Paul Scharff's Blog, page 5

Kim Kolton’s Crime Wire with guest Paul Scharff co-author of MURDER IN MCHENRY

Kim Kolton’s Crime Wire

Great Show on Kim Kolton’s Crime Wire TalkBlogRadio. We discussed my book MURDER IN MCHENRY, the murder of my father Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman, the first and second investigation into their murder, Frank Cullotta, the Chicago Outfit (mob), Undersheriff Andrew Zinke, Deputy Zane Seipler, McHenry County Sheriff’s Office, the Northwest Herald, and so much more. A lot crammed in this one hour. The point of this show is to outline some of what is going on behind closed doors at the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office. Please take a listen to this very informative podcast.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/insidele...

 

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McHenry County Deputy Zane Seipler under siege, Again!!

Deputy Zane Seipler

McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren is acting out against one of his own, Again. Deputy Zane Seipler was terminated from his position more than four years ago, and Nygren was forced to reinstate him a little over a year ago. Nygren fired Seipler in retaliation for exposing the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department for Racial Profiling. This is the exact kind of behavior that I alluded to in my previous blog McHenry Deputies and MURDER IN MCHENRY. If we as citizens are forced to deal with bad police practices and corruption; it would be just as bad if not worse for some of the deputies there that don’t play ball. Let’s look back how Deputy Zane Seipler broke the unwritten Blue Code of Silence (this is an unwritten rule among police officers not to report on another colleague’s errors, misconducts, or crimes).

In 2007 Deputy Seipler overheard deputies talking about targeting Latinos on their patrols in hopes of catching unlicensed immigrants. The culture at the time for these deputies was promotions for writing more tickets. Seipler brought this to the attention of the sheriff’s department’s higher ups in hopes of them addressing the issue at the department level. This never happened. Deputy Seipler felt there was no other choice but to have this addressed outside of the department and reported the issue to state police and the FBI.

Prior to this escalation, Seipler has been with the Department for three years, was a member of the SWAT Team, and a Training Officer for Defensive Tactics. If you don’t know what a SWAT Team is, it is an elite police force. Members are highly skilled officers, highly disciplined and motivated in training, professional conduct, and mission execution. Training Officers are selected for their mastery of a skill or skills, their abilities to break down strategies to tactics, and for their ability to instruct and demonstrate. As a US Marine I have a strong appreciation for all of these requirements, and it is understood why he was seen by many as a rising star.

Within a year from reporting the department’s Racial Profiling, he was demoted from the SWAT Team and from the position of a Training Officer, and he was placed on leave for falsifying two traffic tickets. He took ownership of his wrong doing and cited in each case that he was trying to give a young driver a break for a minor traffic infraction. Deputy Zane Seipler was terminated by Sheriff Nygren for these two tickets. This was despite a previous incident of another deputy, who had falsely cited drivers for lack of insurance rather than speeding tickets, he was suspended for only three days.

Now a citizen, Zane Seipler, fought back by taking this to arbitration. The arbitrator’s ruling was that the punishment was excessive and Seipler won the arbitration. Sheriff Nygren appealed the decision. He took it to the Circuit Court and the Circuit Court upheld the arbitrator’s decision. Sheriff Nygren neither satisfied nor stingy with the taxpayer’s money, appealed to the Appellate Court and the appellate court upheld the previous two decisions. Nygren lost all three legal rounds, so Seipler was hired back as a Deputy for McHenry County. No….Not Quite.

Despite the three legal rulings to hire Seipler back, Sheriff Nygren chose to petition the Illinois Supreme Court. Mind you this was over two traffic citations that Seipler took responsibility for, and taxpayers are paying for this. Why would any responsible elected official pursue a petition to the Illinois Supreme Court for two traffic tickets unless they were narcissistic?

Here is the description of narcissism: Persons diagnosed with a Narcissistic Personality Disorder are characterized by unwarranted feelings of self-importance. They have a sense of entitlement and demonstrate grandiosity in their beliefs and behavior. They have a strong need for admiration, but lack feelings of empathy for others. These qualities are usually defenses against a deep feeling of inferiority and of being unloved. How dangerous does this sound for a person who is required to wear a side arm at the hip, not to mention who is a sheriff and is in charge of many that are also required to wear a side arm. THINK ABOUT IT!!!! Remember this definition, and that Sheriff Keith Nygren wears this definition like a glove; it will make some of my future blogs more understandable.

The petition was made to the Illinois Supreme Court, and thankfully for the taxpayers of McHenry County and Zane Seipler and his family the Illinois Supreme Court refused to consider the petition. At this point even the Grandiose Sheriff Keith Nygren had to bring Zane Seipler back as a Deputy.

This was all good news, but Deputy Seipler was now entitled to receive four years of back pay (yes, Nygren carried this on for FOUR YEARS!!). Though no fault of his own, the community did not get any service from Deputy Seipler for the four years of back-pay. The McHenry County citizens paid for a Sheriff’s self-indulgence and his tirade. This was a demonstration to all of the other deputies that you better fall in line or face an inquisition of no parameters or boundaries. How about the stress that this caused Zane’s wife and kids? Would your relationship with your family be able to stand up to the Sheriff’s personal siege? How would you handle your finances if you lost income for four years and had to fight a court battle that almost goes to the Illinois Supreme Court?

Now, after being back on the job for more than a year, Deputy Zane Seipler finds himself once again being terminated at the hands of the self indulgent and over bloated ego of Sheriff Keith Nygren. This is over a technicality that aroused from the many hearings in this case. This termination is so feeble, that even the Sheriff’s own attorney expects this termination’s outcome to be much like the first.

Allow all of this to resonate for a moment. I know that this is all very unbelievable, but it is the current state of the Sheriff’s Department. Now does it make sense why I have to battle with the Sheriff’s Department to get the case file to my father’s murder?  This is a murder that took place over 32 years ago, where the murderer has already been named and all others are now dead. Are you prepared for this group to handle your family’s tragedy? Do you feel served and protected as a citizen of McHenry County? How about voting for Nygren’s appointed protégé Undersheriff Andrew Zinke for McHenry County Sheriff in 2014?

I would like to thank Deputy Zane Seipler for his service, and for his courage to talk about the corruption of the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department, even at the great peril of himself and his family. I don’t admire your position, but I do admire your unselfishness to serve and your character; and isn’t that what we are left with when stripped of everything else, our character?  If that is so Zane Seipler, you are a very wealthy man.

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Hole in the Wall Gang on the 4th of July 1981, Bertha’s and Karma

The Hole In The Wall Gang being arrested on July 4th, 1981 for robbing Bertha’s. From left to right, Larry Neumann, Frank Cullotta, Joe Blasko, Leo Guardino, Ernie Davino, and Wayne Matecki

It is the week of the 4th of July, a time that we get together with family and friends for cookouts, fireworks and other 4th of July activities. This day also has meaning to myself and in relation to the book MURDER IN MCHENRY. My father, Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman were killed on June 1st, 1981. We did not find out until 27 years later that it was Hole in the Wall Gang member Larry Neumann that killed my father and Pat. Fortunately, karma does not have to wait for justice to strike because karma was unleashed just a month later on July 4th, 1981.

It was late June or early July in Las Vegas, Nevada. Frank Cullotta and the Hole in the Wall Gang members, Ernie Davino, Leo Guardino, Joe Blasko, and Larry Neumann were planning a hit on Bertha’s Gifts and Home Furnishings on 896 E Sahara Ave, Las Vegas. It was an exclusive resale shop for the finer connoisseur of home furnishings and jewelry. This was going to be at least a million dollar score for the Hole in the Wall Gang with a nice kick up to Tony Spilotro and the Chicago Outfit. This was not going to be easy, not even for the Hole in the Wall Gang.

The Hole in the Wall Gang got their name from the media, reporting on burglaries in Las Vegas were the perpetrators gained access by busting a hole in a buildings wall or through the roof. They did this to avoid being detected by alarm systems. Back then alarms were wired around windows and doors, and it was very rare that an expensive motion detectors are used. The newspapers reported on these robberies and called them the Hole in the Wall Gang. However in the case of Bertha’s, they did have the expensive motion detectors. Frank has gone into Bertha’s a couple of times to case the joint out. He had determine the way to get into Bertha’s was to go through the roof, land on top of the safe and drill through it.

Frank was going over his plan with Tony Spilotro. Tony wanted Frank to take Sal Romano on the Bertha’s heist. Frank knows Sal and he didn’t like him, he always felt that there was something wrong about him. Frank told Tony that he didn’t want to take Sal Romano. Tony assured Frank that Sal is a good guy and that he should take him along anyway. He told Frank if Sal Romano gives him any problems at all, have “Lurch” deal with him. Lurch was the nickname of my father’s killer, Larry Neumann, because of his size.

Frank got together with the rest of the Hole the Wall Gang for the final preparation and planning on the Bertha’s break-in. They knew with all the cutting and drilling needed to get through the roof and into the safe there was going to be a lot of noise. They decided that if they were going to break into Bertha’s on the Fourth of July and use the sound of the fireworks as a distraction and diversion from their cutting and drilling.

On the 4th of July 1981, the plan goes into play. Joe Blasko was in a commercial van across the Street from Bertha’s. He had a clear view of Bertha’s and he was listening to police scanners. Frank Cullotta and Larry Neumann were running counter surveillance, by listening to the police scanners and looking for any law enforcement in the area. While Frank was listening to the scanners, he noticed that there wasn’t as much chatter as usual by law enforcement. At around 9 PM Sal Romano pulls up in the back of Bertha’s with Leo Guardino, Ernie Davino, and ladders and other equipment to pull off the heist. Sal is supposed to move the station wagon but he never did. Frank got on the radio with him and asked him what was the problem. Sal said he was having problems getting the station wagon started. Frank ordered Larry Neumann to move in and figure out the problem. Frank pulled in on a frantic Larry Neumann. Larry was screaming and yelling at Frank that Sal Romano was nowhere to be found. It is at this point that Frank realizes the truth about Sal Romano, he was a mole for the FBI.

It was all too late. The FBI and the Las Vegas Metro Police were hidden all over the area. They knew every step that the Hole in the Wall Gang was going to take. In fact, while Frank was running counter surveillance he pulled up to the side of a vehicle, that if he would a look at the passenger side just seconds earlier he would a scene who was at that stoplight. It was the top cop for Las Vegas Metro, Gene Smith. Frank knew Gene Smith all too well and like all mobsters, they feared him. Gene was riding around with an FBI agent in preparation of the Bertha’s sting.

Dennis Arnoldy at the time was the lead arresting FBI agent on top of the roof of Bertha’s. They were hidden there hours earlier. He and his team waited up on the rooftop to catch them in the act. They didn’t want to catch the Hole in the Wall Gang just attempting a crime, they wanted to catch them committing a crime. As soon as Leo Guardino and Ernie Davino had penetrated the roof and were going to start working on penetrating the safe, the arrest order was given over the radio. Dennis Arnoldy and the other arresting agents moved from hiding behind air-conditioning units to shotguns at the ready and arrested Ernie and Leo. Other vehicle units moved in and arrested Joe Blasko, Frank Cullotta, and Larry Neumann.

This was the unraveling of the Hole in the Wall Gang and the beginning of the end of the mob’s control of the Las Vegas Skim, as portrayed in the movie CASINO. Shortly thereafter this event Tony Spilotro would put a hit out on Frank. This is when Frank turned government witness. Frank told the authorities about the murder of Robert Brown, the jeweler that Larry Neumann had killed. Larry would then spend the rest of his life in prison until his death in January of  2007.

In interesting note, the lead arresting FBI agent, Dennis Arnoldy, became Frank’s debriefer. They spent years working with each other. putting Chicago Outfit members and associates behind bars. They became the best of friends. A relationship that lasts over 30 years and till this day. You can see this story and Frank and Dennis his relationship play out on the TV screen. The National Geographic show, Locked Up Abroad has dedicated an episode in telling the story of what happened on the 4th of July, 1981 in Las Vegas Nevada at Bertha’s.

I mentioned at the very beginning of this article that the 4th of July has a personal meaning to me. It’s my father’s birthday. Ever since my father’s death, on the 4th of July I always look up to the sky and say to myself, some of these fireworks are for you dad.

In 2009 I was in Las Vegas doing a radio show with Frank. We got done with the show and decided that we were going to get something to eat and have breakfast. Frank’s not a superstitious guy, nor am I, but I said to Frank, Larry brought some bad juju with you guys on the night of Bertha’s. Frank said, how’s that? I told him that that was my father’s birthday. The expression on Frank’s face was priceless. Neither of us are superstitious but the both of us knew that are just some things in this world that you don’t mess with.

The moral of the story; don’t mess with Karma!!

 

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Who is Tommy Amato?

When I learned that Larry Neumann killed my father, Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman, from reading the book CULLOTTA, I reached out to Dennis Griffin, who co-authored the book with Frank Cullotta. In our initial contact he had asked if I was interested in getting Larry Neumann named as the murderer of my father and Pat Freeman. When I told him that I was interested he mentioned a gentleman named Tommy Amato.

Denny said that Tommy was with Larry the night he drove to our bar and killed my father and Pat. Tommy was waiting outside in the car while Larry went inside the bar. He did not have any knowledge of what was going to happen and just drove to the bar with Larry because Larry told him that he has some business there. At this time we did not contact McHenry County Sheriff’s Office about the discovery we made in Frank’s book. We did not trust them, so we thought that we were going to have to find Tommy ourselves. We thought that if we got Tommy immunity that he may tell everyone that Larry had killed my dad and Pat.

I contacted my mom and asked her what she thought about me reaching out to this guy Tommy and trying to get help from him to name Larry as the killer. I told her that Tommy apparently drove with Larry to the bar that night dad was killed but he was not aware of what was going to happen. At this point we had a great suspicion that the investigating officer at the time, George Hendle, was on the take (I had not yet connected him to the Chicago Outfit). That is why we thought that we had to reach out to Tommy to name Larry as the killer. My mother replied, “what was he going to do PJ, get himself killed?” That was my thought exactly. If you see or are in hearing distance of a murder you should report it. However, what if you unwittingly were traveling with a serial killer who would kill you, or you knew that law enforcement was working with the mob. Should the same rules of civil responsibility apply?

I think not. My mother and I saw this the very same way. Tommy was not responsible for telling the authorities because either Larry would have killed him or someone else in the Chicago Outfit. Let’s go back in time and talk about how Tommy found himself riding shot gun with Larry Neumann on his way to commit a double murder.

Tommy found himself in Las Vegas because he just got out of the Navy and he wasn’t doing anything back at home. He was the cousin of Elaine Cullotta, Frank’s wife. Tommy found himself hanging out with the Hole in the Wall Gang, Ernie Davino, Leo Guardino, Wayne Matecki, Joe Blasko, Frank Cullotta and of course Larry Neumann. Probably not the best influence on a young guy just getting out of the Navy like Tommy, but there he was.

Frank had recently got himself into a lot of trouble. He was caught with stolen furniture in his home. Compared to the other crimes that Frank has committed, burglary was not that big of a deal, but this would’ve been a third time that Frank is been caught committing a crime. If convicted he would be sentenced as a career criminal. Tommy was going to take the rap for him and said that he burglarized the home and sold the furniture to Mrs. Cullotta.

Larry Neumann was heading back to Chicago to commit a burglary that was supposed to be a nice score. At this point of time, Frank had witness the phone call that Larry received from his ex-wife, Debbie, stating that my father kicked her out of the bar, the reason why he was killed. This is the conversation that Larry told Frank that he was going to go back to Chicago and kill my father for the perceived disrespect of throwing out his ex-wife. Frank was confident that he talked Larry out of it but he knew how crazy and unpredictable that Larry can be. Also at this time Tommy had warrants for his arrest and Frank was worried that Tommy might be in jail when he needed him in court. Frank decided it would be best to send Tommy with Larry for two reasons. The first to keep Tommy out of trouble with his warrants in Las Vegas, and the second to keep Larry on ice, so he would not follow through on his threat to kill my father.

We all know that Frank’s plan didn’t work out so well. In the matter of days of Larry and Tommy being back in McHenry, Frank receives a phone call. The person on the other line told Frank that there was a double murder in McHenry, of a man and a woman at a bar, and he needed to look into it. Frank called Tommy, although Tommy did not give confirmation over the phone that Larry indeed killed two people, Frank could tell by Tommy’s response that it was Larry that killed my father and Pat. Eventually when Larry got back to Las Vegas he told Frank that indeed he did kill my father and Pat.

When Frank turned government witness, he told the investigators that Larry killed my father and Pat; and Tommy was there. Detective Dave Groover, was from the Las Vegas Metro Intelligence Division, he was debriefing Frank about my father’s murder. After speaking with Frank detective Groover sought an affidavit from Tommy, which he provided.

Detective Groover interviewed Tommy and purposely did not read him his Miranda Rights. That way anything that Tommy said could not be used against him in a court of law. And in that affidavit that Tommy provided he stated that he was with Larry Neumann on June 2, 1981, the day of the murders.

He said that Larry went into the bar while he waited outside in the car. Then at some point Tommy heard two shots, and then 10 seconds to a minute later he heard two possibly three more. Larry came out of the bar and hopped in the driver’s side of his Thunderbird and drove away. No words were spoken between Larry and Tommy. Shortly thereafter Larry handed him a firearm. Then at some point Larry drove to a bridge and pulled over. He disassembled the firearm and threw it in one of the many lakes and rivers that are found all over McHenry and Lake County. The following night Tommy stated that he was out with Larry’s brother-in-law on their way to Woodstock Illinois, where they ran into a Sheriff’s Department roadblock. Tommy was picked up and arrested for the warrants that he had in Las Vegas. Larry provided bail and subsequently Tommy was released when the authorities in Las Vegas chose not to extradite Tommy. Shortly after Tommy had given the affidavit, he recanted it. He said he wasn’t there the night Larry committed the double homicides.

27 years later the McHenry County Sheriff’s office interviewed Tommy Amato in relation to the reinvestigation of my father and Pat’s murder. He told them that he recanted the affidavit because it wasn’t true. He said that Frank Cullotta and Detective Groover was pressuring him to validate Frank’s story so that Frank would be found credible in this case and others against the Chicago Outfit. After the interview the McHenry County Sheriff’s office did not find reason and/or enough evidence to charge Tommy.

Tommy is the only one alive today that could possibly be charged in my father’s case. I’m not advocating that Tommy should be charged, I’m just saying he’s the only one alive today that could be. It begs to wonder why this case remains open.  Currently, he says he wasn’t there and the Sheriff’s office didn’t charge him. Even if he was there, what a huge miscarriage of justice it would be to charge this man. One, if he would have confessed to what he heard on that night June 2, 1981, he would have been killed. Even in the affidavit provided by Detective Groover, it mentions that special conditions needed to be sought and made because Tommy’s life was in danger. Not to mention this man was used by Frank, the mob, and law enforcement. We know that Frank was going to use him in his burglary case but law enforcement used him to.

For a while law enforcement thought that Tommy was part of the Hole in the Wall Gang. He was often targeted by law enforcement because they identified him as the weakest link in the gang. He would get picked up by law enforcement and they would often put him in special custody to let the other prisoners think that he was cooperating with them. Then he be moved to the Psych Ward where he was forced to deal with mentally ill criminals. They used other harsh tactics in trying to make him break, so he would turn on the Hole in the Wall Gang. So how did the mob use him? I’ll get to that in a second.

Since naming Larry Neumann as the killer of my father and Patricia Freeman, I have become good friends with Tommy. In a story where the good guys are the bad guys, and the bad guys are the good guys, stranger things will happen. Tommy and I’ve had long conversations on the phone talking about all different kinds of things. He lost his father at a young age and so did I, we related a lot to each other on that point. He was in the Navy and I was in the Marines, another point we related to each other very well. All in all, Tommy and I genuinely like each other. He had told me that he wasn’t there the night that Larry killed my father. To me it doesn’t matter whether he was there or not. If he wasn’t telling the truth, I get it. Why should anybody be killed to do the right thing, or why should he go to jail now for not telling the truth when the result was a death sentence. Whether Tommy is being truthful or not, I back him 110% and I know that my family does to.

Not that long ago, about two months ago, I was on a radio show with Frank Cullotta. He mentioned something that I found very interesting and I still think about. He had mentioned in the recent investigation that he was told by the Sheriff’s office that they were seeking immunity for Tommy Amato but couldn’t get it. I thought that was kind of strange all things considering. Now this goes back to my previous question, how did the mob use him?

Since the release of my book, MURDER IN MCHENRY, I found out some interesting facts. The day after my father was killed Tommy was picked up by the Sheriff’s Office and he was interviewed about my father’s murder. The thing that’s funny though, there is no record of that interview anywhere. The only reason I know that he was interviewed is  because George Hendle said so to the FBI, when he was being investigated by them. One of the people that was at that interview, was Adam Bourgeois. If you been following my blogs or read my FOIA appeal, you would understand the link. Adam Bourgeois, is the attorney for the Chicago Outfit. Doesn’t it seem odd that Adam Bourgeois would be called in for this interview of Tommy?

So what if Tommy did get immunity, he might be able to get this terrible thing off his chest. Just as important, he might be able to explain why George Hendle never took any notes or provided any record of this interview, or why Adam Bourgeois was there. Inquiring minds would like to know, or at least I would. Maybe there is a reason why Tommy wasn’t given immunity. It might prove that I’m not chasing ghost in getting to the bottom of what happened to my father 32 years ago. I think it would prove that there’s people today, that walk among all of us, are indeed the real people that I’m chasing, not ghosts. Are you curious to what Tommy knows?

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Andrew Zinke plus Rita Corporation equals ON THE TAKE

Undersheriff Andrew Zinke and the Rita Corporation on RT 31

A few weeks ago I wrote a blog called, “Andrew Zinke for McHenry County Sheriff, Really?” In my blog I relate my personal experience and what it was like having Andrew Zinke reopen my father’s case. Here’s the link to that blog.

I suggested that you should go and read Cal Skinner’s blog the McHenryCountyblog.com and Gus Philpott’s Woodstock Advocate.com. I am also going to suggest another site that has received my attention. It is Pete Gonigam’s FirstElectricNewspaper.com. We are all very busy with our own lives, and engaging in the politics of McHenry County can be mentally draining. However, those that serve their own interest, when they should be serving all of our interest, depend on that fact that you are too busy to pay attention, so engage.

In my blog about Andrew Zinke I spoke about his arrogance and his disdain for victims who want to find out exactly what happened to their loved ones. His ineptitude seems to be of a larger scope, it also seems to include a disdain for law enforcement and their personal safety.

The law of the land is that drugs are illegal. Regardless of your views on drug laws, that is the law the land and we should all expect law enforcement to abide by them. In the case of Undersheriff Zinke the law can be overlooked if you’re part of his network of friends.

On October 25, 2012 Sgt. John Koziol of the McHenry County Sheriff’s office asked for a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation of Undersheriff Zinke. Koziol alleges that the Undersheriff tipped off a suspect in a cooperative drug investigation with the DEA.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Zinke issued a statement he was calling Koziol a disgruntled employee and said his assertions are “false and being made out of spite.”

In the court filing by Koziol he states that on July 9, 2012 he was working with the DEA task force. They had intercepted a truck carrying 4,000 pounds of marijuana to Crystal Lake, Illinois. That was only the beginning. They later learned that over 60,000 pounds of marijuana was shipped to Crystal Lake and two other locations over a 10 month period. At this time Koziol got permission from his supervisor to go ahead and tell Undersheriff Zinke about the investigation. Not only did he tell Zinke about the investigation, he also told who they suspected. Koziol told Zinke that the truck was heading to the Rita Corporation in Crystal Lake, which is owned by Brian Goode.

On July 13, 2012 Koziol claims that he saw Zinke speaking the Brian Goode outside the McHenry County Government Center in Woodstock. Koziol also claims that Zinke had said to him that he told Brian Goode ” everything.”

At the beginning Zinke was denying everything. ” The complaint against me is not only a erroneous and without merit, it also puts DEA officers in jeopardy during their ongoing investigation of narcotic  trafficking.” Apparently, there must’ve been some evidence that Zinke did exactly what Koziol accused him of. Later, Zinke would make claim of no wrongdoing but he would not deny telling Brian Goode “everything.”

So Zinke LIED! He stated that Koziol claims were false and made out of spite, but they were true. Not only that but he tried to slander the character of a fellow law enforcement officer for his own short comings up judgement and character. He even accused this man of jeopardizing the DEA officers when he was he that was jeopardizing their safety and well-being., I am going to take this moment to remind you, because I think it’s necessary, this is the second highest law enforcement officer in McHenry County.

This does get better, believe it or not. Who is Brian Goode? For one, he serves as the McHenry County Sheriff’s Merit Commissioner. The Daily Herald reports that the Rita Corporation has donated over $50,000 to Zinke’s campaign. He’s also contributed $50,000 from 1999 to 2011 to campaigns for McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren. The address to the Rita Corporation is 850 S. Route 31, the very same address for Zinke’s campaign headquarters. This is a link to the Merit Commission’s web page, so you can understand the role of a commissioner and judge for yourself if this role should be filled by Brian Goode.

So is this the beginning of the end to Undersheriff Zinke? Well, it was perceived that the McHenry County state’s attorney’s office could not ethically investigate Zinke as they were already defending him in multiple civil lawsuits. So that left it up to the Sheriff to do his own investigation and he did. Sheriff Keith Nygren give Zinke two thumbs up. So what happened the Zinke? NOTHING! That is right absolutely, positively nothing. No one in this situation could find that Zinke broke any law or a Sheriff’s Order.

So who are you voting for in the McHenry County Sheriff election, Zinke?

 

UPDATE AS OF TODAY June 19, 2013: Pete Gonigan of the FirstElectricNewspaper.com filed for FOIA Request (Freedom of Information Act) for the Sheriff Nygren’s investigative report that cleared Undersheriff Andrew Zinke of any wrong doing in this matter. Donald Leist (does this name sound familiar? If not, here is my blog from last week) the EEO/Legal Affairs Officer refused his request. On Appeal to PAB, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office ordered the report released to FEN last month but Nygren hasn’t done it. FEN has filed a lawsuit asking the Circuit Court to order Sheriff Nygren to release the investigative report. Go get them Pete; GET SOME, GET SOME!!! (Marine Corps expression)

You can read the article here at the FirstElectricNewspaper

The WoodstockAdvocate also has an article on the lawsuit and you can read it here

Simon Barrett’s Blog Talk Radio Show June 16th, 2013

This is Simon Barrett’s Radio Show on father’s day on June 16th, 2013. I get to about my dad. An excellent Tribute. Here is Simon’s blurb for the show.

This week we will be taking a look at two cases, one hotter than molten lava, George Zimmerman and the untimely demise of Trayvon Martin. Joining us will be reporter Dave Knechel who managed to score one of the coveted court room press passes. While the trial is still in the Jury selection phase, there is still lots to discuss.

Our second case involves the 30 year old double homicide of Ronald Scharff and Patricia Freeman in McHenry County. Son Paul Schraf is still trying to get justice. I have been personally involved with the case for several years. Paul will be bringing us up to date on the latest (un)developments!

Link to Listen to the Radio Show

 

Justice gone backwards. It’s a sad day for the citizens of McHenry County.

Your best interest and my pursuit of justice took a  backseat to the protectionism of ghosts, or someone living. As many of you know, I have filed an Appeal with the Public Access Bureau in response to the denial of information from my Freedom of Information Act request to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Office. I have been trying to get all the information and documentation to my father’s murder case. I have received a letter back from the Public Access Bureau.

When you read the letter that was sent to me from the Illinois States Attorney’s Office (Public Access Bureau or PAC), put yourself in my shoes. I do tech support for a living. My expertise is supply chain management and the applications that facilitate distribution of products and goods. In my free time my interests are history, business, national and global events, politics (boring stuff I know, but that’s me), music and learning to play the guitar. There is nothing in my background that suggests that I have any knowledge in the area of law, investigations, or auditing of any kind. These are the skills that seem to be required as a citizen if you pursue answers to questions that should have already been submitted to the public domain. How many of you possess  these skills?

Apparently there has been an elevation in the response by the Sheriff’s Office, all though highly inappropriate. The response did not come from the Freedom of Information Act Officer, Ms. Jan Weech. She is trained in the standards of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act and has to take training annually to maintain her status as a Freedom of Information Act Officer for the sheriff’s department. The response was from Donald Leist, the EEO/Legal Affairs Officer.

His response is on McHenry County Sheriff’s Office letter  head, but I understand him to work for McHenry County’s State’s Attorney’s Office. How did they get involved? Think about it. If you put a FOIA request to the IRS, you would not hear from the US Marshall’s Office. The research that I could do gives me the perception that he works for Sheriff Nygren. I am unsure if that is actually true or not, but he seems to show up whenever there is allegations against Sheriff Nygren. He goes into court and appears to delay or obstruct any proceedings against the Sheriff.

If this does not seem bizarre to you consider this, my father’s case is 32 years old. I have learned that Debbie Neumann (the reason why my father and Pat Freeman are dead) has died in 2010. There is virtually no one still alive in this case. The Sheriff’s Office has already named the murderer of my father and Pat to be Larry Neumann. Why is this case still open? Why am I in a vicious fight to get information that would seem to only harm ghosts of the dead involved in this case? Maybe it is not the dead that is needing protection, maybe it is among the living that is needing the protection, but who? Are you starting to see the machine?

Here are the links to the reply that I received from PAB and my response back to them. Please stay engage and follow my story, there seems to be something fishy going on!

Public Access Bureau Letter

My Response to PAB Letter

IMPORTANT NOTE AND UPDATE: I understand now that Donald Leist use to work in McHenry County’s States Attorney’s office. He was then hired by Sheriff Keith Nygren. It looks like the Tax Payers of McHenry County had purchased the Sheriff Nygren is own attorney. This still does not qualify him to respond to my FOIA Appeal.

 

Did an Illinois Parole Board kill Ron Scharff, Patricia Freeman, and Robert Brown?

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

If a picture is worth a 1000 words then here’s 10,000 of them. This picture was taken August 1, 1956. The man standing up against the wall with the glasses, is Larry Neumann. He was 28 years old at the time. He was just captured after being on the run for two months after shooting and killing three people on June 8, 1956.

The man that’s pointing at Neumann is Mickey Epstein. Larry Neumann killed his brother. He’s able to identify Neumann as the killer of his brother because he was there when he did it. On May 9, 1956 Larry got into a fight with the Epstein brothers, both Mickey and Max. He thought that they were shortchanging him less than two dollars. A month later Larry went back to the bar with a shotgun shooting at the Epstein brothers fatally killing one brother. He also killed a dice girl name Lois Gates, and a newspaper vendor named John Keller.

I was able to find a news article about the murders and I have transcribed it below. When you read it, you get the idea of how scary and tragic the whole event was. Larry was given 125 years for each life that he took to be served concurrently. At that time he was not to see the parole board for at least 40 years. That would have made him 69 years old. But the laws changed and he was able to be paroled in only 12.

He only served 12 years for killing three innocent people in cold blood. When on the run, he even exchanged gun fire with the police before he was captured. Look at the photograph, he is staring right at Mickey Epstein, almost daring him. He shows no fear and he shows no remorse.

How was Larry Neumann paroled? His father was very wealthy and it’s believed that he had something to do with it. In conversations I’ve had with Frank Cullotta, he mentioned that Larry didn’t have to do any of his time he went straight to the farm. When other prisoners had to earn the trust of the prisoner staff to get jobs, Larry did not.

I don’t know what happened at that hearing or who was there, but when a killer is let loose 12 years after murdering three people in cold blood, something is wrong. Larry served only four years for each person that he killed. That is not justice, it’s a crime. Larry should have not been eligible for parole  for 40 years. Larry Neumann would not have been released until 1999 or the year 2000. He would have been 69 years old.

If the system did not fail Robert Brown the jeweler would not have been hacked to death with a machete by Larry Neumann. Because somebody was on the take this man was killed in a very horrific way. My father Ron Scharff and Patricia Freeman would not have met their deaths on June 2, 1981. Now you know why it’s so important to never let corruption and injustice stand because it kills innocent people at tears families apart.

Here is the transcript of the newspaper article written on August 1st, 1956. It is from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. I have included a link to that article online. I also have a link to the AP Photos of Larry Neumann and Mickey and Maxie’s Miracle Bar. You will see the shotgun blast through the window of the front door were Larry Neumann shot and killed John Keller, the newspaper vendor.

 

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

August 1, 1956

 

MEEK TRIPLE KILLING SUSPECT CAUGHT UNDER CHICAGO PORCH

200 Police Joined Westside Search

CHICAGO, August 1 (UP)

Lawrence Neumann, wanted for the murder of three persons in a jazz spot June 8, was captured “as easy as pie”under a rear porch stairway early today in a “shoot to kill”manhunt by 200 policemen.

Neumann’s capture came several hours after he was spotted by police shortly after 1 AM. He was sought almost 8 weeks in the triple slaying at the Miracle Bar, a North Side “Dixieland” jazz Spot.

Drops Gun

A five man detail found the crouching Neumann after a policeman’s wife, Mrs. Alberta Rogan, 22, said she had heard in noise at the rear of her apartment building. The detail, which had been searching in an alley beside the building, entered the yard and found Neumann under the stairway.

Neumann quickly rose under the glare flashlights, dropped his gun and threw his hands in the air.

Police swarmed into the area west of Cook County (Chicago) Hospital after Neumann was spotted driving an old model car by two policeman assigned to the special detail in the case.

Sgt. Charles Fitzgerald and Patrolman Wilbur Davis, dressed in work clothes, watch from the car as Neumann pulled his auto up to the curb on the Westside. Then they maneuvered their car alongside Neumann’s auto.

“Your Neumann aren’t you?” Asked patrolmen Davis.

Shotgun Blasts

Neumann jumped from the car, holding blankets in front of him, apparently in a feeble effort to stop any bullets that might be fired.

Patrolmen Davis who held a shotgun on his lap, blasted at Neumann as he ducked around his car and scurried down an alley. When Neumann was about 20 feet away, the police fired again.

On June 8, Neumann entered the Miracle Bar, announcing he was “going to kill everyone in the place.”

Max Epstein, 54, whose brother owned the cocktail lounge, drop behind the bar and begged for mercy as Neumann approached, witnesses said the killer stepped up on the bar rail, leaned over the bar and shot Epstein to death with two blasts from a shotgun.

The killer then turned on Lois M. Gates, 28, operator of the lounges dice game, who fell to the floor screaming and was killed with a blast in the neck.

Owner Mickey Epstein dropped from sight in a booth and other patrons sprawled on the floor. The gunman then whirled towards the door just as a news vendor attracted by the shots, John Keller, 49, ran in. Keller was pushed back out the door and gunned down on the sidewalk.

And that was the news article. It’s accompanied by a strange picture of Neumann with a pistol pointed at him, as he just smiles. The caption below the picture states the following.

TRIPLE MURDER SUSPECT– Lawrence Neumann smiles as he is shown a pistol with which police say he killed three persons in a Chicago jazz spot June 8. Holding the weapon is Capt. Patrick Deeley, Detective chief. With him is Patrolmen Canzoneri, who helped make capture.

A couple things that are not clear is the reference to the pistol. Neumann used a shotgun.

Mickey’s Miracle Bar the scene of a triple-murder committed by Larry Neumann June 8th, 1956, Observe the shot out window in the front door.

Link to the Newspaper Pittsburgh Post Gazette August 1st, 1956

Link to the AP Photo’s of Larry Neumann and Mickey and Maxie’s Miracle Bar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE

 

 

Andrew Zinke for McHenry County Sheriff, Really???

Zinke for Sheriff? It’s a preposterous idea but it will happen in less we do something about it.

Just like the original investigator, George Hendle, he started my father’s investigation as a Lieutenant. He now currently resides in the position of undersheriff for McHenry County. He hopes to be just like George Hendle, who climbed the ranks all the way to Sheriff of McHenry County.

It makes me sick to my stomach that George Hendle became Sheriff. It’s extremely difficult with all the facts that are before us to say anything less than the man was very corrupt. I’ve linked him to the Chicago Outfit through the Outfit’s attorney Adam Bourgeois. Yet he made it to the very top as McHenry counties chief law enforcement officer. Andrew Zinke is on the fast track of doing exactly the same. There is a difference between the two and we should make note of that.

George Hendle was connected. It is truly hard to imagine how investigator who is investigating a murder would even consider testifying on behalf of the murderer in another murder trial. Let’s keep in mind that he had the knowledge that Larry Neumann was already convicted of a triple murder. Then he was subpoenaed to testify on behalf of a gangster that is glorified in our pop culture, Tony Spilotro. I am not sure if he actually testified in Tony’s trial but I do know that Tony’s lawyer subpoenaed him. I don’t know if Andrew Zinke has any connections to the Chicago Outfit or not, I have no reason to think so. However, I do know how he treats victims and interacts with the public.

My first opportunity to see what he was about is when Holly and I did our interview with Carol Marin and Channel 5 News Chicago. The Sheriff’s office told Channel 5 that they were going to make arrests right away. So we waited for the interview to air. Carol Marin wanted to make sure that the Sheriff’s office had an opportunity to make a statement. Zinke set the milestones and failed to meet them once, twice, three times, and so on and so on. It was only until the segment aired in late December, a 12th hour statement was made. If I recall correctly, Zinke did not make the statement but the former Undersheriff Lowery did.

I could not believe that Channel 5 News is calling and you are jerking them around. It made no sense to me why you would act like you had something to hide with the top journalist in the Chicagoland area. It was not smart when one of your goals should have been to gain the trust and creditability of the victims and the community.

As this thing dragged on, it was apparent that I was going to have to start making contact with Zinke to stay on top of the case. I was treated like it was my fault that my dad was gunned down and his predecessors tried to cover up the killer’s tracks. He treated me as I was unappreciative of the Department efforts and mistrust of them was unwarranted. At first, I rarely called and even so, he would not return my calls. I established a pattern of broken communications with Zinke and called the media. I had to use the weight of NBC News and the Chicago Sun Times to get a return phone call about the status of my father’s murder case. He earned himself further scrutiny by the Scharff and Freeman family for further failure to meet his own milestones and continual acts of mistrust. Never any new information. Vague references to DNA tests etc, but no real understanding of what they were testing. I decided that I needed to call once a week to find out what was going on. He kept me personally in the dark for a little while and then passed me to one of his detectives. I started to lay into this detective for not having any new information. I recall that I was starting to build up my rapid fire moment and he must have sensed it too. He told me that he could not tell me anything new without Zinke’s approval. I wanted to go off on that detective but that would have been the wrong thing to do. If that detective felt like I did go off on him in any way, I am very sorry for that.  I could not get any information on case that involved mostly dead people. Were they afraid that I was going to tell a dead Larry Neumann that they were investigating him for my father’s murder? Who’s side did they think that I was on?

The icing on the cake was the Letter of Notification. The Letter of Notification may have been a summary of the investigation or the conclusion of the investigation, I wasn’t sure what it was (and I still don’t). I did receive it via email from Andrew Zinke more or less stating that my mother’s copy was in the mail but he wanted to make sure that I got the electronic copy right away. I did appreciate the expediting of the information but I had no idea what it means. Was my father’s case closed, was it still open, or was this some kind of status update. I didn’t know. I really thought I had a problem when my buddy Denny Griffin didn’t know either and he’s a retired cop. Maybe Zinke forgot that I was still just a novice at solving double murders. Zinke never passes up the opportunity to allow good judgment to slide on by. What world was he coming from where he thought that he could summarize to the families the conclusion of the murder of their loved ones by email and a word doc.

So now we have this Letter of Notification that nobody understands what it means but the content of the letter we fully understood. Everything in that Letter of Notification was everything I already knew before the investigation even it started except for one thing. Oh yeah, Debbie Neumann, the woman that is responsible for the murder of my father accuses him of rape. Again Andrew Zinke’s good judgment which continually escapes him, told them the best way to handle this piece information was to shoot it to me via email. I can tell you personally no matter how ludicrous a statement like that is, when you read something like that about your loved one, your heart will skip a beat. He put that in the mail to my mother with no further explanation. I can’t help to think how contrived that communication was. The repeating of everything I already knew from the book CULLOTTA that was published two years earlier. And the one piece of new information that I get out of this nine-month investigation, your daddy is a rapist. I think that was his way of telling me to slow my role down, you might uncover things you don’t want to know. (If that was a goal of his, he failed that too).

Now let’s discuss what was left out of the Letter of Notification. He left out that George Hendle was subpoenaed to testify on Tony Spilotro’s behalf in a burglary trial. He also left out that the FBI started an investigation of George Hendle because of handling of this double murder and for being subpoenaed to testify in Tony Spilotro’s case. He also left out that Cordell Pearson, the head of Las Vegas Metro Intelligence Division, was told by George Hendle that he was going to clear everything up with Glenn as the murder suspect and pursue Larry Neumann instead. He left out that may Neumann was questioned but only as a witness and in his statement he more or less implicated himself. George Hendle told the world through newspapers and interviews that Glenn did it. He had three lie detector test that proved it. He would never let Glenn out of his sights, because he failed a lie detector test three times. The first lie detector test, was inconclusive. It was given in too short a timeframe from learning that his girlfriend was killed. The second lie detector test, shown Glenn to be deceptive. The third lie detector test, proved him to be truthful. I don’t do too much police math but I would still expect that does not equal to three failed lie detector test. He also did not mention that any and all reports of when George Hendle and Ted Floro went to visit Frank Cullotta to be debriefed on the murder of my father was missing. That was not the only thing that was missing. In interview with Tommy Amato conducted with the Outfit’s attorney present, Adam Bourgeois, was also missing, completely gone. Now he did mention that he had spoken to a Michael “Mickey” Marcello. He did not identify who he was, but I know who he was. That was Mickey the Jukebox Guy. When I was a kid he gave me a full size arcade machine to put in my room. However that is not the most interesting thing about Mickey. The most interesting thing about Mickey, is that he is the half brother to the Chicago Outfit’s boss, James Marcello. I personally would have took the time to ask Mickey if he possibly knew of any crooked cops in McHenry County back in the 80s.

My family had turned in at least one gun and possibly up to three to the McHenry County Sheriff’s Department. I believe one or two guns were recovered at the crime scene and I know for fact, that a couple days later my mom turned in her gun to George Hendle as he requested. I called Andrew Zinke and asked if I could get the guns back. He told me that he was unaware of any guns and would review the crime photos. Later, he told me that he had reviewed the crime photos but he couldn’t find them. They were not on any inventory sheets, so he was completely unaware of them. He was correct that they were not on any inventory sheets, and I still haven’t seen all the crime photos, but I read at least eight witness statements where the investigative officer back in the 80s was showing witnesses my father’s gun recovered from the crime scene. I can only assume that he was either lazy, or derelict in reviewing this case, or the man flat out lied to me.

So, McHenry County this is what you get to look forward to if you allow Andrew Zinke to become your Sheriff in 2014. Not to worry though, should your family fall on tragedy you can count on me. I’ll be by you and your family’s side. However, if tragedy does fall on you or your family, I do ask that it is done in some kind of an interesting way. You know, a loved one killed by a mobster, or bazaar shoot out, attack by the Loch Ness monster, something good. Think of it as a requirement. My contacts in the media they need to write stories. If we can’t get the media involved, why would Andrew Zinke ever call us back?

Simon Barrett BloggerNews.Net Book Review: Murder In McHenry

Posted on March 27th, 2013

Book Review: Murder In McHenry

Simon does a Book Review

http://www.bloggernews.net/129003