User:CipherSleuth/sandbox
Matthew David Keirans | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1966 California, U.S. |
| Occupation | IT worker (under stolen identity) |
| Employer(s) | University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (fraudulently, 2013–2023) |
| Known for | Decades-long identity theft of William Woods |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Motive | Personal financial gain; avoid prosecution under his real identity |
| Conviction | Guilty plea (April 1, 2024) |
| Criminal charge | Identity theft, making false statements |
| Penalty | 12 years in federal prison |
| Details | |
Span of crimes | 1988–2023 |
| Country | United States |
| States | New Mexico, Colorado, Oregon, Wisconsin, Iowa, California |
Date apprehended | 2023 |
Matthew Dave Kierans committed a decades-long scheme of identity theft that resulted in the institutionalization and imprisonment of his victim, William Woods. Kierans stole Woods's wallet in the late 1980s and used it to assume the other man's identity, likely to escape legal trouble under his real name. Over several decades, Kierans used Woods's identity to build a new life, getting married and obtaining employment under the false name.
Woods, who often experienced homelessness, tried multiple times to reclaim his identity. However, Kierans obstructed those attempts, successfully convincing authorities that Woods was the imposter. Wrongly accused of identity theft in 2019, Woods spent five months in a psychiatric hospital and over a year in jail. Kierans's scheme was uncovered in 2023, when DNA evidence exonerated Woods. Kierans pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The case received international attention, with many observers referring it as a Kafkaesque miscarriage of justice.
Early life and background
Kierans was born in 1966. He grew up in California, raised by adoptive parents.[1] At the age of 16 or 17, he ran away from home without graduating from high school. He soon began experiencing legal trouble as he moved around the country, including arrests in California, Kentucky, and New Mexico.[1] One of his encounters with the law involved the alleged theft of a car in San Francisco.[2] Following his arrest for the motor vehicle theft, Kierans skipped a court date and disappeared from law enforcement. Authorities have no record of Kierans using his real name, social security number, or date of birth after 1988.[3]
Identity theft scheme
In the late 1980s, Kierans was living homeless in Albuquerque, New Mexico when he encountered Williams Woods. Kierans worked alongside Woods, who was also homeless, at a hot dog stand. Woods would later recall the theft of his wallet by Kierans during their time working together.[3][4] In 1990, Kierans obtained a driver's license in Colorado under Woods's identity. Around this time Kierans was working as a newspaper carrier,[3] while also allegedly committing a string of crimes under Woods's name, including vehicular theft.[1] Kierans activity with law enforcement soon ceased after he got married and had a child. To help corroborate his false identity, Kierans used Ancestry.com to obtain the birth certificate of Woods. He used the birth certificate, along with the driver's license, to build a new life under Woods's name. Under the false identity, Kierans opened bank accounts; applied for titles, deeds, and loans; and obtained employment. He eventually embarked on a career in IT, becoming a high-level administration at a hospital system managed by the University of Iowa.[2] He earned over $140,000 a year, while working remotely from his home in Wisconsin.[5]
To maintain his identity, Kierans stymied efforts by Woods to reclaim his identity. Woods, who bounced between jobs and was often homeless, made several unsuccessful attempts to convince authorities that his identity was being stolen. Over the course of several years in the late 2010s, Kierans took out over $200,000 loans in Wisconsin.[4] Woods went to a bank in California to try and close the loans, arguing that he did not want to pay the debt which did not belong to him. Representatives from the bank did not believe him, and they contacted the authorities, who in turn, contacted Kierans. Kierans sent the authorities documentation that convinced them that the real Woods was lying. Woods, as a result, was tried in court for identity theft. The judge, according to transcripts, described Woods as "crazy" and ordered his institutionalization. Woods underwent forced psychiatric medication and spent over a year in jail.[3]
Discovery and conviction
Kierans came under the scrutiny of a detective, William Mallory, in February 2023.[1][5] Mallory worked for the University of Iowa Police Department. He was initially skeptical of Woods but decided to investigate further. Both Kierans and Woods were using the same birth certificate and claiming the same father in Kentucky. This gave Mallory the idea to perform a DNA test. The test showed that Woods, not Kierans, was the victim of identity theft. Kierans confessed to the scheme, telling investigators: "My life is over".[6] On April 1, 2024, Keirans pleaded guilty to identity theft and fraud. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison.[7] Woods was exonerated and has since sought to rebuild his life.[6][8]
The case attracted attention because of the social implications. Woods, who was often homeless, was not believed; while the middle-class Kierans was subjected to less scrutiny.[9][10]
Timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1988 | William Woods and Matthew David Keirans meet while working at a hot dog stand in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[6] |
| 1990 | Keirans fraudulently obtains a Colorado state ID card under Woods’s name.[11] |
| 2019 | Woods, living in Los Angeles, discovers that hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt had been accumulated in his name. He attempts to close the fraudulent accounts, but Keirans falsely reports Woods as the identity thief.[3] |
| 2019 – 2021 | Woods is arrested for identity theft and impersonation, spends over 400 days in jail, and is declared incompetent to stand trial. He ultimately pleads no contest and is released with time served.[12] |
| 2023 | Woods contacts the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where Keirans works under Woods’s identity. An investigation leads to DNA evidence confirming Woods’s true identity.[5] |
| April 1, 2024 | Keirans pleads guilty to identity theft and fraud in federal court.[3] |
| April 11, 2024 | Woods’s wrongful conviction is vacated by a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, and the District Attorney’s Office dismisses his case.[8] |
References
- ^ a b c d Nelson, Emily. "UI detective unravels identity theft scheme". This is UIowa. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ a b "Former hospital IT worker pleads guilty to 3-decade identity theft that led to his victim being jailed - CBS News". www.cbsnews.com. 2024-04-08. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ a b c d e f Smith, Mitch; Schaff, Erin (2025-02-03). "He Went to Jail for Stealing Someone's Identity. But It Was His All Along". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-06.
- ^ a b Mejia, Brittny (2024-04-09). "A thief stole his identity, but nobody believed him. He spent nearly 2 years locked up". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ a b c Morris, William. "Ex-University of Iowa IT worker admits he lived under stolen name for decades, faces prison". The Des Moines Register. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ a b c Hollingsworth, Heather (2025-01-31). "Identity thief whose deception led to his victim's incarceration gets a 12-year prison term". AP News. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
- ^ "Former Hospital Administrator Sentenced to 12 Years in Federal Prison in Identity Theft Scheme that Spanned Three Decades". www.justice.gov. 2025-01-31. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ a b "William Woods - National Registry of Exonerations". www.law.umich.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ Smith, Benedict (2025-02-12). "'I had my identity stolen for 35 years – and I was sent to prison for trying to get it back'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ Mejia, Brittany (2024-04-11). "Judge vacates conviction of man whose identity was stolen in 'Kafkaesque' case". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-03-07.
- ^ Morris, William (April 8, 2024). "Detective unravels 30-year identity theft by University of Iowa worker". Des Moines Register.
- ^ Rosenzweig-Ziff, Dan (2024-04-06). "Decades-long identity theft scheme sent victim to jail and mental hospital". The Washington Post.
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Premise
forthcoming
Conception
McMutry wrote the novel after finishing college at Northwestern State, writing at least 5-pages each morning. Shortly thereafter, the novel was sold to the movies for $10,000 in proceeds. In reflecting on the memoir, he wrote: "The publication so long awaited for, was anti-climatic".[1]
Analysis
In the book Southern Writers at Century's end, Folks and Perkins write that Horseman, Pass by “tells a story characteristic of much contemporary Western fiction: a young man's initiation into manhood.”[2] Hud represents the modern cowboy who is fenced out of his old range, whose mythological roots are dying, and who responds with range and violence."[3]
However, Horseman, Pass By eschews the typical formula of the Western novel up until that time, opting for a more realistic portrait of the modern cowboy after the settling of the Old West.[4] Bloodworth writes that "the landscape of the Old West exists primarily in the dreams and fantasies of the main characters".
Characters
Homer Bannon- old cowman who represented the old, ranching way of life. He has no interest in the oil fields springing up in the surrounding property.[5]
Hud - the stepson of Homer Bannon, who represents modern life and wants to turn the ranch into oil rig place
References
- ^ McMurtry, Larry (2008). Books: A Memoir. United States: Simon & Schuster. p. 59. ISBN 9781416583349.
- ^ Folks, Jeffrey J.; Perkins, James A. (1997). Southern Writers at Century's End. University Press of Kentucky.
- ^ Erickson, John R. (2004). The Modern Cowboy. University of North Texas Press. p. 94. ISBN 9781574411775.
- ^ Bloodworth, William (1980). Literary Extensions of the Formula Western. United States: University of Nebraska Press. p. 291.
Some Literary Westerns which are set after the years of settling the West seem to be conscious efforts at avoiding the classic landscape of the formula. In McMurtry's Horseman, Pass By... the landscape of the Old West exists primarily in the dreams and fantasies of the main characters.
- ^ Rebein, Robert (2014). Hicks, Tribes, and Dirty Realists: American Fiction After Postmodernism. United States: University Press of Kentucky. p. 120-121. ISBN 9780813149974.