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James Faherty
| This photo was taken in the detention room of the seventh-floor mezzanine of the Suffolk County Courthouse in August 1956. They almost got away with it – almost. It was probably the most famous heist in Boston history, on the night of Jan. 17, 1950. Millions were stolen, but in the end, as always happens, someone cracked, and just before the statute of limitations expired, the eight surviving members of the crew were arrested. They were all convicted, and several lived long enough to visit the movie set, of “The Brinks Job” in 1978, which starred Peter Falk as Tony Pino. It was directed by William Friedkin, best known for “The French Connection.” |
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Faherty was the 95th person added to the Most Wanted List, in March 1956
– more than six years after the famous Brinks robbery in the North End,
when eight robbers took more than $2.7 million without firing a shot in
a heist that had been planned for years. As the statute of limitations
was about to run about, one gang member, Joseph “Specs” O’Keefe, started
talking, and the FBI moved swiftly to round up the eight robbers. But
Faherty slipped the dragnet, along with the guy who had been his partner
in crime since 1934… |
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