Ronnie Biggs handwritten letter (1995)

> This item is out of the catalogue, see available documents here <

In 1995, famous British fugitive Ronnie Biggs writes an incredible letter from Rio de Janeiro.

Handwritten letter from Ronnie Biggs to Garry King. One page. In English. 21cm x 29.5cm. Rio de Janeiro, October 9, 1995. Excellent condition. Single piece.

Dear G King,

Thanks for your letter,
and also thank you for the newspapers.
Most newspapers depress me, but I like
to do the crossword!

The reason I joined the Train Robbery
was the urge to get my hands on
a lot of money ! I imagined that
could solve all my financial problems
and conquer the good life, but things
Didn't go exactly as planned!

Anyway, good luck with your project.
and always remember that Crime
it doesn't (and never!) pays off!

With best regards,
Ronnie Biggs. River, 1995.

Ronnie Biggs (1929 - 2013) is a famous English criminal who participated, in 1963, in the "coup of the century" or "Great Train Robbery", the audacious attack on an English postal train carrying 125 bags of money worth a total of 2 .6 million pounds at the time, the equivalent of around 150 million reais today. Most of the band members were arrested, and Biggs was sentenced to 30 years in prison and only part of the money was found.

After 15 months of detention, he managed to escape from prison using a ladder made of ropes. He fled to Paris, where he had plastic surgery to change his face and acquire a new identity. Later, in 1970, he moved to Australia, but was recognized by a journalist and left Australia for Brazil, leaving behind his wife and two children.

With almost no money in Rio de Janeiro, no work visa and forced to go to the police twice a week, Ronnie Biggs started selling his story to interviews and tourists. Taking advantage of Brazilian laws, which prohibited the extradition to England of a foreign father of a Brazilian child, for 40 years Biggs led, without embarrassment, a public life in Brazil. In addition, he made several visits to England, under a false identity, for the filming of a documentary about the Great Train Robbery. Ronnie Biggs lived in Santa Teresa, a bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, in a pool house overlooking the city, where he organized numerous parties.

Biggs' personality was very controversial: some admired his audacity for the theft, the escape from prison and the 36 years on the run, defying the authorities and living free in Brazil. Others detested his thug attitude mocking the law and recalled that Jack Mills, the engineer, who had been beaten with an iron rod, never fully recovered and died of leukemia seven years later.

Despite being a letter written by a fugitive hiding in Brazil, the Biggs Story and the particularly relevant content of this letter - in the form of a confession - make it a unique collection piece and, perhaps, an educational act ? Indeed, Ronnie Biggs explains why he participated in the robbery - "to get his hands on a lot of money and solve his financial problems" - but also clearly shows regret by saying to G. King : "always remember that crime does not pay (and will never make up).

The letter is in excellent condition, beautifully written, and the Ronnie Biggs x Garry King association adds value to the document. Garry King, the recipient of this letter, is a renowned British collector of handwritten documents who knew Biggs personally. An additional interesting element is the address that Ronnie Biggs wrote, even as a fugitive, in the upper right corner of the letter, in Santa Teresa, where he lived until 2001, when he decided to return to England, where he was arrested and ended his life.