Theft of Cemetery Vases

EAST MONTGOMERY COUNTY, July 27, 2010 - Around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Pct. 4 Deputies were assisting the Montgomery County Auto Theft Task Force, detectives with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office (District 3) and the US Marshal’s Service in serving a pair of warrants when they discovered evidence of a more unsettling crime.

	As officers prepared to approach the residence where 52-year-old Paul David McKinnon was located, McKinnon and two adult females left the home in a red Ford pickup. The passengers were identified as 20-year-old Michelle Kiser and her mother, 40-year-old Tabitha Jordan.
The Tatoo just below the man's collar bone says, "Shit Happens."

Pct. 4 Deputy Dwayne Morrow initiated a traffic stop and took McKinnon into custody. While searching the suspect’s pickup, Pct. 4 Lt. Mark Seals discovered a large plastic tub containing 20 heavy, solid brass vases that were obviously recently removed from a cemetery, with some having fresh dirt on the bottom. One of the vases had been cut in half and hammered, presumably to try and disguise the metal’s origin so that a salvage yard would not become suspicious and contact authorities.

McKinnon admitted he was under the influence of methamphetamine and deputies found paraphernalia including needles and a “meth pipe” inside the vehicle, along with knives.

When questioned about the vases in his possession, McKinnon said he took them from an old farmhouse in Rye. However, one of his passengers provided a written statement that McKinnon told her he stole the vases from Conroe Memorial Cemetery on FM 1314 in that city. Lt. Seals contacted the owner of the cemetery, Tom McNutt, who confirmed the theft of brass vases from multiple graves and said he reported the theft to the Conroe Police Department. McNutt told Seals the retail price of the vases is $350.

McKinnon is charged with one count of Theft of Precious Metals, a state jail felony; burglary of a building, first-degree felony warrant; and a blue warrant (parole revocation). He is held without bond on the blue warrant.

Detectives with the Conroe Police Department retrieved the vases from the Pct. 4 Constable’s Office on Tuesday and are continuing their investigation. McKinnon may eventually be charged individually for each of the 20 copper vases removed from the cemetery, since each was purchased by the family of the deceased.

Pct. 4 Constable Kenneth “Rowdy” Hayden called the crime despicable.

“It’s difficult to imagine that anyone could be so cold-hearted that they would desecrate a grave for scrap metal,” Constable Hayden said.

“I wasn’t surprised to learn Mr. McKinnon was using methamphetamine,” he said. “It seems there’s no limit to what people will do to support their habit, which is one of the reasons we’re working so hard to rid East Montgomery County of this drug and everyone connected with it.”

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