John Doe #2 Identified: But Can We Get the FBI to Arrest Him?

PART TEN

14 July 1996

ARYAN "ROLLOVER" BANKROBBER "FOSTERED" IN JAIL CELL;

DID THE FBI PROVIDE THE SHEET, OR JUST A BOOST?

At 1200 HRS Central Friday, 12 July 1996, I was informed by Glenn Wilburn that Richard Guthrie had been found dead in his cell in Covington, Kentucky (right across the river from Cincinnati) that morning. While this has the immediate effect of removing a cooperative material witness to the Oklahoma Bombing conspiracy support network, it will also have the effect of reenergizing the media toward finding the truth. We have been predicting for some time that OKC witnesses would start to die. Indeed, in the case of the Muellers, they were already dead when we first heard of them. It gives us no satisfaction to see our predictions come true. But it does not dishearten us either, nor deter us from our purpose. Next on the endangered Aryan sub-species list: Mark Thomas, followed by Dennis Mahon, followed by Mikey Brescia, followed by Andy Strassmeir--- at least that's the odds right now here at the Rattrap Central betting pool. (I've got twenty on Mahon, but I placed a $10 side bet on Thomas to place.) Question: does anybody know what odds the London bookies are giving on Strassmeir's life-ending experience?

It does strike us as somewhat instructive to the remaining conspirators that the FBI can't be trusted to keep material witnesses safe. Perhaps any future Aryans/ATF informants wishing to cleanse their souls might want to turn themselves in to the Oklahoma authorities for safekeeping, rather than waiting for the FBI to bust them so that they can die kicking at the end of a bedsheet with their tongues hanging out. Any applicants may contact me at this email address, or call the Oklahoma State Police. Militia and media escorts can arranged at no charge for your safe passage to OKC. Remember, he who deals first, deals best. Just ask Michael Fortier, the murdering slimeball druggie.

And now, without further ado, Guthrie's epitaph in yesterday's Cincinnati Enquirer:

CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, SATURDAY, 13 JULY, 1996. PAGE ONE.

ROBBER COMMITS SUICIDE

"Midwestern Bandit" wore Nixon masks.

by Tanya Bricking

COVINGTON (KY): Richard Lee Guthrie Jr. led the life of a bank bandit right out of the movies. He wore a Richard Nixon mask, stole money and got away with it. He taunted authorities by sporting shirts and hats with FBI logos. He left real and fake explosives at the scenes of heists and sent sarcastic letters to newspapers.

But his dangerous lifestyle ended in a Kenton County (Kentucky) jail cell Friday when the man who admitted to being one of the "Midwestern Bank Bandits" hanged himself with a bedsheet tied to a ceiling vent. He'd been in jail since January 15, when FBI agents arrested him in Green Township.

Authorities had been talking to Guthrie in part of a federal investigation into white supremacist violence. Guthrie was identified by law enforcement sources as a member of a group called the Aryan Republican Army, which advocates killing killing Jews, deporting blacks and setting up a Bible-based nation. Authorities said Guthrie's discussions with investigators covered a broad range of topics.

The U.S. Marshal Service had contracted with Kenton County Jal to hold him as a federal prisoner awaiting sentencing. He was not on suicide watch because "no one noticed anything that indicated he was having any problems," said W. Kelly Johnson, an assistant federal public defender who last talked to him Monday.

(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON/PERSONS IN TO VIST GUTHRIE PRIOR TO THE "SUICIDE"?)

Jailers' logs indicate that the 5:22 AM bed check found nothing out of order, U.S. Marshal R. Allen Smith said.

(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: YOU KNOW THE PRE-DAWN BEDCHECK, THAT'S THE ONE WHERE THE JAILER SLEEPS THROUGH IT WHILE KICKED BACK IN HIS CHAIR AND SIGNS OFF ON IT WHEN HE WAKES UP JUST BEFORE SHIFT CHANGE.)

But 43 minutes later, Mr. Guthrie was dead. He left two suicide notes-- one for his family and the other for his lawyer.

(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: TORN, NO DOUBT, IN 28 PIECES WITH ONE PIECE MISSING, OR PERHAPS TYPEWRITTEN??)

The 38-year-old Maryland man admitted July 3 to being a memebr of the robbery gang that heckled authorities and stole more than $200,000. He pleaded guilty in federal court to robbing 19 banks in seven states after striking a deal that he'd serve no more than 30 years in prison.

In return, he promised the FBI that he'd provide evidence against three other men awaiting trial. He was supposed to testify next month against one of his buddies, Peter Langan. He and Mr. Langan were longtime friends. When Mr. Langan lived in Cincinnati, Mr. Guthrie visited him, said Leslie Maloney, Mr. Langan's sister.

"I'm just flabbergasted," she said. "I have no idea why Richie would want to do that, because he made a deal with the FBI."

(TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE: YES, EXACTLY!!!)

Despite the pending trial, the two men were still friends, Ms. Maloney said. But they hadn't talked since their arrests in January. "I know my brother thought that he was upset," she said. "I got the impression that Richie was being pressured into testifying against my brother."

Mr. Guthrie's lawyer and Ms. Maloney declined to discuss the case or Mr. Guthrie's possible motive. Mr. Johnson described his client as a "bright and outgoing" man who was polite to authorities. He grew up in the Washington, DC, suburb of Wheaton, MD. After a stint in the Navy, he worked and studied engineering but earned no degrees. "I'm shocked and saddened by this turn of events," said Mr. Johnson, who added that Mr. Guthrie's family on the East Coast was stunned.

Officials are investigating the death. After an autopsy by the Kenton County Coroner's office, the body will be released to his family. The cases against the other alleged bank bandits will continue. "What effect Guthrie's death will have is impossible to tell at this point, said Ed Boldt, spokesman with the FBI office in Cincinnati.

(The Los Angeles Times contributed to this report.)

SIDEBAR, CINC'Y ENQUIRER:

MIDWESTERN SPREE (List of Bank robberies by city and date).

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