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Hey podcast listeners, Jasmine Morris here.

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We're dropping in with a special episode to

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pay tribute to a StoryCorps participant who died

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last month at the age of 57. Rick

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Abbeth sat down with us in 2015 to tell his

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story, something he rarely did. And

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in this episode of the podcast from back then, you'll

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hear why. It's

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the StoryCorps podcast. I'm Michael Garofalo,

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a producer here at StoryCorps. And

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today we're going to look back

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on the biggest art heist in

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history. I'm

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here with Jasmine Belcher Morris who produced

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the story. Hi, Jasmine. Hey, Michael. So

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when did this robbery happen? It happened

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almost exactly 25 years

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ago in the really early morning

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hours of March 18th in 1990

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at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

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So what happened on that night in 1990? That

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night, two men posing as police

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officers tricked the night watchman into

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letting them in, and then they

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stole artwork worth half a billion

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dollars. The thieves have never been

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caught in the art, never recovered.

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And we're going to hear now from

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the security guard who opened the door

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that night. Yep. His name is Rick

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Abbeth and he hasn't done many interviews, but

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he agreed to come to StoryCorps with his

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wife, Diana. And this is the

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only interview he's giving for the 25th anniversary.

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At the time of the robbery, I

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had just dropped out of Berkeley College

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of Music. I was playing in a

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jam band and working night shift at

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the museum. I

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was just this hippie guy

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who wasn't hurting anything, wasn't

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on anybody's radar, and the

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next day I was

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on everybody's radar for the

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largest art heist in history.

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You know, most of the guards were

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either older or they were college students.

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Nobody there was capable of dealing with

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actual criminals, but that

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night, two cops. rang the doorbell.

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They had hats, badges, they looked like cops,

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and I let them in. They

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said, are you here alone? And I

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said, I have a partner that's out

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on a round. They said, call him

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down. And they said, gentlemen,

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this is a robbery. They

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duct taped around our eyes

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and duct taped like the bottom of my

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chin to the top of my head. And

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they handcuffed me to the electrical box for

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seven hours. At first I

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was panicking. And then started

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singing I shall be released by Bob Dylan.

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I don't know how long I was singing

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that damn song for but it's quite some

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time. They

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took three rimbrands of Vermeer, a man a

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bunch of sketches by the guy, and

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two of the rimbrands. They cut them out of the

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frames. So even if they get

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the paintings back, they'll never be the same.

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And I feel horrible about that. You

2:53

ever feel embarrassed about it? More

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than anything else, I'm angry about it. I don't

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want to be remembered for this alone.

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I'd like to be remembered for the

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good things I've done. I'm a husband.

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I'm a father of two really cool

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kids. But they're

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saying it's half a billion dollars

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worth of artwork. And ultimately, I'm

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the one who made that decision

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to buzz them in. It's

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the kind of thing most

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people don't have to learn to cope with. It's

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like doing penance. It's

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always there. you

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miss loan or a That

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was Rick Abbott, who was a security

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guard on duty at the Isabella Stewart

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Gardner Museum in Boston, the night that

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it was robbed in the biggest art

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heist in history. He was speaking

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with his wife, Diana. So Jasmine,

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there's a lot to

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talk about with

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this story. Absolutely.

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Let's start with the song that we've been hearing,

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Bob Dylan's I Shall Be Released. Yeah, this

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is the song that Rick was singing for hours while

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he was tied up in the basement. And

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the lyrics are really ironic. And I doubt

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Rick realized that at the time, but looking

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back, they're like, they say everything

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can be replaced. So I remember every

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face of every man who put me

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here. And then of course, any

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day now I shall be released. It's kind of

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a metaphor for his life. I mean, at the

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time, he literally wanted to be released from the

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duct tape and handcuffs in the basement, but this

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has followed him for the last 25 years. Yeah,

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and in a comment on the story, somebody

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brought up Bill Buckner, who in Boston's sports

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lore is the greatest scapegoat of all time

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because he's the guy who missed a ground

4:57

ball in the World Series in 1986, which

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led them to lose that World Series. And

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that's followed him his entire life. And

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so this comment said that Rick Abbeth

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was the Bill Buckner of the art

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world. That's kind of perfect.

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So the robbery happened really early in the

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morning on March 18th, which means the previous

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day, the day that it just ended was

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March 17th, St. Patrick's Day, which is

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a really rowdy time in Boston. And

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it's not strange to have a lot of

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police officers around. So that's why Rick didn't

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really think much of it when they showed

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up at the museum. And what were the

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rules about opening the door? Well,

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there was a rule, but I'll let Rick

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tell you about it. You don't open the door

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for God if he knocks. The

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reality is that we opened the door

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for anybody that worked there. People came

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late all the time. I

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figured the police outranked every one of those people

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I had opened up the door for previously. You

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know, that kind of makes sense to me. If

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I were a college age kid working this job,

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I would have let the police in too. I

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really empathize with him when he says that he had no

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idea how to deal with real criminals. I don't think

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I would either. What sort of training did he have?"

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Actually, Rick said there really wasn't much training,

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period. Here he is again. We

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weren't actually trained. We were shown around.

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Like, here's the radio and here's the

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pepper spray and there's the panic button.

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Don't look at that painting at night.

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Supposedly it was haunted. So

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Rick was obviously a little unprepared to

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deal with the situation. And one of

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the tricks that the thieves, who were

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dressed as police officers, used was to

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act like they were suspicious of Rick.

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Which Rick kind of understood. Because he

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didn't exactly fit the description of who

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you might think would be in charge

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of protecting millions and millions of dollars

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worth of artwork. You know, I had a big

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stetson hat on and I had the

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Isabella Stewart Gardner polyester shirt on but

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it was over my Berkeley College of

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Music tie-dye. It was unbuttoned. It was

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untucked. I don't think I bothered wearing

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the pants. The polyester pants weren't very

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comfortable and I had like a purple

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Guatemalan pant on. So I

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knew how it looked. And

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we know what it looked like too

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because we're actually looking right now at

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a Boston Police Department photo taken of

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Rick when they discovered him locked up

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in the basement. Yeah, he's got long

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hair. He's got a fanny pack on. He

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really isn't kidding when he describes himself as

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a hippie dude. So we've posted that police

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photo on our website so you can see just

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what poor Rick went through for those seven hours.

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So what does it meant long term

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for Rick to sort of bear this

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responsibility? Like what's happened to him over

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the past 25 years because of it?

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Well initially Rick was considered a suspect.

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So the FBI, the local police, they

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all started interrogating him as soon as

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they cut him off that electrical box.

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And it didn't just end that

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day after the robbery either because

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they still haven't caught anybody, right?

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Right. So Rick has kind of developed

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this long term relationship with the FBI. They

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question him every few years, but Rick has

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never been charged. with anything. And we should

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say that the statute of limitations is actually up

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for this crime. Right, now it's just a

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recovery effort for the art and there's a

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five million dollar reward. Yes, offered by the

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Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. So have you

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heard from Rick since the story went out over the

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radio? I have. I got an email from

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Rick this morning. Turns out he got a message

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from a complete stranger who heard a story on

8:20

NPR and I want to read it to you.

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I was struck by what you said about being

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defined by your mistake. Strange that I should hear

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it this particular morning as I woke to a

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giant screw up myself and was barely out of

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bed before I had to tend to it. The

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story I heard this morning was jaw-dropping and not

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once did I think to myself, what an idiot,

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to hell with anybody who did. Allowing

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the story to be told in a national forum

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was an incredible act of courage and generosity.

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I admire you for it and I may

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be a little gentle around myself this week

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for hearing it. And here

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at StoryCorps we're really grateful to Rick for

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sharing with us. Well Jasmine this

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has been a fascinating story to listen to. Thanks so

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much for bringing it on the podcast. Thanks it's been

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my pleasure. That's

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all for this episode. For the StoryCorps

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podcast, I'm Michael Garofalo and I'm Jasmine

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Belcher-Morris. Until next time, thanks for listening.

9:27

you