Hello Bob, Linda, Roger, Debbie, Joshua, and Robyn (Roger should not hear parts of this. He truly loved our father, and never believed me ever.)
I am going to try to explain what and why my financial
problems got to such a terrible place. I
suffer from mental illness. It
devastates me in many ways. You might be
offended by the things that I write here.
I apologize for that.
The Abuse
When I was a child, my father sexually abused me. In addition to being abused, I witnessed my
father murder three children. I had
enough memories of one of those events in July 1953 that I was able to track
down where, when, and how this event happened to “Karen”. I
learned enough to send a report to the FBI to see if they could do anything to
help find out the details. A copy of
that report is below. All the details
are there. The FBI agent, who I knew from another case
said that he could not find anything. In
my search 30 years ago, I even talked to Karen’s sister. She told me that “Karen” was no longer in contact
with her.
At one
point, I connected with a woman whose family owned the camp where we picked up
Karen in Illinois. Mary told me that
she remembered reading about a girl’s body being found during a school vacation
in 1953. I went to the Streator library,
and a librarian agreed to look in the microfiche to see if she could find such
a newspaper report. After a while, she
contacted me and told me that local Sheriff had come by the library and told
her to stop pursuing my request. After
that point, I got very scared about doing any more searches. I realized today that if I have been a more
confident, I could have done more. I did
talk to local newspapers, but no one was interested. Again, the whole report is below. It is long.
Mental
illness has certain devastating consequences.
I wanted to be a lawyer all of my life.
If not that, then I wanted to be an actor or stage director. I directed a production of Murder in the
Cathedral by T.S.Eliot. I had my first job working at a local church
in Providence. After I finished the
play, Ms. Lewalski at Brown’s English Department told me that I could have
gotten academic credit for it if I had asked her before I did the
production. I never finished my master’s
degree. After that, I got a job as a Conscientious Objector at the Providence
Recreation Department. When they heard that I did puppet shows, and I needed a
CO job, puppet shows, and I did puppet shows in every school in Providence for about
three years. Oh, my Draft Board was in Santa Clara County in California. They were very liberal. I was with the Rec. Department 1970-72, and
that was when I created The Puppet Workshop.
What comes next is a bit of history. I need to
emphasize the damage that mental illness can make. Roger and Debbie gave me $100,000 when our
mom passed away. They had also spent money
on fixing my house when I had a fire. (Not too large). They also paid for a hotel where I could stay
while the house was being repaired.
These were excellent kindnesses on their part, and they have given me over
$1,000 since Fran passed away. Oh, I might
mention here that Josh has spent thousands of dollars on my move, and he spends
over $400/month to pay for the two storage units that had to get when my single
one was full. We did raise $4,000 from
the Gofundme campaign, but that went quickly.
So, I wasted the $100,000. This is one of the reasons why suicidal
ideation makes sense to me. Fran wanted
me to talk to you, Bob, but I didn’t.
You see, this money for someone like me is like heroin. It took me two years to spend it, and Fran
and I had fun, but there is no way for me to forgive myself even though that is
what my counselor tells me that I should do.
The first out of control feeling that I have every day
is fear. You have no idea what it’s
like. The abuse from my abuse made me a puppeteer, because then I could hide
behind a screen. The fear makes me talk
to any stranger that I meet because I need to know that I am safe around
them. In fact, when I received a very
prestigious award from the Boy Scouts for me to have membership in the Scuts
Order of the Arrow, all the recipients got Indian names. My father made my name “Fast Talker”—a
devastating and humiliating name. My
father would do stuff like that all of the time. The experts say that an abuser will get angry
at their victims, because we caused then to act that way. When I graduated from Brown, mom, dad, and I
went to a dinner with a family of my best friend. During the dinner, Paul and I discussed if we
were going to turn our backs on Henry Kissinger who was getting an honorary
degree. When we got into the car to go
to Providence from Woonsocket, my father drove my car, and he screamed at me as
loud as he could. He kept it up until we
made it to Wayland Manor. He then jumped
out of my car, and slammed the door, almost knocking off of its hinges.
I also encounter rage.
This rage is called Intermittent explosive disorder. I
think that all of you have seen act out of it.
It includes auto rage, and lots of other rage events. Fran’s love and kindness went a long way for
me to curb these outbursts. I hope you all
know that she was more than wonderful!! Ashley,
my counselor since Fran passed away has told me that the rage about what my father
did to me will never go away. She has
explained that the rage that I heap on others is just me letting the rage
out. She tells me that I have to walk
away any time I get out of control anger.
The anger has nothing to do with the people at which I am yelling.
There
was a time in 1992 when I felt strange feelings around a girl who was in my Sunday
School Class. I went counselors who knew
what to do. Dr. Pitassi collaborated
with me for years. Dr. Ong, the director
of my local mental health center, saw me every week for a year the month after
that experience in the church occurred. Richard Dannefelser saw me, too. He was
a chaplain at Brown who I knew well. I
have never touched a child inappropriately—never. The feelings went away.
Still,
I was never very good at intimacy. I had
a girlfriend in high school who wanted to be intimate with me, and I ignored
her. That problem was with me most of my
life. My first wife, Jane Arsenault, was
cheating on me only weeks after the wedding, and she refused to talk to me
about my troubles. With Pat I think I did
better, but it was not until I met Fran that I was able to relax.
So, I
tend to lose things—something that I learned to do to my father—that drove him
crazy, but now I do it only to hurt myself.
If I am working on a project, I will rush it, because I am scared of not
having done soon enough. (What I am writing here is one of the longest things
that I have ever written, and you do not have to read it all). There are lots of other odd things that these
strong emotions cause me to do or feel.
I know that I would not be the man I am without knowing Fran. She is my angel.
Now, here is a bit of my life all laid out.
1. The puppet show was a non-profit organization,
and I got grants and donations to help us do the work. We did hundreds of puppet shows a year.
We did puppet shows, workshops, and
special projects.
2. At
the end of a year, I would be proud if I had broken even. No one ever suggested that I could or should
have made a profit. I took a salary, and
Pat took a small one, too. We ran about
$200 behind every month, so we were always in trouble and had to file bankruptcy
once. It would have been perfectly legal
to make a profit for the business, but that never occurred to me.
3. In
1980, Pat’s parents gave us $2,000 for the down payment on 73 Moorland Ave. We lived there for 15 years. When Pat left me, I fell into a very deep
depression. That is when my memories
came back. Also, John Chirico, a counselor at the Providence School
Department, hired me and the Puppet Workshop to do educational puppet shows. We made over $12,000 a year, and many of them
are on Youtube channel: Marc Kohler. John hoped that we could make a profitable
business with them, but a business adviser told him that it would cost too much
to do live puppet shows. Here are two of the best of them: Lily the Litter Bug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JudcjcL_kyw
Equality Show: Heinrich the Bee Meets
Boggle the Bug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAFjySEU9NM
Going back to my depression, things
got very bad. Without Puppet Workshop
income, I was not able to keep up the mortgage payments. I wanted to stay in the house, so Josh would
not lose it. No one mentioned to me
that there was over $150,000 equity in the house. I could have sold the house, and Pat and I
would have split that.
Instead, I asked my Mom to buy the
house. I was in such bad shape that I
thought I would kill myself if I could not stay. She agreed, and I got Power of Attorney for
the closing on the house. I learned
later that, Mom’s lawyer had give Roger and Debbie all of the equity in the
house. I got angry about that since no
one even suggested that I could have sold the house. Trying to stay in the house was an act of
self-destruction (Suicidal act). Then,
Roger and Debbie wanted me to pay $500/month for rent. Using my Power of Attorney,
I wrote a six-year rental
agreement. The agreement said that I
would pay them $500/month. I never paid
them anything. They got mad, and after
the six years, they evicted me, and they sold the house for $256,000. They never asked what they could do with my
money. After the eviction, though, they
agreed to pay the $1,000/month of rent that I had at the mill space to which I
moved. They paid this for five years,
and it cost them over $60,000. In the
meanwhile, I continued my struggles with suicidal ideation. One day, Mom called the police, and they took
me to a hospital because of those feelings.
My landlord there was a thief, and stole a bunch from me including a
whole 8’ cart full of my puppets when I moved out.
4. . I
tried jobs after Puppet Workshop went out of business, and I left or was
let go from some of them. 1. I quit real
estate when I found a group stealing from HUD. 2 After
I left the real estate agency, I went to work for an agent in Woonsocket. He simply would not pay me the $150/week that
he promised, and he treated me terribly. 3. I left BORDERS bookstore because
the staff was racist and would throw out applications by a Black person before
they reached the exit door. Oh, they never included me in anything. If books were given out to us, they would be
stolen from the chair where I was sitting, 4.
I ran the Carousel Village in Roger Williams Park for a year, and after
I reported that the previous manager had stolen a lot, they fired me. 5. I worked a Carpet Giant and found that the
carpets that they were installing would never last, and customers came in and
complained often They let me go. 6. I spent lots of time working at phone marketing,
and I had some success there—not much. 7. Spent a year doing overnights for a
group home for three adults, but overnights got difficult.
5. In
2000, I was able to get Disability after waiting four years waiting for
it. In fact, the Boston office sent me
to a psychiatrist in Providence. At the
time, I was having troubles. I got
$32,000. I loaned $5,000 to a young entrepreneur,
but he never paid me back a penny. I
gave money to Pat (We were not married), Anne(my daughter). Joshua
received $600/month until his 18th birthday. As a side note, Pat misunderstood that the money
would not end, so I was able to give her $500/month to cover about $5,000 to
cover Josh’s Freshman year.
6. The next 20 years were wonderful. I met Fran in 2002, and it took me three
years for the courage to ask her out.
Roger and Debbie stopped paying my rent. Because I had gotten disability
for an art studio in Pawtucket, RI.($650/month).
It was great to have, but I did not
do much to make money there. My illness
made it difficult for me to finish projects and sell them. I started doing face painting, and that help
me. Each Christmas, I would make some
real money as Santa. There are words
that I can use to tell you how much I love Fran and how much she means to me. I
still visit her, and recite the Night Before Christians(If I can get through
it). I also got to meet and love Bob and
Linda, Earl and Tina, and many others. I
tried to pay $350/month for rent, but that was too much. Instead, I decided to pay specific things:
1. When
I moved into 913 105 Newman Ave., Rumford, RI, I put two 8’ shelves in our
bedroom closet. I built three shelves in
the pantry (Which was filled with clothes)—one across the left side wall, one
large one at the rear, and a can-holding shelf on the right. I think you all have seen them.
Front
hall closet: Two full width shelves over
the coat rack. This became my closet and
had all of Fran’s costumes and fancy dresses in it.
2. I
paid for repairs, gas, and maintenance on the old Nissan.
3. I
bought a microwave, a counter oven, a blender, and a Keurig, and any other
stuff that we needed.
4. .
I paid for all of the groceries. Fran
never had to shop again.
5. I
paid for all of our entertainment costs—dinners and such.
6. I
would not let Fran use her credit cards, so I paid for any purchases for
clothes and such for both walk up stores and mail order. And I paid off all of her cards. One day, we went to Clearwater Creek in
Garden City, and we had a ball. Fran
picked our everything that she loved.
7. Fran
did pay for the car lease payments and insurance.
8. I
paid for every gift that we sent to you.
9. I
paid for all of our stamps, Christmas card printing, and I paid for all of the
shipping. Oh, I also made Note cards for her.
10.
In Fran’s last two years, Dr. Brislin, her
dentist, ordered a tooth “vacating”(I am not sure if that is the right word), so
Fran spent two four hour sittings for the specialist to clear the tooth. It cost us $1,500. The tooth did not last long. It cracked badly right near Fran’s
bridge. Brislin then put in six teeth
where the bridge had been for $6,000.
Before that, Fran and I had over $20,000 in the bank and safe deposit
box. This $7,500 was difficult for us.
11.
After Fran passed, I had lots of expenses. Earl made a contract for the funeral and burial
for $15,000. He would not even let me
give a eulogy—we were not married. I paid $8,400 of the costs, and Linda paid $6,600
towards the funeral with the proceeds from life insurance from Fran and the
State of Rhode Island. She also paid for
the Death Certificates,
It cost me $1,000 to move out of the apartment.
I spend three weeks at an extended stay hotel for
$3,000.
My van stopped working that week and I spent $4,000 on
a used Mitsubishi.
I put all of my and Fran’s belongs in storage for $250/month
with a credit card, I somehow never realized how much it was costing. The rate went up to $275 this month.
I did move into my studio, and the rent there was
$750/month.
I was evicted in May.
All done for now,
All my love for you,
Marc
Marc W. Kohler
Cranston , Rhode
Island 02905
401-785-3250
February 27, 1996
Federal Bureau of Investigation
To Whom It May Concern:
The purpose of this statement is to describe a murder that
I
believe that I witnessed in July 1953, and my attempts to
discover the truth of those memories. The second reason is
to
request the FBI's help since I have concluded that the
murder was.
covered up, and that people in the area of the event
continue to
cover it up. Finally, if my memories are true, then I also
remember a second murder which I would like to research,
and the
potential exists that the perpetrators of these two
murders may.
have committed as many as a dozen other killings.
I am sorry if this statement is long, but I want to cover
as much
as you need.
The memories:
On the morning of December 1, 1995, I woke up from a dream
with
a memory of taking a little girl about four or five years
old
from a cabin when I was a little boy. She came with me,
and me
Father and I drove her to a campsite near a road [Off a
highway] Once there, we
Both had sex with her. I believe that my father took both still.
and 16 mm movie pictures of the events. There was other sexual.
Acts, which I remembered in bits and pieces. About a week
later,
I remembered watching as my father strangled her and
buried her,
wrapped in a blanket and tied with a yellow cord. She wore
no
clothes. Other memories have come back including seeing a second.
girl, maybe two years old, raped, photographed, and
killed, too,
but I cannot remember the details of that murder enough to
place
it in any specific state.
Are these memories real?
Repressed memories are certainly a difficult subject to discuss.
The outrageous nature of these memories has left me
shocked, and
depressed. So, if it turned out that they are not true,
Dr.
- 1 -
Jonathon Wolston (401-421-0060) has assured me that they
would then.
be a cover for other memories. I have been seeing him and
Dr.
Richard Dannenfelser (401-331-9120) for posttraumatic
stress
syndrome from childhood sexual abuse, which until
December, I had
had no memory of any specific incidents.
So, are these memories true?
1. Dr. Wolston told me that my physiological reaction to
the
memories, feelings of terror, helplessness, deep sadness
and
guilt, and the loss of ability to function effectively in
the
world all pointed to the memories being real since false memories.
do not usually create such a reaction.
2. There is one memory which I have had ever since I was
an
adult, I have remembered seeing baby shoes stuck on the
tops of
two small saplings, which had been cut off about two feet
off of
the ground. I have always thought that I saw these shoes
in some
trees near my original home in
there in 1980, I learned that the place that I thought I
saw
these shoes did not exist. There were no trees near the
end of
my street:
track. .
3. In May of this year, I was driving on Route 37 West to
Route 2
South. When I came off of the ramp onto 2 South just North
of
the
up onto 37 East, and did not know where I was until I
reached
Post Road. Dr. Wolston thinks this was a flash back to the
drive
that I, my Father and the little girl took to the forest
where
she was killed.
4. Have I experienced hypnotism? Yes. From October 1995 to
May
of 1995, when I could afford health insurance, Dr. Wolston
did.
about five hypnotism sessions. These sessions were called.
"surveys" of feelings about specific subjects
such as "Sex", "My
Father", "Humiliation", etc. I did not have
any memories during
these sessions except the image of my Father's shirt at the
end
of the "Humiliation" survey.
5. I have remembered the details of both
incidents in my memory including details of her clothes
and my
Father's actions. If you need specifics as to what
occurred, and
how she was treated, I can provide those, but they may not
be
needed for the purposes of this statement unless you deem
it
necessary. For instance, in the second killing, at one
point, I
was asked to wash the girl's body with a hose since it had
gotten
covered with sand and dirt. She does not respond to the
cold
water, so I have concluded that she was dead at that
point.
What exactly was the crime and how was it committed? What 1S the
background of the perpetrators, and why would I think that
my
- 2 -
Father, and one of his acquaintances would be capable of
such
acts?
My Father and Mother met at an art studio run by a Mr. and
Mrs.
Walley in
Mrs. Wally was a professional illustrator specializing in drawing.
children. Her work appeared in the John Wanamaker Catalogs
of
that period. I speculate that these were pedophiles and
pornographers, and your records may back this up. Another
photographer, Fred Rundey, would convince young women from
the
New York YWCA to have films made of themselves as a way of
making.
"commercials" for the studio. At that time,
though, there would
have been no place to show such a "commercial".
Another
photographer named Walter Crocker or Crockett from
named by my Aunt Phyllis as also being connected to this group,
though neither my mother or aunt think anything was wrong
with
these studios. It is purely speculation on my part.
At my parents wedding which was held in
1943, my Father met Thomas Pryde, who was the accomplice
to the
killing that I witnessed.
The Murder:
The victim was Karen Smith (b. approx. 1947,
My memory was that she was named Anne, Andrea, or Adriana
"Stone", and when we leave the cabin where she
was staying, she
acted like she knew us, or more specifically, knew my
father.
Karen and one of her older sisters (I do not know how many
children were in the Smith family), Sandra, grew up in a
troubled
neighborhood of
social services due to child sexual abuse, and were, in
part,
being cared for by the Onward Neighborhood House, an
adoption
agency, with help from volunteers. from the
Congregational Church. My Grandmother, Mrs. Blanche Kelley
was.
bringing the two girls home one day to the Smith house,
and
discovered Mrs. Smith on the floor of the kitchen, having
a baby.
At that point, my Grandmother removed the two girls from
there
home, and for awhile they stayed with my Grandparents and
members of the Congregation. At some point in 1952, they
ended
up staying with Mr. Thomas and Alice Pryde on them
pheasant/turkey farm in
Adopt the two girls.
In June of 1953, my father, George Matthew Kohler
(Deceased
2/19/94), my Mother Janet Kelley Kohler, my brother, Roger
(b.
4/20/45), and myself (b.12/3l/47) went to
the fortieth wedding anniversary of Blanche and Dewitt
Kelley (originally from
Wedding anisomery occurred on 6/25/53, and the party was held.
on Sunday 6/28/53. At the party, Tom and Alice Pryde told
everyone that Karen had returned to "the home"
or "her home"
- 3 -
because "she did not like the farm."
It is my opinion that Karen was not returned to the
"Horne", but
was placed at a cabin about two miles from the farm. I do
not know.
who would have taken care of her or whether both Mr. and
Mrs.
Pryde participated in this ruse. Then, on Thursday, July 2
or
Friday, July 3, I traveled with my father to take Karen
from the
cabin, abuse her, kill and bury her. When my father killed
her,
he said to me, "You will always obey me, or
else!"
Evidence and Cover-up:
I will try to organize this in a way that places the most.
important evidence first, and not in chronological order as
I
encountered it.
1. Ellen King, her cousin, and mother: Ellen and her
husband
Ben King own Kishuwa on the Vermillion, a group of cabins
on
the
in the fifties, I called the campground looking for a
commercial
cabin operation, which had had a history of a kidnapped
child.
This was before I realized that Karen was not kidnapped,
but
allowed to be taken by her adoptive father.
While they had no memory of a kidnapping, Ellen did
remember that
the body of a little girl had been found in Tonica. A dog found.
her head, and then her cousin remembered that the body was
found.
later "wrapped and tied in a white blanket."
Ellen remembers it
vividly occurring when she was six years old, which would
have
been before May of 1954. She does not know how she heard
of it.
Her Father worked for Marquette Mining, and cleared land
for the
company. At least five skeletons were found on that land
and
buried in the
it is possible that Karen's body was found, but never made
it
into the newspapers of the area at the time.
2. Who was Thomas Pryde? Tom had worked for the LaSalle
County road department until his retirement. When he
retired,
he raised turkeys and/or pheasants, and gave them away at
Thanksgiving. He served as a Supervisor of Vermillion
township
For years. According to Joseph Lyle Ott, the
caretaker for the
filing cabinet in his house with all the death records
from the
township disappeared, and its contents have never been
found.
There is a Pryde Photo Shop in
like to find out exactly what kind of films are being
processed
there today.
3. What has local Law Enforcement done about my memories?
When I
first contacted the Center for Missing and Exploited
Children
about my memories, they referred my name and number to the
New
- 4 -
from a
Police (609-882-2893) within 48 hours of the referral. At
that
point, I did not know where the cabins of my memory were
the
name of the little girl, but he and I concluded that the
cabins
could not have been within driving distance of my home in
I NEVER received a call from the Illinois State Police. I
finally called them, and reported to them my memories and
suspicions. I spoke to Ms. Stephanie Peske (217-785-3324),
who is
a civilian# and who answers the Missing Children's line
for the
keeping her filled in on everything that I discovered. She
has
claimed to have sent a report "up North", but to
this day, I have
not gotten one call from an officer of the Illinois State
Police.
At the Sheriff’s Office of LaSalle County (815-433-2161),
I spoke
to the Sheriff, Don Maggi who turned it over to a Captain
Templeton. Captain Templeton spoke to me once, but has
refused
to take any of my calls, or return any of my calls for six
weeks. The Chief Deputy Coroner, Ms. Jodi Bernard
(815-434-8268),
was the only person who gave me more than the time of day.
In fact,
she did her best to find the record of Karen's body being
found,
but she explained to me that the records for that
time-period
were kept in individual's homes, and the county records
were far
from complete. On the other hand, Captain Templeton did
not say
anything about missing records. He said, and quite
emphatically,
that NO BODY was found in
I have no idea why he would say something like that unless
he was
trying to hide something, and that is why I decided to
contact
the FBI. He acted like he knew the Pryde who owns the
photo
shop.
Mr. Harlan Warren,(815-433-0l41)the State's Attorney for
LaSalle
County in 1953, also has no memory of a body being found.
Howard
Ryan, the past Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme
Court, was
Mr. Warren's Assistant, and he has no memory of it either.
The
question is how can the King family remember it so
vividly, but
no one in law enforcement does?
4. My mother's story changed from December I to today. My
mother knows that my Doctor and I think I that I was
sexually
abused as a child. When my memories carne back, I told her
that I
thought the incidents occurred while we were visiting in Illinois
in 1953~ I DID NOT TELL HER THAT I SUSPECTED THAT MY
FATHER WAS
THE PERPETRATOR. Each time we have spoken about it, I have
said
that I cannot see the perpetrator's face.
In the beginning she said that the two girls at the Pryde
Farm
were sisters, but during the first week of January, she
changed
this story, claiming that the second girl. "Never was
at the farm
much, was not a sister, and was as old or older than Sandi
- 5 -
do. Martha describes
One problem that I realize in this is that sooner or
later, if my
memories are true, my mother will find out what I
remembered. If
she has to know, I would like to be informed first.
6. The Streator Library
Libraries will do research for people based on the
difficulty of the request and the time available. In
December, I
contacted newspapers, and most of them referred me to
their
local libraries to find the microfiche for the 1950s.
Darren
request of Jodi Bernard. I spoke with Ms. Mary Defenbaugh
at the
Streator Library to see if they had any reports of a body
being
found reported in the Streator Times Press. She went
through the
summer of 1953 up to December 31, 1953. Then, she said she
was "working" on the period after 12/31/53. When
I called up two
weeks later, she very coldly informed me that she could
not work
on this project anymore, and that if I wanted any
information, I
should contact the LaSalle County Sheriff's Department. If
you
remember, this is the same office that refused to respond
to my
calls. Her attitude was one of a person who had been
"ordered" to
do something. I let it go, but called her again this week.
This
time I offered her $ 8.00/hour to continue her search. She
said
she did not have the time. I do not believe her. The
economy is
not good enough, nor is $
8.00/hour a low wage for doing this
kind of research. She said she did not have the time. I
believe
she found out something, and someone has told her not to
talk to
me about it.
Conclusions:
Someone knows about this crime, and that there are others
murdered in this area. It is possible that the five
corpse's
found on the
if Karen Smith is still alive, I know what I saw, and I
think
people are preventing me from finding out the truth.
During my
search, I not only found out that Tom Pryde had destroyed
all the
death records in his home, but I also discovered that all
the
death records before 1988 from
and the ones before 1993 are still being held by the
previous
Death Inspector(Bobby Covoid 815-339-2231) Martha Yauch,
the
current Death Inspector(815-663-5511), has no records
dated
before her term started. These are not accidental.
happenings. I wonder if the State Records are anywhere
complete
for these counties over these time periods? Why would
death
records have to be destroyed or hidden unless there were
no
matching records at the State level? This suggests to me a
serious attempt to hide records in order to cover-up
murders.
If my memories are accurate, then my father killed more
than one
child, and he might have killed more.
- 7 -
She claims this to be true today. My Aunt Phyllis, Mr.
Richard Stare(303-777-1238), told me that the two girls
were
definitely sisters, and my conversation with Mrs. Martha
McGinty
conferred this, too.
My mother was told that the reason that we had to go to
Tonica
instead of staying in
older brother, my Uncle Dewitt, was coming to Elmhurst,
and he and my father did not get along at all. Aunt Phyllis pointed
out that Dewitt and Ida Kelley NEVER came to
I believe that Karen was the reason for the trip to
Tonica.
Last Friday, I finally contacted the States Attorney's
Office for
I wanted to report a murder from a while ago.
5. Mrs. Martha McGinty(708-741-1530 or 847-741-1530, the
codes ~
just changed). Martha’ s sister was married to John Pryde,
Tom, and Alice's
son. Tom and Alice had John and Margaret twenty years
before
adopting
that there was a Pryde family row which resulted in
she took back her name of origin, "Smith". For
three decades, my
family told me that
name was Smith.
She is in communication with Sandy Olsen-Smith, but would
not let
me have her number or address. I had first told her that I
was
writing a short story about two girls who went to a farm,
and one
was returned to "the home", but the other
wasn't. After three
days, I called her back, and told her the truth of my memories.
That was on Monday, February 26, 1996. To this day, I have
not
heard back from her. She thinks that Karen is alive and
well,
and thinks that she and Sandy spoke about her about five
years
ago.
Surely, there is a possibility that my memories could be
of
another child, and if Karen is, in fact, alive, then that
would
mean that I do not know the identity of the girl I saw
killed,
but I still can research the body remembered by the King
Family.
On the other hand, it seems truly suspicious that a girl
of five
would not "like a farm." Why would the social
services allow
sisters to be separated? If Karen WAS placed in another
home,
how would
Boyle(815-925-7393), the State's Attorney for that time in
Putnam
County,
file for a court order to release Karen's adoption records
if we
thought she was a victim of a violent crime.
Due to my financial position, I have lost the long
distance
calling on my telephone, so I have not been able to
follow-up
with Martha again this week. This is something I would
like to
- 6 -
talk to Dr.Tulio Pitassi(401--732-5656) from the Kent
County Mental Health Center' He is, an expert on child pornography
and ''snuff'' movies'" He has
pointed ‘out that these kinds of movies were being. made
in the
fifties. I am trying to see if the images that I
remembered are available as movies. So, if such- is the
case , I would. like to research my father "s travel
record's and
compare it to missing children in the area where, he.
traveled
and ultimately; discover if any
of his accomplices are, still
active today. In his career, he had unlimited access to
: photographic supplies. I would also like to check the
old
invoices from his place of business, and see if they ever
billed
for photographic supplies from the Tonica/Oglesby area.
Something is not right here. I spoke with Darren Walker at
the
Lasalle News Tribune. He called me after being asked by Jody
Bernard,; the
existence" of' any Baby Does. being found in 1953-54 since
her
record did not have any. He was quite enthusiastic to do
the
`research to find the Baby Doe.
After, three weeks, he "never
found the time” to look it up. Now ,it seems,
that he too, did
not have the time to do such a search, but I do not think
he or
his associates ever even looked.
This tight knit community was closing its ranks to
protect a
'killer and his accomplices. If I had the money, I would
fly out
to Illinois and try to get to the bottom of this .. I am
willing
to lay odds that photographs of where they found Karen's
body
will confirm my memories.
They might be able to find a photo of her shoes. My father had stuck them on two tree saplings.
Further, why has no one from the Illinois State' Police ever contacted me?
I would like to confirm my memories, and I would like to
find out
who is trying to hide all these death records .anyway?
Another issue has to do with the reliability of NCIC computer.
Chief Deputy' Coroner Bernard ran a missing' person search
last year in
the computer, and there was no 'Jane Dow’ that had the same
description.
The computer did not find the match. But death records can
be
Sealed. It is almost impossible to match missing people
with
unknowns. I think some effort should be made at a national
level
to record ALL, past and present, unknowns and start
matching them
to missing people reports. The situation, as it stands
now, is
that if a perpetrator crosse state or county lines, the
chances
of being caught are nil. The system militates in favor of
the
perpetrators. .
,
One last question, can the FBI help in tracking pedophiles on a
national basis? I 'would suggest that the molesting of
children be
made a federal offense. Every day in
or three convictions of male child molesters every day.
This means that
every year, there are a hundred molesters who make it to
jail
while hundreds more escape discovery. Every active molester has harmed more children than we will ever know. This
has to stop. 90% of all drug users were physically, emotionally, or sexually
abused as children. By the time a child reaches school age, the die has been
cast.
I would suggest that convicted pedophiles be given
whatever
therapy necessary to discover who their perpetrators were.
Then,
we would be able to find the full extent of the
perpetrator's
history, and track done other offenders. I know that
this sounds like a modern day witch hunt, but I am sure
pedophiles
are taking advantage of whatever rights that they have to
violate
the law. If Tom Pryde and my Father, were able to kidnap
and
murder Karen Smith with impunity, and now with the protection
of
active law enforcement officials in
exaggeration to think more capable and more organized
pedophiles
are operating with more success today.
Old Crimes? Surely, if I had the money or the position, I
could
hire private detectives to research the truth of my
memories and
even explore the integrity of current officials in LaSalle
county, but I don't. Still, when I wanted to find the
truth of
my memories, all that was available to me were current and
active
law enforcement officers. This means that to explore an
old murder,
the officer would have to take time away from current
crimes.
So, perhaps there is a way to set aside some time,
efforts, or
fund to discover and solve old crimes. I strongly believe
that
they serve as a source of present-day perpetrators, and
the
solving of old crimes will lead to solving present day
crimes,
and apprehending present perpetrators.
Thank you for your consideration in these matters.
Sincerely yours,
Marc Kohler
Financial Stuff
In my life, I have always had money troubles. I am sure that there are reasons for it.
When Pat and I were married, her parents, Catherine,
and Maurice Monestess, gave us $2,000
towards the down payment for the house we bought at 73 Moorland Avenue, Cranston,
RI. Our budget was always very tight. That was because my two biggest customers, the
Providence Recreation Department and the Providence School Department took
months to pay. I had to wait as much as six months to get
paid when Puppet Workshop was earning about $10,000/month. Then, John Chirico, the Providence School
Department Counselor who was leading my project for nine years retired, that
income source dried up.
After our divorce, I did everything that I could do to
stay in our house. I paid the mortgage
for a couple of years, but I was not making enough money. I asked my mom to buy the house, so she could
help with the payments. Mom took out a
$50,000 mortgage. When we closed on the
sale, James Efting, mom’s attorney gave Roger and Debbie my house’s equity,
over $ 150,000. So, I would not inherit
any of the $200,000 of equity that I had made in the 15 years that I lived
there. That started a real
disintegration of my finances. At that
point, I still had Power of Attorney for mom, so I wrote a lease for six years,
and it said that I would pay $500/month.
I never paid any rent to Roger and Debbie—you see, after they would made
$200,000, I saw no reason I should pay them anything. The Lease expired in six years, and Roger
evicted me and sold the house. It sold
for $256,000. After Mom’s $50,000
mortgage, Roger and Debbie made $200,000 minus all the money that they spent
paying the mortgage.
That $ 200,000 would have bought a new house. We could have found a house for $ 200,000 and have no mortgage. Instead, Roger and Debbie decided to pay a thousand
dollar/month rent that I was paying for a mill space in Providence. These payments lasted for 5 years, so we lost
over $60,000. When I got disability, I
was able to rent a studio in Pawtucket which I had until two weeks ago. Here is when things took an interesting
turn. In 2000, I received disability
from the Social Security Administration.
I received $32,000 as a payment from them. Here started really mental illness. I went through that $32,000. I loaned $5,000 to a businessperson who I was
working with, and he never paid me back.
I sent Anne and Drew $1,000. I
bought drums, tools, and stuff to start new things—like storytelling, arts
workshops, and face painting. I saved
none of it. My purchasing was irrational
and insane. This is the pattern for
people like me. I ride high with the
money like it is a drug, and then crash into the hell of self-hatred and
suicidal ideation. That is a pattern of
having Post Traumatic Stress Disorder—high manic times followed by deep periods
of self-hatred.
I met Fran in 2002, and it took my three years to ask
her out. We became a couple, and I moved in with her in Rumford
Towers. I tried to pay her $300/month
towards the rent. I also agreed to pay
for all food, entertainment, repairs f her car, all her clothing purchases from
the mail or from stores. This way, she
did not have to use any of her credit cards.
After a while, I could not afford the three hundred dollars for
rent. Fran paid the apartment rent
$535/month, and when we got leased cars, she paid for the leased car payments,
and the car insurance. In the end, I was
spending about $1,000/year more than I was taking in, so I set up a long-term
loan with Discover. When my mom passed
away, Roger and Debbie gave me $100,000.
This was covered by the $200,000 that they had gotten when they sold my
house. Again, I spent the money
without any advice or order. Fran and I
did well. I should have bought a new
truck or a house. I knew that I could
not care for a house.
I was afraid of
doing something like that. I wasted
the money on entertainment, suits and clothes, Christmas houses, and tools,(A
lathe, biscuit maker, a generator for the shop, art supplies, and more). Fran
asked me to talk to Bob, but I never asked for help. Again, I was “high and mighty” and then I
crashed into a real mess.
Fran and I were able to
put $22,000 in our checking account and a safe deposit box. When Earl went to the hearing to have me
restrained, he said he knew these figures, and that is way Fran told him that
he did not have to pay anything toward her funeral. I do not believe that that was true, but he
did get $18,000 in insurance payments, $3,500 when he took Fran’s Plot, and he
paid nothing towards the funeral and interment.
I was not worried about
the situation that much, but I did think that would have enough money with
Linda and Earl’s help. Linda did pay
$6,600 and she paid for the Death Certificates.
For sixteen years, though, Linda told me that she would give me the
proceeds from the $5,000 insurance policy that Fran had paid for and had
bequeathed to her. After Fran passed
away, Linda told me that she needed to keep that money. Linda also received an additional $2,000 for
Fran’s state insurance plan. It is
ironic that Linda used the insurance money just as Fran wanted her to do. I had told Fran over and over again that
there was no guarantee that the insurance money going to Earl and Linda would
pay for her funeral. I tried to
convince her to change the beneficiaries.
The funeral and burial cost $15,000—including the $3,500 for the
plot. Linda gave me $6,000 for those
expenses, as I mentioned above, leaving me with a payment of $9,000. Linda also gave me $600 when I was trying to
figure things out like losing my wallet.
She also explained to me that that was all was all that she could help me
with, in a way telling me that Bob would not help me at all. Apparently being Fran’s common law husband
did not make me part of his family, so just like Earl, I surely not an
heir Whatever I did for his
Mother-in-law it meant nothing to him.
So, the money that left
my hands after Fran passed away was more than I had.
Here is the list: Funeral
$ 9,000
Moving Expense $1,000 Hotel
Stay (3 weeks) $3,000
Used Car
$4,000
Storage for our Furniture:$ 250/month
_________$3,000/year To
Date $5,000
($1,600 on Credit Card) Josh just
moved
out of the $275/month to a smaller
$150/month unit. I put most
the storage
unit cost to one credit card. (Balance now $2,000)
Discover Payments $350/month $ $4,200/year $8,400 I am up to date here/
Then there was the move from 168 Armistice Blvd.
