Mother, son indicted after antique guns, swords and more stolen from Seaford home
A mother and son have been indicted after dozens of antique (yet functional) guns, swords, knives and other weapons were stolen from a Seaford home.
Dawn Miller, 57, and her son, 30-year-old Korey Bratten, both of Salisbury, Maryland, were each charged with burglary, conspiracy and 40 counts of theft of a firearm earlier this month.
Police responded to a residence on Hearns Pond Road in Seaford on Jan. 31, when an older man discovered several of his antique firearms were missing from inside his home, court documents say. A week later, the victim discovered many more weapons were missing.
In total, the stolen items are valued at over $30,000. Most are World War II-era, some Civil War-era, and they include 34 rifles, muzzleloaders, shotguns and pistols, 31 swords and bayonets, 28 knives, seven machetes, 15 cannonballs, five artillery shells and four grenades.
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“These are musket/black powder type firearms, collector’s items, but they are functional,” Delaware State Police spokesman Lewis Briggs said via email.
Court documents say three of the grenades are decommissioned, and one is “emptied of black powder and fuse.” Briggs said the artillery shells are decommissioned and inoperable.
How police found the suspects
The day after the burglary was reported, antique firearms were the subject of a Maryland state prison video call, court documents say.
During the call, Miller discussed an 1860 Colt firearm with a prisoner, according to court documents. The prisoner expressed a desire to purchase it and said he also wanted the “three pin pullers,” which police believe was a reference to the grenades, court documents say.
Maryland State Police began an investigation and, in February, executed a search warrant at Miller and Bratten’s Adams Avenue home in Salisbury. The victim identified two swords found in the home as his, court documents say.
Miller told police she works for a variety of property management companies, court documents say. She and Bratten went to the Hearns Pond Road home Jan. 31 to perform foreclosure services, according to court documents, but both denied taking anything from the property.
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Bratten told police he had spoken with a relative at the Berlin, Maryland, Police Department about the “old guns," documents say.
When police contacted the relative, he told them Bratten attempted to sell him some guns, court documents say. He declined to purchase them, but provided Bratten with the name of a local gun shop that would, according to the documents.
The owner of the gun shop then provided police with a photo of about 30 “old long guns” Bratten had sent him, court documents say. He had purchased seven of the guns and one decommissioned artillery shell from Bratten, which the victim confirmed were his, documents say.
Miller and Bratten were arrested in early April and released on their own recognizance. They are scheduled for arraignment July 12, with a case review Aug. 19, in Sussex County Superior Court.
Police have recovered seven of the missing firearms, Briggs said, and are working to locate the others.
Shannon Marvel McNaught reports on southern Delaware and beyond. Reach her at smcnaught@gannett.com or on Twitter @MarvelMcNaught.
This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Antique guns, swords, more stolen in Seaford; mom and son indicted
