Man admits to 1971 theft of Revolutionary War-era rifle
The First Art Newspaper on the Net    Established in 1996 Thursday, November 7, 2024


Man admits to 1971 theft of Revolutionary War-era rifle
The Johann Christian Oerter rifle, a Revolutionary War firearm stolen in 1971 from the visitor center at Valley Forge State Park in Pennsylvania, on display at the Museum of the American Revolution after its recovery, in Philadelphia, Nov. 1, 2019. On Tuesday, July 20, 2021, Thomas Gavin, the man who stole the rifle, pleaded guilty to one count of disposing of an object of cultural heritage stolen from a museum, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. (Rachel Wisniewski/The New York Times

by Maria Cramer



NEW YORK (NYT NEWS SERVICE).- In October 1971, a rifle made during the Revolutionary War was stolen from a display case at the visitor center at Valley Forge State Park in Pennsylvania.

The case was thought to be theft-proof, but someone used a crowbar to pry it open in broad daylight, soon after the museum, about 20 miles northwest of Philadelphia, opened that morning, according to an article published in The Philadelphia Inquirer following the theft.

Some time later, a Boy Scout on a tour with his troop noticed that the rifle, a 5-foot-long weapon made by a master gunsmith, Johann Christian Oerter, was missing.

Forty-seven years later, in July 2018, the man who stole the rifle, Thomas Gavin, sold it, along with a trunk filled with more than 20 antique pistols and a Native American silver concho belt, to Kelly Kinzle, a Pennsylvania antiques dealer, who paid him $27,150, according to federal court documents.

On Tuesday, Gavin, 78, pleaded guilty to one count of disposing of an object of cultural heritage stolen from a museum, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. He was ordered to be held with bail set at $100,000 until he is sentenced Nov. 15.

His lawyer did not immediately respond to a message requesting comment.

In February 2020, FBI agents and detectives from the Upper Merion Township Police Department questioned Gavin, who admitted that he stole the Oerter rifle as well as antique guns from other museums across Pennsylvania, according to a plea agreement.




Gavin said he stole revolvers and pistols from several institutions, including the American Swedish Historical Museum, the Valley Forge Historical Society and the Pennsylvania Farm Museum, the plea agreement said. The weapons, one of which had a bayonet, were made in the 18th and 19th centuries, the document said.

He also confessed to stealing the silver belt and several firearms made in the 1850s from the Hershey Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania, according to court documents.

The rifle that was taken from the Valley Forge visitor center was made in 1775 by Oerter, a gunsmith at the Moravian settlement of Christian’s Spring, near Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

David Condon, an expert in antique firearms who examined the rifle, said its market value was $175,000, according to court documents.

A lawyer for Kinzle, the antiques dealer, told The New York Times in 2019 that his client discovered that he had bought a stolen weapon after he read about the theft of the Oerter rifle in a 1980 book by George Shumway, an expert on antique long rifles who died in 2011.

The rifle was among a number of antique firearms that were stolen from the Valley Forge Historical Society and the Valley Forge State Park museum in the late 1960s and 1970s, according to federal prosecutors. Valley Forge was established as a national park in 1976.

Prosecutors said Gavin should be ordered to pay no more than $20,200 in restitution, according to the plea agreement. They did not stipulate what sentence they would recommend to the judge.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.










Today's News

July 22, 2021

A famous blue butterfly: Still extinct but more distinct

Art Basel announces exhibitor list for 2021 in-person Basel edition, with 273 leading galleries

Art Fund Museum of the Year 2021 shortlist announced

UNESCO removes Liverpool from world heritage list

Man admits to 1971 theft of Revolutionary War-era rifle

Kennedy Center taps Joni Mitchell and Berry Gordy for awards

Jerry Garcia Family to release NFT collection of artworks created by the music legend

Contemporary Jewish Museum names Chad Coerver Executive Director

Creative Folkestone Triennial 2021 opens with 23 major new public artworks across the coastal town

CURRO opens a summer group exhibition: 'Simulacro y simulación'

New York International Antiquarian Book Fair returns to New York September 9-12

'Dines Carlsen: In His Own Manner' opens at the National Nordic Museum

Exhibition provides glimpse at the many ways artists question, expose and confront power

ComicConnect's massive pulps auction underscores genre's growing popularity

Important group of medals awarded to Captain Peter Townsend fetches £260,000 at Dix Noonan Webb

Monterey Museum of Art names Corey Madden as Executive Director

First Tange Kenzo survey in Tokyo presented at National Archives of Modern Architecture

Gasworks opens the first solo exhibition in London by artist Bassam Al-Sabah

Carol Easton, biographer of arts figures, dies at 87

Gil Wechsler, an illuminating fixture at the Met Opera, dies at 79

Cartoon Museum calls for protest placards to be shared to accompany V for Vendetta exhibition

First Nations artist Jenna Lee appointed to Craft Victoria Board

Bruce Lee's handwritten letters bring $462,500 at Heritage Auctions

Marilyn Monroe's $1.28 million sale is bombshell opening for Heritage Auctions' all-star entertainment event

"Difference" and "Great Harmony" Humanistic Orientation in Yixin Wang's New Exhibition

How can Double Mattress Protector Help You in Preventing Mattress?




Museums, Exhibits, Artists, Milestones, Digital Art, Architecture, Photography,
Photographers, Special Photos, Special Reports, Featured Stories, Auctions, Art Fairs,
Anecdotes, Art Quiz, Education, Mythology, 3D Images, Last Week, .

 



Founder:
Ignacio Villarreal
(1941 - 2019)
Editor & Publisher: Jose Villarreal
Art Director: Juan José Sepúlveda Ramírez
Writer: Ofelia Zurbia Betancourt

Royalville Communications, Inc
produces:

ignaciovillarreal.org juncodelavega.com facundocabral-elfinal.org
Founder's Site. Hommage
to a Mexican poet.
Hommage
       

The First Art Newspaper on the Net. The Best Versions Of Ave Maria Song Junco de la Vega Site Ignacio Villarreal Site
Tell a Friend
Dear User, please complete the form below in order to recommend the Artdaily newsletter to someone you know.
Please complete all fields marked *.
Sending Mail
Sending Successful