Merry Christmas everyone. Today we’re talking about a very prolific Christmas Criminal. For countless years this one man wreaked havoc across countries and continents. He has a very particular MO, so let’s get into it.
Because he’s committed so many crimes, we’re going to focus on just one for the moment that really exemplifies his pattern. It all began in January 1920, just after New Year. The Stewart family was enjoying the dawn of a new year. But they had this strange feeling that something wasn’t quite right. The family consisted of parents Elizabeth and Alexander and children James, Mary and Virginia. They lived in Pennsylvania and lived a quiet life as had many other Stewarts for generations. Alexander ran a local hardware store and Elizabeth was a pianist.
But that January the Stewart family kept getting the feeling that they were being watched. Young James was 12 years old and told his parents of multiple instances of feeling someone’s eyes on him while he was sleeping. Mary and Virginia also reported similar experiences. Even Alexander thought he saw a man lingering and loitering outside the hardware store several times, watching in the windows. One morning Elizabeth even found two large boot prints and some strange animal tracks in mud outside the children’s bedroom windows. This feeling of being watched continued for months.
With the Stewart family continually on edge during 1920, they were looking forward to the end of the year and the holiday season. But as they were preparing for Christmas the feeling of being watched intensified. Elizabeth later described it as feeling like their every move was being scrutinised by some invisible judge. And that’s when the notes began.
The Stewart family received a note through their front door on December 1st. The note was handwritten in red pen. It read:
I’ve been watching you this year.
Leave the following out on your dining room table on December 24th, or else.
- One glass of milk
- A plate of cookies (Homemade only)
- 8 carrots
K.K.
This note startled the family, what odd demands. They took the note to the local police, but without much more to go on, the police told the Stewarts they couldn’t help. After being so on edge all year, the Stewarts felt unmoored. They didn’t want to give in to the terrifying demands dropped through their door. But they also wanted to enjoy Christmas after such a stressful year.
After much family debate, the Stewarts decided to leave out the milk, cookies and carrots on Christmas Eve. They made sure to double check all the locks and windows, hoping that this was all just some twisted prank. They went to their beds that night with a feeling of dread, not sure what would await them in the morning.
But young James wasn’t willing to just sit idly by while his family was terrorised. James snuck out of his bed and grabbed his trusty Daisy lever action BB gun. He positioned himself just around the corner of the dining room door, rifle at the ready for anyone who might approach but out of sight from the dining room table. There he sat, through the night, determined to protect his family. Well into the night, James (who had started to drift off due to the late hour) heard a strange scraping sound on the roof. The sound startled him and he was sure the rest of the family would wake, but he heard nothing from his parents or his sisters.
After a few more minutes of the scraping sound, James heard a horrible noise coming from the fireplace in the living room. Because his hiding spot was in view of the fireplace, the boy scrambled to find more coverage, ending up behind the family’s christmas tree, doing his best to conceal himself. Peeking through the evergreen branches, James watched as two large black boots landed, hard on the hearth. As he watched he saw two red velvet covered legs, blackened by soot. The boy was so scared that he didn’t manage to get off any shots with his bb gun, he was frozen with fear. The man now stood in front of the fireplace, a terrifying figure dressed in a suit red as blood.
Without warning, the man let out a hearty laugh that boomed throughout the room: “Ho Ho Ho! Hello James!” A white gloved hand reached through the christmas tree branches and all of a sudden, James was surrounded by some sort of white powder that resembled pristine snow. And that was the last thing young James saw before passing out.
James woke up on Christmas morning back in his bed, his bb gun clutched in his arms. He was groggy, but he shot out of bed when he heard his younger sister, Mary let out a loud screech from downstairs. He raced down the stairwell, followed closely by Elizabeth and Alexander and Virgina. They found Mary in the dining room pointing at the table. There they saw that the glass of milk had been drained, all that was left of the cookies was crumbs, and the carrots were nowhere to be seen.
And sitting next to the plate was another note, written in red pen. It read:
Thanks for the treats.
Be good.
I’ll see you next year.
K.K.
A shiver of fear ran through the family. And when they turned toward the living room they saw another frightening sight: sooty boot prints all over the floor and a pile of wrapped presents that hadn’t been there the night before stacked beneath the Christmas tree. Alexander ushered the children back upstairs to their rooms and contacted the police at once. He explained that someone had clearly been in their home the night before and told them what young James had seen before waking up in bed.
After looking around the house, the police took the mysterious presents with them as evidence and promised to look into the Stewart family’s claims. As the officers shuffled out of the house, presents in hand, one turned back toward the traumatised Stewart family. He said: “We’ve been hearing reports like this all over town this morning, we’re going to look into them, but it seems like some kind of sick joke to me. Try to have a Merry Christmas folks, we’ll let you know if we find anything.”
The story of the Stewart family’s Christmas nightmare is just the tip of the iceberg. There have been nearly identical reports from around the world year after year. Sometimes the criminal in question leaves mysterious gifts in shoes or in stockings hung by the chimney with care. Sometimes he demands mince pies, pints of beer, hay instead of carrots, rice pudding, depending on the location of the crime. There have been sightings of the man on rooftops and squeezing his large frame into chimneys around the globe. Some even swear he has eight accomplices that look, strangely enough, like reindeer.
Police and federal investigators around the world want this man for a long list of charges including: Stalking, trespassing, breaking and entering, speeding, reckless endangerment, animal abuse, practising witchcraft, flying in a restricted airspace, flying without a license, and evading arrest. And some organisations are even looking into allegations of manslaughter for the hit and run death of Grandma, who was tragically killed in a freak reindeer/sled accident.
He’s a man of many aliases including the one that the Stewart family encountered, K. K. for Kris Kringle. He also goes by Père Noël, Weihnachtsmann, Ded Moroz, Joulupukki, Julenissen, Swiety Mikolaj, and Santa Claus, just to name a few.
So as you enjoy your merry Christmas and holiday season this year, be wary, be on the lookout, and keep an eye out for this hardened criminal in red suit, he’s still out there and he could strike anywhere, maybe even your house.
FURTHER READING:
Santa Claus: Jolly Old Man or Calculating Criminal?
Santa Snacks in Different Countries
Names for Santa Around the World
Santa – The Criminal – Solicitors Glasgow
Listen to more episodes here!