An athlete with a double life and 50 seconds: this was the fleeting robbery of Munch’s “El Grito”

Pål Enger was born and raised in Tveitaone of the Oslo’s poorest neighborhoods. At the epicenter of juvenile delinquency, young Enger was no exception. Together with his friend Bjorn They began with the innocent activity of steal and hiding chocolates in the sleeve of their coats, which was later replaced by looting of stores at nightin which they were made with jewelry, watches and money.

At the same time, Enger also I practiced soccer all the timeuntil his talent caught the attention of Vålerengaone of the Oslo clubs. But, even though he made his debut in the first division (he played three minutes in a Uefa Cup match against Belgian side Beveren), The sport was not as professionalized as it is now.so all the players had a separate job, except him.

Enger crossed this double life with ease. He had money to travel to the United States, mainly to see the filming locations of “The Godfather”, his favorite movie. Meanwhile, his activities as a criminal continued to grow in difficulty and weight; stole luxury cars until you can buy one, and together with Bjørn they attacked a jewelry store, from which they took a loot of 4.8 million Norwegian crowns.

The two friends, who owned a pool club where they planned their heists, decided to prepare their biggest robbery. Enger had discovered it during a school trip to the National Museum of Norway and was trapped in the magnetism of Edvuard Munch’s strokes that painted that absorbed and incredulous face. “The Scream” It became his teenage obsession, and for years he even visited the museum to look at the painting.

He February 23, 1988the pair of assailants went with the assigned task. Enger had located the window in which the piece was located and, without even getting off the ladder, They took it without further complications..

The only problem was that the work was of a red-haired woman hugging a man, another work by Munch called “Love and Pain”. In any case, the scandal escalated to the national level. The entire Norwegian police were after that work, which was located on the roof of the billiard club. However, Bjørn tried to sell it and revealed a lot of information to a neighbor who turned out to be an informant for the authorities..

The theft of Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”, by Pål Enger

Four years in prison for both, a sentence that was not reduced after the painting was returned. During his stay behind bars, Enger learned that the International Olympic Committee had designated Lillehammer as the venue for the 1994 Winter Olympics. That’s when he returned to the attack with his initial plan.

He left prison at the age of 24, and tried to relaunch his football career, although without success. He passed through Mercantile SFK, another Oslo club that played in the second division, although the idea of ​​the robbery had consumed him completely. He visited a rooftop in front of the National Museum for months to study all the details.

He invented an alibi -he would be on the other side of the city with his pregnant wife- and summoned a dark guy to replace Bjørn, but it didn’t end there. Enger had reached the point of want to make fun of everyone. Days before the robbery, he called the police to tell them that he had seen Pål Enger with something suspicious in the car.

pal enger.jpg

Thus came the saturday morningmarked on the calendar of someone who once became a footballer. Around half past six, in the harsh Oslo winter, a white Mercedes appeared at the still closed museum. The two men carried a ladder, the only element necessary for the objective.

Enger ascended, broke the window and took “The Scream”which was hit when he tried to lower it. The ladder was left there and the car disappeared. Just 50 seconds They were necessary to steal one of the most famous paintings in history and the expressionist painter’s masterpiece. In exchange, the thieves left in its place an image of three men drinking a beer and a footnote on the back: “Thank you very much for the lack of security.”

Enger, once again off-side

Different theories were considered about who was responsible for the robbery, since few believed that the person who had given so many clues could be, once again, guilty. Punishment was considered for Norwegian mediators in the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and even an anti-abortion group took responsibility for the theft and assured that the painting would not be returned until television broadcast its film, called “The Silent Scream.”

Meanwhile, the painting was hidden between the planks of the table where the mother and aunts of Engel they had a snack every afternoon. Of course no one knew about the whereabouts, and the Olympics covered up any type of search. Given the impossibility of moving forward with the investigation, Norway contacted Charlie Hillart specialist for the London Metropolitan Police.

This man, half American, half English and a veteran of the Vietnam War, went to work with a false identity. As time goes by, He managed to have contact with Engels’s entourage and made him an offer for the painting.. On that first date, in the middle of an annual meeting of the Police narcotics unit, Hill had to remain undercover.

The only requirement he asked for was to see the painting before buying it. When he had it in front of his eyes, He was able to see some stains that “El Grito” has in one corner, corresponding to Munch’s original. Once again, Enger fell into the off-side trap and went to prison, this time for six and a half years.

Before, obviously, there was time for one more play. He escaped in the middle of the excursion and twelve days later he was caught while trying to buy a ticket to Copenhagen, disguised with a blonde wig and sunglasses. He was released from prison in 2000, aged 33.. Finally he obtained a work by Munch, although this time he paid for it, and he even began to paint his own paintings. However, the life of crime did not end there. In 2015was convicted of participate in the disappearance of 17 works by the Norwegian pop painter Hariton Pushwagner.

It was never known what motivated Enger to steal “El Grito”. Perhaps it was a mere obsession or simply the fact of being able to demonstrate that it was possible. After all, it only took a ladder and 50 seconds.