ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM

ISABELLA STEWART GARDNER MUSEUM  
                                  - Donna DiPietro

I have been hesitant to make this case public and have given my decision very careful consideration. I know that once I post this chapter to my blog, there is no turning back. I am not and never was an official part of the investigation but I know that I have given investigators information that has been helpful. I feel that I have a responsibility to make available to the public this important chapter in the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum’s history. This information could have sat in a file cabinet for years, the paper disintegrating over time, becoming only a story handed down from generation to generation with facts twisted and lost along the way. I could not let that happen.

In May 2008, I was contacted by a well known Boston radio talk show host who knew someone involved in the Gardner Museum heist investigation. He heard about me through others and called me ‘The Real Deal’ and asked if I would be interested in going to the museum for a tour and to see if I sensed anything. On Sunday afternoon, August 10, 2008, the radio host, his wife, my husband and I, and another couple, went to the museum. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were met at the door by an investigator and given a grand tour of the museum. The investigator did not believe in psychics and to him this was not considered anything but a visit.

There were many visitors at the museum that day and our group fit in as regular art lovers. I do not think anyone in our group knew what to expect from me and even I did not know what would happen. I brought a steno pad and pencil with me, as I had read on the museum’s website that pens were not allowed inside, the reason being that ink may accidently touch a valuable art object or the antique wallpaper. I planned to write down anything that I sensed. We were in the short gallery and I came up with the name ‘Richard’ and the expression ‘Smart Alleck’. The investigator was talking with the radio host and I interrupted them and asked if ‘Richard’ and ‘Smart Alleck’ meant anything. I was then told that one of the security guards on duty the night of the robbery was named ‘Richard’ and he was known as a ‘Smart Alleck’ in the police report. I then asked if a small piece of paper had fallen off the back of one of the stolen pieces during the robbery and I pointed to an area on the floor where I envisioned it to be. The investigator confirmed that a label had fallen off the back of one of the stolen pieces and was found on the floor in the area I pointed to. I then told him that one of the robbers said something that a British person would say – such as ‘cheerio’. He said that one of the robbers called the other one ‘Mate’. I asked how he knew that and if the robbers were recorded. He would not answer my question and said he had his way of knowing. I found the answer to my question in Ulrich Boser’s book 'The Gardner Heist’  that came out six months later in February 2009. One of the guards supposedly heard a robber call the other one ‘Mate’. The radio host asked me about the condition of the stolen art. I told him that one of the paintings has a split in it. He said that one of the paintings is on wood and it does have a split in it.

We went to the main entrance of the inside garden and I was standing next to the lion statue located on the right. At that moment, I felt Mrs. Gardner rush over to me and she held my right arm and asked me to get ‘Ellen’ (or a name that sounds similar). I asked the investigator who Ellen, or someone with a similar sounding name, was and he did not know. I envisioned Mrs. Gardner wearing  a long dark blue satin dress with a matching short jacket with long sleeves. The ends of the sleeves were loose and hung from her arms. There were two dark blue satin roses on the front of the jacket where buttons would be.  She wore matching dark blue satin slippers with a large blue satin rose on top of each. She was showing me the Blue Room entry and told me that she was standing there when the robbers went in and stole one of her paintings. She said that an alarm should have sounded but it did not. I found out later that there was an alarm over the Blue Room entry that the robbers disengaged. (An oil on canvas, ‘Chez Tortoni’ by Manet, was stolen from the Blue Room.)

On my next visit to the Gardner, Thursday, October 9, 2008, I again met the investigator and a ‘legitimate source’ who asked me about my visit in August. I told this source about the experience I had while standing next to the lion statue on August 10th - how Mrs. Gardner grabbed my right arm and pleaded with me to get ‘Ellen’ or a similar sounding name. The source said that was very interesting. I did not know how interesting until about an hour later when we visited the carriage house. The carriage house was torn down in July 2009 to make room for the museum’s new addition. The museum had to go to the Supreme Court to get permission to tear it down and finally won approval. We went into the carriage house but we could not go to the second floor apartment because an artist-in-residence was up there at the time of our visit. The ‘legitimate source’ then told us about the apartment. Over an eight month period there were five artists who lived there at different times and all of them experienced paranormal activity. The room and furniture, and even the bedding and curtains, would get electrified and unusual things would occur. One female artist had the same experience that I had. Each evening, when she retired for the night, a woman would hold her arm and plead with her to get ‘Ellen’. I asked the ‘legitimate source’ who ‘Ellen’ was and the source said ‘Ella’ was Mrs. Gardner’s personal maid and whenever Mrs. Gardner wanted something she would say “Get Ella.” I was told that Mrs. Gardner’s bedroom furniture was upstairs in the apartment and it was where the artist slept. The artist thought the woman said ‘Ellen’ whereas I thought the name was either ‘Ellen’ or a name that sounds like Ellen.

The ‘legitimate source’ told me, and the group I was with, that she was in the museum one evening and saw a full body apparition of Mrs. Gardner. This person was working upstairs alone in an archive room, sitting on the floor, facing the doorway that looks out onto a hall that has some file cabinets and a fax machine.  She saw something move in front of her, inside the room, looked up and saw Mrs. Gardner standing about ten feet away. She was wearing a long dark dress, remained a few seconds, then disappeared.

I also learned of the strange occurrence that happened on Mrs. Gardner’s birthday, April 14, 2008. The bust of a nun sits on the top of a cabinet that is in the Gothic Room. This is the same room where the life size painting of Mrs. Gardner, by John Singer Sargent, is on display. The nun is always facing the side of the room as Mrs. Gardner requested. When the guard checked the room on his rounds early the next morning, he noticed the bust was facing the center of the room. The top of the cabinet was scratched where the bust of the nun had moved, seemingly on its own. The museum has the most sophisticated surveillance cameras but for some reason the bust was not seen revolving.

On my October 9, 2008 visit, I was showing the five people I was with the bust of the nun that moved. We were standing in front of the cabinet and I started asking questions aloud, such as “Is someone here that would like to communicate?” Suddenly, a code-like metallic tapping sound came from inside the closed cabinet. Each of my questions was answered by this tapping sound. I asked the investigator if I could open the cabinet and he said “No.” At that moment, the code-like tapping sound came out of the cabinet and settled on the large candelabra that was standing in front of the cabinet. Again, with each question that I asked, I would get a response. The investigator walked around the area of the cabinet to see if he could make the same code-like sound but it could not be duplicated. We were looking for an explanation and thought the sound may have been caused by vibrations from traffic. We looked out the window and there was very little traffic and we were all standing still when the sound came from the cabinet and the candelabra. I was quite surprised when I visited the museum in September 2009 and saw a large square object sitting on the floor next to the cabinet. It had the words ‘Vibration Detector’ on the top.

On Sunday, April 4, 2010, I saw in the news that Robert Wittman, a retired FBI agent who worked on the Gardner Museum case, had written a soon to be released book, ‘Priceless’. The name ‘Robert Wittman, FBI’ sounded familiar - that is because it was among the notes that I wrote down in pencil on the steno pad that I had with me on my August 10, 2008 visit to the Gardner Museum. On one line is the name ‘Robert’. On the next line under ‘Robert’ is ‘Whitcomb last name W’ (The author’s name is ‘Wittman’). On the next line I wrote ‘FBI’.  I e-mailed the notes that I wrote on my steno pad to the investigator and the radio talk show host after I arrived home the evening of August 10, 2008. The notes were also e-mailed to another investigator who accompanied me on my October 9, 2008 investigation. A short time later, I scanned the original steno pages and e-mailed them to these people. I have kept records of not only these e-mails but all of the other e-mails that were exchanged between these parties and myself in relation to the Gardner Museum case. My decision to release to the public my information is difficult because it is of a psychic nature, against the norm, and my involvement, apparently, was to be kept secret. No one, including me, realized what I was getting myself into, what intriguing things I would find out, and how accurate I would be.  I am not a professional psychic and I have never accepted payment for helping people.  In the last few years, others have published books about their own investigations of the Gardner Museum heist, and I feel that I have an obligation to do the same. 

Recently, there have been news reports of investigators digging up the Connecticut property of mobster Robert Gentile. When I was at the museum on August 10, 2008, among the things I wrote on the steno pad were ‘Robert, small crimes, Connecticut’. Mary Callahan, Mary’s house, grandmother or mother, Mary’s Place. Two of guys have the same uncle, Maine’.  Investigators also searched the Maine property of another mobster. His widow told investigators that after the robbery, Robert Gentile supposedly gave her husband one of the stolen paintings to hide.  She said the painting was rolled up and in a cylinder, that she had seen it when it was taken out and unfurled, but she does not remember the details of what it looked like. Also, among the things I wrote on the steno pad is that in 2009 they will start to find information that will lead to the stolen art.  I believe that some of the art will be found, the others will remain missing.

During my first investigation on August 10, 2008, the radio host asked me if Whitey Bulger would ever be found. I said that he would be found in three years, living near the water, and that he had a heart condition and needed access to a health facility to obtain medicine. He said that Whitey was 78 at the time and would be 81 when found, if my prediction came true. James ‘Whitey’ Bulger was captured on June 23, 2011 in Santa Monica, California at the age of 81 and it was made public that he had occasionally travelled to Mexico to obtain heart medicine. 

Every so often, the media releases news that continuously verifies my predictions. My hope is that by making this information public, it will help in the return of Mrs. Gardner’s stolen treasures. There is much more to the Gardner Museum besides ‘The Biggest Art Heist in History’.

A PRECIOUS GIFT

A PRECIOUS GIFT
         - Donna DiPietro

I have a dear friend that I would like to tell you about. I can not use her real name, so will call her Rachel in this case. Rachel and her husband, Len, have a wonderful son and daughter-in-law who live two thousand miles away. Rachel’s parents were in concentration camps during World War II and the older brother she never met, died of starvation at the age of two during that time. Len’s mother also was in a concentration camp during the war. Rachel and Len appreciate life and family and longed for a grandchild to love. About two years ago, Rachel asked me if her son and his wife would ever have a child. I told her that they would have a beautiful baby girl with dark curly hair and that she would be very intelligent and make them proud. I told her she would play the piano when she grows up and would bring the family much joy. I told her that the baby would arrive in September of 2010. What I did not know is that Rachel’s son and his wife were told by specialists that they could never have a child and that they had spent many years going to doctors and clinics for help in making their dream come true. Rachel believed my prediction and told her son and his wife that they would have the baby daughter that I predicted and that she would arrive in September. Rachel called me the second week in August and asked me again if the baby would arrive in September. She then told me that the young couple could not have a child and had recently signed up with an adoption agency but were told it could be ten years before their dream materialized. Rachel called me the first week of September and excitedly told me that her son and his wife had been called that day regarding the adoption of a baby girl. The baby had been born to a well educated single young lady who had heard about the couple’s dream of having a child. The young lady could not keep the baby and wanted to give it a loving home. The couple went to the hospital and saw the beautiful dark haired baby girl that I predicted would be theirs, brought it home the next day and adopted it shortly after. They plan to buy a piano as soon as their daughter is old enough to start lessons. It turns out that her birth mother is an accomplished musician.

DR. B'S BUSINESS RECORDS CLASS

DR. B'S BUSINESS RECORDS CLASS
                                  - Donna DiPietro

When I was in high school, I had Dr. B for Business Records class. Dr. B was very strict and he told the students that we had to call him ‘Dr.’ B, and if we forgot and called him ‘Mr.’ B by mistake he would make us stay after school. He was of slight build, wore glasses, was meticulous in his wardrobe and had black hair slicked back in the style of the day. I noticed that he wore clear nail polish which I had never seen on a man before. I was always a quiet and shy girl and would seldom raise my hand to answer a question even if I knew it. On the first day of Business Records class, Dr. B told the class that when we arrived each day, the first thing we were to do was to open our books. On the second day of class I sat down at my desk and immediately opened my book and Dr. B screamed “Oh no, don’t open your books!!!” I thought he was yelling at me for opening my book but in reality he saw that the other students hadn’t opened theirs and he probably did not even notice that I opened mine. I was so frightened by his screaming voice that I immediately shut my book. I then looked around and everyone was opening theirs so I opened mine and thought it was quite amusing and apparently I had a little smile on my face because Dr. B rushed over to me and said there would be no smiling in his classroom and he told me to go outside and stand in the hall until class was over and to come back to the room after school. Nothing like this had ever happened to me before because I prided myself in always being courteous and well behaved. When school ended I went to Dr. B’s third floor classroom, walked inside and saw there were quite a few students sitting there. After he spoke to a few of the students and he let them leave, he asked me to come up to his desk and tell him why I smiled during class. I told him that I had opened my book when I sat at my desk and that he yelled “Oh no, don’t open your books!!!”, so I closed mine and saw everyone opening theirs and then realized he was yelling at everyone else, and that I thought it was funny and that’s why I smiled. He also thought it was funny and he actually smiled, and from that day on he was always pleasant to me. I sense he was bullied throughout his life and used his screaming fits and control over his students as a defense, but in so doing he was also being a bully and negatively affecting the young people in his class. One day Dr. B told the class that we were having a test the next day and if someone did not show up and take the test they would fail the test because there would be no make up test. He said there would be no excuses and he did not care if someone was out sick. I happened to look across the room and saw a particular boy in the first seat, last row. Something told me that he would not be in school the next day because his father was going to die. This was the first time I had a precognition of what was to happen but I did not understand it and I did not know it would really happen. The boy was in some of my other classes and the next day at school I did not see him. I asked some of the students where he was and was told that his father had died of a heart attack the day before playing baseball. I felt so sorry for the boy and his family and also perplexed of how I could know what was going to happen. These are the things I remember about Dr. B’s third floor Business Records class. I sense Dr. B is no longer with us and hope that he has found a comfortable place to spend his eternity.

WORLD OF MUSIC

WORLD OF MUSIC
           - Donna DiPietro

In the 1990s, Cindy and I were co-workers at a real estate office in Wellesley, Massachusetts. She was in the marketing department and was responsible for the newspaper ads, brochures and feature sheets for the many real estate agents in our office. Her office was down a small hall around the corner from mine. She was originally from New Jersey and she and her husband Lou moved to a suburb of Boston when Lou began working for a successful computer company many years before. The computer industry was big business and employed many people who could depend on long and lucrative careers with the same employer, but those jobs were coming to an end. 

Cindy and I loved to go for walks on our lunch hour and we would often cross the street to the campus of Wellesley College and follow the foot paths that threaded the area. It was a luxury to get up from our desks and get some fresh air in such a pretty place, with its peaceful pond, hundred year old trees and buildings where so many young ladies lived and studied and went off to save the world. Cindy and I were quite a pair and sometimes we would sit on a bench and look out on the pond and watch the ducks paddle back and forth. A few times we brought our lunches and sat on the grass and had a picnic. Cindy had been worried about her husband’s job as the company had been laying off people and one day he was told what he dreaded to hear. It was quite traumatic for the two of them because they had left New Jersey where their family and friends lived and moved hundreds of miles away, settling in a new place, buying a house and raising their two sons. 

On one of our lunch time walks, Cindy told me what had happened and asked what I saw for their future. I told her that in August of that year, her husband would get a good job offer in the music business and work in New York City and that they would move back to New Jersey. She thought it strange that I saw the music business since it was quite different from what Lou had been doing for many years. As the weeks went by, Cindy would think about what I predicted and wonder if this would actually happen. As more time went by, Lou got a call from his nephew who had started a small business in Florida a few years before. It involved making tapes of party music that he would sell to people for birthdays, holidays and other celebrations. The small business grew to be very successful and he realized he needed a large space to accommodate the growth. Since Lou had been a business manager at the computer company and had great experience, his nephew asked if he would work for his company. The nephew found a great space in New York City and would be moving there in August and needed Lou to start at that time. It was very short notice but Lou accepted the offer and moved to New Jersey to start his new job in New York City. Meanwhile, Cindy and Lou put their home near Boston on the market and Cindy stayed a few months longer until the home sold then joined Lou in New Jersey. 

The last I heard from Cindy, she and Lou were enjoying their new found life style of dinner parties and mingling with show biz people, and they were happy to be home in New Jersey among their family and old time friends.

MESSAGE TO MISSY

Dear Missy,
Thank you for leaving the wonderful message (highlighted below) on my blog. You can always e-mail me at donnadipietro@yahoo.com.  I would love to hear all about what has happened in your life and the things that I predicted. 
Donna

Missy has left a new comment on your post "Nimble Thimble":
Hi Donna. I met you in the 90's at your niece's wedding. You shared so many things with me at that time that came to be with incredulous accuracy. I just reached out to your niece last night trying to find you because I've thought about you so often over the years and she got me here! I would love to chat with you and share all of the events with you...could we somehow do that? I can't wait to read all of your blog postings...you are utterly amazing. Thank you.

GUEST HOUSE GHOST

GUEST HOUSE GHOST
                 - Donna DiPietro

I have known ‘N’ for ten years. She is very logical and not one to imagine things. A few years ago, she and her long-time boyfriend moved into a guest house on an estate next to a vacant, partially furnished mansion. At the time, the estate was for sale and the couple felt fortunate to find such an attractive place to live. The property had a caretaker that lived elsewhere, so the owners were happy to have the guest house occupied, so as to have someone there at least part of the time. 

The property has many of the requirements that make it an inviting place for paranormal activity. It is near water, woods, a Native American burial ground, and a cemetery. The guest house has an open floor plan on the first floor and the many windows create an enjoyable sun filled environment. But on cloudy days and at night, there is a somber feeling that stirs within its walls. The first hint of something unusual happened the first week of moving in. 

One evening, the couple was entertaining guests in the living room when the sound of a pulley with chain was heard from the second floor. After that, the sound was heard every so often in the daytime and at night. They found out that the guest house was once a barn with a hayloft that used a pulley. As the weeks went by, the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs from the first to the second floor were sometimes heard at night. One night ‘N’ was awakened by the footsteps that not only came up the stairs but entered her room and walked over to the bed. The entity then sat on the edge of the bed making an indention of someone sitting down. It lingered a few minutes than arose from the bed, causing the indention to disappear. ‘N’ was more curious than frightened, as she thought of the ghost as a deceased person who needed help. She sensed he was male because of the heavy footsteps and wondered why he was still around the property. One evening she was downstairs and a ball of light came through the closed solid wood front door and traveled across the living room, as though searching for something. 

A few weeks later ‘N’ was waiting for her friend Rachel to stop by, as they were going to a concert. ‘N’ opened the door for Rachel, and Rachel stood in the doorway with a frightened look on her face. ‘N’ asked her to come inside and Rachel was afraid to go in, so ‘N’ came outside and the two of them went on their way to the concert. When they were inside the car, Rachel told ‘N’ that she did not want to scare her but that she saw a man standing behind her when she opened the door. The man had his arms around ‘N’, without touching her, as though he were reaching for the door and protecting her when she opened the door. ‘N’ then told Rachel what she and others had experienced since she moved in. 

A few months later, the estate was sold and ‘N’ and her boyfriend moved out. I visited the property on two occasions and it was a great opportunity to connect to its past. The people who live there over the years will change, but the property itself will remain the same and that is what makes it so wonderful.