The Feather Thief

Johnson details Edwin’s reaction to learning about the Tring press. Edwin, who had just returned to London, first heard about the press release from his brother Anton. Anton had seen the press release on the ClassicFlyTying.com forum.

Edwin was especially concerned that the press release asked collectors of bird skins “to keep a watchful eye out in case they are offered anything resembling them [the Tring bird collection]” (115). With a formal investigation underway, Edwin believed that he could no longer return the bird skins. Edwin questioned the intelligence of the police and museum curators since it took them a month to realize he had stolen the bird skins. As a result, he decided to continue with his plans to sell the specimens.

Edwin began to sell some of the feathers and whole bird skins on the trading floor of ClassicFlyTying.com. His post noted that he would be using the money to buy a new flute. He also began selling on eBay using his account Fluteplayer 1988. Around this time, Edwin also met with a dentist and prominent fly-tier named Mortimer. Edwin claimed that he was helping wealthy men sell-off their bird skin collections to help fund his studies. While Mortimer was suspicious of the skins’ legality, he still purchased three from Edwin for $7,000. Edwin shipped the skins to the dentist in the US, likely forging customs documents since they arrived with no issues. 

Edwin continued to sell the bird skins online and at fly-tying shows. While many of the fly-tiers wondered how Edwin had access to so many different bird skins, most did not ask questions.

Johnson also discusses Adele’s investigations into the heist. The first two suspects to emerge were Luc Couturier and Muzzy. Both men had emailed curators expressing an interest in buying some of the bird skins. The curators declined these requests. Adele cleared these men. She was once again left with no suspects despite Edwin continuing to sell the bird skins. The forensics from the drop of blood also came back inconclusive.

This chapter details how “an offhand comment would bring it [Edwin’s operation] all crashing down” (121). In 2010, Irish, an undercover police officer from Northern Ireland, visited the Dutch Fly Fair. Like Johnson, Irish used fly-fishing as a form of therapy. He had recently begun to make his own Victorian salmon ties, “but he didn’t share the community’s obsession with rare birds” (123).

At the Dutch Fly Fair, Irish struck up a conversation with another fly-tier who showed him a rare bird skin he had recently purchased. Irish was immediately suspicious about the provenance of the skin since it looked museum-quality. The fly-tier told Irish he had bought the skin from Edwin Rist.

Irish started to investigate Edwin Rist’s account on ClassicFlyTying.com. He also located Fluteplayer 1988 on eBay. He had suspicions that this account might also belong to Edwin. As a result, Irish called Adele and told her to investigate Fluteplayer 1988. After investigations, Adele confirmed the account belonged to Edwin Rist.

Adele wanted to immediately interrogate Edwin. However, she learned from the Royal Academy of Music that he had just left for the US for summer holiday. He also was changing his residence. Adele needed his new address to get a search warrant from a judge. As a result, she had to wait until Edwin was back in London. Once Edwin returned to London, he updated his eBay account with his new residence. eBay, in turn, gave Adele the new address. On November 12, 2010, Adele and two colleagues raided Edwin’s apartment.

Johnson discusses Edwin’s first few days “behind bars.” Edwin confessed to the robbery once Adele told him they were there to search his apartment in connection with the Tring heist. Edwin told Adele that he stole the bird skins because he was depressed. He also admitted to stealing a television from the Royal Academy’s International Student House.

The police seized all the bird skins as well as Edwin’s laptop, camera, and passport. Adele arrested Edwin and took him to the police station where they took a DNA swag and mug shot. She planned to compare the former with the blood they had found on the broken glass. Adele returned the bird skins to the curators, which she notes “was a high moment in her career” (128).

While behind bars, Edwin worried about his future as a professional flautist as well as whether he would go to prison. He was also in a state of shock. He never actually believed that the police would catch him.

Within a few hours of arriving at the police station, Adele interrogated Edwin. He admitted guilt. Edwin hoped that “if he cooperated, it might all blow over” (129). He also gave Adele the names of people who had bought skins from him. Johnson notes that Edwin “didn’t feel particularly bad naming names—it was their mistake to have trusted him” (129). Adele asked if Edwin had an accomplice. However, he consistently said he acted alone. After interrogating Edwin, she released Edwin from custody giving him a slip of paper with his court appointment. She then turned his case over to the Crown Prosecution Service. Edwin’s case would go straight to sentencing since he admitted responsibility for the Tring heist.

Johnson continues to document the fallout from Edwin’s arrest. Initially, Edwin thought he might flee England. However, he quickly scrapped this idea since the police confiscated his passport.

He told his family about the crime. They immediately began to focus on how to keep Edwin from going to prison. Outside his family, no one knew that Edwin was behind the Tring heist for the first few days. He continued to report to rehearsal like nothing happened. Edwin was deeply concerned that he might not be able to graduate if he went to prison. Edwin knew that he needed a phenomenal defense attorney, which he found in Andy Harman.

At Edwin’s first court appearance, Harman “characterized his actions as a youthful flight of fancy—a mistake made in the spur of the moment—and Edwin himself as an earnest naïf who, propelled by an obsession with fly-tying and fascination with James Bond, had begun to have ‘extremely childish fantasies’ about breaking into the museum” (133). The judge did not agree with this assessment and transferred the case to the Crown Court, which handles more severe crimes. The British press latched onto Edwin’s case. Within hours, the news had spread to the fly-tying community.

The reaction from the community was mixed. Some members expressed outrage at the crime, whereas others maintained his innocence. The site administrator for ClassicFlyTying.com, Bud Guidry, deleted threads related to Edwin’s crime, perhaps because of pleas by Edwin’s family. John McLain also tried to distance himself from Edwin. He was concerned that Edwin’s crime would put “a stain on the collective reputation of the salmon fly-tiers” (135). The vitriol spewed by some of Edwin’s former friends and mentors shocked him.

Johnson ends this chapter noting that Edwin’s lawyer, Peter Dahlsen, asked the judge for a mental health evaluation during Edwin’s second court appearance on January 14, 2011.