Police have been looking for a rather unique felon. A woman was caught on security cameras at the Krohn Conservatory in Cincinnati stealing a rare blue morpho butterfly. According to The Cincinnati Enquirer, they have now arrested Jamie Revis, 36. Without deciding guilt, I must confess that, if I was to guess at a butterfly thief in a line up, I just might pick Revis.
Blue morpho butterflies only live for 115 days. They are native to Central and South American rainforests. It also means that the removal of the butterfly likely resulted in its death due to the change in environment.
The surveillance tape shows the suspect going into the exhibit and being confronted by a woman at the facility:
For the purposes of a theft charge, it would be interesting to see how they put a price on the butterfly. There is likely no market for the rare butterfly but there is a market for butterflies for collectors. In any case, it should be easy to satisfy a felony charge based on value.