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June 27, 2001

CONTENTS:




- £2.5m Russborough House paintings theft
- £3m art heist is on a hiding to nothing, say gardai
- Raider's gloves may help recover paintings
- Ex-editor charged with theft historical documents
- Authorities say former museum volunteer stole, then sold art
- query: Fire suppression with Halo replacement and impact on collections

£2.5m Russborough House paintings theft

AN armed gang stole two Old Masters worth more than IR£3 million [about £2.5m] from an art collection at Russborough House in Co Wicklow yesterday. Despite intensive police activity it was thought last night that the gang had managed to flee the area despite being on foot. Three masked men burst their way into the house after smashing the front door with a jeep-style vehicle at lunchtime. After grabbing the paintings the men set fire to their getaway vehicle and attempted to hijack a car at gunpoint but its driver refused to give it up. They were last seen running from the scene. The stolen paintings were Thomas Gainsborough's Madame Baccelli, the more valuable of the pair, and Bernardo Belotto's Scene of Florence. Chief Supt Sean Feely said: "They fired a shot in an attempt to hijack a car but the motorist refused to hand over his vehicle. There were people in the house at the time of the robbery but no one was hurt." Mr Feely added: "I would think the paintngs would be impossible to sell because they are so well known." The robbery was a case of history repeating itself for Russborough House, 20 miles from Dublin, which has been the scene of two other major art thefts. In 1974, an IRA gang which included Dr Rose Dugdale, the British heiress, stole 19 paintings, valued at IR£8 million, from Russborough, the home of the late Sir Alfred Beit, a member of the de Beers diamond family, and his wife. The couple were bound and gagged during the raid. The paintings were later found in Co Cork. Dugdale and others involved were jailed. In 1986, a 13-strong gang headed by Martin Cahill, the Dublin crime chief who was later shot dead by the IRA, stole 18 works including some of those taken and recovered in the earlier raid. The paintings taken on that occasion included those by Vermeer, Metsu, Goya, Gainsborough and Rubens. All but three of them turned up over a period of years at a number of locations, including London, Belgium, Holland and Turkey, after apparent unsuccessful attempts to sell them. The Gainsborough stolen yesterday was also taken in the 1986 raid. The Beit collection was made over to the Irish nation and many of the works are still on show at Russborough. Raymond Keaveney, the Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, described the latest theft as "an outrage". The raiders may well face familiar problems in disposing of the two paintings. An art expert in Dublin said: "They are not saleable on the open market. Maybe the thieves are hoping a reward will be offered."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

£3m art heist is on a hiding to nothing, say gardai

SENIOR Garda officers and art experts were baffled last night by the latest art theft at Russborough House estimated to be worth £3m. After the failure of the two previous efforts to ransom or sell off the stolen works on the black market, the odds are against the gang behind yesterday's heist. Director of the National Gallery of Ireland Raymond Keaveney, who described the robbery in Co Wicklow as an outrage, said the two stolen paintings were widely known among collectors and no reputable dealer would handle them. Gardai speculated it was likely that the gang would attempt to sell off the works for a tiny fraction of their real worth. The efforts made by criminal mastermind Martin "The General" Cahill to offload the haul of paintings he took from the home of Sir Alfred and Lady Clementine Beit in May 1986 highlight the problems confronting yesterday's gang. Cahill and his gang made off with a total of 27 paintings but quickly abandoned nine of the less valuable works at the side of Blessington lakes. The rest of the haul, valued at some £20m, became involved in a complex web of tangled negotiations involving loyalist paramilitaries, southern criminals, international crimelords and undercover police.

All but three of the minor paintings were recovered.

In the previous raid in April 1974, Dr Rose Dugdale and her band of republican associates had even less success. They took 19 paintings, valued at £8m, and demanded a £1.5m ransom from the national gallery and the release of the Belfast Price sisters who had been jailed in Britain in connection with the Provisional IRA bombing campaign there. But Dugdale held on to the paintings for less than a fortnight and they were recovered in a cottage in Glandore, Co Cork. Some of yesterday's gang may have links to the Cahill outfit. It could turn out to be significant that the blue Pajero jeep used to ram the front door of Russborough had been stolen earlier in Crumlin the Dublin base from where The General and his associates operated from before Cahill's assassination by the IRA in 1994.
Tom Brady, Security Editor
http://www.unison.ie/

Raider's gloves may help recover paintings

By Kitty Holland
A pair of plastic gloves left behind after the theft of two valuable paintings from Russborough House yesterday may be the key to their recovery, according to gardaí. The two pictures, Madame Baccelli: Dancer by Thomas Gainsborough and View of Florence Looking Towards the Ponte Vecchio by Bernardo Bellotto, were stolen in a three- minute raid on the 18th- century house near Blessington, Co Wicklow.
full story: http://www.ireland.com/

more on this:

http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/archive/27-6-19101-23-45-2.html
http://www.utvinternet.com/news/indepth.asp?id=7770&r=all

Ex-editor charged with theft

By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff, 6/26/2001
A former newspaper editor was charged yesterday with stealing historical documents, some signed by Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson, and Civil War-era valuables from a Fitchburg museum and selling them to collectors.
Malcolm Donahoo, 52, who quit his job as associate editor of the Fitchburg Sentinel & Enterprise last September and moved to Sacramento, was charged with stealing the items from the Fitchburg Historical Society Museum while working there last year as a volunteer. Officials declined to estimate the total value of the stolen items, but one Civil War sword that Donahoo is accused of stealing was worth about $250,000, according to an affidavit by FBI Special Agent Michael G. Wilson. The ceremonial sword that had been presented to Colonel Edwin Upton, a Fitcburg native who served in the Civil War, by soldiers of the 25th Massachusetts Volunteers, remains missing. Donahoo is accused of selling numerous documents, another sword, war medals, and other items to collectors in Belchertown and Manchester, N.H., for $22,000. Some of those items have been recovered. There are documents signed by various US presidents appointing Fitchburg residents to government positions. The documents include some signed by Lincoln, Jefferson, John Hancock, Martin Van Buren, and Grover Cleveland. ''They have a great value historically,'' said Betsy Hannula, executive director of the Fitchburg Historical Society Museum. ''These are unique items to do with Fitchburg people who did some amazing things. They are irreplaceable.'' Donahoo, who pleaded not guilty yesterday in federal court in Worcester, was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond by US District Magistrate Judge Charles B. Swartwood. Fitchburg Attorney John Bosk, who represents Donahoo, declined to comment on the case.
This story ran on page B3 of the Boston Globe on 6/26/2001.
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Authorities say former museum volunteer stole, then sold art

By Heidi B. Perlman, Associated Press, 6/25/2001 19:20
BOSTON (AP) Federal investigators say a longtime newspaperman and former volunteer at the Fitchburg Historical Society Museum stole documents and other items from the facility's collection and then sold them for his own profit. Former Fitchburg resident Malcolm Donahoo, 52, snatched documents signed by Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Daniel Webster and Benjamin Franklin, then sold them to a New Hampshire man for more than $15,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. ''My only hope is that we will retrieve everything at the conclusion of this whole process,'' said Betsy Hannula, executive director of the museum. ''This has never happened to me before.'' Donahoo, who now lives in Sacramento, Calif., surrendered to authorities on Monday. He was charged with the interstate transportation of stolen property, and the theft and sale of the documents. He was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond and will be back in court in July. Attorney John Bosk, who is representing Donahoo, said his client only surrendered to avoid going to prison. ''He has not been indicted yet,'' he said. ''At this point all we have is the government making an accusation. So we shall see what we find in discovery.'' A longtime Fitchburg resident, Donahoo is a former news editor at the city's Sentinel & Enterprise newspaper. He volunteered at the museum for just four months, from April until July 2000, while he was working as an associate night editor at the newspaper. According to managing editor Jim Chiavelli, Donahoo suddenly resigned in early September, saying he was moving to California to tend to a sick relative. He had been employed by the paper on and off for more than three decades. Hannula first reported items missing from her collection to authorities in early August, and Donahoo was questioned on August 15. According to the investigators' affidavit, the first item Hannula noticed missing was a ceremonial sword, donated by the family of Col. Edwin Upton, that had stored in the museum's vault. She told investigators at the time that Donahoo was the only volunteer who had recently had access to the museum's vault, and had been recently left alone in the museum when she left to run errands. When investigators questioned Donahoo at his home on Aug. 15, they found a single shot percussion cap hand gun sitting on the stairwell. The gun was rusted, but had numbers on the side that matched the museum's cataloging system. Authorities returned to his home on Sept. 6 to find Donahoo had quit his job and moved. Investigators went to a shop on the ground floor of his building and noticed an old photograph of the building hanging on the wall that shop owner Mario D'Onfro said had been given to him as a gift from Donahoo. The picture was also part of the museum's collection. In all, authorities say Donahoo stole and either kept or tried to sell dozens of items, including old photos of Civil War soldiers, pilot wings, and handwritten notes from historical figures. Donahoo is due back in Worcester Federal Court on July 13 for a probable cause hearing.

ConsDisList: From: Colin Pearson pearson@scides.canberra.edu.au
Subject:

Fire suppression with Halo replacement

A large cultural institution is considering using the gas fire extinguishing agent FM200 (HCF 227a) to replace Halon 1301 (the system has already been removed). This will be used in a painting store (paintings on vertical mesh racks), works on paper stored in Solander Boxes, and a small objects store (objects in glass-fronted wooden cabinets). A number of concerns have been raised about the possible impact of FM200 on collections. A search in the CoOL archives revealed very little on these problems, the only source being about Halon (which seemed to have similar problems). Here pegboard sheets were used to deflect the gas but allowing gas penetration. When the system was tested moisture condensed on metal pipes and gas discharge nozzles causing them to drip (hopefully not dilute HF acid). In one area it actually started snowing.
Details of experiences as to whether these perceived problems are significant would be much appreciated. I realise that the use of a water micro-mist system may be suggested as an alternative, but for a number of reasons it is currently considered not the best option.
Professor Colin Pearson
Co-director
Cultural Heritage Research Centre
University of Canberra
ACT 2601, Australia
+61 2 6201 2368
Fax: 61 2 6201 5419