Oklahoma City museum head indicted on theft charges in Kansas

Thursday, April 7th 2005, 1:04 pm

By: News On 6

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) -- The head of the Kirkpatrick Science and Air Space Museum at the Omniplex in Oklahoma City has been indicted in Kansas on charges of stealing numerous space artifacts.

Federal prosecutors say Max Ary is named in an 11-count federal indictment that accuses him of stealing items from the Kansas Cosmosphere in Hutchinson, Kansas. Ary co-founded the Cosmosphere and worked there for more than 26 years before leaving in 2002.

The indictment says Ary took items as an astronaut's watch and the nose of a spacecraft, then sold them.

An investigation began in August of 2003 when officials noticed some items from the Cosmosphere's collection were appearing in the hands of private collectors.

More than 100 artifacts are thought to have been sold without approval from the board of directors.