Word has been received that Nick Pace, the man convicted of stealing three
Cezannes from the Art Institute of Chicago in November of 1978, has killed
himself.  He was apparently scheduled for a court appearance on another
charge and, we have been told, killed himself rather than go back to jail.
Pace served five years of a 5-8 sentence for the theft which was at the
time the largest art theft in U.S. history.  He stole the paintings by
shipping them to himself. He was a museum employee at the time of the
theft and was employed in the art handling department.
Authorities served a search warrant on Pace's apartment during the
investigation in early 1979 and found a manuscript of a book he was
writing about a major art heist. Also found was a copy of the book "Great
Masterpieces at the Art Institute of Chicago" with the stolen paintings
marked with paperclips.
The investigation revealed that while a background check was made on Pace,
all of the people called (as listed on his references on the job
application) were friends and relatives.  Pace was later found to be a
Neo-Nazi and otherwise not too nice a guy.
The Cezanne paintings were recovered several months after the theft after
Pace attempted to sell them back to the museum in a room at the Drake
Hotel. He was captured after returning the paintings.

This bit of history brought to you by:
Steve Keller (former Director of Security at the Art Institute)
Steven R. Keller and Associates, Inc.
Museum Security Consultants
1939 Algonquin Avenue
Deltona, FL 32725          [log in to unmask]
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Sorry for the long post ;-(