Three of six men have been charged in the 2004 theft of two of Edvard Munch's paintings, The Madonna, one of my favorites, and the infamous The Scream. The paintings have yet to be recovered; however, the testimony is a scream.
In his testimony, Stian Skjold denied any knowledge of the robbery but admitted that on Sept. 24, 2004, he transferred the paintings, in a garbage bag, from a parked bus owned by Thomas Nataas to the trunk of a car, which promptly sped off.
The men were sentenced to four to eight years in prison. Two of the convicted men were also ordered to repay the city of Oslo $121 million, the insured value of the paintings. If the paintings are found, the payment demand will be dropped.
I don't have a good feeling about the safekeeping of this work. Trash bags don't always make good shipping environments; although those Hefty Cinch Sacks are very sturdy. These dudes were petty amateurs at best.
Good luck, Scream.
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