'Desperate' Man Stole, Pawned $6K of Ex-Wife's Jewelry

A Fox Point woman came home to find thousands of dollars worth of jewlery missing from her home. But this wasn't an unknown thief; her ex-husband admittely took the jewlery and pawned it at a nearby shop.

According to the report:

A 50-year-old Fox Point woman told Saturday she came home to discover four pieces of jewelry were missing. Her ex-husband, a 46-year-old Milwaukee man, admitted to stealing the jewelry and pawning in a face-to-face conversation with her but wouldn't tell her which pawn shop he took the items to so she could get them back. 

Here's a breakdown of what was reported missing:

• One set of jade earrings from the victim's mother with three small diamonds attached on the bottom,
• A sapphire and diamond gold ring with a diamond stone in the middle, surrounded by sapphires,
• A gold wedding band with a small row of diamonds around the top half,
• A garnet ring.

She told police she checked the rest of the house but didn’t notice anything else missing or out of place. However, it turns out much more was stolen.

Police researched the missing items and found numerous recent pawn transactions made by the woman's ex-husband stretching the entire month of August. The ones they could track originated at Robert Haack Diamonds, 6969 N. Port Washington Rd. The victim was able to identify as hers about 20 of the 30 items police brought pictures of. 

An officer went to Robert Haack Diamonds and spoke to the manager who said they must retain the items for eight days before they can do anything with them. Some of the items were tracked down and transaction information showed that the ex-husband had said he was the sole owner and had found the items on a job site/demolition site. The victim said she couldn’t know what the pieces would cost to replace today, but remembered what they cost when purchased, a total of $6,250.

Police spoke with her ex-husband on his cell phone. He admitted to taking the items from his ex-wife during the last couple of weeks and said it was because he needed money and was "desperate." He said the items were at Robert Haack in Glendale.

He said he suffers from bi-polar disorder and didn't remember if he took any other items from her to other pawn shops. He said he needs help and then began to ramble about his current psychiatrist and medication not working and that he was thinking of checking himself into a hospital.

Police said they needed to stay in touch so they could continue to get a statement. He said his cell would work for the next 12 days. After that, he said, “I don’t know what I am going to do.”