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Gen Con Suspects Charged, Affadavit Fills in Story
Thomas Dunbar and Pearson Giaume have been formally charged with felony theft of the pallet of Magic: the Gathering cards taking from Gen Con during pre-con setup. A pre-trial conference will be held on November 9, and the trial itself will be November 29.
A probable cause affadavit has filled in and corrected many details about the investigation. The theft actually took place on August 1, not August 2 as previously reported. The stolen merchandise, originally said to be worth $300,000, is described as being worth $195,652.
The affadavit is not available online, but several reports allow a full timeline to be pieced together.
Polygon reports that Dunbar and Giaume were not exactly subtle about their attempts to find something removable:
Somewhere before Dunbar and Giaume left Indiana for New York, the two allegedly attempted to enter the area at Gen Con shared by Asmodee and Atomic Mass Games, which make Marvel and Star Wars tabletop games, among others. A person contracted to work that booth believed the pair was trying to break in, and snapped a photo before they left. When police went public with the photo, that contractor recognized Dunbar.
WIBC has the full details of the heist:
When viewing security camera footage, detectives saw two men acquire a pallet jack, steal a pallet of “Magic: The Gathering” cards, and move them to an area behind a black curtain. The theft happened before the convention started, while vendors were setting up displays.
Further video footage shows the men pulling the loaded pallet into the State Parking Garage around 4 p.m. on Aug. 1.
The men are seen six minutes later leaving the parking garage with an empty cart. Later, they are shown carrying empty cardboard boxes near the skywalk entrance of the garage.
Officers later saw footage of the men entering and leaving the parking garage in a red 2023 Nissan Murano rental car with a New York license plate.
Stills taken from security cameras show the red Nissan driving through Plainfield, Indiana, with what appeared to be cardboard boxes in the back seat.
The police were called in on August 2. Meanwhile, the Indianapolis Star reports that Dunbar and Giaume did make one attempt to cover their tracks:
Gen Con officials told police that Dunbar and Giaume altered their registration information online, changing their names to "Scott Fischer" and "Ashriel Lockheart" after their convention badges were issued.
By August 7, the police had their first tip that Dunbar and Giaume were the people in the surveillance footage. On August 8, per the Star:
[D]etectives received an unsolicited call from an attorney in New York saying they were representing "an unnamed client in possession of the stolen gaming cards belonging to Pastimes, Inc."
The attorney said his client was coerced into purchasing a pallet of merchandise by someone calling themselves "Jeff" at a price of $4,000, the affidavit states. They were unaware of the merchandise's value or origin until after seeing a story about the theft online.
With help from New York State Police, troopers arrived at the attorney's office and collected 115 boxes and packages containing "Magic: the Gathering" and "Dungeon & Dragons" gaming cards and books investigators said were taken from the Indiana Convention Center.
Detectives were also able to link Dunbar and Giaume with their rental car, their hotel room in Indianapolis, and, after learning about their role in making the game Castle Assault, with their addresses in New York.
In Brief
Chambanacon 52 (Normal, Illinois, November 24-26) will be the last Chambanacon, titled “The Final Fannish Family Reunion”.
Hampton Comicon (Hampton, Virginia), originally scheduled for October 7, has been postponed to 2024 due to a scheduling conflict.
Corflu 41 (Las Vegas, February 29-March 3) is looking for bids for Corflu 42. There is currently one known bid, for an unspecified location in the UK.
DerpyCon 2023 (New Brunswick, New Jersey, October 27-29) has added Kyle McCarley and Adam Gaffen as guests.
Trek Long Island (Hauppage, New York, May 31-June 2) has added Yetide Badaki and Orville Cummings as guests.
Event Calendar
Weekend of September 8-10
OutsideCon, Burns, Tennessee, USA
Albacon 2023, Clifton Park, New York, USA and online
Furvana Vice (anthropomorphic), Ocean Shores, Washington, USA
Furry Migration 2023: Disco Fantasy (anthropomorphic), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Platypus-Con (gaming), Juneau, Alaska, USA
Planszówki w Spodku (gaming), Katowice, Poland
PPG Con (gaming), Manitou Springs, Colorado, USA
Conecturday (video games), San José, Costa Rica
Senshi Con (anime), Anchorage, Alaska, USA
Tracon (anime), Tampere, Finland
Animate!, Des Moines, Iowa, USA
Anime Fiesta, McAllen, Texas, USA
Anime Oklahoma, Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA
Anime Town Greenville 2023, Greenville, South Carolina, USA
Arkansas Comic Con, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA
Colossalcon East (media), Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, USA
Popcorn! (media), Sheffield, UK
Ottawa Comiccon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Comic Con Ukraine, Kyiv, Ukraine
Afro Future Con 2023: Extending Reality (media), San Diego, California, USA
ThunderCon (media), Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Baltimore Comic-Con, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Silver Scream Con 2023 (horror media), Danvers, Massachusetts, USA
Retro Con 2023 (‘80s media), Oaks, Pennsylvania, USA
The Labyrinth Experience & Masked Ball, High Wycombe, UK
PhileFest (X-Files), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
Weekend of September 15-17
Copernicon, Toruń, Poland
P-Con, Irving, Texas, USA
Albacon 2023, Clifton Park, New York, USA
Fantasycon, Birmingham, UK
SWFL SteamCon (steampunk), Cape Coral, Florida, USA
Megaplex: Be Anything, Do Anything! (anthropomorphic), Orlando, Florida, USA
West Aussie Fur Frenzy: Under the Big Top (anthropomorphic), Freemantle, Australia
Furever West (anthropomorphic), Laramie, Wyoming, USA
FursonaCon 2023: Dino Safari (anthropomorphic), Virginia Beach, Virginia, USA
ShireCon 5 (gaming), Canaan, Connecticut, USA
Strong Tower Gaming Convention, Brookfield, Wisconsin, USA
Tabletop Central (gaming), Savoy, Illinois, USA
B-Con 2023 (gaming), Northglenn, Colorado, USA
ReUnity Games 2023, Nashua, New Hampshire, USA
Tennessee Game Days Fall 2023, Franklin, Tennessee, USA
Hold the Line (miniatures gaming), Port Clinton, Ohio, USA
Southern Front 2023 (miniatures gaming), Morrisville, North Carolina, USA
Retro Palooza (retro video games), Arlington, Texas, USA
J-Con (anime), Derby, UK
Anime Fargo 2023: Enter the Ninja, Fargo, North Dakota, USA
Chizu Con 2023 (anime), Madison, Wisconsin, USA
AncientCityCon (media), St. Augustine, Florida, USA
Granite State Comicon (media), Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
Edmonton Expo (media), Edmonton, Alberta, USA
Fandom Kissimmee (media), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
Extremicon (media), St. Robert, Missouri, USA
CaperCon (media), Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada
Power Comicon, Florence, South Carolina, USA
Flower City Comic Con, Rochester, New York, USA
Cartoon-A-Paloozah, Temecula, California, USA
Comic Con Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany
London Comic Con, London, UK
Midgard 2023 (media), Reykjavik, Iceland
Alpha Omega Con (Christian-themed sf media), Whittier, California, USA
The Uncanny Experience (X-Men), Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Weekend of September 22-24
Necronomicon 42: Life, the Convention, and Everything, Tampa, Florida, USA
2nd Annual Sturgeon Symposium, Lawrence, Kansas, USA
Dum-Dum 2023 (Edgar Rice Burroughs), Rhinelander, Wisconsin, USA
Furnavia (anthropomorphic), Kristiansand, Norway
PhilliFur 2023: Tails and Fables (anthropomorphic), Quezon City, Philippines
9th Annual Steampunk Fair, Kennebunk, Maine, USA
Anno 1900 (steampunk), Lasauvage, Luxembourg
Council Ganing Con 42, Schenectady, New York, USA
SIBCON XXVII (gaming), Butler, Pennsylvania, USA
Nuke-Con (gaming), Council Bluffs, Iowa, USA
Game On Greensboro, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
Big Geek Con (gaming), Saginaw, Michigan, USA
MegaMooseCon (gaming), Richburg, South Carolina, USA
CuseCon 2023 (gaming), Syracuse, New York, USA
Barrage 2023 (miniatures gaming), Havre de Grace, Maryland, USA
Hurricon 2023: Lost Causes (miniatures gaming), Kissimmee, Florida, USA
Recruits (wargaming), Lee’s Summit, Missouri, USA
CEOtaku (anime fighting games), Orlando, Florida, USA
Rappig Crossing (Tales video games), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Made in Asia (anime), Brussels, Belgium
Anime USA, Arlington, Virginia, USA
MidessAnime, Odessa, Texas, USA
Anime Houston, Houston, Texas, USA
Microcon II (comics), St. Paul, Minnesota, USA
Thessaloniki Comic Convention vol. 8, Thessaloniki, Greece
NORCON (media), Norfolk, UK
Lagos Comic Convention, Lagos, Nigeria
Spa-Con (media), Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA
Comic Con Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Fountain City Fandemonium (media), Bryan, Ohio, USA
Cincinnati Comic Expo, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Rose City Comic Con, Portland, Oregon, USA
Alabama Comic Con, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Superstar Comic Con, Savannah, Georgia, USA
FanX Salt Lake Comic Convention, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Mobicon 2023 (media), Mobile, Alabama, USA
Weekend of September 29-October 1
Archon 46, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
Conflux 17: Passages and Portals, Canberra, Australia
Capclave 2023 (books), Rockville, Maryland, USA
Intermezzo (music), Wernigerode, Germany
Furdance Budapest (anthropomorphic), Budapest, Hungary
Furry Takeover: Safari Takeover (anthropomorphic), Fontana Dam, North Carolina, USA
OctoGônes 13 (gaming), Villeurbanne, France
Adirondacon 6 (gaming), Glens Falls, New York, USA
GooseCon (gaming), Cincinnati, Ohio, USA
Shake, Battle & Roll (gaming), Southampton, UK
Spellenfestival Genk (gaming), Genk, Belgium
QuestCon Orlando / Crucible (gaming), Orlando, Florida, USA
Big Bad Con 2023 (gaming), Burlingame, California, USA
Game Devs of Color Expo, online
Pittsburgh Gaming Expo (video games), Monroeville, Pennsylvania, USA
SkålCon 2022 (Pathfinder& Starfinder RPGs), Plymouth, Minnesota, USA
Terra MystiCon (Terra Mystica boardgame), Montréal, Québec, Canada
Tiger Con (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA
Ramencon (anime), South Bend, Indiana, USA
Miryokucon (anime), Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Anime St. Pete, St. Petersburg, Florida, USA
Shocker Con (anime), Wichita, Kansas, USA
Just added: Tiger Con 2023 (anime), Valdosta, Georgia, USA
Cartoon Crossroads Columbus (comics and animation), Columbus, Ohio, USA
Wauke-Con (comics), Waukegan, Illinois, USA
La Mole (media), Mexico City, Mexico
Zurich Pop Con, Zurich, Switzerland
Kadabra Con (media), Portland, Texas, USA
Beer City Comic Con, Asheville, North Carolina, USA
Creation Washington D.C. (media), Arlington, Virginia, USA
Z-Con (media), Weymouth, Massachusetts, USA
SiouxperCon 2023: To Sioux Falls and Beyond! (media), Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA
King-Con 2023 (media), Kingman, Arizona, USA
Giganticon 2023 (media), Killeen, Texas, USA
MagicCon 6 (fantasy media), Bonn, Germany
Giganticon (superhero media), Killeen, Texas, USA
UK PonyCon 2023 (My Little Pony), Nottingham, UK
Midweek convention: Icon Festival, Tel Aviv, Israel
Weekend of October 6-8
CONFelicity (relaxacon), Bloomington, Minnesota, USA
GeekGirlCon (female geekdom), Seattle, Washington, USA
H-Con the Nineteenth (anthropomorphic), Erbach, Germany
WPAFW 2023 (anthropomorphic), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
TringCon (gaming), Marsworth, UK
Dragon Fall (gaming), Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA
PAX Australia (gaming), Melbourne, Australia
Con on the Cob 2023: Showdown at the Neon Barnyard (gaming), Richfield, Ohio, USA
Southwest Con (miniatures gaming), Tolleson, Arizona, USA
Michigan GT (wargaming), Lansing, Michigan, USA
Spieltage Essen (boardgames), Essen, Germany
Furnace Games Convention XVIII (RPGs), Sheffield, UK
Tsubasacon (anime), Charleston, West Virginia, USA
Animasia (anime), Bordeaux, France
MoTownCon (anime), Mooresville, South Carolina, USA
Anime Senpai: Class of '23!, Collinsville, Illinois, USA
56th Sitges International Fantastic Film Festival, Sitges, Spain
28th Annual H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival, Portland, Oregon, USA
Comiccon de Québec, Ville de Québec, Québec, Canada
Comic Con Scotland, Edinburgh, UK
Boone Comic-Con, Boone, North Carolina, USA
Coda
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