Most Infamous Cat Burglars Of The Past Century

Cat burglary is a crime often romanticized in movies. Throughout the past century, there have been numerous stories of master burglars pulling off incredible heists. The vast majority of burglaries go unresolved and the need for effective home security like Northstar Home security alarms is at an all-time high. But not even the best security was able to stop these infamous thieves.

Bill Mason, Jewelry Thief Extraordinaire

Via stepbystep.com

Bill Mason was an infamous jewelry thief, and his primary targets were celebrities in Florida during the 70’s and 80’s. His notable victims included Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, and Johnny Weissmuller. During his career as a cat burglar, he collected over thirty-five million dollars in jewelry. The majority of his criminal earnings were confiscated after multiple jail sentences, but rumor has it, that he still has a fortune hidden away.

Bill Mason would use his advanced climbing abilities to scale tall apartment buildings, and during one of his late-night heists, he climbed a 15-story building during a storm to reach Armand Hammer's apartment!

Bill is also one of the few burglars who has voluntarily returned a stolen item, which was an Olympic gold medal that he took from Johnny Weissmuller. Just a few months after the theft, Mason sent back the medal due to the guilt of having taken something so personal in nature.

Anthony Spilotro

Via listverse.com

A real life gangster, Spilotro operated in and around Las Vegas in the 70’s and 80’s. Wanting to get more cash than he was gaining from casino profits, he formed a burglary gang and successfully carried out high-stakes heists that got him a lot of quick cash. A typical burglary was done by drilling a hole into the wall of a business and using safe-cracking techniques to get a ton of valuables in one night.

He was eventually caught by an anonymous tip to the police. He was able to avoid conviction despite being informed on by his own gang. In the end he was murdered by mafia associates.

"The Silver Thief", Blane David Nordahl

Via protectamerica.com

Blane David Nordahl made a fortune stealing silver items from expensive houses across the US East Coast and became known as "The Silver Thief". The rumor is he pilfered a total of over three-million dollars in silver during his career.

During a typical burglary, he would sneak up to a victim's home while they were asleep, and remove the individual glass panes from a French door. Inside, he would employ his understanding of alarms, which he acquired at the library, to avoid and often deactivate them altogether. With the alarms disabled, he would then take all of the silver items outside to examine them. Utilizing a silver testing kit, he would identify the items that were solid silver and discard the rest. He averaged twenty grand in silver per burglary. While he was skilled, Nordahl still managed to be captured several times.

Leonardo Notarbartolo Student of The School of Turin

Via all-that-is-interesting.com

Notarbartolo is believed to be part of the infamous crime ring known as the School of Turin, which is widely known for the burglary of the Antwerp Diamond Centre in Belgium. Notarbartolo would normally examine the jewelry shops he wanted to burglarize while pretending to be shopping with a female companion to avoid suspicion. While his lady shopped, he would take pictures throughout the store with a hidden pen camera and would organize the burglary with fellow members of the school.

In the middle of February 2003, Leonardo along with four other members robbed the Antwerp Diamond Centre, stealing over one-hundred-million dollars in diamonds. He was later arrested and sentenced to a ten-year imprisonment when police found a sandwich near the scene of the crime which had traces of his DNA. The other members of the team still remain unknown.

These burglars are the stuff of legend, and pulled off some of the biggest heists, drove the most expensive cars, and made more money in one heist than many people will earn in a lifetime. Although all of them were caught, their legacies remain.