The spectacular burglary in Saxony’s baroque treasury museum was almost three years ago. The trial of several suspects from a well-known Arab family in Berlin reveals the audacity of the perpetrators – and more.
Before the spectacular coup, the jewel thieves from the Dresden Green Vault checked the security measures in and around the museum complex meticulously and with great effort – and then mercilessly exploited the gaps. After a six-month trial at the Dresden Regional Court, it is not clear whether all six of those accused of the spectacular break-in into the historic Green Vault were actually directly involved. The question of how the crime was possible at all in the museum, which is declared as a “walk-in safe”, does. Combined with the frightening realization: The perpetrators had an easy time.
The act was a matter of minutes: on the morning of November 25, 2019, two men broke into the building, punched holes in a showcase with an ax and tore out 21 pieces of jewelry. According to the indictment, the accused stole over 4,300 diamonds and brilliants with a total insurance value of at least 113.9 million euros and caused property damage of a good one million euros. The art theft also made international headlines and not only shocked the museum world.
The unimaginable was only possible “because a number of those responsible for security considered it impossible,” says lawyer and publicist Butz Peters, who observes the process. The external protection by scanners, a kind of electronic curtain on the castle facade, didn’t work, a security gap at the entrance window that had been known for a decade was not eliminated and the employees in the castle’s security center obviously didn’t notice that their monitors were closed four times before the break-in was able to see people climbing over the castle wall. Why remains a mystery so far.
More than 90 witnesses questioned
An intrusion from the outside was unthinkable, said several people in charge of the museum. After 22 days of negotiations, during which more than 90 witnesses were questioned, there is much to suggest that the coup is really the responsibility of the Berlin clan, which is also held responsible for the gold coin theft.
The accused, who were gradually caught by the summer of 2021, are three brothers and their cousins and are accused of aggravated gang theft, arson and particularly aggravated arson. Two of them are currently serving youth sentences because of the Berlin coup – the jewel theft in Dresden took place during a break in the process when they were still at large.
The modus operandi speaks for offenders from the Berlin extended family, “that’s their handwriting,” says prosecutor Thomas Schulz-Spirohn. “Museum, spectacular act with maximum external impact to increase reputation” and “with a certain arrogance”.
According to investigators, there was DNA from one of those convicted of the gold coin at the scene of the theft of several high-tech devices from a hydraulic company in Erlangen (Bavaria) in 2018. On the way to the hearing, he was found in a stolen car in November 2019 stopped on the A9 motorway, the trunk full of burglary tools and protective suits. And according to Schulz-Spirohn, hydraulic spreaders are part of the “sign” of criminal offenses in this family.
In Dresden, the perpetrators tested the circumstances. Four nights before the burglary, they drove from Berlin to Dresden in their cars, spending up to half an hour between the wall and the later burglary window. Alarm, none. It is not clear when the historical latticework was sawn and the part that had been cut out temporarily glued back in place.
One of the defendants himself told the court about one of the preparatory tours – and that he climbed over the castle wall. None of the allegedly young men can be clearly identified in the video images. But there are DNA traces from the 28-year-old and three other defendants on the wall: one of the 23-year-old twin brothers, a 25-year-old and a 26-year-old.
Tiny pieces of glass from the museum showcase
Dresden and Berlin investigators found what they were looking for in one of the cars, which, after evaluating the license plate recognition along the A13 autobahn, also drove on the night of the crime in a duo with an Audi S6 towards Dresden and back hours later – alone. The car, disguised as a taxi and seized weeks later in Berlin, was set on fire at Christmas 2019, but only partially damaged. Forensics found DNA from three of the accused in it – and tiny pieces of glass from the smashed museum display case.
The car, which was set on fire after the burglary in the underground car park of a residential building about four kilometers from the scene of the crime, burned to death. It has been smashed that two defendants – the 25-year-old and the 24-year-old – are the people who accessed the jewel room. In court, experts dismantled the evidence presented by dog handlers and investigators about the use of scent detection dogs a year and a half after the crime.
The young men, mostly in sporty, elegant branded clothing, follow what is happening in the room attentively, surrounded by their sometimes prominent criminal defense lawyers. Relatives or girlfriends are often in the audience, like a cousin on the first day of negotiations. The 22-year-old was then arrested on May 10 as he left the trial building. The oldest accused had given his name in court – and thus triggered the investigation against him for aiding and abetting.
The 28-year-old explained that he had been hired by the crime planner. After a police check in Berlin on the evening of November 24, he got out of the car that was supposed to take the four occupants to the meeting place and went home. He remained guilty of further names. “I have nothing to do with any of this,” said a 23-year-old recently.
Process observer Peters considers the evidence for the four defendants to be “quite clear” because of the undoubted DNA traces on the castle wall. With the 25-year-old, however, everything speaks for the fact that he was actually in a hospital in Berlin. His defense attorneys asked for the case to be broken off and the man convicted of stealing the gold coin to be acquitted.
A further 23 days of negotiations have been scheduled until shortly before Christmas. According to a court spokesman, a conclusion is still possible this year, depending on the further course – the process is scheduled to continue on August 23. dpa
