Pal Enger, a talented Norwegian soccer player turned celebrity art thief who pulled off the sensational 1994 heist of Edvard Munch's famed The Scream painting from the National Gallery in Oslo, has died. He was 57. Tina Wulf, press officer at Valerenga Fotball, an acclaimed Oslo soccer club for which Enger played as a teenager, told the AP on Tuesday that he died Saturday evening. Wulf said he'd been in touch with Valerenga earlier this summer. Citing family sources, Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet said Enger died in Oslo. Enger served his first prison sentence at the age of 19, before he kicked off a long string of art and jewelry thefts in 1988 when he climbed into a window at the Munch Museum in Oslo and stole the artist's painting Love and Pain.
More dramatically, on Feb. 12, 1994—the opening day of the Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway—Enger managed to steal the The Scream from the National Gallery. In the 50-second theft, videotaped by a security camera, two thieves climbed a ladder, broke a window, and emerged with the painting, then valued at at least $55 million. They left a postcard saying: "Thanks for the poor security." News of the theft made headlines around the world, and after his capture, Enger became an instant national celebrity in Norway, with documentaries and an international TV series made of his story. The painting was recovered undamaged after Enger confessed that he'd hidden it in a secret compartment located in a living room table at his family's home.
Enger was repeatedly convicted of art and other thefts and drug crimes over the decades. In 1999 he absconded while on an outing from a minimum-security prison and tormented police by turning up in a cafe frequented by celebrities in Oslo and granting interviews. He was later rearrested after attracting attention by wearing sunglasses at night. The self-confessed art aficionado also didn't stop stealing. In 2015, he was charged with swiping 17 paintings from an Oslo gallery. Per Norwegian media, police arrested him after he left his wallet and ID card at the scene. Former lawyer Nils Christian Nordhus, cited by Dagbladet, described Enger as a "gentleman" thief whom "many will miss" in his home country.
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