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Police recover paintings stolen from Sao Paulo museum
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-08-08 10:37

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Brazilian police recovered Wednesday night two paintings stolen from the Estacao Pinacoteca Museum in Sao Paulo on June 12, and arrested one of the three suspected thieves, said the police authority Thursday.

The two artworks, "Couple" and "Women at the Window," were painted by Lasar Segall and Emiliano Di Cavalcanti respectively, with an estimated value of 540,000 U.S. dollars.

The two were taken away from the museum along with two of Pablo Picasso's masterpieces: "The Painter and the Model" was recovered on July 18, while the other one, "Minotaur, Drinker and Women," remained missing.

The police found the paintings, which are said to be in perfect condition, under the bed of a 29-year-old bakery manager, Edmilson Silva do Nascimento, the second man arrested for the heist.

Thirty-year-old Ueslei Teobaldo Barros was caught on July 18, while the third member of the gang, identified as 27-year-old Marcelo Dias de Souza, is still at large.

Nascimento's car, a Chevrolet Zafira, was seized. The police believe it was the car used in the heist.

The three men stole the artworks from the museum in broad daylight. They entered the museum at noon, went straight to the second floor, where the paintings were kept, after paying the entrance fee.

After holding one guard and two employees at gunpoint, they left with the "capture" through the front door. The crime was recorded by the museum's security cameras.

It was the second art heist in less than a year in Sao Paulo. In December 2007, two pieces by Picasso and Portinari worth 70 million U.S. dollars were stolen from the Sao Paulo Museum of Art and recovered three weeks later.

Days after the latest heist, the Estacao Pinacoteca museum toughened its security.