Those must be some extra sticky fingers.

The Boston Police Department is asking for the public’s assistance in identifying a man they say robbed a South End candy shop at knife point.

The man, captured on surveillance video, entered Madeleine’s Candy Shop at 47 Clarendon St. just before 7:30 p.m. Tuesday. He then walked up to an employee while holding “what appeared to be a knife,” according to a BPD statement, and demanded cash. He fled with an undisclosed amount of money.

Police describe the man as a white or light-skinned Hispanic man wearing a maroon sweatshirt, a gray wool cap, gray sweatpants, and a black mask.

Police ask that anyone who recognizes the man or who has information on the theft to contact detectives at (617) 343-5619 or to provide information anonymously through the CrimeStoppers tip line by calling 1-800-494-TIPS (8477), texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463), or through the online portal at Police.Boston.gov/CrimeStoppers/.

FBI recovers stolen 17th century Italian urn

Boston FBI agents recovered and returned a 17th century urn stolen from an Italian church.

“It’s incredibly exciting when the FBI can recover a piece of history that carries such deep emotional and cultural significance,” said Ted Docks, the special agent in charge of the Boston FBI. “After all, this reliquary urn is a tangible link to intense religious devotion and a connection to the generations who lived and prayed with it.

It represents the intersection of faith, history, and art – elements that are invaluable to the people of Italy and to humanity as a whole,” he continued. “This case highlights the power of international cooperation and our collective commitment to safeguard the world’s cultural treasures, no matter where they may be.”

The reliquary urn, which authorities say is a significant piece of Italian history and is registered with the Historical Artistic Heritage Items of the Italian Episcopal Conference, was stolen sometime in August 2022 from the church of San Michele Arcangelo di Cangiano.

The piece turned up in the hands of an antiques dealer in the American Northeast on Feb. 11, 2026. The dealer, who purchased it at some point from an Italian dealer, voluntarily relinquished the urn to the FBI, who gave it back to the Italian Ministry of Culture.

Boston-based FBI agents worked with the agency’s art crime team, its attaché in Rome and with the Italian Carabinieri, a paramilitary national police agency. The FBI’s art crime division was launched in 2004 and has recovered more than 20,000 items valued at more than $1 billion, according to the agency.

A reliquary is a medieval holder of a relic, according to Bowdoin College’s art history department, an item that “belonged to a saint … or, in many cases, the relics were believed to be body parts of a saint, truly powerful objects in the eyes of many medieval Christians.”

2 teens arrested for Haverhill mill fire

Two teens have been arrested on suspicion of setting fire to a Haverhill mill building earlier this week.

Firefighters responded to the mill at 14 Stevens St. at around 2:45 a.m. Tuesday after callers reported heavy smoke and flames. Firefighters arrived to “intense fire conditions that required a coordinated, multi-alarm response,” according to the Haverhill Police Department.

Crews worked the scene all day and were still fighting hot spots at least as late as 11:22 that night, when the firefighter union made its own post on the efforts.

The building was determined the next day to be a total loss, according to a statement issued by Mayor Melinda Barrett, Fire Chief Christopher Cesati, and city Building Inspector Thomas Bridgewater.

“Due to the intensity of the fire, the resulting heat severely compromised the structural steel supporting the four-story building,” the update stated. An independent structural engineer “determined that the building sustained a critical loss of structural integrity and will require full demolition.

That same day, Haverhill PD announced the arrest of 18-year-old city resident Isabella Sargent, who they charged with arson of a structure and conspiracy to commit arson.

On Thursday, police announced they had also arrested a second teen, this one a 17-year-old juvenile, on charges of arson and related offenses.

Police report that there were no civilian injuries related to the fire and that the incident remains under investigation.

The police ask that anyone with any information contact them by calling 978-373-1212 ext.1551.

Police search for Roxbury shooters

Boston police are looking for three males they say are responsible for shooting two other males on Kendall Street in Roxbury last month.

Police responded to 3 Kendall St. in Roxbury a little after 7 p.m. on March 29. There they found two male victims suffering from gunshot wounds. Both were treated at local hospitals for non-life-threatening injuries.

One suspect fled toward the parking lot behind that address while the other two fled toward where Kendall Street intersects with Shawmut Avenue.

Police on Wednesday released a surveillance still of the suspects and ask that if anyone recognizes them or has any information regarding the shooting to contact detectives at (617) 343-5619 or through the CrimeStoppers tip line. Crimestoppers information is detailed at the bottom of the first Crime Briefs entry.

A man who confessed to a 46-year-old Back Bay murder has pleaded guilty to the horrific cold case.

John Irmer, 71, entered a guilty plea for first-degree murder, which comes with a mandatory life sentence, according to the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office.

Irmer walked into an FBI office in Portland, Oregon, in 2023 to confess to killing a red-haired woman he’d met around Halloween in 1979 at a skating rink in Boston.

According to the DA’s office, Irmer told the FBI that after the meeting he’d walked into an apartment on Beacon Street that was under renovation with the victim, who turned out to be 24-year-old Susan Rose. Once inside, he said picked up a hammer, hit Rose on the head with it, killing her, then raped her. The next day, Oct. 30, Irmer said he left the state the next day for New York, while a construction crew found Rose’s body and a lot of blood.

Rose had been planning on dressing as “Dracula’s helper” for Halloween, borrowing a cape from a friend that she was wearing at the time of her death, according to a Herald article published the day after she was found.

A Boston Police detective described the killing as one of the most “vicious” he’d ever seen, telling Herald reporters whoever did it was a “real psycho.”

Another man had been tried for Rose’s murder a few months after the crime took place and was acquitted. In 2005, police reexamined evidence in the case and made a DNA profile from sperm found on a broom at the crime scene. Investigators found the DNA could not have been from the defendant in the first trial, the DA’s office said.

The FBI in Oregon reached out to Boston Police, who flew detectives across the country to interview Irmer. He told them that after becoming sober and finding religion during a prison stint in California for another killing, he felt he needed to confess to Rose’s murder.

During the interview, Irmer told police detailed information about Rose’s killing and confessed to another murder that took place in the South. According to the DA, investigators are also investigating that case.

In court Monday, Rose’s sister gave what the DA called an “emotional” impact statement, holding a photo of Rose when she was a first-grader.

Rose’s sister said she went by the nickname “Susie,” and was “caring, intelligent, adventuresome, and curious.”

“Now we know that my sister’s life was taken by John Irmer, but he also ruined the lives of my parents and me,” she said.

“The answers for Susan Rose’s sister and friends finally came today, though after a very long and sad period of time,” Suffolk DA Kevin Hayden said in a statement. “I hope other families affected by John Irmer’s murderous behavior find similar answers.”