Jack Burch

Bernard C. Welch was born at an ideal point in history, with just that right (unfortunate) mix of an impoverished and neglected childhood, to become one of the most successful burglars of all time. In today's world of online banking and digital footprints Welch may have turned out to be just another common criminal, but in the 60's, 70's and early 80's he managed to amass a fortune of millions before a fatal run-in with one of his victims cut short his web of fraud.

Ghost Burglar by Jack Burch and Detective James King does a clever job of intercutting between the whereabouts of Welch and the efforts of King's Property Crimes Department in trying to catch him. Originally they thought Welch was a team of burglars because of how efficient his crimes were. Bernard Welch, the person, is a fascinating study by himself. He was brilliant in some things and woefully ignorant in others. He spent an early stint in prison learning to be a better burglar. He rationalized his misdeeds as reparations against a well-to-do world that denied him the luxuries he wanted when he was younger.

Welch's life of crime was the only life he knew, and he apparently had no apprehension about devastating the lives of others to achieve his ends.… (mere)

Burch and King present the history of Bernard Welch, "The Ghost Burglar" whose life of crime began in NY state. After being caught and sentenced to five years in prison, he was determined not to get caught again. His crime spree spanned states from NY to PA, Maryland and the DC area and Minnesota. Welch only entered upscale homes where no one was home, thus lessening his chance of getting caught. He would fence the goods at flea markets and antique dealers far from the burglaries where people wouldn't recognize their belongings. Gold jewelry was melted down and sold to a dealer on the west coast.

His life of crime finally escalated to murder when he shot and killed Dr. Michael Halberstam during a burglary, when the Halberstam's came home unexpectedly. When the police finally arrested Welch, he was wealthy, lived in an upscale neighborhood with his family, and had absolutely no remorse for his life of crime.

The book was well researched and facts presented without bias. I would recommend this to anyone who reads detective or true crime genre.… (mere)

Bernard Welch was an almost unbelievably successful burglar. He stole millions of dollars from thousands of people in the Washington, DC, area between the mid-70s and the early 80s, mostly concentrating in silver, gold and small antiques. His methods for converting his stolen goods into cash were brilliant, and through this he was able to support a lavish - and garish - lifestyle. He also occasionally raped and murdered on those occasions when he was surprised by a homeowner. And he was pretty good at escaping from prison.

Ghost Burglar is written by Jack Burch, a journalist, and James King, one of the detectives who eventually caught Welch. Both are first-time authors, and the book, while good, has some first-time author flaws. The chapters written by Burch are a pretty good retelling of the story from a more objective point of view. King's chapters are told from a more personal point of view and are, frankly, not as well written. I think if Burch had taken more of a hand in these chapters, the book would have been quite a bit more recommendable.… (mere)