been made the screen saver on the F.B.I.s computers. The contact, who identified himself only as Barry, stipulated that Warren had to bring $500 in good-faith money. I was in interaction with people from nearly every country in the Americas, he reflected on the time spent between prisons in Kentucky and Texas. into a perfect parking space and watched as Eric and Warren entered the library. When she asked for contact information, Spencer gave her his cell-phone number. Spencer assembled his outfit with even greater care. He scored a joint before checking into a hole-in-the-wall and falling asleep. He said, You do that and you are free then to give them to us when you can. O.K., great. Faced with overwhelming evidence, they all eventually confessed. Warren sectioned off a bedroom by hanging bedsheets from the rafters and furnished it with an old mattress and a tangerine easy chair he had picked up from Goodwill. and having to sign a fucking book. By hitting the ball back into Warrens 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. and Lexington police put the pair under surveillance. We did the robbery as a way to escape, Eric says. When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. In all my art classes I was the only guyin with a bunch of girls who didn't have any idea what they wanted to do. Though she couldnt recall much else about her assailants, one odd detail stood out. 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. The minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky, 125 miles from Lexington, houses approximately 1,200 inmates in multi-story cellblocks encircled by concentric layers of razor-topped fencing and fortified guard towers. The L.P.D. Warren and Chas left the other two and staggered to the nearby China Club, a tacky West Side nightclub, which they knew about from the famous Rick James episode of Chappelles Show. Spencer assembled his outfit with even greater care. And I pledged a fraternity, but I really didn't get into that too much. Warren had run up the side of the hill and frantically ran off. Eric had propped the folios on the steps with his foot when the librarian appeared at the top of the stairs, beside herself with rage after finding Gooch hog-tied in the Rare Book Room. The guys hung out together when they could, with Warren frequently conjuring up fantasiesthrough billowing clouds of marijuana smokeof post-heist life for them in the Mediterranean, complete with sleek catamarans and topless women. The minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution in Ashland, Kentucky, 125 miles from Lexington, houses approximately 1,200 inmates in multi-story cellblocks encircled by concentric layers of razor-topped fencing and fortified guard towers. The others spent time in the library, too, taking notes on staff routines and viable escape routes. A witness had written down a license-plate number, but it was way off. Over the phone and by e-mail, Beckman had asked to view, among other items, a first edition of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species and four double-size folios of John James Audubon's Birds of America. By early November the boys were selling fake IDs at a hundred dollars apiece, and had apparently branched out into more lucrative identity manipulations. It was hard for us. Phase 2 involves the actual theft, and begins when Spencer takes his position at an upper-floor window of the nearby athletic center, where he will be on lookout. Far from being social outcasts, they had been popular athletes, and two were on some form of college scholarship. Chas turned the G.T.A.V. The L.P.D. opens the door for me and Im just like, Holy shit. I quickly came up with some fake name and started walking in and Im like, Oh, shit, this is gonna happen at any moment. So while Im shutting the doors I look back and Warren took her to the ground. 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. The banality of assessments, passing courses for the sake of progression and limited intellectual stimulation meant that Spencers time at university was far removed from his hoped for experience. Although the two hadn't really been in contact in the first few months of school, Warren knew that Spencer's artistic talents would be an asset. We told B.J. I was kind of skeptical, continues Spencer, but the way I rationalized it was: its the biggest auction house. Warren introduced himself as Mr. Williams. Even if we wanted to, they won't let us. As far as they could see, there were only two ways out: either getting away with the crime or getting arrested for it. All four were brought to Lexington police headquarters and individually interrogated by F.B.I. Um. They tried to come up with some link the cops could make between them and the theft, but they couldn't. So I walk off happy, come back to the States, and blow Spencer's mind.. Spencer called himself Mr. Stephens. When they arrived on campus in the replacement G.T.A.V., they couldn't find a parking space anywhere near the library. notified all the airports in the area, dispatched officers to surrounding neighborhoods, and called the F.B.I. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. Because no one would go to Christie's with stolen books to get them appraisedthat's how we did a lot of stuff, like, we would smoke weed directly under the [security] camera on the Transy campus, park a car right underneath it and then smoke for like an hour. So I kind of go, That would be pretty crazy, wouldn't it? He said, Yeah, that would be kind of crazy. I then said, You know, why don't you look into it more and we'll go from there? Just like very unofficial.. If we got away with it, we'd be in Europe living this crazy life thinking we were Ocean's 11 types. I'm not going to lie. He topped off his new living quarters with the last of his worldly belongings: a large-screen television, a DVD player, and a Sony PlayStation. 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. Ad Choices, The untold story of the Transy Book Heist is one part, Donald Trump to Evangelicals: You Cant Break Up With Me Because Im Breaking Up With You First, Reality Is Submerged in Fantasy: The Villages Is a Boomers UtopiaAnd Demographic Time Bomb, Maybe instead of being one among many, [this film] will make me the one, a fresh-faced Rob Lowe told us in 1984. If not, we were going to get caught and it was going to be a crazy story., And now that we've diverted from that path, we feel liberated, Warren tells me, waving his arms around the room. See, we have no choice now but to create something new, someplace else. sent a team to interview Melanie Halloran, who told the agents about her meeting with Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. We will be stronger, better, wiser for going through this together, the three of us. 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. His clumsy attempt to clear his name, in a no-holds-barred interview with BBC, Gabby Petitos Life WithAnd Death ByBrian Laundrie. Having told their parents that they were going on a ski trip to West Virginia, that weekend they loaded the loot into Erics Ford Explorer and took off on the 12-hour drive to New York for their Christies appointment. Abstraction allows me to explore multiple paths of my creative desire. New film American Animals tells the story of one of the most audacious heists in U.S. history when three well off friends Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk and Chas Allen decided to try . notified all the airports in the area, dispatched officers to surrounding neighborhoods, and called the F.B.I. Chas turned the G.T.A.V. Like, they were doing something serious, talking about the heist, going over the plan, and somebody would make a joke. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Slattery was arrested and convicted of one successful and two attempted robberies. Near the boiler he also jerry-rigged a greenhouse for growing marijuana. Eric rented a proper bedroom upstairs, while Spencer moved back into the dorms at Transylvania. And Eric calls to him. Because their campuses were only a mile apart, they assumed they would stay close, but as with most freshmen, their assured identities and easy expectations muddied once they hit campus. believing that they had escaped with next to nothing. a plan to fail spencer reinhard painting Bid on Art by Today's Leading Artists. 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. As a precautionary measure, they left the books in the car. "It's often considered a mistake in the art world to have multiple styles, but I have to go wherever my inspiration takes me. ). The three then take the staff-only elevator down to the bottom floor and escape out the west fire exit. I cant really get into too much specifics, Eric says, but we were doing all kinds of little scams: making fake IDs, making little things here and there. The meeting lasted no more than 15 minutes, but still, it was a turning point because the men explained to Warren a crucial step of selling rare books, stolen or otherwise: appraisal by a legitimate auction house. The fourth, Charles Chas Allen II, had been transferred to a federal medical center in Lexington.) At 11 the next morning, Chas slipped the G.T.A.V. Mass Market Paperback. Gooch agreed to reschedule for 11 the next morning. Once Warren had pulled the cap over Gooch's eyes, the two laid a bedsheet on the ground and began piling on the seven Audubon folios they intended to steal (the four-volume Birds of America plus three volumes from another Audubon series). The Kentucky Theatre 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). Because of the expense, only Warren made the trip, touching down at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport on a Saturday morning in early March 2004. She offered to take his place. I know now that they were my best years, and if I hadnt gone to prison, they would have been lost to temptations of the so-called free world., Shuttling between his familys adopted home in California, Colombia, and Stateside, Reinhard said: The transition for me has been great. Reinhard mentioned a collection of lightly guarded rare books and art at the university library, and the two, while watching Hollywood heist movies, started kicking around the idea of stealing from the $20 million collection. I know the collection is extensive and anything you think I might be interested in seeing, by all means, share, he wrote. It gave me an excellent opportunity to learn Spanish. The reaction to the plan was generally positiveshortly after Thanksgiving, they moved forward. Near the boiler he also jerry-rigged a greenhouse for growing marijuana. Warren went up to the third floor to meet Gooch, while Eric waited downstairs for him to call. 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. Far from being social outcasts, they had been popular athletes, and two were on some form of college scholarship. Both boys were spitting images of Mr. Stephens and Mr. Williams. Afraid to Look - Spencer Reinhard Home / Prints / Afraid to Look Afraid to Look $ 789 Full sized print of acrylic on canvas painting. Once the boys were inside the library, students stared at the ridiculous old-man disguises. None the less, still super stoked Lex Art League accepted 3 of my artworks. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. He covered his tracks by using public phones and campus computers. When Eric let him in on the plan, Chas mocked the three as deluded potheads, he recalls. I was nervous. And that's when I came up. 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?. as we left we were going to make an anonymous phone call so they knew she was up here, Eric continues. (Having seen their fair share of heist movies, they knew how dangerous it was to leave a paper trail.) Spencers life story and his practice are indelibly linked, thus the works he has created are a highly personal meditation on the journey Spencer Reinhard experienced. 's all-time most significant art-theft cases. Afterward, Warren and Spencer briefed the others, and the four went to lunch, where, the boys say, Chas insisted they spend another night in New York and attempt to see Mr. Leckey the next day. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. In early February 2005, the F.B.I. Id heard about them before, but I didnt know anything about them. We weren't, like, hardened criminals, so we kind of had to really put up a front. Warren deepens his voice: How ya doing? That kind of stuff. After an awkward back-and-forth, Warren finally handed the man the $500. The press invariably described them as good boys from good familiesupper-middle-class kids afforded every opportunity, the ones with the most to lose. He looked like he was dressed from a thrift store, Halloran told the agents. possibly taken care of, Spencer tells me. Over the phone and by e-mail, Beckman had asked to view, among other items, a first edition of Charles Darwins On the Origin of Species and four double-size folios of John James Audubons Birds of America. Spencer, feeling increasingly disaffected with school life himself, readily accepted the offer. The other two would wait around the block in the S.U.V. An American Animals coloring book, as well as original drawings Skip to content Spencer Reinhard Home After Audubon Prison Period Abstract Abstract color series Post prison Abstract About Shop Commissions Contact Menu Home After Audubon Prison Period Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain? she remembered the man saying. One evening it occurred to Spencer that they had used the Walter Beckman Yahoo account to contact both Christies and Gooch. I spent two years in FCI Ashland before being transferred to Fort Dix, New Jersey. . 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. We werent, like, hardened criminals, so we kind of had to really put up a front. Warren deepens his voice: How ya doing? That kind of stuff. After an awkward back-and-forth, Warren finally handed the man the $500. They simply ignored him, and the four returned to Lexington. Oct 16, 2018. He was just so unbearable. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Ocean's 12. The Lexington Police Departments commercial-burglary squad was assigned to the case. A painting by Reinhard, a gifted artist, may offer some clues. Well all be . for a second vehicle at a secret location, which, according to Warren's plan, is used to transport team and loot to temporary resting place. After the heist, since it is certain that the stolen books will be entered into art-theft databases within a week, they have to get the books appraised at Christie's in New York immediately. In the early evening, they say they smoked some celebratory Kentucky Bluegrass weed they had stashed away for the occasion. Barry described himself as an older man with a long ponytail and said he'd be wearing a green scarf. In all my art classes I was the only guyin with a bunch of girls who didnt have any idea what they wanted to do. Wedged in among the other houses on Beaumont Avenue, a quiet residential street near the U.K. campus, is a beaten-down yellow cinder-block bungalow, with two bedrooms on the second floor and two on the first. As she was heading toward a display case, Gooch felt a tingling on her right arm and collapsed to the floor. Its often considered a mistake in the art world to have multiple styles, but I have to go wherever my inspiration takes me. With a long, thin face and bleached-blond hair and sideburns, he appeared younger than Gooch had expected. He took a cab to Dam Square, an old hippie hangout in the center of the city he had read about on the Internet. We need to just get over this stuff, Eric tells me, explaining how Warren re-entered his life after their falling-out the previous semester. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldnt be able to pull it off alone. 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. We can never go back if we wanted toI would rather have not been busted, but all I can say is it feels right in here, and before, in college, it just never did., I remember talking to Eric and Warren one day and I was like, So what, they're going to put us in jail, says Spencer. It was just funny because we've been in a lot of places that they've been, Eric says. If we got away with it, wed be in Europe living this crazy life thinking we were Oceans 11 types. The other was short and quiet, wearing a yellow jacket two sizes too large and a matching scarf. American painter Spencer Reinhard is loving the new art he is diligently producing. It was just funny because weve been in a lot of places that theyve been, Eric says. . because she wanted a new Range Rover, like, what? I was surprised he didn't.. And I pledged a fraternity, but I really didnt get into that too much. So we go back to the guy in Lexington and we say, Listen, we want to go somewhere, we want to go out of the country, and we need documentation, Warren explains. The meeting was scheduled for the next morning on the southern edge of Central Park near the Plaza Hotel. Warren and Eric got out of the G.T.A.V. 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. That was the plan. Spencer drives me out to Lexington [Blue Grass Airport] on a Friday. The phone number was registered to a Gary Reinhard of Lexington, Kentucky. Eric rented a proper bedroom upstairs, while Spencer moved back into the dorms at Transylvania. During their sentencing hearing, in December 2005, the federal prosecutor asked for 11 to 14 years each for Eric, Chas, and Spencer, and 14 to 17 years for Warren, deeming him the leader, organizer, and recruiter.
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