December is pot-harvesting time in Mexico, which means the annual holiday influx of semi-trucks to local ranches with large barns and/or warehouses (especially the ones along side roads close to I-10) has begun and all manner of vehicles are paraded in front of our house (especially various types of trailers, buses, and RVs) because the dopers know I don't like it. Several times in the past, pickup trucks with open backs and clearly visible loads have been driven past me while I'm out walking my dog in the evening, but more commonly drugs are concealed in some sort of outrageous and/or unusual cargo: lawn ornaments, porta-potties, stock trailers, furniture, appliances, junk, etc. Watch for the most outrageous vehicles on the road--orange or purple trim, silly custom license plates, huge mudflaps with silly logos, etc. Also look on the major street corners for someone hanging around who looks unusual in some way (Tweety Bird hanging from their purse, weird shopping bag, CD case, etc.). No one ever seems to get arrested, except for the occasional Hispanic competitor; it always just seems to be business as usual around here, and it appears to be very big business indeed.
Meanwhile, my children and I see the toll unchecked drugs take on our community, especially in the schools. The local head of Child Protective Services was once quoted in the local paper as saying that drugs were rampant in our community, but no one seems to care enough to turn down the money they make from running loads or selling to tourists or to do anything about the usage problems. We are already running the risk of losing our entire younger generation to drugs and alcohol here, and it's a terrible thing to watch.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Mystery Man
Shown here is an excerpt from a letter I once received from the FBI asking me what I knew about a close associate of my ex-husband and his family. This letter, dated April 18, 2000, asked me to send this and other information to a San Antonio post office box address or to come to their San Antonio office in person. (I immediately mailed them the information they asked for.)
I first met this man and his family on Easter Sunday of 1991; I remember the date because it was a holiday and I was pregnant with my youngest child at the time. After church, my husband, my children, and I were invited to my brother-in-law's house to eat. When we got there, I was surprised to discover that my in-laws had brought along weekend house guests of theirs they'd never mentioned having. I was introduced to the man, his wife, and their child and told they were visiting from their home in California in order to look at some valuable property adjoining my in-laws' that had recently become available [another story] because they wanted to build a house and move here.
This couple aroused my curiosity right from the start. The man was very unusual-looking: extremely short in stature, long gray hair in a ponytail, considerably older than his wife, rather simply dressed, and reserved. His wife seemed his complete opposite: much younger, of average or slightly above-average height, well-dressed, loud/talkative, and exuding an air of wealth. I remember her telling me she was originally from somewhere in northern California but that they now lived in the L.A. area.
It was not at all like my in-laws to not mention having guests, especially ones who were potential neighbors, and I was even more confused when it became obvious that all the adults except me clearly knew each other very well already. I was told that the man owned a head-hunting agency for nurses and was moving to our town to bring in nurses for our local hospital and others in the area. I was also told that his wife was a former nurse herself. I can't remember if it was then or a few months later that the wife told me she was also pregnant.
This couple did purchase the property adjoining my in-laws', and they moved into the old farmhouse on the property and began having an enormous basement dug nearby for a very large new home they planned to build (despite my trying to warn them that the location they'd chosen was too low and would probably flood). I tried to befriend the wife and get our young children together to play, but to my dismay, it quickly became apparent that she was not at all friendly towards me and at times was downright rude. I decided this was simply her personality and tried to ignore it, but when it became apparent that she was using me as an unpaid babysitter (leaving her child at my house for increasingly long periods of time without telling me where she was going), I reluctantly gave up on any friendship with her. She was a close friend of my brother-in-law's wife, however; the two of them did thing together frequently, but I was not invited to join them.
There were a number of things about the husband that began to make me extremely uncomfortable about him as well. I quickly discovered that he always carried multiple cell phones and pagers that were constantly going off. Nearly every time I went to his house, there were big, burly bikers there I'd never seen before who met with the husband and never seemed to stay long.
Also, neighbors on the other side of this couple were raising large numbers of pit bulls. I had several very frightening encounters with these and couldn't understand how this couple could raise small children so close by.
Then the night I went into labor with my youngest and was having a very difficult time, this couple suddenly burst into my labor room--while the doctor was examining me! My doctor ordered them to leave immediately, but they said they were "on a hospital tour" and refused to go. The doctor then yelled at them to get out and threatened to call security and have them forcibly removed, at which point they finally left (laughing). After that incident, I no longer wanted anything to do with them, and the feeling must have been mutual, because I don't remember seeing them afterwards.
Later, I asked my brother-in-law's wife (who continued to be a good friend of theirs) for more information about this couple. She told me the husband had made a fortune in real estate and owned a good deal of valuable property in the Los Angeles area. She also said this man owned a large shopping mall in Norman, Oklahoma that was close to the university and extremely lucrative as a result. When I tried to ask why he'd come to our area, she became evasive and quickly changed the subject.
Meanwhile, as I'd feared, a heavy rainfall flooded the couple's huge future basement and they stopped work on their planned house. The wife had had her baby as well, and they began traveling extensively, especially to Germany and Florida. Eventually, they left here for good and moved to Germany. Later, they moved back to the U.S. and settled in the Orlando area. The family did make several short visits here, and twice my husband insisted we let them stay in our guesthouse. (As usual, they left their children with me and went off together somewhere.) They sent us a Christmas gift every year for several years, and my husband asked me to reciprocate, so I did. Shortly after my husband suddenly left in 1999, my brother-in-law and this man began developing much of the man's land here into subdivisions, and my ex- and his new wife lived in one of the houses there for a short time.
Like so many of my ex-husband's close associates, the mystery man was also a pilot, and he owned numerous planes. He also employed a foreign-born man who was a talented airplane and submarine mechanic with an extensive background and training to keep up his fleet. The mechanic became one of my ex-husband's closest friends, and he helped my ex- build an airplane from a kit down in our barn shortly before my ex- left. This mechanic eventually moved to Corpus Christi and later to Key West, FL. My ex-husband is still in close touch with both the mechanic and his employer, and he and/or his family visit with them regularly.
After my husband left in 1999 and I began finding frightening evidence and hearing persistent rumors of possible criminal activity, I contacted the FBI in San Antonio to tell them I wasn't involved and ask them what I should do. Eventually, I received their letter in reply that asked me for further information on several specific topics only, one of which being what I knew about this man. Years later, after 9/11 when I was remembering all of the things I've discussed previously in my "Middle Eastern Men" and other posts here, I also realized that this man had ties to a number of the same places being mentioned in connection with the hijackers: Norman, OK; South FL; and Germany. I also knew that my ex-husband was making regular trips to Las Vegas for some reason and that he and a friend from San Antonio sometimes made trips to Portland, Maine, supposedly "to eat lobster". I mentioned all of this when I contacted the FBI after 9/11, but because I never heard anything back again from them, I concluded it was all merely bizarre coincidences.
When I decided to start trying to file formal criminal complaints related to our case [see "My Story" below] at the end of 2007 and realized I would need to visit the FBI office and meet with an agent again, I brought along a copy of their letter to me regarding the mystery man just to see what would happen. While I was talking to an agent there (who would not give me his name and was not wearing any I.D. badge that I could see), I casually brought out the letter and left it sitting out on top of a stack of other documents. The results were pretty spectacular: the agent did a classic double-take when he spotted it, he kept staring at the letter, and it was clearly bothering him, although he never said anything about it to me. [If you don't believe me, go back and look at the tape of this interview.]
There may be one more postscript to this story as well; I'm not sure. Recently a man who does occasional repair work for me told me he'd once heard that Disney originally planned to build their "Animal Kingdom" theme park near Kerrville, TX and actually got pretty far along with the project, until a "blue norther" happened to blow in at the same time Disney officials were visiting. The company supposedly did more checking into our weather and discovered there were too many days here when the park would not be very pleasant for guests, so they abruptly shut down negotiations and moved the park to Orlando. While there have been rumors of a Disney park swirling around the San Antonio area for years, the specifics of this one made a lot of sense with regard to other things I already knew, such as the way my former father-in-law and his friends had been buying up property in the same area near I-10; the fact that the property that supposedly interested Disney (and other ranches in our area) had previously been used as a "camera safari" with exotic animals; the sudden fascination my former father-in-law had with the Disney company around the same time that involved several trips to Orlando; a sudden interest by other local "insider" families in making regular trips to Orlando; and the timing of the mystery man's sudden arrival and equally sudden departure here.
For a small amount of possible additional information about this man, please see the end of my 8/28/09 post entitled "Check Connections".
Sunday, December 20, 2009
Middle Eastern Men
I find it strange that my ex-husband is leaving comments on my previous blogposts accusing me of having ties to the Middle East when he knows full well that I don't--and he most definitely does!
Many years ago when we were first dating and living in a big city while going to school, my ex- got a summer job with a major moving company and was assigned to a crew of Middle Eastern men. My ex- became good friends with these men and spent a great deal of time with them both on and off the job, but he would never introduce me to them (he said it was a "cultural issue") and talked more about things they'd all done together than any of them as individuals. After this job ended, I never heard much more about the moving men, which surprised me a little because my ex- had seemed so close to them and spent so much time with them. (I do remember him mentioning having run into a couple of them once or twice later.)
During the late 1970s, my ex-husband also had a former college roommate and close friend who lived in Saudi Arabia for a short time while on a job for a prominent Houston engineering firm. While there, he complained of having to endure very primitive living conditions, which I found surprising under the circumstances. This same friend, who has lived overseas for many years now, travels extensively on business, and has spent time in many different countries all over the world. However, he does own a ranch in Central Texas, as well as property in other countries besides the one in which he lives.
A year or so after we married, I remember my ex-husband asking me to go with him to a suburban area of the big city we lived in to meet his brother at a jewelry store to pick up a diamond for an engagement ring being made for his brother's girlfriend (his current wife). The jewelry store we went to was a small one I'd never heard of in a little strip mall. When we got there, my ex- told me to wait in the car because they'd only be a minute, and he and his brother went inside and met with the store owner, a Middle Eastern man I'd never seen before. Their meeting took more like 10 or 15 minutes, but when they came out, I got to see the diamond, which was very large and very beautiful. I also remember being told this same jeweler had sold my ex-'s father a very large and unusual diamond that had been made into a ring for his (my ex-'s) mother. (My own teeny little engagement ring from a major chain store paled in comparison!)
Years later, while I was married and living in my current house in Central Texas, my husband began inviting students doing various local internships to stay with us in a little guesthouse we have. A few of these students were Middle Eastern men (I never saw any women or children with them) who were all very quiet and kept mostly to themselves--except in the early evening, when they would often come over to the house, knock on the back door, and inquire whether my husband was home from work yet and if he would be able to take them flying in his small plane that evening. (My ex- is a pilot who files in his spare time.)
One of these men came back to stay with us more than once with different roommates. I no longer member his name, but I know I could recognize him if I saw him again, because his coloring and features were distinctive. On two separate occasions, a parcel was delivered for this man while he was gone for the day that I took out to him later. I remember that the packages were large yellow manila envelopes that were mailed from Houston and felt as if they contained bundles of cash, which made me uncomfortable handling them. When this man finally left for good, my children and I remember him bringing us a large tray of colorful pastries he said were from a Middle-Eastern bakery in Austin as a thank-you gift. We were particularly touched by this, both because it provided us with a rich cultural and educational experience, and also because it was rare for any of the students who stayed with us to thank us in any way.
Years later, after my divorce, I remembered that around the same time these men were staying with us, my ex-husband had come home one night and announced he'd been invited by the son of a business associate to spend a long weekend with him (the son) and his wife in Dallas. My ex- said his host was a pilot for American Airlines who'd invited him to fly up and try out a flight simulator owned by American, since he knew my ex- loved to fly and was interested in jets. In retrospect, I realized this trip had been rather sudden and that I hadn't actually known whether my ex- went alone or not.
By the time I finally recalled all this, it was after 9/11, at a time when things that had seemed so innocent before suddenly took on new potential meanings. Around the same time, I read a newspaper article about the death of one of Osama bin Laden's brothers in the crash of an ultralight aircraft that had occurred in our area. I also realized there were some other coincidences that could not be easily explained away.
Although I felt everything was probably okay, I decided I'd better let the FBI know about everything just to be sure, so I wrote them a letter. I never heard anything back, so I decided that meant everything had checked out okay.
Later on (in 2003 and 2004), another rather mysterious Middle Eastern man came to my attention, although I never actually met him. A woman who worked very closely for one of the private investigators who defrauded me (and may be related to him?) told me she had married a man from Iran? [I think this was the country she said, but I can't remember for sure] so he could obtain a green card and stay in the U.S. I remember being shocked when she told me this and even more shocked by how proud she seemed of having done it; when I mentioned that I was surprised she'd do something illegal, she just laughed, so I wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. (This same woman later tried to get me to go on a "free cruise" with her and got mad at me when I turned her down.)
Finally, since this is primarily a victims' blog, I will mention one additional fact that has struck me as odd for some time. There were four victims from San Antonio killed in the attack on the Pentagon, and all four of them were women.
Many years ago when we were first dating and living in a big city while going to school, my ex- got a summer job with a major moving company and was assigned to a crew of Middle Eastern men. My ex- became good friends with these men and spent a great deal of time with them both on and off the job, but he would never introduce me to them (he said it was a "cultural issue") and talked more about things they'd all done together than any of them as individuals. After this job ended, I never heard much more about the moving men, which surprised me a little because my ex- had seemed so close to them and spent so much time with them. (I do remember him mentioning having run into a couple of them once or twice later.)
During the late 1970s, my ex-husband also had a former college roommate and close friend who lived in Saudi Arabia for a short time while on a job for a prominent Houston engineering firm. While there, he complained of having to endure very primitive living conditions, which I found surprising under the circumstances. This same friend, who has lived overseas for many years now, travels extensively on business, and has spent time in many different countries all over the world. However, he does own a ranch in Central Texas, as well as property in other countries besides the one in which he lives.
A year or so after we married, I remember my ex-husband asking me to go with him to a suburban area of the big city we lived in to meet his brother at a jewelry store to pick up a diamond for an engagement ring being made for his brother's girlfriend (his current wife). The jewelry store we went to was a small one I'd never heard of in a little strip mall. When we got there, my ex- told me to wait in the car because they'd only be a minute, and he and his brother went inside and met with the store owner, a Middle Eastern man I'd never seen before. Their meeting took more like 10 or 15 minutes, but when they came out, I got to see the diamond, which was very large and very beautiful. I also remember being told this same jeweler had sold my ex-'s father a very large and unusual diamond that had been made into a ring for his (my ex-'s) mother. (My own teeny little engagement ring from a major chain store paled in comparison!)
Years later, while I was married and living in my current house in Central Texas, my husband began inviting students doing various local internships to stay with us in a little guesthouse we have. A few of these students were Middle Eastern men (I never saw any women or children with them) who were all very quiet and kept mostly to themselves--except in the early evening, when they would often come over to the house, knock on the back door, and inquire whether my husband was home from work yet and if he would be able to take them flying in his small plane that evening. (My ex- is a pilot who files in his spare time.)
One of these men came back to stay with us more than once with different roommates. I no longer member his name, but I know I could recognize him if I saw him again, because his coloring and features were distinctive. On two separate occasions, a parcel was delivered for this man while he was gone for the day that I took out to him later. I remember that the packages were large yellow manila envelopes that were mailed from Houston and felt as if they contained bundles of cash, which made me uncomfortable handling them. When this man finally left for good, my children and I remember him bringing us a large tray of colorful pastries he said were from a Middle-Eastern bakery in Austin as a thank-you gift. We were particularly touched by this, both because it provided us with a rich cultural and educational experience, and also because it was rare for any of the students who stayed with us to thank us in any way.
Years later, after my divorce, I remembered that around the same time these men were staying with us, my ex-husband had come home one night and announced he'd been invited by the son of a business associate to spend a long weekend with him (the son) and his wife in Dallas. My ex- said his host was a pilot for American Airlines who'd invited him to fly up and try out a flight simulator owned by American, since he knew my ex- loved to fly and was interested in jets. In retrospect, I realized this trip had been rather sudden and that I hadn't actually known whether my ex- went alone or not.
By the time I finally recalled all this, it was after 9/11, at a time when things that had seemed so innocent before suddenly took on new potential meanings. Around the same time, I read a newspaper article about the death of one of Osama bin Laden's brothers in the crash of an ultralight aircraft that had occurred in our area. I also realized there were some other coincidences that could not be easily explained away.
Although I felt everything was probably okay, I decided I'd better let the FBI know about everything just to be sure, so I wrote them a letter. I never heard anything back, so I decided that meant everything had checked out okay.
Later on (in 2003 and 2004), another rather mysterious Middle Eastern man came to my attention, although I never actually met him. A woman who worked very closely for one of the private investigators who defrauded me (and may be related to him?) told me she had married a man from Iran? [I think this was the country she said, but I can't remember for sure] so he could obtain a green card and stay in the U.S. I remember being shocked when she told me this and even more shocked by how proud she seemed of having done it; when I mentioned that I was surprised she'd do something illegal, she just laughed, so I wasn't sure if she was being serious or not. (This same woman later tried to get me to go on a "free cruise" with her and got mad at me when I turned her down.)
Finally, since this is primarily a victims' blog, I will mention one additional fact that has struck me as odd for some time. There were four victims from San Antonio killed in the attack on the Pentagon, and all four of them were women.
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
What's The Buzz Revisited
This small article was published in this morning's issue of the San Antonio Express-News. Now go back and re-read my 11/24/09 blogpost entitled "What's The Buzz?" and consider the amazing coincidences--my firstborn and I got the number correct and everything!
Now please read the comments my ex-husband posted at the end of the above-mentioned blogpost. After doing that, I ask that you please also go back and re-read the piece I posted on 12/8/09 entitled "Texas As A Third World Country". By the time you finish it, you should be asking yourself some hard questions--whether this could be a national security issue, for example.
You should also know that last spring, my kids and I saw my ex-husband admitted to a restricted area at a NASA-sponsored event where he wasn't authorized to be and that security personnel allowed him to remain in this area for over an hour before a NASA official finally insisted that he leave.
Monday, December 14, 2009
The French Connection
One of the attorneys connected with our case seemed to be obsessed with France--many of her legal documents had stamps connected with France or Paris on them as the examples here show. She repeatedly refused to explain this to me, other than simply telling me she "liked France a lot". She also mentioned a number of times that she was an equestrian who owned horses; much later, I remembered that my cousin (the well-known equestrian mentioned in "My Story" at the beginning of this blog) used to work for a French multi-millionaire in upstate New York.
I do know of a number of prominent Texas attorneys with various ties to France, and my children have told me that my ex-husband's parents and aunt and uncle were visiting France on 9/11/01. (On that same day, my father, stepmother, and aunt and uncle happened to be in Scotland, and my ex-husband was in Alaska.)
Other people with various connections to our case have ties to other foreign countries that I also don't fully understand: Germany, China, Great Britain, the Czech. Republic, and more. My ex- owns a house in Canada (W. Coast) and travels there frequently. Many people from around here seem to own property overseas--far more than you might expect. I'm not sure if there's anything to all this or not, but at the very least, I find it interesting. Hopefully, someday someone can explain it all to me.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Texas As A Third World Country
Lately, living in Texas seems more like being in a third-world country than in the United States of America. Gov. Rick Perry treats the Texas National Guard and the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers and rangers like his own personal army, ordering them to the border on short notice for secret missions that are never explained publicly. (The helicopters that buzzed us on 11/23/09 as previously reported in my “What’s The Buzz?” blog posting may have belonged to the DPS. We have been buzzed at all hours by what look like military aircraft many times over the last ten years.) People write in to local newspapers complaining about being buzzed by drone aircraft; my children and I have also been victims of this, and it is very startling and frightening. Local ranches look like military fortresses. I have already discussed the situation with regard to illegal surveillance and millions of dollars worth of missing federal equipment (some of it expensive and sophisticated helicopter-mounted surveillance equipment); see my “Illegal Surveillance Summary” blogpost below. There are persistent rumors of billions of dollars being hidden by locals in offshore accounts and being laundered through real estate, banks, charities, businesses, and even schools.
Texas’ Republican senators insist on being able to choose appointees for important federal positions in Texas, and so far, President Obama does not seem either able or willing to stand up to them: for example, the apparent stand-off currently going on over an appointment to the position of U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas (our federal district). Texas State Senator John Whitworth (D, Houston) received a death threat from a convict on death row via a cell phone that had been smuggled into the prison; an investigation of this led to the discovery of so many smuggled-in phones and other contraband that it was considered easier to pursue legislation allowing the jamming of airwaves inside prisons than to try and keep contraband out.
Much of our personal (i.e., non-junk) mail arrives wide open, crudely taped or glued shut after having been opened, damp from having been steamed open, with parts of the contents deliberately pulled out [remember, they brag about lawbreaking here], with strange/goofy markings added, etc. One piece of mail I received from Diop Kamau had what looked like a pubic hair taped to the opening that had to have been added locally (because, from the way it was sticking up, it would not have been likely to survive in the mail). I have a stack over an inch thick of receipts for mail that was lost or stolen that the USPS and various private carriers have repeatedly refused to do anything about. If you input the tracking numbers on some of these, you will see tracking information that is absolute nonsense and was obviously made up by someone. Other tracking numbers from these receipts simply bring up a “No Record” message.
People here build secret rooms in their homes, stockpiling weapons and ammunition as discussed in my “Secret Rooms” blog previously. Separatism and survivalism are preached openly on the streets by “Patriots For Freedom” and others. Local churches have rooms full of computer equipment and heavy security, and only persons with the closest ties to my ex-husband’s family are allowed to handle church finances.
Court documents and official records of all kinds are filed without being properly notarized (ex.: our case), disappear and reappear (ex.: former Gillespie County Judge Jay Weinheimer’s case), etc. Corrupt judges are allowed to resign when caught so they can retain their pensions (ex.: Karl Prohl). Other judges (both current and retired) are simply never prosecuted for wrongdoing (ex.: our own case), despite overwhelming proof of involvement. I have heard D.A. Curry being called "Let 'Em Loose Bruce".
At any given time, approximately one-fourth of vehicles seen around here have clearly illegal license plates: no front plate; no back plate; no plates at all; plates illegally obscured by plastic, mud, scratches, large plate frames, etc.; “cover plates” that flip up or down over existing plates; temporary dealer plates that are often either outdated or on vehicles that are ancient; plates that belong on other vehicles (this one is particularly common!); plates that are expired; and plates that are clearly fake, either because they look crude or because they mimic a custom plate but contain a word or meaning that would normally be censured (ex.: a plate on an unmarked law enforcement pickup reading “GLOCK U”). A substantial percentage of vehicles also have illegally dark window tints. Parked at the local high schools, you will see more luxury vehicles than “bangers” (and you will also sometimes see assault rifles and hunting rifles on racks in the windows; in the past, I've reported these, and law enforcement does nothing).
STRATFOR has been quoted nationally as reporting that corrupt law enforcement is a major problem here, yet the U.S. Department of Justice refuses to do anything about it. Law enforcement officers buy and sell illegal substances (ex.: the DPS trooper from Boerne recently arrested for selling steroids), and some have clear symptoms and histories of personal substance abuse problems. My children and I have been tailgated by current and former law enforcement officers, often so aggressively that we are nearly bumped. In one case, we may have actually been bumped gently while stopping for a stop sign. In another case, after one of my children and I were harassed and frightened at night by a state trooper in a marked patrol car, I complained to the DPS, but of course nothing was done about it. I have personally heard persons with connections to local law enforcement talking about officers being stationed on top of local hills with special scopes “that can read license plates from distances of up to 5 miles away” in order to monitor vehicles. A new police substation downtown has a concrete-lined storage room and cooking facility located beneath it that city officials said in the local newspaper was for “parties”.
Then there are the homicides. Deaths are ruled suicides or accidents under the most outrageous circumstances: clear signs of torture (ex.: Phillip Shue), multiple gunshots (ex.: John Dillday), gunshots to the stomach by long-barrelled weapons (ex.: Preston Nelson; Kimberly Weirich barely survived this; her brother Matt barely survived a suspicious fall off a cliff in his underwear in near-freezing temperatures in Austrailia that he claims was an accident). Local police watch people burn to death (ex.: Sandy Smith) or drown (ex.: Courtney Foreman) and do nothing, gun people down in officer-involved shootings, are the last ones to see people alive (ex.: Theresa Vallado), arrive too quickly on the scene of homicides (ex.: Linda Muegge), and try to pass homicides off as accidents (ex.: Linda Muegge, Mary Rose Warburton, Trudy Harris). Murder victims are lured into certain counties before being killed (exs.: Norman Roark, Cassie Ann Hough) or are dumped in certain counties after being murdered (ex.: Yuhuai Yan). Law enforcement officers are often the only ones able to locate persons missing under suspicious circumstances (ex.: Tony Shans, supposedly drowned while fishing during a heavy rain storm and flooding). Pilots seem to be especially prone to dying under suspicious circumstances around here; we once lost 3 in a single day: Ronald and Helen DeLoof (plane crash) and Robert Wilson (found dead in a vehicle). Victims of suspicious deaths also seem to turn up on pilots’ property (ex.: William Watson, found dead on property owned by a pilot with very close personal ties to my ex-husband). People suddenly die shortly before they are to testify before grand juries (ex.: Cynthia Parker). Siblings all suddenly die (ex.: Sherman Klein, Stephen Klein, and Ellen Klein Russell). The latest trend in suspicious deaths around here is the use of fire, both in homes (ex.: Linda Muegge), with vehicles (ex.: Carla Saylor and Marietta McDonald), and with aircraft (exs. in a previous post), probably to destroy foreign DNA and other forensic evidence. Crime labs and medical examiners statewide are woefully inadequate or corrupt or both. (Gov. Perry fired the head of the statewide group that oversees medical examiners just as they were starting to investigate the possible innocence of a man executed for deaths ruled arson that appear to have actually been accidental.)
According to recent news reports, the Mexican city of Juarez, located directly across the border from El Paso, now averages 7 homicides per day, making it one of the deadliest cities in the world. Is this really what we want here? [Is this what we already have here??] I believe that to sit back and do nothing is the same thing as actively making the decision to let this happen.
Texas’ Republican senators insist on being able to choose appointees for important federal positions in Texas, and so far, President Obama does not seem either able or willing to stand up to them: for example, the apparent stand-off currently going on over an appointment to the position of U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas (our federal district). Texas State Senator John Whitworth (D, Houston) received a death threat from a convict on death row via a cell phone that had been smuggled into the prison; an investigation of this led to the discovery of so many smuggled-in phones and other contraband that it was considered easier to pursue legislation allowing the jamming of airwaves inside prisons than to try and keep contraband out.
Much of our personal (i.e., non-junk) mail arrives wide open, crudely taped or glued shut after having been opened, damp from having been steamed open, with parts of the contents deliberately pulled out [remember, they brag about lawbreaking here], with strange/goofy markings added, etc. One piece of mail I received from Diop Kamau had what looked like a pubic hair taped to the opening that had to have been added locally (because, from the way it was sticking up, it would not have been likely to survive in the mail). I have a stack over an inch thick of receipts for mail that was lost or stolen that the USPS and various private carriers have repeatedly refused to do anything about. If you input the tracking numbers on some of these, you will see tracking information that is absolute nonsense and was obviously made up by someone. Other tracking numbers from these receipts simply bring up a “No Record” message.
People here build secret rooms in their homes, stockpiling weapons and ammunition as discussed in my “Secret Rooms” blog previously. Separatism and survivalism are preached openly on the streets by “Patriots For Freedom” and others. Local churches have rooms full of computer equipment and heavy security, and only persons with the closest ties to my ex-husband’s family are allowed to handle church finances.
Court documents and official records of all kinds are filed without being properly notarized (ex.: our case), disappear and reappear (ex.: former Gillespie County Judge Jay Weinheimer’s case), etc. Corrupt judges are allowed to resign when caught so they can retain their pensions (ex.: Karl Prohl). Other judges (both current and retired) are simply never prosecuted for wrongdoing (ex.: our own case), despite overwhelming proof of involvement. I have heard D.A. Curry being called "Let 'Em Loose Bruce".
At any given time, approximately one-fourth of vehicles seen around here have clearly illegal license plates: no front plate; no back plate; no plates at all; plates illegally obscured by plastic, mud, scratches, large plate frames, etc.; “cover plates” that flip up or down over existing plates; temporary dealer plates that are often either outdated or on vehicles that are ancient; plates that belong on other vehicles (this one is particularly common!); plates that are expired; and plates that are clearly fake, either because they look crude or because they mimic a custom plate but contain a word or meaning that would normally be censured (ex.: a plate on an unmarked law enforcement pickup reading “GLOCK U”). A substantial percentage of vehicles also have illegally dark window tints. Parked at the local high schools, you will see more luxury vehicles than “bangers” (and you will also sometimes see assault rifles and hunting rifles on racks in the windows; in the past, I've reported these, and law enforcement does nothing).
STRATFOR has been quoted nationally as reporting that corrupt law enforcement is a major problem here, yet the U.S. Department of Justice refuses to do anything about it. Law enforcement officers buy and sell illegal substances (ex.: the DPS trooper from Boerne recently arrested for selling steroids), and some have clear symptoms and histories of personal substance abuse problems. My children and I have been tailgated by current and former law enforcement officers, often so aggressively that we are nearly bumped. In one case, we may have actually been bumped gently while stopping for a stop sign. In another case, after one of my children and I were harassed and frightened at night by a state trooper in a marked patrol car, I complained to the DPS, but of course nothing was done about it. I have personally heard persons with connections to local law enforcement talking about officers being stationed on top of local hills with special scopes “that can read license plates from distances of up to 5 miles away” in order to monitor vehicles. A new police substation downtown has a concrete-lined storage room and cooking facility located beneath it that city officials said in the local newspaper was for “parties”.
Then there are the homicides. Deaths are ruled suicides or accidents under the most outrageous circumstances: clear signs of torture (ex.: Phillip Shue), multiple gunshots (ex.: John Dillday), gunshots to the stomach by long-barrelled weapons (ex.: Preston Nelson; Kimberly Weirich barely survived this; her brother Matt barely survived a suspicious fall off a cliff in his underwear in near-freezing temperatures in Austrailia that he claims was an accident). Local police watch people burn to death (ex.: Sandy Smith) or drown (ex.: Courtney Foreman) and do nothing, gun people down in officer-involved shootings, are the last ones to see people alive (ex.: Theresa Vallado), arrive too quickly on the scene of homicides (ex.: Linda Muegge), and try to pass homicides off as accidents (ex.: Linda Muegge, Mary Rose Warburton, Trudy Harris). Murder victims are lured into certain counties before being killed (exs.: Norman Roark, Cassie Ann Hough) or are dumped in certain counties after being murdered (ex.: Yuhuai Yan). Law enforcement officers are often the only ones able to locate persons missing under suspicious circumstances (ex.: Tony Shans, supposedly drowned while fishing during a heavy rain storm and flooding). Pilots seem to be especially prone to dying under suspicious circumstances around here; we once lost 3 in a single day: Ronald and Helen DeLoof (plane crash) and Robert Wilson (found dead in a vehicle). Victims of suspicious deaths also seem to turn up on pilots’ property (ex.: William Watson, found dead on property owned by a pilot with very close personal ties to my ex-husband). People suddenly die shortly before they are to testify before grand juries (ex.: Cynthia Parker). Siblings all suddenly die (ex.: Sherman Klein, Stephen Klein, and Ellen Klein Russell). The latest trend in suspicious deaths around here is the use of fire, both in homes (ex.: Linda Muegge), with vehicles (ex.: Carla Saylor and Marietta McDonald), and with aircraft (exs. in a previous post), probably to destroy foreign DNA and other forensic evidence. Crime labs and medical examiners statewide are woefully inadequate or corrupt or both. (Gov. Perry fired the head of the statewide group that oversees medical examiners just as they were starting to investigate the possible innocence of a man executed for deaths ruled arson that appear to have actually been accidental.)
According to recent news reports, the Mexican city of Juarez, located directly across the border from El Paso, now averages 7 homicides per day, making it one of the deadliest cities in the world. Is this really what we want here? [Is this what we already have here??] I believe that to sit back and do nothing is the same thing as actively making the decision to let this happen.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Namedropping
A lot of well-known people live here or own property here or have other close ties to our area. The Bush Museum of the Pacific War is in Fredericksburg, and the Bush family has many ties here. (I once heard a local hospital official bragging that he used to routinely see “W” in the showers at a country club in Midland.) The LBJ Ranch is at Stonewall. Karl Rove lists his residence as Ingram (and votes there); Kinky Friedman also resides there. Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (ex-CIA) has a ranch between Kerrville and Fredericksburg. Business writer Roger Cameron has what looks like a fortress here. Well-known jewelry designer James Avery has his business and residence near Kerrville.
Over the years, I’ve also been told about many celebrities owning property here. George Strait has a ranch here. Patrick Swayze has/had an Arabian horse farm near Kerrville. Madeline Stowe and Brian Benben have a ranch here. Producer Lynda Obst has a ranch here; I remember my ex-husband telling me the local police chief’s former wife worked for her in some capacity. Robert and Shelly Duval own property here. I’ve been told that Kevin Costner and Jane Seymour own property here. Tommy Lee Jones (former Harvard suitemate of Al Gore and the inventors of the Internet) owns property nearby and used to sometimes phone my ex-husband on business. Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey are well-known homeowners in Austin who come here frequently; they are said to particularly enjoy the scenic Willow City Loop area. Luckenbach, with its country music stars, is here. (One of the p.i.s working for Ed Hodges that the Texas DPS refuses to discipline, despite my providing them with absolute proof of wrongdoing, owns a ranch close to Luckenbach.) Bill Ham, whom I was told is a major music producer, who apparently always travels with bodyguards, and whose wife was supposedly murdered in Austin years ago, owns property very close to mine. Johnny Nicholas (whose son died under suspicious circumstances at Colorado School of Mines) lives here and has a restaurant here. CBS News reporter Lara Logan is involved in a local divorce that has attracted attention from the tabloids. This is only a partial list, by the way.
Then there are the many current and former state and federal officials and employees who either live here or own property here. A number of the families of LBJ’s former Secret Service agents that my ex-husband grew up with have retired here. Retired FBI and CIA agents live here. All or most of the highest-ranking Texas DPS officers and officials seem to have retired to this area—so many, in fact, that the Texas Rangers have been raising funds to build a museum here (but their charity recently received a very low rating from a watchdog group, according to the San Antonio Express-News). For some reason, the FBI and certain community leaders are currently pushing the building of an FBI gun range and weapons training facility near the Kerrville landfill, even though the construction of a similar facility by the FBI just south of San Antonio had recently been announced and the location of the proposed Kerrville facility is causing serious controversy there due to its proximity to the local high school and residential areas.
While I’ve admittedly only listed a sampling of names here, there is one name I can’t drop—because I don’t know it. Back in the 1980s, when I was married, I remember my former father-in-law complaining constantly and bitterly about a “wealthy Japanese businessman” who was repeatedly out-bidding him for local property when it came onto the real estate market. I was never told this man’s name, however, and eventually my ex-husband’s family stopped talking about him, so I assumed he probably was a victim of the Japanese financial recession. I do recall that the time period when this guy was buying up local property was the same time that my former father-in-law (an attorney) said he was helping many celebrities buy property here.
Over the years, I’ve also been told about many celebrities owning property here. George Strait has a ranch here. Patrick Swayze has/had an Arabian horse farm near Kerrville. Madeline Stowe and Brian Benben have a ranch here. Producer Lynda Obst has a ranch here; I remember my ex-husband telling me the local police chief’s former wife worked for her in some capacity. Robert and Shelly Duval own property here. I’ve been told that Kevin Costner and Jane Seymour own property here. Tommy Lee Jones (former Harvard suitemate of Al Gore and the inventors of the Internet) owns property nearby and used to sometimes phone my ex-husband on business. Sandra Bullock and Matthew McConaughey are well-known homeowners in Austin who come here frequently; they are said to particularly enjoy the scenic Willow City Loop area. Luckenbach, with its country music stars, is here. (One of the p.i.s working for Ed Hodges that the Texas DPS refuses to discipline, despite my providing them with absolute proof of wrongdoing, owns a ranch close to Luckenbach.) Bill Ham, whom I was told is a major music producer, who apparently always travels with bodyguards, and whose wife was supposedly murdered in Austin years ago, owns property very close to mine. Johnny Nicholas (whose son died under suspicious circumstances at Colorado School of Mines) lives here and has a restaurant here. CBS News reporter Lara Logan is involved in a local divorce that has attracted attention from the tabloids. This is only a partial list, by the way.
Then there are the many current and former state and federal officials and employees who either live here or own property here. A number of the families of LBJ’s former Secret Service agents that my ex-husband grew up with have retired here. Retired FBI and CIA agents live here. All or most of the highest-ranking Texas DPS officers and officials seem to have retired to this area—so many, in fact, that the Texas Rangers have been raising funds to build a museum here (but their charity recently received a very low rating from a watchdog group, according to the San Antonio Express-News). For some reason, the FBI and certain community leaders are currently pushing the building of an FBI gun range and weapons training facility near the Kerrville landfill, even though the construction of a similar facility by the FBI just south of San Antonio had recently been announced and the location of the proposed Kerrville facility is causing serious controversy there due to its proximity to the local high school and residential areas.
While I’ve admittedly only listed a sampling of names here, there is one name I can’t drop—because I don’t know it. Back in the 1980s, when I was married, I remember my former father-in-law complaining constantly and bitterly about a “wealthy Japanese businessman” who was repeatedly out-bidding him for local property when it came onto the real estate market. I was never told this man’s name, however, and eventually my ex-husband’s family stopped talking about him, so I assumed he probably was a victim of the Japanese financial recession. I do recall that the time period when this guy was buying up local property was the same time that my former father-in-law (an attorney) said he was helping many celebrities buy property here.
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