The Feather Thief

Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen led Edwin’s psychological investigation. He is the director of Cambridge University’s Autism Research Center and a professor of developmental psychopathology. Dr. Baron-Cohen’s diagnosis of Gary McKinnon with Asperger’s syndrome led to the term “Asperger’s defense.” McKinnon was accused of hacking into the Pentagon. However, the British used his diagnosis to deny the American government’s extradition request. Dr. Baron-Cohen diagnosed Edwin with Asperger’s syndrome, which helped Edwin avoid prison. Johnson reiterates throughout the book that he believes Edwin misled Dr. Baron-Cohen.

Luc Couturier was a renowned French-Canadian master tier. Johnson notes, “Couturier was an evangelist for taking salmon ties to new aesthetic heights, breaking free of slavish adherence to nineteenth century recipes” (78). He pioneered a new kind of fly based on watching particular bird species, including Birds of Paradise, Indian Crow, and Blue Chatterer, in the wild. Couturier turned into another mentor for Edwin. He sent him rare bird feathers, gave him tips, and even named a fly after Edwin and Anton. Couturier was one of the first suspects in the Tring heist, alongside Edward “Muzzy” Muzeroll, because he emailed museum curators about the possibility of purchasing some of the bird skins. Adele did not believe he was involved; however, Johnson was less sure. He hoped to interview Couturier but could not find him. Based on interviews with one of Couturier’s friends, who ended up buying Couturier’s bird skins collection, Johnson suspects that Edwin sent Couturier some of the Tring bird specimens.

George Hooper was a 75-year-old evolutionary biology professor and Edwin Rist’s first fly-tying instructor. Johnson describes how Hooper “approached tying like a biologist, using head-mounted dissection magnifiers and microscopes, referring to fish by their Latin binomial names, and selecting from among what seemed to Edwin like ten thousand colors of wool to fill out the bodies of his flies” (69).

Adele Hopkin was the lead detective on the Tring heist. Johnson describes her as “a single mother with shoulder-length brown hair and a warm yet no-bullshit demeanor” (109). Adele had been part of the Tring police force for 20 years. Prior to becoming detective, she worked plainclothes units. As detective, Adele led a team that investigated assaults, robberies, and burglaries. While she never explicitly states her dissatisfaction with Edwin’s sentencing, it does appear that she too thought he should have received a more severe punishment.

John McLain ran FeathersMC.com. Johnson describes him as “one of the kingpins of the exotic feather trade, a grizzled, chain-smoking retired detective from Detroit” (75). Edwin first got in touch with McLain based on a recommendation from Edward “Muzzy” Muzeroll. At the time, Edwin was 14 years old. He could not afford the cost of most of the feathers. He started running wood through neighbors’ wood splitters to raise money for his hobby. Once McLain realized that Edwin was serious about fly-tying, he began telling him how he could find feathers, which included seeing if retiring ornithology professors would sell their bird skins, searching eBay, and calling zoos to get feathers from molts.

When news of Edwin’s crime broke, McLain was one of the first fly-tiers to try and distance himself from Edwin. Johnson suggests that this is because McLain was concerned that police would turn their attention to his own bird parts selling activities.

Johnson spoke with McLain at an international fly-tying symposium in New Jersey. Here, McLain suggested that the Tring museum did not know the actual number of missing birds because the museum supposedly did not conduct an audit of the bird skins in years. This suggestion drove Johnson to fly to London to speak with the museum curators.

Mortimer is “a dentist and avid fly-tier from the Pacific Northwest” (117). Mortimer first met Edwin at a hotel restaurant. He was interested in buying some of Edwin’s bird skins. Despite being concerned about the legality of the specimens, Mortimer still purchased three from Edwin.

Muzzy, a marine designer by training and expert Victorian salmon fly-tier, first met Edwin and Anton at a fly-tying fishing competition. His ties represent the first time Edwin saw this art form. Muzzy became Edwin’s first salmon fly-tie instructor. He was also one of two initial suspects (alongside Couturier) for the Tring heist. Like Couturier, Muzzy also enquired with museum curators about whether he could purchase any of the bird skins. Adele cleared him as a suspect.

Through his investigative reporting, Johnson determined that the screenname Goku belonged to Long Nguyen. Because Long helped Edwin sell some of his bird skins, Johnson initially suspected that he might have been Edwin’s accomplice in the Tring feather heist. However, after speaking with both Edwin and Long, Johnson realized that Edwin set Long up so that if police came searching for the Tring bird skins, they would target Long first. Unlike Edwin, Long was deeply remorseful about the role he played in the destruction of the Tring bird specimens. He eventually sent the remainder of his collection back to the Tring museum and launched a sustainable fly-tying movement as part of his attempt at redemption.

Dr. Prum was the William Robertson Coe Professor of Ornithology and head curator of vertebrate zoology at the Peabody Museum of Natural History. He was also a leading expert on one of the bird species that Edwin stole from the Tring. Upon meeting, Dr. Prum and Edwin both realized that they were trying to find the missing bird skins. Prum visited the International Fly Tying Symposium one year earlier than Johnson. He was determined to convince government officials to investigate some of the fly-tiers, but he needed evidence first. Prum found that many of the fly-tiers at the symposium were selling bird parts from birds protected by CITES. The fly-tiers claimed that their birds were from the Victorian era and thus predated CITES. Prum doubted their claims. He collected evidence on a thumb drive, which he gave to Johnson.

Edwin grew up in a town about 120 miles north of New York City. He and his younger brother, Anton, were both homeschooled by their parents, Lynn and Curtis, “who were both Ivy League graduates and freelance writers” (66). Lynn and Curtis nurtured their sons’ interests. Edwin had an innate talent for music. He began to play the flute, winning competitions and practicing with some of the top flautists in the world. Johnson notes how Edwin “understood that his potential in the flute would be limited only by his ability to focus” (67).

Around the time he started to master the flute, Edwin also became interested in fly-tying. This hobby-turned-obsession would eventually lead him to break into the Tring and steal 299 bird skins.

Johnson highlights several of Edwin’s character flaws throughout the book, largely because he did not get the punishment he should have for his crime. Through his investigative journalism, Johnson casts doubt on Edwin’s lawyers’ claims that the break-in was amateurish and that Edwin had Asperger’s syndrome. In the end, Edwin showed very little remorse for his actions.

Walter (1868-1937) was born into one of the wealthiest families in human history. His great-grandfather founded modern banking, but Walter was uninterested in finance. Instead, he spent his life filling the Tring Museum, which was a gift from his father, with natural specimens. Johnson notes that Walter was “one of the most tragically obsessive bird collectors ever to roam the earth” (37). He amassed a collection of 280,000 bird skins. Ultimately, he sold these skins to the American Museum of Natural History Museum to pay off blackmail. During the negotiations, Walter convinced the museum to keep a signed photograph of him near his collection in perpetuity. After this deal, Walter “seemed to shrink visibly” (41) and lost interest in the museum. Upon his death, his collection was given to the British Natural History Museum.

Spencer is a fly-tier and Johnson’s fly-fishing guide. He is the first person to tell Johnson about the Tring heist while they are fly-fishing in New Mexico. Spencer also introduces Johnson to the practice of the Victorian art of salmon fly-tying. By the end of the book, Spencer has also joined the sustainable fly-tying movement.