Did Late Married Couple Steal $160 Million Willem de Kooning Painting From Museum?
Aug. 4 2018, Published 7:53 p.m. ET
A dead married New Mexico couple, Jerry and Rita Alter, have come under suspicion of stealing a priceless Willem de Kooning painting from a museum more than 30 years ago.
According to the Daily Mail, the painting, valued at $160 million dollars, was found in the bedroom of the Alters' home after both had passed away.
Dutch abstract expressionist artist Willem de Kooning's work is coveted by museums around the world. His "Woman-Ochre" painting vanished from the University Of Arizona Museum Of Art on Thanksgiving day in 1985. The suspects were described as a man and woman in their 50s.
According to reports, the heist happened after a security guard at the University Of Arizona Museum Of Art unlocked the front doors to let an employee inside when the couple walked in behind the worker.
Because the museum was about to open for the day, the guard did not tell them to leave.
While the woman talked to the guard, the guy walked upstairs to the second floor of the museum.
Soon, however, the two rushed out together.
The guard investigated the second floor and found that the de Kooning painting had been sliced out of its frame!
The suspects sped away in a red sports car.
An artist's sketch of the couple at the time didn't help catch the thieves, and the bizarre case went stone cold; the painting remained missing for the next 31 years.
Last year, however, New Mexico antiques dealer David Van Auker called the Arizona museum and the FBI, saying he had the artwork.
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Van Auker said that he bought "Woman-Ochre" for $2,000 at an estate sale following the deaths of Jerry and Rita Alter, who died in 2012 and 2017, respectively. Both had passed away at age 81.
The antiques expert claimed that he had accidentally found the painting "hidden" behind the master bedroom of the Alters' ranch-style New Mexico home.
Authorities are now sifting through clues the Alters left behind, including a day planner with Thanksgiving Day, 1985, with a blank page.
Van Auker and the Alters' nephew, who was executor of the estate, at first didn't recognize it as a de Kooning, but a customer of the art dealer told him it could be the famous artist's painting.
After doing research and finding out "Woman-Ochre" had been stolen years before, Van Auker contacted the FBI.
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