Doris Payne Biography

Doris Marie Payne is an American white-collar criminal and convicted jewel thief. In a criminal career spanning six decades, she has been arrested and convicted multiple times. A West Virginia native, she grew up in an impoverished neighborhood of Ohio. At 13, she first realized how easy it was to take something precious out of a store with a simple distraction and when she entered her 20s, she got the idea that she could support herself by doing just that. She developed a modus operandi wherein she would enter a jewellery store dressed as an affluent woman and look for a diamond ring. Using her effortless elegance, she would charm an employee and convince him to show her their high-value collection. Eventually, she would make the hapless clerk forget the number of items he had laid out and leave the store with one or two pieces. Amazingly, she is an active criminal even today, despite being well into her eighties. Payne has been the subject of public fascination for the most part of her criminal career. There is a considerable amount of literature written on her and a documentary made on her life and exploits.