Police Apprehend Suspect In Widener Book Slashing

Five years and tens of thousands of dollars after Harvard police began investigating book slashings in Widener Library, federal, state and local authorities yesterday arrested the man they believe responsible for one of the most baffling criminal cases in the University's recent history.

The suspect, whose name police will reveal at a press conference today, was arrested at his home in Arlington, Mass, and is being held at State Police barracks. He will be arraigned this morning at Cambridge Third District Court.

Police sources said the suspect was a Harvard employee who worked in the University library system during the time of the slashings, which began mysteriously in 1990.

Officers said they recovered enough books, manuscripts, typewriters, computers, cutting materials and other objects allegedly stolen from Harvard to fill a police van.

"The chief wants to make the official announcement, but let's just say that this is the culmination of a major, major investigation," said one Harvard detective, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Officers from the FBI, the state police and Northeastern University worked on the case, which has confounded the Harvard police department for years.

Sgt. Lawrence J. Fennelly, the head of Harvard's crime prevention unit, had told officers in the department that he would "continue this investigation until the day I die."

Fennelly had worked closely with the department's criminal investigations division on the case.

The suspect arrested yesterday is accused of destroying hundreds of thousands of dollars in books, many of which were about church history and linguistics.

The slasher, who used a knife and his hands to rip out pages, left notes threatening violence if anyone tried to stop him.

"I will not stop until the voices tell

"I will not stop until the voices tell me to stop," said one of the notes, according to a library circulation official.

In 1992, Harvard police hid television cameras in hollowed out books and placed undercover officer in the stacks 24 hours a day as part of their investigation.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Widener Library, the general counsel's office and the police department financed the operation, which in 1992 was estimated to cost more than $50,000.

"We have substantial physical and forensic evidence which we are still cataloging," one police source said last night.

"This resulted from an unbelievable piece of luck and a tremendous amount of good, old-fashioned police work," the officer said. "But the details will be made public [today]."

Widener Library, which employs more than 400 people, took extraordinary security measures during the time of the slashings. At one point in 1990, every person who wanted to go into the stacks was required to sign their name and provide their ID number before entering.

"Vandalism is an old and intermittent problem in every library, and this is something that happens to the Harvard libraries from time to time," University Librarian Sidney Verba '53 said at the time.

But police indicated that the suspect arrested yesterday had gone beyond vandalism and had committed many counts of larceny as well.

Harvard police had long suspected that the slasher was a library employee because he was able to elude monitoring devices and was never seen exiting the library with stolen items.

Said one police source: "This guy was in our backyard the whole time.

"I will not stop until the voices tell me to stop," said one of the notes, according to a library circulation official.

In 1992, Harvard police hid television cameras in hollowed out books and placed undercover officer in the stacks 24 hours a day as part of their investigation.

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Widener Library, the general counsel's office and the police department financed the operation, which in 1992 was estimated to cost more than $50,000.

"We have substantial physical and forensic evidence which we are still cataloging," one police source said last night.

"This resulted from an unbelievable piece of luck and a tremendous amount of good, old-fashioned police work," the officer said. "But the details will be made public [today]."

Widener Library, which employs more than 400 people, took extraordinary security measures during the time of the slashings. At one point in 1990, every person who wanted to go into the stacks was required to sign their name and provide their ID number before entering.

"Vandalism is an old and intermittent problem in every library, and this is something that happens to the Harvard libraries from time to time," University Librarian Sidney Verba '53 said at the time.

But police indicated that the suspect arrested yesterday had gone beyond vandalism and had committed many counts of larceny as well.

Harvard police had long suspected that the slasher was a library employee because he was able to elude monitoring devices and was never seen exiting the library with stolen items.

Said one police source: "This guy was in our backyard the whole time.