I just read the article below, from the South County Independent, and feel like, since the writer of the article read and quoted from this blog, that maybe some people might look at it.

I don’t know what should happen with Margo Caddick. I am sad that she has problems, and I am sure this is a time of great stress for her family. However, this has been a nightmare for people in this neighborhood. A place where my family has felt very safe has changed. When the police told us that “She (Margo Caddick) had notes about you” and knew when we had been on vacation and what time we usually go to sleep, I got chills. When the locksmith who changed our locks told me that he’s never been so busy, I cried later, thinking about the devastating loss of trust in this ‘village’. When I heard about the jewelry, letters, birdbaths and ladders that were stolen from my neighbors, I walked endlessly around my home, wondering what might be missing that I hadn’t noticed, wondered if she’d gone through my drawers, wondered if she had taken bridge tokens out of our cars, wondered and wondered and wondered if she had my cat.

It will be a year on June 8th since I saw my cat Junior, and in the past few weeks, skinny and shy cats have been creeping around the neighborhood. I don’t know if they are cats that she had hidden away- I don’t know. I don’t know. Even if Junior was to come home right now, he’d be a very different fellow than the friendly, huggly bundle of happy cat he was. Maybe Margo Caddick had nothing to do with Junior’s disappearance- or the disappearance of Oscar, another lovely missing cat, or any of the others.

No one can prove anything about the cats. But no one is denying that this woman was in and out of our houses, gardens and cars, stealing our belongings, and stealing our feelings of safety and security.

From the article:  ”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. “

I, for one, disagree. A couple of weeks ago, the police shot and killed a rabid racoon in the neighborhood. I was outside when I heard the shots, and at the same time, I saw a car driving slowly past Margo Caddick’s house. I thought someone was so mad that they were doing a drive-by shooting! Well, of course, it was the raccoon thing, and I laughed later about even thinking that someone would do a drive-by shooting here, in Kingston- in a Volvo! But that, Lise Gescheidt, would have been a “confrontational and unreasonable” and even an “over the top” reaction.

I lock my door all the time now. We got outdoor lights put in. Noises at night alarm me. When I can’t find something, I wonder, did Margo Caddick take it? What am I not noticing?

I wonder about all the houses near me that I assumed were filled with nice people.

Margo Caddick may be very very sick and that’s sad, but she’s spread quite a nasty feeling over a really lovely place, and that’s sadder still.

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

Woman, 64, charged in multiple thefts

By Katie Mulvaney

Journal Staff Writer  

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The police say a 64-year-old local woman stole Tiffany lamps, computers, televisions and thousands of dollars in jewelry from homes and other buildings in the Kingston area and the University of Rhode Island over the past several years.

Margo A. Caddick, of 70 Cherry Rd., faces six felony charges of receiving stolen goods over $500 and six misdemeanor counts of receiving stolen goods less that $500, according to Capt. Jeffrey Allen.

Those charges are added to others filed against Caddick in March, when URI sorority sisters found her looking into the refrigerator at the Sigma Delta Tau house at around 5 a.m. She was charged then with burglary, possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen goods worth less than $500.

The South Kingstown and URI police later served search warrants at Caddick’s address and a family home at 108 Peninsula Rd., and seized other items believed to have been stolen, Allen said. They included backpacks belonging to URI students and stacks of electronics equipment, he said.

Officers tried to match the items with URI police theft reports, Allen said. South Kingstown and URI officers returned to the houses with Caddick’s lawyer, Lise Gescheidt, to try to identify other potentially stolen goods, he said.

It appeared the family had been hoarding and collecting items for decades, he said.

Caddick was charged last week with two possessing mission-style chairs and three Tiffany lamps stolen from URI’s International Engineering Program house, multiple stolen TVs and thousands of dollars in jewelry from her neighbors’ homes.

“We don’t believe she was doing it for money,” Allen said, suggesting mental heath issues might be a factor. “It’s one of these cases where it looks like she took things just for the sake of taking them.”

A World War II soldier’s letters home to his family during the war were among the stolen items that have been returned to their owner, he said. She was not charged with that theft.

Judge William C. Clifton released Caddick on personal recognizance after an appearance in District Court, Wakefield, last week, court records show. She was ordered not to trespass on the property of the 12 victims named in the charges.

Gescheidt could not be reached for comment by press time last night.

Police have an album filled with other potentially stolen items that people can make an appointment to view with detectives, Allen said.

Projo Article

More charges lodged in thefts

By Liz Boardman/Independent Staff Writer

SOUTH KINGSTOWN — The woman alleged to be a one-woman crime wave in Kingston and Matunuck has been arrested on 12 additional counts of receiving stolen goods.

On Tuesday, police charged Margo Caddick, 54, of 70 Cherry Road, Kingston, and 108 Peninsula Drive, Matunuck, with six felony counts of receiving stolen goods of more than $500 and six misdemeanor counts of receiving stolen goods of less than $500.

In March, University of Rhode Island Police charged Caddick with burglary, possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen goods worth less than $500, after she was allegedly discovered in the kitchen of the Sigma Delta Tau sorority house on March 12.

During the March arrest, police found burglary tools, including needle pliers, a seat belt cutter, latex gloves, two mini-mag lights and slip joint pliers, and garden gloves and a mask in her car. Police executed a search warrant on her homes, where they seized nearly 200 items they believe were taken from the university, the Greek houses near campus and her neighbors’ homes in Kingston and Matunuck. Since that time, they have been matching the goods to their owners and investigating further charges.

Caddick was arraigned in Fourth Division District Court in Wakefield on Tuesday, where she entered no plea, as is custom in felony cases at the District Court level. She was ordered to have no contact with the victims and to continue receiving mental health evaluations. She continues to be free on personal recognizance until June 24.

Link to Independent

Hey, just in case you check in. Detective Wheatley responded to my email today. This is what he had to say,

“Sorry it took me a while to respond. We have been receiving an incredible amount of emails and phone calls regarding this case and of course we still get new cases daily. I understand you believe your information is credible because it was provided by people who “witnessed the event” ; however, the information is still misleading. There were several people who were standing around outside when we conducted the search warrants. An officer may have said “there’s like 20 to 30 cats in that house” not meaning it literally but simply as an exaggerated expression. Somehow, someone, printed a flyer saying that there were 20-30 cats. This simply was not the case.

That being said, there were however, hundreds of stolen items recovered from the house. These items include, but not limited to, jewelry, electronics, nic-naks, tools, DVD’s and keys. I have put together a photo note book of all unclaimed items we have at the police station. If you wish to view the book, you may call me to set up an appointment. I have finally caught up on my voice mails so my in-box should accept new mail now. I can tell you that we found no evidence indicating that you were a victim in these series of crimes (we did not find your name or address among any items) but I wouldn’t dismiss the possibility.

I can be reached at 783-3321- Ext. 318

Detective Jason Wheatley”

I thought that you might be interested in what he had to say about the cat situation.

The warrant

South Kingstown and University police executed search warrants on the homes of Margo Caddick, 70 Cherry Road in Kingston and 108 Peninsula Road in Matunuck, as well as her cars. The following items were seized:

From Margo Caddick’s car:

Blue and white garden-type gloves

Needle pliers

Two mini-mag flashlights

A pair of latex gloves

Four sets of assorted keys

A Coleman seat belt cutter, which the police noted is commonly used by burglars to cut windows.

An orange and tan bag

A flashlight

Two D-cell batteries

Two candles

A plastic toolbox

Buyer’s Value slip joint pliers.

A LL Bean backpack

Three oranges

Four bananas

A quart of milk

Four small bags of chips.

Xbox 360

Seized from 108 Peninsula Road:

TruTech 17-inch Television/DVD combo

Polaroid 19-inch Television

Sharp 32-inch LCD Television

Sony DVD/CD 5-Disc Changer

Sony CD/DVD player

Sony Subwoofer

Sony Central Speaker

Durabrand CD/DVD combo

Coby CD/DVD combo

Sylvania DVD player

Alpine Car Stereo

Sanyo DVD/VCR

An Echo duffel bag

Nintendo 64

Three Nintendo 64 controllers

Four Nintendo 64 games: 007, Mission Impossible, Wave Race, and Mario Kart

Seized from 70 Cherry and the Caddick’s 1992 green Subaru:

Inside a white plastic crate on front outside porch, covered with tarp:

UPS packages addressed to Larry Simoneau

28 DVD/games

Five Xbox games

Inside a blue Tupperware bin on front outside porch, covered with tarp:

A black trash bag containing various knick-knacks and candles

Barious items of clothing

CVS photos, dated 5/22/02, with the name Lagasse

A photo album

Playstation II organizer

Two Klipsch speakers

Disposable camera, dated 10/2007

Conair portable hair dryer

Birth certificate and pay stubs for Christopher Lagasse

One DVD

11 assorted Playstation II games

Toshiba Television/DVD

HD Direct Television Tuner

HD Direct Television Receiver

Inside the house:

Pro-sport gym bag

Hair dryer

Copy paper

Four Hi-89 Sony Video tapes

Columbia Backpack

Toshiba laptop computer with D-ink card

Sony Cybershot digital camera

Sony Digital Handycam

Black laptop bag

Dell Inspirion 1100 laptop

Sandals

Santa’s Sweetie Halloween costume

Cobra Radar Detector with Radio Shack 3 outlet auto adapter with a pink cord

11 DVDs

Assorted Keys

HP Photosmart Printer/Scanner/Copier: C4200 series

Bag with four Zeta Beta Tau t-shirts

Four Cisco Systems Phones with University of Rhode Island suite stickers

Bushnell telescope

Tasco Galaxsee telescope

Two Magnavox televisions

Playstation II console

Silver iPod, 80 mg

Home2Go portable iPod system

Two DVDs

Mail belonging to neighbors

Bag Max backpack

Address labels with the name Joan Walters

Designer’s Guild ladies wallet with name Stephanie Palumbo

Whiting Davis purse, silver

Unopened key case

Coach ladies hand purse, light brown

Special Moments wooden picture frame, 5 x 7

Two URI long sleeve t-shirts

Vera Bradley sunglass case, empty

Kodak C330 digital camera, with user manual and CD

Trutech 20-inch T-2000 television

Sony FT ATSC flat-panel television operation manual

Five DVDs

Dell backpack

Mews giftcard for $100

Three postcards addressed to Leslie Holcroft

Pay stubs for Leslie Holcroft

Juicy Couture bag, black and green tie-dye, containing:

Sweatshirt

Silver tiara with purple and pink stones

Two GE television remotes

Silver jewelry box with harvest beads

Silver necklace and pendant with man’s picture in it

Seven DVDs

Jans-Sport backpack

Three scarves

Lady Buxton wallet with $12 in mixed antique money

Wooden handled antique dagger

Two ceramic candleholders

Four Lillian Vernon farm animal ornaments

Pewter Asian-style bowl

Plastic bag with assorted ceramic and silver collectables

JCPenney pin, shaped like the sun

Pin with flowers, labeled Florence, Italy

One placemat with seven cloth napkins

11 books and magazines

Backpack with $220 in cash and paperwork marked Heidi Kirk Duffy Center, IEP

Road Runner Guitar case with 35-foot air guns

Two plastic filing cabinet drawers with various jewelry, hair products, keys.

Link

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

Hi Heather! Thanks for writing- I am at the same frustrated point as you are- maybe we should go together to talk to Detective Wheatley? If anyone else is reading this and wants to go try to get some answers, please reply in comments and maybe we can try to meet up and find out what is going on. It just seems that there definitely were cats – lots of cats- there, back when the police first went to that house, and now the police are trying to change that story. I think we deserve to know what happened and why she was given so much notice ahead of the warrant, why she has had all this time to do who knows what to hide what she has done, and we, as the victims, have been offered no answers and no chance to get our pets back.

Heather, you are so right- she did have my property, I certainly did not give it to her, and heck yes that is stealing. I felt so sick when they came around the corner with those buckets- of course I had known that they hadn’t just sprouted legs and walked, but the realization that a neighbor had come to my home and taken them gave me the chills. It’s not just us, either, there are other people all over this neighborhood whose homes were violated and whose pets went missing. It is a shocking thing and the police just don’t seem to be letting us know what is going on.

Maybe it’s time to call or write to the Narragansett Times, South County Independent, the ProJo, and channels 6, 10, and 12?

If a few of us get together, we might make more of an impact!

I really wonder how the court date went- does anyone know?

Late last night a lovely little brown and grey stripey cat came up to my porch- he didn’t come on the porch but he came quite close and gave me a quizzical look. He was a little damp (of course!) but looked happy and glossy- it just made me wonder where he came from, I’ve never seen that cat before. He’s not the cat with the bell, he (or she!) looked about 3, and very sweet. I guess I’m just worried now that every cat I see has been released by her.