Handy man accused of stealing from elderly woman, skips pre-trial

FOX 2 - It's the return of the "Handyman from Hell."

James Walsh: "I'm done talking."

Rob Wolchek: "Okay. Are you gonna go to trial?"

James Walsh: "Yes. I never was not going to."

Walsh will be in court - and Shamus the bail bondsman is going to make sure of it!

"If they don't go to court, I do what I need to do within the limits of the law, to get them back into custody," he said.

James Walsh is fresh out after a midnight trip to county jail courtesy of some fugitive recovery agents.

And as soon as he's free again, James gets to talk to his favorite reporter.

Wolchek: "You're not ripping this lady off like you allegedly did to the other lady."

James Walsh: "No I am not."

It's like deja vu. Last summer, Wolchek introduced you to Mary Lou.

"I thought that he was my friend," she said.

She was a lady who hired James Brian Walsh - JB Walsh, to be her handyman.

"I started noticing I'm bouncing checks and I'm taking money out of this account, transferring over to this account so it gets paid," she said.

Mary Lou is in her 80s so her niece Mary decided to help.

"When I looked in her Lake Trust checkbook, there was a missing check right in the middle," Mary said.

And they say there were checks cashed out of order. Checks that James Walsh endorsed.

"A lot of them are to cash and he forged my signature," Mary Lou said. "I trusted this man."

In all, Mary Lou was missing about $30,000.  They took the evidence to the Sylvan Lake Police Department. Cory O'Donahue is the chief.

"We found out over the last year he'd been stealing a lot of money from her," he said. "Whether he was taking checks and just writing them out to himself or just tricking her into giving him money."

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office agreed and warrants for James Walsh's arrest were issued. The problem was, the dandy-handyman had disappeared.

For six months, James Walsh was in the wind. But late last summer, he started posting photos on Facebook from Michigan, he was at a Tigers game, he was at a scenic bridge in Waterford.  

Wolchek started sleuthing and found this car parked in front of one of the handyman's facebook friends' house and it looked suspicious.  janky old expired plates, and a clothes basket in the front seat.

Wolchek's camera man started watching the SUV and holy handyman!  It's James Walsh.

The next day we followed him to a Waterford 7-Eleven.

"JB! It's Rob Wolchek from FOX 2."

Wolchek: "I want to talk to you about Mary Lou. You remember her?"

James Walsh: "I do."

Wolchek: "Well, you were her handyman right?"

James Walsh: "For a little while yes. "

Wolchek: "Her family was looking and it appears you may have taken some money from her."

James Walsh: "That's false."

Wolchek: "That's false? You didn't take any money from her?"

James Walsh: "I did not."

Wolchek hammers the handyman for while and he looks like he's on the verge of tears.

Wolchek: "So you have a warrant for four felonies. Three counts of uttering and publishing and one count of embezzlement out of Sylvan Lake."

James Walsh: "Okay I'll have to get in touch with them then."

Wolchek: "You want to drive over there right now and turn yourself in?"

James Walsh "Not at the moment. I need to get going, I got some doctor stuff to attend."

Wolchek: "So you've been sick. And that's all true?"

James Walsh: "Yes it is."

Wolchek: "And you didn't take her money?'

James Walsh: "No I did not."

Wolchek: "And where are you staying now?"

James Walsh: "With a friend right now. I'm done."

Wolchek: "All right."

James Walsh: "Thanks for letting me know."

Wolchek: "I'll see you in court."

James Walsh: "Okay."

But James didn't turn himself in. Cops had to come and get him.

James Walsh spent about a month in the pokey until one of Walsh's friends hired Shamus Gilliland, bail bondsman.  

"I personally put up a guarantee with the court in the amount of $10,000," Shamus said.

Wolchek: "So you're kinda responsible for knowing where he's at?"

"Absolutely yes," said Shamus.

So James Walsh was "out on bond" until his trial. All he has to do is show up to his court dates on time - but guess what? He didn't.

According to a spokeperson with the Oakland County Prosecutors Office, James Walsh was a no-show at a pre-trial a couple of weeks ago.

Judge Nanci Grant issued a bench warrant and the bondsman sent out a fugitive recovery team to find him.

And where'd they find him? At the house of another 'friend.'

Who is the friend?  Well, another lady in her 80s answered the door.  After another $2,500 in bond is ordered, Walsh is released and he comes walking down the street to his 'friend's' house.

Wolchek: "Who are you living with now? Does this lady know what you're doing?"

James Walsh: "It's a very good friend of mine. None of your business."

Deja vu?  Remember what Mary Lou said about James last year.

"He would be the last person I would think," she said. "He was my friend."

Walsh told me he missed the court date because of a clerical error and that he was "unjustly incarcerated."

Another pre-trial has been rescheduled for Wednesday.  This is the same pre-trial the prosecutors say he skipped.

His trial was supposed to have started last week but since the fix-it man was a fugitive, that trial date will have to be re-scheduled.