The Truck and It's Secrets

January 28, 2002, I travelled to St. Paul and retrieved all of the Certificates of Veterinary Inspection filed by Ken and Nancy Kraft from 2000 forward. I also met with an attorney to discuss filing a civil lawsuit against Kraft’s. This attorney sent a letter of intent to Kraft’s insurance company and on February 4, 2002, we received a response. On February 5, 2002, Kraft’s friend Carolyn Atchison called me to ask what I had done to Nancy. I told her I hadn’t ever done anything to Nancy but I was tired of being stalked and harassed and we were going to sue. Atchison said, “Well, she’s crying and said she needs to go to the Mower County courthouse to see her attorney.” ( I didn’t know if that meant she was going to see Oman or Wellman. ) A couple of days later a reporter from the Rochester Post Bulletin called to tell me he had been at the Mower County law enforcement roll call and the Sheriff announced that there had been a burglary at Kraft’s. I was a “suspect” and Mrs. Kraft said I was working with Christine Chandler. The reporter, Joshua Lynch, had a copy of the report, which alleged that there had been a burglary some time in the past six months. A number of things were allegedly stolen, including a tiger transaction report that had supposedly shown up on David Conway’s Internet site. The officer who took the report said Kraft’s printed off “evidence” from that website. I called the Mower County Sheriff’s Department and asked for a copy of the report and the evidence of the “stolen tiger transaction report” given to them by Kraft’s. I was told the matter was under investigation and so this was not publicly available information. I called the reporter and he brought a copy of the “unavailable” report to my home. He did not ever see the alleged tiger transaction report.
On February 5, Christine Chandler and her daughter, Kerrie Applegate, came to my home. Christine had received a call from the officer investigating Kraft’s latest complaint…..I was not called. I had a neighbor join me when Chandler and Applegate came over because I did not want to be alone with them. When Christine described the day of the attack she gave me information that I had not previously been aware of: she escorted a male deputy with a canine unit named “Nitro” to Kraft’s house on the day of the attack. Chandler had arrived at the park and knew something was wrong because no one was there. The deputy pulled in and told her he needed to speak to someone about the tiger attack. Chandler said she “freaked” and said, “Where’s my daughter?!” Chandler said she got in her Jeep and had the deputy follow her to the house. Nancy Kraft was on the phone with a reporter, already starting the disinformation campaign. The Deputy interviewed Nancy. Kerrie Applegate finally reached her mother, using my phone. Both Kerrie and Christine said Ken was screaming about shooting the tiger; having to “put wheels under it.”
I was not aware of anyone other than Deputy Anderson working on the report on the tiger attack, but this would make sense because I had discussed, with SA Price, how the first part of the police report read as if it had been written by someone else. I called Mower County SD and asked if they had a canine unit named “Nitro”. I was told they did not. I called Olmsted County and asked if they had a canine unit named “Nitro”. The Dispatcher said they did and that the dog’s handler was Deputy Bruce Christensen. I asked the dispatcher to see if Christensen had responded to my 911 call on July 22, 2001 and was told that yes, he had responded to that call. I knew I had spoken to Deputy Fix but I did not see any other law enforcement officers in Stewartville. On Monday morning I stopped into the Olmsted County LEC and put my name and phone number on a “Please call” slip. This was placed into Christensen’s mail slot. Bruce did not call but I instead received a call from Captain Joe Loftus. Loftus wanted to know why I wanted to speak to Christensen. I let him know Chandler had named “Nitro” by name and that she said he had interviewed Kraft’s about the tiger attack. I told Loftus I wanted to ask Christensen some questions. Captain Loftus said I would not be allowed to speak to Christensen without a subpoena. I asked him if I could come in and discuss the matter with him and he said he would have to get back to me. The next day Loftus called and said he would be available to discuss this over the phone with me on Friday at 9:00 am. I told him I would rather discuss this in person and he said that an in-person discussion was not going to happen. I declined his offer to participate.
I contacted SA Price who said, “What did you do to Joe?” My questions to Price were, “Who was Loftus going to conference in to the call? If Christensen wasn’t at BEARCAT Hollow, why did I need a subpoena to speak to him? If “Nitro” wasn’t at BEARCAT Hollow, why would Christine Chandler pull his name out of thin air, and how could anyone explain away that statement when Christensen had responded to my 911 call? Price said these were coincidences and Chandler must have been mistaken. Right.
February 12, 2002. The Racine City Council convened it’s regular meeting at 7:00 pm, but the venue had been moved from their tiny City Hall to the Racine Methodist Church. The reason? The City Council had publicized an invitation for public comment on the public safety hazard posed by Ken and Nancy Kraft’s inability to contain their dangerous and predatory animals on their BEARCAT Hollow compound, and their unwillingness to accept responsibility for the injury to persons and property caused by their escaped lions, tiger and bear. On January 8, 2002, Racine residents had asked the council to revoke Kraft’s Conditional Use Permit pending a safety inspection by an independent agency. On January 10, following a two hour meeting with the Kraft’s, Mayor Gary Landgrebe called a secret City Council meeting so Kraft’s could present evidence of their intent with regard to securing their facility. Residents who found out about the meeting attended but were not allowed to speak. It was at that meeting that the Mayor stated, for the record, that comments and concerns would be welcome on February 12, 2002.

Local and regional news stations had been informed of the meeting and numerous reporters showed up to hear what the residents had to say. Racine is tiny and in 2002 had less than 300 residents. Over 60 Racine residents attended this meeting, many anticipating the opportunity to express concerns for their safety and the safety of their children. After calling the meeting to order, Mayor Landgrebe stood in front of the group with a script and gave the council’s alleged decision regarding the park, and said any individuals who attempted to comment would be removed from the premises by the Mower County Deputy in the back of the room. Christine Chandler, no doubt planted as an agent provocateur, stood to speak and the Deputy was summoned to remove her from the room. None of us were aware of COINTELPRO operations at that time or we might have seen through this ruse, but it didn’t really matter because programs that run counter to anything intelligent do not work on law abiding, peaceful, reasonable citizens. But this was not going to be the end of their effort.
Racine resident Ilene Tjepkes was the most visibly shaken by this turn of events. Ms. Tjepkes lived across the street and from Kraft’s and was forced to close a home daycare business after she received her second call to warn her that a lioness was walking down Main Street and toward the children in her yard. (This information was not published or written down anywhere, but interestingly, Court Garloff would mention it in testimony at a court appearance over a year later.) The only citizens of that area with whom I was acquainted were the Boone’s and the DeGeus’s. When Ms. Tjepkes approached me she was crying, distraught, and wondering if there was anything I could do to help them. There was absolutely nothing I could do to aide her, but I suggested that the citizens organize themselves and conduct their own meeting. They could record their concerns and present those to the council at a later date. It is important to note that not one person talked about “shutting down” BEARCAT Hollow and not one person spoke of letting their animals loose. Discussion centered around finding ways to make the property safe so no one would get killed: a distinct possibility given the nature of the animals they were keeping.
Ms. Tjepkes and a small group of citizens formed a group and called themselves Citizens Concerned for Public Safety. Their purpose was to identify the problems and find workable solutions so the facility and the residents/public could co-exist. Ms. Tjepkes and I discussed her plans and she forwarded me ideas for a flier that she wanted to distribute to announce the meeting. The date selected was February 26, 2002, at 7:00 pm. Anticipating a large turnout, the group again retained the Methodist Church hall so they could comfortably accommodate everyone. The CCPS asked the Pastor to be the moderator and decided they would allow citizens 5 uninterrupted minutes to express their support or concerns regarding Kraft’s operation. No personal attacks would be allowed.
Ms. Tjepkes had attended the January City Council meetings and so she was aware that I had researched the USDA fencing requirements for exotic animal facilities, and she was also aware of the fact that despite these places hung sign saying, USDA licensed, the USDA actually wrote that their fencing requirements are “minimal”. She was also aware of the fact that the USDA requirements do not consider public safety, but only consider animal confinement/safety issues. Ms. Tjepkes called and asked if I would provide her with a copy of that information so she could explain to attendees that they needed to find a way to get the council to act on behalf of human beings AND the animals. I agreed to provide her with a copy.
On February 18, 2002, Ms. Tjepkes called to say that she needed to leave town for a family emergency. She asked if I would be willing and able to help another CCPS member distribute fliers for the meeting to every home in Racine. It is unlawful to put this type of information in mailboxes so these would have to be walked to the front door of every home. On February 19, 2002, despite being afraid, my daughter and I assisted Mike and Wendi Dolton with delivery of fliers. Every household in Racine received an invitatation/announcement, including Kraft’s.
February 24, 2002. Ms. Tjepkes returned from her emergency and at about 8:30 called about the USDA information. The meeting was only two days away, Ms. Tjepkes was going to be out of her regular office the following day, and so she was concerned about having time to make and collate copies the day of… She asked me if I would be willing to drive the information to her that night. I informed her that I would be happy to bring her the documentation, but I would need to find someone to accompany me because I was afraid to go anywhere near Kraft’s – especially at night. I called two girlfriends but neither could accompany me and so I called Clyde Boone, who was local to Racine, and asked Clyde if he would ride from his house to the Tjepkes home with me so I could drop the information off for Ilene.
When I called Ilene to tell her I had found someone to accompany me she said she was “freaked out” because a truck that had awakened her children at 2:00 am Thursday morning was back and Kraft’s animals were roaring and going “crazy”. Ms. Tjepkes said she did not know what was going on but it sounded like something might be loose. She knew I was concerned for my safety and so she said, “Be careful.” I attempted to contact Christine Chandler to ask her why Kraft’s would be moving animals at 2:00 in the morning and why they would be moving them at 9:00 on a Sunday but I was not able to reach her. I called Clyde from my cell phone and told him what Ilene had said because Clyde, too, had been harassed and so his family was also wary of Kraft’s and their associates.
It was approximately 9:15 when I reached Clyde’s house. I saw a car driving out their driveway as I approached from the road, but I assumed that someone had been visiting either Clyde and Caroline or Chad and Rachelle. Clyde came out to my car and we immediately drove toward Ilene’s house, which is a little over a mile from the Boone home.
Kraft’s sits on the east side of Racine with property lines adjacent to a unpaved road and Main Street. We drove down the unpaved road and turned east onto Main Street. We crested a hill in Racine and saw the semi Ilene had described parked in our lane. There was a car travelling toward us and it was closer to the semi than we were so it had the right of way. When the on-coming car was adjacent to the semi two men appeared from the darkness: one from the front of the truck and one from the rear. The car was in-between the men. The man closest to us and closest to the rear of the truck stepped in front of the vehicle with his hands up while the other man ran at the vehicle with a fist in the air. I did not understand what was happening but slowed because I did not want to get in the middle of whatever it was we were witnessing and I didn’t want to hit either one of the idiots who were running out in front of cars - at night. The on-coming car stopped for just a moment and the men increased their speed. When the men ran at the vehicle the driver accelerated and swerved toward a steep ditch to avoid hitting the man in front of him. The car went up on two wheels but once past the assailants, the driver regained control and sped away.
Clyde and I were stunned, frightened and shaking. I drove past the two men and pulled into Ilene’s driveway. I had never been to Ilene’s home and didn’t know if we were to enter from the garage or if we were supposed to go to the front door. Clyde ran to the front door and I followed him. Ilene and Wendi Dolton had seen what occurred and were also quite frightened. Ilene asked what she should do and I said she needed to call 911 because something was going on at Kraft’s and someone was trying to force cars off the road in front of their property. Ilene called Mower County 911. The Dispatcher hung up on her but I told her she didn’t need to call back because 911 calls have contact/address information associated with them so law enforcement would be able to locate her.
Clyde’s cell phone rang. It was his son. He was calling to make sure we were not harmed because it had been him and a friend in the car we had seen assailed. Clyde hung up and was quite upset after being told it had been his son the men had tried to harm. Wendi Dolton had been standing at the window and told us that the men were running to their truck, probably because Kraft’s (like nearly everyone in Racine it seems) had a scanner and knew that Ilene had called law enforcement. The truck left hastily and Clyde said to me, “Come on. I want that license plate number for the cops.” That seemed like a reasonable request, until we got out on the road headed east and I noted that the truck, which was lit up like a Christmas tree, had stopped about a mile down the road. Clyde informed me that there is no outlet at that end of Main Street and said the truck was turning around. I immediately told Clyde I was not going to get pinned at the end of the road and turned around, intent on taking him home. As we drove past Kraft’s Clyde asked me to wait in town because he wanted to see if the truck went back to Kraft’s. If it did, he wanted to be present when law enforcement arrived so they had a chance to write a decent police report. I pulled down a side street and pulled into a driveway that was shielded from the road by a solid fence. I had decided to drive my husband’s new Subaru Impreza (tiny car) because mine was low on gas and had not driven it before. I had not stopped shaking. I told Clyde I was not comfortable parked in with two dangerous thugs potentially coming through town and so I backed out of the driveway and headed north, away from Main Street. As I was turning east onto another side street, which would make a big loop in town, we noted the semi was parked on Main Street and the driver and his passenger were leaned over studying my car. I drove off. Clyde now knew that the men were not returning to Kraft’s and law enforcement had not responded so it was time to take him home. I drove slowly around a big city block and headed west on Main Street. The truck was no where in sight. When I got to the STOP sign at the junction of Main and Hwy 63 Clyde’s cell phone rang. Chad had switched vehicles and had come back into town to make sure his father was safe. At that moment Clyde looked up and exclaimed, “Man, that truck is really bookin’” I looked down the highway in time to see the truck speed out of sight. Clyde told Chad he needed to call 911 again and hung up. No sooner had he hung up when his phone rang again: it was Chad and he was with Grand Meadow Deputy Mike Gehrke. Gehrke was responding to Ilene’s call, but Chad found him sitting in the dark one the gravel road. His engine was running but his lights were off. We were approaching the turn to Clyde’s house when Chad told his father the Deputy asked if we could get a license plate number. I momentarily increased my speed and noted that my speedometer reached 72 mph, but I then said, “Hell no. I’m not getting that close to that truck, “ and I decreased my speed. Clyde related what I had said. Chad then said the Deputy wanted us to “”keep a safe distance but maintain a visual so he could inform dispatch.” Since the truck was so well lit, I told Clyde I would do that until law enforcement arrived so Clyde began to relay mileage markers while I kept us at least a half mile from the truck.
Hwy 63 ends and intersects at Hwy 16. (This was all new to me.) Clyde explained that if the truck turned right it would head into Mower County. If the truck turned left it would be in Fillmore County. He thought Gehrke needed to know which way the truck headed so he knew which dispatch center to contact. The truck turned left. I did not move onto the exit ramp while the truck was at the STOP sign because, again, I didn’t want to get close to the men who had assailed Chad and his friend. By the time I got to the intersection, two other vehicles had moved in behind the truck, which was now following the posted speed limit. I drove while Clyde spoke to Chad, who spoke to Gehrke. Officer Gehrke told Chad that he had contacted Fillmore County dispatch, law enforcement was in route, and there was nothing more he could do. Clyde wanted to speak to whoever stopped the truck and we were certain someone would do that soon, so I stayed back as the truck drove to places unknown to me. As we headed through the small town of Spring Valley I began to get agitated because law enforcement had had plenty of time to respond in Racine, along Hwy 63, and now along Hwy 16, but the truck was moving along unimpeded. We went all the way through Spring Valley and as we headed out of town I listened to Clyde as he spoke to Chad. At one point I heard Clyde say something about “Cresco”. I’d never been to Cresco but I had heard radio ads and was pretty sure it was in Iowa. I saw lights ahead in the distance and I pretty much freaked. I dug out my own cell phone and angrily dialed 911. When Howard County dispatch answered I handed my phone to Clyde and said, “Here, talk to this guy.” Clyde hung up with Chad and was in the middle of a conversation with Howard County, who had heard about the speeding truck, when my phone lost the signal. Clyde dialed again but the connection was horrible and was Kuplace to intercept the truck, and he asked Clyde for mileage markers. When the markers got close to where the Deputy was positioned, but dispatcher told Clyde his officer was “rolling” toward the truck. At one point the dispatcher told Clyde that the next vehicle we saw headed toward us would be a squad. It wasn’t; however the car after that whipped around, turned on its lights and pulled the truck to the side of the road. Clyde hung up as I pulled over and stopped well back from the truck. We wanted to speak with law enforcement about what we had witnessed so we waited, and waited, and waited. …Clyde started to fall asleep when approximately 30 minutes later a second squad appeared by the truck. We watched…..and waited. Eventually the second car drove toward us and pulled in behind my vehicle. The officer turned on his dome light and just sat there with his clipboard on his stomach, writing. After about 5 minutes Clyde got out of my car to see what the deputy was doing and if he was going to speak with us. I saw Clyde get into the vehicle, motioning to me to follow. I got out of my car and joined Clyde. By the time I got there Clyde had already tried to tell Deputy Darwin Kueker about the assault on Chad but that didn’t appear to be what Kueker wanted to hear. Kueker asked me what had happened and on four occasions I tried to tell Kueker about what we had witnessed when Kueker said, “That’s not what they’re saying.” My response was, “Then they’re lying.” Kueker then said, “Take a guess as to why you think they would do that and run away like that.” I had been receiving calls from DEA/USFWS/FBI informant Carolyn Atchison since January 24 and she was incessantly yammering on about shipments of animals Kraft’s were going to move here and there. The Deputy wanted a guess so I told him a “goofy woman from Alabama who does business with Kraft’s has said they were getting ready to ship some animals illegally. Ilene Tjepkes had said Kraft’s animals were roaring and going nuts so perhaps someone should check the back of the truck. Kueker asked me what kind of animals Carolun Atchison described so I gave him her latest list. I had reported and repeated all of the information from all of Carolyn’s calls to USFWS agents and related that to Kueker as well, but that is irrelevant when the government is running a COINTELPRO operation against you. They’ll stick you with whatever they can, in any way they can, wherever they can. Kueker didn’t ask for identification and didn’t ask our names while we chatted with him in his car. He looked at the scant notes he took, looked at me and Clyde and told us to sit tight while he went and talked to his partner. Again, we waited. 45 minutes later a third vehicle appears at the scene. We’re tired, crabby and cannot imagine what is happening that requires three vehicles.
The third vehicle heads our direction and pulls in behind us. This time the officer exits his car. Clyde gets out, stiff and tired, and I assume we’ll have a repeat of the earlier chat session so I also get out of the car. The StateTrooper says he only has room for one and since Clyde has been intermittently nodding off while we wait for someone to do their job, I tell him I’ll go speak to the Trooper. I get into the car of Officer Shawn Wuchter and he asks me what happened. I tell him about the assault and like Kueker he says, “that’s not what they said.” I’m tired and sick of the whole thing so I point at my car and say, “That man’s son was attacked by those two men. They tried to force his car off the road and into a ditch and if they say that didn’t happen, they’re lying.” At which point the Trooper says, “Do you know why I’m here?” I just look at him and he follows up with, “I received a call that said you had a weapon in your car and fired shots at the truck.” Wow! I don’t own a gun and couldn’t imagine where that came from, and have to admit that it took be quite by surprise. I asked the Trooper if he needed to search me and told him he needed to search my car and also talk to Clyde. I advised him that my dog was sleeping in back and that he was friendly so he should not be concerned (or shoot him) when he jumped out. Shawn Wuchter did not search my car but turned the flashlight on to sneak a peak where the dog had been laying. He didn’t open the doors and check on, under or around the seats. He did not go to the passenger side of the vehicle to look in the glove box. Trooper Wuchter declined when Clyde asked him if he needed him to remove his coat so he could check his pockets and see the waistband of his jeans. Trooper Wuchter was not at all concerned about a gun. After his “search”, Wuchter told us to “go have a cup of coffee.”
Two days later I received a call from WCCO television. Mower County Attorney Patrick Oman had called a press conference to announce that I was being charged with reckless driving, careless driving, stalking, harassment and speeding. After that the media calls began to flood in. The 6:00 news had film of the front of our house with my name and our address superimposed over the top as they told the story of how poor Ken and Nancy Kraft were being stalked, threatened and harassed by the woman whose daughter had been attacked by their tiger. I spoke to Dick Meryhew of the Minneapolis Star and Tribune and asked him if he had received information on Mr. Oman’s press conference. Dick was the author of the only fact-based pieces on BEARCAT Hollow, the escapes, attacks and public concern and he commented that he probably didn’t get the call because he was on Oma’s “s” list. Dick called Pat Oman and asked him to fax a copy of the Complaint. Pat Oman obliged but Dick had to call him again to tell him that since the information he received had not been signed, he couldn’t do anything with it. Pat Oman signed the last page and sent that to Dick. Dick again called Mr. Oman and told him that releasing a Complaint that was not signed by the attorney and a judge, and that had not been properly filed in the clerks office was illegal and if Dick used it the paper could get sued. Mr. Oman took the signature page to Fred Wellman and after Wellman signed it, Oman faxed it to Dick. Dick called me and said the whole thing stunk to high heaven and so he was going to refuse to write on it and would urge the Star and Tribune to avoid the report. The Minneapolis paper did not cover the story for Mower County.
I was completely devastated and did not understand what was happening because I did not know about COINTELPRO. We hired an attorney, Howard Bass, who upon hearing the story shook his head and said, “But you were the victims here.” Again, that’s the point of Counter-intelligence programs: abuse, confuse and repeatedly victimize the “enemy” to prevent the discovery of serious criminal misconduct on the part of agencies/officials.
My alleged victims were Ken and Nancy Kraft in the first go around, but I believe that when Mower County realized using Kraft’s would open them up to problems during Discovery, they changed their minds and re-drafted the Complaint to say that Craig Perry and Court Garloff were my victims. Howard Bass told me to cross my fingers and hope that Nancy Kraft filed a harassment restraining order because that would allow him to ask her a few questions in court.
One week later Clyde was called, again by the media, to say that he was also being charged but his victims would be Ken and Nancy Kraft. Clyde’s charges were stalking, harassing and aiding and abetting. To this day no one has ever been able to explain how Clyde was stalking or harassing Kraft’s. The Officer who drafted the report that led to the charges admitted, in deposition, that he did not know how Clyde could have been stalking or harassing Kraft’s. None of that matters to the courts when the feds are conducting a counter-intelligence operation to protect their pals/associates from embarrassing consequences for their actions – especially if those acts happen to involve criminal misconduct. (BTW:civil rights violations are considered to be criminal misconduct.) Dick Meryhew called Clyde out of concern and immediately contacted me because the devastation this action had wrought was palpable and Dick was worried about Clyde’s health. The officials participating in this COINTELPRO operation couldn’t be bothered to care about what effect their criminal misconduct was having on innocent people. No; they had to protect their criminal operations and Clyde, like me, had to pay for threatening to expose them by continuing to press for responsible animal ownership by Kraft’s.
(We have posted a page from a BEARCAT Hollow newsletter: TRUST + COMPASSION=LOVE. Big empty, abstract, meaningless words and concepts from very small-minded people.)
On March 12 I received a copy of the Harassment Restraining order Petition filed by Nancy Kraft, the the Judge’s Order filed by the Kraft’s Judge, Fred Wellman. The hearing date was March 26, 2002. This was to become a tradition for these corrupt officials: special “gifts” for me on my birthday. Howard Bass called and was insistent that I lay the copies of the two documents on the floor so he could walk me through them. Howard said they were “bizarre” because the documents should essentially match, but they didn’t: lo and behold, Judge Wellman had taken the liberty to make allegations of harassment that Nancy Kraft herself had not made. The document was clearly drafted by someone who had fallen asleep during 4th grade civics (not that it matters in Mower County) because the only alleged harassment mentioned by me was my attendance at Racine City Council meetings. Most of the residents of Racine were mentioned as participants in harassment of Kraft’s, who saw a neighbor drive past their home and wrote that this was “harassment” by ME. An individual stopped their car on the gravel road to look at the exotic animals and this was also considered harassment ….by ME. There were allegations of someone photographing all of the individuals who came to their residence or animal dealership but if that was happening I wasn’t aware of it and I certainly wasn’t doing it. The evidence of exotic animal trafficking is in the paperwork, or lack thereof and the discrepancies found when the CVI’s are compared to the USDA inspection reports: public information at each state’s Board of Animal Health and through the USDA.
Throughout this time, Racine residents, Clyde and his family, and Tom Hartman and I had been complaining to FBI SA and COINTEL “Expert” David Price. He was well aware of the escalation in emotional violence and was also aware of the escalation in threats and harassment toward all of us, but if 911 taught us anything it was that the FBI covers for terrorist’s, moves terrorist’s to safe haven, and works diligently to create criminal profiles for innocent people in their game of CYA. Clyde and I took copies of the latest wrongful action to SA Price, but Price failed to mention that the officer who had drafted the report, Jon Juenger, was a close personal friend of Price.
Howard Bass began requesting documentation and Discovery from Mower County officials immediately. He received none and so we were forced to hire a private investigator to collect the documents Howard needed. It is unlawful for the prosecution to withhold evidence from the Defendant, unless there is a COINTEL operation taking place. The man hired is Vincent Carraher. Vinny spent countless hours working on behalf of me, Clyde and the residents of Racine. He has over 40 years of experience and expressed the opinion that cops are less trustworthy than any of the so-called criminals they arrest. He’s not a cynic; he just tells it like it is.
At the end of March my phone records arrived. Howard was waiting for these because the numerous 911 calls placed from my cell phone would show that we were afraid and seeking law enforcement assistance, which is not something someone does if they are harassing or stalking someone. I was confused because there was no record of any 911 calls placed from my cell phone. I called Clyde to make sure I was not recalling something that did not happen and Clyde confirmed that there were at least three 911 calls placed from my cell phone. Since we did not know that our federal authorities routinely violated civil rights, set people up to false prosecution, and manipulated/destroyed evidence, it didn’t occur to me that federal authorities had the 911 calls erased from my phone bill, but that is almost certainly what happened. If the idea was to make me seem like the assailant, there could be no evidence of my fear or concern, and there certainly could not be a record of any lengthy conversations with dispatchers and/or law enforcement personnel. This is where the COINTELPRO geniuses began to run into problems because they did not anticipate that Clyde would be with me and they did not anticipate that he had a cell phone. They destroyed the 911 recordings and assumed Clyde spoke from my phone. If they checked for cell phone registration for Clyde Boone they would have come up blank because the cell phone Clyde used was registered to his son. We have the bills showing Clyde’s conversations with his son and with Howard County Dispatch and so there should have been a tape of his 911 conversation: especially when the Sheriff wrote that all 911 tapes are maintained for one year and those that result in court proceedings are maintained indefinitely. WHERE ARE THOSE TAPES? What’s more, Mower County has repeatedly alleged that Ken Kraft contacted dispatch and that this was why Jon Juenger showed up at his home at midnight. If that is the case, where are the recordings of Kraft’s calls to Mower County Dispatch? Mower County initially alleged that the truck driver and his passenger were in contact with law enforcement. Again, there are no tapes to support this. What’s more, Court Garloff – allegedly terrified of me and Clyde, testified in court that neither he nor Craig Perry ever attempted to use their cell phones to call law enforcement. Instead, they called their wives to tell them they were going to be late.
Howard Bass asked for a dismissal of the case and cited the numerous, obvious Brady violations. Neither Judge Wellman nor Judge Rysavy are familiar with Brady so they do not recognize that withholding and/or destruction of exculpatory evidence is a violation of due process.
As Howard Bass continued to try to put together his case, he tried to figure out where the whole business with the gun came in. There was nothing remotely credible about the notion that either Clyde or I would ever shoot at anything. I didn’t fully understand what federal agents had tried to accomplish with their belated call to State Trooper Wuchter, calls where he said someone told him I was “armed and dangerous”. David Conway, however, knew what it was they had tried to do and said he was certain that they meant to harm me and that gun would have shown up in my car. Since we did not see Kraft’s and we had not seen the truck driver and his passenger, I don’t think the slimy agent setting this up knew Clyde was with me. Clyde’s presence threw a wrench into the works: should they shoot both of us?
Pat Oman’s term as Mower County Attorney ended and he was defeated by Patrick Flanagan. I will sum up Mr. Flanagan’s performance on behalf of this group of crooks by sharing that during the Contested Omnibus Hearing, held in front of Donald Rysavy, Mr. Flanagan actually alleged that Mr. Carraher’s timetable was not accurate because he had not checked the clocks in Cresco, IA to make certain there was not a 10 minute time difference. It was a stunning display of stupidity that caused everyone in the courtroom to stare, mouth’s agape, at Mr. Flanagan. Mr. Carraher, uncertain as to how he should respond simply said, “I guess I thought we were in the same time zone here.”
The trial:
It took Mower County until September of 2003 to bring this matter to trial. Flanagan was put on a short leash, despite the fact that he was the Mower County Attorney, and had Assistant MCA Jeremy Clinefelter take the pilots seat. The following people failed to show up despite having been subpoenaed: Deputy Jon Juenger, Ken Kraft, Nancy Kraft and Craig Perry.