FBI Accused of Deception in Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist Investigation: Discrepancies Emerge in Stolen Art Count and Alleged Rembrandt Portrait

Part 3: A Last Minute Decision

On March 19, 1990 a press conference was called for outside the museum. The museum was still closed to the public, while dozens of agents combed it for clues. At the last minute shortly before the press conference, the FBI decided to release the false information that a small self-portrait etching of Rembrandt was stolen too. Perhaps it was done as an investigation tactic, to be able to separate out real information from the false. A photocopy was made of a modern day print of the Rijksmuseum’s etching and deliberately smudged so that people would not realize the image was of the same etching. It was given the false date of 1629. It was attached to the board outside. It is the small rectangle fourth from the left in the top row.

Gardner Museum Heist Press Conference BOSTON — MARCH 18: Karen Haas, former acting curator of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, during a news conference outside the museum to show photos of the stolen $300 million in artwork taken in an early morning robbery. (Photo by Tom Herde/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) *While Getty identifies this woman as Karen Haas, I am not certain if that is who is in the picture.

People outside of Boston may be unaware that the Boston Office of the FBI was extremely corrupt during this period. FBI agent John Connolly, FBI agent John Morris, and others in the FBI had close relationships with mob boss Whitey Bulger (an FBI Informant) who was a hardened criminal convicted of eleven murders and believed to have been involved in 19 murders. The FBI hid Whitey’s crimes…