Cops eyed "Mad Hatter" suspect months ago

Cops eyed "Mad Hatter" suspect months ago

Maplewood man denies he's notorious bank robber
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 07/25/07

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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NEWARK — Neighbors and friends of a Maplewood man suspected of being the serial bank robber known as the "Mad Hatter" say he was generous with his time, tight with a buck and once asked to borrow a hat.

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"He was very giving of his love and his time, not so much his money," said Arlene Tyler, a secretary at the Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington, where Madison was one of the few white members of the predominantly black congregation.

Tyler said Madison, a parolee who spent 18 years behind bars for the 1986 brutal killing of his ex-girlfriend, decided to join the church after driving by and hearing its choir belt out hymns.

He was soon attending service on Wednesdays and Sundays and became a popular member, often pitching in during community outreach and youth functions, said pastor Ron Christian.

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James Madison of Maplewood was charged Monday with robbing a Union Township bank the day before. The FBI thinks he may be the serial bank robber known as the "Mad Hatter."

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