Notorious 85-year-old jewel thief arrested
Elegant, polite octogenarian pulled off first big theft at 23, vowed to quit stealing at 75
It may be time for Doris Payne to consider retirement.
With a criminal record dating back to 1952, the five-foot-five octogenarian has seen her share of achievements and pitfalls. Completing heists in Las Vegas and Monte Carlo, Paris and San Diego, Payne has made both a name and a living for herself as an international jewel thief.
She is, perhaps, the oldest, longestlasting and most elegant one around.
“There’s never been a day that I went to steal that I did not get what I went to do,” Payne said in the 2013 documentary The Life and Crimes of Doris Payne. The clip shows her sporting a stylish blond bob, purple eye shadow, large hoop earrings and a beige scarf slung over one shoulder — the kind of outfit that’s been essential to her success.
To be sure, Payne isn’t one to trifle with small-time, convenience store pilfering. She sets her sights on highend jewelry, dressing the part of an affluent woman with thousands of dollars to spare.
Her alleged shoplifting this week was no exception, as she was supposedly caught in the act of slipping $690 earrings into her pocket at a Christian Dior store inside a Saks Fifth Avenue in Atlanta.
The running tally of Payne’s mug shots and arrests are testaments to her prolific criminal activity, which she has herself acknowledged. According to ABC News, she has used 20 aliases, five Social Security numbers and nine dates of birth.
Payne was born in Slab Fork, W. Va. to an illiterate coal miner, according to The Associated Press. She was 23 years old when she completed her first major theft, swiping a $22,000 diamond from a jewelry store in Pittsburgh. (Payne has said that it all started because she wanted to save her mother from an abusive relationship, but evidently she got hooked on a life of lavishness.)
Soon enough, she perfected a routine of dressing well, carrying a designer handbag and charming store employees with her stories. Often, she was able to simply walk out of the store wearing the pieces of jewelry without attracting anyone’s notice.