in Costa Rica. In 2009 or 2010 he was arrested, he's since awaiting extradition
but only now for falsifying documents and not murder.
I heard about this a month back and forgot about it.
(I want to say I posted about it here but searching can't find anything.)
Has anyone heard this before? This appears to be Nolan's
other brother, Matthew Francis Nolan, and not Jonathon Nolan the one he regularly collaborates with.
Oddly he's listed as Chris's brother in wikipedia, but there is no mention
of his crimes on Chris's page and he himself doesn't have a page.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Nolan
To me it reeks of organized crime.
It looks since being charged he has attempted to break out of prison and
will get additional time for that, BUT he will only be extradited to Costa Rica
for false documents but not for murder because of insufficient evidence.
P.S. I'm not implying these events are related to the Aurora shooting.
Christopher Nolan’s brother linked to murder
Matthew Francis Nolan has been arrested in connection with a 2005 murder
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/29797047/ ... ed-murder/
Access Hollywood
updated 3/20/2009 4:44:28 PM ET 2009-03-20T20:44:28
The brother of “Dark Knight " director Christopher Nolan, Matthew Francis Nolan, has been arrested in connection with an alleged 2005 murder in Central America, according to a report in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Nolan, 40, had been under investigation by Chicago Police in an alleged $700,000 bank-fraud scheme, when FBI agents arrested him last month in connection with the alleged 2005 killing of Florida businessman Robert C. Cohen in Costa Rica.
According to the report, Nolan pretended to be a fellow businessman while in Costa Rica, where he met Cohen, but was actually there to allegedly get back $7 million from Cohen, which was owed to another Florida man, authorities claimed.
An alleged accomplice of Nolan’s, Douglas Mejia, reportedly kidnapped Cohen and attempted to extort money from Cohen’s family, Costa Rican authorities told the paper. When the extortion failed, Nolan and Mejia allegedly killed Cohen, according to the Sun-Times.
Mejia has already been convicted, while Nolan is currently being held in Chicago, awaiting extradition proceedings.
According to the paper’s source, Nolan was under investigation for an alleged unrelated $700,000 check-kiting scheme.
Batman director's brother on murder charge over killing of businessman in Costa Rica
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -Rica.html
By Caroline Graham
UPDATED: 19:21 EST, 21 March 2009
The brother of the British director of last year’s Batman film The Dark Knight has been arrested on suspicion of murder.
London-born Matthew Nolan, 40, whose younger brother Christopher directed the blockbuster which took more than £300million worldwide, was arrested in Chicago by the FBI last week in connection with a killing in 2005.
Nolan is accused of murdering Florida businessman Robert Cohen in Costa Rica.
According to reports, Nolan and alleged accomplice Douglas Mejia went to Costa Rica to try to reclaim a £5million debt Mr Cohen owed to another businessman.
Nolan is charged with Mr Cohen’s kidnap and murder.
He was being investigated by Chicago Police for an alleged £400,000 cheque fraud scam when they learned the FBI were seeking him for the Costa Rica murder.
Mejia was arrested shortly after the body of Cohen was discovered and convicted of the murder during a 2006 trial in Costa Rica, but Nolan allegedly fled back to the US.
A spokesman for Chicago Police said last night: ‘Matthew Francis Nolan has been arrested on a charge of first-degree murder and is being held without bail. He is now in jail awaiting extradition proceedings against him by Costa Rican authorities.’
Nolan’s brother Christopher, 38, is one of Hollywood’s most successful directors.
The Dark Knight was the highest-grossing film of last year and earned a posthumous Oscar for Heath Ledger as The Joker.
Nolan also directed the cult hit Memento and the earlier Batman film, Batman Begins, in 2005.
He is currently shooting the sci-fi thriller Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio.
A third brother, Jonathan, is an Oscar-nominated screenwriter.
Nolan sentenced for escape attempt
Brother of "The Dark Knight" director to be extradited to Costa Rica
July 07, 2010|By Daarel Burnette II, Tribune Reporter
http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010 ... extradited
The brother of "The Dark Knight" film director Christopher Nolan made it clear on Wednesday how much he hated prison.
Speaking at his sentencing for an October escape attempt, Chicago resident Matthew Nolan, 41, said that to keep his mind from rotting while confined to a 7-1/2 by 11-foot cell, he read books, taught himself to draw and wrote letters to his wife and two children.
"This has broken my nerves," Nolan said as his wife, sitting in the courtroom, sniffled and dabbed her eyes with a tissue. "It's shattered me."
While conceding that prison "is not a nice place," U.S. District Judge William Hibbler on Wednesday sentenced Nolan to 14 months behind bars for his botched escape attempt.
Because Nolan has already served 16 months, he will be extradited to Costa Rica to face charges that he used a fake British passport.
"I don't think a single person wouldn't want to get out of jail," Nolan's lawyer, Eugene Steingold, said at Wednesday's hearing. Steingold argued that Nolan's chances of escaping from his 11th-floor cell were impossible.
Nolan in April pleaded guilty to plotting to escape from the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Chicago.
Authorities last October discovered about 31 feet of rope and a harness made from bed sheets, a metal clip that could unlock handcuffs, and a razor inside a mattress in Nolan's cell. At the time, he was awaiting extradition to Costa Rica on murder charges.
The FBI arrested Nolan in February 2009 as he left bankruptcy court in Chicago and charged him with the 2005 kidnapping and murder of Florida accountant Robert Cohen in Costa Rica.
A judge later ruled that because of insufficient evidence from Costa Rican authorities, Nolan could be extradited to Costa Rica to face only false document charges.
Nolan had been in bankruptcy court in a separate case in which a judge entered a $600,000 judgment against him for not paying back a loan from a suburban businessman. Nolan claimed he was using his military skills to run an international bank collection service and needed the loan to finish a job in Costa Rica.
At the time of his arrest, Nolan was being investigated by Chicago police in a check-kiting scam where he allegedly made $1 million by using the connection to his movie director brother to cozy up to local banks. Charges were never filed in that investigation.
On Wednesday, Nolan was also ordered to serve two years of probation and submit to drug tests. If he violates his parole, Hibbler warned, he'd be sent back to prison.
"I'd like to be allowed to close this chapter in my life and hug my wife and kids again," Nolan said.
U.S. v. NOLAN
651 F.Supp.2d 784 (2009)
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff,
v.
Matthew Francis NOLAN, Defendant.
Case No. 08-M-97.
United States District Court, N.D. Illinois, Eastern Division.
http://www.leagle.com/xmlResult.aspx?pa ... SizeDisp=7
August 31, 2009.
AUSA, Michael John Chmelar, United States Attorney's Office, Chicago, IL, for Plaintiff.
Daniel S. Klapman, Burke, Warren, MacKay & Serritella, P.C., Chicago, IL, for Defendant.
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART REQUEST FOR EXTRADITION
MICHAEL T. MASON, United States Magistrate Judge.
The Republic of Costa Rica has requested the extradition of Matthew Francis Nolan ("Nolan") pursuant to the Extradition Treaty with Costa Rica, Oct. 11, 1991, S. Treaty Doc No. 98-17 (1982) and related diplomatic notes (the "Treaty"). According to that request, Nolan is wanted for trial on the charges of: (1) Use of a False Document, in violation of Article 365 of the Costa Rican Penal Code, (2) Aggravated Homicide, in violation of Article 112, paragraphs 3 and 7 of the Penal Code, and (3) Aggravated Kidnapping, in violation of Article 192, paragraph 2 of the Penal Code. These charges relate to the death of Robert Curtis Cohen ("Cohen"). The government contends that the totality of evidence before this Court establishes probable cause to believe that Nolan committed the alleged offenses. Nolan contests his extradition on the issue of probable cause. He further argues that the extradition request does not comply with the terms of the Treaty, and that certain documents submitted in support of that request are untimely and unauthenticated, and therefore inadmissible.
This Court has carefully considered the relevant Treaty provisions, the exhibits submitted by Costa Rica in support of the extradition request, the parties' written submissions [23, 15, 22, 24, 33, 34], and the
[ 651 F.Supp.2d 790 ]arguments made by counsel during the extradition hearing. For the reasons set forth below, we find that there is competent evidence to sustain a finding of probable cause as to the charge of Use of a False Document. However, we find that the totality of evidence falls short of establishing probable cause to believe that Nolan committed the crimes of Aggravated Homicide and Aggravated Kidnapping.
more at link.
