“French hairstylist Pascal Bensimon turned himself in to sheriff’s deputies Monday, after a 14-month investigation implicated him in the theft of Kevin Costner’s laptop, which contained the actor’s private wedding photographs,” Troy Hooper reports for The Aspen Daily News. “The owner of the swanky hair salon on Hyman Avenue that bears his name, Bensimon, 44, was hired to provide hair services for guests attending Costner’s wedding to Christine Baumgartner on Sept. 25, 2004, at his ranch east of Aspen off of Highway 82.”

“According to an affidavit filed at the Pitkin County Courthouse, the day of the star-studded ceremony, Costner’s personal Apple Powerbook G4 disappeared, along with a digital camera that contained pictures of the wedding. The laptop is valued at $1,500,” Hooper reports. “A month later, Bensimon’s son allegedly contacted Apple Computers, proclaimed to be the owner of the laptop, and said he had forgotten the password needed to access its contents. Due to a technicality, Apple did not initially discover that the laptop serial number that Bensimon’s son referred to matched the one Costner reported stolen and a new password was assigned to the computer, the affidavit said.”

“Mark Sheppard, who works as a computer consultant for the Costner family, suspected Bensimon stole the laptop based on conversations he had with officials at Apple earlier this year. Costner’s wife, Christina, then contacted Phillips who said she believed her employer might have taken the computer. Meanwhile, investigator Ryan obtained a court order that enabled him to confirm Bensimon’s son had contacted Apple and requested a new password,” Hooper reports. “So last month, Sheppard posed as a freelance journalist for Travel & Leisure magazine under the guise that he was interested in writing a story about Pascal’s haughty hairdos, which fetch upwards of $400 for a woman’s haircut and coloring. Although Ryan could not legally participate in the sting, he asked Sheppard to notify him if Sheppard could confirm that Bensimon had Costner’s computer. Using an alias, Sheppard walked into Pascal Bensimon Hair Salon on Nov. 18 and requested to see photos of Bensimon’s work. The hairstylist brought out a laptop to show Sheppard photos of his work. Sheppard verified the serial numbers matched those of Costner’s computer.”

Full article with more here.
You just can’t make this stuff up.

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