April 29, 1996
Governor Marc Racicot
Office of the Governor
State of Montana
State Capitol
Helena, Montana 59620-0801 "SENT VIA FAX AND US MAIL"
Re: "Drugs Are Trafficked from Canada to
US"
By Krassimir Ivandjiiski
"Top Secret - Bulgaria Confidential",
February 1, 1996
Dear Governor Racicot:
I am in receipt of your letter of April 25, 1996 to Free Speech Newspaper demanding a
retraction of the reprinted article we published from the February, 1996" Top Secret
- Bulgaria Confidential" by Krassimir Ivandjiiski. I am surprised that you have
contacted Free Speech Newspaper. From what I understand the article has also been
published by a wire service in England, a publication in Vancouver B.C., in Australia, and
has been extensively republished on the internet.
The thrust of the article is that there is unchecked political corruption in Montana
involving drugs and law enforcement personnel. The conclusion reached by journalist
Krassimir Ivandjiiski is that you have had personal knowledge and/or culpability in the
covering up of investigations while you were Attorney General and during the course of
your term as Governor, and that you have either ignored the reports or actively
participated in the suppression of the witnesses.
Prior to publishing the article one of our staff researchers contacted sources in Montana
which corroborated key premises of the Ivandjiiski article as to drug trafficking around
the Havre area and the Sidney-Fairview-Lambert area. Our researcher, who has investigated
extensively the Bonano crime family operations in Arizona, also contacted investigator
Michael Roe after he obtained a copy of the second report which was transferred to the FBI
in Montana. Investigator Roe was adamant that his contact in the Montana Attorney
General's office told him that you had given specific instructions that the files be
ignored. Numerous other individuals in Montana also very freely gave Free Speech Newspaper
similar accounts.
(1) |
| It is clear
to Free Speech Newspaper that you should answer some questions regarding your role in the
investigations.
1. Did you not approve of a complaint made by Sidney attorney Phillip N. Carter to the
FBI, after affidavits and witness statements emerged, claiming Sidney attorney T.R.
Halvorson attempted to illegally wiretap or employ electronic surveillance on the office
of Phillip N. Carter, allegedly to gather information concerning Mr. Carter's supposed
involvement in drug trafficking?
2. Did you not personally prosecute Chinook Police Chief Bernie Brost, after he had begun
an investigation of then Blaine County Attorney Donald Ranstrom? Did you as required by
law disclose to the defense exculpatory information that Police Chief Brost had allegedly
observed, along with several other local policemen, drug flights into the Chinook airport,
which were allegedly destined for and supervised by Blaine County Attorney Ranstrom?
3. Were you not ultimately responsible to supervise the 1991 investigation of alleged drug
allegations made originally by Sidney City Councilman Richard Hobbs? Did you in fact know
that investigator Dan Skultetich advised many of the witnesses he was "not interested
in any incidents beyond three years old", concerning the targeted lawyers and law
enforcement personnel?
4. Did you not personally investigate allegations of criminal wrongdoing against Blaine
County Attorney Donald Ranstrom in Chinook, Montana and in so doing refused to question or
interview many of the witnesses?
These are the most fundamental questions raised from the information which we have
received and which we believe you are personally and ethically responsible for. You have
apparently used your "prosecutorial discretion" for the advantage of personal
friends and as a result enough bodies have accumulated to cause you problems.
(2) |
| The Bismarck
Tribune carried a front page article April 14, 1996 about the Wolfe-Madsen murders in the
Sidney area. The bodies were found in North Dakota, 1.1 miles across the state line.
According to the article you are in receipt of petitions from area residents with 2,555
signatures requesting a look at the deaths. Since the publication of the article in Free
Speech Newspaper we have received overwhelming responses from Eastern Montana concerning
the deaths. Mr. James Horrack has made an affidavit advising that Mr. Michael Wolfe told
him he was fearful attorney Phillip N. Carter and Officer David Schettine were going to
kill him. Michael Wolfe wrote a similar letter to his mother, and he told at least four
friends that he "would be murdered by David Schettine" only days before his
death.
We have also found that James Horack was interviewed under pretext in a most unusual
fashion by Deputy County Attorney Gary Ryder in February, 1995 before Mr. Ryder left the
Sidney area. Newspaper accounts from the Sidney Herald indicate both the Wolfe home and
their attorney's office were burglarized during the course of their inquiry into the death
of Michael Wolfe.
Our newspaper like most small newspapers does not have enough resources to turn over every
stone. But we know that voluminous documentation supports the Michael Roe Report. We also
know attorney Arnie Hove of Circle, Montana has additional independent material
corroborating similar drug allegations made in Sidney, Lambert, and Fairview against
Phillip N. Carter and David Schettine. We are aware that libel actions have been filed
against at least ten witnesses who have had the courage to come forward. Most of the
actions have not been prosecuted which means they were likely filed to shut up the
witnesses and warn the press not to get involved. We are aware that many of the Sidney
witnesses who gave statements to the Montana Criminal Investigation Bureau were then
prosecuted by Mr. Carter and Mr. Ryder assisted by Officer Schettine.
(3) |
| We are aware
that Lambert trucker Clinton Mullen and his wife Rena testified under oath that they were
approached by Phillip N. Carter to haul drugs for them. They respectfully declined. They
were subsequently beaten outside a Sidney nightspot and numerous witnesses claim that Mr.
Carter's close friend Gary Ryder instigated the beating. Shortly afterward while the
investigation into the beating had not been resolved, County Attorney Ryder prosecuted
Clinton Mulklen on a ludicrous felony theft charge, and then after the charge was thrown
out in District Court, Mr. Ryder appealed the decision to the Montana Supreme Court where
it was also disregarded. Mr. Ryder isnow suing Clinton Mullen and his former attorney
Arnie Hove for allegedly ruining his "reputation".
We are aware that two Montana prison inmates have implicated individuals around Havre
including Donald Ranstrom, in the murders of Richard Cowan and his common law wife
Bernadette Doiron. We are aware that reports of drug flights to Lambert Montana were
ignored in the investigation made by your office when you were Attorney General. We are
aware that your investigator Dan Skuletich told Sidney City Councilmen Richard Hobbs that
an eye witness admitted to using illegal drugs with attorney Carter while he was
prosecutor. We are aware that the resultant report stated effectively that "no
evidence of criminal involvement was found". We believe this statement is false and
calculated to protect a drug ring and a series of killings linked to several attorneys and
police officers in Montana.
The pattern of lawsuits and harassment of witnesses by the suspects will not be tolerated
by the world press. Free Speech Newspaper will not be bullied Governor Racicot. We stand
by Krassimir Ivandjiiski and believe his article to be a well researched, well written
product of good journalism. We take your threat seriously and we intend to make sure no
person in Montana is allowed to suppress the news of the drug trafficking and killings.
Free Speech Newspaper will publish continued articles concerning clear official duplicity
in the "Hi-Line Murders". We offer you an opportunity to publish your response
to the above inquiries and the Ivandjiiski article. In the event you do not respond within
ten days of the date of this letter we assume that you do not further dispute the
assertions in the Ivandjiiski article and this letter. We will print your reply
uncensored.
Very truly yours,
/s/
Ron Paulson
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