Two Admit Guilt in Sanctuary Break-In

Two men arrested for the June break-in at the offices of the Central America groups housed in the basement of the Old Cambridge Baptist Church have admitted their guilt, staff members of the Central America Solidarity Association (CASA) said yesterday.

After being arrested last week for cashing an unauthorized CASA check for $3800, Boston residents Floyd Odom, 38, and Joseph Colton, 34, admitted to police that in early June they broke into the Central America groups' offices, said Kathy H. Brown, a member of the staff of CASA, which has its headquarters in the church.

Police believe that Colton and Odom are responsible for the latest in a string of break-ins because they "knew how [the intruders] broke in, which doors they broke, and what they took," Brown said.

"We have strong evidence against [Odom and Colton] in the most recent break-in," said James F. Dwyer, a Cambridge Police detective. He declined to comment further on the case against the two alleged intruders.

"If they admitted to doing it, then they probably did it," Brown said.

But despite the duo's admission of guilt, CASA members said that questions still remain about the string of seven break-ins which have plagued CASA since late 1984, during which the files of several Central America organizations have been repeatedly rifled.

"We don't have anything concrete to go on in the earlier break-ins," Dwyer said.

Since late 1984, sanctuary churches from Santa Fe, New Mexico to New York City have been broken into. In many break-ins, files have been examined while valuable equipment has been left behind.

"We're happy about the police locating these two folks, but we don't necessarily think the issue's over," Brown said. "We're encouraging the investigation to continue."

It remains unclear whether Colton and Odom were the only two intruders in the early June break-in, and whether they were sponsored by a political organization to conduct the break-in, described as the most violent of the seven.

"To my knowledge, there are no political ties to either of the suspects," Dwyer said.

But Brown said, "There has been a history of government and conservative groups hiring criminals hiring criminals to do their dirty work." She added that police suspect that there might have been a third man with Odom and Colton when they broke into the church basement.

"We definitely don't think they were responsible for all [seven] break-ins," Brown said.

A grand jury will decide by early next week whether or not to indict the two Boston suspects, but the case could go to trial as late as September, Dwyer said.