Woman Pleads Guilty To Stealing Almost 200 Paintings, Antiques
POSTED: 12:14 pm EDT April 22,
2008
UPDATED: 12:39 pm EDT April 22,
2008
WATERBURY, Conn. -- A Waterbury woman has pleaded guilty to stealing almost 200 paintings and antiques, some of them very valuable, and keeping them in her home.Diane Catalani entered that plea in court Monday.Prosecutors said she stole the items because she was mentally ill.
Police tracked Catalani down in 2007 after she tried to walk out of the Chase Collegiate School with a $36,000 painting and fled after she was confronted, police said at the time.The headmaster of the school jotted down her license plate and police showed up at her doorstep.After getting a search warrant for the Catalani home, police said they seized 150 paintings, an antique teapot, a clock taken from the Naugatuck Historical Society and two crucifixes.Police said they also recovered a 150-year-old Bible once owned by Charles Goodyear that was stolen from the Naugatuck Historical Society.Investigators said they believe she had been hoarding the stolen items for several years.She will be sentenced in June.
