Ultimate goon hovel ruined by police

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Windows 98: Nov 13, 2005; HTTP 400: Bad post

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/m...slxN/story.html

quote:

ROME, Maine � Christopher Knight told police he had lived undetected in the woods for 27 years, spoken to only one person in that time, and not made a single purchase since the mid-1980s. But Knight knew how to steal, authorities said, and how to stay hidden even though his tent lay within 600 yards of the nearest cabin. Such is the singular world of the man dubbed the North Pond Hermit by the long-spooked residents here, where Knight is believed to have committed more than 1,000 burglaries for food, fuel, tools, and clothing since he left a computer-technician job and retreated to the forest. Now, the 47-year-old is residing in the Kennebec County Correctional Facility in Augusta, facing burglary and theft charges, as banjo players rhapsodize about him and bewildered Mainers shake their heads at the thought of 27 winters in the open. �It�s ironic that someone who wanted to be completely anonymous is now the most famous citizen in Maine,� said District Attorney Maeghan Maloney. Knight�s attorney, Walter McKee of Augusta, declined to discuss the case.

Until Knight�s arrest in April, police had been stymied time and again in their quest to find the elusive hermit. Searches had been conducted in the woods, and troopers slept overnight in the camps. Wildlife cameras in this part of the Belgrade Lakes captured only rare, fleeting images of a man who seemed too well-dressed to be a survivalist. �The problem was this guy was a myth and legend for years. No one knew if he was actually real,� said State Trooper Diane Vance, who arrested Knight at a camp for disabled children and adults. �In conclusion, yes, there is a hermit.�

For year-rounders and seasonal visitors to North Pond, about 75 miles north of Portland, Knight is also a scavenging thief. He never physically harmed anyone, but his unseen presence frightened children and unnerved adults for years. The shores of bucolic North Pond became blanketed with a sense that someone always was watching. Knight�s impact was one of �absolute terror,� said Jodie Mosher-Towle, who sits on the board of the North Pond Association, which promotes responsible use of the lake. �I don�t even think he knew he was doing such emotional, mental harm.� As a result, locks were changed and windows replaced. Anxious youngsters were comforted with the thought that the hermit was simply a �hungry man.�

Christopher Knight told police that he went into the woods in 1986 and never looked back. He is now accused of scores of burglaries and thefts. Knight�s alleged haul on the night of his arrest confirmed that description. Wearing new jeans and a sporty outdoor jacket, police said, Knight was found lugging a roll of Hormel bacon, 10 Sweetheart sweet tarts, two tubs of Folgers coffee, Kraft marshmallows, and a bag of Humpty Dumpty potato chips. There also was an L.L. Bean backpack, Armitron watch, Stearns poncho, and a roll of electrical tape. David Proulx of Waterville, who lives on North Pond from May through October, said he believes Knight burglarized his cottage about twice a year since 1990 � close to 50 times.

�We knew his pattern pretty good. He�d hit us early in the spring,� said Proulx, 65, who has been coming to the cottage since the year he was born. Knight�s targets: propane tanks, coolers, rain jackets, food, and even a battery-operated 5-inch television. �This guy was a myth . . . for years. No one knew if he was actually real.� Diane Vance, state trooper who arrested Knight at a camp for disabled children and adults �I�d leave him a note: �Don�t break in. Just tell me what you need, and I�ll put it by the side of the road,� � Proulx said. The hermit never took him up on the offer. Although Proulx said he was not afraid of the mysterious forager � �I�m a pretty good-size guy� � an elderly widow who lives nearby �didn�t even dare to come to her own place.� Proulx is quick to note that Knight rarely took anything valuable and was careful not to cause any damage. �It used to be a big joke: How many pairs of pants do you have left?� said Melinda Hess, 60, who lives about a mile from Knight�s campsite.

Knight read voraciously, Vance said, and kept up on current events through battery-powered radios. �Anything he could steal to read, he�d steal,� the trooper said, including Parade, Cosmopolitan, and Vanity Fair magazines. Some residents even left books for him to take. Knight did not know the name of the town where his camp was located, Vance said, but he did know about the celebrity Kardashian sisters. Knight had no identification when he was arrested after a motion sensor detected him at Pine Tree Camp. He declined to speak at first but gradually opened up, even though Knight said he had learned from �cheesy television shows� that he should speak with a lawyer first.

�He admitted to approximately 40 burglaries a year for the last 27 years,� Vance said. Knight did not know if his parents were alive. He also told Vance he had never been sick �because that required human contact.� Knight could not remember exactly when he left for the woods, but said his decision coincided with the year of the Chernobyl nuclear accident in Ukraine, in 1986. �I said, �Are you happy?� � Vance recalled. �He said, �No, I�m content. They�re two different things.� � Through trial and error, Vance said, Knight learned how to live through the harsh Maine winters in a campsite obscured by thick trees and ringed by large boulders. He stockpiled enough food in the fall to last until March, deliberately put on extra weight for the winter, and traveled only at night.

Mosher-Towle and other residents are deeply skeptical that Knight lived outdoors in bitter, sub-zero conditions. Instead, they speculate, he probably eased inside one of the dozens of cabins he had burglarized. But Vance, who has spoken with Knight many times, is convinced he stayed outdoors year-round. �There�s no doubt in my mind that this man lived in the woods for 27 years,� the trooper said. When Knight led her to his home, a 50-minute walk from Pine Tree Camp, Vance saw a mattress mounted on a frame, a nylon tent covered by tarps, a clothesline, and a bumper harvest of propane tanks for cooking. A half-dozen sleeping bags helped keep Knight warm and dry in the coldest conditions, Vance said. All of it, Knight told police, had been stolen.

Before the woods became home, Knight grew up in the rural town of Albion, near Waterville, and wrote in his high school yearbook that he wanted to work with computers. The glasses he donned for his 1984 yearbook picture, Vance said, appeared to be the same glasses he wore on the night of his arrest. Knight said he had no other possessions. No journals, no clothing of his own, no identification. He did not have a criminal record before his arrest, and no missing-person report had been filed. At his mother�s home, a two-story wooden farmhouse near a lake in Albion, an elderly woman waved away a reporter and quickly closed the door. When two of his brothers visited Knight in jail, Vance said, they had to introduce themselves.

Knight expected to die in the woods, Vance said, but he could not articulate why he decided to live there. He liked reading about hermits as a child, he told the trooper, but nothing traumatic had happened in his life. Now, he awaits a mental evaluation while being held in a six-person cell at the Kennebec County jail. Knight is joking, putting on weight, and looking healthier, Vance said.

Maloney, the district attorney, said the case, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years, is about more than crime and punishment. �I�m looking at what can I do to protect the community, to make sure that he�s not a threat to the community, and I�m also looking at what I can do to make the victims whole,� Maloney said. That could include restitution, she said. Although Knight has not earned a penny for 27 years, Maloney said such compensation could come from future earnings. Another, quicker form of restitution is expected to greet the North Pond community this summer. �People will come to camp with a lighter heart. The sense of security will have returned,� Mosher-Towle said. Despite that relief, she said, �We�ll be talking about the hermit for years and years around the campfire.�

Anyway after 27 years a man was found living in the woods. Instead of just leaving him alone they are pressing a bunch of charges on him because he stole some propane tanks and sleeping bags. Now the poor guy who just wanted to be left alone is in the national spotlight. Also the Boston Globe can suck my dick because when I copy pasted the article every single loving sentence was on its own line. A sad excuse for journalism when a sadbrains goon has to turn your article into actual paragraphs to be read-able.

Windows 98 fucked around with this message at 00:24 on May 13, 2016

# ? May 13, 2016 00:10

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 15:35

BigBadSteve: Apr 29, 2009

Windows 98 posted:

... Also the Boston Globe can suck my dick because when I copy pasted the article every single loving sentence was on its own line. A sad excuse for journalism when a sadbrains goon has to turn your article into actual paragraphs to be read-able.

As a protest you should go live in the woods permanently.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:20

A ILL BREAKFAST: Jun 9, 2007; *unsheathes katana*

so he was too inept to learn how to farm or forage or anything like that so he just stole poo poo? what a bitch rear end nerd

# ? May 13, 2016 00:22

Iron Prince: Aug 28, 2005; Buglord

hes gonna... EAT FRESH in jail XD

# ? May 13, 2016 00:22

Nefarious 2.0: Apr 22, 2008; Offense is overrated anyway.

A ILL BREAKFAST posted:

so he was too inept to learn how to farm or forage or anything like that so he just stole poo poo? what a bitch rear end nerd

he was foraging

# ? May 13, 2016 00:23

Nefarious 2.0: Apr 22, 2008; Offense is overrated anyway.

Iron Prince posted:

hes gonna... EAT FRESH in jail XD

lmao looks like he'll be getting a different kind of footlong

# ? May 13, 2016 00:24

A ILL BREAKFAST: Jun 9, 2007; *unsheathes katana*

dont mind me, just foraging for some money in this bank. with a gun and ski mask

# ? May 13, 2016 00:25

ethanol: Jul 13, 2007

never got sick due to no human contact

see mom? i loving told you

# ? May 13, 2016 00:26

jazzyhattrick: Jul 1, 2010; by Jeffrey of YOSPOS

A ILL BREAKFAST posted:

so he was too inept to learn how to farm or forage or anything like that so he just stole poo poo? what a bitch rear end nerd

He did not sow.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:29

Millions of Crows: Mar 31, 2010; take a look overhead

Stealing essentials from spoiled rear end in a top hat's vacation cabins is no crime. gently caress your "emotional, mental harm" you pussies.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:29

Good soup!: Nov 2, 2010

Are there any more pictures, I want to see more.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:31

Nefarious 2.0: Apr 22, 2008; Offense is overrated anyway.

this guy should be president

# ? May 13, 2016 00:32

Windows 98: Nov 13, 2005; HTTP 400: Bad post

Awesome Welles posted:

Are there any more pictures, I want to see more.

There are a few other pictures floating around but they are just of the actual dude, or his possessions being collected by police in some sort of garage.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:34

ohnobugs: Feb 22, 2003

I thought this trash goblin got kicked out of the woods a few years ago.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:34

JiveHonky: May 12, 2001; by zen death robot; Grimey Drawer

Awesome Welles posted:

Are there any more pictures, I want to see more.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:34

A ILL BREAKFAST: Jun 9, 2007; *unsheathes katana*

Millions of Crows posted:

Stealing essentials from spoiled rear end in a top hat's vacation cabins is no crime. gently caress your "emotional, mental harm" you pussies.

says a guy who owns things and lives in a developed nation. property crime is still a crime, no matter who the victim

# ? May 13, 2016 00:35

bird with big dick: Oct 21, 2015

This man was an absolute terror and did me irrevocable mental harm because one time he broke into my house when I wasn't there and stole a loaf of bread and a pair of my pants.

# ? May 13, 2016 00:35

Windows 98: Nov 13, 2005; HTTP 400: Bad post

Kinda hosed up that the guy living in a forest hovel for 27 years still knows who the Kardashians are

# ? May 13, 2016 00:37

ethanol: Jul 13, 2007

say what you will but the bears kept him alive and that's good enough for me

# ? May 13, 2016 00:38

ethanol: Jul 13, 2007

i am friend to bear folk

# ? May 13, 2016 00:39

SEGA Ass Fisting: Feb 15, 2012; KEEP IT TIGHT!

# ? May 13, 2016 00:39

A ILL BREAKFAST: Jun 9, 2007; *unsheathes katana*

FrankieGoes posted:

This man was an absolute terror and did me irrevocable mental harm because one time he broke into my house when I wasn't there and stole a loaf of bread and a pair of my pants.

it could be argued that having small things pilfered from your property over a number of years could cause mental harm. equivalent to gaslighting

# ? May 13, 2016 00:40

Helical Nightmares: Apr 30, 2009

Windows 98 posted:

Kinda hosed up that the guy living in a forest hovel for 27 years still knows who the Kardashians are

Saddest social commentary in the entire story

# ? May 13, 2016 00:42

Edgar Allan Pwned: Apr 4, 2011; Quoth the Raven "I love the power glove. It's so bad..."

I kinda want to know why he didn't take up that one person on their offer on 'if you let me know, ill just give you poo poo'. Maybe he thought it was a trap?

# ? May 13, 2016 00:55

Bo-Pepper: Sep 9, 2002; Want some rye?
Course ya do!; Fun Shoe

so this happened three years ago any new hot news about turbo hermit hobo

# ? May 13, 2016 01:07

Nefarious 2.0: Apr 22, 2008; Offense is overrated anyway.

Bo-Pepper posted:

so this happened three years ago any new hot news about turbo hermit hobo

its me

# ? May 13, 2016 01:08

Windows 98: Nov 13, 2005; HTTP 400: Bad post

Bo-Pepper posted:

so this happened three years ago any new hot news about turbo hermit hobo

Facebook

# ? May 13, 2016 01:09

polio king: Jun 19, 2004

A ILL BREAKFAST posted:

so he was too inept to learn how to farm or forage or anything like that so he just stole poo poo? what a bitch rear end nerd

yeah maybe you didn't read the article that reports he was a computer-technician

# ? May 13, 2016 01:11

Do it ironically: Jul 13, 2010; by Pragmatica

holy poo poo the police raided ulilillia's place?

# ? May 13, 2016 01:12

big nipples big life: May 12, 2014

If any goons want to permanently move into the woods we can set up a dead drop for your posts.

# ? May 13, 2016 01:13

ANIME IS BLOOD: Sep 4, 2008; by zen death robot

someone post the blog of the nutty autist woman who built a camp out in the woods, slept naked and directly tapped into power from the mains on a billboard or some poo poo

# ? May 13, 2016 01:14

BIG-DICK-BUTT-FUCK: Jan 26, 2016; by Fluffdaddy

Bo-Pepper posted:

so this happened three years ago any new hot news about turbo hermit hobo

LMAO

Stupid OP didn't even realize this

# ? May 13, 2016 01:17

glowstick party tonight: Oct 4, 2003; by zen death robot

something something, goon shovel

# ? May 13, 2016 01:20

A ILL BREAKFAST: Jun 9, 2007; *unsheathes katana*

mdm posted:

something something, goon shovel

ultimate goon shovel ruins brothers face

# ? May 13, 2016 01:21

Windows 98: Nov 13, 2005; HTTP 400: Bad post

A ILL BREAKFAST posted:

ultimate goon shovel ruins brothers face

He wasn't black and your racist for assuming he was

# ? May 13, 2016 01:22

A ILL BREAKFAST: Jun 9, 2007; *unsheathes katana*

Windows 98 posted:

He wasn't black and your racist for assuming he was

im not all that familiar with the story. i thought u beat ur brother w/ a shovel. c/d??

# ? May 13, 2016 01:26

DONKEY SALAMI: Jun 28, 2008; donkey? donkey?

He beat the guy who his girlfriend cheated on him with

Not his brother

His girlfriend was his sister. That's why people get confused about family connection to story

Then he had sex with a dog sort of.

He might be the finger banging little turd also

# ? May 13, 2016 01:30

Nefarious 2.0: Apr 22, 2008; Offense is overrated anyway.

is there a word for when a guy gets cheated on

# ? May 13, 2016 01:33

A ILL BREAKFAST: Jun 9, 2007; *unsheathes katana*

# ? May 13, 2016 01:34

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 24, 2024 15:35

glowstick party tonight: Oct 4, 2003; by zen death robot

Nefarious 2.0 posted:

is there a word for when a guy gets cheated on

women owning their sexuality

# ? May 13, 2016 01:37

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