Unsolved $500 Million Art Heist Gets a Podcast

The theft of 13 paintings from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum still perplexes authorities
By Josh Gardner,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2018 5:30 PM CDT
Infamous Boston Museum Heist Will Get Its Own Podcast
The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in the Fenway neighborhood of Boston.   (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, File)

A famously unsolved art heist will be the subject of a podcast that is sure to be the next big hit among true crime fans. In a statement released Thursday, WBUR and the Boston Globe announced they've teamed up for a series on the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum theft in 1990, when works of art worth an estimated $500 million were stolen in Boston. The enduring mystery 28 years in the making has been given the thorough investigative treatment it deserves, per the joint statement from both media outlets. "Our reporters have spoken to key people who have never before publicly talked. They have seen places and documents that no other reporters have seen before. Their work even led federal authorities to conduct a high-stakes excavation in a residential neighborhood in Florida," said Jane Bowman, Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Partnerships with the Boston Globe.

The first installment of the podcast, dubbed "Last Seen," will be available online and from iTunes. In it, hosts Kelly Horan and Jack Rodolico will start at the scene of the crime, when two men dressed as police officers infiltrated the museum, tied up the guards, and made off with works by masters including Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet and Degas. Per the New York Times, the investigation stretches from Boston to Italy and gives a voice to many of the players, including the guard who let the thieves in that fateful early morning in March. You'll be able to listen to the first in the 10-part series starting Sept. 17 and to subsequent episodes each Monday thereafter. (More isabella stewart gardner museum stories.)

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