Addicted to the Thrill: Bill Mason

Bill Mason was an average property manager by day and a notorious cat burglar at night. He climbed walls, tiptoed across parapets, climbed onto balconies, and shimmed through barely open windows while unaware owners slept.
Mason carried out a strategy that had been in the works for weeks on a stormy night. He climbed the entire 15 floors of the Dr. Armand Hammer apartment building's exterior with all of his strength, where he discovered the balcony door to be unlocked.
He threw Mrs. Hammer's jewelry box's contents, which were worth several million dollars, into one of her pillowcases.
Ironically, Mason discovered the front door was locked with a simple, pickable lock as he was leaving.
He escaped the building through an unlocked window on the third floor, and to help lower himself to the ground, he used a grappling hook.
Mason worked hard to hide his tracks at every turn; not a single suspect was named by the police.
Mason stole about £120 million in jewelry over the course of 20 years while preying on the rich and famous, including Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller, an Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer and actor.
The adrenaline surge he felt during the robbery and the glamour of these furtive brushes with the stars were addictive.
Mason's memoir Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief, which was published in 2003, details how he eventually got caught in a sting operation.

From 1950 to 1998, Peter Scott, a Northern Irish cat thief, commits approximately 150 burglaries before being apprehended in 1952.
- In 1960, he stole a $260,000 necklace belonging to actress Sophia Loren.
From 2004 to 2006, Ignacio del Rio, a skilled Spanish thief, admits to more over 1,000 burglaries perpetrated in Los Angeles over a two-year period, stealing $2 million in jewelry and a $10 million Degas painting.

It’s Only So Much Scrap Gold

For football fans in England, 1966 will always be remembered as the only time their team ever won the World Cup.
Bobby Moore, the captain of England, nearly had to hold a replica trophy in celebration because the renowned Jules Rimet Trophy had been stolen four months prior to the tournament's start.
The cup was guarded while it was on display in Westminster's Central Hall in London, but thieves broke open the glass case while patrols weren't looking.
When a note demanding £15,000 (£196,000 today) for the trophy's safe return arrived, the Metropolitan Police were still no closer to a resolution despite a thorough investigation.
Edward Betchley, a small-time criminal, was apprehended during an attempt to entrap the sender, but the trophy was never produced.
The missing cup wasn't discovered until Pickles, a collie dog being walked by his owner David Corbett, discovered a package buried beneath the hedge outside his home in Upper Norwood, south London.
Regarding how crime is "valued" and whether some items are too well-known to be worth stealing, the story is still compelling.
The original trophy would have been worth very little if it had been melted down, which is the only way a gang could have gotten rid of it. However, it had a priceless symbolic meaning.
The original was replaced with a replica, which sold for £254,000 in 1997 at auction.

On October 9, 1964, surfing champion Jack Roland Murphy infiltrates the American Museum of Natural History's Gems and Minerals Hall and steals J.P. Morgan's jewel collection.
On December 19, 1983, The Jules Rimet Trophy is thieved yet again, this time from Rio de Janeiro's Brazilian Football Confederation. It has never been found.
On December 4, 2014, Seven men break into the Red Bull Racing offices in England with a van and steal sixty Formula One trophy.

Bill Mason was an average property manager by day and a notorious cat burglar at night. He climbed walls, tiptoed across parapets, climbed onto balconies, and shimmed through barely open windows while unaware owners slept.
Mason carried out a strategy that had been in the works for weeks on a stormy night. He climbed the entire 15 floors of the Dr. Armand Hammer apartment building's exterior with all of his strength, where he discovered the balcony door to be unlocked.
He threw Mrs. Hammer's jewelry box's contents, which were worth several million dollars, into one of her pillowcases.
Ironically, Mason discovered the front door was locked with a simple, pickable lock as he was leaving.
He escaped the building through an unlocked window on the third floor, and to help lower himself to the ground, he used a grappling hook.
Mason worked hard to hide his tracks at every turn; not a single suspect was named by the police.
Mason stole about £120 million in jewelry over the course of 20 years while preying on the rich and famous, including Johnny "Tarzan" Weissmuller, an Olympic gold medal-winning swimmer and actor.
The adrenaline surge he felt during the robbery and the glamour of these furtive brushes with the stars were addictive.
Mason's memoir Confessions of a Master Jewel Thief, which was published in 2003, details how he eventually got caught in a sting operation.

From 1950 to 1998, Peter Scott, a Northern Irish cat thief, commits approximately 150 burglaries before being apprehended in 1952.
- In 1960, he stole a $260,000 necklace belonging to actress Sophia Loren.
From 2004 to 2006, Ignacio del Rio, a skilled Spanish thief, admits to more over 1,000 burglaries perpetrated in Los Angeles over a two-year period, stealing $2 million in jewelry and a $10 million Degas painting.

For football fans in England, 1966 will always be remembered as the only time their team ever won the World Cup.
Bobby Moore, the captain of England, nearly had to hold a replica trophy in celebration because the renowned Jules Rimet Trophy had been stolen four months prior to the tournament's start.
The cup was guarded while it was on display in Westminster's Central Hall in London, but thieves broke open the glass case while patrols weren't looking.
When a note demanding £15,000 (£196,000 today) for the trophy's safe return arrived, the Metropolitan Police were still no closer to a resolution despite a thorough investigation.
Edward Betchley, a small-time criminal, was apprehended during an attempt to entrap the sender, but the trophy was never produced.
The missing cup wasn't discovered until Pickles, a collie dog being walked by his owner David Corbett, discovered a package buried beneath the hedge outside his home in Upper Norwood, south London.
Regarding how crime is "valued" and whether some items are too well-known to be worth stealing, the story is still compelling.
The original trophy would have been worth very little if it had been melted down, which is the only way a gang could have gotten rid of it. However, it had a priceless symbolic meaning.
The original was replaced with a replica, which sold for £254,000 in 1997 at auction.

On October 9, 1964, surfing champion Jack Roland Murphy infiltrates the American Museum of Natural History's Gems and Minerals Hall and steals J.P. Morgan's jewel collection.
On December 19, 1983, The Jules Rimet Trophy is thieved yet again, this time from Rio de Janeiro's Brazilian Football Confederation. It has never been found.
On December 4, 2014, Seven men break into the Red Bull Racing offices in England with a van and steal sixty Formula One trophy.