Stolen paintings ordered returned to owner
PROVIDENCE, R.I. --Three paintings stolen from a Massachusetts home more than 30 years ago have been ordered returned to the sole surviving heir of the original owner.
The oil paintings, valued at $1 million, were stolen in 1976 during an armed home invasion in Shrewsbury, Mass.
A Newport art dealer contacted the FBI last year after Patrick Conley, a lawyer and developer, brought him the paintings to have them appraised.
Conley says he got the paintings from his brother, an antiques dealer, but didn't know they were stolen.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Rhode Island went to court to get the paintings returned to their original owner.
The paintings were owned by Mae Persky, who died in 1979. A consent agreement in federal court last week awarded the artwork to Judith Yoffie, the sole surviving heir of Persky's estate. 