Florida Turns Into a Winter Haven for Jewel Thieves

Each winter, Florida attracts the snowbirds--the bookies to the racetracks, the rich to their getaways, and the jewel thieves to people’s bedrooms and safe-deposit boxes.

Jewel thieves have been busy this season in South Florida, a winter haven for movie stars and millionaires.

“It’s a very big social season here from Thanksgiving to about Easter when people come here to get away from the cold, and bring their jewelry with them,” said Janet Kinsella, a police spokeswoman in Palm Beach, where the Kennedys had a home for much of the 20th century.

Some of the thieves following the party crowd of America’s rich and famous are familiar names to burglary detectives in Florida.

“There are certain ones who are known all over America, and they visit us occasionally,” Kinsella said.

In three of the most notable heists in South Florida:

The walk-in vault at SunTrust Bank in Miami was broken into in November, and burglars cleaned out just three safe-deposit boxes for a total of more than $4 million in jewels. Bank officials admit, with obvious embarrassment, the job wasn’t that difficult. Police say they have two suspects.

On Christmas Eve, witnesses saw someone dressed in black scaling the balconies at a suburban Miami condo complex whose tenants include Sophia Loren, Whitney Houston and Miami Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson. The witnesses didn’t report it, and five apartments were ransacked, the biggest haul being $100,000 in jewelry.

On Jan. 10, a dazzling collection of jewelry was taken from the $4.3-million Palm Beach mansion of Kathleen Ford, a 56-year-old former model who inherited a fortune when her husband, Henry Ford II, died in 1987.

Kathleen Ford is offering a $500,000 reward. Police have not disclosed the value of the gems.

“It’s the season,” said former jewel thief Jack “Murph the Surf” Murphy, the one-time surfing champion who in 1964 stole the 563-carat Star of India sapphire from the Museum of Natural History in New York. Even jewel thieves like to get away from the cold, he said.

Murphy, who spent two years in prison for the Star of India heist, said Ford can probably forget about recovering her jewels. The purchase was set up in advance, and the jewels were probably in the hands of the buyer within a couple of days, perhaps hours, said Murphy, who is now an evangelist in Orlando trying to save souls behind bars.

One of the 15 gems stolen from the Ford mansion was a 16-inch diamond and ruby necklace set with 55 round, pear-shaped and marquise-cut diamonds. Suspended from the center section was a large, pear-shaped diamond. There was also a matching bracelet with 28 oval rubies accented with round and pear-shaped diamonds.

At a news conference announcing the reward, a tearful Ford said she doesn’t care about the value of the jewels but wants them back for sentimental reasons.

Murphy, who was paroled in 1986 from a life sentence for a 1967 murder, believes there is no connection between the Ford theft and the bank job: “Bank crews just do banks. And these were pros.”

Burglary detectives can’t wait until many of the rich and famous leave Florida. With them will go many of the jewel thieves on the circuit, said Metro-Dade police spokesman Ed Munn.

“Ah, spring,” he said.