East Bay man convicted in Hillsborough $100,000 art theft

From Mercury News: East Bay man convicted in Hillsborough $100,000 art theft
REDWOOD CITY -- An Édouard Leon Cortés painting stolen from a Hillsborough home -- and worth at least $100,000 -- sparked an investigation that has led to felony convictions for an Emeryville man.

Jurors found Robert Alarid, 42, guilty Monday of identity and car theft in connection with a break-in at an Ascot Road home that came just days after the death of its sole occupant, police and prosecutors said. However, the jury deadlocked on one count of second-degree burglary, which prosecutors have since dropped.

Alarid faces nine years, four months in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 4. His co-defendant, Beverly Wilkerson Aldabashi, 43, got three years in prison when she was sentenced in May.

Prosecutors say the pair broke into Lee Kavanaugh's home on Aug. 18, 2010, just nine days after she had died at age 70 from natural causes. Her family discovered the theft upon stopping by the house to pick up some paperwork after her funeral. They realized the painting was missing, along with some antiques and Kavanaugh's 2003 Toyota Camry.

It was the car that eventually led police to arrest Alarid and Aldabashi. Investigators have not recovered the painting.

A member of Kavanaugh's family said it appears somebody read her obituary -- which detailed her birth in Massachusetts, work as an editorial assistant for Holt, Rinehart & Winston in Burlingame, and thousands of hours volunteering for various causes -- and then targeted the house.

Alarid is being held without bail in San Mateo County jail. A phone message seeking comment was not immediately returned by his defense attorney, Linda Bramy.