HALIFAX – It’s a case that seems to grow by leaps and bounds with each passing day. John Mark Tillman, a Halifax man who once portrayed himself as an art dealer, is now caught up in a massive theft investigation that spans decades.
This week, he waived his right to a preliminary hearing and chose to have his case heard by a judge.
The number of stolen artifacts has more than tripled what police originally confiscated — and they’re still looking for more.
Tillman, 51, was originally arrested in January. Police found 1,000 stolen items in his Fall River home.
To date, investigators have found more than 3,000 historical artifacts. So far, 80 criminal charges have been laid against Tillman, with more pending the outcome of the investigation.
“I’ve never dealt with anything this size before. It’s quite substantial” said RCMP Sgt. Colin MacLean, the supervisor of the street crime unit handling the case. There are three full time officers working on the file.
“This kind of case is a little bit different in general from what we do in that we’re not really used to working with historical artifacts,” he said. “We have been touching base with a lot of different archives, museums, contacting people who are in the know on that sort of things, and it’s led us a lot of different places across Atlantic Canada so far.”
It’s believed some of the items Tillman stole could have made it outside the Atlantic provinces.
The biggest problem for police is the sheer volume of exhibits. So far, investigators have only been able to identify 200 of the items they’ve seized.
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It’s believed Tillman sold transcripts from the Norwegian vessel SS Imo to the SS Mont-Blanc, a French cargo ship during the Halifax explosion.
There are also books and documents, which number greater than 1,000.
The RCMP have never been involved in a case like this before in Canada. However, a similar case was investigated in the United States by the FBI.
Hundreds of tips from the public have come in, and the police are sifting through each one individually.
There’s no value associated with the stolen items yet, but it’s believed to be in the millions of dollars.
The court has frozen Tillman’s assets, but no date has been set for a trial.
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