Former FBI Agent Identifies Suspects in 1990 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Heist

BOSTON -- For decades, the 1990 theft of 13 artworks from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum — now valued at more than $500 million — has remained unsolved.

It remains the largest art theft in history. In 2013, the FBI said it knew who was responsible for the Boston museum heist but declined to name them, fueling speculation that persists today.

A former FBI agent who led the investigation for more than two decades, Geoff Kelly, is now offering the first detailed account of how investigators reached that conclusion and is publicly identifying the men he believes were involved. In a new book, Kelly traces how the artworks moved through criminal networks, where violence took the lives of key suspects and witnesses, and challenges long-circulating theories by revisiting key details.

The irony at the center is that Gardner’s intention was for the museum to remain frozen in time, stipulating in her will that nothing in the Venetian palazzo-inspired building would be changed after her death. The empty gilded frames of the missing paintings still hang in the museum today — silent witnesses to what was taken.

Early on March 18, 1990, two men dressed as police officers arrived at the museum and convinced a security guard to let them in. The men handcuffed the guards in the basement and made their way to the museum’s Dutch Room, where they cut Vermeer’s “The Concert” and Rembrandt’s “Christ in the Storm on the Sea of Galilee" from their frames, also taking works by Degas and Manet. They also took a Napoleonic eagle finial and the museum’s security videotapes.

The museum offered a $5 million reward for information leading to the recovery of the works. Some tips pointed to the Irish Republican Army and to Boston mob figures, including notorious crime boss Whitey Bulger.

Kelly followed one lead to France, where he watched through binoculars as FBI agents, posing as wealthy intermediaries, attempted to draw out suspected Corsican mob figures. Closer to home, agents searched houses across New England, relying heavily on informants. But none of the tips led to the paintings.

In the decades since the robbery, several people believed to have ties to the heist were killed, and another died under suspicious circumstances. Robert “Bobby” Donati, a Boston mob associate long suspected in the case, was found stabbed to death in 1991. A separate line of evidence centered on George Reissfelder, who investigators believe owned the getaway car. Reissfelder later died under suspicious circumstances.

Both men had ties to TRC Auto Electric, a Dorchester shop linked to Charles “Chuck” Merlino’s crew. Though investigators believed they knew who was responsible, they had a difficult time finding definitive proof.

Kelly said a decision to release surveillance footage despite investigators’ objections became a lasting distraction. Among the questions that linger is whether it was an inside job. Investigators noted that shortly before the robbery, the guard opened a door against policy. The museum guard, Rick Abath, denied any involvement in the theft. He died in 2024.

Kelly personifies the missing artworks and describes them as “perfect fugitives.” Because the works are so recognizable, it's nearly impossible to sell them publicly. “Stealing the artwork from the museum, that’s the easy part,” Kelly said. “Profiting from it, that’s the difficult part.” He imagines the paintings will surface one day, outliving those who carried out the heist.