Category Archives: #truecrimethursday

True Crime Thursday – Innocent Behind Bars

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Since 2008, Buggz Ironman-Whitecow has been in a Montana prison for a homicide he did not commit. Racism against Native-Americans led to his arrest and prosecution. Evidence that should have cleared him was withheld or falsified as wrongdoers scrambled to cover up the truth.

Buggz had one stroke of good luck: he is represented by attorney Phyllis Quatman, a dogged advocate determined to free him.

Phyllis is my good friend and critique partner. I asked her to write a guest post about this case that is a true crime within the justice system.

Note: the crime scene photos are graphic and disturbing. For that reason they are not included in this post. They are available to view at this link.

Here’s Phyllis’s story:

WHAT’S WRONG WITH THIS PICTURE?

For 35 years, I’ve been an attorney who worked both as a prosecutor and defense lawyer. Evidence is the Holy Grail in criminal law and carries the day. A single photograph taken at a 2006 homicide scene is clear evidence that proves the innocence of my Native-American client, Buggz Ironman-Whitecow. Yet Buggz has been in prison since 2008.

Why?

I became his defense counsel five years after his 2008 conviction. My original job was to seek post-conviction relief for the excessive sentence of 65 years in a homicide with no pre-meditation and weak, questionable evidence. But investigation of that evidence led to a shocking conclusion that official negligence and misconduct had been covered up.

The victim was Lloyd “Lucky” Kvelstad, a poor white transient who, during a winter night when the temperature dropped to seven degrees, joined a group of Native Americans in a Havre, Montana ‘flop house’. Although the house had no heat, it served as a hangout for local substance abusers. A great deal of alcohol was consumed, and a fight broke out among several people there. .

At trial in 2008, prosecutors alleged Buggz had caused Lucky’s death during the fight.

At 1:20 a.m. on November 25, 2006, police and EMTs arrived on scene. Lucky was lying on the floor, face down, with head injuries. At trial, they admitted they never treated Lucky, never rolled him over, never tried to revive him, or even listen for breath. They announced he was dead and left.

The pathologist who performed Lucky’s autopsy testified the head injuries were not serious enough to have killed him. The pathologist also could not find a cause of death to a medical certainty.

Metadata on crime scene photos showed his body’s location and position were not the same as initial witnesses had stated and their diagrams showed. He had moved two feet forward after first responders left. This detail proved key.

Around 4:25 a.m., police video shows the officers rolling Lucky over. His body shows no lividity, no rigor mortis, and fresh urine on his thigh. One officer commented on the urine and the other officer said, “I wonder if this guy … didn’t die right away?” The video suddenly cuts away.

That last officer wrote in his report and testified that at 4:45 a.m. he bagged Lucky’s head with a brown paper bag and taped it around Lucky’s neck. He left the scene to go to the police department, then returned to the scene. At 5:15 a.m., someone called for the coroner. At 6 a.m., the coroner arrived and found … no lividity, little if any rigor mortis, and that Lucky’s arms were warm to the touch. He stated there was no bag on Lucky’s head which is how he could describe Lucky’s facial injuries.

Photo 42 was among 100 crime scene photos the prosecution had produced on a discovery CD back in January 2007.

Photo 42 provided my first clue that Buggz was innocent.

According to the police, it represents the first picture taken of Lucky at the crime scene and ostensibly depicts exactly how and where the officers found him just after 1:20 in the morning.

Metadata on that CD revealed suspicious discrepancies:

(1) While the police and EMTs arrived on scene around 1:20 a.m., no crime scene photos were taken until Photo 42 was shot at 3:47 a.m., more than two hours after those first responders arrived;

(2) Of those 100 photos, somebody duplicated eight of them, renamed them, and scattered those 16 replicas into the 100 disseminated to the defense just after the homicide;

(3) Somebody also added 23 photos at the beginning of that discovery CD, and the metadata showed they were taken between 9:18 and 9:38 a.m., more than nine hours after the police came on scene;

(4) Those 23 photos were a different size than the others and taken with a different camera.

In other words, all 100 photos on that discovery CD had been rearranged, renamed, or altered.

What happened to the ones that should have been there, like photos of Lucky lying in situ in his original position at 1:20 a.m., or ones an officer wrote he took at 2:38 a.m. in the kitchen?

Missing.

Photo 42 shows Lucky lying in a different location and position, the key detail noted above.

Years later when I took over Buggz’s case, Photo 42 triggered an alarm in my lawyer brain.

Dr. Gordon Giesbrecht, our renowned expert witness, concluded that Lucky was not dead when the cops left him alone on the floor, but likely hypothermic and drunk. That explained their inability to detect a pulse. He posited that Lucky arrived at his location in Photo 42 either because someone moved him there, or because he crawled forward two feet over a two-hour period. Since everyone agreed that no one moved or touched Lucky, and witnesses at the time swore Lucky was lying prone where they described and drew in their diagrams, it seemed like Photo 42 proved Lucky moved after the police and EMTs left him for dead.

Add to that the condition of his body on the crime scene video at 4:30 a.m. and the coroner’s findings at 6 a.m., and it seems clear Lucky didn’t die until much later than the 12:30 a.m. time of death the police alleged.

Indeed, Dr. Giesbrecht concluded that Lucky, had he been warmed up and treated, would have lived. But by failing to treat him, the EMTs and cops were negligent at best. When they inexplicably bagged his head at 4:45 a.m., they caused his death from hypoxia, or lack of oxygen.

Could their own exposure to civil and criminal liability cause these officers and EMTs to fabricate evidence from a crime scene and enact a massive coverup to divert attention away from their own guilt and toward Buggz Ironman-Whitecow?

I’ve spent the last 12 years, trying to get that damning evidence of a coverup before an unbiased judge. But that’s easier said than done. Montana is a large state with a small population where, in the legal and law enforcement world, everyone knows everyone. Officers and prosecutors involved in Buggz’s original homicide trial in 2008 moved up to higher positions of influence. Three became judges. The Attorney General at the time became Chief Justice on the Montana Supreme Court.

My repeated motions and requests for a new trial to present this evidence have been denied or ignored.

Meanwhile, Buggz has languished in prison for 18 years, yet has not lost faith that his innocence will be proved.

Thwarted by the legal system, I wrote the true crime memoir, Innocent Behind Bars-The True Story of Buggz Ironman-Whitecow, and created a website, The Free Buggz Project. All evidence is laid out in the website, including photos, crime scene video, trial and hearing transcripts, case files, and more.

My goal is to generate sufficient public interest and outcry that Buggz will receive a new trial. I invite you to review the evidence for yourself. If you conclude, as I did, that Lucky Kvelstad was not murdered by Buggz but died due to negligence and official misconduct, I ask your help in contacting independent agencies and courts to reverse this injustice.

Attorney Phyllis Quatman

Book sales link: Innocent Behind Bars-The True Story of Buggz Ironman-Whitecow.

Website link: freebuggzproject.com

Read more about author Phyllis Quatman.

~~~

Thank you, Phyllis!

TKZers, Phyllis is happy to answer questions in the comments.

True Crime Thursday: Dogs Who Solved Murders

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In 19th century Spain, a Seville butcher named Juan went on hunting trips with his godfather, Marquez, every Saturday. The two normally returned on Monday.

One November morning, Juan came back alone. Marquez’s wife asked about her husband, but believed Juan when he said they’d separated during the hunt and thought Marquez had beat him home.

“He must be coming back any time now,” he said.

With the day bleeding into night and still no sight of Marquez, his wife grew concerned. That evening, his dog, Como tu, returned alone. Como tu and Marquez were inseparable. So, the wife asked his faithful companion about his father’s whereabouts. Agitated, the dog grabbed her dress in his teeth and tried to drag her out of the house.

Why the wife paid no attention to Como tu’s strange behavior was anyone’s guess. Instead, she thought maybe Marquez went to visit Juan. In a desperate attempt to find him, she and Como tu went to his house. When Juan answered the door, Como tu dove for his throat. It wasn’t normal behavior. The dog never had a problem with Juan before.

After the wife pulled Como tu off Juan, he falsely claimed the dog must have rabies and should be shot, but she decided to go to the police station instead. Como tu was good as gold at the police station, until Juan arrived. The moment Como tu heard his voice, he turned aggressive. At first, the police commissioner thought Juan might’ve abused Como tu. When the wife told the story of her missing husband, she included the dog’s strange behavior.

Two days later, she took the dog for a walk in the area where her husband had gone hunting. At a cliff that overlooked the river where folks customarily threw garbage and dead animals (*cringe*), Como tu again tugged her dress, howled, then pulled her toward the cliff’s edge. Because of the stench of garbage — and despite Como tu’s best efforts — they headed home.

As they passed the butcher shop, Como tu barged in, leaped up on a table, and again tried to attack Juan.

More than a little suspicious now, Marquez’s wife returned to the police station and told an officer what happened with the dog. The police officer said nothing at the time. However, the following morning, he went to the cliff with four pall bearers and saw Juan and two other men at the bottom, tearing bloody clothes off a corpse.

The officer arrested all three men.

Officials ID’d the body as Marquez. The officer found entry wounds from a full load of buckshot to the face and left side of the head. The back of the skull had more damage, most likely crushed by the butt of a shotgun. The two accomplices confessed. Juan had offered money to help him remove the bloody clothes and toss the body into the river.

With no way out, Juan confessed to killing his godfather after a fight over who shot a specific partridge. As the fight intensified, both hunters loaded their shotguns and threatened each other. Angry and drunk, Juan claimed to fire at Marquez to disable him, but he finished the job by caving in the back of his skull with the butt of his shotgun.

The court found no evidence of premeditation and some evidence to support self-defense. Thus, Juan received five years in the galleys while the two accomplices got six months in prison for trying to cover up the murder.

If it weren’t for Como tu, Marquez’s wife would never have known what happened to her husband.

ANOTHER FURRY HERO

white labradoodle like Titan

A case made national headlines when a loyal Labradoodle named Titan helped solve the murder of his twenty-six-year-old mom, Mandy Rose Reynolds, who was shot and burned beyond recognition in a field in Robinson, Texas.

Police found the charred remains on April 5, 2023. Titan barked frantically and refused to leave the area. He also evaded capture.

Even after the coroner removed Reynold’s body the following morning, a good Samaritan found Titan sitting in the same spot and called Robinson Animal Control, who scanned the dog for a microchip. That led to the owner’s name: Mandy Rose Reynolds.

Now with a starting point for the investigation, the medical examiner identified the remains as Mandy Reynolds through her dental records. The official record shows she died from a gunshot wound to the head, and a .380 bullet was recovered from her remains.

Robinson police then learned Mandy Reynolds resided in San Marcos, Texas. San Marcos police were contacted and went to her home but found it empty, with all her possessions removed and her black Honda Accord missing.

A license plate database revealed the car was somewhere in Wichita.

On April 8, 2023, Wichita police spotted the vehicle. The pursuit lasted almost thirty minutes and reached speeds of over 100 mph.

The Accord crashed into another vehicle, and Derek Daigneault — Mandy Rose Reynolds’ cousin— fled the scene and “hid on a shelf behind canned goods” at a local grocery store. Police found a .380 handgun on the driver’s side floorboard.

Meanwhile, back in Robinson, police determined the body had been burned in a large plastic storage container, along with a fired .380 shell casing.

Surveillance video from a Walmart in San Marcos showed Daigneault buying an identical storage container, a shovel, and a gas can on the morning of April 4, 2023. Video evidence also showed him leaving the store in Mandy Reynolds’ car, with Titan sticking his head out the window.

The Texas Department of Public Safety crime lab confirmed the bullet and shell casing were both fired by the handgun found in Daigneault’s possession. The court sentenced Daigneault to life in prison.

“The keys to this case were a heroic and loyal dog named Titan and extraordinary cooperation between law enforcement agencies in multiple jurisdictions and states. That combination has delivered justice for Mandy and safety from a violent and dangerous criminal,” Assistant District Attorneys Ryan Calvert and Alyssa Killin said in a statement.

As for Titan, Mandy Rose Reynolds’ best friend adopted the dog days after her murder. “He is doing great!”

Do you know of an animal who solved a crime? Tell us about it.

True Crime Thursday – Thanksgiving Reading

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Thanksgiving turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to Kill Zone friends!

While you’re waiting for the bird to roast, how about reading a book with Thanksgiving as the centerpiece?

After all, it’s a True Crime not to read!

Here’s a list of holiday-themed books compiled by the Memorial Hall Library in Andover, MA. Some are mysteries, some are histories. Some are older, some more recent.

Thanksgiving Night-A Novel, Richard Bausch, Harper Perennial, 2007. The tagline sounds promising: “Will Butterfield can’t believe it. His 75-year-old mother is threatening to jump off the roof. Again.” But reviews are mixed.

Billy Lynn’s Long Half Time Walk, Ben Fountain, Ecco, 2012. This book juxtaposes war, sports, and social commentary. It won the National Book Critic’s Award and became a film in 2016.

This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiiving, David J. Silverman, Bloosmbury, 2019. Historian Silverman reexamines Thanksgiving from the Native perspective.

Turkey Trot Murder, Leslie Meier, Kensington Cozies, 2017. The 24th book in the long running Lucy Stone mystery series, featuring a small-town newspaper reporter.

Strangers at the Feast, Jennifer Vanderbes, Scribner, 2010. A novel about the colliding worlds of suburban privilege and urban poverty.

Mayflower Lives: Pilgrims in a New World and the Early American Experience, Martine J. Whittock, Pegasus Books, 2019. Commemorating the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower landing.

Thanksgiving, Janet Evanovich, Harper Collins, 2009. A romantic classic originally published in the 1980s.

The Cat Who Talked Turkey, Lilian Jackson Braun, Berkley Reprint, 2004. From the venerable cozy series featuring felines that solve murders.

An Indigenous People’s History of the United States, Roxanne Dungar-Ortiz, Beacon Press, 2014. Recipient of the National Book Award. A “bottoms up history” describing effects of colonization on the Native population.

The Ghost at the Table, Suzanne Berne, Algonquin, 2007. A novel about conflict among siblings over their mother’s suspicious death 25 years before.

The Accidental Tourist, Anne Tyler, Vintage Reprints, 2002. A classic originally published in 1985 and made into a 1988 Oscar-winning film with Geena Davis.

A Great and Godly Adventure, Godfrey Hodgson, Lume Books, 2017 (original publication PublicAffairs, 2006). History focused on the pilgrims’ mission to spread religion to the new world.

The Ice Storm, Rick Moody, Back Bay Books, 2002. A grim satiric novel about two affluent suburban families whose dysfunction comes to a head during the turbulent era of Watergate and the Vietnam war. Later made into a 1997 film.

A Catered Thanksgiving (Mystery with Recipes), Isis Crawford, Kensington, 2010. A turkey blows up, killing a wealthy patriarch whose heirs are worried about being cut out of his will.

Thanksgiving-The Biography of an American Holiday, James W. Baker, University of New Hampshire Press, 2009. A cultural, historical analysis of Thanksgiving.

The Thanksgiving Visitor, Truman Capote, Knopf Books for Young Readers, 1996. An illustrated, read-aloud story for ages 6-12.

~~~

Photo credit: Dennis Wilkinson on Flickr

Today I give thanks to the fascinating folks I’ve met here at TKZ. I’m grateful to share thoughts and experiences, and appreciate the ongoing writing education generously offered by my smart, insightful TKZ colleagues!

Wishing you and your family a day of blessings, good food, and good reading!

~~~

P.S. Tomorrow, 11/29/24, I’ll be at an international Zoom Book Launch party, hosted by UK author Yvonne Battle-Felton. Authors from the US and UK will introduce our new books. I’ll read from Fruit of the Poisonous Tree. You’re all invited!

Zoom link: https://bit.ly/booklaunch2024autumnedition

The time is 8-10 pm GMT. Here’s a link to convert to your time zone: https://greenwichmeantime.com/time-gadgets/time-zone-converter/

I’d love to “meet” TKZers if you can attend!.

True Crime Thursday – No Honor Among Thieves

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Photo credit: dolldreamer

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Book piracy is a widespread, growing problem that cuts into authors’ already-dwindling incomes. Back in 2020, I wrote about book piracy.

In a recent ironic twist, an ebook piracy site was hacked, per a July, 2024 Scamicide post by attorney Steve Weisman.

Yup, the pirates got pirated.

The site itself Z-Lib didn’t suffer as much as the 10 million users of the site who had their information stolen. Steve’s post reports the theft of:

…usernames, email addresses and passwords, the stolen data also included Bitcoin and Monero cryptocurrency wallet addresses for the nearly ten million people affected.

Z-Library was a major site funded by donations that offered free access to copyrighted works including pirated material. In 2022, the FBI temporarily shut down Z-Library.

According to blog.acer.com:

Z-Library, the shadow library project that provided access to millions of textbooks, novels, journal articles, and magazines was shut down in November 2022 when U.S. authorities seized a number of the organization’s domain names. Despite the efforts of law enforcement, the project never fully went away. Z-Lib even staged an official comeback in early 2023 by working around the previous domain name issues. However, the project has been disrupted again by further FBI domain seizures.

In other words, if law enforcement seizes pirate domain names, just register new domain names and go underground on the dark web.

Are Z-Library, Z-Lib, and its clones legal?

In this article, DOIT Software says:

It is illegal in many jurisdictions since it offers pirated content and violates copyright regulations. Users are encouraged to consider the ethical implications of accessing content from platforms like Z-Library, which often involves the distribution of copyrighted materials without proper authorization.

The clone site Z-Lib charged to access its shadow library, meaning users entered their personal and financial information. That valuable cache of info made a tempting target for other thieves who hacked in and stole it.

That raises an interesting philosophical discussion: If thieves steal from other thieves, is it a crime? Or poetic justice?

Are there degrees of guilt? How would you rank these perpetrators?

  1. Pirate sites that steal copyrighted works from authors;
  2. Users who pay pirate sites;
  3. Hackers that stole from the pirate site and its users? 

TKZers, the floor is yours.

I’m traveling today and won’t be able to respond to comments until later.

True Crime Thursday – Mishandled DNA Affects Hundreds of Colorado Cases

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Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons, CCA-SA 3.0

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

In September 2023, reports were made that “star” forensic scientist Yvonne “Missy” Woods mishandled DNA evidence. In October 2023, she was placed on administrative leave. In November, 2023, after almost 30 years with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Woods retired to avoid termination.

CBI launched an internal affairs investigation into Woods’s conduct and the results were released on June 5. 2024. 

Some of their findings included:

“In 2014, a coworker questioned Woods’ testing of evidence in a case and reported concerns to a Technical Leader.

In 2018, Woods was accused of data manipulation. In response, she was removed from casework and given other duties pending a review of the accusation.

After the review, Woods was later reinstated.

The results of the 2018 review were not escalated to the former CBI Director or CDPS leadership.

CBI has initiated additional investigations into the circumstances surrounding the 2018 process.”

 

As of the date of the report, 654 cases had been identified as affected by Woods’s data manipulation. The report goes on to say:

“[The investigation] revealed that Woods manipulated data in the DNA testing process, leading to incomplete test results in certain cases. It also found she concealed her activities from the technical review process. She engaged in the deletion and alteration of data, and she failed to provide thorough documentation in case records related to certain tests performed.

While the review did not find evidence of Woods falsifying DNA matches or fabricating DNA profiles, Woods deviated from standard testing protocols and cut corners, raising concerns about the reliability of her testing.”

The investigation continues, with Woods’s cases back to 1994 being reviewed. CBI said they would not release further information because of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Parts of a November interview between Woods and investigators were played by 9News.com in July 2024. Initially, Woods’s answers were: “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” When asked why she altered or omitted test results, she answered, “I think I’m burned out.”

Later in the interview, her answers were more revealing:

“The implications were not even a thought and I think that for that stuff it, it was like click done, move on, click done, move on and not even, not even an additional thought…I don’t know any of these people. I don’t have any reason to pick this one and not the next one that I took forward all the way through whatever.”

[Investigator] Hassenstab asked her how she felt about what she was doing and if she felt bad about it. 

Woods said, “I didn’t even think about it. I didn’t even think about it until five weeks ago.”

Five weeks ago refers to when she was removed from her position and retired shortly afterward.

According to CNN, a week after Woods’s resignation, a federal lawsuit was filed alleging James Hunter was wrongly convicted of burglary and sexual assault in 2002 based on “fabricated and false [hair] evidence” examined and tested by Woods.

Westword.com reports a lab worker recounted an incident in 2014 or 2015 when “Woods allegedly threw away fingernail clippings that were assumed to be evidence.”

Woods came in, brushed the fingernail clippings in her hand, and threw them in the biohazard or garbage bin,” the worker said, telling investigators she was “99 percent” sure the clippings were evidence.

James Karbach, director of legislative policy and external communications for Office of the State Public Defender says, “This has become about more than just one longstanding analyst tampering with evidence and deleting data, but it also is about the systemic failures of an accredited state crime lab, the people, and the processes that should have stopped this from happening over and over for years…there have likely been hundreds of public defender clients who were given intentionally manipulated data and who were prosecuted with unreliable evidence.”

Misconduct raises concerns not only of wrongful conviction, but also that guilty parties may walk free. If courts rule DNA evidence was mishandled, cases can be thrown out.  

~~~

TKZers: Have you heard of other crime labs where evidence can’t be considered reliable? Does this scenario inspire story ideas? An innocent person wrongly imprisoned? A killer skates because mishandled evidence is thrown out?

~~~

Cover by Brian Hoffman

 

 

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree is a legal doctrine that says if evidence is illegally obtained, it’s not admissible in court. It’s also the title of Debbie Burke’s new thriller.

Preorder sales link. 

True Crime Thursday – Ponzi Scheme Built on a Mountain of (ahem) Manure

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Investors in Ray Brewer’s start-up company thought their money was being used to build anaerobic digesters in California and Idaho.

What is an anaerobic digester? A system that processes cow manure, breaking it down into methane gas, liquid fertilizer, and other byproducts, all of which are salable.

Methane gas can be sold as renewable energy, generating green energy tax credits. The byproducts of fertilizer and compostable materials can also be sold.

Sounds like a great solution, doesn’t it? Converting waste to an energy source and generating potential profits for investors in companies that sell the byproducts.

According to the Justice Department, starting in 2014, Brewer promoted his start-up company with ads in dairy industry publications and at renewable energy conferences. That resulted in nearly $9 million being raised.

Early investors received “profits,” except the profits were actually funds from new investors—the classic Ponzi scheme.

A November 2023 news release from the FBI says:

“Brewer also took investors on tours of dairies where he claimed he would build the digesters. And while Brewer had legitimate lease agreements with some dairies, other agreements were completely made-up.”

He further falsified documents claiming a bank had committed to lending $100 million to build the digesters. He generated bogus construction progress reports and forged a contract supposedly from a multinational corporation to buy methane and byproducts.

The digesters never existed. The entire scheme just so much hot gas.

Meanwhile, Brewer had moved investors’ money to multiple bank accounts in others’ names and used it to purchase property and expensive vehicles.

Eventually investors smelled something that could have been produced by the anaerobic digesters, if only they existed. When a civil suit was filed against Brewer, he moved to Montana and changed his identity. He also shifted money and assets into his wife’s name.

Photo credit: Hans at Pixabay

In Montana, where cows outnumber people, he attempted a similar Ponzi scheme, spreading more manure.

In 2019, the FBI and IRS opened investigations into Brewer’s operations. In 2020, he was arrested in Sheridan County, Montana but denied his true identity, saying they had the wrong man. Then he spun a tale, claiming to be a Navy veteran who’d saved the lives of soldiers during a fire.

That story turned out to be a big bubble of methane gas, too.

Per the FBI:

“Brewer ultimately pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, and identity theft charges. In June 2023, he was sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for his crimes, and ordered to pay $8.75 million in restitution to the investors who fell victim.”

Photo credit: annigje at Pixabay

Suggestion to the parole board: How about two years of supervised release mucking out dairy barns?

~~~

Go for it, TKZers! Looking forward to your creative comments!

~~~

 

For a limited time, Instrument of the Devil, the first book in Debbie Burke’s award-winning thriller series, is FREE.

No BS.

 

True Crime Thursday – Scratching One’s Way to the Top

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by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

 

Public Domain

Kim Lien Vu, 46, owned two nail salons in Liberty Township, OH. She reportedly “developed animosity” with a competing business, Bora Bora Nails and Spa in nearby Monroe. In December 2022, Vu and employee Cierra Marie Bishop, 30, hatched a plan to burn down the rival store.

In text messages between Vu and Bishop, Bishop described experiments with various incendiary devices.

Vu directed a third woman, Makahla Ann Rennick, 19, to make an appointment at Bora Bora under a false name.

The final device was put into a small box.

On February 5, 2023, surveillance footage shows Bishop and Rennick entering the salon. While Rennick was having a pedicure, Bishop walked around the store with a package. Near the rear restroom, Bishop placed the package behind a desk.

Meanwhile, Vu established an alibi for herself by driving to Virginia, although she remained in contact via text with Bishop while Bishop was inside the store.

Later, a Bora Bora employee smelled gasoline, spotted the package, and put it outside in the dumpster. It soon caught fire.

Public Domain

 

Yeah, a genuine dumpster fire.

This video report shows the device before and after it ignited.

The trio was arrested and indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2023. In September 2023 Vu pled guilty, admitting she “conspired to commit malicious destruction via fire.” In April 2024, US District Court sentenced her to 46 months in prison. Bishop also pled guilty and is awaiting sentencing.

Business sometimes means fighting tooth and…nail. [Ba-da-boom!]  

~~~

TKZers: Do you know business competitors that carried their rivalry to extremes?

~~~

Debbie Burke’s thriller Deep Fake Double Down is a finalist for the Silver Falchion Award..

True Crime Thursday – Baby Grand Piano Scam

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Searobin, CC BY-SA 3.0 <http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/>, via Wikimedia Commons

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

A college music major receives an email that’s a dream come true. A professor from the same college retired and must find a good home for a gently used baby grand piano. Money isn’t important. In fact, the professor will give the piano away as long as the recipient cherishes it as much as the professor did. To receive the piano, the student only needs to pay a moving company to deliver it.

For a little over $500, delivery is in 10 days, or for expedited two-day service, the fee is $1000. Simply pay the charge in advance by Zelle or cryptocurrency.

A university alum receives a similar email from a professor at that university who’s assisting the widow of a faculty member. She must downsize and wants to donate her husband’s precious baby grand piano to someone who will truly appreciate it. Similar terms: pay a moving company only for delivery charges by Zelle or crypto payment in advance.

Seeing a pattern?

In reality, there is no retired professor or widow, no moving company, and, most of all, no piano. There is only a scammer who preys on unsuspecting victims, pocketing untraceable payments that can’t be recovered.

Scammers understand psychology and know how to appeal to emotions. They offer a music lover’s dream come true for free. But free is almost never free. 

Attorney Steve Weisman posts daily fraud warnings on his excellent website Scamicide. His report from June 21, 2024 says:

“Cybersecurity company Proofpoint recently discovered a scam in which people are receiving emails offering a free piano which is available often purportedly due to a death in the family.  The scam has largely targeted students and professors at colleges and universities. Often in the email, the scammer poses a someone from the same college or university as that of the targeted victim.  According to Proofpoint they have identified about 125,000 of these emails sent since the beginning of the year.”

Steve adds:

“People may trust emails such as this due to affinity fraud where we tend to trust people with whom we share some kind of connection and getting an email such as this that appears to come from someone at your college or university may cause the person receiving the email to trust it to be legitimate.”

The free baby grand piano scam has been around for several years but affinity angle may be a newer, more sophisticated refinement. Reddit has numerous reports about the fraud, including this one from 2021 where the intended victim fortunately caught on before sending money.

The scammer runs ads in online marketplaces like Craig’s List, offering a premium piano for free. The ad is embellished with sentiments that appeal to the buyer’s emotions, like: “want[ing] the piano to be used to share with friends and family the joys of music.”

The person who answers the ad is then referred to a professional-looking website of a moving company that will deliver the piano. Contact may be by email or live chat. The mover even sends a photo of the piano to add legitimacy. However, the photo is probably a generic one from a stock photo site…like the one I used to illustrate this post.

Pro tip: To check photo sources, run a reverse image search through TinEye or Google. This tip also works to verify photos featured on dating sites where the subjects are often models, not real people.

The terms for the delivery payment should set off deafening alarm bells: No credit cards, no PayPal, no secured money transfers. Payment must be made in advance via Zelle, money order, or gift cards.

Peer-to-peer (P2P) payments are popular because they are a fast, convenient way to send money.

The downside: if the merchandise isn’t delivered or is defective, the buyer has no recourse.  Once fraudsters receive the money, they disappear. The victim is out of luck because law enforcement can’t help.

Here’s Steve’s recommendation about using P2P services: 

“There are many other scams involving Venmo, Zelle and other P2P services and the legal protection that you get with these services in the event you are scammed is nowhere near as great as the protection you get with your credit card.  A good rule to follow is to never use Venmo, Zelle or any other P2P service for any business transaction, but limit their use to small transfers between friends and family.”

Brown University posts piano scam warnings on their “Phish Bowl” site. They included the below email which was particularly entertaining. Notice Josiah’s position.

From: Josiah [deleted]
Subject: Baby yamaha piano for free
Date: October 13, 2023 at 5:37:10 PM EDT
To:

Dear Student /Staff/Faculty,
One of our staff, Mr. Phil H. is downsizing and looking to give
away his late dad’s piano to a loving home. The Piano is a 2014 Yamaha
Baby Grand size used like new. You can write to him to indicate your
interest on his private email [deleted] to arrange an
inspection and delivery with a moving company. Kindly write Mr. Phil H. via your private email for a swift response.

Josiah [deleted]
Professor of Psychoceramics

Per Wiktionary: “Noun. psychoceramics. The study of crackpots.”

Gotta appreciate a scammer with a sense of humor.

Many thanks to Steve Weisman for permission to quote.

~~~

TKZers: Do you know about frauds where valuable items (like a piano) are offered as bait? Have you or someone you know ever been targeted by an affinity scammer?

~~~

 

Investigator Tawny Lindholm encounters a clever affinity scam in Stalking Midas. But a glamorous con artist has killed before to cover her tracks. Now Tawny is in her crosshairs.

Sales link.

 

 

 

True Crime Thursday – Bud and Breakfast Fraud

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Photo credit: Elsa Olofsson – unsplash
https://unsplash.com/photos/a-plate-of-marijuana-buds-on-a-doily-HbvmGpjIHDQ?utm_content=creditShareLink&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

Recreational marijuana is now legal in 24 states and the District of Columbia. Seventeen more states permit it for medical use.

As a result, dispensaries pop up like shrooms.

Weed tourism inhales vacation dollars from millions of visitors. In 2022, Forbes estimated marijuana-related industries were worth a smokin’ $17 billion, with Colorado leading the pack at an estimated $1 billion annually.

“Bud and Breakfasts” are a growing industry, offering lodging, recreation, weed tours (like wine tours but smokier), and dining experiences that go beyond Alice B. Toklas brownies.

Here are amenities:

Spread cannabutter on your toast or enjoy a steak sautéd in it. Take cooking classes in how to infuse cannabis into gourmet meals. Sample different varieties at the bud bar where a friendly “bud-tender” guides smokers to find their elevated bliss.

Hotel rooms may offer decor with black lights, psychedelic posters, and Cheech and Chong movies, along with snack bars if guests develop the munchies.

Budandbreakfast.com is Travelocity for the 420 crowd.

Federal law still criminalizes marijuana as a Schedule I drug under the 1970 Controlled Substance Act. Efforts are underway to reclassify it as Schedule III. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s position is “low-level cannabis crimes would not be a priority of the Justice Department.”

Wink, wink.

Because many banks remain leery about running afoul of federal law, business is often done in cash.

More winking.

Enterprising entrepreneurs don’t let grass grow under their feet.

Between 2017 and 2020, Brian Corty, 53, of Delta Junction, Alaska, sought investors for Ice Fog Holdings, LLC, a “’Bud and Breakfast’ which was described as a marijuana theme park, where they would grow, cultivate and sell marijuana, and allow customers to use marijuana on site.”

Corty purchased a building in Salcha, AK, and told investors he was already raising product there. He convinced 22 people to invest $600,000 in the growing concern.

Instead, he used the money for “personal gain, to refinance his home, and pay off debt.”

“Mr. Corty lured investors with promises of prosperity and guaranteed returns, when in truth, he diverted the investor money to fund his own lifestyle,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office.

On May 3, 2024, Corty was sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Additionally, he must pay $580,000 restitution, and is subject to three years’ supervised release.

In an industry that’s growing like a weed, one wonders why Mr. Corty chose to defraud investors instead of using their money to build a legitimate marijuana grow operation and theme park.

If he had, he might be living high now.

Let’s wind down today’s post with those immortal stoners, Cheech and Chong.

~~~

TKZers: Have you heard of Bud and Breakfasts? Know anyone who’s visited one? No need to name names!

True Crime Thursday – Rent-A-Vet Frauds

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Photo credit: house.gov

by Debbie Burke

@burke_writer

In an earlier life, my husband and I operated several businesses in San Diego, historically a Navy and Marine Corps town. Whenever possible, we hired veterans. Most became valued key employees, supervisors, and managers we trusted and appreciated.

Giving hiring preference to U.S. veterans dates back to the Revolutionary War when government jobs were granted to those who had served their country, a tradition traced even earlier to European practices. In those days, the courtesy was mostly extended to officers, not the rank-and-file soldier.

The first law giving veterans hiring preference was enacted during the Civil War:

Persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service by reason of disability resulting from wounds or sickness incurred in the line of duty shall be preferred for appointments to civil offices, provided they are found to possess the business capacity necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of such offices.

The Veterans Preference Act of 1944 expanded coverage and was endorsed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt who wrote:

“I believe that the Federal Government, functioning in its capacity as an employer, should take the lead in assuring those who are in the armed forces that when they return special consideration will be given to them in their efforts to obtain employment. It is absolutely impossible to take millions of our young men out of their normal pursuits for the purpose of fighting to preserve the Nation, and then expect them to resume their normal activities without having any special consideration shown them.”

From moving companies to handyman services to landscaping to construction, “rent-a-vet” is common term that appeals to those of us who want to do business with former service members. “Rent-A-Vet” ads are listed on Yelp, Craig’s List, and through employment services.

But, as always, honorable intentions can be twisted by dishonorable people for their own selfish benefits.

Unfortunately, you can’t always believe claims that workers are veterans or that companies are veteran-owned.

Rent-A-Vet fraud schemes are common. Two popular variations are 1) workers who claim to be vets but aren’t, and 2) companies that “rent vets” (IOW, they pay vets) to front as owners and/or officers of a company.

In a 2017 example, a veteran named Paul R. Salavitch was hired by Jeffrey K. Wilson (not a veteran) who owned a Missouri-based construction company, ironically named “Patriot Company, Inc.” Salavitch was named president of Patriot and acted as their front man, using his status as a service-disabled veteran to give the company preference when bidding for 20 government contracts totaling $13.8 million. Salavitch did not make decisions and was not involved in day-to-day operations. In further irony, he held a full-time job at the Department of Defense.

In 2018, Patriot owner Wilson pled guilty to one count of government program fraud. Salavitch pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of making a false writing.

More recently, in March, 2024, Edward DiGorio Jr., 65, and Edward Kessler, 68, pled guilty to two counts of fraud in federal court in Pittsburgh, PA. Neither DiGorio nor Kessler were veterans, nor service-disabled. Between 2007 and 2018, to gain lucrative government contracts for two construction companies they owned, they “paid service-disabled veterans to falsely represent themselves as the primary owners and operators of ADDVETCO and Hi-Def, and to falsely attest to ownership of the companies on critical documents submitted to the VA.”

Their companies were awarded 67 contracts; 50 totaled $1 million plus. For two recent contracts, they received more than $400,000 in profits. Edwards and Kessler face up to $1 million in fines and up to 10 years in prison. They will be sentenced in July, 2024.

These fraud cases deprived legitimate veterans and service-disabled veterans of contracts and income they should have been entitled to.

How can you avoid frauds by people and companies passing themselves off as veterans or veteran-owned? Here are a few ways:

  • A DD-214 is proof of military service.
  • An employer may ask the person if s/he is a veteran.
  • Check out small business certification at: veterans.certify.sba.gov/
  • Call references.
  • Look up the company with the Better Business Bureau.

~~~

TKZers: Have you or someone in your family benefited from veteran’s preference?

Is veteran status important to you when looking for a contractor or employee?

Have you hired or employed veterans?

~~~

 

 

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