From The Comics Journal 139, December 1990

Stolen Strips Still Missing

Several original Dick Tracy and Prince Valiant comic strips are still missing from the Museum of Cartoon Art in Rye, N.Y., where they were stolen in 1988 by its then-curator.

As the museum's founder, Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker, briefly mentioned in Journal #137, Sherman Krisher stole 106 original strips and 10 Disney animation cells while employed as curator. The most valuable items were 29 Tracy strips by Chester Gould from the 1940s, including the first and last appearances of the famous villain Flattop.

Krisher later confessed to a New York State court that he took the art, which could be worth as much as $250,000. He sold it in three batches to two separate New York comics dealers, who claimed to have paid a total of $21,000 (Krisher claimed he was paid somewhat less than that). Krisher said he needed the money to pay off credit card debts incurred while buying expensive gifts for his fiancee, who left him shortly after his confession.

The thefts were discovered in February 1989, when a man calling himself "a friend of the museum" called Krisher's boss, newly-hired museum director Barbara Hammond. The man said he had seen the artwork on the collectors' market.

As part of his plea bargain, Krisher and his lawyer, Phillip Russell, agreed to help recover the strips, which in six months had been re-sold to collectors from Florida to Hawaii. About 50 pieces had found their way to Cincinnati dealer Richard Halegua, described by some observers as one of the most aggressive businessmen in the field. Halegua first contacted current Tracy writer Max Allan Collins with an offer to anonymously return the art to the museum; Collins relayed the offer to Walker, who turned it down. Halegua then offered to sell the strips to Russell on Krisher's behalf for $62,800, using the New York law firm of Bryan, Cave as an intermediary. Instead, Russell arranged a "sting" operation with the Westchester County, N.Y. prosecutor's office. Russell made an appointment with Bryan, Cave to pay for and receive the stolen strips. But when Russell arrived on Oct. 3, 1989, he was accompanied by New York City police officers carrying a search warrant. The strips were impounded, and were eventually returned to the museum.

Halegua told the Westchester Gannett Newspapers in March, "I got screwed for the benefit of a thief and the negligence of an institution." He said his business as an art dealer dropped 75 percent in the months since he sting, even though he received no civil or criminal charges.

Krisher was sentenced to probation on Oct. 12, 1989. He was obligated to pay $45,000 in restitution and to serve 500 hours of community service with the Salvation Army. By March, though, he had only served 40 hours and paid $300 in restitution, and had not paid any of $15,000 in legal fees owed to Russell.

Still Out: Hammond has provided the Journal with a list of still-missing strips. She advises that "it is highly possible that one or two pieces on the list are here and are just missing. It just says we believe they have been removed without our permission. If somebody proves we legitimately sold it to them, we'll honor it; but we believe all of these were among the works stolen within the past three years. The same people all have them, I'm sure."