Who Was Notorious Jewel Thief Jack “Murph The Surf” Murphy?
Not all of the details Murphy shared about his life can be verified, but what we know to be true is a fascinating tale about a daytime surfer who moonlighted as a high-end thief.
Anthony Camerano via AP
He might not have been a teenage violinist with the Pittsburgh Symphony and a tennis star for the University of Pittsburgh — both of which are things Jack Roland “Murph the Surf” Murphy added to his resume. What he was, however, was a college dropout and Miami surf instructor with a penchant for crime.
Here are five things to know about Murphy, the crimes he committed, and the way he said he turned his life around.
Murphy was involved in the biggest jewel heist of the century when it occurred in 1964
Prior to the heist, Murphy was living in Miami, Florida, where he surfed, taught swimming and tennis lessons to tourists, and occasionally performed as a stunt diver. It was there he met his partner in crime, Allan Kuhn, a U.S. Navy veteran. The pair often robbed Miami mansions of their art before escaping via speedboat. According to the New York Times, the men headed to New York City in October 1964 with plans to see what they could pilfer in the Big Apple. A third man accompanied them to assist.
After a few weeks of partying in a Manhattan hotel room and sightseeing, Murphy and Kuhn realized that the Museum of Natural History on the Upper West Side lacked a quality security system and had a skeleton crew of security guards. They hatched a plan to break into the hall of gems and steal precious stones that would be worth more than $3 million today. The most famous gem they stole was the Star of India, a billion-year-old Sri Lankan sapphire. The robbers were caught two days later in Florida, where they had already sold part of their loot and hid the rest.
Murphy’s criminal activity extended beyond jewel thievery
After the heist, Kuhn assisted investigators in getting the jewels back. Ultimately, the men received light sentences and served a couple of years in prison for the heist. Murphy would quickly find himself behind bars again. In 1969, he was found guilty of killing two women in 1967 as part of a plan to steal investments. Murphy was sentenced to life in prison, but he was paroled in 1986. The state of Florida had given him a second chance, and according to Murphy, so had God. By then, Murphy was a 49-year-old man who said he had become a Christian while behind bars. A 2012 article by the St. Petersburg Times reported that Murphy’s conversion turned him into a model prisoner who taught other inmates to read and served as a spiritual advisor to others searching for a higher power.
Murphy wrote a book and went on the prison speaking circuit
His memoir, Jewels for the Journey, was self-published in 1989, though the New York Times notes that the short book never mentioned his murder charge. As a free man, he visited countless prisons to speak to inmates about his crimes and about how they could also turn their lives around.
You can still see the stolen gems today
As for the biggest gems that Murphy and his co-conspirators lifted back in the 60s, all of them were recovered except for one — the Eagle Diamond. Authorities believed that the diamond was broken into smaller pieces and sold after the heist. The other famous gems, Star of India and the Midnight Star, were quickly returned to the museum. The recently renovated Hall of Gems at the American Museum of Natural History is home to thousands of specimens from 98 countries, including the jewels Murphy stole.
Murphy’s partner in crime took the opposite approach to life after his release from prison
In 2014, Vanity Fair reported that Allan Kuhn was living a quiet life in Northern California where he worked as a medical marijuana farmer. After his release from prison for the gem heist, Kuhn reportedly bounced around the country, living in Los Angeles and Missouri. According to Vanity Fair, he left to mine gold in Alaska after his wife died before moving back to northern California to be near his aging father. Kuhn and Murphy did speak to one another a few times throughout the years, but reports don’t indicate that their friendship was ever what it was in 1964.
Kuhn died on June 17, 2017, at his home in Hayfork, California. His obituary noted that he was one of the small town’s most unique residents and had earned the nickname “Mr. Wonderful.” His celebration of life was held at a saloon called Ropin’ Rhonda’s. The obituary promised it would be a potluck.
Murphy died on Sept. 12, 2020, at age 83 in Crystal City, Florida, more than 300 miles from the Miami shores where he surfed the waves and ransacked mansions as a young man.
