Indeed, Payne, who's 79, has a long and storied career as a scofflaw in localities across the country -- including here in Colorado, where she spent more time in stir than she did stealing expensive diamond rings.
According to an entertaining 2008 Los Angeles Times article penned by DeeDee Correll, "the beginning of the end" of Payne's criminal career took place in Denver -- although that prediction has proven a bit premature.
Circa the late '90s, Correll writes, Payne stole a five-carat diamond ring from a local Neiman Marcus. Several months later, she was recognized in a mall in Pennsylvania, leading to her arrest. In 1999, she was convicted in Colorado and given a twelve-year sentence.
By the middle of the next decade, however, Payne was out on parole and back to her old habits. She snatched thousands of dollars worth of baubles in Nevada and California before being busted outside -- yes -- a Neiman Marcus in Vegas with $2,700 worth of clothing. As she was processed for the crime, Correll notes, Payne listed her occupation as "jewel thief."
Payne subsequently spent two years in a Nevada jail before being shipped back to Colorado to complete her term here. When the Times article was published, she was still in prison and swearing that she was reformed. Her son was confident she meant it, telling Correll, "She's not going to steal anymore."
Didn't quite work out that way, did it?
