Daytime burglar confesses

Grayson County authorities arrested Charles Edward Martin for a number of unsolved Grayson County burglaries over the past year. He confessed to the charges. “He was forthcoming on everything,” said Scott Taylor, Whitesboro Police Chief. Martin has been arraigned on 18 counts of burglary of a habitation in Grayson County and is being charged with eight more counts in Whitesboro.

The burglaries in Whitesboro began around June 2006 and occurred mostly during the day. The perpetrator was taking jewelry and targeting bedrooms. The Whitesboro police officials had limited leads at the time. “Daytime burglaries are hard to prevent unless you catch them kicking the door in,” Taylor said.

Whitesboro authorities then decided to use the media to caution citizens of the danger. Following the publishing of the department’s information, the burglaries subsided until March 2007 when another burglary occurred that fit the MO.

Authorities arrested Martin on July 15. He was able to take police to the homes that he burglarized and talk them through what he could remember. “He took me to the houses he broke into and described how he did things,” said Taylor. “He forced in the door[s] with his shoulder and went to the bedrooms.”

Taylor estimated that Martin had stolen more than $10,000 worth of jewelry in the Whitesboro burglaries alone. “[Martin] had some drug use, that was a contributing factor,” said Taylor. Martin was melting the gold and silver and then selling it in the Dallas area, said Taylor.

Martin also confessed to burglarizing the Whitesboro middle school where he took some computers and projectors. Authorities were able to recover at least one of the projectors, however.

“I’m just glad we got it solved,” Taylor said. “It was a thorn in our side; a lot of citizens felt unsafe.” Martin, 36, is a resident of the Gordonville area and is being held on $5,000 bail for each count of burglary.