An Open Letter to Penn State University President Rodney Erickson

With much respect -Do what I say, and do it today.

Hire the best Public Relations firm in the country for PSU’s needs.   I am redacting that recommendation for the publication of this open letter, but it is included in my email to you.  Don’t spend the time or manpower to run through the approved vendor lists and bid it out- not that kind of gig.  The Board of Trustees can WebEx if necessary and this is the kind of emergency proxy was invented for.

Once retained, have the agency facilitate meetings through their agents with Bill Parcells and Bill Cowher immediately.  Specify no leaks to the press until after they occur and by mutual agreement.   Cowher may be the low hanging fruit on this one,  he is returning to CBS next year.

If neither is interested in a head coach commitment of an 8-1 Big Ten team, follow their recommendations about who to contact next and ask them; beg if necessary, if they would be willing to consider a consulting gig for the recruitment process.  Urban Myer is a fine coach and leader, but regardless of who PSU ultimately chooses, efforts to rebuild the PSU brand must start with a nationally recognizable face of a trusted and respected winner, like yesterday.

Champions attract champions and without that, it is like asking collegiate coaching candidates to walk into the lion’s den (pun intended) wearing a raw steak necklace.  You will not even get one to tour Lasche, trust me on this.

This strategy would likely also include a public facing spokesperson effort, and worth every penny if that is all you can get a commitment for from either coach.

Pay them to sit in the lobby.  Pay them to ride the elevator a few times, but get them on grounds.  Pay them to have a motivational meeting with the team.

If you have some strong players they could attach to quickly and produce an  “I remember when I was a young fig on the tree” memory synapses, it couldn’t hurt.

Instruct all team members never to roll the eyes should the phrase “When I was your age we played ball with pads made of glass and never wore cleats in the snow”;  if they told me that I would believe it.

This is the kind of benchmarking that will revitalize wilting spirits of a young athlete, and the parents with the trembling hand over the eject button.

Half the free world is digging old milk cartons out of the recyclables to see if they recognize any kids they may have seen with Sandusky or on the sidelines of a game- they need a new visual association.

As you already know, if you are lucky enough to get this far, they will advise you to release every staffer from the interim athletic director to the water boys that were ever part of Paterno’s camp or rolled up his pants before the game. Do it.

This might be a good time to allow a try before they buy scenario if either are willing, as “guest coaches” to finish the season.

While I am at it, I might suggest a reality miniseries of the process- I know some folks from HBO familiar with the Hard Knocks of football, I would be glad to make a connection.

Donate those proceeds to Coach Parcells or Coach Cowher’s disadvantaged children’s charity of choice which is vetted in advance by a specially appointed member chosen by the new Ethics officer.

Point is, you need immediate public support and that will require immediate damage control or your Titanic does not even have the measly lifeboat option.

The public perception is that there is more to this horror movie after the commercial, and the commercials are disappearing as well.

Your job is to employ the resources that can change the channel when the public is not looking, and forget what they were watching in favor of the new programming, which includes sponsors aligned with that audience.

It is about as transparent of a plan as I can offer- with hope and promise to the innocent victims of this tragedy.

WE ARE.. PENN STATE

The thorn in the paw in the largest criminal scandal in recent NCAA history, feels more like a railroad spike today.

The  winningest collegiate coach in American history got sacked yesterday in his 46th year.

The iconic former Penn State University head football coach leaves his legacy shamed by the alleged sexual assaults by Jerry Sandusky, the former defensive coordinator of 23 years, on his watch.

Graham Spanier, president of PSU was also fired.

According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General, Paterno is not facing criminal charges, no word yet on Spanier.

Charged in the scandal to date are:

Gerald “Jerry” Sandusky- 40 counts of felony child sexual abuse, released on $100,000 bond

Tim Curley- PSU Athletic Director and 1976 alumni- charged with perjury and failure to report

Gary Schultz- PSU Senior VP of finance and Business charged with perjury and failure to report

Not charged, but in my opinion, should absolutely be under moral indictment:

Mike McQueary-  Current PSU recruiting coordinator and wide receiver coach who witnessed the sodomy of a child by Sandusky as a 28 year old grad student. He ran home and called his daddy instead of police,leaving the child in the clutches of that monster.

(UPDATE 3:37PM The PSU Board does not plan to fire McQueary, but want him off the field although interim coach Bradley says he will be on the sideline.    Are you people nuts?  I really think the players have enough concerns without wondering if some radical will rush the sidelines to get at McQueary.  Not worth the security breach.)

Yes, that is correct, he witnessed the act in progress of the rape of a child and did nothing to stop it.

Earlier in the week, Jopa announced through a prepared statement that he would be retiring at the end of the season after 46 years at the helm of the Nittany Lions Division 1 dynasty.

While PSU alumnus roars turned into wails for the past week,  it appears this nittany nightmare is just the beginning of the story.

The sexual assault of a 10 year old boy by Sandusky in the shower of the Lasch Football Building during Spring Break  2002, witnessed by a graduate student was never reported to Ray Gricar , Center County Prosecutor on the record.

But was he made aware of it under the radar?

Anthony DeBouf, a district attorney working under Gricar,  says Gricar reviewed evidence and files privately and did not share any of the information with him, in 1998.

You read that correctly, in 1998, when the first alleged incident of Sandusky in the field house shower with a young boy was reported to University Police and the Centre County DA’s office.

According to Graham Spanier, recently fired PSU president,  an investigation was completed by a “child protective agency”  and University Police with the blessing of then PSU counsel Wendell Courtney.

Courtney was and is still an attorney of record for Second Mile.

Spanier said he thought the director of Second Mile, the grass roots charitable effort founded by Sandusky, was alerted through those efforts. (more…)

Dyersburg, TN- Missing Mom Karen Johnson Swift’s disappearance is looking more and more like whatever fate the well-liked fitness buff  encountered,  happened very close to her home on Willie Johnson Road.

David Swift, Karen’s estranged husband, has told police Karen left the home at approximately 1:30 am the morning of October 30th after an earlier jaunt to retrieve the couple’s youngest daughter from a planned Halloweenfest  sleepover.

Karen attended a Halloween soiree at THE FARMS golf club earlier in the evening dressed as cat-woman;  her costume was found in her unlocked and abandoned car.

According to the Dyersburg Country Club by laws,  regardless of handicap all attendees  turned into pumpkins by midnight that evening so it is not likely Karen was headed back there.  Reports of her leaving the family residence at that hour are based solely on her husband’s last exchange with her.

Swift filed for divorce from David on October 1oth.   The couple had been divorced and remarried to each other previously.

David, a former Columbia Forest Products employee,  is an independent business owner in the aerosol packaging field and Karen has been developing a horticulture business as “The Yard Lady“.

While Mr. Swift has refused all requests for comment by the media, he is also now refusing to speak to investigators and has referred all inquiries to his recently retained attorney.

Mr. Swift was observed in his driveway after he returned from an interview with DCSO in the first days of the investigation on crutches.

Mr. Swift underwent emergency surgery for a torn patella tendon in April of 2011 but by all accounts has long since recovered from the injury sustained at his daughter’s soccer field.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity, sources inside the investigation have confirmed to www.blinkoncrime.com that David Swift refused to allow a search by consent of the couple’s 5 acre property after the first meeting where he allowed officers to look throughout the home for purposes of confirming Karen was not there.

Following discovery in a overgrown area included in the search grid and submission to the state crime lab, the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) prioritized  a pair of jeans and gray zip-up requesting expedited results.

The source goes on to say those items have been identified through test results of mitochondrial DNA to belong to Karen Johnson Swift.  The match was made from a sample comparative from Karen’s mother.

It is believed there are additional items that may belong to Karen that have been recovered- however, the forensic results necessary to confirm her positive association are pending.

During the topical search of the Swift home which did not  include crime scene processing, the Swifts’s two young daughters spent time at the neighbors home.

Jennifer Lamb kept the Swift girls while police were at the Swift home interviewing their father with the intention of locating Ms. Swift.

In a seemingly inexplicable coincidence, both the Lambs and the Swift’s uploaded an image of a rainbow appearing overhead of the two homes spanning over 10 acres, the very day Dave Swift was served his divorce papers.

Marty Lamb, on his way to work at Nucor early Sunday morning, pulled in behind Karen’s white Nissan Murano and “flashed his lights” , only to learn she was not in her car.  With no sign of foul play,  Lamb assumed Swift returned the short distance to her driveway with  no cause for alarm and continued his commute.

DCSO has reported that Karen Swift’s car had a flat tire and has been impounded for crime scene technician processing. What has not been addressed publicly is how the tire came to be flat in the first place.

Karen’s 2004 Murano is equipped with an electronic tire pressure monitoring sensor and she always backed down the nearly 200 foot driveway.   As their was no evidence of a tire blowout, nor could she have been traveling at a high rate of speed,  this editor questions how she could have missed a flat tire getting into the car in a well lit driveway in the first place,  followed by missing the alarm signal and light on her dashboard.  Swift’s car was found across from the home of John Hogshooter at 310 Harness RD.

Hogshooter Not Hogtied

John E. Hogshooter, in court yesterday on aggravated animal cruelty charges stemming from an alleged incident reported  on October 7  by David Swift, was granted bond.

Prior to Mr. Hogshooter’s brief incarceration, his vehicle was impounded and processed for any possible evidence relating to Karen Swift’s disappearance.  Nothing of forensic significance was found and the truck was returned to the former Dyer county Ervin  softball coach.

In contrast to Mr. Swift’s refusal to allow LE to search his adjacent property, Mr. Hogshooter allowed his home and property to be searched voluntarily.

Hogshooter is alleged to have poisoned the Swift family dog as well as an as yet un-named neighbors pet who died as a result.

Within the complaint filed by David Swift,  he states that he watched his dog walk onto the Hogshooter property and upon return, became  ill.

A medication was administered by the Vet to counteract whatever the dog may have ingested and JackBoots was returned to the family the next day.

JackBoots,  dog rescue of the Swift family,  has a scannable chip implant that emits a low level frequency signal detectable by a scanner,  or radio frequency identification (RFID), so it is possible to isolate for investigative purposes.

Doppelneigbor – the blinkipedia

(noun) Neighbor who is a ringer for the neighbor who is a person of interest.

These gentleman’s issues may have infinite degrees of separation- Siberian even, but how uncanny is it that they resemble each other to the point of  fooling CCTV resolution?

Check back to www.blinkoncrime.com for updates

Images courtesy family photos,  processing courtesy of Klaasend

Jacqueline Beaufort contributing editor

Dyersburg TN- 50 yards from the  Willie Johnson residence of missing TN mother Karen Swift, John Hogshooter pulled into his driveway and was promptly arrested.   Hogshooter is facing a animal cruelty charge (s).

As reported by Karen’s husband David on October 7th, prior to her filing for divorce three days later,  the Swift family dog was allegedly poisoned by Hogshooter  along in conjunction with a neighborhood dog.

John E.  Hogshooter  was confronted by Karen Swift on the day of the alleged incident,  which prompted reports to police a few hours later.  Hogshooter has worked as a roofer and carpenter in the local area, with a slew of poor reviews from people claiming to be former clients.  It is not known if he ever worked with or for the Swift family business.

Jeff  Box,  Dyer County Sheriff, believes “answers in her case” have been found and await possible DNA testing.

Check back to www.blinkoncrime.com for updates.

Dyersburg, TN- 44 year old Mother of four Karen Johnson Swift has been missing since early Sunday morning following the drop off of her two youngest children at the marital home where the couple continue to reside following Ms. Swift’s divorce filing October 10, 2011.

Friends of the couple speaking on the condition of anonymity to www.blinkoncrime.com have confirmed both Swift’s were previously divorced, and this is not the first hint of marital discord between the two.

Swift’s 2004 Nissan Murano was located approximately one mile away near the intersection of Millsfield Hwy and Harness Rd with a flat tire,  and her missing cell phone was last accessed at approximately 5 am, linking to a web browser.  According to her husband David,  the two spoke briefly in the stairwell at approximately 1:30am,  Karen Swift left and Mr. Swift returned to bed.  There is a residence within visual distance of the location of the vehicle and a volunteer fire company within walking distance as well.

This leaves a nearly 4 hour window in which Karen Swift appears to be unaccounted for.  Sources inside the investigation have confirmed to www.blinkoncrime.com that Karen Swift’s phone pings were last traced to the area of Mississippi River and her phone has since lost power.

Although David Swift has been interviewed by Dyer County Sheriff ‘s Office, it is unclear at this time why Karen would have left the home again after dropping off the couples two young daughters, or why she would not have called her husband for assistance following discovery of the the alleged flat tire.  Mr. Swift operates a business from the Willie Johnson address since 2004 in the aerosol packaging industry.

Calls to the Dyer County Sheriff have not been returned at the time of this publication.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Dyer County Sheriff at