Oil Heiress Robbed 5th Time in 9 Years as Burglar Steals $5 Million in Jewels

NEWPORT, R.I. —  A knife-wielding burglar rousted oil heiress Carolyn Skelly from her bed early Monday and robbed her of up to $5 million in jewelry--the fifth time Skelly has been robbed in the last nine years.

Skelly, the daughter of the late William Skelly, who amassed a fortune as a business associate of the late J. Paul Getty, was awakened in her Bois Dore mansion by a man wearing a ski mask and a dark sweatsuit and brandishing a knife, Police Sgt. Francis Tessina said.

“The intruder came into her bedroom, threatened her with a knife and told her he would tie her up if she made any noise,” Tessina said, adding that Skelly’s daughter also was in the mansion but was unaware of the intruder.

“He proceeded to go through the house about 30 minutes before fleeing on foot with a small amount of cash, about $50, and multimillions in jewelry,” Tessina said. “We estimate between $3 million and $5 million.”

Skelly and her daughter were not injured.

In 1983, Skelly was robbed of $2.2 million of gold, diamonds and other jewelry by a former maid. In August, 1985, three teen-agers broke into her estate and stole about 15 pieces of jewelry.

In 1982, Skelly lost $1 million in family jewels when a man commandeered her chauffeur-driven limousine at gunpoint outside LaGuardia Airport in New York. In 1977, she was robbed of $199,000 in uninsured jewels at her Long Island mansion in Southampton, N.Y.