Stolen 35 years ago from renowned, but sadly deceased, musician Roman Totenberg, the Ames Stradivarius has been recovered from the widow of the suspected thief. The violin was brought to a New York based appraiser who called the police after recognizing it as potentially stolen. The instrument was, according to the widow, kept in a locked case for years and it was only when she broke the case that she discovered it was a violin. The alleged thief, Philip S. Johnson, never tried to sell the instrument and was not charged with the crime even though he was widely suspected by many including his girlfriend and Totenberg himself. The children of Mr. Totenberg intend to restore the Stradivarius and sell it, preferable to an active musician rather than a collector.
See Michael Cooper, Roman Totenberg’s Stolen Stradivarius Is Found After 35 Years, New York Times, August 6, 2015.
Special thanks to Steven K. Cannon for bringing this article to my attention.
