The Real Life Ocean's 11
AKA “the heist of the century!”
Mystery mob!!
Who doesn’t love a good heist? The team assembling, the genius plan, the thrilling escape!
This week we dive into one of the largest robberies in history- the stolen diamonds, gold, silver, & other jewelry was valued at more than $100 million. Arrests were made and time was served… but the majority of the stolen diamonds remain unrecovered.
But before we crack open the safe, let’s open the door to this week’s mystery:
A girl was attending her grandmother’s funeral when she met an intriguing man. She spent most of the funeral comforting grieving relatives, and didn’t get a chance to even get the man’s name. Later, when she went to find him, he had already left.
A week later, she murdered her older brother. Why?
Answer: She wanted to see the man from the funeral again, and figured he would be at the cemetery if another family member died.
Now, time to unroll some vault schematics and rappel down a laser filled elevator to one of the greatest thefts of all time!
The Target
I don’t know about you, but for me, the following is best read in George Clooney’s voice from Ocean’s 11 as he talks his squad through that plan:
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre is located in the now infamous Antwerp diamond district. The building has a private security force and 24/7 monitoring. The vault that actually houses the diamonds is two floors beneath the main floor, protected by multiple security mechanisms, including infrared heat sensors, a seismic sensor, Doppler radar, a magnetic field, and finally a lock with 100 million possibilities.
This is all data from the time of the robbery, circa 2003. Most likely the security measures have been changed because of...
The Team
Nicknamed “The School of Turin,” the team of thieves was led by Mr. Leonardo Notarbartolo. The squad consisted of at least four other members (though there were rumors of a mysterious 6th man, “the man behind the plan”). Just like with any good heist team, all of them had their own special alias and skillset:
Speedy: anxious & paranoid, he was a long-time friend of Notarbartolo
The Monster: a tall, muscular man, he was an expert lock picker & mechanic
The Genius: the alarm systems specialist
The King of Keys: besides having the most badass alias, this was an older man described as “one of the best key forgers in the world.”
The Heist
The plan took eighteen months of preparation. Notarbartolo rented an office in the Diamond Centre which gave him access to a safe deposit box located in the vault. Along with his tenant ID card, he gained credibility by posing as an Italian diamond merchant.
And the rest basically played out like the plot of an Oceans 11 film, including (but not limited to): having a getaway car, building a full scale replica of the vault, and using a polyester body shield to hide from the infrared cameras.
Here’s the list of the majority of their plan.
The Fallout
Everything should have gone smoothly except for one thing… Speedy. As the team split, Notarbartolo & Speedy headed to France, planning to burn their evidence once they arrived (as one does.) Overcome with panic at the thought of traveling with such incriminating evidence, Speedy insisted they get rid of it sooner.
The two of them headed into a nearby forest but Speedy suffered such a severe panic attack that he was unable to properly dispose of all the pieces. A local hunter found what he thought was trash and, thinking it was the work of teenagers he had had previous disputes with, he called the police.
They found enough evidence to lead them to Notarbartolo. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison. In an interview after the crime, Notarbartolo claimed that an unidentified diamond merchant had hired them, claiming the robbery was part of an insurance fraud. There was some doubt cast on this story as most of the vault was uninsured at the time.
However, the majority of the diamonds have yet to be recovered. Of the entire team, only the “King of Keys” was never apprehended by the police, nor his true identity found out...
Planning your own heist?
If this one tickled your fancy, here’s some deeper dives you might enjoy:
As always,
Stay ‘spicious
-Andy & Mark
Pssst. Hey! You. Yeah, you, the one still reading. Question: are you a true fan of Mystery and Crime? If so, join our official Mystery Nibbles Facebook group and our official SubReddit. We discuss all the goods: mysteries, crime, and anything ‘spicious.