LIVING BY THE FEUD IN THE LAND OF ELVIS

 “We do not have to visit the madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.”

~Johann von Goethe

Recently, there have been arrests made regarding poison laced letters that were sent to the President, a Judge, and a Senator. These letters contained a substance called ricin. Ricin is poisonous if inhaled, injected, or ingested.

The castor bean plant from which ricin is derived is a common plant and can be grown at home without any special care. The major reason ricin is a public health threat is that it is so easy to obtain.  Ricin, Wikipedia

Ricin, made from castor beans, is, in its powdered form, 6,000 times more poisonous than cyanide and a dose the size of two grains of salt can kill. Associated Press, April 30, 2013

A massive manhunt ensued after the letters were received, and a man named Paul Kevin Curtis was immediately arrested.  As a bit of background regarding Curtis, it is alleged that he is quite eccentric and maybe a bit mentally unstable. He has a propensity to come up with very big conspiracy theories. The most significant conspiracy that he has come up with to date is that a mortuary where he worked as a janitor was involved in a black market scheme of selling body parts.  It turns out that his story, to date, has not been proven to be true. Time will tell.

Curtis is an Elvis impersonator who lives in Elvis’ birthplace of Tupelo, Mississippi. He also does Conway Twitty, Prince, Alan Jackson, and Randy Travis impersonations. One of Curtis’ lawyers said his client broke into a spontaneous Randy Travis song when the lawyer saw him for the first time since being released from federal lockup.  Winston Ross, April 25 2013.

 The second accused person in this strange story had once planned to co-write a book with Curtis about the body parts conspiracy before the two had a fall out years ago.  Their feud continued and escalated throughout the years on Facebook, Youtube, and other social media outlets.

Curtis was immediately deemed to be a suspect because the ricin letters contained the initials “KC.”  The letters also contained a similar phrase that Curtis frequently uses in blogposts, letters, and various web commentaries. This phrase is “I am KC and I approve this message.” Investigators would soon find that the initials on the ricin letters were there for a more sinister purpose than Curtis identifying himself as the sender.

            After being interrogated by numerous law enforcement agencies, and having his home searched, Curtis was eventually freed. However, Curtis was kept  in custody for a week. He was interrogated while he was chained to a chair and his house was turned upside down (he is now seeking compensation for the extensive damage to his home). Even though investigators were holding Curtis, according to an FBI affidavit, they began collecting physical evidence against a second suspect.

Instead of setting Curtis free, court records show, federal officials sought to keep him in custody. First, three days after the arrest, prosecutors asked for a psychiatric evaluation — a request usually made by defense lawyers. That could have extended his stay in federal prison by several months and allowed investigators to continue to question him. Then, after a judge denied the request, federal prosecutors filed a motion seeking to postpone a court hearing at which they would be required to reveal the evidence they had against Curtis. That was also turned down. “They wanted to keep Mr. Curtis in custody while they built a case,” said Hal Neilson, a former FBI agent who is one of Curtis’ attorneys. “They knew early on he wasn’t the right guy, but they fought to hold onto him anyway.” Kimberly Kindy, Washington Post

 Curtis stated that it was immediately assumed that he that he was the wrongdoer and commented that he was heavily pressured into confessing that he sent the letters.  One could only imagine how disturbing it would be to be accused and kept in custody based on barely circumstantial and not any physical evidence. It appears that his immediate arrest and treatment by law enforcement was a very quick jump to a wrong conclusion.

“The letters and his mental state would not likely add up to probable cause, which you need to make an arrest,” said Andrew Scott, a retired Boca Raton, Fla., police chief, expert court witness on police procedure, and a graduate of the FBI National Academy. “The evidence came from publicly available social media sites. And the last time I checked, psychological profiling is not an element of probable cause. Without further investigating, it can lead to the kind of fiasco we are seeing here.”

The story becomes even more bizarre.

Why is it that some people cannot just let things go? James Everett Dutschke is such a man.  As it stands now, he faces life in prison on federal charges of developing and delivering a toxin for use as a weapon.  What led him down the road to ruin?

During the period of time that Curtis was interrogated, and ultimately freed, Curtis provided a list to law enforcement officials of people who may have had a reason to hurt Curtis.  Dutschke’s name came up.

 It is not fully understood why Dutschke allegedly sent the ricin letters, but it is theorized that he made a bad, and not very well thought out, choice to try and frame Curtis as a result of their feud.

Dutschke, like Curtis, is a peculiar sort.  He is reported to be an ex-martial arts teacher, insurance salesman, blues singer, and claimed Mensa member. He was recently arrested for two child molestation charges and is appealing a conviction on a charge of indecent exposure.  He also unsuccessfully ran in a Mississippi state representative race.

By his own description on his MySpace page, Dutschke once wanted to specialize in psychiatric nursing, but wound up in radio and then the insurance business. He’s in a rock band called Dusty and the RoboDrum that, according to its Facebook page, includes “tons of lasers.” Winston Ross, April 25 2013

It is theorized that all of Dutschke’s acts were motivated by feuds. He had an ongoing dispute with Curtis due to the animosity between them. Dutschke also apparently had a grudge against the Judge whom he allegedly attempted to poison because she scolded him at a political event for his scathing personal attacks of her son (who was running for the same position).

Regarding the President and the Senator, it is believed that the obvious purpose of these letters was to get Curtis locked up for a—very--long time.

This tale of feuds and lawbreaking was best summarized by Curtis’ attorney, “We are relieved and saddened. This crime is nothing short of diabolical. I have seen a lot of meanness in the past two decades, but this stops me in my tracks.”

Maybe turning the other cheek is good advice after all.

~Leonardo G. Renaud

UPDATE: NEWS REGARDING TEXAS KILLINGS

Former justice of the peace Eric Williams has been charged with capital murder for allegedly killing three people in Kaufman County, Texas, earlier this year. Williams's wife confessed, implicating both herself and her husband in the murder of an Assistant District Attorney, a District Attorney, and his wife.

While it seems unlikely that Williams’ wife would have been physically able to commit the crimes, given her health condition, it is believed that she may have encouraged or participated in them in some way. She confessed to the police that her husband was the one who actually shot the three victims, quoting Bennett, Eric Williams Charged with Murder of District Attorneys, The Atlantic Wire, April 18, 2013.

It remains to be seen whether Williams’ wife will testify against him to try and avoid the death penalty. Given the savagery of the murders, and Texas’ active stance in favor of executions, it would appear that the Texas prosecutors will most certainly seek the death penalty.  It is a sad tale that Williams went from a sentence of probation for theft to a potential sentence of execution due to his act of revenge.

 ~Leonardo G. Renaud

MURDERS IN TEXAS: RACISTS OR REVENGE?

Every murder turns on a bright hot light, and

a lot of people have to walk out of the shadows.

~Mark Hellinger

This post is to remind everyone about how important law enforcement is to the public. Those who serve to administer justice are always in danger. Highway Patrol Troopers are often killed simply for writing a ticket or run over by hit and run drivers. Police officers get shot with AK 47’s pursuing suspects or simply trying to serve warrants.  As we have all seen numerous times on television, persons create wildly dangerous car chases, endangering law enforcement and the public, due to such things as violations of probation, escape from criminal acts, or drunk driving.

 Desperate people, some of whom are drug addicts, persons carrying a deadly grudge, or criminals on the run, often take desperate and violent actions without any regard of the consequences. Individuals who prosecute alleged violators of our laws always have the threat of harm hanging over their heads.

 This danger is not limited to the largest cities of this country, but also includes smaller communities. People do not expect cold blooded murders of law enforcement officials in less populated areas. Yet, three of the brutal Texas murders discussed in this post occurred in Kaufman County—which is comprised of approximately 103,000 people. Kaufman County is generally split between small rural towns and Dallas commuter suburbs.

 On January 31, 2013 an Assistant District Attorney was shot five times in a parking lot as he made his way into the courthouse in Kaufman County, Texas. Shortly thereafter, the District Attorney of Kaufman County announced during a media interview that he was going to find the culprits and administer stern justice. He vowed to capture those who had killed his assistant.  He stated as follows: “We’re very confident that we’re going to find you, we’re going to pull you out of the hole you’re in, we’re going to bring you back and let the people of Kaufman County prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law.”

Approximately two months later, both he and his wife were brutally gunned down in their home.  She was killed with a single gun shot wound. He was shot twenty times.  Quoting, Pete Williams and Jeff Black.

In Colorado, a killer knocked on the door of the head of Colorado’s Department of Corrections and shot him when he came to the door. The killer was later gunned down by law enforcement officers in a shoot out. He was a member of a white supremacist gang known as the 211 Crew.  The 211 Crew has been linked with the Aryan Brotherhood.

Is there a possible link? The Texas murders, it has been speculated, may have been carried out by members of the Texas Aryan Brotherhood. They have recently been singled out by Texas law enforcement for prosecution—especially for running methamphetamine labs.  If the murders were committed by members of the Texas Aryan Brotherhood, this is a very dangerous situation for those who have actively prosecuted or arrested members of this gang.  The concern of law enforcement has peaked to such a point that a Houston Federal Prosecutor, fearing for his safety and that of his family, removed himself from a large racketeering case against members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.  He has since been replaced by a prosecutor from Washington, D.C.  Quoting, Kevin Krause.

According to Mark Potock of the Southern Poverty Law Center, “if this really was an assassination by the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, we are about to see a war begin.” The Aryan Brotherhood is the most violent prison gang, according to Potock. “While only .1% of inmates are in the Aryan Brotherhood, 18% of all prison murders are committed by the white supremacist group.”

The District Attorney’s office of Kaufman County was one of the numerous Texas and federal agencies involved in a multiple-year investigation that led to the recent indictments of 34 alleged members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, including four of its senior leaders. Quoting, Ed Lavandera and Holly Yan.  At the time, Assistant U.S. Attorney Lanny A. Breuer called the indictment a “devastating blow” to the organization, which he said uses threats of violence, including murder, against “those who violate (its) rules or pose a threat to the enterprise.”

The Texas Aryan Brotherhood has the reputation for being one of the most brutal gangs as a result of murders that occur in and out of prison facilities. The group is able to violently address any threat. In the past 20 years, parts of Eastern Kaufman County have increasingly become home to methamphetamine labs.  Many of these labs are run by white supremacist groups. ChicagoTribune.Com, Tight Security after Texas D.A. Killing. As time has progressed, the Texas Aryan Brotherhood has transitioned from primarily being a “white power” organization into an ultra-violent major money making business. Their methods of income include the sale of illegal drugs and extortion. A great portion of the gang’s activity is controlled from higher level members who are incarcerated.

As of the date of this posting, and what makes this case even more captivating, there has been a major twist.  A former Justice of the Peace of Kaufman County has been arrested in Dallas for making terroristic threats via email to Kaufman public officials, as well as murder. His bond has been set at twenty-three million dollars. In addition to the Aryan Brotherhood, he was a person of very high interest during the investigation because he had been prosecuted by the Assistant District Attorney for theft, resulting in the loss of his job and law license.  As a result of the conviction for theft, he was put on two years probation.

The former Justice of the Peace described the conviction and loss of his law license as “a life long sentence.” “I will have to seek another career, with a felony I will not be able to earn what I am used to,” he said, adding that it would be his wife, who he said was on disability, and his aging parents who would suffer the most. Quoting, Michael Pearson and Ed Lavandera.

His wife has been arrested for one count of murder. Her bond has been set at three million dollars; however, there has been no information released by law enforcement sources regarding exactly what role she may have allegedly played in the murders. It appears that she may have been the get-away driver for her husband after he allegedly committed the murder of the Assistant District Attorney outside the courthouse.

It is also believed that she was a passenger in the car when her husband murdered the District Attorney and his wife. Her alleged involvement in these brutal and meticulously planned murders seems very inconsistent with her severe health problems. She is very ill. She suffers from advanced rheumatoid arthritis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Quoting, Tanya Eiserer.

 It remains to be seen whether the Texas Aryan Brotherhood had any part (directly or indirectly) in these brutal slayings, or whether a disgraced ex-public official and his wife acted totally alone. Either way, the brutality of these slayings shows the consequences of those who are intent on committing murder to seek revenge.

~Leonardo G. Renaud