MADELEINE BRAND, host: A couple of weeks ago we brought you the story of the Earl of Buckingham, or rather a man claiming to be the Earl of Buckingham. We spoke with Sean O'Neill, a reporter with The Times of London, who had discovered the man was really an American named Christopher Stopford. Even his wife and grown kids didn't know who he really was.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Mr. SEAN O'NEILL (Reporter, The Times of London): He'd basically gone through the death register, found a child that had died around about the same time that he was born, stole that identity, and got a copy of the birth certificate. Using the birth certificate, was then able to create a whole new identity for himself.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: So, what's next in this strange saga?</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: Mr. O'NEILL: You'll have to read The Times tomorrow to find out.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: So we did read The Times. Official fingerprints confirmed Stopford's identity. And the story gets juicier. Turns out, Stopford had fled the U.S. after doing time for a parole violation related to a planned pipe bombing of his supervisor at Burger King. His father told us he's relieved to know of his son's whereabouts, though they've still not spoken.</s>MADELEINE BRAND, host: There's more coming up on DAY TO DAY from NPR News.
An American who spent 20 years in the United Kingdom posing as a British aristocrat, has been identified as a Florida scam artist. Madeleine Brand offers listeners the latest on the man once known as the Earl of Buckingham.