The Krupp Diamond Theft |
James George Reeves was an avid gambler and risk taker. He gathered a group of friends and created a plan; he told his friends that he had an extremely big heist planned. What was the big heist he had planned after all? The plan was to steal The Krupp Diamond. The Krupp Diamond is a 33 carat piece of jewelry worth almost around $300,000 at the time. It was owned by Vera Krupp, a woman formerly married to a wealthy German industrialist and owner the expensive piece of jewelry. Mrs. Krupp was known for wearing it all the time. So, on April 10, 1959 four men walked up to Vera Krupp’s home in Las Vegas. The four men had knocked on Mrs. Krupp’s door and offered to pave her driveway for a good price. Mrs. Krupp, interested in the offer, and who needed her driveway to be paved at the time, opened her door and the four gunmen soon pushed their way into her home, forcibly ripped off the diamond from her finger, and then tied her and her foreman up with a lamp post wire while they raided the home. In the end, the four men raided and got away with $300,000 worth of jewelry and $700,000 worth of cash from Mrs. Krupp’s home. After Mrs. Krupp and her foreman broke free, they immediately contacted the police. The men were already far gone from Mrs. Krupp’s home in Las Vegas by the time she broke free and we’re immediately on the run. The mastermind of the entire plan, James George Reeves, took off on an expedition across America traveling from Las Vegas to Roswell, St. Louis, Chicago, Miami, and finally New Jersey. The FBI then sought to catch the 4 thieves. When they finally did, they charged James George Reeves and John William Hagenson on November 20, 1959. All four members were found guilty on all charges and were subsequently sentenced, yet Hagenson later got out of jail on an appeal. The Krupp Diamond was later returned to its owner, Vera Krupp. When Mrs. Krupp died in 1968, the ring was auctioned off to popular movie star Elizabeth Taylor for $305,000.
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How did the FBI solve the case?James Reeves needed to get rid of the diamond as soon as possible as he began his adventure across the US with his wife to find someone willing to pawn his diamond. Yet, right after he began this path one of his accomplices was already caught by the FBI after forensic evidence pointed to him. Despite this, Reeves was determined to cash out on the theft and managed to get into contact with someone willing to pawn the expensive diamond in Newark, New Jersey. Unfortunately, while on his search to find someone to pawn his diamond a man tipped the FBI about a suspicious person looking around for someone to pawn an especially large diamond. The FBI then searched Reeves’ hotel in New Jersey and eventually found the diamond lying in a coat in his closet. The arrest of Reeves allowed them to locate the two remaining men and prosecute them before a jury.
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