Times, The (Shreveport, LA) - Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Author: Staff

Caddo Parish

Private investigator pleads guilty

A Shreveport investigator who faced felony charges for conning a mentally ill client pleaded guilty Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of criminal property damage.

As part of a plea agreement, William Howard Malpass surrendered his private investigator 's license and agreed not to work at an investigative firm in the state of Louisiana.

Malpass, a former member of the Shreveport Airport Authority board of directors, will serve two years on supervised probation.

Prosecutors say he took more than $50,000 from a local man who feared some type of radio signals were interfering with his mind. Malpass led the victim to believe he was preventing the signals from entering his residence.

Malpass has been the subject of police and government scrutiny before. He was arrested on a stalking charge in 2005 after police said he made numerous harassing telephone calls to a female acquaintance.

Also that year, Malpass was the subject of a state Ethics Board investigation that found him in violation of using the services of a fixed-based operator at Shreveport Regional Airport to buy fuel, repair and maintain his aircraft, perform bodywork on his aircraft, assist in landing and parking his aircraft and for lease of a hangar.

Malpass appeared before Caddo District Judge John Mosely.