Tuesday Overnight Open Thread - February 11, 2025 [scampydog]

Good evening, Horde. A very happy Tuesday to all of you. Felonious ONT of thieves, cads, and the law.

"We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office." - Aesop

Correction from the ONT on February 4th. I erroneously posted that China was the largest holder of US debt. Japan.

Still not tired of winning!

Mastermind? He got caught. Points for skydiving in for the heist.

Blanchard stole the Star of Empress Sisi. Also reported that he swiped $750k from ATM's.

And there it was: in a cavernous room, in an alarmed case, behind bulletproof glass, on a weight sensitive pedestal -- a delicate but dazzling ten-pointed star of diamonds fanned around one monstrous pearl: the Koechert Diamond Pearl, better known as the Sisi Star.

Aerial approaches are a tricky business and Blanchard almost overshot the castle, slowing himself just enough by skidding along a pitched gable. Sliding down the tiles, arms and legs flailing for a grip, Blanchard managed to save himself from falling four storeys by grabbing a railing at the roof's edge. For a moment, he lay motionless. Then he took a deep breath, unhooked the chute, retrieved a rope from his pack, wrapped it around a marble column and lowered himself down the side of the building.

Cash, and jewels. It was the largest bank robbery heist to that date.

Sewer Bank Heist. And a daring escape from custody.

During the hearing in the Palais de Justice in Old Nice, Spaggiari was called to the judge's chambers on the third floor, facing rue de la Prefecture, and at a moment when the judge and attorneys were distracted, he leaped out the window! He landed on the hood of a car, and then jumped on the back a waiting motorcycle driven by an accomplice, and waived to the judge and attorneys as he was whisked away.

He fled to Paris where he was hidden in the house of a bored young heiress, "Audi", who fell so in love with him that she renounced her fortune to flee to Argentina with him to live out their lives on the lam. In the ensuing years, he tried in vain to get his part of the take from his Marseillais co-conspirators, while simultaneously playing a cat-and-mouse game with the French police, often evading capture with outlandish costumes. He died of cancer in Italy in '89, with Audi by his side. None of the proceeds of the robbery were ever found.

Heist that made the Mona Lisa famous?

The lone hitch in the thief's plan came when he tried to exit the stairwell into a courtyard. Finding the door locked, he placed the Mona Lisa-now wrapped in a white sheet-on the floor and tried to take apart the doorknob. He made little progress before one of the Louvre's plumbers appeared on the stairwell. Rather than apprehending him, however, the plumber took the man for a trapped co-worker and assisted him in opening the door. With a friendly thank you, the thief made his getaway. Just a few moments later, he waltzed out of the Louvre with one of the world's most valuable paintings tucked beneath his apron.

The Scream, twice stolen.

Cheeky bastards.

In the 1994 theft, writes Puchko, "bandits placed a ladder up to the window of the National Gallery in Oslo, slunk inside, and made off with the other version of The Scream." They left a note saying "Thanks for the poor security," she writes.

Round up of non-masterminds.

Ninja. Naked guy. And more.

In 2010, Frank Taylor was arrested in Texas for robbing a convenience store while dressed as a ninja. Taylor had apparently walked into the store wearing a black ninja suit and wielding a sword, demanding money from the cashiers. However, the police were able to track him down and arrest him.

ONT Intermission

On February 11, 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini seized power in Iran.

Put your PPE on, the link goes to AP.

TEHRAN, Iran - Prime Minister Shapour Bakhtiar reportedly resigned Sunday after Iran's military chief ordered troops back to their barracks and declared support for Moslem Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

How about some True Crime reading?

Any that have stuck in your brain? This was my first True Crime read.

A few humourous exchanges.

Courtroom comedy.

Q. Did you ever stay all night with this man in New York?

A. I refuse to answer that question.

Q. Did you ever stay all night with this man in Chicago?

A. I refuse to answer that question.

Q. Did you ever stay all night with this man in Miami?

A. No.

Q. And what did he do then?

A. He came home, and next morning he was dead.

Q. So when he woke up the next morning he was dead?

Courtrooms and brainiacs.

Judge Rosemarie Aquilina had us in tears when she told us about an exotic dancer who, having pleaded guilty on a drug charge, was sentenced to wearing an ankle monitor. Just a few days after sentencing, however, the woman was back in the courtroom, seeking an exception because the ankle monitor was kind of "ruining her vibe" at the strip club. In response, Judge Aquilina offered a veritable Solomon-esque solution: "Bedazzle that thing to match your outfits. Motion denied."

May need an assist from AoSHQ regular, Muldoon.

Parody and clever in the opinions.

United States v. Batson, 782 F.2d 1307 (5th Cir. 1986)

In the opening sentence of this case about the cotton set-aside program, Judge Goldberg recites:

Some farmers from Gaines had a plan.
It amounted to quite a big scam.
But the payments for cotton
began to smell rotten.
T'was a mugging of poor Uncle Sam.
The ASCS and its crew
uncovered this fraudulent stew.
After quite a few hearings,
the end is now nearing -
It awaits our judicial review.

Tonight's ONT brought to you by the Derailers - Bar Exam.

Destroy the evidence. Send Tinker toys to: scampydog at proton dot me.

posted by Open Blogger at 10:02 PM

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