Kingston02881’s Weblog

Tensions rise between neighbors, defendant in theft case

By Liz Boardman/Independent Staff Writer

WAKEFIELD — The slim, strawberry blonde woman was barely audible as she stated her name to Judge Stephen Nugent in Superior Court on Monday.

“Margo Caddick,” she said, in a husky, tiny voice.

The University of Rhode Island Police accuse Caddick, 54, of Cherry Road, Kingston, and 108 Peninsula Drive, Matunuck, of breaking into Sigma Delta Tau sorority house and being in possession of an Xbox that belonged to URI history major Frederick Leonard, as well as other stolen goods.

In the back of the courtroom, another slim, strawberry blonde woman watched intently as Caddick entered her innocent plea.

Susan Axelrod of 1621 South Road wanted to see the woman who allegedly broke into her house and stole jewelry from her underwear drawer. Caddick will be back in Superior Court later this summer to face that charge, and 11 other counts of receiving stolen goods from her neighbors in Kingston and Matunuck.

“I had never seen her,” Axelrod said. “When [the police] showed me her mug shot, she looked familiar, but I wasn’t sure if I had really seen her before or had conjured her up in my imagination.”

South Kingstown Police called the mother of two after they found a folder in Caddick’s house with Avelrod’s name on it and a set of keys. They also had jewelry they thought might be hers.

“We have a Ziploc bag of stuff you would take if the house was on fire,” Axelrod said. The file folder contained a listing of information – “Where we were married, the kids’ Social Security numbers, the hospitals they were born at. . .” – along with exact dates when the Axelrods had been out of town, in handwriting she did not recognize.

She is convinced Caddick not only got into her home but spent time there taking these notes and searching the house for things to steal.

“This was not jewelry I wore,” Axelrod said. “It was tucked away.”

Unnerved by such an act in a neighborhood she always believed was free from crime, Axelrod distributed a flier to her neighbors, alerting them to the thefts. In the flier, she mentioned that a police officer conducting the search saw 20 or 30 cats in the house.

Then the telephone calls started, each from neighbors who suspected Caddick was stealing their pets, along with their personal items.

South Kingstown Police Capt. Jeffrey Allen said there is no proof Caddick was stealing cats. He said the officer, reacting to a poorly cared-for home that seemed to be inhabited by hoarders, made an exaggerated comment.

“It was a statement the officer regrets,” Allen said. “He was overwhelmed by the clutter, dirt and smell.”

He noted that area of Kingston is wooded and has traffic-filled roads nearby, so there are many reasons why a cat could go missing.

But the idea took hold, and a blog sprung up to discuss the case.

“The initial impetus behind making this blog is to try to keep track of what is going on with the investigation into a rash of theft and catnapping (!) that has gone on for years in the South Road/Cherry Road area,” reads the intial post, dating March 23.

From March 28: “She was given at least 3 days notice that the police would be in with a [warrant] this week and, what do you know, there were only 3 cats in the house when the police arrived. She must have shipped ’em out to a temporary spot. She claims she has 9 cats and has the vet bills to prove they are hers. The cops say their hands are tied.”

On May 14, according to a police incident report, one neighbor walked into Caddick’s house, asking about a missing cat. Caddick called the police.

The neighbor told police her cat had been missing for several days and she was going door-to-door to see if anyone had seen it. She said Caddick’s door was open, and she only popped her head in – as any neighbor would.

No charges were filed, but Caddick’s lawyer, Lise Gescheidt, is not happy.

“The neighbors’ behavior is so over the top. It is confrontational and unreasonable,” Gescheidt said in an interview on Tuesday. “This is a profoundly ill person, a recluse. She loves animals. The most difficult part for her has been to be accused of stealing animals.”

Axelrod said the talk of missing cats has quieted down in recent weeks. She had spoken to David Holden of the R.I. Chapter of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, who told her that since cats are not licensed, their ownership cannot be traced.

Gescheidt said Caddick and her mother, who share the Cherry Road home, have several cats, all old, with years of veterinary documentation.

“We have offered these files to the South Kingstown Police,” Gescheidt said. “The sadness and tragedy of my client’s problems are apparent to the police, and they have been cooperating with us, and we are cooperating with them.”

In her arraignment on Monday, prosecutor Stephen Regine asked for the $5,000 surety bail – $500 cash – Caddick paid to District Court be transferred to Superior Court, and the order to have no contact at URI to stand. He did not ask for additional mental health screenings, which were part of her District Court arraignment.

Gescheidt said Caddick was being evaluated.

In court, she told the judge it was a “complicated case” and said her client agreed to the terms, though she would ask for bail to be reduced to personal recognizance. Nugent did not agree to the reduction but did allow the surety bail to stand.

Axelrod was not happy. “She is still in the neighborhood, nothing has changed,” she said, as she left the courthouse.

A screening on the South Kingstown Police charges is set for June 24, with a pretrial hearing on the URI charges on June 30.

Liz Boardman can be reached at boardman@scindependent.com.

LINK