Crime & Safety

Suspect Photo Released in 'Moorish Nation' Burglary of Bethesda Mansion

One of the suspects says he claimed the property as a member of the Moorish Nation.

Police on Tuesday released photographs of a suspect in connection with a Jan. 5 burglary of an unoccupied residence in Bethesda.

Two other people, Lamont Maurice Butler, 29, of Waldorf, and his girlfriend, Sakita Shanik Holly, 34, of an unspecified address, are charged with first-degree burglary, and are scheduled to go on trial Sept. 17,  according to a Montgomery County Police Department news release.

When officers arrived at the scene of the burglary shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Jan. 5, Butler told the officers that he was a member of the Moorish Nation and had a right to claim the property, police reported.

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The property—which The Washington Post has identified as 7013 Natelli Woods Lane—was listed for $6 million, The Post reported. The Neo-Palladian palace—which currently is not listed, according to Zillow.com—has its own website, www.bethesda-mansion.com. It has 12 bedrooms, 17 bathrooms, two saunas and 503 wall switches (among other things), according to its website.

Jan. 5 was not the first time police visited the property. At about 4:15 p.m. on Jan. 3, officers responded to a call about a burglary in progress but did not find anyone there, according to the police news release. Witnesses told police that they had seen a man and a woman inside the home. When they questioned the man, he said the land belonged to "his people and his tribe," witnesses said.

Find out what's happening in Bethesda-Chevy Chasewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Detectives from the county's Special Investigations Division's Vice and Intelligence Unit on Tuesday released photographs of the third suspect in the burglary. (Detectives from the Vice and Intelligence Unit usually are not part of burglary investigations, but were brought in on this case because of its ties to the Moorish Nation sovereign citizen movement, Officer Rebecca Innocenti, a Montgomery County police spokesperson told Patch.)

The Post described the Moorish Nation movement as "an odd and perplexing phenomenon popping up in cities across the country."

"Butler said the Bethesda mansion belonged to him because he is a Moorish American National. He’d drawn up paperwork that he said proved it all, with references to a 1787 peace treaty and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations," The Post reported.

Read more about the Moorish Nation on The Post's website.

County police are asking anyone who can identify the third suspect (pictured in the photographs that accompany this post) to call the Vice and Intelligence Unit at 240-773-5958. To identify the suspect anonymously, call Crime Solvers of Montgomery County, toll-free, at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477), or leave a Crime Solvers tip.

Crime Solvers will pay a cash reward of up to $10,000 for information that leads to an arrest or indictment.


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