Cellphone record helped crack 3-year theft spree
For nearly three years, Newton police were baffled by a string of burglaries at the Hammond Park Condominiums in Chestnut Hill. They investigated more than 20 incidents. Residents, many of whom are senior citizens, reported thousands of dollars in cash and goods, including heirlooms and jewelry had been taken from their homes.
Then in January came the break, thanks to a resident who did her own sleuthing.
Andrea Morin noticed an odd number on the cellphone bill of the complex's handyman. It belonged to an antiques dealer in Newton Upper Falls.
Morin tipped off police, who within days arrested Jeffrey Pitman , 44, on charges related to some of the thefts. At the time, Pitman was also facing charges of cashing checks stolen from a resident of the complex.
Morin declined to discuss the case against Pitman, expressing concern that she might be called as a witness in court.
But the victims shared their relief that a suspect was finally arrested .
"I lost everything I ever owned," said Emily Wurzel, 83. "What I would like is to see him in jail."
On Tuesday, Pitman initially agreed to a plea bargain in Newton District Court, but then withdrew it. He is set to go to trial on May 23.
His court-appointed lawyer said Pitman faced high medical bills for his wife, who had undergone surgery, and for his 20-year-old son, who needs continuing care for a brain aneurysm that he's had all his life.
"Looking back on it, he cannot believe he actually did this," lawyer Robert Menton told the court in discussing Pitman's situation. "He felt he would be caught. He couldn't stop this."
After the court hearing, Pitman did not speak with reporters.
Police have charged Pitman in connection with 12 incidents, with the first involving a theft from a dead woman's residence that was reported in September 2003. The next burglary was in 2004, followed by nine in 2005. The final charge involves the theft of checks last year. The remaining burglaries are still under investigation.
Six of the victims are in their 80s, the others in their 60s or 70s. Most of the thefts occurred when the victims were out of town on vacation or away for the day.
Police were stymied in their investigation, with no witnesses and no usable fingerprints.
'A nice guy'
The 6-foot-2-inch 290-pound handyman was so helpful and friendly that almost nobody suspected him of the crimes. The residents said they thought of Pitman as a family man, recalling how he often brought along his 7-year-old daughter when he performed routine chores.
After his arrest, some residents even signed a petition supporting him.
"He was a nice guy," said Carol Pankin, whose mother was hospitalized at the time her gold and diamond engagement ring disappeared from her condo. "He was very friendly. Everybody liked him. Maybe that was his modus operandi."
"He's never been anything but a gentleman with me," said David Isenberg, owner of the Isenberg Co. of Dedham, which manages the condos.
Pitman lived at the condo complex, which consists of four buildings on Hammond Pond Parkway and two on Route 9.
Under terms of his employment with the Hammond Park Condo Trust, he could live rent free with his wife and two children, and get a salary and subsidized health insurance. He has since moved out of the complex.
Residents trusted Pitman so much that they would ask him to keep an eye on their homes when they were out of town.
David and Emily Wurzel asked Pitman to water their plants and bring in their mail while they vacationed in Arizona in May 2005, according to a police report.
A cleaning woman noticed that the lock cylinder to their home had been drilled out and notified Pitman, who called police.
Police found the condo in disarray, the master bedroom ransacked, with personal papers, inexpensive jewelry, and miscellaneous items strewn about the floor, the report says.
The Wurzels returned home and gave police an inventory of missing property worth an estimated $60,000. Gone were 39 pieces of jewelry, several appraised at more than $2,000; a coin collection; and two sets of silverware, including one handed down from Emily Wurzel's mother.
The Wurzels were among five condo residents who said they were on vacation when thefts occurred.
Joe and Evelyn Wolfson were in Florida when a screen was slashed and window broken at their condo, according to a police report, which said the unit was "ransacked." The report noted that Pitman inspected the unit as part of a bi monthly check while the Wolfsons were away. The couple, whose condo had been burglarized once before, reported many heirlooms missing.
"It's devastating," said Joe Wolfson, 80, whose wife lost a brass samovar brought over on the boat from Russia by her immigrant grandmother in the 1800s. "Every time my wife goes into the house, she starts to cry."
Stolen checks
It was allegations of cashing stolen checks that made police first suspect Pitman in connection with the burglaries.
Last October, resident Cal Cohen, 80, turned over to Newton police seven personal checks that he said had been stolen and cashed. Cohen said his signature had been forged on them.
Police discovered that the returned checks, cashed in Dedham for a total of $10,600, had been made out to Jeffrey Pitman. In November, Pitman was charged with larceny from a person 65 years or older and breaking and entering in the daytime. The charge was later reduced to larceny under $250.
In a related case involving the same checks, Dedham police charged Pitman with six counts each of larceny worth more than $250, forgery, and passing a false check. A still photo from a video taken at the Citizens Bank in Dedham on Sept. 19, 2006, allegedly shows Pitman cashing one of the checks, officials said.
In its report on the stolen checks, Newton police stated that the Hammond Park complex had been hit by 20 burglaries since July 2005.
"In almost all of the incidents there was no sign of forced entry and Jeffrey Pitman is the only one other than the homeowner with a key and access to the apartments," the report says.
Then, in January, police heard from Morin, who had access to the condo trust's financial records as a member of its Security Committee. A police report quotes a detective saying Morin came to him "in hopes of being helpful" in the investigation.
She provided an invoice indicating calls had been made on Pitman's condo-issued cellphone to Feldman Antiques, which is in the Mall at Echo Bridge.
When police visited the Eliot Street shop, they allegedly discovered owner Ruth Feldman had receipts indicating Pitman had sold her much of the victims' loot.
Feldman said she "knew Pitman as a frequent seller at her store," according to a police report. Feldman could not be reached for comment.
Menton, discussing Pitman in court, said the amount that the victims said they lost "is a fraction of what he received." Menton said Pitman tried to retrieve some of the items from Feldman but was "told they were melted down for the metal value."
Police, who declined to comment on the case, are still investigating the string of thefts. Pitman faces 11 counts of receiving stolen property over $250. In addition, he faces the charge in connection with the alleged stolen checks.
In court last week, Menton asked for a plea bargain that would have allowed Pitman to stay out of jail, with two years of probation and a promise to pay $70,000 in restitution to the victims. The assistant district attorney recommended a sentence of two years in the House of Correction, with nine months to serve and three years on probation.
Judge Dyanne Klein rejected Pitman's request, and told him he would be behind bars if he accepted the other recommendation. Pitman decided to go to trial instead.
Connie Paige can be reached at cpaige@globe.com. 
