Dogging Van Susteren
I have never been a fan of "Greta's Scandal Sheet" but at the prompting of concerned individuals, I sent her a letter concerning my father's murder. Here is her ratings-driven reply, and my original letter:
robert - wow! what a horrible story.....i am not sure what i could do but your father sure deserves justice..greta
-----Original Message-----PMTo: Show -OnTheRecord
Subject: Cold case from Hell
30 November 2005
Dear Ms. Van Susteren,
I am 20 years late writing this letter. Saturday, 3 December 2005, will mark the 20th anniversary of my father’s murder. He was one of four victims of a Georgia serial killer known as “the .22 caliber killer” because of his choice of weapons, a .22 caliber rifle. This murderer has never been captured, although the Atlanta Constitution published a story in 1989 alleging that the police knew the identity of this person.
When that story was published, I stormed angrily into the office of the resident GBI agent in Canton, Georgia. I went to high school with Phil P---., and his authority didn't intimidate me. He calmly said “I've been expecting you”, and proceeded to tell me a convoluted story about snitches, a burglary ring in Marietta that was stealing guns and running them to New York, and a lack of definitive evidence to indict anyone for murder. The newspaper, he said, was lying. After an hour of pounding my fist on his desk and listening to a wagonload of BS, I came away convinced that someone was lying.
In the interim, my mother has passed away. She was subjected to anonymous extortion demands from unscrupulous church people, and never saw justice done. An investigative reporter for WXIA [Ch. 11] in Atlanta was fired shortly after he interviewed me on-air concerning the case. A GBI agent in Gainesville sent word that I should “keep my mouth shut” when I tried to enlist the aid of Senator Sam Nunn and Congressman Ed Jenkins, and tied the fourth murder to the first three by insisting the state crime lab look at the ballistics again. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department willfully allowed physical evidence from one of the other murder scenes to be destroyed. In 1992, small-caliber gunshots were fired at me as I tended my horses in the pasture of my parents’ farm. Two of them struck the brick wall of my parent’s house. In 1993, someone stood on the front porch of my home [next door to my parent’s house; separated by a driveway], and when I walked outside—after spending an evening with my Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother—they fired a shot through the window of the enclosed porch. The ambush failed because my Doberman was snarling inside my home, keeping the shooter at bay. I surprised this person when I walked out of my mother's house. The single shot hit the solid door of Ma’s house like a baseball bat. I ducked, and when I looked up, all I saw was a running shadow. I moved away from Woodstock and the Atlanta area after my mother died, but for all I know the .22 slug is still buried in the doorframe.
My conversation with GBI agent P--- led me to believe that the killer is/was a protected witness. Phil’s cryptic explanation of a burglary ring convinced me that whatever information law enforcement was receiving about running guns into New York, it superseded the lives of four men who were murdered for sport.
The producers at “Unsolved Mysteries” told me a secret; they didn't shoot story segments until local law enforcement is on the verge of an arrest. The production assistant I had a liaison with cried on the phone when she told me this. The producers of “America’s Most Wanted” told me they needed a name. John Walsh has a lot more integrity than a sensational program that chose stories about UFOs and buried treasure over four brutal murders, but I understand their need for a name or a face.
My father was 78 years old when he was gunned down. (The Atlanta Constitution got his age wrong; they said 76.) Dad was a War II veteran of the 3d Armored Division, and worked for 28 years as a postal employee. He made four trips to the Mayo Clinic in his battle with cancer; it was a war he eventually won. In April of 1985, he and Ma received a letter from Ronald Reagan, on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. On 12 December, nine days after he was murdered, the birthday card I had requested for him, from the president, arrived.
I tried to let this rest for two decades. I have what we might call “a checkered past”, which might explain the stunning lack of law enforcement cooperation. The attitude always seemed to be “he’s a scumbag criminal, and got what he deserved.”
I deserved what I got, paid my debt, and never looked back. My father did not deserve to be shot down like a dog in his driveway. The other three victims did not deserve to be killed the way they were.
I have little hope that you will pick up on this. I gave up in despair for 20 years. Now, even though the file remains technically open, it’s the cold case from hell. I'm now 52 years old, and have spent the last five years in a wheelchair. My mother died in 1997, and I have no siblings. I'm reliably informed that all things are revealed through the majesty of God, but I'd like to see some justice in this life, for my father. I've seen your determination and support of the Holloway family, and so I'm taking one last shot at getting some justice for my father. There’s probably little to be done after 20 years, and this case doesn't have the media appeal of missing young blonde women. I've worked in movies and TV, and understand the nature of the beast.
If you can even recommend a good cold-case detective, I would appreciate it. The facts of this case are archived at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and in the video morgues of WSB and WXIA [TV] in Atlanta. (They both ran follow-up stories some years after the fact.)
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Robert B. W---
Blairsville, Georgia
Ms. Van Susteren's response to my plea is recorded above. "Gee,whiz! What can I do?"
Ms. Van Susteren has an entire international network at her disposal. They pay expense accounts for numerous junkets to Aruba. The murder of Natalee Holloway is horrible, but the suspects are transparent and in the wind. Greta hosts a "cold case" show on FOX News, but my father's murder doesn't garner sufficient ratings.
I will nail Van Sustren every time she professes to represent "justice." Every time this ratings-hungry enitity opens her mouth, I will be here to call her bluff. The only thing sadder than a lack of justice is some false proclaimer of justice. I have spent 20 years pursuing my father's killer, and some dopey broad who claims to stand for justice is a passing distraction. Lacking serious leads in a real murder investigation, it will be a passing pleasure to expose this woman when she professes to speak for justice. I thought you might be serious for five minutes, Van Susteren. I now know better. Sue me, Ms. Lawyer. I need the publicity.
Every time this hollow woman speaks out about "justice", I promise a retort here. The line is drawn.
robert - wow! what a horrible story.....i am not sure what i could do but your father sure deserves justice..greta
-----Original Message-----PMTo: Show -OnTheRecord
Subject: Cold case from Hell
30 November 2005
Dear Ms. Van Susteren,
I am 20 years late writing this letter. Saturday, 3 December 2005, will mark the 20th anniversary of my father’s murder. He was one of four victims of a Georgia serial killer known as “the .22 caliber killer” because of his choice of weapons, a .22 caliber rifle. This murderer has never been captured, although the Atlanta Constitution published a story in 1989 alleging that the police knew the identity of this person.
When that story was published, I stormed angrily into the office of the resident GBI agent in Canton, Georgia. I went to high school with Phil P---., and his authority didn't intimidate me. He calmly said “I've been expecting you”, and proceeded to tell me a convoluted story about snitches, a burglary ring in Marietta that was stealing guns and running them to New York, and a lack of definitive evidence to indict anyone for murder. The newspaper, he said, was lying. After an hour of pounding my fist on his desk and listening to a wagonload of BS, I came away convinced that someone was lying.
In the interim, my mother has passed away. She was subjected to anonymous extortion demands from unscrupulous church people, and never saw justice done. An investigative reporter for WXIA [Ch. 11] in Atlanta was fired shortly after he interviewed me on-air concerning the case. A GBI agent in Gainesville sent word that I should “keep my mouth shut” when I tried to enlist the aid of Senator Sam Nunn and Congressman Ed Jenkins, and tied the fourth murder to the first three by insisting the state crime lab look at the ballistics again. The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department willfully allowed physical evidence from one of the other murder scenes to be destroyed. In 1992, small-caliber gunshots were fired at me as I tended my horses in the pasture of my parents’ farm. Two of them struck the brick wall of my parent’s house. In 1993, someone stood on the front porch of my home [next door to my parent’s house; separated by a driveway], and when I walked outside—after spending an evening with my Alzheimer’s-afflicted mother—they fired a shot through the window of the enclosed porch. The ambush failed because my Doberman was snarling inside my home, keeping the shooter at bay. I surprised this person when I walked out of my mother's house. The single shot hit the solid door of Ma’s house like a baseball bat. I ducked, and when I looked up, all I saw was a running shadow. I moved away from Woodstock and the Atlanta area after my mother died, but for all I know the .22 slug is still buried in the doorframe.
My conversation with GBI agent P--- led me to believe that the killer is/was a protected witness. Phil’s cryptic explanation of a burglary ring convinced me that whatever information law enforcement was receiving about running guns into New York, it superseded the lives of four men who were murdered for sport.
The producers at “Unsolved Mysteries” told me a secret; they didn't shoot story segments until local law enforcement is on the verge of an arrest. The production assistant I had a liaison with cried on the phone when she told me this. The producers of “America’s Most Wanted” told me they needed a name. John Walsh has a lot more integrity than a sensational program that chose stories about UFOs and buried treasure over four brutal murders, but I understand their need for a name or a face.
My father was 78 years old when he was gunned down. (The Atlanta Constitution got his age wrong; they said 76.) Dad was a War II veteran of the 3d Armored Division, and worked for 28 years as a postal employee. He made four trips to the Mayo Clinic in his battle with cancer; it was a war he eventually won. In April of 1985, he and Ma received a letter from Ronald Reagan, on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary. On 12 December, nine days after he was murdered, the birthday card I had requested for him, from the president, arrived.
I tried to let this rest for two decades. I have what we might call “a checkered past”, which might explain the stunning lack of law enforcement cooperation. The attitude always seemed to be “he’s a scumbag criminal, and got what he deserved.”
I deserved what I got, paid my debt, and never looked back. My father did not deserve to be shot down like a dog in his driveway. The other three victims did not deserve to be killed the way they were.
I have little hope that you will pick up on this. I gave up in despair for 20 years. Now, even though the file remains technically open, it’s the cold case from hell. I'm now 52 years old, and have spent the last five years in a wheelchair. My mother died in 1997, and I have no siblings. I'm reliably informed that all things are revealed through the majesty of God, but I'd like to see some justice in this life, for my father. I've seen your determination and support of the Holloway family, and so I'm taking one last shot at getting some justice for my father. There’s probably little to be done after 20 years, and this case doesn't have the media appeal of missing young blonde women. I've worked in movies and TV, and understand the nature of the beast.
If you can even recommend a good cold-case detective, I would appreciate it. The facts of this case are archived at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and in the video morgues of WSB and WXIA [TV] in Atlanta. (They both ran follow-up stories some years after the fact.)
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Robert B. W---
Blairsville, Georgia
Ms. Van Susteren's response to my plea is recorded above. "Gee,whiz! What can I do?"
Ms. Van Susteren has an entire international network at her disposal. They pay expense accounts for numerous junkets to Aruba. The murder of Natalee Holloway is horrible, but the suspects are transparent and in the wind. Greta hosts a "cold case" show on FOX News, but my father's murder doesn't garner sufficient ratings.
I will nail Van Sustren every time she professes to represent "justice." Every time this ratings-hungry enitity opens her mouth, I will be here to call her bluff. The only thing sadder than a lack of justice is some false proclaimer of justice. I have spent 20 years pursuing my father's killer, and some dopey broad who claims to stand for justice is a passing distraction. Lacking serious leads in a real murder investigation, it will be a passing pleasure to expose this woman when she professes to speak for justice. I thought you might be serious for five minutes, Van Susteren. I now know better. Sue me, Ms. Lawyer. I need the publicity.
Every time this hollow woman speaks out about "justice", I promise a retort here. The line is drawn.
posted by Robert at 1:37 AM
6 Comments:
That certainly must not be an easy thing to have to deal with...
I do not like this woman and her callousness, and lacking new leads in my father's murder, I will make her life hell.
If he had lived naturally, Dad would have been 100 years old in 2007, and naturally deceased. He was robbed, vandalized, and I will not forget that as long as I live.
I always thought I'd hold my old man's hand and say "goodbye".
I could live with that. Murder has no place on the table.
possum,
You have a righteous cause and a right to be angry, but not necessarilly at Greta VanSusteren. Sure, she gave you a brief and ignorant reply to your poignant and serious request for help but her show is certainly not the type of show to run this type of piece anyway. She is only interested in "pretty blondes" and sexy couples who are involved in murders.
On The Record is one of the things about TV that puzzles the hell out of me. Why on earth do people care about watching such tripe? Over and over again, they rehash every minor detail about a murder, launch entire cottage industries of criminal-defense-attorney-commentators, badger law enforcement and legal workers, ONLY because of the sex appeal of the victim or the juiciness of the crime.
In short, she was not woth your time. And she and her show are, in my opinion, beneath contempt.
I wish I had some answers for you on this issue, but I don't know any cold case experts in Georgia. I have worked with a few Detectives here in Michigan and could suggest some that work locally, but they couldn't be involved in your case, jurisdictionally.
There must be someone that could help in the media, though. Someone with integrity that would take up the cause and try to get past the stonewalling. I just don't know who that is...
You wrote the E-mail back in Nov. 2005, and Greta is just getting back to you now? Talk about "timely" responses. And pretty pathetic at that. Sheesh!
Like Beerme said, there must be someone out there that could help, but I don't know who they are either.
Praying that justice is done, and that your father's killer is exposed.
As always,
Best regards...
Another year; more time passes.
Eddie Murphy also lives with the murder of his father; he became a renowned comedian, laughing to keep from crying.
I have explored every avenue. Greta was a last resort. Her desultory response did not sit well, and I will call her out every time she opens her mouth.
To their credit, the cops even dug up a North Carolina grave a few years ago, looking for a .22 caliber bullet wound. The search yielded nothing, and the beat goes on.
All will be revealed in the sight of God. I stake my faith on this. The killer will not escape.
Your father knows you are trying and I'm sure he is pleased by the effort. He would not be happy, however, if this consumed you (I'm guessing). That being said I cannot imagine what you are going through but wish you all the best just the same
Sad to say the least. Godspeed in your quest but, as others have intimated, please do not let it consume you, that would hardly please your father (I'm guessing). He knows you care and are trying.
You is "da man"!
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