Man found not guilty for theft of $5K in silver coins

POLSON – A Missoula man was found not guilty of the theft of some
$5,500 in silver coins last week following a Dec. 11 jury trial.
Deputy county attorney Ben Anciaux had charged David Fitzwilliams,
30, with theft from the home of the owner of the Mountain Meadows
Resort at Lake Mary Ronan.
Fitzwilliams had been building a deck and working as a handyman at
the resort earlier this year, Anciaux said.
The owner of the resort and Fitzwilliams had discussed the owner’s
two boxes of silver coins and Fitzwilliams was allowed to sort the
coins, a court document states.
When the owner took one box of non-rare coins to the bank, he
received $5,500 for them. A second box that contained rare coins
was left on a chair on May 19 for Fitzwilliams to sort, the document
states. When the owner and his wife returned from the bank, the
second box of coins was missing along with Fitzwilliams.
Anciaux said there were issues with being able to prove Fitzwilliams
was the only one who could’ve taken the coins and with determining
the value of the missing coins. He said $5,500 was an estimate
based on the value of the first box of coins.
“It’s a difficult thing to identify coins that have been stolen because
they’re not marked,” he said, responding to a question about what
would happen if they’re found.
Fitzwilliams was arrested Aug. 24 and released on his own
recognizance on Aug. 31, Anciaux said.
Since Fitzwilliams was found not guilty, he cannot be retried for that
alleged crime, Anciaux said.