The Transylvania University Book Heist

Have you ever pocketed a 'dead pizza' or pulled a harmless prank that left you buzzing with adrenaline? Well, saddle up for a wild ride as we swap tales of youthful shenanigans, only to segue into the botched Transylvania University Book Heist. It's a saga that intertwines our laughable misdeeds with those of four college kids who, in 2004, mistook their lives for a heist movie and went big—only to go home, not with rare books, but handcuffs.

Ever wondered about the fine line that separates a prank from a felony? Join us on a journey through the planning and foiled execution of the 'Birds of America' caper, complete with basement strategizing and pot-fueled dreams of grandeur. We dissect the missteps, from the stun pen fiasco to the comedy of errors during their final act, comparing these with the escapades of our own less dire pasts. It's a rollercoaster of nostalgia, absurdity, and a dose of reality on the consequences of criminal aspirations.

Wrap up the episode with us as we peek into the aftermath of the high-stakes world of art theft, the unsung heroism of librarians, and the seven-year shadow that a prison sentence can cast on one's life. Through a blend of humor and hindsight, we explore the emotional toll on those caught in the crossfire and muse on the quirky idea of timing one's stint behind bars. From the solidarity of the bookish to the second chances post-incarceration, we cover it all with the irreverent candor you've come to expect from our trio.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Thanks for tuning in to the old Dirty Basement. On this week's episode, we're covering the Transylvania University Book Heist from back in December of 2004. This is a cool story brought to us by Matt. Never heard about this one. It's real interesting and we hope you enjoy it. Speaking of which, if you enjoy the podcast, leave that five star rating on Spotify. On Apple, you can leave us a written review and we really appreciate it. So sit back, relax and enjoy the Transylvania University Book Heist.

Speaker 2: 0:35

This is the old, dirty basement Home to debauchery, madness, murder and mayhem. A tear filled train ride deep into the depths of the devil's den.

Speaker 1: 0:50

With a little bit of humor history and copious consciousness.

Speaker 2: 0:55

I'm your announcer shallow throat. Your hosts are Dave, Matt and Zap. I love you, Matthew McGoney, Alright alright, alright.

Speaker 4: 1:10

Hey, this is Dave, matt and Zap, and welcome to the old, dirty basement.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Where every week we cover a true crime murder or compelling story, so sit back relax and comprehend.

Speaker 4: 1:26

Hello, hello, hello, happy new year and welcome to a 2024 first edition of old, dirty basement.

Speaker 3: 1:33

What's going on? How's it going? Everybody, yes, very good.

Speaker 1: 1:37

That is true, matt, because we recorded juice prior to 2024, even though it came out in 2024.

Speaker 4: 1:43

Yes, but this is yes, we're all together a new year.

Speaker 3: 1:45

Back together again.

Speaker 4: 1:46

Yes, very good.

Speaker 1: 1:47

It's been a while. The first verse same as the first.

Speaker 3: 1:50

That's it Very nice.

Speaker 1: 1:52

So this is a cool one, Matt. You picked this out.

Speaker 4: 1:55

Yeah, yeah, I came across this on. I think it was on YouTube.

Speaker 3: 1:59

Intrigued, matt. How did you come across this story? Because I had no idea such thing existed. But look not for nothing. I'm glad you brought it to our attention, because this was it was certainly interesting and compelling, there's no doubt.

Speaker 4: 2:12

Cool. Yeah, there's a band called Animals as Leaders, so I was checking stuff out on YouTube and I seen this thing American Animals and it has this Barry Cogan kid I think that's his name.

Speaker 1: 2:23

From Saltburn, from Saltburn.

Speaker 4: 2:24

Yeah, he's like this it actor right now and I was like what's this American Animals thing? And it actually was a great movie. It had like the real, like the real people in, with actors like the real people there, as parts of like no, no, no, wait, stop, that's not the way I remember it and they would like change the scenes around. It was a very cool, very cool movie. But that Barry Minko movie was that way. Yes, yes, yeah.

Speaker 4: 2:46

And it kind of like drew me in and then I was like this can't, this can't be like real and it's like this is based on a true story. Then it like cut, like based on it, like this is a true story. So then I looked it up, delve Deeper, did you know the rabbit hole thing? And I was like, wow, this should actually happen.

Speaker 3: 3:01

It's cool, it's amazing, I don't know it's but it's for.

Speaker 4: 3:05

It's for regular dudes, man.

Speaker 3: 3:07

I know and I know, dude, we will get to this. Yeah, and this, the way that these guys just forced, gumped their way through this thing, is just mind blowing.

Speaker 4: 3:14

All right, let's, let's dive in, shall we? Yeah, they didn't think, but they did it.

Speaker 1: 3:19

Yeah, Real quick. I was thinking of some name.

Speaker 3: 3:20

It's never real quick.

Speaker 1: 3:22

They got to come up with a name for this, so I was thinking it takes place in Lexington, kentucky, right, sure? So I was thinking, uh, in too deep, the Lexington steel.

Speaker 4: 3:32

Oh, I see what you did there. Yeah, in too deep the Lexington, the Lexington steel.

Speaker 1: 3:39

You know that is.

Speaker 4: 3:40

No.

Speaker 1: 3:41

Okay, you can look it up after we get off. Yeah, it's a song.

Speaker 4: 3:45

I know in too deep was a back to the hotel.

Speaker 1: 3:47

It's an actor.

Speaker 3: 3:49

Lexington, lexington steel, as in Remington steel.

Speaker 1: 3:52

Yeah, but we'll look it up then, all right.

Speaker 4: 3:55

In too deep, though, and that's long. Back to the hotel. Yeah, back to the hotel.

Speaker 1: 3:59

Speaking of back to, I guess we better get back to the story Like I said it's never, it's never real quick.

Speaker 4: 4:04

That was quick, though that was kind of quick.

Speaker 3: 4:06

Not even close. That was quick. No.

Speaker 4: 4:09

All right Basement terms.

Speaker 3: 4:11

The Kentucky story, or, as more commonly known, the Transylvania University book heist. Now, as the name would imply, in order to have a book heist one must have perpetrators, and in the Transylvania University book heist we have Spencer Reinhard, a bright overachiever with his heart set on a career and graphic design, and a student at Transylvania University in Kentucky, warren Lipka, a natural athlete, jock and class clown, on a full athletic scholarship for soccer at the University of Kentucky, not but a mile away from Transylvania University. Note, despite having become somewhat distant while in college, spencer and Warren had been best friends since they were eight years old. We also have Eric Borsak, a classmate of Warren's at the University of Kentucky, with whom Warren had played soccer while in high school, and finally Chaz Allen, friend and business partner of Eric Borsak. The two had at one point or would come to start and operate a lawn care business together.

Speaker 4: 5:28

So, like you were saying this, warren and Spencer were like best friends, right Besties, since they were kids, so there was like two guys right away that you could trust. So those guys were kind of like you know who could trust one another.

Speaker 1: 5:38

Yes, right.

Speaker 4: 5:40

And they said this Eric Borsak, dude, he went to Kentucky. He was pretty smart, he was training actually to be in the FBI.

Speaker 1: 5:47

Yeah, he had interest, like wasn't he the guy that he was like a pen pal?

Speaker 4: 5:50

He had pen pals growing up that were he wanted to be an FBI agent ever since he was a kid. So they went and like they're like this guy's kind of brainiac. So I guess Warren actually reached out to him and said hey, you know, I'm going to tell you about something.

Speaker 1: 6:03

Yeah.

Speaker 4: 6:04

And I guess this Chaz guy. Nobody really liked him, no he?

Speaker 3: 6:06

was kind of a dick.

Speaker 4: 6:07

In the end he was just a dick, yeah, and he was like hey, I'm going to tell you about me. So I think Spencer was like we need somebody that has. We need somebody to fund what we're going to try to do here, and that's who they came up with Chaz.

Speaker 1: 6:17

Yeah, the money in college, yeah.

Speaker 3: 6:20

So not long into college, spencer and Warren had fallen into their own funks, the freshman funk, as it were.

Speaker 1: 6:27

We want the funk.

Speaker 3: 6:28

Spencer had become disenfranchised by the idea of graphic arts, as he felt far more talented than his classmates, who, in his opinion, brought him down. Warren had quit soccer and, as a result, forfeited his athletic scholarship. He was still taking classes at the university, but he had little to no direction. In October of their freshman year, warren learned the trade of making fake IDs and sought the help of his old teammate and fellow University of Kentucky student, eric Borsak, whom he then brought on as a partner in the fake ID trade. The business thrived for a short while, but came to a screeching halt when $2,000 of Eric's money went missing. Warren needed a new partner, so he reached out to his artistic childhood friend, spencer, who happily accepted the offer.

Speaker 3: 7:20

So I mean, I've seen this. I mean I felt it Like I remember going into my freshman year of college and, dude, it's a life changing thing. I mean it really is. You know that you're shit. I just got done with four years of high school. Now I'm basically restarting a new four years, but it's in a whole different direction, like you're getting through high school thing and all right, this is just a task, it's a chore. You're now in college where you're expected Okay, man. You're, let's say, 18 years old. Decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. Write the fuck now Like that's a big deal.

Speaker 3: 7:51

So, as you go through that, friends you might have had I mean, it's like dude, it's like going to McDevitt, right. So you had grade school friends that were besties forever. You and them were awesome. As soon as you get the, let's say, catholic high school, where you're getting all the different kids from all the different areas all in this one lump, you're making new friends and old friends might start to fall out. Same thing happens in college. You might have had besties in high school. Now, all of a sudden, you go to college. Hell, two friends of mine went to college together. They came out of college, never spoke, never talked, never spoke again.

Speaker 1: 8:22

I'd imagine too that, like money's tight in college, you get to college and you're not living at home and you know you're trying to eat and the expenses of that and everything else, so that fake ID ring. I actually knew a couple of guys that were doing that around here and I didn't go to a way to college, but I knew a dude that was doing it. Now this is back in the nineties, in 2000,. What was it 2004? 2000?

Speaker 4: 8:44

Something like that.

Speaker 1: 8:46

I wonder how easy it was to fake like you. Try faking ID now it's like impossible.

Speaker 3: 8:49

It's damn near impossible. I mean, ids were certainly easier back then. The only way I could do fake IDs was just hopefully get an ID like an expired ID or a found ID that kind of looked like me, and by found it's like hey man, I know a guy that's you know he's legal and he kind of looks like you Make love and I'll just have him give you his light or give him your license, give him a hundred bucks or whatever, and he'll just go get a new license.

Speaker 1: 9:14

That guy. That would do him literally, would take everything would be the same on your license and he would somehow laminate over the year and make it, you know, change it to whatever needed be.

Speaker 3: 9:24

Damn.

Speaker 1: 9:25

And then he would laminate over it, but there was no scanning or anything. He would just show it and get in whatever.

Speaker 4: 9:30

I tried to buy beer before in high school without any kind of ID and that was it. It's double D's now.

Speaker 1: 9:35

But back then it was called Frank's.

Speaker 4: 9:37

But I gave the guy 20 for a couple of forties and the guy just put it in his pocket.

Speaker 1: 9:41

I remember that yeah.

Speaker 3: 9:42

That's on Brookwood.

Speaker 4: 9:43

Yeah, but the guy he just put it in his pocket and just looked at me and I'm like wait and dude, he's like man, get the hell out of here, Get out of here.

Speaker 1: 9:49

That's awesome and I was like shit.

Speaker 4: 9:51

I was like this guy, just what could I do? I mean underage, just try to buy some 40. Yeah, the guy's like man. Get the hell out of here. I was like shit.

Speaker 1: 9:59

Now on another topic of this growing up, did you guys ever try to pull, maybe on even a smaller scale? I'll show you an example. Like any kind of heist or try to get over on anything. You know what I mean, Like as a kid.

Speaker 4: 10:09

Us.

Speaker 1: 10:09

Never.

Speaker 3: 10:10

So Matt and I have talked about this before. There was a point in our formative years where Matt and I and a few other people would go out to, let's say, the local mall, specifically let's say Boscoff's. Who gives a shit? I mean, look, it's 20, some 30 years ago by now. Who gives a shit? So we would go in there and we thought that we were the smartest ones In the world because we had an empty Boscoff's bag a plastic bag from Boscoff's, a sizeable plastic bag.

Speaker 3: 10:36

So all we would do a couple of us would go in, we would distract some of the associates and there was the one guy that had the bag. He would walk up, he'd slide a Genesis, Sega Genesis or a Super Nintendo or whatever into the bag and out the door he would go when we saw him go out, then we would go out after and then we drive away and that's it.

Speaker 4: 10:56

That's pretty much it. But then I mean it was a thing too, like these guys they are maybe performing something on a higher level, but back then too, I mean we've seen friends go down also for that Correct and it was something that you did for a rush at the time. And I remember I heard of kids stealing CDs and I was like this can't be that hard. And then you get away with one, then you get away with putting four, then you get away, and it can be addicting.

Speaker 3: 11:28

Something like that, something like that.

Speaker 4: 11:30

So what I was going to say is like there was a lot of side hustles back in the day.

Speaker 1: 11:33

Well, I knew about that. I mean, I'm not going to say whether or not I was in on that or whatever, but I know what you're talking about with that. But even further back, even on a smaller scale, as, like little kids, I knew a group of kids that I hung out with and I would be around when this would go on, and I might have talked about this on a previous podcast. They would call Domino's Pizza in order of pizza. Like, use like an adult voice and try to put it on, like give me a large pepperoni, whatever. And then I never show up and pick it up and then just walk down to Domino's hey, you got any dead pizzas.

Speaker 1: 12:00

And they used to give it to you for free, so it was like a good scam Interesting.

Speaker 4: 12:05

I've never heard it. I'm going to try that tomorrow. Yeah, man.

Speaker 1: 12:08

Well, yeah, they call them dead pizzas and they'd get these pizzas, but also these same kids. We would go and I'd go to and help. You could go down there and if you want to do it legit and get free pizza, you go down there. Hey, can we fold boxes? And we go in and fold their pizza boxes and then they'd give us free pizza.

Speaker 4: 12:24

Well, this is like an in a foreign country, like no, you're working for it, though, john. Labor in Vietnam, that's not so bad.

Speaker 3: 12:30

Look you've seen that you've seen the things before, like the old movies or whatever, where if somebody goes in to get something to eat at a restaurant or whatever and they, you know, check their pockets. They don't have any money. They got to wash dishes. Like you've heard that before, you'll have to wash dishes, you know, pay for that. So that's the thing. There's nothing wrong with that. There's nothing scammy, no, that wasn't really I was just saying that's hard work.

Speaker 4: 12:48

That's a little elbow grease for someone in return.

Speaker 1: 12:51

That was the legit way to get it. At least you're working for it, but that other way I'm not you know that way, that's that made up.

Speaker 4: 12:56

Yeah, yeah, crazy talk, that's crazy talk.

Speaker 1: 12:59

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 13:02

So interestingly enough. So Warren got into this up. So let's everyone be clear. So, spencer and Warren, they grew up together in Lexington, Southside Lexington. They were besties since they were eight years old. Spencer ended up going to Catholic school, private school, warren went to public school. They ended up both being heavy into the soccer world and ended up, you know, while being best friends one Catholic school, one public school they played against each other like all the time, like state championships, whatever to help. So with that, as time goes on, obviously we talked about, you know, change of life, shit happens.

Speaker 3: 13:37

Warren learned the fake ID trade from a graduate of Spencer's Catholic high school, so like a much, much upper class, let's say at least four years their senior had gone on to again. Once he graduated high school he was done. He actually got into this guy got into the identity theft business. So not just fake IDs but identity theft. And this is back in the early 2000s. So that's not to say that identity theft hasn't existed for a very, very long time. But now we think of identity theft as it, as it being stolen by virtue of some electronic means.

Speaker 3: 14:15

Like somebody's mining your shit.

Speaker 1: 14:16

Steal on your Facebook profile.

Speaker 3: 14:18

Back then people would just steal your wallet or steal your mail, or they would go get mechanics leans on your property down at the recorder of deeds Like there's a lot of different ways to get over on people with regard to identity theft before them Internets.

Speaker 1: 14:32

Yeah, it was harder to track. Yeah, for sure.

Speaker 3: 14:35

Also, these guys smoked a lot of pot, like a lot. Like I thought I smoked a lot of pot. These guys smoke a lot of pot. I'm saying back in my day Like I read this story and I figure like, yeah, these kind of college kids. Yeah, dude, I think of my first year of college. I was smoking a lot of pot. There's no doubt about that. These guys smoked a lot of pot. I can relate.

Speaker 1: 14:58

You can tell, coming up with these ideas and stuff.

Speaker 3: 15:00

What idea is that? Dave? Would you be referring to the Transylvania University book heist? All right, well, in the weeks prior to Warren approaching Spencer to partner with him in the fake ID business, spencer had taken a tour of his university's library as a part of his freshman orientation Therein. He was awestruck in discovering that the library housed some very rare items, including, but not limited to, a first edition of On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin and Birds of America by John James Audubon himself, a four-volume set of the life-size engravings the wildlife artist completed in London in 1838. There were less than 200 of these sets ever produced, so this is a pretty big deal. Now, upon hearing from the tour guide of the value of these books, which was somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million to $12 million, a fleeting thought occurred to Spencer, more like a fantasy, of having those books for himself. One evening, while celebrating their newfound partnership in the fake-ID business and rekindling their friendship, spencer mentioned the rare books to Warren. The seed was planted.

Speaker 1: 16:21

Yeah, that Audubon book. They said it was colored by hand and it's a massive book.

Speaker 4: 16:26

It was painted, yeah the whole. Thing was painted. It was Birds of America.

Speaker 1: 16:29

But by hand. That's crazy.

Speaker 4: 16:31

And the book. You guys are thinking like a book, or people out there might be like oh, a book, but this book was like a very large table book.

Speaker 3: 16:38

It's huge, the size of a tabletop. Yes, yes.

Speaker 4: 16:41

It's like a huge table book. It wouldn't be something easily handled or easily taken. No, no.

Speaker 3: 16:47

And with that book and with that size comes weight, and we'll get into that for sure. Yeah, dude. So again, these guys smoke a lot of pot and that's where they come up with these wacky ideas. That is quite literally where this plant came about. They're sitting in Warren's car his Acura legend Smoking some pot, smoking the reefer, chasing the muff around and next thing you know, they hatch this plan.

Speaker 1: 17:12

I think they were watching the movies too. You know what I mean, those heist movies. Well, they said that's how they started planning for it.

Speaker 4: 17:17

They might get into that. I'm not sure, oh we forgot?

Speaker 3: 17:20

Damn sure Will's. Mr Pink All right and others All right. Well, in order, I'm sorry, let's go All right. In the weeks that followed, spencer performed some cursory reconnaissance on the university's library, paying specific attention to any security in place, be it personnel or otherwise, and determining a means by which the books could be accessed. As it turns out, there were no security personnel or systems at the library accepting one librarian, Betty Jean BJ Gooch.

Speaker 3: 17:57

They mocked the Gooch A mild-mannered sweet soul in her mid fifties. Meanwhile, warren was performing his due diligence by seeking out, and ultimately engaging, a man located in New York City named Barry who was to help them fence the ill-gotten goods once acquired. Not long into the process, barry referred Warren to another man who resided in Amsterdam and would ultimately be the buyer of the books, a forged passport and a flight to Amsterdam. Later, warren found himself in a meeting with his would-be buyer and in the midst of hatching a plan for international art trafficking.

Speaker 1: 18:39

They were saying that trip to Amsterdam cost them around 4,800 bucks.

Speaker 3: 18:44

That sounds about right With the fake passport. The fake passport alone cost $2,500.

Speaker 4: 18:49

With the fake passport. They said Spencer Reinhardt. When they were interviewing some of these guys in the movie they were saying that Warren they all think now he actually never went to Amsterdam.

Speaker 1: 19:00

That was he kind of Like made up.

Speaker 4: 19:02

Yeah, like he was like how are they the whole thing with the fake ID or the fake passport and everything like that? He didn't have anybody to buy it, he just wanted to go through with this plan. So bad. They said that he was made up. Yeah. So at one of the stories he was like you know, are you going to believe me or what? And then Spencer Reinhardt was saying that he's like I don't think he ever went. That's interesting.

Speaker 1: 19:23

This is post-911, so you would think too would be hard to get to fly anywhere with the fake IDs and fake passports and all that.

Speaker 4: 19:28

But he was just so hard up on getting. He just wanted to go through with this. So bad Like he was. Like how can I get them guys to believe, oh yeah, I got a buyer in?

Speaker 3: 19:36

Amsterdam.

Speaker 4: 19:37

Right.

Speaker 3: 19:38

It is interesting. You know, I hadn't thought about that and I read some interviews that these guys I actually read a few interviews that these guys had done. I never read what you had just said and it's interesting to give that perspective. That makes a lot of sense. I'm saying it's not outside of the realm of possibility that that happened. That he said I'm just to himself yeah, I got one over on these guys. Sure, I got a guy in New York, wink Wink. Sure, that guy referred me to some guy in Amsterdam. Sure, oh, and I got to fly over there and I need a fake passport. This is again, as Dave had aptly pointed out, three years and change after 9-11.

Speaker 4: 20:16

I mean, security is fucking high real high and they were also saying like Not as high as these guys.

Speaker 3: 20:22

Yeah, just like these guys.

Speaker 4: 20:24

But these art dealers, then too wouldn't be like some 20-year-old that would have any kind of knowledge or able to possess a book like that, like the guy's like, hey, are you interested in who would even believe him or who would he even know to talk to? So they were saying that they pull Warren, pulled one over on them, guys, with this.

Speaker 3: 20:40

Well, we think that.

Speaker 4: 20:41

Now however.

Speaker 3: 20:42

We don't know. We don't know. And I say that because so the identity theft guy referred Warren to Barry. Warren and Spencer ended up driving 700 miles to New York City to meet Barry and they gave him 500 bucks. So I mean for sure Spencer was there, so he met Barry. So that exists, the guy in New York exists.

Speaker 4: 21:02

Yeah, there was a guy in New York. They met through some guy at the library or somebody new or something like that.

Speaker 3: 21:09

The guy in New York was referred to Warren by the guy that taught Warren how to make fake IDs. Make fake IDs.

Speaker 4: 21:16

Yes, he said I do know a guy. I think that's right. But then again they're saying that Barry guy could just be a guy just ripping kids off. It could be Like give me 500 bucks, but they did lose 500 bucks to whatever Barry guy and he gave them some email, I believe.

Speaker 3: 21:26

Well, so that's true, that's absolutely true. So they gave Barry 500 bucks. Barry then gave to them an email address and send an email to this guy and sign off your email as Terry. So I get to all of that. And so they obtained that email address, they sent the thing and they received a response back from this guy, or I should say whatever. They received a response back, and it was, you know, the only way. The only place I do business is in Amsterdam. Now, is it possible, is it possible that what's his name? That Warren made that email address up himself and gave it to Barry to then give back to Warren and Spencer?

Speaker 1: 22:05

Just emailed himself, yeah.

Speaker 3: 22:08

So he emailed himself and he replied to himself Sure, that's absolutely entirely possible. Anyway, the fake passport ended up costing $2,500. Allegedly. All in cost to Amsterdam with the passport was how much? 47?.

Speaker 1: 22:20

They said around 4,800. That was on that CNBC superheist show and also on there. Give you an idea, like you said, what 8 to 12 million like value on the books total. So according to you know the numbers they threw out there on the superheist, they would get about 50% black market value. So of course 12, so you're talking four to six. And then you got to take 20% out of that for money laundering, sure, because that money it's dirty you need to do the yeah, yeah, it's that. It's the thing it can be done.

Speaker 3: 22:49

It can absolutely be done.

Speaker 1: 22:50

So those numbers are going to be dropping. When you're doing illegal shit like this, sure what?

Speaker 3: 22:55

are you going to do Pay taxes, right? No, but that's the thing. You pay somebody else and ultimately you're really only saving a few points. But no, I mean, every little bit counts, I guess, all right. So in order for the buyer to complete his purchase this is that guy in Amsterdam the books would need to be accompanied by a legitimate appraisal. Christie's International Auction House, with an office in New York City, was the choice.

Speaker 3: 23:22

Time passed and they're strategizing for their heist continued. The plan was to wait until the fall of their sophomore year. In the meantime, they realized they would need additional help to pull it off, bearing to hatch it with his former fake ID partner, eric Borsig. Warren approached Eric with the plan and Eric accepted. Over the summer, eric started a lawn care service with his friend, chaz Allen. Chaz was swiftly entered the fold of friendship with Eric, warren and Spencer. When fall came around, warren dropped out of school to focus his time on planning the heist and he and Eric each rented rooms in a multi-unit building which was co-owned by Chaz and his father, where Chaz already had an apartment of his own. Warren took the basement apartment and Eric took one of the apartments above his. Spencer returned to his dorm at Transylvania University.

Speaker 1: 24:20

Yeah, they were saying when these guys were, like you know, coming together with this whole heist that are planning, they were doing it in this old dirty basement. Yeah, they were showing him in the basement and they were saying how dirty and dingy it was and I was like, oh hey, old dirty basement, yeah.

Speaker 3: 24:35

I was reading about what's his name's apartment and so in true, you know, in true single guy fashion, who at this point is 19 at best pushing 20. So I guess, first things first. So Warren had quit school and rented this basement apartment. Where were his parents? And all of this? Like, where were his parents saying, hey, man, sure we support you, it's a good idea for you to quit school and just go move out. Like what was he telling them? What was he doing for money? Was he getting an allowance?

Speaker 1: 25:03

Yeah, true, I don't know. I don't know.

Speaker 3: 25:06

I mean just because knowing the background with these kids, like all of these kids grew up in relatively wholesome households.

Speaker 1: 25:10

Yeah, privileged and stuff that's a money there.

Speaker 4: 25:13

Yeah, there was a couple that were pretty privileged. A couple were pretty, I guess, upper middle class, like they weren't hurting for anything, right?

Speaker 1: 25:19

They said that Lexington area is big money, it's a horse capital of the world. Yeah, a lot of money down there.

Speaker 3: 25:24

So, like anybody 1920, 19 or 20 years old, he was growing he's in that basement apartment. He was growing weed down there, Of course, of course he was I tried that once. Did you, I did and failed miserably and of course it was working? Not really at all, it was under the steps. It's not really at all.

Speaker 4: 25:43

I had no, it was in a trash can, wasn't it? With like a?

Speaker 3: 25:46

tin foil A tin foil line trash can with a grow light. That was funny.

Speaker 1: 25:50

And you got anything out of it or Zero, just hassle it was effort, it was fun.

Speaker 3: 25:55

It was fun to the extent of ooh, it's this thrill of growing this illicit substance. Ooh, I'm going to.

Speaker 4: 26:00

Think of where Harry Potter lived. That's where that was growing weed.

Speaker 3: 26:03

Actually, I couldn't have put that better. It was in the cupboard under the stairs, except it wasn't a cupboard, it was a panel. It was a panel yeah. It was a panel that I actually pulled off the wall and then reinstalled with hinges on the one end so I would be able to open it like a door.

Speaker 1: 26:18

but nobody knew it was there except me, I'm going to make a movie called Zappenheimer. Yeah, why not so?

Speaker 3: 26:24

not only was this guy growing weed, but again, think 19 to 20 years old, like where's your head at? So, in true guy fashion, this guy, in addition to that growing his weed, he also outfitted his apartment with a big screen TV, a DVD player and a Sony PlayStation. What else do you need, seriously, what else? So over that summer, before the fall fun fact Spencer painted murals at the local school, warren worked at a local day camp and Eric and Chaz Day camp yeah.

Speaker 3: 26:55

And Eric and Chaz. This is when Eric and Chaz started that lawn care business. Meanwhile, chaz was soon invited to join the existing threesome and ultimately became the fourth in their soon to be book heist crew. Much of the foursome's time was soon spent observing and documenting the library and all who came and went, monitoring campus police activity, considering escape routes and researching ancillary needs like auction houses and Swiss bank accounts.

Speaker 3: 27:26

By the end of October 2004, the plan was finalized. Using an alias, warren would make an appointment to view the books and arrive in disguise. All four were to be disguised as old men arrive at the library in a getaway van and park at the library's fire exit. Spencer was to make his way to a nearby building and serve as lookout, while Warren and Chaz would be the one to meet with Ms Gooch, the librarian. After a quick introduction, ms Gooch was to be subdued with a stun gun. Eric would then make his way to Warren and Chaz to help with collecting the books and transporting them down and out of the library through the fire exit. After driving away, the getaway van and its contents were to be switched into a different vehicle. And finally, the books would need to make their way to Christie's almost immediately in order to have them appraised before the theft would have made its way to any stolen records databases. The date was set Thursday, december 16th. The even had code names for one another.

Speaker 4: 28:35

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 28:35

Matt had alluded to that earlier.

Speaker 4: 28:37

Yeah they go from watching all their heist movies and stuff Resort on right. Yeah, and I think the one guy that was gonna go into the FBI on like his name, whatever, but he was like on they were interviewing, he said that was my least favorite Quentin Tarantino movie for real. Yeah he was kind of like pissed about. He's like why are we so lame? It is lame.

Speaker 3: 28:54

So Warren is the one. So out of work Warren, no job. Warren is the one who was signed the names to these guys. So Spencer was mr Green, warren was mr Yellow, eric was mr Black and Chaz the new guy, of course was mr Pay he got the worst one. Well, they got the worst one and, as you can imagine, the same fight broke out between them as it did in.

Speaker 4: 29:15

Reservoir Dogs yeah, chaz was was pissed and Warren said I just did it. The fuck with him, of course, and that was all it was so they were showing their disguises.

Speaker 1: 29:22

They came up with these old man disguises. It looked like the sabotage video, yeah, you know, with the fake mustache. Absolutely. I was thinking about like they're how they were giving them jobs. Again, a heist. Everybody's gonna have a job, sure, so some are gonna be a little more important, or a little more. I'd say some of the jobs are even harder, sure, and it got me to thinking, like when you go to move, you're helping a friend move and you know You'll go into a room and it'll be like a, you know, a couch and the two guys grab it and then you go in the middle and you're kind of like acting like you're helping but you're not really out at all, I mean that's this guy that gets to go be look out.

Speaker 1: 29:55

It's like, yeah, you're helping, you're not really in the mix. You know I'm saying right and then you still look like you're part of it. But let's face it, the guys that are in the he's not hand, the lookout is not hands-on right.

Speaker 3: 30:07

He's certainly just as culpable, but he's not hands-on the one stealing the shit.

Speaker 1: 30:11

He's not getting dirty, and that made me think about moving, cuz I try that game you going like you try to go behind.

Speaker 3: 30:17

Yeah, I'll get the end table, I'll get this pillow. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 30:20

Yeah give me some light and it's just getting the middle and help but um, it's funny how we were talking about the there.

Speaker 4: 30:25

They wanted to look like old men because I guess Spencer came up with the idea saying nobody notices old people. Yeah, but it was funny, I guess when they got out of the car there was these four guys, like he said, dressed like the sabotage video in a college town going to a college library.

Speaker 1: 30:39

I guess everybody was standing there looking at me.

Speaker 4: 30:42

Yeah, there's guys, as you could tell that they were like younger. You know, it was like kind of like a disguise, just awful. The artist kind of got like the cold feet.

Speaker 3: 30:51

No doubt the artist Spencer. I actually drew detailed sketches of the inside of the special collections library and the adjacent rare book room.

Speaker 4: 30:59

Yeah, these guys in screw around like they were really. They did it just like a heist movie. Absolutely, they were real.

Speaker 1: 31:04

They planned it very well, but sometimes plans Well, they did good on a lot of things, but then some stuff which we'll find out. Mm-hmm, really, you mentioned it earlier Dave.

Speaker 3: 31:13

For inspiration they watched movies like Oceans 11 and Snatch. Mm-hmm which one of my personal favorites, love Snatch.

Speaker 4: 31:20

That's where I think they got the the Hasid's, yeah, yeah. And that's where they got the idea to dress as old guys, yeah.

Speaker 1: 31:26

I got me thinking about heist movies too. So you said about reservoir dogs, the town that wasn't out yet. Yeah, that's a great heist movie. Yep, and Inception really is like a heist movie.

Speaker 3: 31:36

It is. That's a great movie. Trying to steal, that's a trippy one, but yeah, spinny thing because what an inception.

Speaker 1: 31:40

They're stealing an idea, right, correct. They're trying to get his dream. Yeah, that's deep.

Speaker 3: 31:45

The van was nicknamed the GTA V. Grant theft auto now the go-to and away vehicle.

Speaker 1: 31:53

That was what they called it. Yeah, these guys.

Speaker 4: 31:54

They were clever enough to get a. They steal a license plate from a from a parking garage, Yep it was a temporary right. No, they took like some yeah, some license plate. Whatever I mean, it worked.

Speaker 3: 32:05

Yeah, I did it so, interestingly enough, the the books that were housed in this library, though the, the money books that we're talking about were in the rare book room, and the rare book room was on the third floor of the library, so there's three stories to this building. It was on the third floor. Now these books, as we talked about earlier, were big, like at least the Autobahn books. Huge, I mean massive, massive books. The books alone weighed somewhere in the neighborhood of 250 pounds. Just, that's a big guy. Let's like moving a couch.

Speaker 1: 32:35

That's a double XL man.

Speaker 4: 32:37

That is a triple, at least a triple. That's a triple XL. I think they could have covered it in the old dirty basement. Triple XL.

Speaker 1: 32:43

Yeah, we got one that's in front of us. That's right, I'm trying to move it merchant.

Speaker 3: 32:46

Yeah, we're trying to fence this merch. It is widely available.

Speaker 1: 32:50

No pun intended. Nice.

Speaker 3: 32:54

Alas the best laid plans, things began to go terribly awry. Seemingly immediately, the morning of December 16th did not bode well for the foursome. Eric wasn't able to secure his friend's van, which left them to borrow a Dodge caravan from Eric's mother. The stun guns which had been ordered via the internet hadn't arrived. There were no parking spaces available near the library. And once they finally got to the library, any and all onlookers near and at the library watched the perpetrators closely, as they couldn't keep their eyes off of their silly and Terribly made old man disguises.

Speaker 4: 33:35

Yeah, they thought they were just college kids dressing as old.

Speaker 3: 33:38

Yeah, what the fuck are you guys doing? Yeah?

Speaker 1: 33:40

Well, I wonder if that bad grandpa was out yet with Knoxville.

Speaker 3: 33:45

That was a good one.

Speaker 1: 33:45

Yeah, like you know, people probably think it's like a prank show possibly you're on a college campus and people are dressed like that, I would think something's up nowadays people just look away.

Speaker 3: 33:54

They're, or their heads are, buried in their stupid phones.

Speaker 1: 33:55

Yeah, you could get away with this probably absolutely nobody pays attention anymore. Right.

Speaker 4: 33:59

I think they might have made it more difficult than what it really was. Yeah, I think they over just too much overthinking, right, I mean you can look at it now and say that, but at that time I think they were just like so into watching these heist movies. Yeah, they got a little over their head, mm-hmm.

Speaker 3: 34:14

The heist was rescheduled for the next day, friday December 17th, and some changes were made to the plan. No more old man disguises. No, warren was to meet with miss Gooch and then call Eric after he'd subdued her with a stun gun. Chas was to wait in the getaway. Van Spencer was to keep Warren apprised of anything that might go wrong by virtue of a mobile phone he was to steal from any unsuspecting student that morning.

Speaker 1: 34:45

Yeah, that's stun gun. They described it in the superheist the guys that actually did it as more of a stun pen. I go it didn't really do much like they were testing on each other, yep, but it must have been. I Know pretty weak, well, no, this this Gooch lady.

Speaker 4: 34:59

I think when they were trying to stun her she's like what the hell are you doing? Get off me.

Speaker 1: 35:03

Yeah, like, yeah, like one of those buzzers when you yeah cuz, cuz.

Speaker 4: 35:07

She was so freaked out like what are you doing? Like she didn't understand what was going on.

Speaker 3: 35:10

This is a foreshadow by Matt, by the way. Yeah.

Speaker 4: 35:13

I didn't know we're getting. I'm sorry, it's a foreshadow. It's a. It is a foreshadow.

Speaker 3: 35:17

It doesn't involve the Goocher.

Speaker 4: 35:18

Yeah.

Speaker 1: 35:18

I mean in foreshadow. Yeah, we need a sound effect for that. But yeah, they described it as like a very weak. Was that a Fleetwood Mac?

Speaker 3: 35:28

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I like what you did there. Thank you, that was good.

Speaker 1: 35:30

I'm sorry I missed that one no, I was. I'm gonna say they just described it as a very small, like they were just downplaying it, just be.

Speaker 4: 35:36

But there again these guys are recounting it, probably trying to make it seem like it wasn't as bad, you know they tried, like, once you start bringing things like a taser or any kind of stun gun, anything involved like that, that's where, like, the crime increases sure big time, so you have to be very careful, like if they would have just went in like maybe with their finger in their pocket and said you know, this is a hold up, or they probably could have like got her to calm down, tied her up, that, whatever they needed to do, but like once you bring in the tasers and the, yeah, you got to watch that stuff.

Speaker 3: 36:03

I've heard stuff about that with regard to bank robberies, where the robbers will show up with their pistols, but no bullets. That way it's, there's no chance I could have killed anybody. There's no bullets in, there's gone.

Speaker 1: 36:17

How about just going and go find out who, or if she has like a relative, and go in and go, hey, so and so something happened, and get her out of there?

Speaker 3: 36:24

Yeah, like make her run out of the you'd think if they had seen oceans 11, they would have seen that part in oceans 11 where that actually happened.

Speaker 1: 36:30

Oh, they did that.

Speaker 3: 36:32

Was it oceans 13?

Speaker 1: 36:34

I don't know that I've seen any of them. It might have been oceans.

Speaker 4: 36:36

I don't know if the Goucher's fallen for that, though she's a she's smart lady. She's been there for a while.

Speaker 3: 36:42

It's interesting to see how much these guys which of these guys were really pot committed to to this heist so like Warren is obviously balls deep. Right, he's quit work, he's quit. Everything like his life right now is revolving around this heist. Spencer Actually tried to reschedule his art history final that day in order to have time to properly apply the disguises ahead of time. And Then I'm sorry. Yeah, he wanted to get it done early so he could then have enough time to apply the makeup into the disguises. The heist on the rescheduled day for Friday needed to be completed no later than 12 30 pm, like lunchtime, in order for Chas to return to the return the van to his mother and for Spencer and Eric To get back to school to take their respective finals on time. So it's like, look, we got to get this done. I got finals to do, like dude, why wouldn't you? Why would you do it that day? Why wouldn't you pick some other day? Right? Why would you pick it on finals day if you give that much of a shit about?

Speaker 4: 37:39

finals. Well, I think they wanted to do it on finals because, like if they anybody suspected a student to be like no, they were taking their finals that makes sense. But, um, this answers that question. The thing, the thing too, that why don't they think of like a fire alarm or something like that? Cuz that door the door was locked. So if she would have to go, out to like escape, or the exit is there. She would be going down. You could just follow behind, or I?

Speaker 1: 37:59

don't know, and I would think I would have thought of something with Like a fire alarm or you're alert and authorities and then you're kind of yeah, but by the time the authorities would get there, you would be out the dough true, we can talk about this afterwards, maybe come out the dough, come up with something, yeah.

Speaker 3: 38:12

See, we can get it done now, but you can, any one of us could, monday morning quarterback this.

Speaker 1: 38:17

Yeah, well, that's the thing, I think. These guys watch movies and they probably go. This is easy.

Speaker 3: 38:22

Yeah, you know, yeah, sure they did it in the movie.

Speaker 1: 38:24

It must be easy right, they make it look so easy in these movies and stuff.

Speaker 4: 38:27

I think we should go to the Middletown library.

Speaker 1: 38:29

I see, we can steal, we can get.

Speaker 4: 38:33

Some sort of book out there they have like, yeah, that'd be fantastic, like Elmo's world or something sure like the kids section, all right.

Speaker 3: 38:40

So on Friday, december 17th 2004, the heist ensued. Instead of calling Eric up to the rare book section after he subdued, ms Gooch, warren instead called Eric up as soon as he got there. Ps, the stun guns still hadn't arrived, so they had to improvise with a hastily obtained stun pen as Dave aptly pointed out, there is which did not Knock out, ms Gooch, as the stun gun would have.

Speaker 3: 39:15

So, yeah, dave, as you had said, all this did was just like buzzer. Yeah, look, if any one of us have ever done anything with electrics in a house, at least the way I do it, which is this stupid ass way Like you're gonna. Oh yeah, trey, you gonna learn. So I have absolutely touched at least a handful of times like live, wires, live, whatever You're gonna feel it, but it's not gonna knock you unconscious.

Speaker 1: 39:38

It's just like an uncomfortable yeah, that's what this lady was getting in her arm.

Speaker 3: 39:41

It's exactly that. I'm not saying it was 110.

Speaker 4: 39:44

It was probably far less right and in the battery in the American animals. Yeah, they like interviewed her after that and she was like I really wasn't Sure what was going on, right, she thought they were like pinching her.

Speaker 1: 39:54

Yeah and yeah.

Speaker 4: 39:55

She was like what the hell is going on and it's kind of something that it's good for maybe knocking rats, unconscious.

Speaker 3: 40:00

Even that, why would you go chasing her?

Speaker 4: 40:02

right or a mice. A mice a mouse, mice, singular mice. I'm gonna kill you with a stun pen, all right, so let's see. No, it did knock her out.

Speaker 3: 40:14

Yeah, they do shit. Didn't do that. But with three out of seven autobahn books in hand, warren and Eric made their way to the basement but couldn't find the fire exit. Re-entering the elevator, with the intent of returning to the third floor of the library, they inadvertently stopped on the main floor on their way up, where they were spotted by another librarian Fearing for sweet little miss Gooch. The librarian made her way upstairs to check on her. By the time, warren and Eric realized the only way to the fire exit was through the main floor, not the basement. They had since been followed by the librarian who'd seen them earlier and who'd also since found miss Gooch hog, tied and disoriented Like anyone else. In their right minds, the two made a run for it, leaving the autobahn books behind.

Speaker 1: 41:10

Yeah, they were depicting out in the.

Speaker 3: 41:11

This is just so jacked up man like this went way wrong. I mean way wrong. At what point? Like? I mean if, if Spencer's up there making drawings of the library, like, and he's mapping everything out, wouldn't yeah, wouldn't somebody at some point figured out, as they're looking at this building, the fire exit? The fire door is on the main floor of the building. Who in the hell is the fire door the main floor of the building? Who in the hell Goes down into a basement just to come back up out of the basement for a fire exit? Like, you don't exit deeper into the ground, you exit on the ground right see that was the lack of preparation.

Speaker 4: 41:47

They should have went out that exit for some reason and saw where it went. They thought it was the exit down to the basement. Absolutely like what the Can you imagine, like this big-ass book in your hand. You like woke out and then, and then I think they dropped it right on the stairs, or they have it like in, like a. A wrap like a Blanket. Can't see me.

Speaker 1: 42:09

But uh, yeah, and they were making these plans, like we said.

Speaker 3: 42:11

I'm just trying to imagine that library on the main, that librarian on the main floor. He'll excuse me who looks over at these two dickheads in the elevator holding, you know, these books wrapped in blanket or whatever? Right did she just? And oh, ps, it's the, the, the staff elevator. It's, you know, employees only elevator. It's not like a common person elevator, it's just an employees only elevator.

Speaker 1: 42:34

They also said that when they opened that that there were kids in there taking midterms. So they're all them kids there too that they got to see. You know, and you know somebody knew who they were.

Speaker 4: 42:44

You know you would think well, no, I don't think anybody did, I don't think anybody were those were those two students there, I forget.

Speaker 1: 42:50

No, neither were students there. Okay, the only student at transivane.

Speaker 3: 42:54

Correct, the only student was Spencer, who was on the rooftop of the athletic building acting as lookout.

Speaker 4: 42:59

He had the easy charm. And the thing that got me also about this library is you would think that they would have A type of secure like. There was motion sensors, motion detectors In the room with the autobahn books, but they didn't have like, like cameras in the library.

Speaker 1: 43:14

It's got to be the only time I was trying to think of any time, like number one, who owns these books. So somebody's out 12 million dollars if they go and then, and what? Where anywhere would you have something so valuable with, like you said, no security around other than a librarian? I mean?

Speaker 3: 43:28

so it's behind. It's behind locked door and stuff like it's not able to like. Oh, I'm gonna. You know, right next to the encyclopedias are these, you know, million dollar books. So that did not exist. I mean, it was in a rare book section which was behind a locked door. You had to make an appointment to see the books.

Speaker 1: 43:44

So there was at least that right, but you would still think there'd be like if the only caretakers.

Speaker 3: 43:49

You know good old miss gooch B J Gooch. Right look, that's pretty easy true at least they thought so with a stun pen which failed miserably said, and I don't understand that whole party.

Speaker 4: 44:01

There was one librarian in there that could have been art, like you said, some sort of Like diversion or something like, something they didn't.

Speaker 3: 44:09

They didn't think it through, man, no, but uh, yeah, they did use the books to prop the door open, thinking that, all right, look, I'm gonna, we're gonna, use these, leave these books here to prop the door up, and we're gonna, you know, go back and get the other ones, and that's. I think that's when they saw, you know, finally, behind them was this, this other librarian who's you know, losing her mind. Holy shit, what did you do to miss gooch? I'm gonna get you, you know, whatever they're serious about them books too.

Speaker 1: 44:32

Yeah, he's probably pissed, of course. Give me my book, yeah.

Speaker 3: 44:35

Well, now them late fees. Oh shit. Yeah, that's worse. In blockbuster. Now, being chased by the furious librarian, eric made his way to the van while Warren ran in a different direction. Chaz, driving the van and almost hitting the librarian, then collected Warren, who'd since made his way back to the van. The three sped away. Warren and Eric departed the van and Chaz returned the van to his mother with the intent of collecting Warren and Eric later in a different vehicle. Chaz actually kicked Warren and Eric out of the van and told them he'd returned later to collect them. He dropped them off in a predominantly black housing project.

Speaker 3: 45:19

The Warren and Eric were able to avoid the police. They weren't able to avoid a group of local thugs who took notice to two white guys who had no business being in their neighborhood. Frightened, and still carrying the backpacks they had filled with valuable books, they ran as fast as they could away from the housing project and its group of territorial guardians. So frightened were they that they actually began seeking out any possible police presence in hopes of finding protection. Just in the nick of time, chaz returned, now driving a different vehicle as promised, and collected the two. Eric was driven back to the University of Kentucky, where he had a tennis final to take. Jesus A tennis final.

Speaker 3: 46:05

Did you imagine a tennis final? After all of this, he had to get back to it for a tennis final.

Speaker 1: 46:10

Yeah, I knew there was something about tennis or one of the sports that these guys that there was a class on it. That's pretty wild, that's college. So they were dropped off in the hood.

Speaker 4: 46:21

Yeah, two white dudes with some books, with some books, well, backpack, yeah, and they were like half dressed and stuff, because they brought changes of clothes. So they were there like all disheveled and they were just got in a fight in the van because the whole thing went down horribly and the guy just drops them off there and there's a stand in there like Chaz was like basically you guys got to get the fuck out of here because this van is hot right now.

Speaker 3: 46:41

Like there's a license plate on the back here but people, the people can see it, the windows aren't. The windows aren't exactly tinted like people. I almost ran over the goddamn librarian like she. I'm sure somebody saw this van and could explain and describe this van. Probably got the plate number, you name it whatever.

Speaker 1: 46:58

Right, we got to get rid of.

Speaker 3: 47:00

Now it's interesting that with evidence. When Warren and Eric got out of that GTA V, they believed they had escaped the librarian issue with like next to nothing Right Just now, despite having these backpacks on them. But in fact wedged in their backpacks was nearly three quarters of a million dollars worth of books and manuscripts. Yeah 750 grand worth of books Just in their backpacks.

Speaker 1: 47:22

Nice.

Speaker 3: 47:23

It included that that Charles Darwin John that I had mentioned earlier they had one Darwin, one Darwin they. That was valued at 25 grand. They had an illustrated manuscript from the year 1425 worth 200,000. They had a set of the two volume 15th century horticultural masterpiece entitled Hortis Sanitatis. Who hasn't read that who hasn't? Which was valued at $450,000.

Speaker 1: 47:52

That's a boomer Big money.

Speaker 3: 47:54

They had also 20 original Audubon pencil drawings worth 50 large and Audubon's a synopsis of birds in North America.

Speaker 1: 48:05

Oh, brief synopsis. Brief synopsis.

Speaker 3: 48:06

Brief synopsis, which was worth $10,000. So not bad, but I can just imagine these dudes run around this hood. I mean, they were just being chased by a librarian, now they're being chased by dudes in the hood Like God damn. These guys like out of the frying pan into the fryer. Right, that's just a bad way, my opinion.

Speaker 1: 48:28

I just can't imagine having enough money, that being so rich that you'd spend that much on a book to own it. You know what I mean, that kind of wealth. That's just like I'm going to have this book, just to plug my mind.

Speaker 4: 48:39

Have you ever watched any of those like Meachem auto auctions?

Speaker 1: 48:42

Well, that's at least with a car you can. I don't know.

Speaker 3: 48:46

Like those two cars. I said Meachem's competitor, biggest competitor, is that Barrett Jackson.

Speaker 4: 48:51

That's where those two cars I sent to you. So people just wait there and it's like you know, we'll start bidding off at 750. The guys are like, oh, that's his third car today, yeah.

Speaker 1: 48:59

What the hell? Something with cars, though they just seem more substantial.

Speaker 4: 49:02

Yeah, but these books to somebody too, like from the 14th century you have some book written in whatever.

Speaker 1: 49:08

Yeah, and it's like wow, I get it. It's to each their own, it is, it's just, it's just wild.

Speaker 4: 49:14

Or Audubon, like the Audubon society.

Speaker 1: 49:15

This guy hand printed these sketches, and it's one of a kind. Well, there was 200 of them Less than 200.

Speaker 3: 49:21

Yeah, and then there was a lot of people who were left. Who, who you don't even know.

Speaker 1: 49:24

Right. Well, matt and I know when we first, very first started, we were looking up VHS, copies of VHS and stuff and there was a back to the future sealed copy for 20 grand.

Speaker 3: 49:34

That somebody was asking.

Speaker 1: 49:36

Somebody's asking.

Speaker 3: 49:37

Okay, but I mean I could ask a lot and nobody's going to answer. But I wonder what.

Speaker 1: 49:41

So you know somebody spent big money on a copy or something like that, of something like that, like a VHS, or you know something like that.

Speaker 3: 49:48

I'm sure it's a thing.

Speaker 1: 49:49

You know, you know it probably is.

Speaker 4: 49:50

We've all seen like these heist movies and stuff. Like there's that guy that you know he's like a cat burglar and he has like a little home somewhere in like Tahiti but he has like a, like a van, go on the wall and actually you know what I mean. There's people that would honestly pay for this, I know.

Speaker 3: 50:04

Should you look at the accountant starring?

Speaker 4: 50:06

Ben.

Speaker 3: 50:06

Affleck, he's got that. He had whatever kind of wild ass paintings in his. You know when the way that air. What's that?

Speaker 4: 50:14

called air Air stream.

Speaker 1: 50:16

Air stream. Air stream.

Speaker 4: 50:19

But also too, like these guys Airbnb.

Speaker 3: 50:24

He also, in addition to shooting and maiming people, he ran an Airbnb.

Speaker 4: 50:30

But I'm just.

Speaker 3: 50:31

I don't think they thought any of that out too, because like you said, this was all over the news, so they couldn't you couldn't bring these to somebody right away like hey, where did you get these?

Speaker 4: 50:38

You got papers for these, Right? Oh no no, yeah Good.

Speaker 3: 50:43

Interesting. So with the heat, none the wiser. That was a good movie. The heat, yeah. Is Al Pacan that yeah With the heat. None the wiser as to the identities of the four perpetrators. The group made their way to New York City for their appointment with Christie's. After a night of partying, a day of touristy stuff and a calm evening and night thereafter, warren and Spencer were to be the ones to meet with Christie's personnel, while Chaz and Eric were to wait in their SUV parked right around the corner. The day of their appointment came and, despite having to meet with a subordinate of the Christie's appraiser with whom they were supposed to meet, the appointment was, as far as they were concerned, a success. Spencer gave his mobile phone number, he did what To the Christie's representative and he and Warren departed with high hopes. By the time dinner approached that evening, however, chaz had become unhinged. He feared that Christie's was on to them. He insisted on seeking out another appraisal opportunity. Despite Chaz's insistence that they remain in New York in hopes of getting another appraisal, the four returned to.

Speaker 4: 51:59

Kentucky. They had on this. Chaz gets the phone right away. He's like, wait, what did you give him your number? And I guess Chaz was freaking out and he said to Spencer he's like, call your fucking number, call your number right now. He's like I'll call it. He's like, hey, this is Spencer. Leave a message and he's like that sounds like an art collector. He's like you fucked us all. I guess he pulled a gun on him.

Speaker 1: 52:20

Well, he told him. He said you need to go in and get that number back on the piece of paper or whatever. He said you need to go get it back right now. And he was threatening them in the car or in the van, whatever they were in, and he was like you need to go. And he was like I can't, I can't. And he was pissed Because at that point he knew we're screwed.

Speaker 3: 52:37

So it is interesting that neither Gooch Mrs Gooch, I should say nor anyone else was able to provide the police with an accurate description of the boys. So they were cool. They were absolutely cool with respect to anybody at the school. Further, a witness had written down the license plate number for the van, but it was way off, Like way off In New York. When they arrived, they had dinner at a Japanese place, followed by drinks at a hotel bar where Warren met up with some Iraq veteran and Spencer almost got into a fight after knocking a table full of drinks over. However, while they're, Eric picked up a middle-aged Brazilian tourist.

Speaker 1: 53:16

Oh nice the smash.

Speaker 4: 53:19

We picked her. At least she like fall Maybe.

Speaker 3: 53:23

They oh I'm sorry, warren and Chaz also left the other two. This is their first night there and they staggered to a nearby China club which they knew we smoke opium. Well, what they actually got. They wanted to go to that place because of the Dave Chappelle show, the Rick James episode of the Dave Chappelle show Fuck your couch.

Speaker 4: 53:42

Fuck your couch. So we put his feet over the couch.

Speaker 3: 53:47

So these two arrive at Christie's. So Warren and Spencer go into Christie's. One of them is dressed okay. Spencer, however, was dressed in stuff that was at. The Christie's person ended up later saying like two sizes too big. Like he bought, he had these oversized clothes. I don't know if it was like his dad's or some shit, but it's stuff that just didn't fit, didn't make sense. Look, if you're dealing in the art business, you're gonna have to go to the store. How and why are you dressing like that, like what's what's?

Speaker 4: 54:17

the matter with you again. These are people that usually have a lot of money. They're usually very refined. Yeah, the Christie's dealer also said she's like you know where your authenticity, the authenticity, how do you say that? Authenticity often often, kate, authentication, oh my god geez Louisa we got authentication authentication, like where's, where's your papers? Where's this? Like no, no, no, we need this for mr Beckham. She's like I don't know a mr Beckham.

Speaker 3: 54:40

Is your providence is, I think is Providence the word or prominence, providence, I think it's Providence, rhode Island, no Providence is where how we are able to prove it's yeah, they just needed something here.

Speaker 4: 54:51

Like anybody she's like these books are exquisite. You have to have Something with them.

Speaker 3: 54:56

Like there's a story that they told, the story that so neither of these two represented to be this, mr Beckman Beckman.

Speaker 3: 55:03

Yeah, yeah, which is obviously a play on Dave Beckham back on. Yeah, right, so they, they actually they have been dealing with these Christie personnel and they had said you know it was this David, I'm sorry, there's whatever mr Beckman. Mr Beckman was the guy in contact back and forth, so that these two show up and say no, no, well, we're not mr Beckman. We represent him like we're handling this deal for him. He's just you know what he keeps to himself. He came into these books like look he's, he comes from money. Yeah, they've been in the family or something, that's right. He inherited these books, blah, blah, blah. Now it is interesting. When they finally pulled these books out, they rolled them in in just a red suitcase, wrapped in these goddamn bedsheets like these are priceless books, or at least not, I'm sorry, not priceless, for sure.

Speaker 4: 55:46

I mean you could put a certain price on them, but they're yeah, they shouldn't be handled that way, they're worth more if they knew what they were doing, if they were actually handled in a goddamn sheet Bedsheet but that's what? Yeah, the lady was just like thrown off and she kept asking questions.

Speaker 1: 55:58

They didn't know how to answer them properly and she's like something isn't like a giant bag, the best.

Speaker 3: 56:04

I know right, dude. The best part, though, is is when he Left, that's my god he gave her his mobile phone number.

Speaker 1: 56:12

You know what they're talking about. Their appearances and stuff. Like you know, this is right after the tech boom and stuff. There were a lot of young dudes that real you would never think they have money. You know what I'm saying. I'm sure these people that want like I know Christie's is like up like Silicon Valley. Yes, those guys like Erhard or what's his name.

Speaker 4: 56:31

Dale.

Speaker 1: 56:31

Erdhard Erich or something, I don't you know. I'm talking about a guy, eric Bachman. Eric Bachman.

Speaker 3: 56:38

Erlich, or is it Erlich? It's Erlich Bachman, and all he ever dressed like it was big Lebowski.

Speaker 1: 56:43

Yes, he's like big t-shirts and like sandals robes and sandals or shit right. But, today?

Speaker 4: 56:48

yeah, they if also, if they just dress like kids, it probably would have been more believable, like just you know, or even like a sweater and like jeans or something like just not Sloppily, but it was not sloppy fat, it was bad.

Speaker 3: 57:00

It was just bad, yeah well, as time went on, not surprisingly, no response came from Christie's. In the meantime, law enforcement and the FBI were performing their investigation. Emails create a trail and the email account for one, walter Beckman, was under serious scrutiny. Thanks to a federal subpoena, christie's auction house and Ms Gooch were immediately linked. Christie's personnel were able to provide adequate descriptions of the two non disguised visitors Who'd been trying to pedal a bunch of books weeks earlier. In fact, it was because of Warren and Spencer's youth demeanor and lack of knowledge that Christie's personnel had decided to not Pursue the opportunity further. And remember that mobile phone. Spencer left with the Christie's representative. It didn't take long for the FBI to find that it was registered to his father, and when they called the number, they were greeted by this suspense leave a message. A Quick internet search for Spencer Reinhard provided a number of hits, including him and Warren in local soccer photos. Not surprisingly, the photo of Spencer and Warren matched exactly with the photos and images of the two gentlemen Who'd visited Christie's for a book appraisal.

Speaker 4: 58:26

No, like you said, christie's is. There was cameras everywhere, of course, because it's Christie's it's goddamn Christie's.

Speaker 3: 58:32

They got cameras and it. Before they had cameras, they had dudes on catwalks or they had dudes with guns.

Speaker 1: 58:39

They should have played football. You couldn't see them in the helmets. Yeah, I mean right, you make a good point.

Speaker 3: 58:44

First mistake by the time February of 2005 rolled around. This is just the next month or two. The two were under surveillance by the FBI and Lexington police not long after Eric and Chaz were tied into the case.

Speaker 1: 59:00

Yeah, they said the FBI got involved as soon as they took those stolen goods across state lines.

Speaker 3: 59:05

Yeah, so that's with the New York, that's Rico.

Speaker 1: 59:07

Yeah, that's immediately what you cross the street.

Speaker 3: 59:09

Yeah, yes, rico Swabek oh.

Speaker 1: 59:12

What, what is Rico?

Speaker 3: 59:13

It's the, so Rico is an acronym. I do not know what it stands for, okay, but it is a thing that when you're crossing Our ICO yes, okay when you're crossing, when you, when you do some sort of interstate commerce or violate a crime Across state lines, you are violating the Rico. I thought you're singing once bitten, twice shy.

Speaker 1: 59:33

Yeah, that great white. Oh state line. Hmm, rico, also a very tasty nacho cheese Rico's. Yeah, that's the one if you go to the movie theater.

Speaker 3: 59:44

Rico's mm. That's the one they make a good cough drop. Rico's.

Speaker 4: 59:50

Short, yeah, yeah, just.

Speaker 1: 59:52

Rico. But yeah, once they did that, you have in. Once the FBI is involved, it's gonna get a lot more in depth. So they really took off after they got shit.

Speaker 4: 1:00:01

Yeah, that also. That also ups the the old crime there too.

Speaker 1: 1:00:05

Yeah, cuz now you're wasting.

Speaker 4: 1:00:06

Yeah, you would have had like if that would have stayed on the local level right. I'm sure things would have hit as hard.

Speaker 3: 1:00:12

Yeah right, it's interesting. So while they knew I Shouldn't say while they knew, but Warren, eric and Spencer knew for certain that they were gonna go down, they just knew it. Again, as they're getting no calls from Christie's and as the they can, just they just know that the heats on like. I think at one point one of them might have noticed that they were under Surveillance, like there was a guy walking around that all the sudden he, they saw me that that guy ended up jumping into a van Right or driving away or some shit like heavily tinted windows.

Speaker 3: 1:00:41

It is also interesting they just let it all go to the extent of in the meantime, while they they're just essentially waiting to get caught. Spencer crashed his Acura legend Warren was caught shoplifting of a TV dinner.

Speaker 4: 1:00:56

From a local supermarket. Well, this said, he did that to like just what he wanted to get caught like. I think the pressure got to him so much he was like, just come get me the guys like man good death by cop.

Speaker 3: 1:01:06

Just take it, man. You look, you live in a basement, don't you like it looks like you could use a TV dinner. Hmm and Eric was arrested and charged with a DUI. So, of all things, police pulled Eric over not just for running red lights, but also because Warren was on top of the car hanging on the roof rack as he was driving.

Speaker 1: 1:01:27

Yes.

Speaker 3: 1:01:30

Yeah, so dumb.

Speaker 3: 1:01:32

Big time. Well, all good things must come to an end. On February 11th 2005 Mark that day for the four perpetrators a 20 man Swat unit broke down the front door of the apartment building in which three of them lived. Cops entered Warren's apartment in the basement and found All the stolen books, all of them undamaged a five page typed plan for the heist, an accounting ledger wigs, instructions for opening a Swiss bank account and the stun guns which had finally arrived. After the robbery, a similar raid on Spencer's dorm occurred simultaneously, with insurmountable evidence against them. All four eventually confessed. Two months later, the four formerly pleaded guilty to six federal charges, including theft of cultural artifacts from a public museum and Interstate transportation of stolen property. I'm guessing the I and Rico stands for interstate.

Speaker 1: 1:02:43

There it is, yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:02:44

Ultimately, each of the young men were sentenced to identical seven-year terms. In early 2006, they began serving their sentences in federal prison with no possibility for parole. Later revealed by a Lexington police officer had they not gone to Christie's, they probably would have gotten away with it.

Speaker 1: 1:03:06

Yeah, that's crazy to think and I'm surprised they didn't find any weed.

Speaker 3: 1:03:11

But well, they found the all the grossed up down in Warren's place in his basement so they did get charged with shit. Well, I mean, I guess, but they don't give a shit about the weed.

Speaker 4: 1:03:22

But like you said, if they have not gone to Christie's, then what do you do with those books there's? They're worthless pretty much, unless you show them the people, there's a way like there's, there's a will, there's a way like a, like the black web or whatever. I don't know.

Speaker 1: 1:03:34

I mean at that point you just saw him for a couple hundred bucks had they given it time?

Speaker 3: 1:03:38

I think had they given it time just let it marry a little bit. Yeah, because none of these books were one of a kind.

Speaker 3: 1:03:44

Right they were certainly rare, rare, but they were not one of a kind, so you let things calm down. I Think they could have gotten away with and again, there's back channels. There's a guy that knows a guy that knows a guy, and I'm sure they would have taken a significant haircut on the money they would have otherwise gotten, but Okay you could have gotten them overseas, probably after a while, like you said, after sure, it's just a book, they're not stopping you for a book. You could send it FedEx for.

Speaker 4: 1:04:09

FedEx to pick it up when you get there.

Speaker 1: 1:04:10

I wonder too, like if you would have waited a few years. Or I don't put on eBay, you're too. Yeah, I'm saying put on eBay, I don't know if you could do that.

Speaker 4: 1:04:19

That one that you don't even know.

Speaker 1: 1:04:20

You don't even know. You just wonder yeah, how long? How much time would have had passed that they're not really looking anymore? I will give up. I wonder who own these books.

Speaker 3: 1:04:28

Like somebody had to own them did so my understanding was and I'm Well, I don't probably know, I'm happy. I'm happy to be misunderstood or of a misunderstanding. I thought they were property of the library, like they were donated to the library by, you know, rich benefactors probably.

Speaker 4: 1:04:44

That's usually where they get the artifacts right. They were donated by you see those in museums all the time.

Speaker 3: 1:04:49

However, you also see in museums other people's pictures hanging like go to any museum, any museum. Go to Philadelphia if you want. Go to the Washington National Portrait Gallery. Whatever, you're gonna see this picture on display thanks to the John's generous donation yeah, the generous donation of blah blah, blah yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:05:06

Jevro. Watch Kirby enthusiasm, of course, larry. You ever see that episode where it's him and Ted Danson and they donated wings at this library. Well, this one wing here like hot wings or yeah whatever so over here we have the Larry David wing and over here it's anonymous Wing, but everybody knows it's Ted dancing. Okay so everybody's like oh, ted, thanks so much, like that was so nice to you and Larry, there you go, whoa, whoa, what about my way.

Speaker 1: 1:05:36

Yeah, like we put your name on it, like he's anonymous, but you still know who it is. It's not an honest it was all pissed cuz like he's getting the recognition slack for it, but you're still getting recognition, but you're anonymous, like it's not.

Speaker 1: 1:05:48

You're not anonymous If you tell people and he was just pissed at like he shouldn't get the credit. But yeah, you're right, these people always donate and get their names on, you know. So I'm sure there was money coming in. That makes sense, sure, but I wonder what the draw is like for the library. I guess it gives you visitors and students. I don't know. You know what would be the financial Gain for them. I guess the University.

Speaker 3: 1:06:10

I don't know, I was just trying to think of like in case the place burns down, they can get insurance money yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:06:16

Yeah, just curious, but that's a lot of money that.

Speaker 3: 1:06:20

Books. It is interesting. So when the SWAT team arrived at the apartment building Chas is the one who's him and his father owned the building in. Chas lived there. Chas thought they were actually being robbed. Yeah, he pulled a gun, yeah yeah. He dropped it not, but moments before the SWAT team broke his door down, and I mean like seconds.

Speaker 1: 1:06:40

Yeah, they were like this.

Speaker 4: 1:06:42

Yeah, a personal account. He was saying that he like kind of locked eyes and he's like he's surprised that he didn't get. But he just had it up and then he like went right away because he saw like flashlights.

Speaker 1: 1:06:50

Yeah, and he saw FBI on the guy's hat, yeah. I would have said that in that superheist that would have like no, I'm good.

Speaker 3: 1:06:57

It's interesting that so you know, you have, I Don't know, so somebody, something goes down like, let's say, I mean, an obvious example would be Some kind of police crime, not police crime, some police brutality that when that goes down, then all of a sudden there's this big movement like, oh my god, the you know the police are bad, they're beating down this guy, and everybody you know now now comes around and says, alright, well, look man, now we're. You know there's a solidarity movement, you know, to support this and to be against that. When what happened with BJ Gooch the librarian, yeah, yeah, when her ordeal with getting hit with that stunt pen had actually become a cause for solidarity among librarians, yeah, they were all writing letters right.

Speaker 3: 1:07:40

Yeah, well, because there were some out there, like parents or whomever, that were saying, look, these are just stupid kids. They're not kids, these are grown ass men, young men, but they're adults, over 18. 19's, what got them? Yeah, there were plenty. There were many out there saying, look, these were, this was a stupid idea, this was a bad thing. Look, they've lived and learned. Can we, you know, reduce the sentence or try to reduce this out and the other thing, and no, no, again. Her, her, this librarian became a cause for solidarity amongst, like all librarians, many of whom actually wrote letters to the judge like arguing against any would be leniency.

Speaker 1: 1:08:16

Yeah, give them like a really long sentence. They were all pissed about it.

Speaker 4: 1:08:20

I don't think honestly, nothing, I mean, something would have happened. They might have got like a year or two years without the stun thing or without because they tied her up. They put something over her mouth Like it's something. It traumatized her like hardcore.

Speaker 1: 1:08:36

For sure.

Speaker 4: 1:08:37

But if she wasn't involved, I don't think it would have been half as bad If they could have distracted her and did it without hurting her. Yes, yes, it makes sense, without putting a hand on her.

Speaker 1: 1:08:44

You wonder what would have happened with that. But if you're going to do seven years like is that, I was thinking about it too. Is that a good time of your life to do seven years?

Speaker 3: 1:08:52

There's federal prison.

Speaker 4: 1:08:55

There's two ways to look at that. That's like some Shawshank redemption shit. True.

Speaker 3: 1:08:59

So there are certainly two ways to look at that. If I had gone to prison at in this case, I would have been at 19 or 20 and come out of 27. Crap, I mean, that really puts a you know a wrench on you know, growth goals, financial security, like that really puts a wrench on that. You're basically trying to start all over, let alone. There's no chance. No chance you could do like what I'm doing. I could not be a CPA if I had seven years in prison federal prison, to be clear for theft.

Speaker 3: 1:09:31

However, there is a way. I mean there, people will find a way. Like life goes on, they will find it. They might start businesses. They might start another lawn care company. Who?

Speaker 4: 1:09:40

knows Like there's a right, a book, yes.

Speaker 3: 1:09:42

Sure A way. Start a cab company, start a delivery company, you name it. There's a zillion different things they could do.

Speaker 4: 1:09:47

Warren is. Now he like is in film school. Spencer Reinhard does. He does pictures like art, pictures of like birds, like Autobahn thing. The one guy, Eric Bursak, he is trying to do something with film, also like a story. He writes stories and a Chaz is a I think he's a physical trainer, Nice, Like a weightlifting trainer. Chaz Michael Michaels.

Speaker 1: 1:10:10

Yeah, so they're. You know they've at least they've done something with their lives. I was watching this CNBC show. At the end they both are, both, they all kind of apologize, obviously to this BJ Guch and she was on there and she said I accept their apologies, but you know, people can change and hopefully they did and whatever else, but it definitely messed her up for for for a long time she said she never feels safe, and even she was still working at the library after that and people would come in to do research or whatever and she'd always be on edge.

Speaker 3: 1:10:39

So she'd have a gun.

Speaker 1: 1:10:41

Yeah.

Speaker 3: 1:10:41

Right and she'd say, no, would you rather would you have it early on or would you have it later? Like wasn't that part of the question.

Speaker 1: 1:10:47

Yeah, my question was like if you're going to take seven years out of your life, would you rather do it early or later?

Speaker 3: 1:10:54

No, I would do it later. And I mean like later, make this real easy.

Speaker 4: 1:10:59

Well, like gangsters with it, like I'm going to die in jail, correct?

Speaker 3: 1:11:02

The older I get, the less intimidating a life sentence becomes and less chance of getting reaped. Well, because the life sentence is obviously getting shorter, so life is only going to last so long. So I'd rather go into jail when I'm 80 years old and you probably won't get raped. There's that. Who's going to rape that wrinkly?

Speaker 1: 1:11:19

ass when 20 year old, you know when we're 20.

Speaker 4: 1:11:21

Yeah, it's all fresh and exciting.

Speaker 3: 1:11:24

Hell, somebody drops the soap. No, I'll get that for you.

Speaker 1: 1:11:27

Right, whatever, you're probably looking your best, yeah, you know, when you're 20.

Speaker 3: 1:11:30

Plus, you know you get in shape you got, I got every. All my meals are taken care of, beds taken care of. Somebody will wipe my ass. I got health care. Look, yeah, I'll take it way later. 80s, 80s Definitely not early, it's true.

Speaker 4: 1:11:43

Yeah, I mean at 27, though you still have your whole life.

Speaker 3: 1:11:46

Correct. I don't want to be in prison and you got that story.

Speaker 1: 1:11:49

now you know what I'm saying you got you got that detail and like yeah, I did seven years.

Speaker 4: 1:11:53

Well, yeah, eric Bursuck is. Uh, he was the writer of American animals actually, so he's making money off that.

Speaker 1: 1:11:59

That's the thing these guys are. I'm sure they're all capitalizing a little bit off of this.

Speaker 4: 1:12:02

You go to a bar. It's a good bar story.

Speaker 3: 1:12:05

They're going to get some serious, some serious views now, after the world will hear this podcast.

Speaker 4: 1:12:10

Oh my God, hyping these guys up, yeah, wonderful, call us, tell us the true story.

Speaker 1: 1:12:15

So I looked at one guy on Instagram and I was half tempted to send him a message, but this was like kind of short notice and we put this together quickly and I was like that's probably not going to, but this would have been probably the one where the guy maybe would have been like yeah, I'll talk to you.

Speaker 4: 1:12:27

Sure, you know, I'm sure they love talking. What if we had him on, like your roticaster was going, all your equipment, yeah.

Speaker 1: 1:12:32

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 1:12:33

So he does a heist in the basement. Yeah, stole all our stuff.

Speaker 3: 1:12:37

That'd be funny, yeah. So where do you guys? Where's this basement, where's that? Where are you guys at?

Speaker 1: 1:12:42

He's zooming in and he's looking at, you know, trying to get the coordinates.

Speaker 4: 1:12:45

They're out there right now like in a car.

Speaker 3: 1:12:47

Oh.

Speaker 4: 1:12:47

Matt gets there at this time.

Speaker 3: 1:12:48

I had to take your roadcaster because, I damn it, I left. I gave you my mobile phone number. Yeah, true.

Speaker 1: 1:12:54

That's the thing too. These are back in the days of like flip phones probably, and I don't think smartphones were really out yet.

Speaker 4: 1:12:59

No.

Speaker 1: 1:13:00

I think they were at the timeline of this to do this kind of heist now, like they, like you said, almost got away, or what did you say? They would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for Christie's, or was it you?

Speaker 3: 1:13:10

So one of you said that I had actually referenced a quote that came out of a Lexington Kentucky police officer who you know. After this crime is all done and years have gone by and he was into it, he had, you know, just was through an interview. He had said, had they not gone to Christie's, they could, they would have gotten away with it.

Speaker 1: 1:13:30

I don't think nowadays they would have.

Speaker 4: 1:13:32

I was just the one that said, like what would be the point then to to steal the books, Cause that's the only way they were going to get any money for it?

Speaker 1: 1:13:37

Yeah, to sell them.

Speaker 4: 1:13:39

But like you said today, like maybe eBay or whatever, if you would have waited a few years and zap was referencing Senate, fedex overseas, go over there, you know, give it to a buyer, who somebody would have been interested in. Maybe nobody was even interested in it, Maybe like I don't need it.

Speaker 1: 1:13:51

That's the thing this is. So to me it'd be so hard to find the person I want to spend the money on these items. I think it would just be so hard to find If you're a cool cat burglar.

Speaker 4: 1:13:59

it'd be something cool to have like for your you know collection, yeah. Or like a book on your coffee table coffee table Right.

Speaker 1: 1:14:05

That's a thing I think people buy anything these days, like you're talking cards.

Speaker 4: 1:14:09

these days are like a million dollars, million dollars. Jordan rookie card or Tom Brady card.

Speaker 1: 1:14:14

Yeah, true.

Speaker 4: 1:14:15

If something's out that you don't even know if they're like authentic or not. You're like you're buying a card you don't even know. Somebody says it's like this much money, oh, I own that.

Speaker 1: 1:14:22

Yeah, well, we were talking about that with watches, rolexes. Yeah, how would you know, until you get actually get it a print, praise and all that where they said hey, man you, this is fake, you just spent $20,000 on the Rolex.

Speaker 4: 1:14:34

They're called clean, If anybody's interested no, a guy.

Speaker 1: 1:14:37

Yeah, you were talking about that.

Speaker 3: 1:14:38

Yeah, I know a guy who knows a guy who robbed a guy.

Speaker 4: 1:14:42

He's in federal prison.

Speaker 1: 1:14:43

He may might be, so, after all, that's that you said, $750,000 worth of books is what they ended up. Yeah, that's insane. All that for that.

Speaker 4: 1:14:54

All that for that and they they had ideas of like 12 million and 15 million, much grander ideas.

Speaker 3: 1:15:02

So goes the Transylvania University book heist.

Speaker 4: 1:15:05

I hope you guys enjoyed this. I hope people enjoyed listening about it. Check out that movie American animals. Hey guys, can you? Wrap it up.

Speaker 3: 1:15:14

Her timing every time.

Speaker 1: 1:15:15

She's impeccable.

Speaker 4: 1:15:17

I think she was down here early there was an Easter egg.

Speaker 1: 1:15:19

Yeah, if you watched the video on YouTube speaking of which, check out old, dirty basements YouTube channel, you would see her.

Speaker 3: 1:15:25

She's like I'm in the old dirty basement coming at you. A lot no available on YouTube.

Speaker 4: 1:15:29

What do you have Like a emoji face?

Speaker 1: 1:15:30

Yeah, I think it's over like the, the blurred or I can put a smiley emoji yeah.

Speaker 4: 1:15:38

Smiley emoji Sensor yeah. She came down here to get something out of the old dirty For old dirty basement eyes only. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker 3: 1:15:46

No dirty fridge.

Speaker 1: 1:15:47

But yeah, Matt, that was cool.

Speaker 3: 1:15:49

Matt, that was awesome. Thank you, that was a great, great idea. Thank you for finding this. This was kick ass.

Speaker 4: 1:15:54

Yeah, stuff like this happens all over the world. Yeah, I like it Zap.

Speaker 1: 1:15:58

thanks for writing up everything.

Speaker 4: 1:15:59

Yeah, man, thank you.

Speaker 1: 1:16:01

Researching it and we'll be back next week with a movie review. We're working on that and then, after that, back to the true crime. We'll come up with something cool. I got a couple ideas. We got a lot of cool movies we were looking at, so don't forget to check out vintage cinema review. And I guess that's it. You guys got anything else?

Speaker 4: 1:16:17

I'm done. No, thank you.

Speaker 1: 1:16:18

Thank you, so I guess that's it. We'll catch you where.

Speaker 4: 1:16:21

Oh, on the flip side.

Speaker 3: 1:16:23

We'll see you sooner. We'll see you later Peace.

Speaker 4: 1:16:28

Thanks for hanging out in the old, dirty basement. If you dig our theme music like we do, check out the tsunami experiment, find them on Facebook. Their music is available streaming on Spotify and Apple and where great music is available.

Speaker 1: 1:16:41

You can find us at old dirty basement on Facebook and Instagram and at old dirty basement podcast on TicToc. Peace we out of 5000. Thank you.