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Search warrant yields hoard of possibly stolen items

By Liz Boardman/Independent Staff Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — At the Delta Zeta sorority house near the University of Rhode Island, residents’ possessions – iPods, DVDs and clothing – were constantly disappearing.

“But there’s 30 girls, so you think someone picked it up by mistake,” said Stephanie Palumbo, a fashion merchandising major from Connecticut. “You don’t think much of it.”

Palumbo is spending this semester in Spain. When she moved out of the sorority house, she accidentally left one box behind. Her wallet was in it.

The wallet – a Designer’s Guild leather wallet with her name in it – was one of nearly 200 items removed from the homes of Margo Caddick when police executed a search warrant last month. (For a complete list of the warrant return, go to www.scindependent.com.)

The search came after Caddick, 54, of 70 Cherry Road in Kingston and 108 Peninsula Drive in Matunuck was arrested at the Sigma Delta Tau sorority house on campus March 12.

That night, sorority sisters discovered a female intruder looking into the refrigerator and woke up their housemother, Bethany Barrington, who is also a South Kingstown Police officer. Caddick told Barrington she came into the house to use the bathroom.

While the two women were talking near Caddick’s car, Barrington saw burglary tools – needle pliers, a seat belt cutter, latex gloves, two mini-mag lights and slip joint pliers; garden gloves and a mask, along with other goods – including food and an Xbox 360 – in the woman’s car. She called campus police officers, who charged Caddick with burglary, possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen goods worth less than $500.

“She was completely off the radar screen,” Major Stephen Baker of URI Police said of the suspect. “We had no prior dealings with her, nor had other local departments.”

So far, Caddick has been charged only in connection with the sorority house incident in March. But police are working to match up dozens of items found in her homes to theft reports and are planning additional charges.

Caddick’s lawyer, Lise Gescheidt, did not return a phone call asking for comment on the case.

“She did not work for the university,” Baker said. “She may have worked for the fraternity houses, independently.”

Palumbo and other students say white, middle-aged women often work as housekeepers, both at the university and within the Greek houses on Fraternity Circle and close to campus. There is enough turnover in those jobs, they said, that if they saw a middle-aged white woman they didn’t recognize wandering around their house – or even carrying items out – it might not raise suspicions.

The two departments served search warrants on Caddick’s homes, both of which are owned by trusts held by Caddick’s parents, according to town tax records, and which she shares with her elderly mother, Mildred. Her late father, Jack Caddick, was a professor of horticulture at URI.

“She appeared to have hoarded things,” said South Kingstown Police Capt. Jeffrey Allen. “The houses were both in poor condition.”

Matthew McHugh, a Caddick neighbor on Peninsula Road, said the Caddicks were a quiet family, but friendly.

“Jack was quite a collector,” McHugh said.

William Metz built his house on Cherry Road the same year Jack Caddick did.

“My mother’s family came from south of Rome, New York – Lamphere Road,” Metz said. “And Jack’s mother was also from Lamphere Road, Rome, New York.”

But despite that coincidence, Metz said, the two men worked in different departments at URI, went to different churches and had different interests.

“We were never closely acquainted,” Metz said. “But they were happy, friendly neighbors.”

Other neighbors agreed the Caddicks were quiet but friendly. They said Margo Caddick frequently walked around the neighborhood, often in search of one of her cats. Like the students, they didn’t think it strange to see her in their yards or even on their back porches.

“That’s just Margo,” many said.

But since the news of Caddick’s arrest has spread, her neighbors and students have been turning to police, detailing thefts that in many cases they had not bothered to report in the past.

Robert Andrews of 87 Conant Lane reported a large plastic penguin, valued at $1, a Movado ladies watch, valued at $350, and a silver serving set with gems inset in it, valued at $250, went missing in the past few years. He also told police that in April 2006, he found a middle-aged woman standing on his deck. The woman said she was looking for her dog.

Scott B. Newcombe of 52 Cherry Road told police a number of items were taken from his home over the past 10 months, including heirloom jewelry and tools. He also said the postal service and other delivery services had confirmed several pieces of mail and packages had been delivered but they had never arrived. Another neighbor, Norma H. O’Brien of 1637 South Road, reported that a concrete birdbath was stolen from her yard three years ago. Cynthia T. Smyth of 210 Weathervane Road reported a metal cat statue was missing.

Police are still working to match up items seized from the homes with their rightful owners. They are also following up on old larceny reports – and talking to neighbors – to compile a list of other missing items.

Some objects seized during the search have been positively identified.

Maryann Killilea of 1615 South Road identified a silver, blue and green necklace. Nikki Gates of 15 Thistledown Lane recognized her three-diamond ring, an emerald ring and two sets of diamond stud earrings. Susan Axelrod of 1621 South Road recognized a diamond turquoise ring, a blue sapphire ring, a gold diamond and opal ring, a gold bracelet, a silver and purple bracelet, a sterling silver pin with purple stones, a set of silver heart earrings and keys. Taryn Garshofsky of 18 Fraternity Circle identified a 17-inch flat-screen television. Amy Dahan of Potomac, Md., a university student, identified a Sharp 29-inch flat-screen television she had reported stolen on Jan. 22.

Allen said the police departments continue to investigate and more charges against Caddick will be forthcoming. After her arrest, Caddick was required to undergo a mental health screening, according to court records. She is free on bail. LINK