Contractor accused of stealing valuable artwork from 92-year-old woman's Newton home

A contractor from Boston is facing charges tied to stolen artwork from a 92-year-old woman's home in Newton, Massachusetts.

Brandon Campbell has been arraigned on charges including larceny and forgery of a document.

Sheila Robbins' son and daughter allege Campbell stole over 100 pieces of art, worth tens of thousands of dollars.

"Upwards of $100,000," said Robbins' daughter, Melanie Steffen.

The Robbins said Campbell was hired to clean up at the elderly woman's home after a city sewage backup in late 2022.

"Remove contaminated debris, encapsulate the floor that was covered with poopy water," explained her son, Jonathan Robbins.

Campbell's attorney said the artwork he's accused of stealing — some painted more than a century ago — was contaminated and needed to be removed from the home.

"They were claiming that these were taken away because of water damage. As you can see, there's no damage," Steffen said, showing us the paintings they recovered.

A friend of Robbins' family spotted some of the paintings online several months ago.

"We got a call that they had been listed on an online auction that was due to go live in a couple of days," Jonathan Robbins said.

NBC10 Boston tried talking to Campbell at his home in Boston, but there was no answer.

"If a phone call was made, the items would've been returned," his attorney said.

Court documents show Campbell has 16 entries on his record with the board of probation. The most recent one, from June, was tied to larceny.

His next court appearance for this case is in April.