
Art of the Steal: On the Trail of World’s Most Ingenious Thief (April 2010) - CaptainZapp
http://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/03/ff_masterthief_blanchard/all/1
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harshpotatoes
I have a hard time believing this. Do you know how loud it is crawling through
an AC vent? How loud a parachute landing on a roof is? How likely the fake
from the store weighs the same as the real? Maybe he did steal what he claims
to have stolen, but I'm finding it difficult to believe he did it the way he
did.

~~~
fooandbarify
According to police and the courts, he absolutely stole what the article says
he did. The souvenir shop replica story has also been repeated by police and
has never been disputed by the jewel's owners as far as I can tell. (I
remember the police statements from the time of his initial arrest - I don't
have time to hunt for them now but if you really want to you would probably
have some luck at cbc.ca.)

~~~
harshpotatoes
Thanks, I'll try to hunt those down. The police statements would be far more
convincing for me.

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Luc
I wish the writer had had even a modicum of scepticism while penning this
guy's story...

EDIT: Oh wait, I already said that when this article was posted 9 months ago.

~~~
fooandbarify
What is there to be skeptic about? Do you mean that you think the author is
glorifying Blanchard's escapades (which _are_ pretty impressive by most
standards) or that some aspect of the story isn't true? I share a hometown
with the guy - his story fascinates me.

~~~
Luc
The most fantastical aspects of the story seem to be coming from (the
imagination of) the interviewed thief/con man, without further corroboration.
The author seems quite pleased to have a movie scenario thrown in his lap, and
doesn't place any question marks. Most other articles on the net relating to
this person seem to take this article as their source.

It's been a long time since I read this story, but there is a lot in there
which has the feeling of being a tall tale. Like parachuting onto a roof in
the dead of night, when he may just as well have bought a ticket and hidden
behind a curtain somewhere in those 1000 rooms.

~~~
brianmckenzie
Yeah, I was also quite skeptical of that part - he was somehow able to track
down a parachute, a perfect replica of the jewels, and an outlaw pilot all in
the space of 24 hours? All this when he was on vacation in a foreign country
with his girlfriend and her family?

~~~
kondro
Parachutes are pretty easy to come by if you know any skydivers.

The replica didn't need to be perfect, just look similar. They don't take
jewels out of their box every day to take a close look at hem unless they need
to. He got that from the gift store.

You could find a pilot willing to drop you at night at the same place you find
a parachute. Skydivers & and their friends are weird thrillseekers. They would
do a night drop for someone because they thought it was cool. Blanchart didn't
have to tell them the truth as to why he wanted dropping.

As for the vacation... that seemed to come first, and the robbery on a whim.
He didn't go there planning to steal the star.

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iwwr
Please note that while high in retail value, diamonds are a marketing
creation. A large diamond really can't be sold due to its notoriety, while a
mid-sized or smaller would net pennies on the dollar (compared to purchase
prices).

Considering artificial diamonds can already be made of a better quality and
cheaper, diamonds are going to be reserved as a high-fashion rather than a
consumer item. In other words, your grandma's wedding-ring diamond may be
worth actual pennies if you ever want to sell it.

~~~
klbarry
I wouldn't say pennies on the dollar - I've never seen a used diamond on
Craigslist for even $50 - but the sentiment is of course true.

~~~
hugh3
Eighty-five pennies on the dollar is still pennies on the dollar.

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prs
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1215138>

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slouch
I was hoping this post was about the Barnes Collection documentary movie with
the same title <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1326733/>

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rokhayakebe
Every wo/man should master something. You must be the best (or least one of
the best) at something. These types of thieves are great at what they do.

I have seen several episodes of "Master Mind" where detectives/judges would
describe professional thieves with admiration.

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leenewton
As reported by the CBC in 2007
[http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/11/07/blanchard...](http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2007/11/07/blanchard-
charges.html)

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wallflower
If you liked this, you may also enjoy the professional exploits of "The Silver
Thief"

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1020547>

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mkramlich
he clearly had a hacker's mindset, in the original sense of the word.

