Afterward, they returned to the Hilton for an early night. Even if we wanted to, they won't let us. Faced with overwhelming evidence, they all eventually confessed. The others spent time in the library, too, taking notes on staff routines and viable escape routes. Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain? she remembered the man saying. I was surprised he didn't.. During their sentencing hearing, in December 2005, the federal prosecutor asked for 11 to 14 years each for Eric, Chas, and Spencer, and 14 to 17 years for Warren, deeming him the leader, organizer, and recruiter. The story behind their motiveand how they got caught. In early February 2005, the F.B.I. What becomes apparent, as first faintly and then irreversibly, is the painting as a negative apotheosis of color and form, which Reinhardt defended himself against. Built over old tobacco fields in the 80s, they feature ponds with fountains, cookie-cutter brick Colonial houses, street names like Ironbridge Drive and Turnberry Lane, and regulations authorizing penalties for unkempt yards and tacky lawn Santas. We had a few pitchers, feeling each other out. The fourth, Charles Chas Allen II, had been transferred to a federal medical center in Lexington.) The guys hung out together when they could, with Warren frequently conjuring up fantasiesthrough billowing clouds of marijuana smokeof post-heist life for them in the Mediterranean, complete with sleek catamarans and topless women. I get the call on the cell phone. very unofficial.. Though she couldn't recall much else about her assailants, one odd detail stood out. We can do a license, but now we need a passport. So he says, Come see me in a couple of days or a week, but I need money, $2,500. All right, you know, just another thing, O.K., 2,500 bucks. (Because Spencer was a Transy student, he risked being recognized in the library.) The three then take the staff-only elevator down to the bottom floor and escape out the west fire exit. On the second-floor landing, Chas, in high-end flannel pajamas and thinking they were being robbed, pulled out a derringer, only to drop the weapon at the last moment. The painting, in digital form, would become a popular screen saver on the F.B.I. But even at that point, it became apparent that Warren and Spencer wouldnt be able to pull it off alone. Jamaica has been great so far. Handwriting can be an important piece of evidence in a criminal investigation. The actor thanked his fans for all their kind words. Afterward, Warren and Spencer briefed the others, and the four went to lunch, where, the boys say, Chas insisted they spend another night in New York and attempt to see Mr. Leckey the next day. By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. We will be stronger, better, wiser for going through this together, the three of us. and local detectives. It was definitely a terrifying thing. I'm not sure, but it was a lot. In terms of the dollar amount involved and the extraordinary circumstances, the theft was one of the most significant in its history. All four, now 22, children of privilege, products of elite Lexington high schools, are serving seven-year sentences for their parts in the crime. Around Halloween, Warren drafted a working plan, which he presented to the other three in the basement. I see Warren and Eric bust out of the back door, Spencer says, describing what he saw unfold from his lookout position. After a short wait, a young Christies employee, Melanie Halloran, came out to apologize, as Mr. Leckey, due to an impending public auction, would be unable to see them. All these girls I could draw better than when I was in sixth grade.. So I kind of go, That would be pretty crazy, wouldnt it? He said, Yeah, that would be kind of crazy. I then said, You know, why dont you look into it more and well go from there? Just like . Bam. A member of the RJRGLEANER Communications Group. In between soccer practice, classes, painting, and studying, Spencer drew detailed sketches of the inside of the Special Collections Library and the adjacent Rare Book Room, making several appointments with the Special Collections librarian, Betty Jean Gooch, to scout the premises. Even if they did steal the books, for example, how would they ever sell them? We did the robbery as a way to escape, Eric says. This is the story you didnt get from the film. Sign up for The Gleaners morning and evening newsletters. Spencer called himself Mr. Stephens. But before long they were put to chase once again, this time by two local thugs. Well all be . When summer break began, the three returned home to the subdivisions of South Lexington. Spencer, meanwhile, was accepted to Transylvania on an arts scholarship, his sights firmly set on a career in graphic design. agent discovered the stolen books, all undamaged, as well as the five-page typed plan for the heist, an accounting ledger, wigs, instructions for opening a Swiss bank account, and stun guns, which had apparently arrived after the robbery. And then they came up with the issue of getting these appraised. part of a series on Honesty notified all the airports in the area, dispatched officers to surrounding neighborhoods, and called the F.B.I. As she was heading toward a display case, Gooch felt a tingling on her right arm and collapsed to the floor. Spencer continued with his heavy schedule of classes, studying, painting, and working out, while Warren returned full-time to U.K. With the pressure mounting, however, Warren was caught shoplifting a TV dinner from a local supermarket, Eric was arrested and charged with D.U.I.police pulled him over not only for running red lights but also because Warren was on top of the car, hanging on to the roof rackand Spencer crashed his Acura Legend. They take you in the Special Collections and show you these books, Spencer remembers, including Transy's prized Birds of America, by John James Audubon, a four-volume set of life-size engravings the pioneer wildlife artist completed in London in 1838. As a precautionary measure, they left the books in the car. See, we have no choice now but to create something new, someplace else. Oh, yeah, he almost got shot, says Eric, laughing. The phone number was registered to a Gary Reinhard of Lexington, Kentucky. I think we all knew that we wanted something different, and we had to break away from where we were living. Spencer, feeling increasingly disaffected with school life himself, readily accepted the offer. Two months later, amid a local media frenzy, the four formally pleaded guilty to all six federal charges, including theft of cultural artifacts from a public museum and interstate transportation of stolen property. Ezra Millers Messiah Delusions: Inside. Despite the differing temperamentsand the disapproval of Spencer's parentsthe two were best friends from the age of eight, a friendship that revolved largely around soccer. Quit struggling, B.J., or do you want to feel more pain? she remembered the man saying. Warren, under an alias, would make an appointment with Gooch for that afternoon to view the books they wanted to steal. If we got away with it, we'd be in Europe living this crazy life thinking we were Ocean's 11 types. It was hard for us. Ad Choices, The untold story of the Transy Book Heist is one part, Donald Trump to Evangelicals: You Cant Break Up With Me Because Im Breaking Up With You First, Reality Is Submerged in Fantasy: The Villages Is a Boomers UtopiaAnd Demographic Time Bomb, Maybe instead of being one among many, [this film] will make me the one, a fresh-faced Rob Lowe told us in 1984. I was kind of skeptical, continues Spencer, but the way I rationalized it was: its the biggest auction house. The truth is, but for one obvious, big mistakethe trip to Christiesthey probably would have gotten away with it, a Lexington police detective told me. In terms of the dollar amount involved and the extraordinary circumstances, the theft was one of the most significant in its history. These peoples perspectives, because they have money, theyre tweaked., In October of his freshman year, Warren quit the U.K. soccer team, forfeiting his scholarship. Ad Choices. Us three, we were much thicker than he was.) And what Chas likely didnt know was that, for Warren, Eric, and Spencer, the actual appraisal and sale of the stolen books had become irrelevant to the mission. We felt bad., Warren and Eric rode the elevator to the basement, but they couldnt find the fire exit. When the four boys were arrested the news was met with disbelief, as none of them had been in any serious trouble before. Eric couldn't get hold of his friend's car, leaving Chas to borrow a Dodge Caravan his mother was fortuitously selling the next day, the boys say. When Warren arrived, he saw a man fitting that description seated with three other men. It was the sense of redemption that I hadnt anticipated. And I pledged a fraternity, but I really didn't get into that too much. you know, it's. it was. Improvising on the plan, he kicked Eric and Warren out on the street, believing three men in a gray minivan would draw too much attention. I never intended to paint them and I resisted the idea but in the end I couldnt help but indulge the irony. In the weeks following the book heist, law enforcement followed leads at Transy and reviewed countless hours of security footage from the U.K. computer lab, to which a police technician had traced the e-mail from Walter Beckman to Gooch. Barry described himself as an older man with a long ponytail and said hed be wearing a green scarf. for a second vehicle at a secret location, which, according to Warrens plan, is used to transport team and loot to temporary resting place. After the heist, since it is certain that the stolen books will be entered into art-theft databases within a week, they have to get the books appraised at Christies in New York immediately. Spencer had underestimated his friend's resolve. The day of the heist was to be Thursday, December 16, one of the last days of final examsthe library would be nearly empty. Again, Warren thought otherwise. Because the boys made the highly unusual decision not to accept the prosecutor's offer to testify against one another during sentencing in exchange for leniency, they were each sentenced to identical seven-year terms. Im not going to lie. She offered to take his place. On the morning of December 17, 2004, Betty Jean Gooch, a librarian in the Special Collections Library at Transylvania University, in Lexington, Kentucky, was preparing for her 11 oclock appointment with Walter Beckman, a man she had never met. Photographed by Nan Goldin at the tender age of 19, just about to release his Tony Richardson film. In the fall of 2004, Warren Lipka moved into the unfinished basement. We told B.J. Although the two hadnt really been in contact in the first few months of school, Warren knew that Spencers artistic talents would be an asset. Um. He was just so unbearable. . (Through his attorney, Allen declined to be interviewed.) It didnt take long to tie in Eric and Chas. The crew arrived in New York City early Sunday morning. Mr. Beckman now wanted these books appraised. She also said that she was so suspicious and put off by the young men's youth and demeanor that she had recommended to her boss that they not pursue the business. In early 2006, they began serving their sentences in federal prison, with no possibility for parole. I cant really get into too much specifics, Eric says, but we were doing all kinds of little scams: making fake IDs, making little things here and there. I know the collection is extensive and anything you think I might be interested in seeing, by all means, share, he wrote. New film American Animals tells the story of one of the most audacious heists in U.S. history when three well off friends Spencer Reinhard, Warren Lipka, Eric Borsuk and Chas Allen decided to try . The banality of assessments, passing courses for the sake of progression and limited intellectual stimulation meant that Spencers time at university was far removed from his hoped for experience. Spencer gives me 500 bucks, in my pocket. The ground floor quickly filled with shouting cops, screaming young women, and a few dazed men in boxer shorts. The severity of the requested sentences was predicated on the dual propositions that, although the Audubon volumes had never been physically removed from the library, according to the letter of the law they were nonetheless stolenincreasing the monetary value of the crimeand that the Black Cobra Stun Pen used to subdue B. J. Gooch not only inflicted physical harm but was in actuality a dangerous weapon. Worse still for the defendants, B. J. Gooch's ordeal had become a cause clbre among librarians, many of whom wrote letters to the judge arguing against leniency. Warren was like, Ive talked to these guys. He took a cab to Dam Square, an old hippie hangout in the center of the city he had read about on the Internet. Though I showed artwork briefly with Ann Tower Gallery, my career as an artist has been limited to private sales and commissions, including contributing a mural to PRHBTN in Lexington in 2018. Cant have any of this documented. Warren and Chas go up to the Rare Book Room, on the third floor, and Warren brings Gooch down hard and fast with a stun gun, making her a non-factor throughout the operation. Warren and Chas then let Eric in and they begin wrapping the Audubons in bedsheets and put any smaller books in backpacks. Like Barry, the men were immediately put off by Warrens youth, and even more so by the fact that he hadnt brought any of the books with him to Amsterdam. Still shaken from her ordeal, Gooch, in her 50s, told police that shortly after entering the Rare Book Room with the two men she had been struck on the arm with a Taserlike weapon, her hands and feet were bound with zip ties, and a wool cap was pulled over her eyes. None the less, still super stoked Lex Art League accepted 3 of my artworks. agents poured in over the wreckage. Dressed for success in a tailored dark-blue suit his parents had bought for special occasions and future job interviews, Warren cultivated the young-conservative look, using a Windsor knot on his red tie and giving his wing tips a last-minute buff. Spencer elected not to consider his consequent incarceration as the loss of his best years, but rather sought to salvage his fledgling artist career by utilising his time to develop his practice and to consider new methods and media. Warren introduced himself as Mr. Williams. as we left we were going to make an anonymous phone call so they knew she was up here, Eric continues. The take could be more than $5 million. I want to say living that kind of lifethe country clubs, sitting in a classroom and listening to two girls argue about turning down a BMW S.U.V. So I walk off happy, come back to the States, and blow Spencers mind.. No response. He was still enrolled, but only nominally, and remained on the fringes of campus life. In a duffel bag by his bed an F.B.I. All these girls I could draw better than when I was in sixth grade.. (Because Spencer was a Transy student, he risked being recognized in the library.) When Halloran inquired about them, Spencer spoke up and offered to fetch them from the car. Each has a different style of facial hairmuttonchops (Lipka), a Fu Manchu (Borsuk), a Tom Selleck (Reinhard)which Lipka informs me they had carefully trimmed for my visit. It was very punishing, that first couple of months in college. Spencer drives me out to Lexington [Blue Grass Airport] on a Friday. Meanwhile, Eric lined up the G.T.A.V. When Warren arrived, he saw a man fitting that description seated with three other men. Im not going to lie. . The meeting lasted no more than 15 minutes, but still, it was a turning point because the men explained to Warren a crucial step of selling rare books, stolen or otherwise: appraisal by a legitimate auction house. And the woman there says, We had a set just like this that we sold four years ago for like $12 million. It could have been eight. Eric rented a proper bedroom upstairs, while Spencer moved back into the dorms at Transylvania. I spent two years in FCI Ashland before being transferred to Fort Dix, New Jersey. Reinhards works will be exhibited at his residencys final exhibition on May 8, culminating in May 16s big reveal. Only by committing a felony could they ensure that they would never end up living back in the sterile, suburban world of the subdivisions. We're going to need more people, Warren remembers thinking. Along the way a stoned Spencer read aloud from the purloined first edition of On the Origin of Species, particularly fascinated by the section on how the ears of domesticated animals have drooped over generations due to the disuse of the muscles of the ear from the animals not being much alarmed by danger.. The L.P.D. And the woman there says, We had a set just like this that we sold four years ago for like $12 million. It could have been eight. He was whisked into a squad car. I was expecting to play soccer quite a lot, but the coach was a completely different person once I got on the team, he tells me. He said his name was John. They also noticed a group of people lingering in the Rare Book Room. 2023 Cond Nast. American Animals brings to the silver screen the story of the Transy Book Heist of 2004, where four students tried to steal $12 million worth of arts and books from the Special Collections Library . Each has a different style of facial hairmuttonchops (Lipka), a Fu Manchu (Borsuk), a Tom Selleck (Reinhard)which Lipka informs me they had carefully trimmed for my visit. Like, they were doing something serious, talking about the heist, going over the plan, and somebody would make a joke. The stun guns Warren had ordered never arrived, so he drove around town and returned with a Black Cobra Stun Pen, and had Spencer zap him and Eric to test its knockdown power. To be such a big part of her life has been a joy. Because of the expense, only Warren made the trip, touching down at Amsterdams Schiphol Airport on a Saturday morning in early March 2004. Just days before their arrests the three even took in a movie: Ocean's 12. Abstraction allows me to explore multiple paths of my creative desire. If not, we were going to get caught and it was going to be a crazy story., And now that we've diverted from that path, we feel liberated, Warren tells me, waving his arms around the room. Far from being social outcasts, they had been popular athletes, and two were on some form of college scholarship. The four men. After several phone calls Warren managed to arrange a meeting in New York. Like, they were doing something serious, talking about the heist, going over the plan, and somebody would make a joke. I'd heard about them before, but I didn't know anything about them. They surveyed the offices of the campus police. At first, we wanted to move to the States as quickly as possible, but we began to see the benefits of living in South America. Darren Matthews. It was only a tennis final, Eric says, but that final that day was actually harder than I thought it was going to be. received two additional pieces of evidence from Christies: security-camera footage of the meeting and a cell-phone number the men had left behind. We'll all be still young, Warren says. I want to say living that kind of lifethe country clubs, sitting in a classroom and listening to two girls argue about turning down a BMW S.U.V. I still feel like I have a long way to go to reach my full potential, and I think Jamaica will be an integral step in that direction., American visual artist Spencer Reinhard, an artist-in-residence at Blue Macaw in Boscobel, St. Mary, The ornithologist in Spencer Reinhard takes gaze. They all pled guilty to federal charges of robbery and. They said that this set, Birds of America, sold for $12 million. I said, Twelve million dollars, just sitting there? By that point Warren, Eric, and Spencer knew for certain they were going down. They were 20 steps ahead [of the librarian]. Spencer believed it was an insurmountable problem. She agreed. Then, everything becomes meta. But after stewing in the magnitude of the potential dollar amount involved, and once convinced of the ease of the heist, the logic of the appraisal, and the legitimacy of Warren's Amsterdam connections, they say, he threw his lot in with the others. Now the hard partwe have to steal them. I was nervous. Warren had run up the side of the hill and frantically ran off. During a meeting in the basement, Warren convinced the other two that they were going to need a fourth, principally to help haul the nearly 250 pounds in Audubon folios out of the library. Spencer Reinhard and Warren Lipka had grown up together in adjacent subdivisions on Lexingtons south sidefully planned residential tracts wedged in between the city and the gradually receding horse country that rings it. He was told to look for a bearded, heavyset man in a solid-blue sweater. In high school, Warren, a lanky six-footer with a mop of brown hair, was a popular jock and a class clown who delighted his classmates by bear-hugging his nemesis, the dean of students, at graduation. Warren went up to the third floor to meet Gooch, while Eric waited downstairs for him to call. (Having seen their fair share of heist movies, they knew how dangerous it was to leave a paper trail.) Warren was like, I've talked to these guys. Forensically examining Instagram accounts, interviews, and police reports, author Kathleen Hale reconstructs their relationship, and ultimately Petitos murder. Pink, in this case to Chas. Writing from walter.beckman@yahoo.com, Warren sent B. J. Gooch an e-mail confirming Beckmans December 16 appointment at the Rare Book Room to view the Audubons and a few other items. In the fall of 2003, Warren left for the University of Kentucky on a full athletic scholarship, eager to take his game to the next level, and with vague plans of getting into politics. As they took their seats in the conference room, Warren explained that he and Mr. Stephens are the sole representatives of Walter Beckman, whom he described as a very private individual from Boston who had recently inherited several valuable rare books and manuscripts. Wedged in among the other houses on Beaumont Avenue, a quiet residential street near the U.K. campus, is a beaten-down yellow cinder-block bungalow, with two bedrooms on the second floor and two on the first. He was whisked into a squad car. Boom. Wearing a heavy coat, gloves, and a wool cap, Beckman signed the visitors log. Shift + Tab to replay. And then they came up with the issue of getting these appraised. So I walk off happy, come back to the States, and blow Spencer's mind.. The books were much heavier than the boys had projected, and the pair could handle only three at a time. Having told their parents that they were going on a ski trip to West Virginia, that weekend they loaded the loot into Erics Ford Explorer and took off on the 12-hour drive to New York for their Christies appointment. In all my art classes I was the only guyin with a bunch of girls who didnt have any idea what they wanted to do. Aside from harming B. J. Gooch, Spencer, Warren, and Eric maintain that they have no regrets. What they would tell me, then, is their version of eventsand the only complete account of the planning, execution, and aftermath of the heist. Jean Smarts Career Timeline: I Dont Take Any of It for Granted, Donald Trump Calls E. Jean Carroll Rape Lawsuit a Hoax And A Lie; Judge Rules Suit Can Proceed, The former president continues to deny knowing the writer, calling her mentally sick., James Marsden Is Still Hoping for a Happy Ending for Canceled, Jeremy Renner Shares Selfie from Hospital Bed After Snow Plow Accident. When I get up there, B.J. Churchill's statement can be agreed with. Like Barry, the men were immediately put off by Warren's youth, and even more so by the fact that he hadn't brought any of the books with him to Amsterdam. Number one on that list was failure to create a business plan. The ground floor quickly filled with shouting cops, screaming young women, and a few dazed men in boxer shorts. Were going to need more people, Warren remembers thinking. Eric dropped the books, and he and Warren made a run for it. I get the call on the cell phone. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. For footwear he went with clean white sneakers. Spencer assembled a small wardrobe of fake beards, gray wigs, and costume glue. The reality however was rather more mundane, he sensed that his studies were little more than a continuation of his high school. Phase 2 involves the actual theft, and begins when Spencer takes his position at an upper-floor window of the nearby athletic center, where he will be on lookout. In all my art classes I was the only guyin with a bunch of girls who didn't have any idea what they wanted to do. Lifting a technique straight from the film Reservoir Dogs, Warren assigned code names based on color. Spencer, feeling increasingly disaffected with school life himself, readily accepted the offer. Because this is so much bigger than anything weve done before, Eric says. That afternoon they worked their way back uptown, to scope out Christies steel-and-glass headquarters before their Tuesday appointment. So we go back to the guy in Lexington and we say, Listen, we want to go somewhere, we want to go out of the country, and we need documentation, Warren explains. Warren also ordered four stun guns over the Internet. After becoming disillusioned with the college experience, I rebelled from the sterile, privileged life I was leading by committing six felonies which famously landed me in prison for 87 months. The other two would wait around the block in the S.U.V. Waiting for the law to snatch them was nerve-racking, but they went on with their lives as if nothing had been amiss. The next day, they worked off their hangovers by checking out Ground Zero before strolling into the bustle of Chinatown for lunch. Two weeks into his stay, Reinhard, an ardent ornithologist, whose works draw inspiration from late Dutch-American abstract expressionist Willem de Kooning, feels that his greatest artistic asset is his versatility. On the second-floor landing, Chas, in high-end flannel pajamas and thinking they were being robbed, pulled out a derringer, only to drop the weapon at the last moment. He said, You do that and you are free then to give them to us when you can. O.K., great. In the fall of 2004, Warren Lipka moved into the unfinished basement. And I pledged a fraternity, but I really didnt get into that too much. That was the point all along. Opposite him there is another young man, fully fleshed and with a neat haircut, resting in a chair, staring into space.