The world’s longest active and most successful jewel thief, Doris Payne, lied about making a career change.
Now 85, she promised over a decade ago -- when she was busted for walking off with a bunch of diamonds -- that she would end her wicked ways and go straight.
But Payne is evidently not hardwired for making an honest living: She’s been arrested again after pocketing a $700 pair of baubles when she thought a clerk wasn’t paying attention.
The fashionable-looking jewel thief has been engaged in such exploits for over six decades; launching a lifetime of pilfering pursuits when she was just 23-years-old.
The first of those capers netted young Payne a $22,000 diamond, and, ever since, looting diamonds have been the number one obsession of this coalminer’s daughter; making her rich, of course, and internationally famous.
Doris Payne watchers say the notorious shoplifter has used about 2-dozen aliases throughout the 60+ years she’s been traveling the world and stealing precious gems from upscale retailers.
This month she was at a Saks Fifth Avenue boutique in the heart of Atlanta when she discovered she just couldn’t resist the urge to slip some elegant earrings into her purse.
But times have changed since Payne’s heyday, and, as a result, it’s nigh unto impossible to escape security cameras anymore…
She’s in a Georgia jail at the moment, and also faces charges and possible extradition for a similar heist she pulled in North Carolina.
Now, as she undoubtedly nears the end of her epic crime spree, the octogenarian jewel thief has expressed some “regrets” about it, yet she still doesn't deny having “a good time” too.
Eponymous Rox
Criminal Profiles, Serial Crime
