According to The Violin Channel, Erica Morini, aged 91, would die days later before ever being told that her cherished violin had been stolen. As the instrument was, by then, worth over $3 million, the FBI quickly got involved (via ABC7). There had been no signs of forced entry in Morini’s Fifth Avenue apartment and no other physical evidence had been left. Thus, her inner circle became the investigation’s focus. Nothing would ever come from interviewing the seven people closest to Morini, however. Despite being one of the FBI’s Top Ten Art Crimes, the Davidoff Stradivarius is still missing as of 2022. Information about the robbery and the violin’s whereabouts are still being pursued.
The Davidoff Stradivarius is not the only Stradivari instrument to have been stolen. In 2010, a Stradivari violin made in 1696 was taken from violinist Min Kym while she was at a cafe in London (per The Guardian). Though it would be found three years later, NPR reports that the insurance had already been paid to Kym and she was unable to keep what she referred to as her “soulmate.”
In 2015, the BBC wrote that a Stradivari violin that had been stolen in 1980 from musician Roman Totenberg had been recovered. He had bought the violin in 1943 and had performed with it until its theft. The violin was returned to the Totenberg family, but sadly, Roman never saw his violin again as he died in 2012.
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