James Gill
Police made an arrest for the thefts and vandalism at St. Thomas Cemetery in Southington. James Gill, 43, of 525 Crown St. in Meriden was arrested on Thursday, Oct. 6 at the Bristol Superior Court for his involvement in a string of thefts and vandalism to religious statues and headstones over the past year.
A number of reports were made to Southington police about thefts and vandalism at the cemetery. The thefts of statues, ranging from 2 feet to 4 feet in height, were constructed of hand carved marble. The estimated value for each statue ranged from $2,300 to $6,000.
During the course of the investigation, 15 statues were recovered by police and three have been positively identified as statues stolen from St. Thomas Cemetery. Investigators were able to link the three identified statues as being sold by James Gill to third parties.
Gill was charged with three counts of third degree larceny, three counts of interference with a cemetery, and three counts of unlawful possession or sale of gravestones. He was held on a $50,000 bond. Gill is currently incarcerated at the Hartford Correctional Facility, so he was turned back over to Hartford Correctional after his arraignment.
The investigation is still ongoing, and investigators are attempting to associate other theft reports from the area to the remaining recovered statues. Any further information or inquiries should be directed to Ofc. John Marenholz at (860) 378-1648, or jmarenholz@southingtonpolice.org.