There’s another turn in the story of the painter who stole works of art from the Schulof residence a few years before the collection was sold. Not only does the accused claim that the art works were given in lieu of cash for his work but that he is exonerated by footage from a reality show that the producers are witholding:

In court documents that were to be filed Monday night, house painter Joselito Vega said the caught-on-camera theft of artwork worth $100,000 from a Kings Point estate — including a small Picasso etching — was just a misunderstanding that could easily be cleared up if CBS shared video from its short-lived “Brooklyn DA” show.

Vega, who was arrested in 2012, said he was approached by Michael Schulhof, who hired him to do some painting in his mother’s stately home.
“Up until his arrest, Vega didn’t believe that there was anything wrong or illegal with this arrangement,” Vega’s lawyer Timothy Parlatore said in the filing.

Parlatore said proof of the arrangement was in Vega’s car, which he said was searched, on camera, after Vega’s arrest.

Art thief’ says reality show withholding video that clears him (NYPost)