Book of Mormon "collectors" (thieves) caught

I don't know if any of you had heard about the break-in at
a local museum, where 11 "firsts" of the Book of Mormon
were stolen. It's probably only newsworthy in Utah.
Here, it's the biggest thing since Mark Hofmann.

So far, one person arrested is someone I'm familiar with.
I don't know this person by name, but I recognize him as
one of the "book hogs" (so named by my daughter). He
and a few others (all pickers for bookstores) would fill
entire shopping carts with books (average selling price $1),
cause backups in the check-out lines, then peddle them
to the bookstores. What they didn't sell, they'd then
return (causing even longer back-ups).

One store manager told me that they were the main
reason they quit taking returns of books and other
non-clothing items.

Now, book prices are now astronomical at those stores
because they're afraid someone's making money from them,
the pickers have to be pickier (anyone can load a shopping
cart up - right?).......times must have got tough for them.

I'm having a *bit* of a problem believing that bookstore
owner hadn't heard of the thefts, because it had been all
over the news for days.

http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635199923,00.html
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Deseret Morning News, Saturday, April 15, 2006

Rare LDS texts, medals recovered

By Ben Winslow and Joseph M. Dougherty
Deseret Morning News

WEST VALLEY CITY - Police have arrested a man in connection with the heist
of rare books and medals from the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum in a
caper that targeted early Mormon history. Investigators said Friday they
believe they're close to rounding up all the suspects in the theft of
artifacts with estimated worth in excess of $1 million.


Items were taken in two separate incidents.


Spread out on Lt. Tony Garcia's desk at the Department of Public Safety
Friday were marked evidence bags filled with rare early-Western medals and
11 copies of early Mormon scripture.


"This is it. This is the history. This is the beginning," he said. "Two
(volumes) are missing, but I have a good idea we'll recover them soon."


Rare bookseller Bret Eborn, owner of Eborn Books in Valley Fair Mall, tipped
off police early Friday morning after buying a couple of the stolen books. A
woman approached his bookshop Thursday with two rare copies of the Book of
Mormon.


"She either played dumb or was dumb," Eborn said, because the woman appeared
not to know she had a first edition Book of Mormon in her hand. It would be
worth about $20,000 to a collector - but for the two books, Eborn paid her
$11,000 with two checks.


When Eborn got home to Roy, his wife asked if he had heard about the stolen
books. Checking the Web site of the Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of
America, he realized he had purchased stolen books.


By the time he contacted Garcia, it was 1:30 a.m., and he apologized for the
early hour.


"You can call me any time with information like that," Garcia told him.


"I'm glad it turned out the way it did," Eborn said Friday. "I was just
fortunate they didn't have time to cash that first check."


On Thursday, police recovered a group of medals that were stolen from the
museum two and a half weeks ago. They turned up at an antique store in
downtown Salt Lake City, Garcia said. A photo lineup led police to a
possible suspect, whom they tracked down at a Magna home Friday afternoon.


The valuable books were taken from the DUP museum late Tuesday or early
Wednesday, investigators said.


Robert Lindsay, 48, was booked into the Salt Lake County Jail on
investigation of theft and possession of stolen property. Police believe he
and the woman were involved in fencing the purloined books.


Eborn said he had dealt with Lindsay before and even had his driver's
license on file. Most of the time, Lindsay and the woman came in with books
they found at garage sales or at thrift stores, but they had never brought
in anything valuable, he said.


Investigators told the Deseret Morning News that they believe as many as
four people may have participated in the theft.


"They would have had to have gone through that museum on a few occasions to
see what books they wanted to target," Garcia said. "They would have gone to
the museum just prior to the burglary to make sure the books were still in
place. Because they targeted only one showcase."


At about 1 a.m. Wednesday, a Utah Highway Patrol trooper patrolling Capitol
Hill noticed a cut screen and broken window at the museum. Inside, a glass
case where rare books were stored was smashed.


Police said 13 books were stolen, including rare copies of the Book of
Mormon. Two were first-edition copies, published in 1830, the same year
Joseph Smith founded The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Many
other books of lesser value were left behind, investigators told the Deseret
Morning News.


This is not the first time this batch of books has been stolen. Garcia
investigated the thefts of the same books in 1993. Then, 115 items were
stolen from the Daughters of Utah Pioneers museum, including medals and
early Mormon scriptures. They were all eventually recovered. Rare
booksellers were put on alert to watch out for anyone trying to sell the
sacred texts, which are valued at anywhere from $800,000 to $1 million.


"Money is always the motivation behind these types of heists," Garcia said.


"It's ironic I'd be doing this 13 years later," Garcia said.


"Unfortunately, I think the security (at the DUP museum) is lacking,"
bookseller Ken Sanders told the Deseret Morning News Thursday. He urged the
Daughters of Utah Pioneers to invest in an updated security system complete
with alarms and cameras.


Telephone calls to the DUP were not returned Friday.


The International Society Daughters of Utah Pioneers was founded in 1901 to
preserve the state's history. According to their website, the group seeks
"to encompass a broad scope of services, ranging from the preservation of
historic landmarks to the education of thousands of school children and
other citizens about the pioneer forebears."


Thefts of vintage Books of Mormon are on the increase, according to rare
booksellers. Sanders called them the "Holy Grail of Mormon book collecting"
whose values are skyrocketing among collectors.


Some thefts still have not been solved. In November 2005, two copies of the
Book of Mormon, published in 1840 and 1841, were stolen from the LDS
Institute of Religion at the University of Utah. In February, a copy of the
Book of Mormon dating back to 1840 was stolen from the Beehive House, one of
state founder and second LDS Church president Brigham Young's family homes a
block from Temple Square.

"Kris Baker" wrote in message
om...

. . . He and a few others (all pickers for bookstores) would fill
entire shopping carts with books (average selling price $1),
cause backups in the check-out lines, then peddle them
to the bookstores.

This seems eminently sensible, if someone knows an item
for sale at $1 in place A can be sold for $10 in place B.

What they didn't sell, they'd then
return (causing even longer back-ups).
One store manager told me that they were the main
reason they quit taking returns of books and other
non-clothing items.

If a store is dumb enough to permit returns of remaindered
books sold for $1 that remains the store's business.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"Don Phillipson" wrote in message
...
"Kris Baker" wrote in message
om...

. . . He and a few others (all pickers for bookstores) would fill
entire shopping carts with books (average selling price $1),
cause backups in the check-out lines, then peddle them
to the bookstores.

This seems eminently sensible, if someone knows an item
for sale at $1 in place A can be sold for $10 in place B.

What they didn't sell, they'd then
return (causing even longer back-ups).
One store manager told me that they were the main
reason they quit taking returns of books and other
non-clothing items.

If a store is dumb enough to permit returns of remaindered
books sold for $1 that remains the store's business.

These were used books (thrift store books), not publishers'
remainders. They'd just swoop entire rows of books off
the carts as they came out onto the sales floor, and once
knocked my daughter down as she reached for a book.
They're just ass hats.
Kris

Kris Baker wrote:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635199923,00.html
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Deseret Morning News, Saturday, April 15, 2006

Rare LDS texts, medals recovered

By Ben Winslow and Joseph M. Dougherty
Deseret Morning News
[snip]
Rare bookseller Bret Eborn, owner of Eborn Books in Valley Fair Mall, tipped
off police early Friday morning after buying a couple of the stolen books. A
woman approached his bookshop Thursday with two rare copies of the Book of
Mormon.


Stealing stuff from a SLC museum and then trying to sell it less than
month later in a shop just a few miles away? Not exactly the sharpest
knives in the drawer, are they?

And I agree with Kris's reservations about the dealer's version of
events. A 1 a.m. phone call suggests that the fear of being found out
(or maybe his conscience, to give him the benefit of the doubt) was
keeping him from getting to sleep.


Continuing with the newspaper article:
This is not the first time this batch of books has been stolen. Garcia
investigated the thefts of the same books in 1993.
[snip]
"Unfortunately, I think the security (at the DUP museum) is lacking,"
bookseller Ken Sanders told the Deseret Morning News Thursday.


Really? You think maybe?


--Jon Meyers

Having lived in Salt Lake City for some years, the article has a bit more
impact.

Mormons are definitely people of the books. Desert Books, with several
locations around Utah, has full shops of books almost all with LDS themes or
writers. It is a way to promote the faith, and followed. You might find a
copy of a few bestsellers, but the rest if Mormon publications by Mormon
writers - or it was ten + years ago. Their history is a very deep passion
for many, which partially explains the Hoffman situation of a few years ago.
One of the best used bookshops, Sam Weller, has an astounding collection of
books by and about Mormons and Mormon theology, including those banned by
the church (i.e. Boride's bio of Joseph Smith)

When I lived there, the overall population of Utah was 85%+ Mormon. SLC was
lower, at about 60%. Even used books were primarily Mormon themed.

I had wondered about music production in those days, and spent some time
with the reps from a major Mormon label. They had complaints when some
albums were deemed too "bouncy" and stopped production.

Utah is definitely different. A crime like this would have much greater
impact than in other states.

Willow


"Jon Meyers" wrote in message
...
Kris Baker wrote:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635199923,00.html
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Deseret Morning News, Saturday, April 15, 2006

Rare LDS texts, medals recovered

By Ben Winslow and Joseph M. Dougherty
Deseret Morning News
[snip]
Rare bookseller Bret Eborn, owner of Eborn Books in Valley Fair Mall,
tipped off police early Friday morning after buying a couple of the
stolen books. A woman approached his bookshop Thursday with two rare
copies of the Book of Mormon.


Stealing stuff from a SLC museum and then trying to sell it less than
month later in a shop just a few miles away? Not exactly the sharpest
knives in the drawer, are they?

And I agree with Kris's reservations about the dealer's version of events.
A 1 a.m. phone call suggests that the fear of being found out (or maybe
his conscience, to give him the benefit of the doubt) was keeping him from
getting to sleep.


Continuing with the newspaper article:
This is not the first time this batch of books has been stolen. Garcia
investigated the thefts of the same books in 1993.
[snip]
"Unfortunately, I think the security (at the DUP museum) is lacking,"
bookseller Ken Sanders told the Deseret Morning News Thursday.


Really? You think maybe?


--Jon Meyers

"Jon Meyers" wrote in message
...
Kris Baker wrote:
http://deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,635199923,00.html
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Deseret Morning News, Saturday, April 15, 2006

Rare LDS texts, medals recovered

By Ben Winslow and Joseph M. Dougherty
Deseret Morning News
[snip]
Rare bookseller Bret Eborn, owner of Eborn Books in Valley Fair Mall,
tipped off police early Friday morning after buying a couple of the
stolen books. A woman approached his bookshop Thursday with two rare
copies of the Book of Mormon.


Stealing stuff from a SLC museum and then trying to sell it less than
month later in a shop just a few miles away? Not exactly the sharpest
knives in the drawer, are they?

And I agree with Kris's reservations about the dealer's version of events.
A 1 a.m. phone call suggests that the fear of being found out (or maybe
his conscience, to give him the benefit of the doubt) was keeping him from
getting to sleep.


Continuing with the newspaper article:
This is not the first time this batch of books has been stolen. Garcia
investigated the thefts of the same books in 1993.
[snip]
"Unfortunately, I think the security (at the DUP museum) is lacking,"
bookseller Ken Sanders told the Deseret Morning News Thursday.


Really? You think maybe?


--Jon Meyers

They were told to increase their security years ago.
They get publicity when their stuff is stolen, then they get
more when "God brought it back to us!"

Ken Sanders is our area's best-known book dealer, and
an interesting guy. He ran Cosmic Aeroplane books for
years, and the area's best-known head shop.
I've been curious to find out if that's the same head shop
Karl Rove worked at in the late 1960s.
http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/20...2004-05-27.cfm


Kris

"Pangarune Corner" wrote in message
news:e8p0g.26640$7a.2340@pd7tw1no...
Having lived in Salt Lake City for some years, the article has a bit more
impact.

Mormons are definitely people of the books. Desert Books, with several
locations around Utah, has full shops of books almost all with LDS themes
or writers. It is a way to promote the faith, and followed. You might
find a copy of a few bestsellers, but the rest if Mormon publications by
Mormon writers - or it was ten + years ago. Their history is a very deep
passion for many, which partially explains the Hoffman situation of a few
years ago. One of the best used bookshops, Sam Weller, has an astounding
collection of books by and about Mormons and Mormon theology, including
those banned by the church (i.e. Boride's bio of Joseph Smith)

When I lived there, the overall population of Utah was 85%+ Mormon. SLC
was lower, at about 60%. Even used books were primarily Mormon themed.

I had wondered about music production in those days, and spent some time
with the reps from a major Mormon label. They had complaints when some
albums were deemed too "bouncy" and stopped production.

Utah is definitely different. A crime like this would have much greater
impact than in other states.

Willow

Utah has *never* been 85% Mormon. There are little enclaves, for sure,
but most of those percentages are put out by the Mormons themselves.
The town I grew up in, never even had a majority....and neither did SLC
itself. Look towards southern SL county and Happy Valley, and you've
got those numbers.

A recent article in the SL Tribune, which I've posted online quite a few
times, laid bare the lies that many have believed for years.
But you'll still see lazy journalists spouting the party line.

But you're right about the "faith promoting literature".

Kris
Third-Generation Utah Gentile

Mormons are definitely people of the books. Desert Books, with several
locations around Utah, has full shops of books almost all with LDS themes or
writers. It is a way to promote the faith, and followed. You might find a
copy of a few bestsellers, but the rest if Mormon publications by Mormon
writers - or it was ten + years ago. Their history is a very deep passion
for many, which partially explains the Hoffman situation of a few years ago.
One of the best used bookshops, Sam Weller, has an astounding collection of
books by and about Mormons and Mormon theology, including those banned by
the church (i.e. Boride's bio of Joseph Smith)

Mormons are people of their own books -- i.e., books that they
happen to agree with. Otherwise, they are not book-lovers. I don't
think you'll find them lovingly preserving copies of pornographic
texts or works on ceremonial magic, for example.

the Mormon religion is hilarious......founded by a man who created a
religion so he could dork all his neighbors wives and then integrate them
into his own harem.......very funny stuff!

He didn't just covet his neighbor's wife, he did something about
it! Good old American initiative.

the Mormon religion is hilarious......founded by a man who created a
religion so he could dork all his neighbors wives and then integrate them
into his own harem.......very funny stuff!