Judy Amar
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For other uses of the term The Bandit Queen, see The Bandit Queen (disambiguation).
| Judy Amar | |
| Born | Arkansas |
|---|---|
| Known for | Over 500 house burglaries |
Judy Amar is an American former thief, known by the police given nickname The Bandit Queen. Amar gained fame in the mid-1980s following a string of over 500 burglaries in the south Florida area which baffled police for months and added up to an estimated over $6 million in goods.
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[edit] Style
Amar utilized different wigs and rental cars for each outing, allowing her to quickly change appearances and vehicle immediately after a crime. She would "scout" locations through home developer ads—including full diagrams—in newspapers, only robbing those with recessed doorways to conceal her entrance. Once inside, despite alarms going off, she took her time, filling pillowcases from the master bedroom with goods and picking and choosing items from the closet.
[edit] Crimes
Initially law enforcement believed their unknown burglar to be a man focusing on a small area until a homeowner walked in on Amar in his home. Shocked, he simply allowed her to run past him. This incident, however, allowed them to pull a mug shot from an old arrest and show it to the home owner, who identified Amar.
An admittedly obsessive police detective working on the case on his own time began to notice her modus operandi on a much larger swath of crimes. His dogged pursuit eventually led to a heart attack, but she was captured in Miami on the day he returned to active duty.
[edit] Jail and afterwards
Amar pled guilty and received a 10-year prison sentence, being released in 1990. She has since become a home security consultant.
[edit] References
"The Bandit Queen". Masterminds. Court TV.
