Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius Violin Theft
This crime is on the FBI's official Top Ten Art Crimes list, so it’s an important one. In 1995 violinist Erica Morini’s Stradivarius violin was stolen from her New York City apartment just days before her death. It is one of the most important instruments in the world and would be worth millions…if anyone could find it.
The History
We don’t know everything about the history of the violin but we do know that it was created by master violin maker Antonio Stradivari in 1727. To this day Stradivarius violins are coveted among violin players and musicians more generally.
Fast forward to 1904 when Erica Morini was born in Austria. Her father, who ran a music school, quickly realized that she was a child prodigy at the violin and in 1921 she began touring the United States, at just 16 years old she made her debut at Carnegie Hall. Back in those days, there were no women in orchestras and people were amazed by what she could do. “Harold C. Schonberg, the chief music critic for the Times, described her as "probably the greatest woman violinist who ever lived” (Dickinson, 1999).
Her father presented her with a new violin in 1925 in Paris; the Stradivarius Davidoff violin, which he had purchased for $10,000. She played this instrument for most of her professional concert career. However, her career dropped off in the 1960s and after that, she taught privately. She wasn’t a patient teacher and never kept students for very long. But she always kept the Stradivarius.
Even though she was a wealthy woman she was thrifty and tight with money. Most notably she refused to insure the $3 million Stradivarius properly. “According to her accountant, she didn't want to pay the $11,000 premium for full coverage. She also refused to keep it in a safe, preferring to keep it within reach, in her closet” (Dickinson, 1999). She kept this precious instrument in a closet where all you’d need to gain access is a skeleton key. Over the years she had toyed with the idea of selling the violin and had many interested buyers and musicians but she was never able to go through with it.
The Crime
I’m sorry to say that almost nothing is known about the specifics of the theft. In late 1995 Morini was 91 years old and her health was declining, she spent extended periods of time in the hospital and during one of those stretches someone broke into her apartment and stole her beloved violin. There were no signs of forced entry to the closet so they must have known that Morini kept a copy of the key in a dish of keys in the apartment, with that knowledge and access to the apartment the theft would have been simple.
Her family decided that they didn’t have the heart to tell the dying woman that it had been taken so when she was transported home for her final weeks they replaced the Stradivarius with another violin so she wouldn’t worry about it in her final days. She died at home on November 1, 1995, never knowing the instrument had vanished without a trace.
It was an inside job. It had to be. But Morini’s circle, especially at the end of her life, was small and the temptation of a $3 million violin provided plenty of motive to go around.
Two weeks before Morini’s death she was in the hospital and the police received a 911 call from Morini’s apartment from a woman named Erica Bradford and her daughter Valerie. They had let themselves into Morini’s apartment using a key they’d taken from the table beside her hospital bed (?????). Erica was Morini’s goddaughter and she and Valerie often helped the old woman with cleaning and other jobs around the house. On that night they had gone to her apartment to prepare it for the medical equipment that would have to be brought in for Morini’s final weeks at home. But back to the call, Valerie said, “I don't know how to explain it to you, but there has been a theft of a very valuable article. A violin worth approximately $3 million." I said to my mom, `Oh my God, we're calling the police and we're standing here and it looks bad' " (Dickinson, 1999).
The Suspects
What follows is so much like an Agatha Christie novel it’s almost funny. There is a small cast of characters, all of whom have a motive and the opportunity to wrench the violin away from the confused old woman. Let’s go over them.
The Bradfords
Of course, the people who discover a crime are always considered suspects. Although they were kind of related to Morini apparently they didn’t spend a lot of time with her until the final months of her life. The doorman at Morini’s building said. "Mrs. Morini didn't have any visitors for two or three years and then when she got sick and was dying . . . they were like vultures descending. Valerie Bradford said, `I'm a niece of Mrs. Morini' and she started coming around a few weeks before Mrs. Morini's death” (Dickinson, 1999). It was clear that he didn’t think these two women were simply there to help clean and organize the old woman’s apartment.
Valerie was polygraphed by the FBI twice in relation to this theft. She was polygraphed twice because she kept failing the test (I will say that I personally think these tests are totally bogus but that’s a whole different thing). “She keeps failing lie detector tests and doesn't quite know why. "I guess I get nervous," she laments. She says her negative response to one question, in particular, keeps setting off the polygraph: "Do you know who took the violin?"” (Dickinson, 1999). Also worth noting is that Erica and Valerie were hoping to be included in Morini’s will but they got a peek at it as they were helping clean her apartment and discovered that Valerie was left a gold necklace but most of the money was destined for charity. Hmmmmmm.
Frank Morini (Erica Morini’s brother)
Frank was 10 years younger than his famous sister and while she was touring the world playing the violin he was at home in Austria studying art and eventually became a respected art dealer. "My sister always kept her things stupidly," Morini says. "Two or three years before the violin was stolen, a large amount of money as well as a diamond disappeared from the flat. In my opinion, the same person who stole the diamond and the money took the violin" (Dickinson, 1999). However, he flatly denies that this person is him. He says he had a good relationship with his sister and that he would never do this to her. He thinks that someone close to her with access to her apartment, and therefore access to the closet, is the thief.
Brian Skarstad (a violin dealer from Connecticut)
In 1994 Skardtad contacted Morini in the hopes that he could persuade her to sell him the Stradivarius and over the course of the next year she dangled it in front of him. “She expected the star treatment, and that violin was her ticket to have me step and fetch it. And I was glad to do that. I really sucked up. I can't do it for any long period of time, but in her case, where the violin was so great, I could realize a good profit from this. She wanted $4 million, and that was difficult because a Stradivari hadn't sold for $4 million, at least publicly” (Dickinson, 1999).
When Skarstad found out that Morini was keeping the violin in a closet he urged her to increase her insurance coverage or have it stored in a vault but she refused. He was holding out hope that she would sell him the instrument even as it became clear she never would.
Peter Saphier (Erica Morini's accountant)
Saphier worked as the accountant for Morini’s husband, diamond broker Felice Siracusano for 45 years. When Siracusano died in 1985 Saphier took over Morini’s affairs because her husband had done everything for her so she had no idea how to do anything for herself. He helped draft and re-draft Morini’s will and was named the executor. Her music and papers were to go Mogar Music Library at Boston University and the Stradivarius was to be sold to the highest bidder with the profits split between three charities.
Saphier says that he also tried to convince Morini to better insure the instrument or store it more securely but, like every other time someone tried to tell her this, she refused. Since the theft he has been questioned by police twice.
Lucien Orasel (a Romanian-born academic who lives in the building)
Orasel was adopted by his mother when he was 51, when he came to New York after spending years as a political prisoner in Romania. He met Christina Tomberg (his adoptive mother) at a Republican fundraiser in 1984 and by 1988 she had legally adopted him. Orasel says he spends his time lobbying, volunteering, and bettering himself but doesn’t go into specifics on any of these things. Probably just enjoys a cushy life.
Orasel and his mother lived in the same building as Morini and others who lived there, plus other suspects, say that he inserted himself into Morini’s life. Some even say that he had the key to her apartment though he denies this. About his relationship with Morini Orasel said, "I felt sorry for the old lady and I was helping her out." He claims his good intentions turned into a burden. "She would say, `Lucien, pick up my medication,' $200. She would say, `Put me in your car,' just to avoid taking a taxi. Erica owes me about $3,000. She used me for everything. She treated me like garbage. Everybody who helped her out, instead of tipping them she would say, `I'm putting you in my will’” (Dickinson, 1999).
During an interview, Orasel and Tomberg referenced and then showed a journalist a copy of Morini’s will. How they came into possession of this copy, Orasel refused to say. He said that Morini may have given someone the violin in her final days but forgot to document it in her will so the person has no proof to back up the fact that they have the Stradivarius totally legally. When asked if that’s what happened and he has the violin in the apartment he said that was ridiculous.
So What Now?
Well, for now, that’s it. The FBI has interviewed each of the suspects, and a wider circle of people, multiple times but they haven’t been able to shake any new information lose or even identify a prime suspect out of this group. The insurance company has offered a $100,000 reward for the return of the Davidoff Stradivarius (now known as the Davidoff-Morini Stradivarius) but that hasn’t encouraged anyone to come forward yet. If you want my opinion, I’d be keeping a CLOSE eye on Valerie Bradford and Lucien Orasel, those are the most suspicious characters for me. But I guess we’ll see.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Amy. “The Case of the Stolen Stradivarius”. The Washington Post. 1999. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1999/05/09/the-case-of-the-stolen-stradivarius/0170af90-9452-452b-9377-c3314899668f/