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	Lynn Super Bowl Ring Thief Linked to False Priest Sexual-abuse Claim By Dan O'Brien The Daily Item January 29, 2009 http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2009/01/30/news/news03.txt LYNN - Sean Murphy, the Lynn man who allegedly masterminded the theft of 27 New York Giants Super Bowl rings, is the same person who fraudulently claimed in 2000 to be molested by a Catholic priest as part of a long history of theft and fraud, the Item has learned. Murphy, 44, of 407 Walnut St., was ordered held on $3 million bail at his arraignment Thursday in Attleboro District Court on breaking and entering and larceny charges after the rings were recovered from a Saugus safe deposit box on Tuesday. The rings were among $2.5 million worth of items stolen from E.A. Dion manufacturing company of Attleboro last June. The Item has learned Murphy is connected to a long list of thefts, robberies and scams allegedly committed over the past 30 years. His most notable claim to shame came when he, his brother, a former jail cell mate and Murphy's mother filed false claims that defrocked Rev. John Geoghan sexually abused the men as children. Geoghan was charged with molesting nearly 80 children over a 30-year period and was later murdered in prison. The Associated Press reported in 2000 that Murphy, his mother Sylvia, who has since died, and his cell mate from MCI Shirley, Byron Worth, were indicted for trying to defraud the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston of $850,000 on false abuse claims. Authorities determined that at the time of the alleged abuse, Murphy was living in Lynn and not in the community where he claimed a priest abused him. He was sentenced to 23 months in prison. Murphy gained media attention a year earlier in 1999 when he sued the Department of Corrections for trying to force him to provide a DNA sample as part of a prisoner database. He lost the case, which went to the Supreme Judicial Court. Murphy argued the state had no right to randomly collect DNA samples from prisoners accused of serious crimes, such as murder, rape and armed robbery, but the court disagreed. A review of old Item articles shows Murphy began a life of crime as young as 18 years old, when he was arrested in Salem for stealing two Mercedes Benz sedans, worth a combined $70,000 in 1982, from a Highland Avenue dealership. Item records show Murphy was arrested for: * A Labor Day 1985 armed robbery of a former Peabody hospital pharmacy, in which $90,000 worth of drugs were stolen. * An October 1988 overnight burglary of a Pittsfield pharmacy, in which $2,400 cash and 1,400 prescription pills were thieved. * A Christmas Eve 1991 armored car robbery, in which $50,000 was taken, in Pittsfield. * An August 1992 heist of a Salem manufacturer warehouse, in which $500,000 worth of goods from Costco, BJ's Warehouse and Marshalls were stolen. About $7,000 worth of stolen items, mostly jewelry, were allegedly discovered in Murphy's Lynn home. In all of his arrests except for the one just mentioned, Murphy provided his home address as 407 Walnut St., Lynn. On Friday, police arrested Murphy at the home after the FBI, state and Lynn police carried out search warrants there, at his job at North Shore Furniture Movers on Summer Street, his vehicle and his safe deposit box at Eastern Bank on Market Street. Authorities said one of the Giants rings was found in his bedroom and $10,000 worth of rare coins were found in his safe deposit box. Police also arrested Kristen Sullivan, 22, of Saugus and Rikkile Brown, 22, of Peabody, who were also allegedly found in possession of stolen goods. The 27 Giants rings were found in a safe deposit box that Sullivan had rented at Eastern Bank in Cliftondale Square, Saugus, police said. Both women were believed to be romantically involved with Murphy at one time. Law enforcement sources told a Boston newspaper Tuesday that in addition to the most recent Attleboro jewelry thefts, Murphy is being investigated for his role in a possible East Coast theft ring dubbed, "The Lynn Breakers," which stole items from Costcos in several states. The article said Murphy is also being investigated for stealing 1.2 million prescription pills from a Mansfield distributor by cutting a hole in the roof and disabling the alarm system. According to Lynn District Court documents, one of the items police found at North Shore Furniture Movers last week was a cell phone jammer, which is often used by thieves to disable security systems.
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