Michael James Riconosciuto

[American Dream]

dbcooper, I think we should all be able to investigate any story, but use critical thinking skills as we do so.

[barracuda]

Hi barracuda-

Unfortunately, I still don't have time for a long, or even highly considered response but in short, no- the only times that I recall right now seeing a mainstream corporate-type newspaper in the United States give out individual people's addresses would be in local papers, in their police blotter sections. As to the journalistic purpose. not sure.

Virginia McCullough quite likely will read your comments here and respond if she chooses- I have no power over this. You are also welcome to do as I did and write her at the address she gives at the end of every article. In fact, that would be much better if you did that, as it takes the burden off of me as being the sole mediator.

I have to say, in light of the context of this question, the last thing I would like to do is contact Virginia through a personal email account. If she has a response to it, I'm certain she'll make it known, though I have yet to understand how a seasoned reporter for an internet news publication might be unable to figure out how to utilise this forum on her own.

As to the reason or responsibility of pubicising Anita's address and phone number, I can't think of a single instance where I have seen this happen, nor can I fathom why anyone would do this, unless NMN wished to pass this information along to interested individuals whom they didn't personally know, or wish to have contact with, such as persons on the wrong side of this case.

[Dr_Doogie]

We have seen Virginia do the following:

1) Post personal contact information for Anita against Anita's wishes

2) Post personal email communication without permission

3) Reveal journalistic sources that did not wish to revealed

4) Attempt to influence the El Dorado District Attorney's election and then influence how the new DA would persue the Thompson case

5) Falsely post that Rachel was an actress, then continue the lie even after it had become clear that Rachel is exactly who she says she is

The list could go on and on, but how much more do we need to reach a conclusion about Virginia (and by extension, Kate and NMN)???

[Anita]

Btw, for anyone who might have a suggestion for me, I have tried to remove my website tag from my posts but it's not even listed in my profile, don't know what I'm missing there.

Anita, go to your profile and click 'edit signature'.

Anita has raised safety issues arising out of this - and this issue deserves a better response than posting the lyrics of a song.

Yes it does. AD: I have little clue about what is going on here or what your beef is with Anita-all I see is a woman pleading with you that link(s) you have posted are putting her life and the life of her children in danger. Your opinion of her matters not, you are out of line here and I'm asking you nicely to remove said link(s).

Done, thanks! Don't know why my eyes missed that.

[Anita]

sorry if i asked a loaded question.

PROMIS is a very dangerous subject to get into, with a very high 'body count' and safety concerns need to be heard,

and i promise my question had nothing to do with promis. is this one of those topics that should not be discussed? i've found a few like that where a google search for certain combinations of terms results in an explosion of activity in my pc.
i ran into MJR's name while i was following the wtc demolition story. he's not implicated in that , yet, but there was a reference to him building the real okc bomb at Dyno-Nobel.
can anyone vouch for this story?
and a very serious question.
was this series of postings meant to warn off anyone who might be venturing down this road? capiche?

I can't vouch for Dyno-Nobel, but I can say that the bomb in question left a specific signature. There was a break-in at a top secret facility (more than one, actually), some of this technology was stolen. These high tech thieves are very bold, have infiltrated government agencies and run amuck with technology. Sadly, some of the best technological breakthroughs to come have been held back due to personal interests and concerns, some valid, some not, over national security. Most innovative technologies have a dark side, ie the most beautiful math can be used to build nuclear weapons.

My husband and I have done what we can to help Michael and continue to assist him as we can. I would like to think that anyone who has seen what we have seen would do the same.

[annie aronburg]

AD: I have little clue about what is going on here or what your beef is with Anita-all I see is a woman pleading with you that link(s) you have posted are putting her life and the life of her children in danger. Your opinion of her matters not, you are out of line here and I'm asking you nicely to remove said link(s).

As stated earlier in the thread Anita has pm'ed Jeff about this and I did also, per the stated procedures in the guidelines. I am waiting for his response back and as stated earlier I am indeed a reasonable person and will certainly respect Jeff's opinion on this topic.

Sunny is a moderator here, and you should honor her request.

[American Dream]

I am very open to the idea of removing the link to the NMN article and replacing it with the full text of the article itself, minus the offending personal information only.

Unfortunately, since we only have access to editing capabilities for 12 hours this is impossible for me to do.

Also, with all due respect to the other moderators, it would be great to hear Jeff's opinion on this since ultimately it is his site.

[Dr_Doogie]

Virginia wrote in the "Puppetmaster" article (which I will not relink due to Ms. Langley's concerns):

"Amazingly on May 18, 2006 prosecutor Trish Kelliher states on page 3, item no. 17(a) in her “People’s Response to Defendant’s Request for Discovery” the following:

The People have had no contact with a Michael Riconosciuto nor do we intend, at this time to call him as a witness.

El Dorado County Prosecutor Gary Lacy was defeated by Vern Pierson in the election on June 8, 2006 but nothing changed in the prosecutor’s pursuit of defendant Philip Arthur Thompson."

I can confirm that the investigators decided not to interview Michael as a witness, but it was not because of any doubts about his truthfullness - they did not venture an opinion on that either way. What they expressed to me was that the Cloer murder occured in 1971 - long before the Octopus connections to Thompson - and felt that any linkage to the Octopus would only detract from the relatively straight-forward evidence against Thompson in the Cloer matter. Privately, one investigaor shared that he believed that Thompson was linked to other Octopus-related murders, but that was out of his jurisdiction and he maintained his focus only on Thompson circa 1971, not in the 1980's.

In summary, Michael's testimony was judged irrelevent to the Cloer murder, but no judgement was rendered on its veracity.

[sunny]

Jeff has said we can't make you remove the link, which would amount to forbidding links to NMN. Which is why I asked you nicely. Consequently, we are not going to edit the post in question without your permission.

[barracuda]

Echoing sunny, I've heard from Jeff, and he doesn't want to forbid linking to NewsMakingNews, especially because of the relevance of the articles there to a variety of subjects under discussion here, and because the personal information is posted on a third party site rather than here.

My personal feeling is that this use of personal information by Virginia on NMN is a vivid reflection of the questionable journalistic ethics at play over there.

[Dr_Doogie]

I have a suggestion concerning this private info of Anita.

Seeing as Ms. McCullough claims to be presenting the address so that people can supply Anita with info helpful to Michael, I am sure that she would be willing to change the article to direct people to contact Ms. Langley through her website or email address. Of course, VM would be willing to do that, unless her intent in publishing the offending matter is designed to put Anita's family in danger.

So, what 'cha say, Ginger? Are you willing to do the right thing or not?

[American Dream]

..

OK- good to know where Jeff stands on all of this.

I am agreeable to substituting the entirety of the NMN article in question for the link, minus of course the address and phone number for Anita that was given in her letter from 2006. I would like the article to be reasonably formatted though, and would be personally willing to do the necessary work to make that happen. I'm also OK with somebody else doing it, if necessary.

[barracuda]

I sent you a pm.

Okay, I've replaced the link to NewsMakingNews with a copy of the article edited by American Dream to remove Anita's personal information. Thanks for your understanding on this, American Dream.

[Anita]

Virginia wrote in the "Puppetmaster" article (which I will not relink due to Ms. Langley's concerns):

"Amazingly on May 18, 2006 prosecutor Trish Kelliher states on page 3, item no. 17(a) in her “People’s Response to Defendant’s Request for Discovery” the following:

The People have had no contact with a Michael Riconosciuto nor do we intend, at this time to call him as a witness.

El Dorado County Prosecutor Gary Lacy was defeated by Vern Pierson in the election on June 8, 2006 but nothing changed in the prosecutor’s pursuit of defendant Philip Arthur Thompson."

I can confirm that the investigators decided not to interview Michael as a witness, but it was not because of any doubts about his truthfullness - they did not venture an opinion on that either way. What they expressed to me was that the Cloer murder occured in 1971 - long before the Octopus connections to Thompson - and felt that any linkage to the Octopus would only detract from the relatively straight-forward evidence against Thompson in the Cloer matter. Privately, one investigaor shared that he believed that Thompson was linked to other Octopus-related murders, but that was out of his jurisdiction and he maintained his focus only on Thompson circa 1971, not in the 1980's.

In summary, Michael's testimony was judged irrelevent to the Cloer murder, but no judgement was rendered on its veracity.

Yes, the prosecution was very interested in hearing the full range of Thompson's activities as it helped them understand the seriousness of prosecuting him and the types of distractions they might face, but there were very grave concerns that putting too much information out at trial would confuse the jury and dilute the cae for which Thompson was on trial, which was the Cloer murder. It is very expensive to conduct a trial for a serial killer, so the facts of Thompson's killing spree were largely left out of the trial and the jury was informed of some of the other murders after the verdict was read.

We did have the personal assurances of a detective working the case that they would convict Thompson, and that was our main concern. As for the other homicides he was involved in, we hope that a special prosecutor will be assigned to tackle them as part of an overall organized crime fighting initiative.

Ten points to Rachel for correctly calling Jeff's support of NMN. I wish you were wrong girl, but there you have it. Might I suggest people check out this more progressive version of journalistic prowess.
http://www.newsfakingnews.com/

I notice that the garbage article still has the phone number and address of one of Michael's attorneys on display. I guess three dead attorneys aren't of concern to AD, one would need a conscience for that.

Thank you to the people who have been supportive. Might I suggest that anyone wanting updates on the Octopus case check in on Rachel's forum. It's new and isn't busy yet, but on the up side, there aren't reams of killer-helping articles to wade through to get to details.

[barracuda]

Ten points to Rachel for correctly calling Jeff's support of NMN. I wish you were wrong girl, but there you have it. Might I suggest people check out this more progressive version of journalistic prowess.
http://www.newsfakingnews.com/

As onerous as I find observing the ethics, behaviour and biases of NewMakingNews, it is still disturbing to think that anyone is possessed of the time and energy to put into this kind of personal emnity.