Former Sedalian confesses to museum theft of Civil War antiques

On March 24, museum co-curator Charles Wise reported several Civil War era items were missing, including a cap and ball musket rifle, a sword, a surgical kit, and a brass-barrel Blunderbuss firearm. The items have a value of several thousand dollars, meaning Cockrell’s charge could reach felony status.

After an internet search, Wise found a Tennessee Civil War collector, Rafael Eledge, had the missing items displayed on his website. Eledge provided documents from his purchase of the antiques that tied Cockrell to the theft, according to the press release.

Cockrell reportedly told Green he stole the items and sold them to the collector. Eledge, who had no knowledge the items were stolen, purchased the antiques in June and has since resold them to buyers across the country.