A talk by Joshuah Bearman.
Want to know how a high school drop-out can get away with millions? Join us for the real-life tale of Gerald Blanchard, the cat burglar, jewel thief, and all around criminal mastermind whose exploits Joshuah Bearman researched and wrote about for the April 2010 issue of Wired Magazine. His is a story about the bravado of youth, novel uses of cheap surveillance equipment, and the everlasting allure of giant piles of cash.
Blanchard is a kind of criminal savant; he was still in high school when he formed his first crime syndicate, escaped from jail (twice!), and accumulated enough money to buy a house with cash while still in high school. By the time he was twenty-five, he had parachuted from a plane on to the roof of a castle and stolen part of the Habsburg Crown Jewels. He went on to use a natural technical ability and criminal intuition to perfect a form of trace-free bank robbery, pulling heists at will. For years, Blanchard dodged authorities while escalating the sophistication and scope of his crimes. Eventually, though, he made a mistake. (Don’t they always?)
Join us at Machine Project to hear about the high-flying career of “the world’s most ingenious thief” and his equally dramatic undoing.