How an 836-pound ‘cursed’ emerald traveled the Americas, ruining lives and bankrupting men

It was an ordinary day at his Los Angeles law office when John Nadolenco opened a letter from Brazil enlisting his help in a mission to retrieve a stolen, and quite possibly cursed, 836-pound emerald. He was flabbergasted to learn that not only was the Bahia Emerald real, but the Brazilian government was genuinely interested in using his legal skills to retrieve the gem, which was being held in the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s custody amid lawsuits over its ownership. One of the few who have seen the stone is Scott Miller, a now-retired Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department detective, who seized the emerald from a Las Vegas warehouse in 2008. Scott Miller, left, and Mark Gayman of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department pose with the Bahia Emerald, which they seized from a Las Vegas storage center on Dec. 19, 2008. Nadolenco remembers being extremely stressed when it appeared that the Los Angeles County Superior Court judge would rule on the gem’s ownership before Brazil could finish presenting its case.