IA IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, & Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #32

[georger]

If they didn't have a clue, they'd be asking for clues every other day.[/quote]


What is this "clue" they have?

Maybe they are asking for clues every other day, but are silent about it.

They are almost guaranteed privacy from the non-existent press in eastern Iowa.

I keep hearing "they have a clue" - but could you or someone please
announce - WHAT THE CLUE IS!? :banghead:

I dont think they "have a clue". Maybe what they sent to the FBI lab will produce
a clue. Maybe that's the clue.

A good July 4th to all of you, sincerely.

 

[Squeeze]

If they didn't have a clue, they'd be asking for clues every other day.

What is this "clue" they have?

Maybe they are asking for clues every other day, but are silent about it.

They are almost guaranteed privacy from the non-existent press in eastern Iowa.

I keep hearing "they have a clue" - but could you or someone please
announce - WHAT THE CLUE IS!? :banghead:

I dont think they "have a clue". Maybe what they sent to the FBI lab will produce
a clue. Maybe that's the clue.

A good July 4th to all of you, sincerely.

Well I guess if we had access to the files, we'd all know. Unfortunately, we do not.

 

[Dr. Know?]

WOW. Just... WOW.

People outside of Iowa may not have heard of Gov. Terry Branstad's little family scandal. Back in the early 1990s, his son Eric Branstad was 16 and driving a minivan owned by the Branstad campaign organisation. He was speeding on a 2 lane highway and pulled out to pass a slower vehicle. Right in front of 2 oncoming cars.

One car missed him by swerving onto the shoulder. Eric Branstad's vehicle sideswiped a second car (the one he was passing) but the occupants were not injured.

The third car was not so lucky. Charles and Jean McCullough's car was hit head on by the vehicle Eric Branstad was driving. Jean McCullough was dead at the scene. Her husband, Charles McCullough, was driven by ambulance to the nearest hospital where he died.

Eric Branstad, the governor's son, had minor injuries, definitely not life threatening. Yet he is the person who was given a Life Flight helicopter flight from the scene of the accident to a top ranked trauma ER, rather than his much more seriously injured victim.

Curiously enough, no one at the hospital Eric Branstad was taken to thought to test him for blood alcohol content, even though that is part of the protocol for treating vehicle accident victims (the presence of alcohol in the system can profoundly affect medical decisions about treatment).

Eric Branstad was eventually charged with a misdemeanour traffic violation and fined $15. Yes, you read that right, fifteen dollars. Apparently one can get away with criminally reckless behaviour if one happens to be related to Terry Branstad.

A year later, Eric Branstad was involved in a series of alcohol related criminal charges, eventually pleading guilty to all of them. And yet we're supposed to believe that alcohol played no part in the accident that killed the McCulloughs?

The reason I label all this as specifically Terry Branstad's scandal is that at the time, Gov. Branstad was promoting a measure to restore the death penalty in Iowa, including for minors convicted of certain offences. Part of his "get tough on juvenile crime" campaign. Apparently it only applied to other men's sons, not his own.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana, The Life of Reason.

A little more about the incident & Hedlund. I don't like good ole boy networks...

http://www.myabc5.com/story/2274476...-driver?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

 

[Squeeze]

WOW. Just... WOW.

People outside of Iowa may not have heard of Gov. Terry Branstad's little family scandal. Back in the early 1990s, his son Eric Branstad was 16 and driving a minivan owned by the Branstad campaign organisation. He was speeding on a 2 lane highway and pulled out to pass a slower vehicle. Right in front of 2 oncoming cars.

One car missed him by swerving onto the shoulder. Eric Branstad's vehicle sideswiped a second car (the one he was passing) but the occupants were not injured.

The third car was not so lucky. Charles and Jean McCullough's car was hit head on by the vehicle Eric Branstad was driving. Jean McCullough was dead at the scene. Her husband, Charles McCullough, was driven by ambulance to the nearest hospital where he died.

Eric Branstad, the governor's son, had minor injuries, definitely not life threatening. Yet he is the person who was given a Life Flight helicopter flight from the scene of the accident to a top ranked trauma ER, rather than his much more seriously injured victim.

Curiously enough, no one at the hospital Eric Branstad was taken to thought to test him for blood alcohol content, even though that is part of the protocol for treating vehicle accident victims (the presence of alcohol in the system can profoundly affect medical decisions about treatment).

Eric Branstad was eventually charged with a misdemeanour traffic violation and fined $15. Yes, you read that right, fifteen dollars. Apparently one can get away with criminally reckless behaviour if one happens to be related to Terry Branstad.

A year later, Eric Branstad was involved in a series of alcohol related criminal charges, eventually pleading guilty to all of them. And yet we're supposed to believe that alcohol played no part in the accident that killed the McCulloughs?

The reason I label all this as specifically Terry Branstad's scandal is that at the time, Gov. Branstad was promoting a measure to restore the death penalty in Iowa, including for minors convicted of certain offences. Part of his "get tough on juvenile crime" campaign. Apparently it only applied to other men's sons, not his own.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana, The Life of Reason.

Gosh, I'm from Iowa and I don't remember that. Very interesting. I do know that I didn't like Branstad back then, and I was shocked when he was re-elected.

 

[artzypantz]

WOW. Just... WOW.

People outside of Iowa may not have heard of Gov. Terry Branstad's little family scandal. Back in the early 1990s, his son Eric Branstad was 16 and driving a minivan owned by the Branstad campaign organisation. He was speeding on a 2 lane highway and pulled out to pass a slower vehicle. Right in front of 2 oncoming cars.

One car missed him by swerving onto the shoulder. Eric Branstad's vehicle sideswiped a second car (the one he was passing) but the occupants were not injured.

The third car was not so lucky. Charles and Jean McCullough's car was hit head on by the vehicle Eric Branstad was driving. Jean McCullough was dead at the scene. Her husband, Charles McCullough, was driven by ambulance to the nearest hospital where he died.

Eric Branstad, the governor's son, had minor injuries, definitely not life threatening. Yet he is the person who was given a Life Flight helicopter flight from the scene of the accident to a top ranked trauma ER, rather than his much more seriously injured victim.

Curiously enough, no one at the hospital Eric Branstad was taken to thought to test him for blood alcohol content, even though that is part of the protocol for treating vehicle accident victims (the presence of alcohol in the system can profoundly affect medical decisions about treatment).

Eric Branstad was eventually charged with a misdemeanour traffic violation and fined $15. Yes, you read that right, fifteen dollars. Apparently one can get away with criminally reckless behaviour if one happens to be related to Terry Branstad.

A year later, Eric Branstad was involved in a series of alcohol related criminal charges, eventually pleading guilty to all of them. And yet we're supposed to believe that alcohol played no part in the accident that killed the McCulloughs?

The reason I label all this as specifically Terry Branstad's scandal is that at the time, Gov. Branstad was promoting a measure to restore the death penalty in Iowa, including for minors convicted of certain offences. Part of his "get tough on juvenile crime" campaign. Apparently it only applied to other men's sons, not his own.

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." George Santayana, The Life of Reason.

Just jumping on here with yourself and Dr Know......... im glad someone else also brought this up.......

I just want to add alittle to it, and say that I am disgusted many times over with Branstad and Hedlund and many many others!!

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-io...-90/-/9357080/20806646/-/7cl79kz/-/index.html

Audio recordings indicate a state trooper pursued a speeding SUV carrying Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, but did not pull the driver over after realizing who was inside the vehicle.

The recordings released Tuesday to The Associated Press capture dispatchers laughing about the April incident near Fort Dodge.

Now, the Iowa Department of Public Safety is reviewing the handling of the incident.

A Division of Criminal Investigation special agent who initiated the pursuit, Larry Hedlund, has been placed on leave. Hedlund's attorney, Tom Duff, says Hedlund was put on leave after complaining that the governor's driver - a trooper - had put public safety at risk.


Branstad spokesman Tim Albrecht released a statement Tuesday in response to this story.
"We have public safety professionals who drive the governor and lieutenant governor throughout Iowa's 99 counties. We have great faith and trust in Iowa's law enforcement officials to ensure the safety of the governor and all Iowans. The governor and lieutenant governor were in the vehicle, but were unaware this event had occurred. When we learned the DPS would be sending a release regarding this event, the governor was informed of the incident this morning," said Albrecht.

AND AGAIN!!!!!!!..........

http://www.kcci.com/news/central-io...ded/-/9357080/20501174/-/97vfa1z/-/index.html

A prominent Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation supervisor has been on paid administrative leave for more than a month because of a personnel matter.
Department of Public Safety spokesman Rob Hansen tells The Associated Press that Special Agent in Charge Larry Hedlund has been on administrative leave since May 1. Hansen said he cannot release any more information about the matter. An earlier version of this story stated Hedlund has been suspended, but he was not suspended on placed on paid administrative leave.

Based in Fort Dodge, Hedlund has supervised the agency's work in northern and northeastern Iowa as the top supervisor in one of DCI's four geographic zones.


Among other cases, he has helped oversee the investigation into the abduction and slaying of two cousins who vanished while riding bikes last year in Evansdale and were found dead in a wildlife reserve in December.


:jail: :jail: :jail: :stormingmad: :twocents:

 

[Grainne Dhu]

A little more about the incident & Hedlund. I don't like good ole boy networks...

http://www.myabc5.com/story/2274476...-driver?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

That is especially galling because during his first consecutive terms in office, Branstad used to boast about the tickets his state trooper acting as chauffeur on public occasions wrote based on the vehicles who passed him, since he (Branstad's state trooper) was always driving right dot on the speed limit. The state would mail out those tickets to the registered owners of those vehicles.

Ha, ha, Terry, a lot of us weren't laughing back then and we're not laughing now.

The theory was that if any of those owners chose to challenge the ticket, the state trooper driving Branstad would go into court to testify. In reality, those people who contested got their charge quietly dropped while those who did not or could not go to court paid a fine of over $150 (fine, court costs, etc).

Keep in mind that in order to contest, the defendant had to be capable of showing up in court in the county in which the ticket was issued. There's a lot of people who simply could not afford the time off work to show up, particularly if it was not their home county.

I've wished I could meet Branstad face to face back since the first time he was elected so I could give him a piece of my mind. As time goes on, my list gets longer and longer so that he'd have to give me 4 or 5 full days. I suspect I'd have to take a ticket, though, because there are a lot of other Iowans who have bones to pick with that man.

 

[Grainne Dhu]

Gosh, I'm from Iowa and I don't remember that. Very interesting. I do know that I didn't like Branstad back then, and I was shocked when he was re-elected.

It was back in 1991 and the governor sure worked hard to keep it quiet. When it was his kid who was a killer, Branstad was all about how the boy is just a juvenile and it's a private family matter (how he could even say that when the McCullough family lost their parents is beyond me), blah blah, blah. Strange how that never seemed to apply to other families in Branstad's version of the Way Things Should Be.

As I recall, Branstad was also highly embarrassed when The Des Moines Register pointed out that the minivan Eric Branstad was driving actually belonged to his father's campaign organisation. Who bought it new at an incredible discount (over 50% of the sticker price), which was also a matter of public record. Which was also illegal (it should have been reported as a campaign donation and it wasn't).

I've been disgusted every time Branstad has been elected. There are other descriptive terms I could use but not on a public website.

 

[Dr. Know?]

I'm not understanding, well I am but find it awful that one of the top DCI officers on Lyric & Elizabeth's case has been put on admin duty or suspended.

If it's over what's being written in the news and Grainne's memory, where's Hedlund? He plays an important part in historical knowledge of the girl's disappearance.

Thanks Grainne. Much appreciated back story to all of this. (young college neighbor was killed while riding in a A. Busch grandson's vehicle out here years ago is one example he left the scene and slept off the accident...)

I have no idea what Hedlund has really done other than tell what needed to be told. A person with such low morals....gah

 

[nikb]

If they didn't have a clue, they'd be asking for clues every other day.

What is this "clue" they have? <snipped for space>

White vehicle, maybe?

Not that we didn't hear about one before but this does seem somewhat new? It seems more definite to me now than it did before. IMO.

 

[bessie]

Please continue at the new thread.

Found Deceased IA - Elizabeth Collins, 8, and Lyric Cook, 10, Evansdale, 13 July 2012 - #33 - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community