DE - 250 Pairs Of Shoes Found May Lead To Fetish Burglar

[Filly]

Filly--The more I ponder this one, I'm wondering if Mr. Rubincan wasn't "in the closet" but secretly longed for companionship with frat guys and that's why he stole their shoes. Maybe, he couldn't have the real live person (because every guy he brought home left after peeking under his bed) so he settled for the shoes and a photo. Sad and pretty sick.

It is strange that he was competitively skating into his 30's. I don't know skating but I wouldn't think that's typical. Does the "Silver" mean second place or "older guy"?

I don't get why he decided to start getting rid of the shoes after his Dad died. We need a psych eval, I'm afraid. Dr. Freud would have a juicy time with this one, wouldn't he?

FWIW, Mr. Rubincan doesn't look like a happy camper.

Our LuvsBeaches knows about professional skating. I'll give her a holler and ask if she can join this thread.

Delaware is a skating State. They have facilities and what not where pros practice. Odd though Shoe Man is in Delaware still. It looks like the parents and two brothers remain in Ohio. However, there's quite a few other people by that name in Wilmington, but I believe this is the Junior to the deceased.

What happened? Did years ago as a young man he went off to skate and never made a huge dent? Did he take it up later in life?

Iz, I'm telling you if any gentleman callers looked under his bed they saw this.



http://whyy.org/cms/news/files/2010/01/Boxedshoeevidence.jpg

 

[Missizzy]

Oh Filly--I hope there's not a shred of truth to this. I was just researching shoe fetishes and I learned that there was a rapist from the UK, James Lloyd, who took stiletto heels as "trophies" from his many many rapes. You don't think.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/5313256.stm

Young men are well known to fail to report sexual assault. Oh my.

 

[Filly]

Oh Filly--I hope there's not a shred of truth to this. I was just researching shoe fetishes and I learned that there was a rapist from the UK, James Lloyd, who took stiletto heels as "trophies" from his many many rapes. You don't think.....

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/5313256.stm

Young men are well known to fail to report sexual assault. Oh my.

God forbid, Iz. I pray not. We can only hope it's some other pathology, psychosis, bizarre, crazy arsed "condition".

The picture taking is even just as odd. I've been looking that up about people that take photos. Personal, happy, smiling photos of other people from their homes. Usually they've never been a part of such a thing. I bet he wasn't part of a frat.

Maybe this started as innocently as he was mad as a kid he didn't have much. Skating everybody had to take off their shoes. So, feeling entitled he took shoes. Then he took mandolins and ummmmm more shoes.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

What an odd bird this guy is. I am interested in what makes him tick. How did he get away with this for so many years? It seems someone would have noticed all the loot he was hoarding as skaters seem a close knit group, bound by their profession. Maybe the shoes and other loot are things which represent who he would like to be (in his world).
I'm glad he was finally caught and I hope he gets the help he needs because I think he is mentally ill. JMO

 

[Filly]

What an odd bird this guy is. I am interested in what makes him tick. How did he get away with this for so many years? It seems someone would have noticed all the loot he was hoarding as skaters seem a close knit group, bound by their profession. Maybe the shoes and other loot are things which represent who he would like to be (in his world).
I'm glad he was finally caught and I hope he gets the help he needs because I think he is mentally ill. JMO

Oh he's crazy cakes, WM.

Please know I am glad I'm not alone in wondering how, what, where and why this man did this.

He sure needs help and hopefully now he will be able to get it. I wonder if he's ever sought some kind of mental health help. I bet he has. It just blows my mind there's people out in this here world that can not only steal that much stuff, but get away with it for years.

What is up with that? Hoping we'll get a report on it in the news or something.

 

[Boyz_Mum]

What an odd bird this guy is. I am interested in what makes him tick. How did he get away with this for so many years? It seems someone would have noticed all the loot he was hoarding as skaters seem a close knit group, bound by their profession. Maybe the shoes and other loot are things which represent who he would like to be (in his world).
I'm glad he was finally caught and I hope he gets the help he needs because I think he is mentally ill. JMO

Bold by me.

I was curious about that. He took guitars, a mandolin, snowboards and all kinds of things other than the tons of shoes. It would be very interesting to hear what motivates/motivated him, in his words.

The thought of escalating behavior is kind of frightening, if he's been doing this for 20 years, I'm prone to wonder how he started and praying that he hadn't done anything worse over the years. JMO.

 

[Filly]

Bold by me.

I was curious about that. He took guitars, a mandolin, snowboards and all kinds of things other than the tons of shoes. It would be very interesting to hear what motivates/motivated him, in his words.

The thought of escalating behavior is kind of frightening, if he's been doing this for 20 years, I'm prone to wonder how he started and praying that he hadn't done anything worse over the years. JMO.

That's right, Boyz Mum. Did he pretend he knew how to play the mandolin? Did he have a desire to learn how to snowboard? Did nobody ever go in his house and see that bajillion loads of stuff?

This has me searching the web looking for answers. That means I need help. LOL I can't fathom it. Twenty years? Did he steal from anyone he knew personally? Like if he came into my home would he have stolen my prized collection of fighting roosters?

Kleptomania is what I thought this was. It's not. I was just reading up on that. Very interesting. My ex husband was one and I am not kidding. He would never steal from another person, BUT you wouldn't go into a store with him. This is a man with a good career, not needing for anything. Apparently he did it his entire life and now I read it has something to do with compulsive disorders in families of which his mom does have.

If this wasn't all so sad it would be funny. However, if you've ever walked out of a department store and hear a man say to you as he produces a LARGE doll or Lord knows what from his jacket "I have to stop this". It's plain sad. Very sad. Plus with me who'd never steal a piece of penny candy. I just never got it. It always seemed the bigger the better. Then he'd feel awful.

Sorry for the TMI, but it all intrigues me. Had a neighbor do the same thing. Only along with it she would tell you that "She owned a horse, and a Humvee only they parked it far away and the horse was kept on the stables of her good friend Countess Fake".

What is it? I so can not wait to hear just why this man did this. It's really sad and miraculous he didn't personally do damage to someone. If I knew that dude busted into my home and took my shoes I'd be scared out my wits.

 

[waltzingmatilda]

This dude's actions are a bit creepy, eh? One does wonder if during this 20 year crime spree his actions escalated in some way. 20 years is a long time to get away with something like this. Where was his family and friends? Was/is he a recluse? It just seems weird that over a period of 20 years that nobody questioned that he had all this loot stored. Of course, crooks do everything possible to conceal their dark side.

I hope we get updates on this story.

 

[Missizzy]

I originally thought that the guy had an attraction to the frat boys, thus the shoes AND the photos. I couldn't figure out if he wanted to be one of them (maybe he had been at one time and got "stuck" there) or if he was lusting after the young men and stealing trophies. Then, I read that neighbors have been having shoes stolen for years. I'm imagining only male neighbors. So, it seems like any addiction. As time went on, he became more indiscriminate in his actions.

He's been in Delaware for quite a while. I wonder where he grew up? I haven't seen anything about his early life. You'd think that we'd be seeing all sorts of comments from childhood classmates. I wonder if he left Mom and Dad in Ohio or they left him to go to Ohio?

The Dad's death in early January had to have been a factor. That leaves me very curious. Was he possibly in Ohio at Dad's bedside and someone else started cleaning out his house of shoes--maybe a sibling? Or did he, himself, start divesting of the shoes due to grief or possibly, relief?

I agree, Filly, it's very compelling and intriguing. Thank God we're talking shoes and not bodies, for once.

 

[chuck777]

Hi fellow sleuths. This is my first post. I know this story is a bit old, but I have some insights and just want to see if anyone is still watching this thread. As for motive, this guy craves male companionship particularly of the Frat-boy type. He sees the frat guy's shoes as an encapsulation of their personality and by having their shoes, he can have some communion with them vicariously. The pictures of the boys enhances the intensity of his experience as he enjoys the shoes.

Shoe fetishes are more common than you think, and they rarely turn into a criminal event. As some of you have wisely deduced, this guy was escalating. The fetish started innocently enough most likely in his pre-pubescent development. As he went through puberty, he had some orgasmic experiences with friend's shoes at sleepovers. He started collecting shoes of those he knew. Then, he advanced to stealing shoes off of porches as he was driving around when he would see shoes kicked off by the door. Finally, he really crossed the line to breaking and entering. His crime was sexually motivated, but he felt emboldened and started grabbing other items of interest like sports equipment during his capers. These personality types can justify their actions when they are purely fetish related and just a means to feed their fetish. If he stole money or electronics he would be crossing his own moral boundaries. As he began to enjoy so much success with taking shoes, the addiction inside of him grew, and he had to have more and more. Eventually, like most serial criminals, he became cocky and careless, characteristics which led to his capture.

Dumping the shoes at the creek was an effort to downsize either because he thought the heat was on, (some evidence of this in the stories I have read) or he was just running out of room. The downsizing was not easy for him, and he would have sorted through his stash and dumped the least favorites of his collection. Upon arrest, it seems he was somewhat relieved that he was finally caught as he quickly confessed and sought psychiatric help. That's my guess at his psychological profile :seeya: