Two males broke into the American Museum of Pure Historical past in New York Metropolis and made off with thousands and thousands of {dollars} in gems on this present day in historical past, Oct. 29, 1964.
The theft was the most important jewel heist in U.S. historical past.
Among the many 24 gems stolen by Allan Dale Kuhn, 26, and Jack Roland Murphy (often known as “Murf the Surf”), 27, have been the Star of India, a 563.35 carat sapphire; the DeLong Star Ruby, a 100.32 carat ruby; and the Midnight Star, a black sapphire weighing 116 carats.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, OCTOBER 28, 1886, STATUE OF LIBERTY IS UNVEILED
The Star of India and the Midnight Star are the most important sapphire and black sapphire, respectively. The DeLong Star Ruby is taken into account to be the “world’s most excellent” ruby, notes the Smithsonian Journal.
The heist revealed that safety on the American Museum of Pure Historical past was shockingly lax.
Jack Roland Murphy, who additionally glided by “Murf the Surf,” was sentenced to 3 years in jail for stealing 24 gems from the American Museum of Pure Historical past. (Getty Photographs)
Murphy and Kuhn have been capable of enter the museum after scaling a fence and a hearth escape. As soon as on the hearth escape, the pair tied a rope to a pillar above one of many home windows within the J.P. Morgan Corridor of Gems and Minerals, says Smithsonian Journal.
Utilizing the rope, one of many thieves “swung to an open window and used his ft to decrease the sash,” stated the journal.
“We simply swung in there and took the stuff.”
Their strategies of thievery have been additionally extraordinarily low tech: the 2 used a glass cutter and duct tape to interrupt into three show instances, after which used a squeegee to gather their loot.
They then cut up up and took separate cabs to keep away from suspicion, stated Smithsonian.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, AUGUST 11, 1934, AMERICA’S MOST NOTORIOUS PRISONERS ARRIVE AT ALCATRAZ
“For us, it wasn’t something,” stated Murphy. “We simply swung in there and took the stuff.”
It was later decided that the batteries within the show’s burglar alarms had been useless for months, one thing a geology curator on the museum didn’t even know. Moreover, not one of the home windows had burglar alarm, stated Smithsonian.
The Star of India, left, and the DeLong Star Ruby, heart, on the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals contained in the American Museum of Pure Historical past in New York. The 2 have been among the many 24 gems stolen on Oct. 29, 1964. (Nina Westervelt/Bloomberg by way of Getty Photographs)
What’s extra: the museum had merely stopped locking an in a single day safety guard in with the priceless gems, the journal added.
Regardless of the younger age and legal inexperience of Murphy and Kuhn, they didn’t depart a lot on the scene for investigators to work with. There have been no fingerprints recovered on the show instances, stated the Smithsonian.
They did, nonetheless, fall sufferer to their very own greed, which might result in their arrest.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, AUGUST 23, 1973, A BANK ROBBERY IN SWEDEN LEADS TO ‘STOCKHOLM SYNDROME’
James Walsh, a vice and playing plainclothesman obtained phrase from an informant that Kuhn, Murphy, and getaway automotive driver Roger Frederick Clark had thrown a lavish occasion at a resort not removed from the Pure Historical past Museum.
“I feel I obtained one thing for you,” the informant advised Walsh. “There are three guys upstairs on this place … spending cash like Wild. You’d assume they have been making it with a machine.”
The story of the jewel heist in New York Metropolis was made into the 1975 film “Stay a Little, Steal a Lot.” (LMPC by way of Getty Photographs)
Detectives obtained a search warrant for the resort suite, and there they found marijuana, a ground plan of the museum, and books on gems, stated the Smithsonian.
Clark walked in whereas the police have been looking out the room, and knowledgeable the police that Kuhn and Murphy had fled to Florida.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR LIFESTYLE NEWSLETTER
Kuhn and Murphy have been ultimately captured and arrested — and the three males have been tried for the jewel heist.
The museum considerably upgraded its safety procedures.
In January 1965, among the stolen gems have been recovered from a Miami bus terminal, reported the New York Instances on the time. Among the many recovered gems have been the Star of India, however the DeLong Ruby remained lacking.
The DeLong Ruby would ultimately be recovered in September 1965, after the one who had acquired the gem agreed to return it in alternate for a $25,000 ransom, it was reported on the time.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Clark, Kuhn and Murphy pleaded responsible to their roles within the jewel heist, and the three have been sentenced to 3 years at Rikers Island Correctional Facility in New York on April 6, 1965.
The story of the heist was made into a movie, “Murf the Surf,” which was often known as “Stay a Little, Steal a Lot.”
For extra Way of life articles, go to www.foxnews.com/life-style
The American Museum of Pure Historical past additionally considerably upgraded its safety procedures.
