AN artist used human body parts stolen from the Royal College of
Surgeons to make plaster cast sculptures to exhibit and sell, a court
heard yesterday. He then buried the remains in a field next to Romden
castle, his family's estate in Kent, it was alleged.
When police raided the studio of Anthony-Noel Kelly, 42, a nephew of
the Duke of Norfolk, in Clapham, south London, they found casts of a
head and "various feet", as well as animal moulds, particularly
horses' legs, Southwark Crown Court was told. At the home of an
unsuspecting girlfriend in nearby Brixton, they found human remains
wrapped in plastic bags in the basement and slices of an upper arm in
a Tupperware box.
When they dug up the field next to the castle, where Kelly said he
had buried the body parts, they unearthed a human head and torso,
various limbs and parts of limbs.
Andrew Campbell-Tiech, prosecuting, told the jury that the underlying
and probably undisputed facts of the case were "exceptional, unusual
and macabre". But the case was essentially simple. "It is not about
art or whether what Kelly created was art; it is not about public
outrage." It was about how the body parts were obtained - theft.
Kelly and Niel Lindsay, 25, of Stoke Newington, north London,
formerly a technician at the Royal College of Surgeons, deny stealing
"a number of human anatomical specimens" between 1991 and 1994. Kelly
alone denies handling the remains, knowing or believing them to have
been stolen.
The charges relate to the means both men deliberately took "pursuant
to Kelly's desire to sell his work at the Contemporary Arts Fair - he
did not in fact sell a single piece", Mr Campbell-Tiech said. He
alleged that Lindsay, "an ill-paid technician", was given £400 by
Kelly to smuggle the body parts from the Lincoln's Inn Fields premises
of the Royal College of Surgeons, where they were kept in preserving
fluids in airtight containers for research and demonstration.
Mr Campbell-Tiech said that an investigation began last April after
Kelly exhibited some of his works, which appeared to be casts of parts
of human bodies, at the Contemporary Arts Fair in Islington and
received widespread publicity. Dr Laurence Martin, Her Majesty's
Inspector of Anatomy, who is in charge of the regulation of teaching
hospitals and medical schools, read the articles, saw the photographs
and "realised instantly that these particular works of art could only
have been cast from parts of dead bodies".
He faxed all the medical institutions in the country to find out if
any body parts were missing. Although they said no, he alerted police,
who raided Kelly's studio.
The court was told that the Royal College had given Kelly access to
draw anatomical specimens. It was there he met Lindsay. Mr
Campbell-Tiech said it was clear from a diary which police found that
Kelly had expected their "unwelcome attentions" after the arts fair
and had prepared a cover story to protect Lindsay and claim
responsibility for taking the body parts himself.
But police found Lindsay's initials in the diary. He was arrested
after returning from South Africa, where he had gone after leaving his
job. In interviews with police, both men attacked the college,
claiming that it was "treating parts of human dead bodies in an
inappropriate way". They said it had no right to keep the parts
because they were old and by various Acts of Parliament should have
been buried or cremated after three years.
Lindsay's "barrage of criticism" included claims that management had
instructed staff to take body parts which were no longer needed to the
Imperial Cancer Research Fund incinerator next door.
Before the jury of 10 women and two men was sworn in for the two-week
trial, Judge Geoffrey Rivlin said it would have to see photographs
which were "not absolutely horrific, but they are disturbing". He
offered to excuse anyone who might feel ill. No one took up his offer.
The case continues.
(Daily Telegraph)
NEW YORK -- For more than three hours Friday, Jean Ashton, director of
the rare book and manuscript collection at Columbia University, sat on
the witness stand, pulling on white gloves as she carefully handled
old manuscripts, scrolls and a letter written by George Washington. In
another setting, this might have been a classroom seminar on the
history of bookmaking or early manuscripts. But Ms. Ashton had been
summoned to U.S. District Court in Manhattan to help a judge solve a
modern riddle: What is the proper value of something that is
priceless? The question arose after Daniel Spiegelman pleaded guilty
last year to stealing hundreds of rare and valuable maps and documents
from Columbia's collection. The papers, many of which were destroyed,
lost or sold, were an archival treasure -- original letters of
Washington and Lincoln, rare maps from the 17th century, medieval and
Renaissance manuscripts. Judges once had wide discretion in
determining punishments, but under today's rules of federal
sentencing, the dollar value of stolen property is a critical factor
in determining the length of a prison term. Therefore, when federal
prosecutors and Spiegelman's lawyer negotiated a deal in which he
would plead guilty in the theft of the papers, both sides agreed to
$1.3 million as their value, a figure that was supplied by experts.
Under the sentencing charts, that would produce a prison term of about
two and a half to three years. But in a hearing last year, Judge Lewis
Kaplan surprised both sides when he said he was considering a stiffer
sentence on the ground that $1.3 million did not adequately reflect
the magnitude of the crime. "We are dealing here with unique
historical and scholarly resources," Kaplan said. The crime had hurt
not only Columbia but society at large, he said, in a way that an
ordinary theft of money, which can be repaid, does not. "To sentence
your client purely on the basis of somebody's estimate of what those
manuscripts would have brought at Sotheby's, it seems to me, is to
ignore a serious part of the damage he has done," Kaplan said. Thus
began the judge's unusual journey into the world of scribes and monks,
vellum and gilt. "There is a skin side and a hair side" of every leaf
of parchment, Ms. Ashton explained, as Kaplan came down from the bench
to examine a number of the recovered manuscripts. The judge also
received letters from eight scholars in such subjects as art history
and religion, old manuscripts and Islamic studies, who offered their
views. Simon Schama, the prominent Columbia art and social historian,
wrote to the court: "Such an act has graver implications, I believe,
than a theft of other kinds of property. For in rare book and
manuscript libraries lie the artifacts of our common memory; the
documents by which we can reconstruct the life and culture of our
ancestors, and by so doing understand our kinship with them. To steal
or mutilate such works is not only a violation of that kinship, a form
of tomb robbery, it also inflicts a brutal wound on our remembrance."
But Spiegelman's lawyer, H. Elliot Wales, disagreed that there had
been a significant loss to scholars in the case, or that his client
deserved a stiffer term. He wrote that the stolen materials
represented only a small fraction of the university's collection of
more than 28 million rare manuscripts and 500 rare books. "Multiply
that huge number by the considerable number of great depositories of
rare books and manuscripts in the Western world," he wrote, "and we
now realize that we are dealing with astronomical numbers of books and
manuscripts which have been characterized as 'rare' by our scholars
and librarians." "Within that context," he added, "Spiegelman's theft
appears like but a single star in the vast terrain of the Milky Way,
discernible only to an MIT astronomer, with a Hubble telescope."
Little is known about Spiegelman, a slight man who sat quietly Friday,
with his shoulders hunched over, as he listened to the testimony. He
was arrested in 1995, records show, as he tried to peddle two of the
manuscripts to a dealer in the Netherlands. He was found carrying two
fake U.S. passports, driver's licenses from some Caribbean islands,
and a fake Columbia University student identification. When Spiegelman
was arrested, a Columbia curator identified him from a photograph as
someone who had visited the rare book collection frequently the year
before. Friday, Wales, his lawyer, tried to demonstrate that the loss
to scholars was small because some of the works had been returned, and
the library had copies of others. But after a federal prosecutor,
Katherine Choo, and an FBI agent, Catherine Begley, lugged over heavy
ancient scrolls and documents to Ms. Ashton, she compared them with
the copies, and said there was a big difference. "Most of the
information that is contained in the physical object itself is absent
from the photocopy," she testified about a 15th-century scroll. "The
color, the gilt, the size, the annotations on the side," she said,
were all studied and examined by scholars. Also displayed was a
13th-century textbook on Euclidean geometry; a handwritten letter from
Washington to John Jay, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme
Court, on the day of its opening; a 17th-century atlas from which more
than 250 maps had been removed with a razor, and a late 14th-century
French manuscript, "Roman de la Rose." When Wales asked how many
scholars had wanted to examine the "Roman de la Rose" since the crime,
Ms. Ashton said one person had called every few months. "So, there's
only one scholar," Wales retorted, suggesting that low demand proved
that there had been no great loss to scholarship. But Ms. Ashton
responded: "The book he writes may go to a million people." Kaplan
said that he would consider the issue, and sentence Spiegelman on
April 24.
(New York Times)
Since two years the art looting of the National Socialists is a public
theme in France as well. Didier Schulman who is responsible for the
Collections in the Centre Pompidou talks about restitutions and the
recess of an exhibition of the Leopold collection.
STANDARD-Correspondent Olga Grimm-Weissert from Paris
Pressurized by publications and investigations by the press the
direction of the 34 state museums in November 1996 organized a
colloquy in the Louvre, listed 2058 objects of art which origin was
not clear and exhibited it in April 1997. The list was not just
printed but also can be looked into via Internet. As a result to the
heirs of famous collectors a Gleize, Kubistische Landschaft (1911)
and a Foujita, Zwei Frauen (1929) had been restituted. Since then
several applications for restitution are considered in the Louvre (u.
a. for a Tiepolo-painting) and in the Centre Pompidou (Picasso,
Frauenkopf mit Hand).
DER STANDARD: You are just preparing an exhibition which contains
paintings from the Leopold collection for the Centre Pompidou?
Schulmann: No, we took a recess.
DER STANDARD: Because of the two Schiele paintings which have been
confiscated in New York?
Schulmann: Yes, because that incident has changed our vision of the
collection Leopold and we prefer to postpone our decision until the
case is clarified. Of course we shall not comment on the case.
DER STANDARD: Which paintings from the Collection Leopold have been
provided for the exhibition?
Schulmann: Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Oskar Kokoschka.
DER STANDARD: Several applications for restitution are passing your
desk. Did you have access to the archive of the Ministery for Foreign
Aiffairs to be able to describe the art work which has been looted
during the Second World War, had been restituted to France from 1945
on and now is in provisional possession of the State Museums, the so
called MNR (Musées nationaux récupération). Many investigators access
was denied because of legal reasons.
Schulmann: Yes.
DER STANDARD: Minister for Cultural Affairs Trautmann announced a
change of law to enable public access to the archives.
Schulmann: Before public traffic can set in there must be a political
and technical dimension. Extensive inventories must be set up and so
on. That will be very challenging.
DER STANDARD: You are accused for not to have searched for the owners
respectively their heirs actively even if their names were written on
the back of the painting. On top of it one gets the impression the
curators consider the collection as it were their personal possession.
For example the cubist painting by Georges Braque, Le Joueur de
guitare from 1914 which comes from the collection of Alphonse Kann,
who was born in Vienna in 1870. Kann grew up in France and died 1948
in England as an immigrant. The painting in unknown roundabout ways
got into the Collection André Lefèvre and was purchased by the Centre
Pompidou in 1981 at about 18 Millionen Schilling
Schulmann: The painting George Braques' has nothing to do with the
MNR. We have to clear whether the museum at the time it bought the
Braque was acting in good faith. We talk about public possession and
if it was restituted it would be for good (irreversible). If one only
then finds information or documents which proof the decision wrong the
citizens rightly could accuse us to have embezzled public cultural
value.
We don't know where the painting was from 1942 until 1948. But we
know that Alphonse Kann lived in London and knew what was happening
in France, especially after autumn 1944 . One cannot exclude that in
his last 4 years of living he was informed about his painting being
on the market. He could have agreed to a change of ownership and even
could have financially participated before the painting went to the
Collection André Lefèvre
In any case the Braque showed up totally official in summer 1948 when
Lefèvre lent it to exhibitions in Freiburg (October 1948), Cleveland
und New York (1949). When the heirs later on got the remainings of the
collection they could have seen that the Braque was missing. By the
way, do you know the community of the heirs gave a donation to the
state?
DER STANDARD: Donations at this time also had been extorted. By the
way, what has happened to the Gleize painting which was restituted to
the Kann-heirs last year?
Schulmann: Already three days after restitution a gallery applied for
an export license. They even did not respect the time of mourning.
1998 DER STANDARD
The American Civil Liberties Union contends in a lawsuit that city
recreation and parks commissioners unlawfully censored an artist when
they voted to cover his portion of a city-commissioned mural and then
prohibited him from painting an alternative design in its place. In
the suit in federal court, ACLU board member and attorney Stephen
Rohde is seeking an injunction against the commission, which would
allow 23-year-old artist Richard Taylor to contribute to a
city-sponsored mural at the oceanside Venice Pavilion. Rohde said at
a news conference Monday that commissioners barred Taylor from the
mural because of the ideological content of his artwork. He said
their action violates his client's 1st Amendment rights and a city
building code prohibiting censorship. "It [is not] up to a handful of
commissioners to dictate that only messages they agree with can go
there," Rohde said. "Sometimes what shows in the mirror is not
attractive, but that is the very nature of art." The mural was
created in August under the direction of the Social and Public Art
Resource Center, a Venice-based arts organization. During the daylong
paint-in, the walls of an outdoor space known as the graffiti pit
were decorated by nearly 100 young artists, including Taylor. The
image Taylor painted included a pig dressed in a blue uniform beating
someone painting graffiti. Police and some Venice residents harshly
criticized the painting as portraying law enforcement unfavorably.
Commissioners said Taylor's design had not received proper
authorization, and in September voted to cover up his art. Assistant
City Atty. Mark Brown would not comment on the suit, which was filed
Thursday, saying that he had not seen a copy. After his original
drawing was covered, Taylor submitted an alternative design, showing
a family fleeing from a threatening boar while a vulture with a
television camera films them from above. The design was also rejected
by the commission, Rohde said. "I guess they don't want tourists on
the boardwalk to know that there are kids in L.A. that have some
problems with the way things are," said Brooke Oliver, an attorney
for the arts organization. "But not letting those kids tell their
story only drives them outside the system. It's not only illegal,
it's unwise."
Copyright Los Angeles Times
THE artist accused of stealing human body parts to make macabre
sculptures wanted to emulate Leonardo da Vinci, a court was told
yesterday.
Introducing him to a colleague at the Royal College of Surgeons, R J
"Bill" Heald, now its senior vice-president, wrote praising
Anthony-Noel Kelly's skill. "He is a very talented young artist,
particularly interested in doing a 20th-century Leonardo da Vinci. He
has spent many, many hours in my operating theatre, in mortuaries and
abattoirs. There is no doubt he is a very serious medical artist of
onsiderable talent."
Dr Chummy Sinnatamby, the RCS's head of anatomy, to whom the letter
was sent, told Southwark Crown Court that he took that to mean Kelly
wanted to draw anatomical sketches from human bodies, like the
Renaissance artist.
Because of Dr Heald's recommendation, he had allowed Kelly more than
usual access to RCS material. Dr Sinnatamby said he would see Kelly
gazing for hours on parts of human bodies on display in the museum and
demonstration rooms. He said his co-operation did not extend to
allowing Kelly to make casts of exhibits. When Kelly asked for
permission to cast a dissected part of a body, "I said no. I recall he
looked disappointed".
The prosecution has alleged that while at the RCS, Kelly, a nephew of
the Duke of Norfolk, became friendly with Niel Lindsay, "an ill-paid
technician", and gave him UKPounds: 400 to smuggle out body parts,
including a head and partial torso, another head, a brain, arms, legs
and pieces of limbs. He made casts from these to exhibit and sell,
before burying the rotting remains in a field near his family's
estate at Romden Castle, Kent. He also stored body parts, including
slices of upper arm, in the basement of a girlfriend, who had no idea
of the contents of the sacks he left.
Kelly, 42, and Lindsay, 25, deny the theft of "a number of human
anatomical specimens" from the RCS between 1991 and 1994. Kelly also
denies handling the stolen remains.
Police were alerted by Dr Laurence Martin, Her Majesty's Inspector of
Anatomy, who had seen a newspaper article on an exhibition of Kelly's
works and recognised "beyond question" that they originated from
dissected human parts. He said: "I was concerned what effect the
revelations might have on members of the public considering donating
their bodies or who had donated their bodies."
The case continues
(Daily Telegraph London)
AUSTRALIA'S aboriginal art industry, already reeling from two major
scandals, has been further shaken by an allegation that one of its
brightest stars, Sakshi Anmatyerre, is in fact an Indian from
Calcutta.
ABC, Australia's state television station, reported that Mr
Anmatyerre had changed his name by deed poll from Farley French in
1992. The artist, who denied the charge to ABC, is now said to be in
India. Mr Anmatyerre, whose works have sold for more than
AUSDollar:15,000 (UKPounds: 6,000), numbers the actor Paul Hogan, the
Sultan of Brunei and members of the Packer media dynasty among his
clients. His work also appears on a range of best-selling postcards.
Last year, the Aborigine artist Eddie Burrup was unmasked as being a
non-indigenous woman called Elizabeth Durack, while the painter
Kathleen Petyarre admitted that her Welsh-born boyfriend had been
responsible for much of her award-winning work.
The aboriginal art industry, which some estimates value at A
USDollar:100 million (UKPounds: 40 million) a year, is now firmly on
the defensive. Leading dealers recently met to discuss a system of
authentication and ratings and nominated the Sydney dealer Adrian
Newstead to act as their spokesman.
Mr Newstead admitted yesterday that, if the allegations about Mr
Anmatyerre are true, his paintings, while no less visually appealing
than they were before, are now "not worth a brass razoo". "This goes
to the heart of why people buy aboriginal art," Mr Newstead conceded.
"Some are buying fine art, some are ethnographers, some want a unique
memento of aboriginal culture. But basically, if you are selling
anything as one thing and it turns out to be another, then you have a
problem - whether it is baked beans or art."
(Daily Telegraph London)
BOSTON (BUSINESS WIRE) - United States Attorney Donald K. Stern;
Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge Barry W. Mawn;
and Quincy Police Chief Thomas Frane announced today that KEVIN P.
GILDEA, 42, who last resided in Quincy, Massachusetts, has been
charged by a federal grand jury in a four-count indictment with the
theft and subsequent concealment of "objects of cultural heritage"
(Counts One and Two) and with theft and subsequent concealment of
government property (Counts Three and Four). The stolen books were
returned today to the Adams National Historic Site by U.S. Attorney
Stern and Special Agent In Charge Mawn. U.S. Attorney Stern stated,
"This was not simply a theft of priceless books. It resulted in a
piece of this nation's history being ripped out of Quincy. John Quincy
Adams would have been pleased with the professionalism and dedication
of the FBI, the Quincy Police Department and the U.S. Park Service in
cracking this case."
Special Agent In Charge Mawn stated, "The safe recovery of these
priceless historical artifacts has been a top priority of my office
since the theft occurred in November 1996. The indictment announced
today is a fitting tribute to the dedication and perserverance of the
investigators and the unwavering cooperation shown by all agencies
involved."
The charges relate to four priceless books that were taken on
November 11, 1996, during a break-in at the Stone Library on the
grounds of the Adams National Historic Site at 135 Adams Street in
Quincy. All were part of John Quincy Adams' personal book collection
and are further described as follows:
(1) an English bible published in 1838 in the United States, which
was given to John Quincy Adams by a group of Mendi tribesmen from
what is now Sierra Leone, West Africa in commemoration of Adams'
representation of the tribesmen before the U.S. Supreme Court in a
case relating to their mutiny while aboard the slave ship Amistad (an
episode that is now the subject of Steven Spielberg's movie
"Amistad");
(2) an English bible published in 1772 in England, which had belonged
to John Quincy Adams' wife;
(3) a Latin bible, published in Germany 1521, which was the oldest
book in John Quincy Adams' collection; and
(4) a book of hand-painted illustrations of fish, published in
Germany in 1785 and printed in French.
"The National Park Service celebrates across the country the safe
return of these American treasures to the Adams National Historic Site
and congratulates the U.S. Attorney's Office on today's indictment,"
said Park Service Superintendent Marianne Peak.
She added, "We applaud the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S.
Attorney's Office, the City of Quincy Police Department Detectives and
the U.S. Park Police for their concerted effort, professionalism and
collaboration in resolving this complex case."
If convicted, GILDEA faces a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment
and a fine of $250,000 for each charged offense. Although he was at
liberty at the time of the theft of the books in November, 1996,
GILDEA is currently serving a five-year term of imprisonment. That
sentence was imposed in March, 1997, for violation of the terms of his
probation in connection with an unrelated federal case.
The investigation leading to the indictment was conducted by the
Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Quincy Police Department,
working in conjunction with National Parks Service employees at the
Adams National Historic Site. The case will be prosecuted by Assistant
U.S. Attorney James F. Lang, of Stern's Major Crimes Unit.
Contact: U.S. Attorney's Office Amy Rindskopf, 617/223-9445
NEW ORLEANS, La. -- They say the dearly departed never rest easy in
New Orleans' crumbling cemeteries, known as "Cities of the Dead." But
these days the dead really must be agitated: Someone is stealing
their stuff. Cast-iron crosses, giant stone urns, statues of angels
and wrought-iron gates are missing. Even iron benches inscribed with
the names of the deceased are disappearing from the Big Easy's
historic graveyards, where mausoleums of the rich and famous crowd up
against tombs of vampire princes and voodoo queens. Cemetery thefts
are occurring at an alarming rate across the nation, preservationists
and historians say. Unsuspecting buyers are spending thousands on
stolen objets d'art to adorn their walls, gardens and swimming-pool
patios. Driving the trend: hot new fashions for gardening and home
decorating. "From gates to urns to gargoyles, it's wonderful
Americans love these things and want to decorate their homes with
them, but they've got to stop stealing them," said Susan Olsen an
official with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Once the
center of their communities 150 years ago, many of the nation's
oldest burial grounds now are neglected, isolated, poorly guarded and
nearly always empty. Often, no one notices immediately whether
something has been stolen. If no report is made, police don't
consider the item stolen. Also, most items in historic cemeteries and
churchyards have never been inventoried, registered or even
photographed -- making it nearly impossible to recover them if
they're stolen. No one knows the extent of the thievery. Only now are
cemetery buffs and historical societies beginning to publicize the
problem. "These are large, open spaces with limited security. It's
easy to go in and steal, and the cemeteries have been afraid to
report it because they feared it would lead to more thefts," Olsen
said. That attitude is changing. Last year, the National Trust placed
the 190-year-old Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C., on its
annual list of America's 11 most endangered historic sites. Known as
"America's Cemetery," Congressional has fallen victim in recent years
to neglect, vandalism and theft. By placing it on the list, the
National Trust hopes to draw more attention to all historic
cemeteries and churchyards in jeopardy. "Fifty years ago, this stuff
was safe because it had no market value," said Randy Cotton,
vice-president of the Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia.
"Today, (cemetery art) is the equivalent of putting your famous oil
painting outside and just waiting for someone to take it."
Nationwide trend
Other examples of plundered graveyards: * In Philadelphia four weeks
ago, a pair of wrought-iron gates, dating to 1784 and worth up to
$40,000, were stolen from the churchyard wall of St. Peter's
Episcopal Church. * In Ridgeland, S.C., in January, a wrought-iron
gate was stolen from a 200-year-old rural graveyard. * In Cambridge,
Mass., last October, seven decorative cast-iron fence gates were
stolen from Mount Auburn Cemetery, which was founded in 1831. * In
Savannah, Ga., in 1994, officials at 140-year-old Bonaventure
Cemetery reported a rash of thefts, including a prized 100-year-old
white marble sundial. Thefts of decorative clay tiles continue.
Copyright 1998, The Detroit News
Christopher G. Ritter had tried his hand at politics and was
well-known as a dealer of antiques. The son of two former district
justices, he had been Bensalem's auditor and a member of its zoning
board; he had even run for the legislature in 1990.
Federal prosecutors say Ritter, 49, of Gilbertsville, Montgomery
County, was something else as well: the brains behind an interstate
theft ring that targeted antiques dealers across the region and used
handcuffs, Mace and stun guns to subdue its victims in their shops and
homes.
A federal grand jury charged Ritter and four others in a 10-count
indictment that describes an interstate robbery scheme, Michael R.
Stiles, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, said
yesterday at a news conference.
This ring was different, prosecutors said. Dealers do not usually
steal from other dealers. And in the usually genteel world of
collectors and dealers, the ring was notable for its violence.
Shopkeepers were robbed in their shops, or in their homes, at
gunpoint, subdued with Mace and stun guns and handcuffed.
In the end, prosecutors said, the ring stole more than $1 million in
antiques and collectibles and jewelry from homes and shops in
Pennsylvania and New Jersey between March and November of last year.
Ritter's attorney, Allan L. Sodomsky of Reading, said last night that
he would not comment until he had had a chance to see the indictment.
The 23-page indictment told of clandestine meetings at a mall and a
flea market, of Ritter divvying up cash proceeds and paying the
alleged conspirators, and of checking out potential victims' homes and
shops from Westtown in Chester County to Sewell in South Jersey.
The indictment said Ritter recruited the group to rob dealers in his
hometown of Gilbertsville; in Sewell, Moorestown and Lambertville,
N.J.; in Westtown and Phoenixville, both in Chester County; and in
Spring Township, Berks County.
Authorities said there may have been other victims.
Last fall, loot from three robberies was seized by police at Ritter's
home. He was charged at the time with receiving stolen property. He
posted a $150,000 bail bond and was released.
One of the items found in Ritter's home was a 1715 Spanish coin
allegedly stolen in May from the New Hanover home of John Evans, a
Montgomery County collector, according to an affidavit filed in the
fall by authorities.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Goldman said the ring had also planned
robberies in Flourtown, Montgomery County; Drexel Hill, Delaware
County; and Yardley, Bucks County. Goldman said those heists were
aborted; he declined to elaborate. Also indicted were Samuel Beto, 37,
of the 900 block of South Park Avenue, Audubon, Montgomery County;
Julia Polka, 43, of the 300 block of Steele Road, Feasterville, Bucks
County; David Blickley, 45, of the 500 Block of Rawhide Drive, Auburn,
Pa.; and Ronald Champney, 47, of the 200 Block of Pierce Street,
Pottsville, Schuylkill County.
Goldman said Blickley was an escapee from the federal prison at
Allenwood in central Pennsylvania, and was arrested in November. He
said he did not know where Blickley was arrested or why he was serving
time in Allenwood.
Champney is in custody on local charges in Schuylkill County, Goldman
said.
The FBI yesterday arrested Ritter and Polka at their respective
homes, and Beto turned himself in to agents in Philadelphia.
Goldman said he requested no bail for Ritter, alleging he was a risk
to flee and a danger to the community. He said U.S. Magistrate Judge
James R. Melinson ordered Ritter held pending a detention hearing
Monday.
Beto and Polka were released on $100,000 recognizance bonds, but Beto
was ordered confined to his home with electronic monitoring.
The indictment alleges that Ritter solicited Blickley, of Schuylkill
County, to recruit a group of people to rob dealers identified by
Ritter.
Among the charges were that Blickley, armed with a drawing of the
shop and a walkie-talkie, both supplied by Ritter, was the lookout
and getaway driver on April 5, 1997, when Champney and Beto went into
the Martin Bros. Auction House in Sewell, N.J.
The indictment said Champney and Beto sprayed the victim with Mace,
and at gunpoint handcuffed the victim. They then stole paintings,
jewelry, World War II memorabilia, and other antiques, valued at a
total of about $30,000.
On May 1, the indictment charged, the trio went to a coin dealer's
home in Gilbertsville, where Champney and Beto sprayed one victim with
Mace and tied him up, then sprayed a second victim and at gunpoint
tied him up, and stole coins worth $80,000.
Eight days later, said prosecutors, the three went to a coin dealer's
Reading home, where they again sprayed the victim with Mace, tied him
up, used a stun gun to shock him, and stole coins valued at $50,000.
Among the other charges: Last July 14, with Blickley acting as lookout
and getaway driver, Beto and Polka punched, sprayed and handcuffed a
coin dealer in Westtown before stealing coins, silver and other items
worth an estimated $130,000 from his home.
Ritter had set that heist in motion by providing the dealer's name,
address and "other information," the indictment said.
According to the charges, Ritter supplied his group with the names,
addresses and other personal information about the victims, and
scouted the locations of the robberies with Blickley.
If convicted, Ritter, Blickley and Beto each face 120 years in jail
and a $2.2 million fine; Champney could get 90 years and a $1.7
million fine; and Polka faces 55 years and a $1 million fine.
All were charged under federal robbery statutes involving interstate
commerce, including conspiracy, robbery and interstate transportation
of stolen property.
Antiques and collectibles can be turned into cash easily, said Terry
Kovel, who with her husband, Ralph, has written about 70 books on
antiques and collectibles and puts out a national newsletter.
"It's very unusual and surprising for a dealer to be involved in
something like this," said Kovel, of Cleveland.
Ritter's parents, Christopher and Catherine Ritter, have both served
as district justices in Bensalem Township. The younger Ritter served
on Bensalem's Zoning Hearing Board between 1983 and 1989 and was the
township's auditor between 1978 and 1983. He ran unsuccessfully in the
1990 Republican primary for a seat in the state House.
Linda Kelly McDowell, a Lambertville, N.J., antiques dealer said
Ritter was a regular visitor to her shop before she was robbed last
summer of rings, bracelets and other items worth an estimated
$300,000. She has recovered some of her merchandise, some of which was
found in Ritter's home in October, Douglass Township police said.
Also, in October she flew to Michigan to confiscate $16,000 worth of
the items stolen last summer -- from a Michigan dealer who had bought
them not knowing they were stolen.
McDowell said that before the theft, Ritter had sometimes called to
ask when he could stop by and show her some antique items.
"He changed our lives forever," she said yesterday. "I hope that
justice is served and society forces him to pay for this crime."
Inquirer staff writers Larry King and Jere Downs contributed to this
article.
1998 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.
AMSTERDAM, March 26 (Reuters) - The Dutch government on Thursday
declined to comment on reports the heirs of a Jewish art dealer forced
to flee the country during World War Two planned to seek legal damages
over paintings sold to Nazi occupiers.
The heirs of Jacques Goudstikker, whose multi-million guilder
(dollars) art collection was bought for a song by occupying Nazis in
1940, told Dutch daily De Volkskrant they would take the government to
court after it turned down their claim for 150 paintings now hanging
in Dutch museums.
``We have not received a summons and therefore we have no comment,''
a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Culture said.
Goudstikker's heirs in the United States, the Von Sahers, lodged
their claim with the Dutch state in January, disputing a settlement
made in 1952 with the art dealer's widow.
According to the Von Sahers, the post-war deal made with Desi
Goudstikker took advantage of her weak emotional and financial
position.
But Dutch Culture Minister Aad Nuis said late on Wednesday he was
rejecting the claim.
Documents and correspondence relating to the affair showed that after
the war Desi Goudstikker had taken a ``conscious and well-considered''
decision against seeking restitution for her legal rights with regard
to the paintings, Nuis said.
By contrast, she had successfully pursued a claim for restitution of
other assets of her husband's company which had been sold illegally to
a German banker.
``One of the most striking factors in this case is the high degree of
selection in requesting legal restitution,'' Nuis said in a statement.
``All the documents I have seen show that at every turn extremely
careful consideration was given to whether -- and, if so, to what
degree -- use should be made of the possibility for legal
restitution.''
The ministry said that after the war Goudstikker's widow had been
given a choice between recovering the family assets through legal
proceedings for the restitution of legal rights or keeping the money
paid for them while renouncing ownership.
It said archive material on the case showed expert advisers had
counselled Desi to renounce ownership of Flemish Old Masters and
Italian renaissance paintings sold to Field Marshall Hermann Goering
and keep what she had left of the two million guilder ($970,000) sale
price.
This was because the Goering paintings had not all been recovered and
some of those that had appeared badly damaged.
The ministry cited a 1950 memo to Desi from her lawyer urging her to
renounce ownership of the Goering paintings.
Documents further showed the Dutch state had accepted the partial
claim for legal restitution under protest, it added.
But the ministry said it would reconsider any claim if any new
substantive information came to light.
``The state considers each claim on its individual merits,'' it said.
It said the Dutch government had recently returned two 17th century
Old Masters to the heirs of their wartime owners in response to
claims. ($ - 2.058 Dutch Guilders)
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited.
ONE of the world's greatest "lost pictures" - a 16th-century painting
of Christ with an extraordinary history - has been discovered in a
bank vault 130 years after it was apparently stolen by Queen
Victoria's librarian.
The Kwer'ata Re'esu (The Striking of the Head) is a European painting
but was for three centuries the most important icon of the Ethiopian
Imperial dynasty. It was looted by a British expeditionary force sent
to punish Ethiopia in 1868 and vanished.
The artist is unknown and the date uncertain but the significance of
the 10in by 12in work on an oak panel to the Orthodox Christians of
Ethiopia was immense. Its loss has been compared to Britain losing the
Crown Jewels but until now, although there have been fleeting glimpses
of the picture, attempts to crack one of the great art mysteries of
the century have failed.
Next month, however, the art historian Martin Bailey will reveal in
The Art Newspaper that he has found it in a Portuguese bank vault. Our
photograph, taken by him a few weeks ago, is only the second known
picture of the work. The other was taken in 1905, in black and white.
Mr Bailey found the painting wrapped in a copy of the London Evening
News dated 20 April, 1950.
He said yesterday that he was "trembling with excitement" when he was
shown it and he described its condition as "remarkable considering its
many vicissitudes". It is likely that the discovery will revive
attempts by Ethiopia to reclaim the painting and Mr Bailey said he was
allowed to see it only on condition that he did not reveal the owner's
identity.
The Kwer'ata Re'esu shows Christ after his trial before he was led
away to be crucified. From the 1905 photograph, art historians have
dated the work to around 1520 but are divided over whether it was by a
Flemish or Portuguese artist.
How a European Catholic painting came to occupy such an important
position in a Christian Orthodox African dynasty is a mystery. It is
presumed that it was taken to the country by Portuguese emissaries or
Jesuits in the 16th century. It soon achieved sacred status and was
carried into battle as a talisman. Oaths of allegiance to the Emperors
were sworn in its presence.
In 1744 it was captured in a battle with Sudanese Muslims and was
later returned on payment of a ransom. James Bruce, a British visitor
to Ethiopia in 1768-73 recorded that the "quarat rasou" and other holy
relics had been "only a little profaned by the bloody hands of the
Moors", and that "all Gondar was drunk with joy" on their return. Many
copies were made of it in manuscripts and for altarpieces. In 1700, a
special tent was allocated to protect it in the emperor's camp. When a
fire swept through the camp, according to legend, the flames died down
when they reached the tent.
In the 1862 Emperor Theodorus grew angry when Queen Victoria stalled
plans for an exchange of embassies. The Emperor took the British
consul and other Europeans prisoner. When negotiations for their
release broke down, a British military expedition in 1868 was
despatched under General Napier. Accompanying it was Richard Holmes,
soon to become the Royal Librarian and later to be knighted, but then
the British Museum's Assistant Keeper of Manuscripts. He had a
commission to secure antiquities for the museum.
Theodorus's troops were no match for British weaponry and he made his
last stand at the fortress of Magdala. Lord Napier's men stormed it
and before he could be seized, the Emperor shot himself through the
mouth with a pistol inscribed as a gift from Queen Victoria.
After five years of detective work Mr Bailey now believes that he has
pieced together the rest of the story. He is convinced that Holmes,
who was among the first to reach the Emperor's quarters, stole the
Kwer'ata Re'esu for himself instead of procuring it for the museum.
Other goods looted from Magdala were auctioned a week after the
British seized Magdala and Holmes bought many for the museum. Mr
Bailey believes it possible that Holmes even kept the painting in a
private apartment at Windsor under Queen Victoria's nose.
In August 1872, Yohannes IV, Theodorus's successor, petitioned Queen
Victoria for its return. In November of that year the Foreign Office
contacted the museum for information. Yohannes had also requested the
return of an ancient book of Ethiopian history, also procured by
Holmes. It was agreed to return this but no light was shed on the
Kwer'ata Re'esu.
The painting remained a secret until 1905, a year before Holmes's
retirement as Royal Librarian, when the Burlington magazine carried a
short anonymous article, accompanied by a black and white photograph,
on "A Flemish picture from Abyssinia". Mr Bailey believes it was
written by Holmes or by his nephew, co-editor of the magazine.
Holmes died in 1911 and, six years later, the painting appeared at
Christie's. The seller was anonymous and there was little description
and no photograph in the catalogue. The picture was simply described
as "Bruges School". Mr Bailey has now identified the seller as Evelyn,
Lady Holmes, Sir Richard's widow, and the anonymous buyer as a Martin
Reid of Wimbledon, who paid UKPounds:420.
The painting did not surface again until 1950 when it appeared in a
Christie's catalogue as A Man of Sorrows by A Ysenbrandt. There was no
photograph and no mention of the only mention of its history was a
line in small print saying "King Theodore of Abyssinia 1868/Sir
Richard Holmes KCVO".
The painting did not sell at auction and Mr Bailey, with the help of
Ethiopian specialists has discovered that it was sold privately to a
London dealer for UKPounds:131. He re-sold it for UKPounds:300 to the
Portuguese art historian, Luis Reis Santos, who knew its value
because he had written an article on it in 1941. In 1961, Sir Denis
Wright, British ambassador to Addis Ababa, inquired of the Portuguese
whether the picture could be returned. His approaches came to
nothing. Realising where the painting was, Mr Bailey began to contact
Portuguese museum curators. Many had never heard of it but one put him
in contact with a relative of the present owner. Mr Bailey contacted
the relative and flew to Portugal a few weeks ago. "It was brought to
me from a bank vault. It was a very emotional moment when I lifted it
up," he said yesterday.
On the back he discovered the key to the mystery - an inscription
written in ink on silk backing which said: "R R Holmes/FSA/Magdala 13
April 1868/taken from the palace of Theodorus." This proved, said Mr
Bailey, that Holmes had stolen the painting on the day Magdala was
stormed, not bought officially at the auction of the spoils. Mr Bailey
said it was impossible to put a price on it, adding that he hoped his
discovery would mean that art historians might now be able to settle
where, when and by whom it was painted.
In next month's The Art Newspaper, he writes: "The Ethiopians will
find it difficult to put up a strong legal argument for ownership, but
on historical grounds, Ethiopia could hardly have a more powerful case
for trying to re-acquire the picture."
A spokesman for the Ethiopian embassy in London said last night that
he had never heard of the painting. "We do not have an inventory of
what was taken by the British."
