Trial Begins for Ex-Museum Director By BILL BERGSTROM, Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA (AP) - A former museum director told descendants of a Civil War officer that a uniform owned by the family was only a costume, then later sold it to a collector for more than $40,000, a federal prosecutor alleged Monday during opening statements. Russell Pritchard Jr., the former director of the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia, is charged with theft from a museum and being an accessory after the fact. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Goldman said Pritchard allegedly agreed to get the uniform appraised for his cousin. Then he told the cousin the uniform had turned out to be a costume and had been donated to a charity. Goldman said Pritchard and his son later sold the uniform to the collector, and it eventually was obtained by the Museum of Tennessee for nearly $70,000. Pritchard's cousin, William Day of Memphis, Tenn., is the great-great- grandson of Confederate Lt. Col. William Richardson Hunt, prosecutors say. In his opening statement, defense attorney Thomas Bergstrom questioned whether the prosecution could prove the uniform was from Day's collection. Pritchard ``absolutely did not steal that uniform, and he did not obtain that uniform by fraud,'' Bergstrom said. In December, Pritchard's son, an antiques dealer, pleaded guilty to staging a phony appraisal in 1997 on the PBS television show ``The Antiques Roadshow.'' On the show, a man who claimed to have found a Civil War sword in his attic was told the weapon was worth $35,000. But Russell Pritchard III and a business partner knew the man and had arranged for him to bring the sword on the show. Prosecutors said the partners staged the appraisal to get publicity and attract customers. In pleading guilty, Pritchard III agreed to cooperate in the case against his father. From: Museum Security Network: newsletter http://www.museum-security.org/ _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).