The Crime Book

79

See also: Bill Mason 36 ■ The Antwerp Diamond Heist 54–55 ■ The Affair of the Diamond Necklace 64–65

CON 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 from

Cleveland, 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 a

Enters store dressed as an

elegant, wealthy woman

Starts browsing for

diamond rings

Engages clerk in

conversation and asks to

see an assortment

of items

Uses charm to cause the

clerk to forget how many

items were outside

the case

Leaves the store

wearing the jewellery

Paris 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

83. 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.

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