Christopher Nolan's Older Brother Attempted to Escape Prison After Being Accused of a Contract Killing

By Dustin Rowles | Celebrity | November 10, 2014 |

The Nolan brothers are perhaps the most sought out filmmakers on the planet — Jonathan, 38, as a screenwriter, and Christopher, 44, as a director. The two brought Interstellar to life over the weekend, and the result was a $50 million second-place finish.

But they have an older brother, Matthew, 46, who did not go into film. He went contract killing, at least according to some scurrilous allegations that are resurfacing in the wake of Interstellar’s opening.

The Daily Mail has the story, and it’s long and convoluted and not as interesting as you’d like it to be, but the long and short of the allegations are this: In 2005 in Costa Rica, a gem dealer named Robert Breska hired Mathew Nolan to take care of a situation involving the gem dealer’s accountant, Robert Cohen, who had $5 million stolen from him by another man who committed suicide to avoid the ire of Breska.

Matthew Nolan, it is alleged, used an assumed name and hired a hotel bellboy to kidnap, torture, and murder Robert Cohen (the bellboy was later convicted of these crimes). After the murder, Matthew Nolan skipped town. Costa Rican authorities were convinced enough to believe that Matthew was involved in the murder (he was seen with the bellboy) that they sought to extradite him. In 2009, after four years evading Costa Rican authorities, an FBI agent nabbed Matthew Nolan during his bankruptcy hearing in Chicago. Of the arrest, the FBI agent said:

‘Matthew Nolan was the most arrogant person I have talked to. ‘I grabbed him after he had eluded me for one or two years, and when I arrested him his words to me were, “You would never have got me if it wasn’t for the bankruptcy.” But it was his greed that got him - because of his bankruptcy.’

The U.S. court did not find enough evidence, however, to extradite Nolan, though some in Costa Rica believe that Nolan — bankrupt at the time — may have gotten some financial assistance from a very important person (Breska?) when it came to mounting his legal defense.

Still, earlier that year, Nolan did plead guilty for a different crime:

Earlier that year, in April, Nolan had pleaded guilty to preparing an escape from the Chicago jail, from where there had never been a successful breakout. Guards discovered a 31ft-long ‘rope’ made up of bed sheets, and a harness, razor and clip designed to unlock handcuffs. Araya said: ‘It was make-believe stuff. Prison guards had his cell turned over and he had ropes made up. The guard said it was the best rope they had ever seen made.’

According to The Daily Mail, Nolan currently lives a posh lifestyle with his pilates instructor wife and his two children, Peter and Parker (OF COURSE), in Chicago. The Costa Rican case, meanwhile, remains open.

The full details, at least according to The Daily Mail, can be found here.

Dustin is the founder and co-owner of Pajiba. You may email him here, follow him on Twitter, or listen to his weekly TV podcast, Podjiba.

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