BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — A jury Tuesday convicted a former assistant attorney general of possessing hundreds of books, furniture, computers and art stolen from colleges and museums around New England.
William McCallum admitted to stealing the items, including a George Inness landscape worth $70,000, but pleaded innocent by reason of insanity to 65 misdemeanor and felony charges of possession of stolen property.
The jury rejected the insanity defense and found him guilty on all counts. McCallum, 34, faces up to life in prison when he is sentenced March 20. His lawyers said they won’t appeal.
Defense experts testified that McCallum suffers from kleptomania — a neurotic compulsion to steal — bipolar disorder and severe depression.
McCallum’s lawyer, Stephen Jeffco, said many of the things he stole — doorknobs and used underwear — had little value and demonstrated his uncontrollable compulsion to steal.
McCallum attended Yale University and got his law degree at Boston College. He landed a clerkship with then-state Supreme Court Justice David Souter.
Soon afterward, Souter was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court. McCallum worked for his successor, Justice Sherman Horton, then went on to a career in the attorney general’s office, defending state agencies in civil cases.