A 'MASTER THIEF' PLEADS GUILTY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404670003-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: July 15, 1981
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404670003-9
STAT
`` 2?E Ai
lean C!dims Grad)
For.3, 0 Break-ins
By Suzanne Bilello
Washington Star Staff Writer
A Maryland man who claims to-
have committed some 3.000 burglar--!
ies in the Washington area.-and
whom police call "a'
a master.:. thief"-
was sentenced to 20 years in prison,
after he pleaded guilty in Arlington
Circuit Court yesterday to six bur,-;
glaries:
'Arlington. police say William U6,4
Offutt, 25, 'also known as. Willis
Lee Kidd, has told them he commit-
ted.these..burglaries primarily in of--'
Tice-buildtags'f:wvirtually every jtis,
risdictiou.ftoa> suburban Maryland
to Northeri Virginia
x: L ~x
In an interview yesterday'Offutt;.i
`_-said he embarked upon the crime
wave to fuel a, drug, habit, that? at::
times,. cost: him'. between $400 and.-
?5800 a-day:'. And" while a.i
majority of these crimes were com-{
mitted in the. last three years, .he's{
had brushes with the law 'since was a rebellious.child who grew ups
','in-an orphanage a'private'home?
and ;.juvenile detention centers
throughout the state
Arlington police said yesterday;
that the FBI and other jurisdictions.'
including the District, the city, of
Alexandria, and Fairfax-and Prince
George's counties, are investigating
Offutt.' Arlington Detective' Frank`
Rich said as many as 40 indictments
;.on -burglary charges are pending
;against Offutt in the District;:.. :: ; a
Arlington Police -spokesman:
.Thomas?Bell said that,, while police'-
officials have not been able tvver+_fy -
everything Offutt has said,`Offutt
-passed`a polygraph test:-in'which ,
he was asked if he- were telling the
'truth about the burglaries.
"' Offutt, whom police'say has used -
20 alias, including "Billy the Kid,".-j
:.was born in Bethesda but lived-in .~
a Baltimore orphanage until he was
:.--7. He .then was adopted by a John
-I;: Offutt of Gaithersburg--a family
he says he ran away from 11 years':
ago, tF- a'. r.1 4~tr'
T.;
T
FE, 3HE GT -N 5TAR Gh.E-EN
-; -A rebellious streak developed, he
said, during those early years in Bal-,
timore "I couldn't handle authority," .!
? said Offutt, as he nervously puffed
'.a cigar."I've always done. exactly
.:. what.I've wanted to do.". Just 5 feet 3'h' inches' tall, only.
,his mustache prevents him from : t
"coke (cocaine) and any kind of
speed." ' -
He dropped out of school after
the eighth grade and said he joined
the U.S. Marine Corps when he was
-16 years old. A tattoo of the Marine
Corps insignia is-splashed on his
right arm. On the left arm is another
tattoo - three fading letters, DEB,
the name..ot a girl.Offutt said he
met at a runaway center in the Dis-
trict when he was 13.
His enlistment in the Marines
came after he enlisted twice in the
U.S. Army and collected enlist
ment bonuses of $3,600 and $1,200
-and then went AWOL. - ?
His career as a criminal ended
abruptly May 13 when he was ar-
rested outside the Clarendon Motel
in Arlington.
The day before a maid at the Iwo
Jima Motel in Arlington had called
police to say a man registered as
David Richard Greenleaf was "suspi-
cious." She told police she discov-
ered jewelry stashed in a trash can
and a handgun, according to police
reports. -
In the early morning hours of May
13, the Viking Insurance Co. - on
North 14th Street across from the
Arlington Police Department - was
burglarized. Among the items taken,
said Rich, were travelers checks and
a roll of uncirculated Susan B. An,
thony dollars:
. At 7:30 a.m., Offutt checked out
of the Iwo Jima and paid his'S20
bill with travelers checks reported
stolen.from Viking, Rich said. By.
the time Arlington police arrived,
however; Offutt had fled.. lfe . was
eventually caught after police issued
a description of Offutt to motels in
the area.
Arlington police said that.Offutt
was convicted of possession of mari-
juana* in Montgomery. County in
1976, and has faced other drug re-
lated charges. But the Arlington bur-
glaries are ,his only felony convic. . tions. volice said. .:..._ ~... .
"I think he's unusual in ,the
number of burglaries he has com-
mitted and?the?amount of time lie's
operated without getting caught."
Rich said. "We've tied him to 150
burglaries in Arlington."
"He was a kind of chameleon,",;
Bell said of Offutt's successful bur-
glaries."He blended in with any-
thing."
When asked why he burglarized
office buildings - many of which
Offutt said were leased by the gov-
ernment, he said, "I enjoyed beating.
t;e government, Not so much the
institution - it's the politics, man;
(they're) ripping off people." Offutt faces others charges in Ar-
lington, stemming from an incident
in the county detention center June
29. He barricaded himself inside his
cell and has been charged with de-
:struction of property
Arlington police have compared
Offutt with Bernard C. Welch, the
convicted murderer of Dr. Michael
Halberstam, who is believed to have
committed hundreds of. burglaries'
in the Washington area.
Because of the large volume of
burglaries Offutt says he has com-
mitted, lending a Welch-like mys-
tique to the man, several members
of the press clamored to speak to
-him following his Arlington court
And after an Arlington police of-
ficial mentioned that Offutt was re-
ceptive to conversation while smok-
ing his favorite cigarettes, one
journalistshowed up with two packs.
In contrast to Welch, who'amassed
millions of dollars in stolen property
during his career and purchased a
sprawling home. in Great Falls, Va.,
Offutt lived from motel to motel in
the Washington area and Said he
spent or gave away most of the mon-
ey he made from selling stolen mer-
chandise. .
In fact, the property Arlington po='
lice recovered from. Offutt's: hotel
.room on May 13 included several
hand calculators, a Japanese Samu-
rai sword, an air pistol, a camera
lens and assorted office equipment.
The-way Offutt sees. it. his life
. has been a race - a contest which
he says "began as a cat and mouse
game" with the police.."Either- the
r- -- - uoa, wvuiu nova gotten,
me sooner or later; he, said. '
"'m'not proud of aything I've
done... it's regrets, all regrets." It
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/06/22 : CIA-RDP90-00552R000404670003-9 VF))
15 July 1981