Great moments in criminal genius

Jimmy Fahrenholtz had this planned out pretty well.

As soon as troopers entered his home, the briefcase — emblazoned with “JWN” initials — was clearly visible, the report says.

After being advised of his rights, Fahrenholtz agreed to speak with troopers. He told them he was working earlier in the day as a lobbyist at the Capitol, where he set up a table with “sandwiches, various documents, pens and soft drinks,” the report says, and it wasn’t until he returned home that he noticed he “accidentally picked up the folder while gathering his things from the table.”

When asked specifically about the iPad, the report says, Fahrenholtz initially denied knowing of its existence. Investigators then secured a search warrant for his home and soon located the iPad underwater in a backyard “concrete pond.” When troopers spoke to him again, Fahrenholtz said “he had inadvertently taken the property from the State Capitol building,” the report says.

“After arriving home, he had learned law enforcement was conducting an investigation into the missing property and were actively looking for it,” the report says. “Knowing the property was not his, he destroyed the iPad by submerging it underwater in his pond and hid it from authorities.”

Fahrenholtz told troopers he destroyed the iPad “because he believed if he was caught with it, no one would believe that he did not steal it,” the report says.