78
D
oris Payne, an
octogenarian with a
criminal record dating
back to 1952, did not plan a career
as an international jewel thief. She
wanted to be a ballerina. But at the
age of 13, when she felt slighted by
a white store owner after being
allowed to try on a wristwatch,
she went to leave the store, only
realizing at the door that she was
still wearing the watch. She gave
it back, but this event showed her
that she could get away with theft.
Doris Marie Payne was born
on 10 October 1930, in a coal
miner’s camp in Slab Fork in
southern West Virginia to an
African American father and a
Sioux mother. The youngest of
six children, she was raised in
segregated America, and quit
high school to work at an assisted-
living facility for the elderly. This
was to be her only real job.An accomplished thief
A single mother of two in her early
twenties, in 1952 Doris Payne
realized that she could support
herself through stealing from high-
end jewellery stores. She devised a
clever modus operandi utilizing her
natural charm and sleight of handin order to distract store clerks
while she tried on a wide variety
of expensive rings.
She put them on one finger, then
another, and moved them about so
much that the clerks eventually lost
track of what she had tried on.
All the while she kept asking
questions about the cut, the clarity
or the number of carats to provide
a further distraction.
Payne perfected her routine,
presenting herself in a stately,
refined manner, wearing elegant
dresses, designer shoes, hoop
earrings, and perfectly coiffed shortAge 85, Doris Payne was arrested
again in October 2015. She was caught
on CCTV stealing a pair of Christian
Dior earrings from a Saks department
store in Atlanta, Georgia.IN CONTEXT
LOCATION
US, France, UK, Greece,
SwitzerlandTHEME
Jewel theftBEFORE
1883–85 Sofia Ivanovna
Blyuvshtein, a legendary
Russian con artist, perpetrates
many thefts from hotel rooms;
she is eventually caught and
sentenced to imprisonment
with hard labour.AFTER
1991 Yip Kai Foon commits
five armed robberies of Hong
Kong goldsmiths, making off
with £1.1 million worth of
jewels; he is arrested after a
gun fight, in which he was
shot in the back, in May 1996.1993 A gang of international
jewel thieves known as the
Pink Panthers commit the first
in a series of jewellery store
robberies, stealing more than
£300 million in gold and gems.IT’S NOT STEALING
BECAUSE I’M ONLY
TAKING WHAT THEY
GIVE ME
DORIS PAYNE, 1952–2015
078-079_Doris_Payne.indd 78 02/12/2016 14:41
79
See also: Bill Mason 36 ■ The Antwerp Diamond Heist 54–55 ■ The Affair of the Diamond Necklace 64–65CON ARTISTS
hair. Her greatest gift was her
ability to captivate an audience
with her stories, which would
encourage the victim to relax,
and divert their attention away
from the jewels they were selling.A quick getaway
Payne read Town & Country
magazine, perusing the jewellery
advertisements for ideas of pieces
to steal. She then travelled fromCleveland, Ohio, to a specific store
to acquire the item she wanted.
After performing her routine, she
simply walked out of the store,
telling the clerk that she would
ponder the purchase over lunch,
and leave wearing the jewellery.
The clerks invariably did not
notice the thefts until some time
later, allowing Payne enough time
to get away, usually in a taxi. Payne
then returned to Ohio to sell her
takings to a fence – a person who
knowingly buys stolen goods and
sells them – based in Cleveland.Prison time
Payne used 20 aliases and nine
different passports to travel the
world robbing stores. Her most
famous heist was the 1974 theft of a
10.5-carat emerald-cut diamond
worth $500,000 (£396,000) from
Cartier in Monte Carlo, France.
She extended her skill set to
perfect the art of escaping custody.
She performed this feat three times;
from a guarded hotel room in Monte
Carlo, from a Texas hospital after
faking an illness, and lastly from aEnters store dressed as an
elegant, wealthy womanStarts browsing for
diamond ringsEngages clerk in
conversation and asks to
see an assortment
of itemsUses charm to cause the
clerk to forget how many
items were outside
the caseLeaves the store
wearing the jewelleryParis jail. The longest time Payne
served in prison was in Colorado,
where she was detained for five
years for stealing a $57,000
(£45,000) diamond ring from a
Neiman Marcus store in 1998. She
fled Denver while still on parole.
Payne was not always successful
at escaping capture, however, and
served a string of short jail terms.Elderly offender
Payne was arrested in 2013, at age- She convinced staff at a Palm
Springs store that she had received
a $25,000 (£20,000) insurance
payout and wanted to treat herself.
She left wearing a diamond ring
worth more than $22,000 (£17,500).
A judge ordered her to serve several
months in jail and, upon her release,
to stay away from jewellery stores.
She did not honour the order, and
was rearrested in October 2015.
Payne was the subject of a 2014
documentary The Life and Crimes
of Doris Payne, which portrayed her
as a rebel who defied society’s
prejudices to find her own version
of the American Dream. ■
Career criminal
Few criminals are still going
strong in their eighties,
especially after a lucrative
60-year career during which
they have become a celebrity.
Doris Payne recalls telling
her father as a little girl that she
wanted to travel the world,
making little piles of salt and
flour on areas of world maps she
someday wanted to visit. Her
chosen “career” certainly
enabled that, taking her to
France, the United Kingdom,
Switzerland, and Greece.At 75, Payne vowed to abandon
her life of crime, but came out
of retirement to steal a coat in
2010 and a diamond ring the
following year.
Part of Payne’s motivation
is undoubtedly that theft has
afforded her an extravagant
lifestyle. However, Payne also
appears to be motivated by the
thrill of fooling store owners and
the adrenaline rush associated
with getting away with theft.
The only regrets Payne has
admitted to are the times she
got caught. She does not appear
to have any plans to retire.078-079_Doris_Payne.indd 79 13/01/2017 15:10