Biggest jewelry theft in New York history

Three thieves stole 22 precious stones worth 3 million USD in the largest jewelry theft in New York history (USA).
On a cool autumn evening on October 29, 1964, the Upper West Side in Manhattan, New York (USA) was quiet. The two men climbed the iron fence, climbed the emergency stairs to the 5th floor of the American Museum of Natural History, and crept along the narrow edge of the building.

Next, they climbed the rope down to the fourth floor, threading through an open window into the JP Morgan gem and mineral gallery. They are about to commit the biggest jewelry heist in New York history. Police find fingerprints after the theft of precious stones worth 3 million USD in 1964. Photo: Getty Images One is Jack Roland Murphy, a 27-year-old world-class surfer and violinist. This mastermind is commonly known as the surfer Murphy. His partner is Allan Kuhn, 26, of Miami. The watchman was 29-year-old Roger Clark, sitting in a sleek white Cadillac parked on the street, keeping in touch via walkie-talkie. Using glass cutters and rubber bands, the two thieves carefully sawed three glass cabinets so that the sound of the saw matched the sound of the plane flying in the sky to avoid attracting the attention of 8 security officers tasked with protecting the large museum big. The thieves took their time, spent a few hours in the lobby, and that night, they escaped with 22 gems worth $3 million in today’s prices. Among them, there are three rare gems: the Star of India, a 563.35 carat stone the size of a golf ball; The 100.32-carat DeLong Star ruby ​​and 116.75-carat dark purple Midnight sapphire – one of the largest black sapphires in the world. After collecting the loot, the thieves calmly passed a few policemen in the small park around the museum, then disappeared into the night. Murphy was sober enough to say hello to the officer. Then the thieves entered a jazz club, sipped cocktails. A veteran criminal who committed a series of burglaries in Miami, Murphy didn’t even bother to change his clothes. Indian Star. Photo: Wikipedia This elaborate heist started with stolen gems. The past of the Indian Star is always shrouded in mystery. This is a rounded pale green gemstone, 2 billion years old, 5cm in diameter, with a unique pattern like a 6-point star on the top and bottom, first discovered in Sri Lanka in the 1700s but forever 200 years later history will be marked. In the late 19th century, American philanthropist and financier JP Morgan hired gem collector George Kunz to buy a set of gems. The Indian star was among the jewels in the collection that Mr. Morgan later donated to the museum. There is so much lost information about many things in museums and especially in private collections, says Erin L. Thompson, a professor of art criminology at John Jay University in New York. Their owners did not specify their previous owners. No one knew about the journey of the Star of India and its owners until it was in the hands of George Kunz. Another mystery of this stone is why it is called the Star of India, and not the Star of Ceylon, the old name for Sri Lanka. DeLong Star ruby ​​red purple with 6 lines, originating from Myanmar, at that time was considered the most perfect ruby ​​in the world. An American named Edith Haggin DeLong donated the gem to the museum after buying it from collector Martin Leo Ehrmann in 1937 for the equivalent of $390,000 today. Ehrmann travels the world looking for rare and expensive jewelry, but the origins of the pieces in his collection are still unknown. There is no information on the sale and valuation of the DeLong Star ruby. US agents free Murphy (centre) after he was arrested in Miami. Photo: Getty Images The morning after the theft, James Oliver, the director of the American Museum of Natural History, was pulling his teeth when the museum staff discovered the theft. New York’s 20th police squad arrived at the scene just after 10 a.m. when informed. They found fingerprints and opened an investigation. The museum immediately closed. At first, investigators discovered that the thieves acted very carefully. When handling the box of large gems, they applied tape strips all over the circle of glass to be cut to prevent the glass from breaking and falling. Then they beat with a rubber mallet. With the next two boxes, they change their ways, just breaking the box and getting the jewels. The scene of the theft. Photo: Getty Images Officials say the thieves are unprofessional when estimating the value of the gems. They had forsaken a precious box of sapphires in favor of diamonds and emeralds of much less value. In addition, stolen rare gems cannot be sold because they are too popular. A plainclothes police officer tracked down staff at the nearby Cambridge House hotel, saying that the trio of thieves had recently thrown a grand party in an expensive room. After obtaining a search warrant and raiding the room, detectives discovered drugs, museum plans and books about gems. As police were searching the room, Roger Clark entered, saying that Murphy and Kuhn had flown to Miami. These two men were arrested two days after the theft and taken to New York. However, because there were no witnesses and no physical evidence, the case became groundless. Kuhn and Murphy were soon released on meager bail. District Attorney Marurice Nadjari started looking for other crimes committed by these guys to get a reason to detain them or at least get them to pay higher bail. Searching through old files, he found evidence to imprison two thieves. Kuhn when he was arrested in Miami in 1964. Photo: Getty Images While flying back to New York for the trial, Kuhn and Murphy were accused of strangling a woman to steal jewelry from a Miami hotel a few months earlier. That woman turned out to be the famous Hungarian actress Eva Gabor. The guarantee is now up to 100,000 USD. Gabor later did not sue, but the incident was enough for these two men to sit behind bars and be forced to negotiate. Sitting in jail, Kuhn told Mr. Nadjari that he could bring back the gems if he let him go to Miami alone. Not believing, on January 5, 1965, Nadjari and three plainclothes staff were on the same flight as Kuhn. After a series of phone calls and countless delays, they received instructions to find the locker keys at the Northeast Miami Trailways bus stop. Not long after arriving at the bus stop, a detective named Richard Maine returned with two soggy bags containing nine gems. These two bags were stuffed in Kuhn’s boat in Biscayne Bay. The gems are on display again at the museum, this time better protected. However, the DeLong Star ruby ​​is still missing. The thieves confessed to the crime and spent about two years at the Rikers Island prison in New York. The following September, a third party personally negotiated with a holder of the DeLong Star. Billionaire John D MacArthur paid a ransom of $25,000, or $200,000 at today’s prices, and the stone was recovered from a phone booth in Florida. Later, a man named Duncan Pearson was convicted in connection with the crime of hiding the ruby. However, several other gems were never found. For example, the Eagle diamond, a gem that was first discovered by a well digger in 1876 near the town of Eagle in Wisconsin, USA. It is thought that this diamond was cut into many small pieces, making the natural masterpiece forever disappear. Murphy did not change after serving his prison term in 1967. His crimes went beyond theft, becoming more cruel and violent. In 1969, he was found guilty of murdering two women who were accomplices in the theft of stocks and bonds worth $500,000 (equivalent to $4 million today). During a boat trip in Florida, a female accomplice threatened to accuse Murphy and his accomplice Jack Griffith if they did not share a larger amount. Both women were then beaten to death with batons, and their bodies were thrown into the sea. Murphy was convicted again and spent 17 years in Florida State Prison. While in prison, he began to minister with other inmates, preaching about atonement. In 1986, he was released and spent the rest of his life preaching to prisoners.