Child Support
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| Shirley Hippert Arrest Photo |
On December 8, 1947, twenty-one-year-old Shirley Hippert of Congamond Lake, Southwick, Massachusetts, traveled to New York City and checked into the Hotel Taft as Kathleen Hippert.
On the 9th, she went to Lord & Taylor, where police arrested her for grand larceny of goods valued at $2,500. Police accused Hippert of stealing merchandise from high-end department stores, including Saks Fifth Avenue, and returning the stolen items for cash and credit. Authorities said she committed the thefts over 18 months, signing the slips in her sister Ruth Raschilla's name, which brought an additional charge of forgery.
Detectives found another $300 worth of stolen goods, reportedly from Macy's, in her hotel room. They contacted authorities in Southwick, asking them to search her home for more stolen articles.
Hippert had no criminal record. She initially told police that she was a housewife but later added that she was a divorcee who committed the crimes to support her two young sons.
Investigators determined that Hippert made periodic trips to the Big Apple, where she visited luxury department stores along famed Fifth Avenue and stole an estimated $5,000 to $10,000 worth of merchandise.
A New York grand jury indicted Hippert on December 29. She appeared in court on February 16, 1948, and pleaded guilty to grand larceny. At her sentencing hearing on February 24 a judge had her confined to the Westfield (N.Y.) State Farm for Women. (It is unclear how much time she served.)
Edited Out/Author's Rough Draft Notes
On December 10, 1947, police arrested a woman for theft at Saks Fifth Avenue; she appeared in court on the same day as Hippert.
Inconsistencies - some reports say she committed the thefts over four years.
Shirley Gladys (Hannigan) (Hippert) (Paquette) Higgins was born on January 30, 1926. Her gravestone says she died on January 12, 2012, but newspaper articles say she died on the 13th.
Her middle name, Gladys, is taken from her father's sister's name.
Shirley's older brother Theodore Hannigan was killed in combat on July 4, 1943. He was only 21. He is buried in Southwick.
Shirley married Omer Roger Paquette in June 1950.
Omer's father was a taxicab driver. Police arrested him for armed robbery after he picked up a passenger in his cab, hit him on the head, and stole the passenger's $250 in 1932. He pleaded guilty.
By 1936, he was a truck driver when police arrested him after he struck and killed a DPW worker and fled the scene. He first claimed he hit a rabbit. He later told police that he lied because his employer said they would fire him if he had another accident.
Shirley wed Donald B. Higgins in Carson City, Nevada, on November 2, 1966.
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