Stolen Stradivarius Returned To Renowned Violinist's Family 35 Years After Theft

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A violin worth an estimated $5 million has finally made it back into the hands of its rightful owners.

Renowned violinist Roman Totenberg left his beloved Stradivarius in his office while greeting well-wishers after a concert in 1980. When he returned, it was gone.

Its case was later found in the basement of the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he taught. But Totenberg, who died three years ago at age 101, never saw the instrument again.

Totenberg thought he knew who stole the violin, but there was never enough evidence to pursue a suspect.

"My mother was so frustrated she would famously ask friends if they knew any one in the mob that would break into Johnson's apartment and do a search for the violin," his eldest daughter, Nina Totenberg, told CBS2's Vanessa Murdock.

The trail went cold until this June when Nina got a phone call from an FBI agent.

The agent said he was looking at the violin, which was in federal custody.

"I really could hardly believe it at the time,'' Nina Totenberg, the legal affairs correspondent for NPR, told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview Wednesday. "I said, 'I have to call my sisters. I'll tell them not to get their hopes up,' but he said, 'You don't have to do that. This is the violin.'''

The violin, known as the Ames Stradivarius, was made in Italy in 1734 by Antonio Stradivari and is one of several hundred Stradivarius instruments known to exist. They can fetch millions of dollars at auction, including a record $15.9 million in 2011.

Authorities announced details of the recovery Thursday at the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan.

"Today, we return to its rightful owners the centuries-old Ames Stradivarius," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "This is a remarkable story of a quick-witted violin appraiser who recognized the long-lost Ames Stradivarius and immediately called law enforcement. Thanks to the violin appraiser's good citizenship and law enforcement's prompt response, today we celebrate the Totenberg family's reunion with a priceless family heirloom, thought for decades to have been lost forever – a joyful ending to an amazing story."

Nina Totenberg said the thief kept it hidden away for 31 years until his death, Murdock reported.

Then, a few years later his widow found the violin, and not knowing its history, brought it to appraiser and master violin maker Philip Injeian.

"When I saw this one certainly it was a eureka moment," Injeian said. "There were definitely characteristic markings on the wood and varnish," Injeian said. "It's like a fingerprint. You can't forge that."

Injeian told the woman, "I have good news for you and bad news for you. The good news  - it's a real Strativarius. The bad news  -- it was stolen 35 years ago and I have to tell the authorities," Nina Totenberg said.

The woman is the ex-wife of Philip S. Johnson, the man the family long suspected of stealing the instrument, WCBS 880's Jim Smith reported. Johnson died in California in 2011.

According to court documents, the woman voluntarily returned the violin to the Totenberg family and told investigators she did not know it was stolen.

Johnson's obituary described him as "a noted violinist of 40 years'' but did not detail where or for whom he played. Totenberg said he was an aspiring violinist seen around her father's office at the time of the theft.

Totenberg said that, lacking evidence, police weren't able to obtain a warrant to search for the Stradivarius.

"There was nothing to be done, and eventually he just moved on and bought another violin and lived the rest of his life,'' she said.

A child prodigy in his native Poland, Roman Totenberg bought the Stradivarius in 1943 for $15,000 -- more than $200,000 in today's dollars -- and it was the only instrument he performed with until it was stolen. He kept performing into his 90s and taught at Boston University until he died.

"This loss for my father was, as he said when it happened, it was like losing an arm,'' said daughter Jill Totenberg, a public relations executive in New York. "To have it come back, three years after he died, to us, it's like having him come alive again.''

The story of its theft and recovery is not uncommon for Stradivarius instruments, which are virtually impossible to sell on the black market, said David Schoenbaum, a retired history professor and violin expert who wrote a book called "The Violin.''

"The things are very valuable, they're very portable and they are appealing, tempting to steal, and there are famous cases of violins that were stolen and remained stolen for many years,'' Schoenbaum said. "It's terribly hard to get rid of one. The whole world is on your tail, and if you go to a pawn shop, you'll get $35. You'd have to take it to a dealer, and the dealer would immediately call the cops.''

Another famous Stradivarius, the Gibson, was stolen in 1936, and the thief, a journeyman violinist, confessed on his deathbed in 1985. It's now owned by violinist Joshua Bell.

A Stradivarius violin belonging to Erika Morini was stolen from her apartment in 1995 by someone who had a key to the locked bedroom closet where she kept it. Morini wasn't told about the theft before she died weeks later. The instrument has never been found.

The Ames Stradivarius had wear-and-tear that indicated it hadn't been professionally maintained, but it was in pretty good shape overall, suggesting it hadn't been played much, Nina Totenberg said.

Prosecutors don't plan to charge anyone in connection with the theft, Totenberg said, and the violin will be returned to the family. They plan to sell it, but not to a collector, she said.

"I'm just glad that the violin, once it's restored to its full potential again, will eventually be in the hands of another great artist,'' she said, "and its gorgeous voice will be heard in concert halls around the country.''

"I'm very emotional. I'm very happy," said Amy Totenberg. "It's something that goes way beyond the family. It's a reunion with this marvelous instrument, the music it makes and that it will have a life again."

The Stradivarius will be housed with Rare Violins of New York. The U.S. Attorney's IOffice tells CBS2 there is no open criminal case.

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