Jonathan Turley – This is not going to look good on Lily B. Bodenlos’ resume. Bodenlos, 29, (left) and Melissa Mimitz, 37, are accused of an armed home invasion in Springfield, Massachusetts.  Bodenlos made police work a tad easier by leaving her resume at the scene.

The two Connecticut women allegedly posed as cable television workers when they knocked on the door of a woman who was then told that her daughter requested an upgrade in service.  The woman was ill and asked for the two to return.  Later, the two women came back and Bodenlos asked to use her bathroom.

When the women went into the bathroom, they curiously came out with Bodenlos wearing a mask with carrying a firearm, even though she was not wearing the mask up until this point.  They tied the homeowner to a kitchen chair and demanded to know where the safe was.  When the woman said she did not have a safe, Bodenlos reportedly pepper-sprayed her and Mimitz (who was wearing construction boots) kicked the woman in the midsection.

The victim was able to free herself and run to a neighbor.  When police arrived, the two robbers were gone; along with $8,000 in cash, a small amount of medical marijuana, and prescription pills.

That’s when the police found a folder with the resume of Bodenlos, including her work history, phone number and email address.  If the resume and eyewitness were not enough, earlier surveillance video showed the robbers arriving at the home in a white Honda Pilot that was tracked down in Connecticut. Inside was Mimitz’s ID along with $3,000 of the missing money and a black BB gun. Also in the car were two sweatshirts with Comcast logos. Mimitz is a former Comcast employee.

Three weeks after the home invasion, both women were arrested and hit with seven felony counts, including home invasion with a firearm, armed and masked robbery with a firearm, and kidnapping.

The use of a BB gun might not remove the armed robbery element. Here is the definition:

”Firearm”, a pistol, revolver or other weapon of any description, loaded or unloaded, from which a shot or bullet can be discharged and of which the length of the barrel or barrels is less than 16 inches or 18 inches in the case of a shotgun as originally manufactured; provided, however, that the term firearm shall not include any weapon that is: (i) constructed in a shape that does not resemble a handgun, short-barreled rifle or short-barreled shotgun including, but not limited to, covert weapons that resemble key-chains, pens, cigarette-lighters or cigarette-packages; or (ii) not detectable as a weapon or potential weapon by x-ray machines commonly used at airports or walk- through metal detectors.

However, in 2015, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that a BB gun was not a firearm for the purposes of an armed robbery charge.

The trail of evidence and weird choices made in the course of the crime leads one to suspect drug abuse elements in the culprits.  New England is experiencing an opiate crisis that has fueled crimes of this kind.

SF Source Jonathan Turley Oct 2017