Co-defendant in French art heist says he destroyed paintings
PARIS — A co-defendant in one of the world’s biggest art heists testified in court Monday that he destroyed and threw away five art masterpieces worth more than $100 million that were stolen by a thief nicknamed “the spider-man.”
Yonathan Birn was among three people who went on trial in the case Monday. The five paintings stolen in 2010 from the French capital’s city Museum of Modern Art — a Picasso, a Matisse, a Modigliani, a Braque and a Fernand Leger — have never been found.
“I threw them into the trash,” Birn repeated three times at the court bar, in tears. “I made the worst mistake of my existence.”
Neither the investigating judge nor other defendants at the trial believe Birn’s claims. The investigators are convinced the five paintings have been taken out of France, but they have not been able to prove that, court documents show. Birn’s co-defendants testified he was “too smart” to destroy the masterpieces.