The Saga of the Canadian Museum Thief

By ULRIK NARCISSE

John Mark Tillman pieced together his own private museum by stealing from other museums.

Now that he is caught, Canadian officials are unpiecing his collection in order to return the stolen goods to their rightful owners,

That was the arduous scenario recounted by Canadian authorities who came to to New York on Thursday to receive one of Tillman’s spoils, a first edition copy of Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”, which was returned to the Canadians by U.S. Customs and Homeland Security Investigations. The sticky fingered antique thief’s purloin had led to the book’s three year absence from it’s home at a Nova Scotia University.

Recovering the book was a joint operation by U.S Customs and Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Nova Scotia, who met at the Canadian Consul General’s office for a press conference where the book was formally returned.

Charles Darwin’s fully titled “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life,” was one of three Darwin books taken from a locked glass cabinet in Nova Scotia’s Mount Saint Vincent University Library in 2012.Tillman sold the book to a Canadian collector who later sold off the book at a Sotheby’s New York auction in June 2012 for $42,500.

The book was only the tip of the iceberg to the extensive discovery of Tillman’s museum of stolen goods. Tillman, 51, also stole countless other antiques around Nova Scotia, barely leaving a single antique store, museum or library untouched.

Authorities began investigating Tillman after a police officer performing a routine traffic stop noticed a 1750’s letter written by British General James Wolfe sitting conspicuously on the seat of Tillman’s car. Canadian police eventually gained a warrant to search Tillman’s home for about 12 stolen objects. Instead, the investigating team recovered about 10,000 objects there.

“It took us seven days to search that property,” said lead RCMP Investigator Daryl Morgan. ““He was fairly confident and cocky that he was able to get off scot-free.” Tillman’s spoils ranged in both size, style, and cost — with pieces ranging in estimated values of $500 to upwards of $100,000. Noteworthy items on Tillman’s laundry list of stolen objects included a suit of armor, a couch, and even a letter penned by George Washington.

“His place was like a museum,” said Morgan. Everything was on display. Tillman was OCD, so he kept labels next to the items that were on display in his house.” Labels often included item names, dates and values for the items, allowing authorities to trace the objects. “That kind of worked against him at the end of the day.”

According to Morgan, Tillman tried everything from disguises to using his mother as a distraction while casing and stealing objects.

“He would go and have tea with these people and then he would steal their cutlery,” said Morgan.

Tillman’s house was also featured in a magazine before his arrest — with a large number of the stolen goods plainly visible in the photographs, one even including a suit of armor. Despite this, the publication managed to fly under the radar of Tillman’s victims and authorities.

Morgan said he thinks the story will be made into a movie sometime in the future.

After being arrested on January 18, 2013, Tillman entered guilty pleas to more than 80 charges on September 25, 2013. Tillman was sentenced to nine years in prison by a judge at the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.