

The Silver Thief: a smart burglar who perfected his craft - adamhowell
http://stephenjdubner.com/journalism/silverthief.html

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huangm
Summary: Guy from unfortunate family background becomes a highly successful
silver thief, stealing millions in antique silverware from high-end homes in
the Northeast. He evades capture for years, as he is meticulous, patient and
leaves no trace behind. Eventually he is caught through a series of small
breaks. People close to the thief speculate that his motivation was more for
the thrill of stealing than for the money itself.

~~~
stcredzero
My key takeaway: he did a careful analysis of what he should go after, using
good insight and careful risk/benefit analysis.

This guy concluded that silverware was the sweet spot. It was quite valuable,
easily transportable, unlikely to be hidden, and likely to be located in
obvious places downstairs, where there was less risk of waking up the
residents.

We should not steal. But we should note the benefits of good cost/benefit
analysis.

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jamesbressi
I'm not sure what in the world this has to do with HN, but I will tell you
that it was one of the better stories I have read.

I want to meet this guy.

~~~
adamhowell
He found an easily movable good (silver stemware), located in an reasonably
accessible part of most every house (downstairs, usually in the dining room),
using a crime whose punishment has lessened in severity b/c of its decline in
perpetrators (cat burglary) & that he had mastered (stayed in great shape, was
meticulous, taunted cops, etc).

Kind of hacked the system if you ask me. Of course he still got caught...

~~~
cbr
Stemware?

~~~
gaius
Candlesticks, goblets and the like.

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wallflower
Great story. A real life 'To Catch a Thief'. To relate it to HN, I think it
shows the power of dominating a niche by obsessive attention to not just
planning but execution.

"He leaned back and sighed. I began to think that perhaps it wasn't the
stealing that was the thrill for Nordahl so much as the escaping. He said, "If
you were being chased by a bear, your adrenaline's going to be pumping, you
know what I mean? Later, you might not really say, 'Gee, that was fun.' But,
at the same time, if nothing else really was going on, it might have added
flavor to the day. As long as you got away from the bear. But, of course, if
you got caught by the bear, you know, it's another story."

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petewarden
He even merits a brief wikipedia article, which indicates he was sentenced to
8 years in 2004. Maybe he's already out?

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blane_Nordahl>

~~~
adamhowell
Oh nice, that led me to find this Masterminds episode "The Silver Bandit":

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6-TF2e0IHo>

~~~
redcap
Thanks, that looks like a pretty interesting series.

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Herring
> _"We'll say, 'We know he's fencing here, and when we arrest him he's facing
> a life term and he'll turn on you.' Within a week, we'll find Blane in a
> drum in the East River, because that's how these guys play."_

It surprises me that i'm not entirely opposed to that idea, but I really have
to wonder if it's legal.

~~~
philk
It wouldn't be too hard to phrase it in such a way that it seems completely
legitimate. For example, pull one of the Russian Mafia guys in and offer him a
deal to inform, but tell him it's a limited time offer "because we'll have
this guy soon and he'll squeal".

(Also even if there are hints of illegality juries are generally unlikely to
convict cops).

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wizard_2
A fascinating story about thievery but so very long and so difficult to read
due to the layout, colors and styling.

~~~
callahad
Check out <http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/>

This is the first article that I've actually used Readability on, and it
worked wonderfully.

~~~
harry
Wow, you just saved me the headache of just stripping out the offending White
on Black css using a devtool.

Thanks much!

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RevRal
This reasserts that one cannot be perfect from the get-go.

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louislouis
Amazing story. No doubt this will be a movie for sure!

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jeffreyg
wow, a long but pleasant read. thanks for sharing.

