I knew this guy via another fly tying site I'm involved with. Got his just rewards, I'd say.





American sentenced for bird skin thefts

Saturday, April 16, 2011 Edwin Rist

A British court has sentenced the 22-year-old American accused of stealing 299 rare bird skins from the country?s Natural History Museum.
Edwin Rist, of Claverack, N.Y., received a two-year suspendend sentence for the thefts. His lawyer argued that Rist suffers from Asperger?s Syndrome, a mild form of autism, and that he was a ?James Bond fantasist? who imagined he might get away with the crime.
Rist sold some of the skins to salmon-fly tiers, and made an estimated $17,000 on the transactions. Most of the skins have been recovered, and Rist?s father reportedly has promised to make restitution for those that haven?t.
Some of the skins, especially those of the red-ruffed fruit crow, the blue chatterer, the resplendent quetzal and various birds of paradise, are worth more than $1,000 apiece.
The BBC has details on the sentencing.


For more:



http://www.nhm.ac.uk/about-us/news/2...ring93552.html