ME - North Pond Hermit captured; suspected of 1000+ burglaries in 27 wilderness years

ROME — Christopher Knight went into the central Maine wilderness 27 years ago.

He built a hut on a slope in the woods, where he spent his days reading books and meditating.

There he lived: re-entering civilization only to steal supplies from camps under the cover of darkness. During those nearly three decades, he spoke just once to another person — until he was arrested during a burglary last week.

In between, Knight told police, he committed more than 1,000 burglaries, always taking only what he needed to survive. He became so familiar for his thievery and elusiveness that he spawned the local legend of the North Pond Hermit, who for years confounded both locals and police investigating the break-ins.
---
"It's been a myth, or legend, that a hermit was responsible," Maine State Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance told the Kennebec Journal on Tuesday. "That happens to be the case."

The 47-year-old hermit now awaits his future at the Kennebec County jail, where he is being held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail on charges of burglary and theft.
---
"He said he just came into the woods one day in 1986," Perkins-Vance said. "He claims he hadn't had a conversation with another human being since the mid-1990s, when he encountered someone on a trail. I was the first person he talked to since the 1990s. People are like, 'No way!' But yeah, it's true."
---
Knight has always been interested in hermits, according to Perkins-Vance, and loved the book "Robinson Crusoe," the story of a man stranded on an island for decades.

Beyond that, Perkins-Vance said, Knight had no deeper explanation for heading into the woods.
---

Click to expand...

---
Worried Knight could be the target of someone looking to capitalise on his notoriety, authorities charged him with two additional counts of burglary and theft and increased his bail to $250,000.

Maine State Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance told the Journal: 'My job is to ensure he does appear in court. But there's a lot of people out there trying to exploit him.'
District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said the big bail increase is unusual, but then this is an unusual case.

'The first concern is he might be a flight risk,' she said. 'The second concern is the group of people who are interested in posting bail for Mr Knight who are not from our state and not members of his family.

'I will remain concerned for Mr Knight until he has an attorney helping him to navigate what is a new world to him.'
---

Click to expand...

wishuwerehere said:

What I find remarkable is how he survived all of those winters without the warmth of campfires. I guess he kept warm by hovering over those propane stoves. I wonder if on those really cold nights he would snuggle up in a bed inside one of those camps he would steal from.

Click to expand...