WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.680 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today we are opening 00:00:02.680 --> 00:00:04.820 a file that has been gathering dust for over 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:07.839 70 years, but the label on the front is just 00:00:07.839 --> 00:00:10.199 as shiny as the day it was printed. The perfect 00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:12.900 crime. The perfect crime. And usually, you know, 00:00:12.900 --> 00:00:15.460 when we see that label in history books or true 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:18.089 crime logs, it's... It's ironic. It's almost 00:00:18.089 --> 00:00:19.850 always a disaster. But usually it's a perfect 00:00:19.850 --> 00:00:21.929 crime until someone forgets to fill the gas tank 00:00:21.929 --> 00:00:23.649 or, you know, drops their wallet in the lobby. 00:00:23.910 --> 00:00:26.730 But today is different. Is it? Oh, yeah. Today 00:00:26.730 --> 00:00:30.269 we are looking at a case where the crime itself, 00:00:30.530 --> 00:00:34.689 I mean, the actual execution of the act, it pretty 00:00:34.689 --> 00:00:36.890 much lived up to the hype. We are talking about 00:00:36.890 --> 00:00:40.049 the Great Brinks robbery of January 17th, 1950. 00:00:40.390 --> 00:00:42.829 A date that is just, I mean, it's etched into 00:00:42.829 --> 00:00:45.850 the pavement of the north end of Boston. Just 00:00:45.850 --> 00:00:48.270 to frame the stakes for everyone listening, this 00:00:48.270 --> 00:00:50.450 wasn't a smash and grab at a corner store. This 00:00:50.450 --> 00:00:54.210 was a surgical extraction of $2 .775 million. 00:00:54.609 --> 00:00:56.990 And that's a number that sounds big now, but 00:00:56.990 --> 00:01:00.030 in 1950, it was just, it was astronomical. If 00:01:00.030 --> 00:01:01.450 you run that through the inflation calculator 00:01:01.450 --> 00:01:03.310 to get us to modern terms. What are we talking? 00:01:03.429 --> 00:01:07.349 We are talking about roughly $36 .3 million. 00:01:07.870 --> 00:01:12.890 Cash, checks, securities, just gone. In about 00:01:12.890 --> 00:01:15.730 20 minutes. 20 minutes. At the time, it was the 00:01:15.730 --> 00:01:17.909 largest robbery in the history of the United 00:01:17.909 --> 00:01:21.189 States. The absolute peak of criminal ambition. 00:01:21.209 --> 00:01:23.269 And what I love about this story and why I really 00:01:23.269 --> 00:01:25.489 wanted to pull it for today's dive is that it 00:01:25.489 --> 00:01:28.310 reads like the screenplay for every single heist 00:01:28.310 --> 00:01:30.709 movie you have ever seen. It really is the archetype. 00:01:30.709 --> 00:01:34.629 You have the crew, you have the disguises, the 00:01:34.629 --> 00:01:37.730 supposedly impossible security system, and then... 00:01:38.140 --> 00:01:40.519 The internal betrayal. And that's the thing. 00:01:40.579 --> 00:01:43.659 What makes it a deep dive for us isn't just recounting 00:01:43.659 --> 00:01:46.040 the 20 minutes inside the vault. It's the fact 00:01:46.040 --> 00:01:48.599 that for nearly six years, this was a ghost story. 00:01:48.739 --> 00:01:50.959 The police had nothing. The FBI had nothing. 00:01:51.019 --> 00:01:53.140 It was completely unsolved. So it wasn't a detective 00:01:53.140 --> 00:01:55.780 that cracked it. No, not at all. The unraveling 00:01:55.780 --> 00:01:57.579 didn't come from a detective finding a stray 00:01:57.579 --> 00:01:59.780 fingerprint or a brilliant deduction. It came 00:01:59.780 --> 00:02:01.299 from the psychology of the criminals themselves. 00:02:01.579 --> 00:02:03.930 It was the human element. That's always the fail 00:02:03.930 --> 00:02:06.170 point. You can engineer the locks, but you can't 00:02:06.170 --> 00:02:09.330 engineer loyalty. So our mission today is to 00:02:09.330 --> 00:02:12.270 unpack the mechanics of this heist. I mean, the 00:02:12.270 --> 00:02:15.810 years of meticulous planning and then pivot to 00:02:15.810 --> 00:02:18.110 the psychological collapse that brought it all 00:02:18.110 --> 00:02:20.650 crashing down. And we absolutely have to talk 00:02:20.650 --> 00:02:22.409 about the visuals, too, because when you say 00:02:22.409 --> 00:02:26.069 Brinks robbery to anyone from that generation 00:02:26.069 --> 00:02:28.469 or anyone who knows Boston history, they don't 00:02:28.469 --> 00:02:30.610 picture the money first. No. What do they picture? 00:02:30.650 --> 00:02:33.159 They picture the masks. the Captain Marvel masks. 00:02:33.319 --> 00:02:34.520 We're definitely going to get into the details 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:37.479 of those later, but just hold that image in your 00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.840 mind for a second. Seven men in pea coats wearing 00:02:40.840 --> 00:02:43.960 these rubber Halloween masks of a comic book 00:02:43.960 --> 00:02:46.659 superhero. It's terrifying and it's kind of ridiculous 00:02:46.659 --> 00:02:49.460 all at once. It's pure surrealism meeting organized 00:02:49.460 --> 00:02:52.479 crime. But before we get to that night in 1950, 00:02:52.819 --> 00:02:55.120 we have to understand who these people were because 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.039 you don't just wake up one morning and decide 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.189 to knock over a fortress like Brinks. This required 00:03:00.189 --> 00:03:03.289 a specific set of skills and, frankly, a massive 00:03:03.289 --> 00:03:05.969 amount of manpower. A huge amount. So let's look 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:08.550 at the roster. This wasn't a trio. This wasn't 00:03:08.550 --> 00:03:10.830 Ocean's 11. Well, actually, it literally was 00:03:10.830 --> 00:03:13.169 11. It literally was, yeah. 11 men involved in 00:03:13.169 --> 00:03:15.289 the conspiracy. And I've always thought, just 00:03:15.289 --> 00:03:18.009 from a project management perspective, that is 00:03:18.009 --> 00:03:22.370 a complete nightmare. It's a statistical improbability 00:03:22.370 --> 00:03:26.030 that you can keep a secret with 11 people. There's 00:03:26.030 --> 00:03:28.389 an old saying in criminology. and maybe in politics, 00:03:28.550 --> 00:03:31.849 that three people can keep a secret if two of 00:03:31.849 --> 00:03:34.490 them are dead. Right. And here you have 11 career 00:03:34.490 --> 00:03:37.669 criminals, all with different motivations, different 00:03:37.669 --> 00:03:39.689 financial pressures, different tempers, trying 00:03:39.689 --> 00:03:42.150 to hold on to the biggest secret in Boston. The 00:03:42.150 --> 00:03:45.210 odds are just not in your favor. And it wasn't 00:03:45.210 --> 00:03:47.389 a democracy, was it? I mean, the leadership structure, 00:03:47.530 --> 00:03:49.430 it's still kind of debated. That's right. When 00:03:49.430 --> 00:03:51.310 you look at the files, you see this little tug 00:03:51.310 --> 00:03:54.110 of war over who was actually the mastermind. 00:03:54.830 --> 00:03:56.689 For a long time, the main narrative, and this 00:03:56.689 --> 00:03:58.569 was mostly driven by testimony we'll get into 00:03:58.569 --> 00:04:01.289 later, was the guy named Joseph McGinnis was 00:04:01.289 --> 00:04:03.909 the boss. And what was his role? McGinnis was 00:04:03.909 --> 00:04:05.830 supposedly the guy who handled the logistics, 00:04:06.069 --> 00:04:08.370 the cleanup, you know, the disposal of evidence. 00:04:08.650 --> 00:04:10.949 He was the one who allegedly destroyed the guns 00:04:10.949 --> 00:04:14.110 and the getaway truck after the job. The details 00:04:14.110 --> 00:04:17.529 guy. But looking at the personalities, that doesn't 00:04:17.529 --> 00:04:19.829 fully track for everyone involved, does it? No, 00:04:19.829 --> 00:04:21.870 it doesn't. Michael Geegan, another member of 00:04:21.870 --> 00:04:24.050 the crew, he later claimed that Anthony Pino 00:04:24.050 --> 00:04:27.129 was the actual leader. And Pino, he really fits 00:04:27.129 --> 00:04:29.810 the profile. How so? Well, he was a career criminal, 00:04:29.949 --> 00:04:32.110 very heavily involved in the day -to -day planning. 00:04:32.329 --> 00:04:34.449 He was the one who was obsessed with the target. 00:04:34.589 --> 00:04:36.889 It was his white whale. So you have this dynamic 00:04:36.889 --> 00:04:39.990 where maybe McGinnis was the manager, the COO, 00:04:40.069 --> 00:04:43.290 and Pino was the visionary, the CEO, if we want 00:04:43.290 --> 00:04:45.189 to use corporate terms for a criminal enterprise. 00:04:45.449 --> 00:04:48.149 A board of directors for robbery. But you also 00:04:48.149 --> 00:04:50.279 need the operators on the ground. And there's 00:04:50.279 --> 00:04:52.199 one name that everyone really needs to remember 00:04:52.199 --> 00:04:55.060 here, the absolute linchpin of this entire saga. 00:04:55.779 --> 00:04:59.620 Yosef Spexokeef. He's the catalyst. He's the 00:04:59.620 --> 00:05:01.980 weak link. Without him, we probably wouldn't 00:05:01.980 --> 00:05:04.180 know half of these details. At the time of the 00:05:04.180 --> 00:05:07.240 robbery, he's just one of the guys, a tough, 00:05:07.339 --> 00:05:10.000 reliable operator. But his role in the aftermath 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:12.839 is what defines the entire history of the Brinks' 00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:14.420 job. And then you're filling out the rest of 00:05:14.420 --> 00:05:16.560 the squad. You've got Vincent Costa, who is the 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:19.790 lookout. Adolph Jazz Maffie, who's an interesting 00:05:19.790 --> 00:05:21.910 character just because he managed to outlive 00:05:21.910 --> 00:05:25.050 almost everyone. He died in 1988, the last survivor. 00:05:25.310 --> 00:05:26.930 And then you have the muscle and the specialists. 00:05:27.250 --> 00:05:30.350 Stanley Gusiora, Thomas Richardson, Henry Baker, 00:05:30.589 --> 00:05:33.269 James Ferdy, and Joseph Banfield. It's a full 00:05:33.269 --> 00:05:35.519 football team, plus a guy on the bench. And I 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:37.199 think that's so important to emphasize right 00:05:37.199 --> 00:05:39.779 at the start, the sheer logistical difficulty 00:05:39.779 --> 00:05:43.199 of managing 11 distinct personalities. I mean, 00:05:43.220 --> 00:05:45.899 that is the background radiation of this entire 00:05:45.899 --> 00:05:48.240 story. It's the ticking clock built into the 00:05:48.240 --> 00:05:50.959 plan from day one. It sets the stage for the 00:05:50.959 --> 00:05:53.019 collapse. But before the collapse, there was 00:05:53.019 --> 00:05:55.240 the construction. And this is where that perfect 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:58.139 crime label really earns its keep. Because I 00:05:58.139 --> 00:05:59.699 was looking at the timeline and the patience 00:05:59.699 --> 00:06:02.879 here is just... It's staggering. They didn't 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:05.480 start planning this a few months before, in late 00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:10.139 1949. Oh, no, no. This dates back to 1947, three 00:06:10.139 --> 00:06:13.160 full years before the heist. Three years. That 00:06:13.160 --> 00:06:16.620 is an eternity in the criminal underworld. Usually, 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:19.360 robbery crews work on a much shorter horizon, 00:06:19.500 --> 00:06:21.680 a few weeks, maybe a month, if they're ambitious. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.819 But Pino and his crew were playing the long game. 00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:26.600 This was their retirement plan. And they had 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:29.040 to deal with a massive curveball right in the 00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:32.350 middle of it. A huge one. The move. In 1948, 00:06:32.689 --> 00:06:34.790 they'd already spent nearly a year casing the 00:06:34.790 --> 00:06:37.069 original Brinks facility. They had plans. They 00:06:37.069 --> 00:06:38.930 had observations. They knew the guards' coffee 00:06:38.930 --> 00:06:41.170 break schedule. And then Brinks just decides 00:06:41.170 --> 00:06:43.509 to move their entire operation to a new location 00:06:43.509 --> 00:06:45.910 in the north end, 165 Prince Street. Imagine 00:06:45.910 --> 00:06:47.930 the frustration. You've put in a year of your 00:06:47.930 --> 00:06:50.410 life learning a building inside and out, and 00:06:50.410 --> 00:06:52.870 the target literally walks away. Most crews would 00:06:52.870 --> 00:06:54.560 have just scrapped it. They would have said, 00:06:54.620 --> 00:06:57.079 OK, bad omen. Let's go hit a bank in Cambridge 00:06:57.079 --> 00:06:59.839 instead. It's over. But not these guys. Exactly. 00:07:00.019 --> 00:07:02.439 They just viewed it as a delay, not a defeat. 00:07:02.879 --> 00:07:05.560 They picked up, moved their surveillance operation 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:08.879 to the new location and started over. And interestingly, 00:07:09.160 --> 00:07:11.959 the original concept wasn't even a robbery. Oh, 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:14.300 really? What was it? They wanted to do a burglary. 00:07:14.319 --> 00:07:16.600 And for the listeners who might use those terms 00:07:16.600 --> 00:07:18.500 interchangeably, let's just distinguish that. 00:07:18.579 --> 00:07:22.430 A robbery is taking by force. Or the threat of 00:07:22.430 --> 00:07:24.410 force, you know, sticking a gun in someone's 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:26.569 face. Right. Whereas a burglary is breaking and 00:07:26.569 --> 00:07:28.689 entering, stealing when no one is looking. They 00:07:28.689 --> 00:07:31.509 wanted a ghost job. Get in at night, crack the 00:07:31.509 --> 00:07:34.310 safe, leave before morning. No masks, no guns, 00:07:34.350 --> 00:07:37.050 no witnesses, just clean. But the new building 00:07:37.050 --> 00:07:39.550 at Prince Street was a problem. It was a fortress. 00:07:39.629 --> 00:07:42.209 It had a brand new state of the art alarm system. 00:07:42.310 --> 00:07:44.189 They studied it for months and they just they 00:07:44.189 --> 00:07:46.189 couldn't find a physical way around the perimeter 00:07:46.189 --> 00:07:49.209 that wouldn't trip the wires. So this leads to 00:07:49.209 --> 00:07:51.850 one of the most audacious, almost unbelievable 00:07:51.850 --> 00:07:54.910 moments in the entire planning phase. It really 00:07:54.910 --> 00:07:57.410 does. If you can't beat the alarm from the outside, 00:07:57.610 --> 00:08:00.029 you need the cheat codes. You need the schematics. 00:08:00.410 --> 00:08:02.389 This is the part of the story that just sounds 00:08:02.389 --> 00:08:05.629 like cure fiction. Joseph O 'Keefe and Stanley 00:08:05.629 --> 00:08:07.649 Gushiora decide to go straight to the source. 00:08:07.970 --> 00:08:10.149 They infiltrated the headquarters of the alarm 00:08:10.149 --> 00:08:12.610 company that serviced Brinks. Not the Brinks 00:08:12.610 --> 00:08:14.529 building itself, the security firm's office. 00:08:15.170 --> 00:08:18.730 They broke in specifically. to steal the schematics 00:08:18.730 --> 00:08:21.149 and the security plans for the Brinks' fault. 00:08:21.329 --> 00:08:23.629 It's a heist within a heist. They're stealing 00:08:23.629 --> 00:08:25.810 information to enable the stealing of money. 00:08:26.310 --> 00:08:28.670 And they pulled it off. They got the documents. 00:08:28.949 --> 00:08:31.610 They got out completely undetected. They took 00:08:31.610 --> 00:08:33.789 the papers back to their hideout, laid them all 00:08:33.789 --> 00:08:37.259 out on the table, and nothing. It was a bust. 00:08:37.419 --> 00:08:39.539 They realized the documents were useless for 00:08:39.539 --> 00:08:41.799 their specific problem. The alarm system was 00:08:41.799 --> 00:08:44.179 just that robust. I mean, having the wiring diagram 00:08:44.179 --> 00:08:46.299 didn't give them a magic switch to just turn 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:48.200 it off. That is just heartbreaking for them. 00:08:48.259 --> 00:08:50.580 But here is where it gets really insane. They 00:08:50.580 --> 00:08:53.399 have these stolen documents. If the alarm company 00:08:53.399 --> 00:08:56.360 realizes those specific files are missing. They'll 00:08:56.360 --> 00:08:58.860 know. They'll know someone is planning a hit 00:08:58.860 --> 00:09:01.679 on Brinks. And they'll notify them. They'll change 00:09:01.679 --> 00:09:03.399 the codes. They'll double the guards. They'll 00:09:03.399 --> 00:09:05.919 call the police. The whole element of surprise 00:09:05.919 --> 00:09:08.539 would be completely gone. So O 'Keefe and Gushura 00:09:08.539 --> 00:09:11.159 had to do something that just goes against every 00:09:11.159 --> 00:09:13.659 single instinct of a criminal. They had to break 00:09:13.659 --> 00:09:15.940 back into the alarm company. That is the definition 00:09:15.940 --> 00:09:18.500 of professionalism. Returning the stolen goods 00:09:18.500 --> 00:09:21.159 just to cover your tracks. It's risk management 00:09:21.159 --> 00:09:23.799 on a level you just don't see. They broke back 00:09:23.799 --> 00:09:26.059 in. They replaced the files exactly where they 00:09:26.059 --> 00:09:29.019 found them and they left. The alarm company never. 00:09:29.480 --> 00:09:31.659 ever knew they had been breached. Unbelievable. 00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:34.960 And this kept the Brinks operation alive, but 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.000 it forced a big change in strategy. If they couldn't 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:40.480 beat the electronic brain of the building, they 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:42.779 had to beat the mechanical locks. This brings 00:09:42.779 --> 00:09:45.759 us to the key copying operation. And this is 00:09:45.759 --> 00:09:49.000 just a testament to the lack of certain security 00:09:49.000 --> 00:09:52.389 protocols in 1950 compared to today. Over a period 00:09:52.389 --> 00:09:55.330 of several months, the gang systematically removed 00:09:55.330 --> 00:09:58.269 the lock cylinders from the doors of the Brinks 00:09:58.269 --> 00:10:01.929 building. One by one. One by one. They would 00:10:01.929 --> 00:10:03.929 wait for an opportunity, maybe a side door was 00:10:03.929 --> 00:10:06.250 left unguarded for a few minutes, or they accessed 00:10:06.250 --> 00:10:08.870 an outer perimeter door late at night. They would 00:10:08.870 --> 00:10:11.490 unscrew the cylinder, take it to a locksmith 00:10:11.490 --> 00:10:13.570 who was either in on it or just didn't ask questions, 00:10:13.769 --> 00:10:16.549 have a key made, and then put it back. And then, 00:10:16.590 --> 00:10:19.110 just like with the documents, they would return 00:10:19.110 --> 00:10:21.529 and reinstall the cylinder before anyone noticed 00:10:21.529 --> 00:10:24.509 it was ever missing. That is so nerve -wracking. 00:10:24.649 --> 00:10:27.129 I mean, you're tampering with the physical security 00:10:27.129 --> 00:10:29.690 of the building you plan to rob while the guards 00:10:29.690 --> 00:10:32.389 are presumably inside having coffee and reading 00:10:32.389 --> 00:10:34.710 the paper. And they did this for every single 00:10:34.710 --> 00:10:37.350 relevant door. The outer doors, the inner doors, 00:10:37.429 --> 00:10:39.490 the doors to the counting room. They basically 00:10:39.490 --> 00:10:42.350 built their own master key ring. It meant that 00:10:42.350 --> 00:10:44.029 on the night of the crime, they wouldn't need 00:10:44.029 --> 00:10:46.169 crowbars or explosives. They could just walk 00:10:46.169 --> 00:10:49.110 in. While the lock crew was doing that, the surveillance 00:10:49.110 --> 00:10:52.070 crew was, what, on the roof? Exactly. They set 00:10:52.070 --> 00:10:54.350 up these observation posts on the rooftops of 00:10:54.350 --> 00:10:56.710 buildings on Prince Street and Snow Hill Street. 00:10:56.850 --> 00:10:59.649 These are dense urban blocks in the North End. 00:10:59.789 --> 00:11:02.149 They could look right down into the Brinks facility 00:11:02.149 --> 00:11:04.690 with binoculars. And they were just looking for 00:11:04.690 --> 00:11:07.129 patterns, for a weakness. They were looking for 00:11:07.129 --> 00:11:11.149 the gap. And they found it. They realized that 00:11:11.149 --> 00:11:14.750 around 7 .0 p .m. every night, the staff was 00:11:14.750 --> 00:11:17.570 shifting. The main vault was usually open because 00:11:17.570 --> 00:11:19.149 they were moving money from the armored trucks 00:11:19.149 --> 00:11:21.809 that had just come in into the secure area, but 00:11:21.809 --> 00:11:23.950 the staffing levels were much lower than during 00:11:23.950 --> 00:11:27.730 the peak day shift. The magic hour, 7 .0 p .m. 00:11:27.769 --> 00:11:30.169 But even then, even after identifying the time, 00:11:30.330 --> 00:11:33.549 they didn't just rush in, they practiced. They 00:11:33.549 --> 00:11:36.710 had five aborted runs. Five. Five times the tree 00:11:36.710 --> 00:11:39.629 got fully geared up, got in the car, drove to 00:11:39.629 --> 00:11:42.049 the site. And then called it off. Why? What would 00:11:42.049 --> 00:11:44.230 go wrong? Anything. Maybe the street was a little 00:11:44.230 --> 00:11:46.450 too busy. Maybe a police cruiser was parked a 00:11:46.450 --> 00:11:48.990 block away. Maybe the lookout, Vincent Casa, 00:11:49.190 --> 00:11:50.730 just didn't like the way the shadows looked. 00:11:50.889 --> 00:11:53.419 Any tiny thing that felt off. and they would 00:11:53.419 --> 00:11:55.840 scrub the mission. That requires immense discipline. 00:11:56.179 --> 00:11:58.080 I mean, usually the adrenaline takes over, you're 00:11:58.080 --> 00:11:59.600 all hyped up, you're ready to go, you want the 00:11:59.600 --> 00:12:02.460 payoff. To say not tonight five times in a row, 00:12:02.620 --> 00:12:05.860 that shows that Pino and McGinnis had incredibly 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:08.700 tight control over these guys. It does. They 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:10.860 weren't desperate amateurs just looking for a 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:13.220 quick score. They were professionals waiting 00:12:13.220 --> 00:12:16.919 for the absolute perfect conditions. And finally, 00:12:17.019 --> 00:12:21.120 on the night of January 17, 1950, those caissons 00:12:21.120 --> 00:12:23.379 arrived. So let's set the scene. It's a Tuesday 00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:26.200 night. It's cold. It's Boston in January, so 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.440 you can just imagine that damp chill in the air. 00:12:28.679 --> 00:12:32.659 It's just after 7 -0 p .m. Vincent Kost is on 00:12:32.659 --> 00:12:35.559 a rooftop. He's freezing. He's watching the windows 00:12:35.559 --> 00:12:37.480 of the Brinks building through his binoculars. 00:12:37.639 --> 00:12:40.220 He sees the activity he's been waiting for. The 00:12:40.220 --> 00:12:42.840 vault is open. The staff is occupied and distracted. 00:12:43.259 --> 00:12:45.940 He takes out his flashlight. And that's the signal. 00:12:46.059 --> 00:12:48.389 That's the go -ahead. The team moves. Seven men, 00:12:48.509 --> 00:12:51.190 O 'Keefe, Gushiora, Baker, Maffie, Gein, Faraday, 00:12:51.210 --> 00:12:53.429 and Richardson, they exit their vehicle and they 00:12:53.429 --> 00:12:55.250 approach the building. And this is where the 00:12:55.250 --> 00:12:56.929 visuals we talked about earlier come into play. 00:12:57.009 --> 00:12:59.370 The uniform. The uniform. They're all wearing 00:12:59.370 --> 00:13:01.629 navy blue keycoats and these chauffeur -style 00:13:01.629 --> 00:13:04.190 caps. It makes them look like drivers or maybe 00:13:04.190 --> 00:13:06.590 maintenance workers from a distance, just anonymous. 00:13:07.009 --> 00:13:09.370 But there are two specific details that really 00:13:09.370 --> 00:13:12.230 matter. First, the shoes. What about the shoes? 00:13:12.679 --> 00:13:15.379 They all wore rubber -scraped soles over their 00:13:15.379 --> 00:13:18.419 shoes. For stealth. Absolute silence. The hallways 00:13:18.419 --> 00:13:21.179 of the Brinks building were, you know, hard terrazzo 00:13:21.179 --> 00:13:25.399 floors. If seven men walked in with leather -soled 00:13:25.399 --> 00:13:27.779 dress shoes or work boots, it would sound like 00:13:27.779 --> 00:13:30.919 a stampede. They wanted to glide. They wanted 00:13:30.919 --> 00:13:33.559 to be ghosts. And then just before they go in, 00:13:33.600 --> 00:13:36.210 they pull on the masks. The Captain Marvel masks. 00:13:36.509 --> 00:13:38.169 And we have to dwell on this because it's just 00:13:38.169 --> 00:13:40.789 so bizarre. Captain Marvel was a hugely popular 00:13:40.789 --> 00:13:42.970 superhero at the time. The character we now know 00:13:42.970 --> 00:13:45.889 is Shazam in the DC universe. And these were 00:13:45.889 --> 00:13:49.570 just cheap rubber Halloween masks. Imagine you're 00:13:49.570 --> 00:13:51.940 a Brinks employee. You're counting cash. It's 00:13:51.940 --> 00:13:54.580 a boring Tuesday night. You look up and there 00:13:54.580 --> 00:13:57.179 are seven men in identical coats moving silently 00:13:57.179 --> 00:14:00.159 with these frozen, smiling, plastic superhero 00:14:00.159 --> 00:14:03.139 faces staring at you. It adds this layer of psychological 00:14:03.139 --> 00:14:05.639 horror to it. It's not just a ski mask that says, 00:14:05.679 --> 00:14:07.740 I'm a robber. It's a caricature. It's deeply 00:14:07.740 --> 00:14:10.279 unsettling. So at 7 .10 p .m., they use their 00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:12.679 copied keys. They slip through the outer doors, 00:14:12.720 --> 00:14:14.679 completely silent. They glide down the hallway. 00:14:14.899 --> 00:14:17.129 And they burst into the counting room. There 00:14:17.129 --> 00:14:20.070 were five employees inside. The robbers moved 00:14:20.070 --> 00:14:23.289 with, by all accounts, military precision. Don't 00:14:23.289 --> 00:14:26.850 move, nobody gets hurt. They had .38 caliber 00:14:26.850 --> 00:14:29.789 revolvers drawn, but they never fired a shot. 00:14:30.070 --> 00:14:32.690 They immediately rounded up the employees, tied 00:14:32.690 --> 00:14:34.809 their hands behind their backs, and taped their 00:14:34.809 --> 00:14:37.649 mouths shut. Total control. Absolute dominance 00:14:37.649 --> 00:14:40.490 of the station, seconds. They began filling these 00:14:40.490 --> 00:14:43.210 large canvas laundry bags with everything they 00:14:43.210 --> 00:14:45.230 could get their hands on. They weren't being 00:14:45.230 --> 00:14:47.629 picky. They were just sweeping everything, currency, 00:14:47.789 --> 00:14:50.389 checks, money orders off the tables and into 00:14:50.389 --> 00:14:52.370 the sacks. But there was a snag. There's always 00:14:52.370 --> 00:14:54.789 a snag, isn't there? The buzzer. This is the 00:14:54.789 --> 00:14:56.409 moment. This is the moment where the perfect 00:14:56.409 --> 00:14:59.230 crime almost turned into a bloodbath. While they 00:14:59.230 --> 00:15:01.570 are in the vault, furiously stuffing these bags, 00:15:01.750 --> 00:15:04.909 a loud buzzer rings. Someone is at the secure 00:15:04.909 --> 00:15:06.950 door trying to get in. And if I'm in that room, 00:15:07.029 --> 00:15:09.519 my heart just stops. Is it the police? Is it 00:15:09.519 --> 00:15:11.980 a guard coming back from a late break? The whole 00:15:11.980 --> 00:15:14.480 gang freezes. They have no idea who is on the 00:15:14.480 --> 00:15:17.580 other side of that door. Two of the robbers detach 00:15:17.580 --> 00:15:20.039 from the group and move silently toward the door. 00:15:20.559 --> 00:15:23.580 Their plan is to ambush whoever walks in, just 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:26.080 grab them, subdue them, and throw them on the 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.259 pile with the other employees. And who was it? 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:30.159 Do we know? We do. It was a garage attendant. 00:15:30.440 --> 00:15:32.539 He was just coming up to ask a question or check 00:15:32.539 --> 00:15:34.860 on something routine. He rang the buzzer, waited 00:15:34.860 --> 00:15:37.799 a few seconds, didn't get a response, and... 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:40.360 miraculously just shrugged his shoulders and 00:15:40.360 --> 00:15:42.460 walked away. He walked away? He just walked away. 00:15:43.019 --> 00:15:45.139 He had no idea that on the other side of that 00:15:45.139 --> 00:15:48.039 door, two men with guns and Captain Marvel masks 00:15:48.039 --> 00:15:50.960 were waiting to grab him. If he had been just 00:15:50.960 --> 00:15:53.360 a little more persistent, or if he had had a 00:15:53.360 --> 00:15:55.580 key to let himself in, he would have walked right 00:15:55.580 --> 00:15:57.240 into the middle of the biggest heist in American 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:00.179 history. Talk about a sliding doors moment. That 00:16:00.179 --> 00:16:03.379 guy probably went home, had dinner, watched some 00:16:03.379 --> 00:16:05.679 TV, and didn't realize until the morning paper 00:16:05.679 --> 00:16:07.879 came out that he had been about three inches 00:16:07.879 --> 00:16:10.200 away from being a part of it. Once the buzzers 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:13.340 stopped, the gang went right back to work. But 00:16:13.340 --> 00:16:15.600 the clock was ticking. They had been in there 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.419 for nearly 20 minutes by now. That's a lifetime 00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:20.440 in a robbery. And they were dealing with a physics 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.220 problem at this point. You know, we talk about 00:16:22.220 --> 00:16:25.399 bags of money, like they're pillows. Money is 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:28.779 heavy. Paper is incredibly dense, and coins are 00:16:28.779 --> 00:16:31.740 like lead weights. They filled about 14 of these 00:16:31.740 --> 00:16:35.080 canvas bags. The final estimate is that the total 00:16:35.080 --> 00:16:37.740 haul weighed over 1 ,000 pounds. Half a ton. 00:16:37.940 --> 00:16:40.440 Half a ton of money. You can't just toss that 00:16:40.440 --> 00:16:42.299 over your shoulder and sprint out the door. So 00:16:42.299 --> 00:16:45.279 it's a labor -intensive extraction. Very. In 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.559 fact, they left money behind. There was nearly 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.860 a million dollars in silver coins and other species 00:16:49.860 --> 00:16:52.139 that they simply looked at and said, we can't 00:16:52.139 --> 00:16:54.320 take it. It was too heavy. They physically couldn't 00:16:54.320 --> 00:16:56.159 drag it out of the building fast enough. Leaving 00:16:56.159 --> 00:16:58.440 a million dollars on the floor because of gravity, 00:16:58.559 --> 00:17:01.179 that is a truly unique problem to have. But they 00:17:01.179 --> 00:17:06.259 took enough. They got $1 ,218 ,211 in cash and 00:17:06.259 --> 00:17:08.940 another $1 .5 million in checks and securities. 00:17:09.160 --> 00:17:11.400 They hauled the bags out to their getaway vehicle, 00:17:11.579 --> 00:17:15.180 a green 1949 Ford stakebody truck they had stolen 00:17:15.180 --> 00:17:17.299 specifically for the job. And then they just 00:17:17.299 --> 00:17:21.470 vanished. At 7 .30 p .m., they drive away. The 00:17:21.470 --> 00:17:23.549 narrow winding streets of the North End just 00:17:23.549 --> 00:17:26.730 swallow them up. Gone. And the employees they 00:17:26.730 --> 00:17:29.650 left tied up? It took them about seven minutes 00:17:29.650 --> 00:17:32.309 to wiggle free. One of them managed to get the 00:17:32.309 --> 00:17:34.470 tape off his mouth and he hit the alarm at 7 00:17:34.470 --> 00:17:37.670 .37 p .m. The police were there within minutes. 00:17:37.789 --> 00:17:40.609 I mean, the entire Boston PD was mobilized. But 00:17:40.609 --> 00:17:43.410 the gang was long gone. And when the police arrive, 00:17:43.690 --> 00:17:45.490 what do they find? What's the crime scene look 00:17:45.490 --> 00:17:48.190 like? Nothing. It's a ghost scene. They find 00:17:48.190 --> 00:17:50.069 a chauffeur's cap that one of the robbers dropped. 00:17:50.440 --> 00:17:52.940 Some tape. The rope used to tie up the employees. 00:17:53.140 --> 00:17:55.940 That's it. No fingerprints. No footprints because 00:17:55.940 --> 00:17:58.140 of the hard floors. The robbers had worn gloves 00:17:58.140 --> 00:18:00.380 the whole time. It was a completely sterile crime 00:18:00.380 --> 00:18:02.660 scene. And because of that sterility and the 00:18:02.660 --> 00:18:04.759 fact that they used keys to get in, the police 00:18:04.759 --> 00:18:07.079 immediately got tunnel vision. They assumed it 00:18:07.079 --> 00:18:09.680 was an inside job. It had to be, right? How else 00:18:09.680 --> 00:18:11.140 could they get keys? How else would they know 00:18:11.140 --> 00:18:13.640 the schedule? The police superintendent, Edward 00:18:13.640 --> 00:18:16.460 Fallon, went on record almost immediately saying 00:18:16.460 --> 00:18:19.420 he had no doubt it was current or former employees. 00:18:19.849 --> 00:18:21.690 Which is exactly what the gang wanted them to 00:18:21.690 --> 00:18:23.710 think. It sends the police chasing their tails, 00:18:23.849 --> 00:18:26.490 looking at the staff. And they did. They interrogated 00:18:26.490 --> 00:18:29.329 every single employee. They detained two former 00:18:29.329 --> 00:18:31.769 employees, grilled them for days, but eventually 00:18:31.769 --> 00:18:33.950 had to release them. They were completely innocent. 00:18:34.150 --> 00:18:36.890 The police were chasing ghosts, just as planned. 00:18:37.250 --> 00:18:39.750 Meanwhile, let's talk about the money. You have 00:18:39.750 --> 00:18:44.019 $1 .2 million in cash. That is a lot of paper 00:18:44.019 --> 00:18:46.740 to hide. And usually the serial numbers are the 00:18:46.740 --> 00:18:48.539 trap. That's how they catch you. That was the 00:18:48.539 --> 00:18:51.400 other stroke of genius in selecting Brinks as 00:18:51.400 --> 00:18:54.140 the target. Brinks is a clearinghouse. The money 00:18:54.140 --> 00:18:56.619 coming in is used bills from retailers, bars, 00:18:56.859 --> 00:18:59.940 restaurants all over the city. It's small denominations, 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:03.420 ones, fives, tens, twenties. It's dirty money, 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:05.759 both physically and metaphorically. It wasn't 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:08.119 sequentially numbered, crisp bills fresh from 00:19:08.119 --> 00:19:10.460 the mint. It was completely untraceable. So you 00:19:10.460 --> 00:19:13.900 have untraceable cash. No physical evidence and 00:19:13.900 --> 00:19:16.180 a police force looking in the exact wrong direction. 00:19:16.220 --> 00:19:18.180 It really was the perfect crime. For a while 00:19:18.180 --> 00:19:19.920 it was, but they still had to get rid of the 00:19:19.920 --> 00:19:21.700 evidence they did create. They had to deal with 00:19:21.700 --> 00:19:24.220 the truck. The Green 4. Can't just park it and 00:19:24.220 --> 00:19:27.240 walk away. So McGinnis, or whoever was running 00:19:27.240 --> 00:19:30.259 the cleanup operation, took that truck to a location 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:32.779 in Stoughton, Massachusetts, which was near O 00:19:32.779 --> 00:19:35.369 'Keeffe's home. And they didn't just script it 00:19:35.369 --> 00:19:37.289 for parts. What'd they do? They chopped it into 00:19:37.289 --> 00:19:39.369 pieces. They cut the chassis apart with acetylene 00:19:39.369 --> 00:19:42.150 torches. They crushed the parts. They buried 00:19:42.150 --> 00:19:44.170 them. They wanted to make sure that truck ceased 00:19:44.170 --> 00:19:47.150 to exist in any recognizable form. They literally 00:19:47.150 --> 00:19:49.829 erased it. And the guns? Same thing. They'd taken 00:19:49.829 --> 00:19:51.750 four revolvers from the guards during the robbery. 00:19:51.970 --> 00:19:54.559 The FBI was... desperate for those guns to show 00:19:54.559 --> 00:19:56.039 up somewhere. They put the serial numbers on 00:19:56.039 --> 00:19:58.180 every hot sheet in the country. They figured, 00:19:58.259 --> 00:20:00.220 you know, if one of those guns turns up at a 00:20:00.220 --> 00:20:03.200 pawn shop in Chicago or in another crime, they 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:05.460 could trace it back. But McGinnis destroyed those 00:20:05.460 --> 00:20:09.339 too. So the trail is stone cold. J. Edgar Hoover 00:20:09.339 --> 00:20:12.339 is involved now. The FBI is throwing every resource 00:20:12.339 --> 00:20:15.440 they have at this. There's a $100 ,000 reward 00:20:15.440 --> 00:20:20.039 from Brinks. And yet, silence. Years of silence. 00:20:20.779 --> 00:20:25.200 1950 turns into 51, 52, 53, 54. The Brinks robbery 00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:27.599 starts to become a legend, a piece of Boston 00:20:27.599 --> 00:20:30.339 folklore. And people in the city, you know, they 00:20:30.339 --> 00:20:32.099 actually started rooting for the robbers in a 00:20:32.099 --> 00:20:35.480 way. Really? Why? Well, nobody got hurt. Brinks 00:20:35.480 --> 00:20:38.420 was a big faceless corporation. The insurance 00:20:38.420 --> 00:20:41.059 covered the loss. It had this kind of Robin Hood 00:20:41.059 --> 00:20:43.500 feel to it, you know, minus the giving to the 00:20:43.500 --> 00:20:46.099 poor part. It was the little guys beating the 00:20:46.099 --> 00:20:48.339 system. But inside that group of little guys, 00:20:48.519 --> 00:20:50.299 the Robin Hoods are starting to turn on each 00:20:50.299 --> 00:20:52.779 other. And this is where we shift from the heist 00:20:52.779 --> 00:20:55.700 movie to the psychological thriller. Because 00:20:55.700 --> 00:20:58.660 pulling off the robbery is technical. Surviving 00:20:58.660 --> 00:21:01.519 the success is emotional. The intense pressure 00:21:01.519 --> 00:21:03.779 of sitting on that secret and all that money, 00:21:03.839 --> 00:21:06.359 it began to crack the foundation of the group. 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:09.059 And the first crack started with O 'Keefe. Joseph 00:21:09.059 --> 00:21:11.599 Spex O 'Keefe. I was a volatile guy, not exactly 00:21:11.599 --> 00:21:14.200 the patient, quiet type. And in June of 1950, 00:21:14.539 --> 00:21:17.160 only five months after the big score, he and 00:21:17.160 --> 00:21:19.119 Stanley Goucher get arrested in Pennsylvania. 00:21:19.400 --> 00:21:21.920 For the Brinks job. The FBI finally got them. 00:21:22.119 --> 00:21:26.380 No. For a completely unrelated, almost pathetic 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:29.539 burglary. They were stealing clothes or something 00:21:29.539 --> 00:21:32.039 minor out of a store. They just couldn't turn 00:21:32.039 --> 00:21:33.740 off the criminal instinct. They couldn't lay 00:21:33.740 --> 00:21:36.460 low. That is just maddening. You have just stolen 00:21:36.460 --> 00:21:39.599 millions of dollars. Your share is waiting for 00:21:39.599 --> 00:21:42.720 you and you're risking it all for a petty burglary 00:21:42.720 --> 00:21:44.759 in Pennsylvania. It's the nature of the beast. 00:21:44.920 --> 00:21:47.400 But this arrest was catastrophic for the group. 00:21:47.640 --> 00:21:50.119 O 'Keefe got sentenced to three years in Bradford 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:53.299 County Jail. Gushiora got hit even harder, five 00:21:53.299 --> 00:21:55.519 to 20 years in the Western State Penitentiary. 00:21:55.579 --> 00:21:58.099 So now two of your 11 shareholders are behind 00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:01.000 bars. This creates a huge problem. A massive 00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:04.019 problem because prison is a lonely, expensive 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:07.500 place. O 'Keefe is sitting in his cell just stewing. 00:22:07.839 --> 00:22:10.019 He needs money for a good lawyer to fight his 00:22:10.019 --> 00:22:12.240 appeal. He needs money to support his family 00:22:12.240 --> 00:22:15.099 on the outside. He expects his partners, Pino, 00:22:15.259 --> 00:22:17.700 McGinnis, the guy sitting on this huge pile of 00:22:17.700 --> 00:22:20.359 cash back in Boston, to take care of him. The 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:22.200 unwritten rule of the underworld, right? You 00:22:22.200 --> 00:22:23.980 take care of the guy who gets pinched so he doesn't 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:26.359 talk. It's the stand -up guy tax. You have to 00:22:26.359 --> 00:22:30.079 pay it. But the gang back in Boston, they got 00:22:30.079 --> 00:22:33.440 stingy. Why? Was it just pure greed? I think 00:22:33.440 --> 00:22:35.680 it was greed mixed with a heavy dose of paranoia. 00:22:36.679 --> 00:22:38.539 McGinnis and Pino probably looked at O 'Keefe 00:22:38.539 --> 00:22:41.980 and thought, he's a liability. If we start sending 00:22:41.980 --> 00:22:44.220 him envelopes full of cash, the FBI might be 00:22:44.220 --> 00:22:47.319 able to trace it. Or maybe. Maybe let's just 00:22:47.319 --> 00:22:49.839 keep his share for ourselves. And O 'Keefe claimed 00:22:49.839 --> 00:22:52.140 he never even got his initial cut. Is that right? 00:22:52.359 --> 00:22:55.160 That was his claim. He said he had given his 00:22:55.160 --> 00:22:57.400 share to Jazz Maffie for safekeeping before he 00:22:57.400 --> 00:23:00.240 left Pound on that ill -fated trip. And now that 00:23:00.240 --> 00:23:02.799 he was in jail, he couldn't access it. He felt 00:23:02.799 --> 00:23:04.519 like he was being robbed by his own partners. 00:23:04.720 --> 00:23:06.819 So the resentment is just building and building. 00:23:07.119 --> 00:23:09.259 The FBI has to know this. They are professionals 00:23:09.259 --> 00:23:12.019 at exploiting exactly these kinds of cracks. 00:23:12.140 --> 00:23:14.400 Oh, yeah. Agents were visiting O 'Keefe constantly. 00:23:14.859 --> 00:23:17.000 Hey, Joe, heard your friends aren't sending any 00:23:17.000 --> 00:23:19.119 money. Heard they're buying new cars in Boston 00:23:19.119 --> 00:23:21.019 while you're eating prison loaf. Why are you 00:23:21.019 --> 00:23:23.559 protecting these guys? They were in his ear day 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:26.960 after day. But he held out. For a while, anyway. 00:23:27.180 --> 00:23:29.039 He held out for the duration of his sentence. 00:23:29.319 --> 00:23:32.279 He was tough. But when he finally got released 00:23:32.279 --> 00:23:35.160 and returned to Boston, the war started. He was 00:23:35.160 --> 00:23:38.059 broke, he was angry, and he demanded his money. 00:23:38.160 --> 00:23:40.660 He demanded Gosiora's share for his family, too. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:43.500 And when they didn't pay up? He escalated. He 00:23:43.500 --> 00:23:46.220 actually kidnapped Vincent Costa, the lookout, 00:23:46.440 --> 00:23:49.160 grabbed him off the street, and held him for 00:23:49.160 --> 00:23:51.440 ransom, demanding that the gang pay up or Costa 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:53.920 gets hurt. Kidnapping your own partner? We are 00:23:53.920 --> 00:23:56.880 fully in mob war territory now. This has gone 00:23:56.880 --> 00:23:59.619 way past a disagreement over money. Pito paid 00:23:59.619 --> 00:24:02.619 a small ransom just to get Costa back, but that 00:24:02.619 --> 00:24:05.420 was the absolute final straw. They decided O 00:24:05.420 --> 00:24:07.660 'Keefe was too dangerous to live. He was a loose 00:24:07.660 --> 00:24:09.559 cannon, and he was going to bring them all down. 00:24:09.700 --> 00:24:12.019 So they put a contract out on him. They hired 00:24:12.019 --> 00:24:14.640 a professional hitman from New York, a guy with 00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.079 the terrifyingly straightforward nickname of 00:24:17.079 --> 00:24:20.559 Elmer Trigger. Burke. Burke came up to Boston 00:24:20.559 --> 00:24:22.940 with one assignment, kill Specs O 'Keefe. And 00:24:22.940 --> 00:24:25.099 he tried. He caught up with O 'Keefe in Dorchester. 00:24:25.380 --> 00:24:27.359 He didn't just walk up and shoot him. He opened 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:29.660 fire with a machine gun. Machine gun in a residential 00:24:29.660 --> 00:24:32.940 neighborhood. It was a serious, loud, violent 00:24:32.940 --> 00:24:35.619 attempt. O 'Keefe was hit multiple times. He 00:24:35.619 --> 00:24:39.640 was riddled with bullets. But, incredibly, he 00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:42.700 survived. He was rushed to the hospital, barely 00:24:42.700 --> 00:24:45.019 clinging to life. And this is the moment, the 00:24:45.019 --> 00:24:47.210 breaking point. O 'Keefe is lying in a hospital 00:24:47.210 --> 00:24:50.670 bed. He's bandaged up. He's in agony. He knows 00:24:50.670 --> 00:24:52.269 that the moment he's well enough to walk out 00:24:52.269 --> 00:24:55.170 those doors, Trigger, Burke, or someone else 00:24:55.170 --> 00:24:57.230 is going to be waiting to finish the job. The 00:24:57.230 --> 00:24:59.569 code of silence is a two -way street. It relies 00:24:59.569 --> 00:25:01.910 on mutual protection. Once your partners try 00:25:01.910 --> 00:25:03.910 to murder you with a machine gun, the code is 00:25:03.910 --> 00:25:06.750 null and void. The FBI agents walked in that 00:25:06.750 --> 00:25:08.970 hospital room. They pulled up a chair. And this 00:25:08.970 --> 00:25:10.849 time, O 'Keefe didn't tell them to get lost. 00:25:11.109 --> 00:25:13.170 He started talking. He started talking on January 00:25:13.170 --> 00:25:16.799 6, 1956. And I won't pause on that date because 00:25:16.799 --> 00:25:19.920 the timing is just, it's cinematic perfection. 00:25:20.240 --> 00:25:23.839 January 6, 1956. Why is that date so critical? 00:25:24.140 --> 00:25:26.440 The statute of limitations. For a federal crime 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:28.720 of this nature, like robbery of a federally insured 00:25:28.720 --> 00:25:31.180 institution, the statute of limitations at the 00:25:31.180 --> 00:25:33.920 time was six years. Meaning if the police didn't 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.200 charge them within six years of the exact date 00:25:36.200 --> 00:25:38.259 of the crime, they could never be prosecuted. 00:25:38.619 --> 00:25:40.920 Exactly. They would be free and clear. They could 00:25:40.920 --> 00:25:42.759 have gone on television and confessed to the 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:44.740 whole world and the government couldn't touch 00:25:44.740 --> 00:25:48.440 them. And the robbery was January 17, 1950. So 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:50.799 when O 'Keefe started talking on January 6, 1956, 00:25:51.339 --> 00:25:56.099 the FBI had 11 days left. 11 days before the 00:25:56.099 --> 00:25:58.740 crime of the century officially became the getaway 00:25:58.740 --> 00:26:01.640 of the century. Talk about a ticking clock. The 00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:03.680 FBI must have been in an absolute panic. They 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:05.299 have to take O 'Keefe's testimony. They have 00:26:05.299 --> 00:26:07.619 to corroborate it and get warrants from a judge. 00:26:08.089 --> 00:26:11.150 and organize a massive coordinated raid in under 00:26:11.150 --> 00:26:14.049 two weeks. It was a complete frenzy. But O 'Keefe 00:26:14.049 --> 00:26:16.609 gave them everything. He gave them the names, 00:26:16.650 --> 00:26:19.250 the locations, the details of the planning, the 00:26:19.250 --> 00:26:21.309 alarm company breaking, all this stuff the police 00:26:21.309 --> 00:26:23.289 never even dreamed of. It was the whole story 00:26:23.289 --> 00:26:24.950 on a silver platter. And the hammer dropped. 00:26:25.309 --> 00:26:29.069 On January 12, 1956, five days before the deadline, 00:26:29.269 --> 00:26:31.650 the FBI launched coordinated raids all across 00:26:31.650 --> 00:26:34.750 Boston. They grabbed Baker, Costa, Gigan, Maffie, 00:26:34.769 --> 00:26:36.880 McGinnis, and Pino. Just under the wire. I mean, 00:26:36.880 --> 00:26:39.599 imagine the feeling of being Tony Pino or Joe 00:26:39.599 --> 00:26:42.019 McGinnis. You are looking at the calendar. It's 00:26:42.019 --> 00:26:44.559 January 12. You're thinking, five more days, 00:26:44.619 --> 00:26:46.599 just five more days, and we made it. And then 00:26:46.599 --> 00:26:48.680 your front door gets kicked in. The devastation 00:26:48.680 --> 00:26:51.319 must have been absolute. They were so, so close 00:26:51.319 --> 00:26:53.160 to getting away with it forever. And what about 00:26:53.160 --> 00:26:55.140 the other members of the crew? They rounded up 00:26:55.140 --> 00:26:57.680 the rest later. Faraday and Richardson had gone 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:00.259 on the run, but they were caught by May. And 00:27:00.259 --> 00:27:03.680 there's a bit of irony here. Gus Shiora, O 'Keefe's 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:06.240 partner in that Pennsylvania job, He never stood 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.859 trial. He died of a brain tumor in prison in 00:27:08.859 --> 00:27:12.640 July of 1956. And another member, Banfield, was 00:27:12.640 --> 00:27:14.599 already dead of natural causes. So the trial 00:27:14.599 --> 00:27:16.799 happens, and with O 'Keefe on the stand pointing 00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:19.480 fingers at everyone, it's got to be a slam dunk. 00:27:19.660 --> 00:27:21.859 It was. The defense attorneys tried to paint 00:27:21.859 --> 00:27:25.099 O 'Keefe as a liar, a maniac, a desperate man 00:27:25.099 --> 00:27:27.519 trying to save his own skin. But the details 00:27:27.519 --> 00:27:29.880 he provided were just too specific, too accurate. 00:27:30.119 --> 00:27:33.299 In October 1956, the jury came back. Guilty. 00:27:34.139 --> 00:27:36.640 Life sentences for the core crew. And O 'Keefe? 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:40.119 The man who sang? What happened to him? He got 00:27:40.119 --> 00:27:42.819 the deal of a lifetime. He pleaded guilty and 00:27:42.819 --> 00:27:45.579 received only four years in prison. He was out 00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:48.460 by 1960. It really pays to be the Canary. It 00:27:48.460 --> 00:27:50.519 does. But he lived the rest of his life looking 00:27:50.519 --> 00:27:52.980 over his shoulder. He eventually changed his 00:27:52.980 --> 00:27:55.799 name and disappeared, supposedly. There are rumors 00:27:55.799 --> 00:27:58.079 he worked as a chauffeur, which is deeply ironic, 00:27:58.279 --> 00:28:00.140 but he mostly stayed out of the public eye. He 00:28:00.140 --> 00:28:02.079 even collaborated on a book about it all. So 00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:03.859 the men are in prison. The case is officially 00:28:03.859 --> 00:28:07.400 closed. But there is one massive, glaring loose 00:28:07.400 --> 00:28:11.859 end. The $2 .7 million. The money. And this is 00:28:11.859 --> 00:28:13.500 the part that keeps researchers and treasure 00:28:13.500 --> 00:28:16.509 hunters up at night. Of the $2 .7 million that 00:28:16.509 --> 00:28:19.869 was stolen, only about $58 ,000 was ever recovered. 00:28:20.150 --> 00:28:22.289 That is, that's nothing. That's just loose change. 00:28:22.390 --> 00:28:24.930 That's a rounding error. $58 ,000. That means 00:28:24.930 --> 00:28:29.130 over $2 .6 million vanished into thin air. Where 00:28:29.130 --> 00:28:31.089 did it go? I mean, O 'Keefe said he didn't have 00:28:31.089 --> 00:28:33.329 his share. Pino and McGinnis went to jail for 00:28:33.329 --> 00:28:35.650 life. Did he spend it all in those six years? 00:28:36.089 --> 00:28:38.170 It's really hard to spend that much cash quickly 00:28:38.170 --> 00:28:41.210 without attracting a ton of attention, especially 00:28:41.210 --> 00:28:43.930 when you know the FBI is watching everyone connected 00:28:43.930 --> 00:28:46.109 to Boston's underworld. There are theories that 00:28:46.109 --> 00:28:48.150 a lot of it was laundered into legitimate businesses 00:28:48.150 --> 00:28:51.170 over time. Other theories say it was paid up 00:28:51.170 --> 00:28:53.470 the chain to higher -level mob bosses for protection 00:28:53.470 --> 00:28:57.450 and silence. Or, or, it's still out there, there 00:28:57.450 --> 00:28:59.809 were rumors for years that bags of the money 00:28:59.809 --> 00:29:02.210 were buried in the hills around Stoughton, near 00:29:02.210 --> 00:29:04.630 where they cut up the truck. or that it was hidden 00:29:04.630 --> 00:29:06.730 in the walls of old houses in the North End. 00:29:06.849 --> 00:29:09.269 It's a haunting thought, isn't it? That money 00:29:09.269 --> 00:29:12.529 in those canvas bags just rotting away in the 00:29:12.529 --> 00:29:14.269 dirt somewhere. And you have to remember, this 00:29:14.269 --> 00:29:16.849 is old paper money. If it wasn't stored perfectly, 00:29:17.089 --> 00:29:19.630 it's probably just compost by now. But the idea 00:29:19.630 --> 00:29:22.069 that millions of dollars worth tens of millions 00:29:22.069 --> 00:29:25.529 today just evaporated, it kind of defies belief. 00:29:25.890 --> 00:29:28.089 The cultural impact of this was massive, too. 00:29:28.130 --> 00:29:30.349 We mentioned the movies earlier. Right. Hollywood 00:29:30.349 --> 00:29:33.210 couldn't resist this story. You had Six Bridges 00:29:33.210 --> 00:29:36.390 to Cross in 55, Blueprint for a Robbery in 61, 00:29:36.690 --> 00:29:40.049 there was a TV movie in 76. But the big one, 00:29:40.150 --> 00:29:42.150 the one that really defined the legacy for a 00:29:42.150 --> 00:29:45.309 modern audience, was The Brinks Job in 1978. 00:29:46.009 --> 00:29:48.349 Directed by William Friedkin. The guy who directed 00:29:48.349 --> 00:29:50.190 The French Connection and The Exorcist, a real 00:29:50.190 --> 00:29:53.269 heavy hitter. And he cast Peter Falk as Tony 00:29:53.269 --> 00:29:56.789 Pino. Columbo as the criminal mastermind. Exactly. 00:29:57.130 --> 00:29:59.130 And the tone of that movie is so interesting 00:29:59.130 --> 00:30:01.779 because it's almost a comedy. It portrays them 00:30:01.779 --> 00:30:04.720 not as these steely eyed super criminals, but 00:30:04.720 --> 00:30:07.539 as kind of bumbling blue collar guys from the 00:30:07.539 --> 00:30:09.160 neighborhood who just happened to stumble into 00:30:09.160 --> 00:30:11.940 this massive score. It demythologized them a 00:30:11.940 --> 00:30:14.000 bit. Which is probably closer to the truth in 00:30:14.000 --> 00:30:16.180 terms of their personalities, even if the planning 00:30:16.180 --> 00:30:18.380 itself was pure genius. I think that's the perfect 00:30:18.380 --> 00:30:20.380 summary. That's the duality of the Brinks job. 00:30:20.660 --> 00:30:23.099 The plan was genius. The people were deeply flawed. 00:30:23.339 --> 00:30:25.940 The mechanics were the perfect crime. The interpersonal 00:30:25.940 --> 00:30:28.160 relationships were a complete and utter disaster. 00:30:28.730 --> 00:30:30.730 It's the ultimate lesson in human nature, isn't 00:30:30.730 --> 00:30:32.569 it? You can beat the machine, but you can't beat 00:30:32.569 --> 00:30:35.190 your own greed and paranoia. If they had just 00:30:35.190 --> 00:30:37.430 paid O 'Keefe, I mean, if they just tossed him 00:30:37.430 --> 00:30:39.970 a few thousand dollars for his lawyer to keep 00:30:39.970 --> 00:30:42.930 him happy while he was inside, they likely would 00:30:42.930 --> 00:30:45.210 have all walked free. They tripped over a few 00:30:45.210 --> 00:30:47.569 grand and ended up losing millions and their 00:30:47.569 --> 00:30:50.490 freedom. It's a tragedy in the classical sense. 00:30:50.589 --> 00:30:52.730 Their own character flaws were their downfall. 00:30:53.069 --> 00:30:55.809 So as we wrap this up, I want to go back to that 00:30:55.809 --> 00:30:57.869 missing money. That's the part that's going to 00:30:57.869 --> 00:31:00.410 stick with me. The $2 .6 million question. So 00:31:00.410 --> 00:31:02.170 here's the thought I want to leave everyone with. 00:31:02.390 --> 00:31:04.829 If you are walking through the woods in Massachusetts, 00:31:05.049 --> 00:31:07.670 maybe near Stoughton, or you're renovating an 00:31:07.670 --> 00:31:09.809 old basement in a triple -decker in the north 00:31:09.809 --> 00:31:12.569 end of Boston, keep your eyes open. You never 00:31:12.569 --> 00:31:14.529 know. It might just be a pile of moldy paper 00:31:14.529 --> 00:31:16.950 now, but it's a piece of history. A piece of 00:31:16.950 --> 00:31:19.589 the perfect crime that just wasn't quite perfect 00:31:19.589 --> 00:31:23.509 enough. That's it for this deep dive into the 00:31:23.509 --> 00:31:25.390 Great Brinks robbery. We'll see you next time.