Burglars and calling cards

[malaka]

Have there been any real life thieves that left calling cards (ala the Cat Burglar in the “Homer the Vigilante” episode of The Simpsons) at the scene of the crime?

[Duck_Duck_Goose]

In a manner of speaking…

Burglars will frequently take a dump in the victim’s home, usually on the living room carpet, before they burgle the joint.

–Personal anecdote, told to me by the officer on the scene when we were burgled of our TV and VCR by a burglar who climbed in through the open side window, said cop having the unenviable task of collecing a sample from the fecal offering in the driveway under the window.

[sub]many years later we found out that the burglar had been the forty-something geek who lived with his mother around the corner–they got a search warrant for something else and found Mom’s basement filled with TV sets

but not ours, unfortunately[/sub]

[malaka]

Well, I found this.

Anyone else?

[Larry_Mudd]

Football hooligans have been known to beat people up and leave then leave calling cards.

The eighties saw the development of a new and sinister trend involving well-dressed hooligans who travelled in comfort and in small groups to avoid police detection. These ‘firms’ used extreme violence in conditions which favoured them, sometimes picking on solitary individuals rather than taking part in pitched battles against difficult odds as in the traditional hooligan scenario. In some cases, they went so far as to leave calling cards by their victims, with messages such as, ‘Congratulations, you have just met the ICF’ - the Inter-City Firm, West Ham’s notorious gang. ----Dunning, The Roots Of Football Hooliganism

In Alfred Hitchcocks first silent feature, The Lodger a serial killer (The “Avenger”) leaves his card with each of his victims. I think that the Simpson’s episode might be giving a nod to The Pink Panther on that one, but it’s been about twenty years since I’ve seen it so I wouldn’t swear to it.

[Tenebras]

The recent movie When Brandon Met Trudy had a floor pooping scene. While burgling no less!

Tenebras

[TV_time]

*Originally posted by Tenebras *
The recent movie When Brandon Met Trudy had a floor pooping scene. While burgling no less!

During my time as a police reporter I had police detectives tell me it was not unknown for burglars to leave a “calling card”.

Often a young person would break into a house and be as intent on causing damage as to steal things. These are the types that leave excrement, or damage specific pieces of property (like women’s underwear) in a specific way. According to the detectives these individuals are generally disturbed young people who are lashing out at specific types of people. They say that these individuals are usually caught although not always for the burglaries.

Detectives have also told me that there is usually another class of burgler (usually much rarer) who will leave a calling card to tease the police. Once again these tend to be young and wanting to “prove” something, usually that he or she is smarter than those around them and they take it out on symbols of those they preceive as his opressors, inferiors who are more successful (i.e. the wealthy) and the symbols of authority (the police). Profiling has helped in catching these type of individuals. Also their ego trips them up always going for more flashy targets.

I am told that the true professional burgler tries to leave as few hints to himself as possible but they still have specific “calling cards” that detectives are very familiar with. Many will always enter a house in a speific way. Some will only take specific types of items. Some will clean up after themselves in a specific manner. This is not the monogramed glove of the Pink Panther but it still lets police know who did the deed although it doesn’t always help them catch him.