Inside the tomb raider's home

Artifact-theft suspect to change plea

Crime » Facing seven felonies, Jeanne Redd may have reached deal with prosecutors.

By Patty Henetz A search warrant affidavit unsealed last week includes grainy copies of undercover photos taken in the Redd home during the investigation.

One of the photos shows pots, blankets and other relics piled atop one another in display cases and shelves. Another depicts Jeanne Redd kneeling on the floor showing a ceramic mug to an unidentified man whose face is hidden.

The Redd affidavit says some of the mugs and necklaces--along with the four sandals she showed or sold--came from Indian lands, including the Floating House Ruin in Chinle Wash--which mystery writer Tony Hillerman called Many Ruins Canyon in his novel A Thief of Time.

During multiple visits the Source made to the Redd home in 2007, the affidavit says, Jeanne Redd traded some artifacts for buttons, purportedly from Dark Canyon. She tried to sell for $4,000 a gourd containing a 13-inch shell necklace on its original string.

The Redds have a history of running afoul with the law. In 2003, they agreed to pay the state $10,000 after they were prosecuted criminally for raiding a burial site to settle a $250,000 lawsuit filed by the Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration.Comment:  Love it. After all the right-wing whining about the feds persecuting Utah citizens, we see the magnitude of the (alleged) crimes.

Jeanne Redd didn't just pick up a few arrowheads and pottery shards on her innocent walks through private lands.

She has shelves full of items--so many that they're described as "piled up."

The stolen artifacts include mugs, necklaces, and blankets. How much do you have to know if you "accidentally" find a necklace or a blanket on your "innocent" hike? "Let's see...is that museum-quality piece something I should alert an archaeologist about? Or is it something I should take for myself, keep in my home, and proudly display on my shelf?"

Yep, that's a real puzzler, all right. Where are the ethics experts when you need them to answer these tough moral questions?

She was trading and selling items, which proves she was in it for the money. She tried to sell one item for $4,000, which proves she knew the items were valuable.

In short, the right-wing defense of criminal looting is an utter sham. Conservative law-and-order types should be ashamed of their rank hypocrisy.

Below:  "Okay, maybe I knowingly stole valuable Indian artifacts before. But this time I'm innocent, I tell you!"