German police recovered around 100 items that belonged to late Beatles star John Lennon that were stolen from his widow, Yoko Ono, in New York more than a decade ago.
Items recovered included three diaries, two pairs of his signature metal-rimmed glasses, a cigarette case and a handwritten music score.
The retrieved possessions were displayed Tuesday at Berlin police headquarters.
German police recovered three diaries, two pairs of glasses, a handwritten music score, and other items that were stolen from John Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, in New York over a decade ago
The retrieved possessions were displayed Tuesday at Berlin police headquarters. The hand written songs ‘Woman’ and ‘Just like starting over’ by John Lennon were among the items found
There are also three of Lennon’s leather-bound diaries, from 1975, 1979 and 1980. The last entry was made by Lennon on the morning of December 8, 1980, a few hours before he was killed
The items belonging to Lennon were stolen from Ono’s New York apartment in 2006. Pictured above, Lennon, right, and his wife, Yoko Ono, are pictured arriving at The Hit Factory, a recording studio in New York City
‘This was a spectacular, unusual criminal case,’ police spokesman Winfrid Wenzel told reporters.
German authorities first became aware of the items, stolen from Yoko Ono at her New York home in 2006, when a bankruptcy administrator for the Berlin auction house Auctionata contacted them in July.
The administrator had found the memorabilia in the company’s storage.
Police confiscated the items from the auctioneers two weeks later, and on Monday arrested a suspect and raided his Berlin home and cars.
They said another suspect, who is living in Turkey, is currently ‘not available’, but they would try to get him extradited to Germany.
During their investigation, police officers and prosecutors also flew to New York, where they met Ono to have her verify the stolen goods’ authenticity.
Police said that Ono’s former driver, who is now living in Turkey, is one of the suspects. He has a previous conviction in New York related to the stolen items. Pictured above, Lennon and Ono
German authorities first became aware of the items, stolen from Yoko Ono at her New York home in 2006, when a bankruptcy administrator for the Berlin auction house Auctionata contacted them in July. Pictured above, a cigarette case still holding cigarettes was among the haul found
An administrator had found the memorabilia in the auction house’s storage. Pictured above, an original tape from a recording and play list of a Beatles concert on August 30, 1965, was among the items stolen
A school exercise book of John Lennon from 1952 was found among the stolen items retrieved in Germany. A suspect in the theft who who was arrested in Berlin on Monday, was identified as a 58-year-old German businessman of Turkish origin
‘She was very emotional and we noticed clearly how much these things mean to her and how happy she would be to have them back,’ prosecutor Susann Wettley said of the moment they showed Ono some of the recovered items and pictures of some others.
Wettley said that Ono’s former driver, who is now living in Turkey, is one of the suspects. He has a previous conviction in New York related to the stolen items, she said.
The other suspect, who was arrested in Berlin on Monday, was identified as a 58-year-old German businessman of Turkish origin.
During the search of his car, police said they found additional belongings of Lennon in a briefcase hidden under the spare tire in the trunk. Neither suspect’s name was released because of German privacy rules.
Police are still checking confiscated computer files and business contracts to better understand how exactly the stolen goods ended up at the auction house in Berlin and if the auctioneers were aware that they bought stolen goods from the two suspects.
Police are still checking confiscated computer files and business contracts to better understand how exactly the stolen goods ended up at the auction house in Berlin. Pictured above, German police presents stolen diaries and other items belonging to former Beatle John Lennon that were recovered
Police said the items have been in possession of Auctionata since 2014, but were never available for sale online
Among the stolen items was a copyright document that John Lennon received for the song title ‘I’m the Greatest’
They said the items have been in possession of Auctionata since 2014, but were never available for sale online.
The trove of Lennon memorabilia also includes a recording of a Beatles concert from 1965, a school exercise book from 1952, contract documents for the copyright of Lennon’s I’m the Greatest song and handwritten scores for Woman and Just Like Starting Over.
There are also three of Lennon’s leather-bound diaries, from 1975, 1979 and 1980.
The last entry was made by Lennon on the morning of December 8, 1980, a few hours before he was killed, Wettley said.
It included a note on the famous photo shoot by Annie Leibovitz that same day showing a naked Lennon embracing his wife.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Ono will get all the items back.
Spokesman of the Berlin Police Winfried Wenzel, property crime department head Carsten Pfohl, prosecutor Susann Wettley and Michael von Hagen of Berlin’s public prosecution give a press conference in Berlin on stolen items from John Lennon’s estate