The Maine "hermit" wants to get back to the land, but first he'll have to deal with up to a dozen new burglary charges.

When he was arrested for a break-in earlier this month, Christopher Knight, 47, amazed the public with his story of spending 27 years in the woods with no human contact, surviving on whatever he could steal from surrounding camps.

Kennebec County District Attorney Maeghan Maloney said Friday that police are combing through burglary reports from the last six years — the statute of limitations — and matching them to Knight's confession of hundreds of thefts.

Kennebec County Sheriff's Office

Christopher Knight was arrested on April 4, 2013, while stealing food from a camp in Rome, Maine.

In the next two weeks, Knight will be hit with a new round of charges. Maloney, though, said no one is anxious to throw the book at the remorseful recluse, who wants to pay back his victims.

"Christopher Knight has a bank account and all money put into that bank account will go first to pay restitution and any more left over goes to him," Maloney said.

"He has said it is his dream to have enough to buy his own piece of land."

Knight, who told police he simply walked into the forest when he was 19 and never looked back, built a makeshift camp for himself in Rome that has since been dismantled.

There were rumors of a "North Pond Hermit" who was breaking into camps that ring the pond, but no one saw him until Knight tripped an alarm three weeks ago and was arrested.

He was charged with one burglary and then a second. His bail was raised to $250,000 then lowered to $25,000, with the restriction that it couldn't be posted by a third party, to stop someone from taking advantage of him.

While he's been held in the county jail, where he's awaiting a mental health evaluation, his only complaint has been "the television is too loud," Maloney said.

He mainly speaks to his lawyer, who declined to speak about him, and the investigating officer, Trooper Diane Perkins-Vance. The trooper has befriended Knight, visiting when she's off the clock.

"He told me it's not that he dislikes people, he just doesn’t want to be around people," Perkins-Vance told WCSH.

Knight's apparent restraint in stealing only what he needed and his apologies to the victims have made him a sympathetic figure. He even got a marriage proposal, and there's talk of a book deal.

Maloney said the suspect lucked out by getting Perkins-Vance as an investigator and herself as the prosecutor.

"[She] hasn’t viewed this case as 'I want to lock him up and throw away the key," the DA said, "And I ran on a platform of being smart on crime and differentiating between crimes where a person can be rehabilitated and ones where they cannot."

After spending 27 years alone in the woods of Maine, the man dubbed the North Pond Hermit is adjusting well to his less solitary new home – a jail cell.

“He’s perfect,” Capt. Marsha Alexander of the Kennebec County Jail said of Christopher Knight, whose remarkable story has made him a lockup celebrity.

“He’s extremely polite, very articulate, very well-behaved, quiet and hygienic. I would never have guessed he’s lived in the woods for 27 years. He does look a bit weathered, though.”

Knight, 47, ended up in jail after he was caught breaking into a camp in Rome, Maine, last week, police said.

He told police he had been living in the forest since he left home in 1986 and had committed more than 1,000 burglaries for supplies, they said.

Kennebec County Sheriff's Office / AP

Christopher Knight, believed to be the North Pond Hermit, in a booking photo after his arrest last week. Police say he's been living in the woods for 27 years.

State police said they have no reason to doubt Knight’s tale of living in total isolation, through rough Maine winters, for nearly three decades.

Now he’s sharing a unit with six other prisoners. He hasn’t had any visitors.

“He’s willing to see some of his family members, but he wants to know which ones first,” Alexander said Thursday.

Police have said Knight’s family did not report him missing when he vanished from the small farming community of Albion in 1986, two years after graduating from high school.

A family friend said Knight’s relatives believed he had gone to New York City. His mother, who still lives in the area, could not be reached for comment.

A high-school classmate, real estate agent Larry Stewart, said he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Knight’s photo during a TV news broadcast about a hermit.

“I said to my wife, ‘Geez, I know that guy,’” Stewart said.

Kennebec County Sheriff's Office / AP

The camp in Rome, Maine, where authorities believe Christopher Knight lived like a hermit for decades.

He recalled Knight as “very quiet, reserved, always in the background,” he said.

Knight was part of an “outdoor adventure” program where students did rope courses and climbed walls, and he wondered if those skills helped him in the wild.

Police say Knight lived in a tent, steeling himself against the cold with multiple sleeping bags. He stole his food, clothing and supplies from dozens of camps in the area.

He gave up on fishing because it was too much work and he didn’t hunt. Most of his time was spent reading stolen books or meditating, police said.

Officers said he was up on current events because he listened to news on a portable radio, but he’s not interested in talking to the media now.

“He’s denied all requests,” Alexander said.

But for a man who shunned human contact for so long, Knight is surprisingly sociable.

“I spoke to him yesterday, to ask if he needed some private time,” she said. “He said, ‘I’m all set. I’m fine. Thank you, ma’am.’”

Knight has not given police an explanation of why he retreated into the woods. And they are stunned that no one stumbled on his makeshift campsite, which was littered with propane tanks and batteries and had clothing hanging from a line.

"This is not a remote, desolate site," Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said. "He was within a mile of a traveled highway."

Knight is charged with one burglary but police said that his confession could lead to more.

While break-in victims have spoken of the frustration of being targeted, others feel sympathy and a measure of awe for Knight.

“He’s got this kind of Robin Hood aura about him,” said Stewart, noting that police said Knight only took what he needed to survive and was contrite when caught.

He said his high-school classmates want to help find him a lawyer and maybe a place to live when he gets out of jail.

“I’d like to make up for the fact that I didn’t get to know him that well back in school,” Stewart said.

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 11, 2013 10:55 AM EDT

Kennebec County Sheriff's Office / AP

Christopher Knight, 47, dubbed the North Pond Hermit, lived in the woods of Maine for 27 years until his arrest on a burglary charge last week.

A hermit who lived in the woods of Maine for 27 years was arrested breaking into a camp and admitted to more than 1,000 burglaries, police said Wednesday.

Christopher Knight left home when he was 19 and his family never reported him missing. He's been holed up ever since at a makeshift camp near Rome — stealing essentials from nearby camps.

"He never left the woods," Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said.

Knight, now 47, was carrying $300 in cash when he was arrested -- his "emergency fund" -- but never spent any money.

Kennebec County Sheriff's Office / AP

The camp in Rome, Maine, where authorities believe Christopher Knight lived like a hermit for decades.

"Everything at his campsite was stolen except his eyeglasses. He had clothing, food, tools, propane tanks, a tent, sleeping bags -- everything you'd need to subsist on for almost three decades," McCausland said.

The man dubbed the North Pond Hermit gave no explanation for why he dropped out of society, though he was a fan of the adventure book "Robinson Crusoe. Police said it was unclear why no one had come upon him in a quarter of a century.

"This is not a remote, desolate site," McCausland said. "This is not in the deep Maine woods. He was within a mile of a traveled highway."

And he wasn't completely out of touch.

"He's obviously educated. He knew some current events," McCausland said, noting Knight had a portable radio.

"During the winter months, he didn't want to leave his camp because it would make tracks on the snow, so he read. All his books were stolen."

Police said he broke into nearby Pine Tree Camp at least 50 times. He was doing it again last Thursday morning when he set off an alarm system and was nabbed, police said.

Erin Rice, the marketing director for the camp for disabled adults and children, said rumors of a thieving hermit had been around for years.

"It was like a legend. You heard the stories but never imagined it was true," she said. "It's really troubling that things were stolen, but on the other hand, I feel really bad for this person who felt like they had to live in the woods for 27 years."

Knight is charged with the one burglary at Pine Tree, but since he confessed to so many others at dozens of camps, police are consulting with prosecutors about more charges.

"He is doing well in his new environment, which happens to be a jail cell," McCausland said.

This story was originally published on Wed Apr 10, 2013 4:55 PM EDT

Cumberland County Sheriff's Office

This undated photo released by the Cumberland County, Maine, Sheriff's Office shows Gary Irving, who was convicted of rape in Massachusetts and who had been on the run for 35 years.

A 34-year search for one of Massachusetts' most wanted fugitives came to an end Wednesday when police arrested a convicted rapist who fled to Maine after facing a possible life sentence. 

Police from Massachusetts and Maine teamed up to find 52-year-old Gary Allen Irving at his home in Gorham, Maine, where he had been living since 2002. Authorities believe that for decades he had been in the area, making a life for himself and keeping a low profile.

In 1978, Irving was convicted of three counts of rape in Norfolk County, Mass. But when a judge granted him a short stay to get his affairs in order before his sentencing, he took off.

Massachusetts State Police say Irving had changed his name to Gregg Irving and changed his date of birth to throw police off his scent. Authorities would not say what evidence led them to Irving, only that information developed in recent days.

State police from Massachusetts and Maine, along with local police and the FBI, also found numerous handguns and rifles — which Irving faces federal charges for illegally owning.

Police told NBC affiliate WCSH that Irving was found in the home with his wife, who was in shock during the arrest. Neighbors described him as pleasant and a normal resident.

Though he bore little resemblance to his mug shot photo snapped more than 30 years earlier, scars on Irving's chest and back helped police identify the fugitive, officials said. 

Irving was found guilty of multiple rapes during the 1970s and convicted of rape with force, kidnapping and unnatural acts. 

In one instance he was accused of knocking a victim off her bike and forcing her to a secluded area, where he repeatedly raped her, according to Massachusetts State Police.

In another, he forced a woman walking alone into his car and threatened her with a knife if she resisted.

Irving is being held in Portland, Maine, and will appear in the Cumberland County Courthouse on Friday.

Robert F. Bukaty / AP file

Mark Strong Sr., leaves the Cumberland County Court House on Jan. 18, 2013, in Portland, Maine.

The Maine insurance agent convicted of promoting prostitution was sentenced to 20 days in prison and ordered to pay a $3,000 fine on Thursday, according to The Associated Press.

Prosecutors said that Strong helped dance instructor Alexis Wright orchestrate a prostitution ring from her Zumba studio in the seaside town of Kennebunk.

Strong was convicted of 12 charges of promotion of prostitution and 1 count of conspiracy to promote prostitution on March 6.

Wright, 30, is expected to stand trial later this year. She has pleaded not guilty to 106 charges against her, including engaging in prostitution.

Prosecutors had asked that Strong be sentenced to as long as 364 days in jail. Strong’s defense attorneys argued the man should serve no more than 14 days.

Strong made an emotional mea culpa in court on Thursday before the sentencing proceedings began.

“Mostly I’d like to apologize to my wife and my sons and my entire family for causing so much harm,” Strong said, according to the Portland Press Herald, a local paper. “The next right thing for me to do is to ask for the help I need for myself, my spiritual growth, to become the person that I want to be.”

Strong’s wife asked the judge to “go easy” on her husband, the paper reported.

The case gained national attention as allegations emerged of a sprawling client list and videotaped sexual encounters between Wright and local men.

In January, Judge Nancy Mills dismissed 46 charges leveled against Strong, all of them related to alleged violations of privacy. The decision was upheld by the state’s highest court in February. Wright’s attorney’s filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Judicial Court that month stating that their client had a “vested interest in the resolution of this appeal.”

Also in February, Mills culled the number of “extremely sexual” Skype screenshots jurors would be allowed to see as attorneys for the defense argued that they could unfairly prejudice the jury.

The prostitution business generated $150,000 between October of 2010 and February of 2012, prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum filed in York County Superior Court on March 19. Strong took in 20 percent of the proceeds, prosecutors wrote.

The parties and attorneys in the case were barred by Mills from talking to the media for much of the case, an order Strong’s counsel Daniel Lilley protested in a motion to reconsider last month.

Related:

• Zumba trial: How much porn should jurors watch?
• Accused Zumba pimp trial begins in disorder
• Accused Zumba pimp: It wasn't 'love' with dance instructor

This story was originally published on Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:20 AM EDT

A 6-year-old Maine boy was accidentally struck and killed on Wednesday by a snowplow truck operated by his father, who was finishing up clearing snow from the family's driveway after Tuesday's late-winter storm, authorities said.

Kevin Capponi, 36, of Greene, Maine, was backing up his truck and did not see his son, Nathan, playing on a scooter in the driveway when the accident took place at 6:45 a.m., said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The boy was rushed by ambulance to Central Maine Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, McCausland said in a statement. Greene is located 22 miles west of the capital, Augusta, in southwestern Maine.

Tuesday's storm on the last day of winter brought heavy snow to New England, including up to 15 inches of snow in parts of Maine, the National Weather Service said.

Dover Police Department / AP

Casey Fury, of Portsmouth, N.H., a former shipyard worker.

A shipyard worker was sentenced to 17 years in prison by a Maine court on Friday after he admitted setting fire to a docked nuclear sub and causing $450 million in damage last year.

Casey James Fury, 25, was ordered to pay $400 million in restitution, the Associated Press reported.

Fury pleaded guilty to two arson counts in a plea agreement. He faced up to 19 years for setting the May 23 fire that damaged the USS Miami, a Los Angeles-class nuclear submarine, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, Maine.

Repairs to the USS Miami have been delayed because of sequestration defense cuts, according to the AP. The blaze drew more than 100 firefighters. Seven people were injured fighting the flames, but there were no deaths.

Fury, who worked as a civilian painter and sand blaster, told investigators he had set the May 23 fire in an affidavit filed on July 22, 2012 in the York County District Court. Fury told investigators that he was taking medications for depression and anxiety, according to the complaint.

Fury also admitted to setting a second fire outside the docked submarine on June 16. After initially denying setting the June fire, he admitted to starting the second blaze after being pressed by investigators, according to the July complaint. He had been anxious to leave work after he “began texting his former girlfriend and attempted to convince her that the guy she was seeing was not just a friend like she had been claiming,” according to the complaint.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Herb Swanson / EPA

Residents of Byron, Maine, vote against a proposal that each household be required to own a firearm.

BYRON, Maine -- Voters in a small Maine town unanimously rejected a proposal on Monday that would have required every household to own a firearm and ammunition.

More than 60 residents of Byron, Maine, packed into the tiny Coos Canyon Schoolhouse and quickly voted to make the symbolic measure the first order of business during the town's annual meeting.

After a brief discussion, residents elected to skip debate and vote. Not even Bruce Simmons, the resident who originally came up with the proposal, voted to support it.

Backers said the point of the measure, which was considered unenforceable, was to send a message to state and federal lawmakers trying to pass gun control laws.

"I feel we accomplished what we set out to do and I hope we will wake this town up," Simmons said. "We made a statement to the federal government that they can't take our guns away."

Herb Swanson / EPA

Philip Paquette, a Byron resident opposed to forcing people to own guns, put up signs urging people to vote against the proposal, which was unanimously defeated.

Selectman David Noyes, who told the group he opposed the requirement, said he was relieved the question was dispatched so quickly so the town of about 140 people could move on to other pressing matters.

Even if the measure had passed, Maine law bars municipalities from legislating on firearms.

The December shooting rampage that left 20 first-graders and six adults dead at a Connecticut elementary school has re-ignited the national debate over guns.

In response, some states have been prompted to tighten gun laws, while other states have sought to keep federal gun measures from being applied within their borders.

Byron is not the only U.S. town to mull such a measure. Last week, selectmen in the Maine town of Sabattus, about 60 miles from Byron, voted against putting a similar proposal before town residents.

In Georgia, a city leader in Nelson has proposed an ordinance calling on every head of household to have a gun as a way to keep crime down in the city of 1,300 residents, which employs only a single police officer.

The Nelson city council is expected to vote on the gun ownership ordinance on April 1.

Related:

A gun for every home? Maine town to vote on mandatory firearm ownership

NRA executive accuses Obama of gun 'charade'

Police chiefs, sheriff's divided over gun control

Glenn Adams / AP, file

Michael Hein of Augusta, Maine, holds a sign in front of the Maine State House during a Gun Appreciation Day rally on Jan. 19. In a smaller Maine town, a more powerful gesture in favor of guns has taken shape in a proposal to require firearm ownership.

Residents of a Maine town are expected to vote Monday on whether each household should be required to own a firearm, a decision that has thrust the tiny town of Byron into the heated national debate on gun control.

The vote is scheduled to take place on Monday evening in a potentially rancorous annual town meeting for the western Maine town's 140 residents and will be largely symbolic.

The town's head selectman says the vast majority of households in Byron already have at least one gun, and a requirement to possess guns and ammunition would be unenforceable because Maine law bars municipalities from legislating on firearms.

"It was never my intention to force anyone to own a gun who doesn't want to. My purpose was to make a statement in support of the Second Amendment (to the U.S. Constitution)," said Head Selectman Anne Simmons-Edmund, who proposed the ordinance.

The December shooting rampage that left 26 people dead at a Connecticut elementary school has reignited the national debate over guns. In response, some states have been prompted to tighten gun laws, while other states have sought to keep federal gun measures from being applied within their borders.

Byron is not the only town to mull such a measure. Last week, selectmen in the Maine town of Sabbatus, about 60 miles from Byron, voted against putting a similar proposal before town residents.

In Georgia, a city leader in Nelson has proposed an ordinance calling on every head of household to have a gun as a way to keep down crime in the city of 1,300 residents, which employs only a single police officer.

The Nelson city council is expected to vote on the gun ownership ordinance on April 1.

In Byron, Simmons-Edmund, who is also a police officer in nearby Dixfield, said the measure reflects community concern about the remote area's rising crime rates, which she said have nearly tripled in the last year.

Not all in the town were supportive of the move.

"It gives new meaning to the term 'March Madness,'" said Byron resident Philip Paquette, who has spent the past three decades as a Merchant Marine. "She is infringing on the rights of townspeople. I'm a hunter and own guns, and I have a right to. People also have a right not to own guns."

Simmons-Edmund says she got the idea after a suggestion from her father and fellow Byron resident Bruce Simmons.

"Five days ago, I would have predicted this article would pass," Simmons-Edmund said. "But we've gotten so much media attention, nothing would surprise me. This town has never been so closely scrutinized. It's up to the residents to decide now. And if they shoot it down, I am totally fine with it."

Related:

NRA executive accuses Obama of gun 'charade'

Obama unveils sweeping gun control proposals

Police chiefs, sheriff's divided over gun control