[CPProt.net] Indider theft: Trial opens in sale of stolen artifacts

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

 Trial opens in sale of stolen artifacts
Kristen Rasmussen
@PensacolaNewsJournal.com Related news from the Web 

August 12, 2006
 
Testimony began Wednesday in the trial of a former National Museum of Naval
Aviation employee accused of stealing artifacts from the museum and selling
them on eBay.

Sherrie Shaw of Pace was charged with dealing in stolen property, forgery
and theft after a U.S. Navy "Black Widow" Cross and its citation, a Purple
Heart and its citation and a Mercury astronaut space boot were advertised
for sale on the popular Internet auction site in late 2002 and early 2003.

Shaw, 43, had worked at the museum for several years, cleaning and restoring
small artifacts. She was on sick leave when the investigation began and
resigned in April 2003.

Also advertised on eBay was a U.S. Navy Distinguished Flying Cross and a
certificate of authenticity that Assistant State Attorney Russ Edgar said
was forged.

Items found in home

The postings were made by Warren Hayes of New York, whom Edgar said Shaw
used as a broker. The description of the items stated that they came from a
museum "conservator" trying to sell her collection.

Several items -- including Naval aviation manuals, and other military books,
maps, photographs and decals belonging to the museum -- were found in Shaw's
home, Edgar said.

"The defendant took advantage of the privilege of working (at the museum)
for her own personal use and benefit," he said in his opening statement.

Testimony is scheduled to continue this morning. The trial is expected to
last at least through Friday.

Shaw's lawyer, Sam Hall, said his client has been a collector of military
memorabilia herself since about the age of 9. She received several artifacts
from an uncle and regularly visited flea markets in search of other items,
including medals, he said.

Shaw, a college-educated mother of two, has worked at other museums,
including the T.T. Wentworth Jr. Florida State Museum in downtown Pensacola.

Selling her collection

She planned to sell her items, Hall added, because she "became concerned
about her collection. She felt like it was a conflict of interest."

Hall also said Shaw simply borrowed the items recovered from her home and
told supervisors after her resignation that she needed to return them. The
astronaut space boot, he argued, had been discarded from the museum.

But museum officials testified that removing items from the collection is
not done often, but when it is, it's an arduous ordeal that requires the
approval of officials in Washington.

"It's such a long, drawn-out, tedious process that I've been at the museum
since 1998, and we haven't (removed an item from the collection) once," said
Daniel Clifton, head of the museum's collections division and Shaw's former
supervisor.

He said Shaw had told him she planned to sell her collection, but he didn't
become aware of the eBay postings until Jan. 27, 2003, when Owen Miller
contacted him. Miller is a military memorabilia collector from Alabama and
an acquaintance of Shaw's.

After viewing the eBay sites, "I felt very strongly or knew that these
belonged to the Museum of Naval Aviation," Clifton said.

When he checked the museum's inventory, the Navy "Black Widow" Cross and
Purple Heart, along with their citations, were missing, Clifton said. In the
box where the space boots should have been were the set's right boot and
another right boot that looked similar to the Mercury space one, he added.

The missing items were the ones posted on eBay, Clifton said.

If convicted on all three felony counts, Shaw faces up to 40 years in
prison. 

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