| abstract | - Details: Forty-three year old Alan Golder is considered one of the best and most persistent cat burglars in the United States. He is best known for his early evening invasions, usually during the victim's dinner times, which gives him the nickname "The Dinnertime Bandit". Golder worked briefly as a underworld informer for the police, but he eventually went back to home invasions between 1976 and 1980. When the authorities recognized his signature, he was already on the run. During those years he stole millions of dollars worth of gems from some of America's wealthiest families. He was arrested in 1980 for the 1978 murder of a Long Island millionaire named Lawrence Lever, who had been shot and killed in a botched burglary by one of Golder's accomplices. He struck a deal with prosecutors: he agreed to plead guilty to the murder and would inform authorities on Genovese crime family mobsters in exchange for a minimum term of 15 years to life. He was paroled in 1996, and soon went back to being a cat burglar. Authorities estimate that Golder has burglarized more than fifty homes and stolen $5 million of gems from estates in Connecticut, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. In November of 1997, Golder vanished from his apartment in Queens, New York and has not been seen since. Extra Notes: This case first aired on the May 28, 1999 episode of Unsolved Mysteries. Golder was also profiled on America’s Most Wanted Results: Captured. For several years, Golder was living abroad in Europe. In 2006, he was arrested in Belguim and was returned to Connecticut. He has since been sentenced to 15 years in Connecticut's Department of Corrections. Links:
* Alan Golder on Wikipedia
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