Daily Journal (Newspaper) - November 2, 1977, Fergus Falls, Minnesota Nancy Brown faces charges 104th YEAR NO FERGUS FALLS WEDNESDAY NOV 2 1977 SINGLE COPY Caransa negotiates his release Cattails against an reflect a change of season Journal photo by Harley ands AP Dutch multimillionaire Maurits Caransa freed unharmed by kidnappers early today said he negotiated his own million ransom The real estate tycoon told a news conference the four abductors who grabbed him last Friday were out only for money and first demanded 40 million guilders lion for his release bargained and came to the sum of 10 million he said He said he wrote his board of directors Sunday afternoon and instructed them to get the money from the bank and arrange a drop in the street Caransa who controls hotels real estate and other prises valued at more than million was put out of a car in downtown Amsterdam at local time alter a minute riile from the dark den where he said he was held five days handcuffed to a lied The tycoon told a passing woman who he was and she put him in a taxi and sent it to police headquarters He was reunited there with his wife daughter and several friends After a physical examination an ambulance took him to his home in Vinkeveen south of The Hague Appearing dapper and re- Caransa later told re- porters at a yacht club there that the abductors were not political gangsters just who said they belonged to the biggest and best ex- ring anywhere He said they spoke French and English Caransa said the kidnappers never threatened his life Caransa was into the back seat of a car early last Friday as he left an dam club after playing bridge Toorenaar said he reported he was kept lying on a bed cuffed to a heating pipe throughout the five days but he was not mistreated or threatened He said his captors wore knitted helmets over their faces when they came into the room Anonymous telephone calls to Dutch newspapers and authorities claimed the ab- duction was carried out by terrorist groups including the West German Red Army Faction and South nationalists But when no political demands were received after several belief grew that it was a napping for money only If the crime were politically motivated it would seem that the kidnappers would have well-documented claims and photos by one source said earlier this week Authorities said other tele- phone calls demanding soms ranging from to Continued on Page 3 NEW ORLEANS IAP A Minnesota deputy sheriff left today for to pick up Nancy Brown the Winona Minn woman arrested with Donald Howard a week after his escape from the nona County jail Howard accused of ing the Aug 13 death of his wife Shirleen was apprehended Monday afternoon in 1.3 about 50 miles north of New Orleans when he showed up for work at a dis- count store Mrs Brown expected to be returned to Minnesota late day is charged with aiding m Howard's escape from Winona the weekend of Oct 22 If convicted of the charges against her she could be to up to eight years in prison and fines totaling Howard's bond was set at Tuesday by a federal magistrate in New Orleans He is being held on charges of in- flight to avoid on state murder charges with an extradition hearing set for Nov 11 Howard 34 is accused of hiring Bruce Webber 36 a for- mer Winona man who moved to Rockdale III to kill his wife Webber is in custody in Winona on bond A complaint filed by authorities charges that Mrs Brown threw Howard a tool with which he cut open a lock on his Winona jail cell It also says she bought a piece of rope at a Winona store several days before the escape Mrs Brown told her husband Kent that she was going ping But after she dis- appeared she wrote to him saying she loved Howard and needed to be with him I am with Don I am never going to be able to come back no matter what happens unless sometime in the far far future to see Amy her the letter said She said she thought Howard innocent of his wife's death and felt he would not get a fair trial in Winona The decision to go with Don is killing me but I feel 1 must go I don't know thing about Shirleen I'm ry it happened but what's done is she wrote Howard and Mrs Brown had begun to settle down in mond and had rented an menl under the names of Sam and Kate Wilson Hammond Police Chief Merle Adams said the couple ently came to the city of from Chicago where they abandoned Mrs Brown's car and took a bus south Howard started working last Thursday at the discount store Brown Piper jury still undecided TV probe beginning in House WASHINGTON API A House communications committee is beginning two days of hearings to discover whether ABC CBS and NBC are covering or controlling the sports events they broadcast Possible conflicts of interest sports scheduling to commodate television and TV's advertising and promotional policies are subjects being studied by the panel Alvin Rush president of NBC sports was to testify today lowed bv Hoone Arledge dent of ABC News and Sports and Howard sell Bob Wussler president of CBS sports is scheduled for Thursday morning general we will try to determine whether the works have become so involved with arranging promoting and scheduling sports events that they in effect have come to control these said Rep Lionel Van Deerling the subcommittee's chairman fn other he said is the public seeing an pendent event covered by tronic journalists or an event staged for and controlled by Among by the panel are whether there is a conflict of interest in a network having an exclusive contract with a fighter For example ABC and CBS have exclusive contracts with Olympic champions Sugar Ray and Howard Davis re- What do these contracts mean in terms of asked a subcommittee staff member who is working on the probe Do the networks favor ting their own fighters on the air over Doesn't the constant exposure build up the fighter whether he deserves it or he asked Another area of conflict the staffer said is the televising of college football He cited allegations that ABC which has the college television contract persuaded last year's national champion Pittsburgh to choose to com- pete in the Sugar Bowl which ABC televised in exchange for payments and provisions of ad- appearances in future years boycotting violent shows MINNEAPOLIS AP What have murder and gings got to do with munching a juicy Whatever the connection or lack of it Pillsbury Co has dered its television advertising agents to reject any programs with violent themes Pillsbury got tough with the of its affiliates Burger King was listed last year as a promoter of the most violent TV shows Pillsbury officials huddled with the National Citizens Com- for Broadcasting i which issued the list of violent shows and their sors Burger King now ranks as a sponsor of shows that are among the least violent Representatives of a coalition of religious groups that stock in Pillsbury also urged the company to alter its TV ad policy William Edgley Pillsbury di- rector of media services told a reporter We agreed on a icy and defined in our what we interpret as violence And we instructed our ing agencies to see to it that our guidelines are followed The company's 1577 annual report also reflected the policy stating The public has itself as op- posed to bringing unnecessary violence to the television screen and the company make every effort to support that position Pillsbury made peace with the it mollified the Church of the Brethren which had objected to the ads on grams emphasizing gunplay fisticuffs and other damaging props The National Council of Churches also got into the test movement when holders among eight of its iate churches lobbied tor boards of directors to boycott shows with violent themes William Fore president of the NCC said that step got prompt action and we were immediately engaged in with management be- cause they didn't want those kinds of resolutions He recalled the meeting with officials was very cordial they were wiling to ten and to change Among shows withdrawn from Burger King sponsorship were Slarsky Hutch and Kojak organizations the American Medical Association has tested TV violence and vided last vear for the first study of the sub- ject Nicholas Johnson former member of the Federal Com- Commission heads the nonprofit based in Washington He said that evidence is pretty overpowering that TV shows of violence provide an example of how to commit crime Duluth mayor's campaign the was run at region office DULUTH Minn AP Members of Duluth Mayor Robert immediate family helped run his 1975 election campaign from the slate Upper Great Lakes Regional Commission office the Duluth reported in a copyrighted story today Former employes of the of- fice told the that the office played a major role in the campaigns of virtually every Duluth area DPI date since early 1974 Alleged political activities in the Upper Great lakes Com- mission office are under FBI investigation to determine whether they were in violation of federal law Everyone thought the Upper Great Ukes office was the office and was supposed to be said one former employe Sheila Ballavance M any peopl e we re surprised to hear that it was illegal to en- gage in political activities there The commission was one of several in the country formed to promote economic ment in various regions It was headed by Michael Pintar an appointee of Wendell Anderson Ms Ballavance said political activity in the office continued for a number of years because they thought they were totally protected by Anderson and Tom Kelm Anderson's When Wendy went to ington as a U.S their bubble she said Sources told the newspaper that wife sister and his mother made regular at the commission office in connection with his campaign Paid commission staff bers equipment and supplies also were used for campaign work during office hours he newspaper said Employes told the newspaper that must have known of the activity during his because of his family connections and close ation with members of the DFI inner core The mayor was unavailable for comment and failed to re- turn phone calls to une reporters Ms Ballavance a secretary in the commission office sute for three years said campaign work was initiated by an inner core of DEL political who tried to control every campaign for many years She said the core group in- cluded Robert and Sharon Beaudin Michael and Barbara Pintar William and Katherine Walters and John Muldoon During 1975 Ms Ballavance said she worked in the office on such things as invitations and you notes for fund-raising ties at the Duluth home of Irwin Goldfine a University of Minnesota regent She also said that during the summer of 1974 she worked on addressing invitations to dell Anderson fund-raising ties scheduled at home At that time Anderson was seeking re-election as ernor She said Katherine Wallers officially ran from her sixth floor off ice but the bulk of the photocopying work was done at Upper Great expense Another employe in the suite for two years said she was hired for political work be- cause they knew 1 would do it on office time Weather roundup Occasional cloudiness tonight and windy with a chance of a few sprinkles Occasional cloudiness windy and cooler Thursday tonight in the 30s Highs Thursday in the lower 50s Winds southwest 15 to 26 mph tonight becoming northwest 15 to 25 mph by morning west to northwest 15 to 30 mph and gusly Thursday High Tuesday 50 Uw 31 At At Noon 52 Precipitation 24 hours ending 8 today none Sunrise Thursday Sunset Temperatures One Year Ago High 54 26 Area happenings Page South Africans study more Cage 5 Since you asked Page Area farm wives plan special Page is Sports roundup Pages 16 and 17 ST PAUL Minn federal jury went into its 13th hour of deliberations at midday today in the Virginia Piper napping trial There was no in- dication where it stood The jury received the case against Kenneth a Cumberland Wis carpenter and Donald Larson 51 a Prison inmate about 5 p.m Monday The trial began Oct 11 On Tuesday Callahan who is tree on bond said that a hair sample introduced by the was the most aging evidence against him The two men are accused of kidnapping Mrs Piper the wife of a Minneapolis investment banker and holding her for SI million ransom in 1972 She was found two days later chained to a tree in Jay Cooke stale park near Duluth after her husband paid the ransom After lunch Tuesday the jury of eight men and four women came back into the courtroom to have Judge Edward Devitt redefine reasonable a move which Callahan said he felt it ivas a good sign Judge Devitt said reasonable doubt is a fair doubt based upon a reason and common sense It is a kind of doubt that would cause a reasonable son to hesitate to act in the most important of his personal fairs Callahan said in an interview that he felt the most in- criminating evidence during the trial was the hair sample found in the car used to trans- port Mrs Piper from her Orono home to the northeastern Minnesota Woods The prosecution maintained the sample matched a sample taken from Callahan's head 1 don't know what to say about Callahan said We couldn't afford experts to dis- pute their findings or say what it means It's not my hair it's definitely not my hair I don't have o justify its being there Callahan also said some of the testimony by inmates at Stillwater Prison was damaging to his case Phil Harris hurt me badly when he said he saw me with handcuffs in 1972 and that Don asked him about Mr Piper at that Callahan said 1 have maintained my in- he added In no way was I involved in the napping He also said the trial has cost him a lot financially It's probably put me in the hole for five Callahan said I've gone in the hole just on attorneys That's what I OUT Ron Meshbesher It could be higher but I don't know We haven't discussed it much since the trial started Callahan said if he is quitted I'm just going to settle in for the winter and try to survive until spring He said it would be up to Meshbesher whether there would be an appeal if he is found guilty I feel that the FBI framed me They were running out of time and when the statute of limitations lime was running out and there was just no other alternative Either they were going to solve the crime or w ere going to put it on Don and Callahan said POSTER CONTEST Hanson a fifth grade student at School and daughter Marvin and Dorothy Hanson won in the Fergus Falls fire ment's fire prevention poster contest Stephanie Shuck second from a third grader at Adams School and daughter ol Eugene and Ann Shuck won third prize and Dawn from left a grade at Our lady of Victor and daughter James and Marilyn won second place Burke Schullz presenter prizes of for first place for place and for third place The posters will be on display ii the window of Radio and Angela's poster will be entered ta state competition Journal photo by Peg Kalar
