State College,  PA & Burlington, VT-  In the latest example of financial incest involving PSU, The Second Mile, and a bevy of double-dipping board members and executives, we arrive at the first discovery between an accused suspect in the case and his principal interest in an insurance company that recently paid out a settlement to an alleged victim of Jerry Sandusky.  As the filing has likely been sealed as a condition of it’s settlement, it is unknown if Schultz or anyone else within PSU in addition to Sandusky was named in the civil action.

Gary C. Schultz, interim Sr. VP for Finance and Business returned  following  previous retirement from PSU this past July.

His return to the PSU payroll  around the time that a grand jury was meeting about his possible complicity, FOLLOWING his own alleged perjurious testimony begs the question-As Schultz knew he was under investigation as well as Sandusky and Curley-

Did Schultz come out of retirement in anticipation of  incurring significant legal fees he did not want coming out of his own pocket?

-Record Scratch-

You read that correctly.

Mr. Schultz, who along with Tim Curley were bound over for trial at their preliminary hearing on perjury charges and a misdemeanor failure to report summons last month,  is being provided legal representation costs through Nittany Insurance Company, where he is a paid Director.  According to Acting President Erickson,  it will also be used to cover any civil settlements and judgements in the Sandusky debacle et al.

This would seem to be in violation of the Vermont Captive Insurance Regulations Section 12, or conflict of interest.

In a letter sent to Penn State Interim President Rodney Erickson,  Senator Michael Stack (D) Philadelphia,  expressed his concern that taxpayers and donors should not be footing the bill for the Universities necessary legal representation for the various civil and criminal issues  and potential settlements.

In a response to Senator Stack,  President Erickson assured him that such costs would be accommodated by it’s liability insurance.  Nittany Insurance Company  is listed as the professional liability insurance company of record on the PSU site as well as the provider for PSU students in programs including the Hershey Medical Center.

President Erickson did not reference Mr. Schultz’s directorship position within Nittany Insurance Company although www.blinkoncrime.com was able to confirm with the Vermont Secretary of State that as of this afternoon, there are no pending changes to its registration.

Gary Schultz’s co-director at Nittany Insurance Company, is Allan Anderson,  Former VP and Chief Executive Officer for Hershey Medical Center.

While the captive insurance firm is self-administered, as Director,  Schultz would be in a position to review,  award, accept, negotiate or reject settlements within the framework of their contract with PSU and appropriate regulatory requirements.   Captive insurance companies are often developed as part of a risk mitigation strategy and as an entree to the reinsurance market for payouts exceeding a fixed amount.  Registered in Vermont, Nittany Insurance Company was formed in 1993.

It would seem a good starting point for questions on the regulatory  and compliance matter might be how the bid is/was awarded for initial self-administered liability coverage directed by a potential party and what the premiums, which are deductible to PSU,  were and  are?

What adjustments to same have been made in relation to the known incidents and corresponding dates alleged against Sandusky, Curley and Schultz?

What else is Nittany Insurance funding it may have had ample heads up about?

Does Schultz have a poster of Ken Lay in the top of his humidor?  Bernie Madoff?

www.blinkoncrime.com poster erose contributed to the research of this article.

Dyer, TN-  This afternoon,  Dyer County Sheriffs recovered an unidentified and decomposing body in what appeared to be a shallow grave along the fork of Burnt Mill and Harness Roads.

The location is just off Route 78, and approximately 3 miles from the home of Karen and David Swift, which is located on Willie Johnson Road.

Karen Swift disappeared October 30th after returning home with the couples youngest daughter, who asked to be picked up early from a sleepover.

David Swift, Karen’s estranged husband, told police his wife was having an affair, had filed for divorce, and likely was “shacked up” with her boyfriend as the reason he waited almost an entire day before reporting her missing, although many of Karen’s friends were concerned about her whereabouts immediately.   Ms. Swift’s friends were quick to provide police details that would contradict Mr. Swift’s assertions about his wife.

Karen’s 2004 Murano was located on Millsfield Hwy with a flat tire without any evidence of foul play, fueling speculation the scene appeared staged.  As reported exclusively by www.blinkoncrime.com,  clothing later determined by DNA testing belonging to Karen Swift was found in early search efforts to find her.

Speaking on the condition of anonymity to www.blinkoncrime.com,  a source inside the investigation has confirmed that conversation on a police scanner earlier this afternoon indicated the remains are believed to be that of Karen Johnson Swift, and they were found based on a tip from an undisclosed source.   It is not known if that source has ties to David Swift.

Jeff Box, Dyer County sheriff, refused to answer any questions regarding the recovery and said the Memphis Medical Examiner will determine positive identification and cause of death on Monday.

David Swift hired a criminal defense attorney within 48 hours of his Karen’s disappearance, and refused to answer any further inquiry or allow the property to be searched until search warrants were served last month.

Mr. Swift has not been named a suspect in his wife’s disappearance.

Contributing Editor: Jacqueline Beaufort

Beverly Hills, CA- Following an announcement that The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences  is considering the HBO documentary Paradise Lost III : Purgatory, as one of 15 submissions being considered for an Oscar in the documentary category branch of AMPAS, chaired by Rob Epstein-  Todd and Diana Moore took action.

The Moores are the parents of James Michael Moore, one of three eight your old victims murdered on May 3, 1993 along with Chris Byers and Stevie Branch.  Within days of an exclusive series on the murders appearing on www.blinkoncrime.com which included the discovery of potential new evidence;  the nearly 18 year old case that resulted in 9 previous convictions of three suspects took a radical turn.

On August 19th  Jessie Misskelley, Damien Echols and Charles Jason Baldwin pled guilty to the murders of all 3 children via an Alford plea and were immediately released from jail as convicted murders on parole.

Paradise Lost III produced by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky follows it’s predecessors I and II,  released in 1996 after the initial convictions of the West Memphis 3.

Berlinger is a member of AMPAS,  and has produced several unreleased documentaries of Hollywood A- listers including Charlize Theron, Hugh Jackman, Oprah Winfrey and Cameron Diaz.

Click below to read impassioned and unedited letter sent to Chairman Epstein. (more…)

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