The violin thief Philip Johnson was a promising musical prodigy. Then he stole a teacher’s prized Stradivarius. Click to hear audio He is dying, Q-tip elbows poking through a baggy shirt. Friends visit, spooning him ice cream and playing music. His daughters are around as well, stopping in after school, too young to process the grim scene. And there, carefully placed in the closet, out of view in
![The true story of the violin thief who stole a priceless Stradivarius – and got away with it.](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/d4272146663f4d663dc21ff488bf2ca47621cd9c/height=288;version=1;width=512/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.washingtonpost.com%2Fsf%2Fstyle%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F5%2F2016%2F03%2Fstrad1.jpg)