Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief
WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD.
Henceforth, these book reports will be a time-saving device. You need not read entire books anymore. Read these condensed versions instead. You'll have that much more time for your own blog.
Today I read "Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief", by Bill Mason with Lee Gruenfeld, published in 2003.
This book reminded me somewhat of Frank Abagnale's book, "Catch Me If You Can". Both are about street smart men who challenged themselves intellectually and physically through relieving others of their valuables.
Mason, however, derived particular pleasure from stealing jewelry of the rich and famous. It was not necessary for him to be a thief. He led a perfectly normal life in mainstream society-- had a wife and three children, owned a suburban house in Florida, and had a good career as a real estate manager. There must have been a flaw in his character that led him to continue his crime spree until he was caught.
His family knew nothing of his exploits. But they soon found out. The author describes years of legal shenanigans after he was caught for the second time, in a suspicious situation. He was on parole at the time, and his getting caught produced serious consequences. However, due to lack of evidence, the charges against him were minor. He shrewdly worked out a verbal deal with the arresting officer, whereby he would have no charges leveled against him for confessing to all crimes he had committed previously; the police did not want the media to publicize certain things about the incident, that would embarrass them. The police were plenty embarrassed by all the unsolved heists in recent years (that Mason had committed). They thereafter sicc'ed the Fort Lauderdale Tactical Squad on Mason. He and his family were spied on and harassed, during all of the years of legal wrangling.
Mason's lawyers were cozy with the local court and law enforcement personnel in Broward County and the state of Florida. But, since some of the crimes Mason committed were in Ohio, that state and the Federal government also desired to punish him under their jurisdictions. By some clever, offbeat legal actions on the part of his lawyers, Mason was out on bail for some of this time. Jail was an extremely stressful place to be, and he did not want to return there at any cost. Yet, being free for the moment, and having an uncertain future, he felt compelled to go out drinking with his lawyers every night, thereby eventually destroying his marriage. Unable to cope with the impending possibility of going to prison, just before he was supposed to attend a hearing that might seal his fate, he became a fugitive.
While he assumed the identity of a friend of his who was also in the criminal underworld, he took up with an heiress who got a divorce in order to take up with him. Although Mason had possessed a character flaw that prompted his criminal behavior, a part of him must also have been lovable. For, his family and his new girlfriend continued to be supportive throughout all of his ordeals. They continued to visit him during his time in hiding.
When Mason's mother died, his children and ex-wife came to pay their respects. He proceeded with extreme caution about being seen with them, because he knew the cops would be tailing them. The more elusive he became, the madder the cops got. Finally, law enforcement closed in on the family, searched his and his girlfriend's house with a questionable warrant, and found what they wanted to find-- suspicious items such as newspaper clippings, Phyllis Diller's address book, one hundred thousand dollars in cash, lots of jewelry and ammunition from a .38 caliber revolver. The press ate it up. A number of different law enforcement entities, including the FBI, licked their chops at the prospect that they were finally going to nab the outlaw that had embarrassed them for so long.
The county, state and federal authorities had to decide whose law would apply. Since Mason had made the cops look stupid, they urged the prosecutors to give him a maximum sentence; perhaps twenty years. The crimes for which there was evidence, were passport forgery, identity fraud, failure to attend a court hearing, and violation of parole. The case was not so open and shut, and the prosecutors did not want a trial to be held, at which Mason might be acquitted. They therefore offered a five-year sentence with credit for time already served. Mason took the offer. He served one year in state prison and was released on parole.
After all that, he still had the burning desire to pull off one more heist. Like all of his previous others, this one took months of planning. Finally, he thought he was ready. He almost got himself killed. A metal ladder went clattering down about 16 floors of a condo in Naples, Florida. He needed to use the ladder, having brought fewer tools than usual to the job, because he did not intended to commit the crime that night. Upon realizing a "now or never" opportunity, he decided to seize it, despite the fact that he was not quite fully prepared. The ladder made so much suspicious noise, he had to abandon the job. He was extremely grateful that he was not caught. Thereafter, his addiction to theft was cured.
Epilogue
He married his heiress girlfriend, and has remained amicable with his ex-wife. His kids are grown up, and have become successful. He is very sorry for all of the emotional turmoil he caused to his family, and can't understand why they still love him. And he still does not know why he did what he did.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home