A broken frame, DNA traces led to arrest in van Gogh theft

NEW YORK • Nils M. was no rookie art thief. But prosecutors say he left behind DNA evidence on a broken picture frame at one museum and on a heavy-duty strap at another that helped Dutch investigators identify him as the man who stole paintings by Vincent van Gogh and Frans Hals in two daring heists.

A match in their database led them to the 59-year-old man from the Dutch town of Baarn, who had earlier served a five-year jail sentence for stealing a 17th-century gilded silver monstrance, or church vessel, from a Gouda museum in 2012.

During that theft, Nils M. - who is being identified without his full surname because of Dutch privacy laws - used explosives to blow open the museum door.

In the more recent thefts, prosecutors had sought a prison sentence of eight years for what they described as "exceptional crimes" that were committed with an as-yet-unidentified partner.

The paintings have not been recovered - the van Gogh had an insured value of €2.5 million (S$4 million), while the Hals painting was valued at €16 million.

Last Friday, a three-judge panel in the Netherlands found Nils. M guilty of stealing the paintings and sentenced him to eight years in prison and a hefty fine.

By taking the valuable paintings, the court said, the thief had deprived the public of part of its national cultural heritage.

The man's lawyer, Ms Renske van Zanden, said he would appeal the decision.

During the hearing in Lelystad, the defendant denied the charges. But public prosecutors for the Central Netherlands region said the DNA evidence from the picture frame and strap, which was likely used in the getaway, points to him.

The van Gogh painting, The Parsonage Garden At Nuenen In Spring, from 1884, was part of a temporary exhibition at the Singer Laren Museum, on loan from the Groninger Museum in Groningen.

Security camera footage of the robbery last year showed a man using a sledgehammer to smash two glass doors to break into the museum. He left with the work under his arm.

Prosecutors said the painting's frame was left behind in pieces in the parking lot. Some pieces bore traces of the suspect's DNA.

The Hals painting, Two Laughing Boys With A Mug Of Beer, from the 17th century, was stolen five months later in August last year, from Museum Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden in Leerdam.

That robbery drew special notice because it was the third time the painting had been stolen from the same small museum. (It was previously stolen in 2011 and 1988, but recovered both times.)

The back door had been broken open and police found an orange tension strap tied to a flagpole in the garden outside the museum that prosecutors believe was likely used to lower the Hals or the thief down a nearby 3m wall to a waiting scooter. A security camera showed two people driving away on the scooter. The passenger was carrying something square that looked like a small painting.

Prosecutors emphasised the strength of the DNA evidence at each of the scenes. But they said there were other compelling reasons to suggest the two thefts were carried out by the same man.

Both occurred shortly after 3am and involved heavy force to break into the museums and an accomplice who helped the thief get away on a scooter, they said. Investigators have not identified an accomplice.

The Leerdam museum is part of an almshouse for unmarried women that also showcases the collection of its 18th-century founder. It is largely run by volunteers who maintain the Hofje and its garden. Prosecutors said a trampled zucchini plant had helped investigators work out where the thief had climbed over the wall into the garden.

Nils M. was arrested in April at his home in Baarn, a small town close to Laren. A firearm and ammunition were found in a search of his home, as were more than 10,000 Ecstasy pills, prosecutors said.

In addition to the thefts of the paintings, the defendant was convicted of possessing a firearm and illegal drugs.

The theft of the artworks by the two major Dutch artists within the period of a few months spawned numerous theories about why they had been stolen.

In court, prosecutor Gabrielle Hoppenbrouwers said they believed the defendant had sold or given the paintings away, and they were now in the criminal underworld.

She suggested some reasons famous artworks remain popular among thieves even though they cannot be easily sold or displayed publicly. Such works can have currency in the underworld, investigators believe, because they can be used to demand ransoms from the insurance companies that insure them and, in some cases, in negotiations to obtain reduced prison sentences.

NYTIMES