He would be convicted in federal court in Ashland, Kentucky in 1987 on charges of interstate racketeering and furnishing the murder weapon in the shooting of Florida prosecutor Eugene Berry, and sentenced to 15 years. Gov. [citation needed]Personal life. In January of 1980, a hotel maid called the police when she smelled pot smoke. http://www.lycaeum.org/drugwar/biblio.html On September 11th, 2010, the Lexington Herald-Leader released an article 25 years to the day of his death. Only the files were made but nobody was ever arrested. Brown; his top political aides; former policeman and blueblood Andrew Thornton, the leader of an organization known as the "Company"; and other bluebloods, rich from money originally earned in horse-breeding and racing. Her book, "The Bluegrass Conspiracy" was released in 1989 to both raves and jeers. Conspiracy theories have always been around but theyve bloomed in the era of the internet, and especially after a virus afforded people months of downtime with the internet. And, I did have my identity stolen a few years ago when I thought that my bank needed me to update all my information for their new computer system. The Bluegrass Conspiracy. http://www.shout.net/~bigred/RFOJ.html, THE BLUEGRASS CONSPIRACY Miss George has spent several nights in the LIncoln bedroom in the current administration. Its time to Talk. And Im still waiting for that free computer from Bill Gates (or was that a free set of steak knives?). They also cleared sections out near a wooded area. Melanie never arrived at her doctors appointment and never arrived home. As for the cocaine bear . It releases Feb. 24 in theaters. After Walsh took office, many officers either retired or took jobs elsewhere, including David Shade and John Bizzack. Yet Nobody was ever arrested (Rothmiller's claim for the LA Secret Police as well). It is time to leave Americaif you are into digging into conspiracies becauseuhthe police state is gonna be gulaging guys likeus. At one time, actor Warren Beatty was on the board of directors of the resort. It was just a shared hallucination by the attendees. In addition to featuring in Denton's The Bluegrass Conspiracy, he was the subject of an episode of Dominick Dunne's crime TV series Power, Privilege, and Justice. February 24, 2023. The city of Lexington, Kentucky, has made major changes since the 1970's and 1980's. During this time period many corruptions were going on within the major families and the major businesses that shouldn't have been involved with the scandal but more or less have been trying to stop the scandal. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. "Carole Bizzack, 64, of Lexington, Ky., wife of an Eastern Kentucky University Regent.". The search is expected to continue for days. If you have this book and have read it, think back or look up Anita Madden--rich horsefarm matron who probably dealt in drugs as a sideline. Agreeing with Bobby, Ralph didnt think that Bill Canan wasnt doing all these deeds alone. Sally Denton does a pretty good job of telling the story of a wild time in the bluegrass. ALL books on RFK mention the close ties of LAPD, FBI, and CIA and how some officers flow back and forth from LAPD to govern't agencies and back again. Copyright 2023 WKYT. The movie Cocaine Bear opens Thursday in theaters. The Bluegrass Conspiracy: An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs & Murder by Sally Denton. Just keep it off the television, whatever you do was how they put it, when this underhanded plan was being formed. Although Thornton denied any allegations that him and Melanie had no other relationship the just being close friends. With a population of just over 14,000, it was voted "The Most Beautiful Small Town In America" and also boasts of being the "Bourbon Capital of the World," due to the presence of six major whiskey distilleries in town. Rotten Roots of the Bluegrass. Her name has appeared on the pages of newspapers when the list has appeared. To make everything more suspicious about Melanie's disappearance, Bill Canan was the police officer that Bobby Flynn reported Melanie's disappearance to. The plane that Thornton jumped out of crashed 60 miles away in Hayesville, North Carolina. He was 70. With public doubt and criticism of Dentons reporting still lingering even after she left, Denton and Kurtz agreed that it was the circumstances surrounding Thorntons death - when his parachute failed to open after he jumped from a plane with cocaine, cash, guns and gold strapped to him - that finally lent more credence to what they had been saying all along. Next week: The real long term plan to hold the IBMA World of Bluegrass in outer space by 2015, and the coming requirement that all bands carry either drums and/or accordion by 2016 to be eligible to showcase or play the Fan Fest. There is a big difference. "When Kentucky Blueblood Drew Thornton parachuted to his death in September 1985 carrying thousands in cash and 150 pounds of cocaine, the gruesome end of his startling life blew open a scandal that reached to the most secret circles of the U.S. government. For more information, please see our It was said he worked at the airport in freight. And when COMAIR crashed, I figured the list of passengers would be more valuable than the black box in determining the cause. Brad hopes that this tip could finally be the one. This lead to the investigation of the scandal involving the higher status individuals of Lexington, Kentucky. and this is just a few) had Intelligence connections or more. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. This training has the potential (and the history as per Bluegrass Conspiracy and others) of being USED by government against the ordinary citizen. Twitter: @chrisjonesgrass Melanie Flynn disappeared in January 1977. If I were they, I would make sure all of us were drugged up on sports and social media too. THE GOOD OLE BOYS ROUNDUP. It has sold more than 250,000 copies.) That woman at the height of the OJs trial had Kato Kalein as her houseguest. They're still looking," Siegel said. Bluegrasses are found in temperate and tropical climates worldwide, and several have naturalized in areas outside their native range. Her older brother was a rising sports star, and all of a sudden, she's gone,". of Fed money coming in with strings attached) are trained in another facility in East Georgia run by the CIA. The fact is that it all goes back to Bill Monroe knowing too much about one of the biggest figures in the Nashville music scene. Has this training continued? She owned Hamburg Place, a 2000-acre farm that had produced 5 Kentucky Derby winners and 5 Belmont Stakes winners, including the first triple-crown winner, Sir Barton. I read this on planes, in a hotel room, and at my residence. These connections allowed them to commit crimes without getting caught. So we have all these cops trained as spies with knowledge of bombs, surveillance, etc. Daniel Goldin: NASA's Creature from the Black Vault, Part Two: ORWELL IN SPACE, NPRs This American Life Whitewashes U.S. Bear in mind that this was written before the IBMA had named a replacement for former executive director Dan Hays (Im well aware that Nancy Cardwell is not a puppet, or even a marionette!). When falling off Melanie suffered a serious head injury and was placed in the hospital for several months. But, there's also a dark side to the region. And he has to "go along" with what those backers do whether he may agree with it or not. "We want people to know that we are still - it doesn't matter how old the cases are - that we are still actively investigating all of our cases and any tip that comes in we really appreciate it because we need the community's help," said Sgt. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way. Three days after of not hearing from their daughter, Bobby Flynn called Lexington Police. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. His family was connected through business to Leonard Lawson who just stood trial for a bid-rigging scandal in the . By Lexa Benner. The LA Secret Police as Mike Rothmiller calls them. It is perhaps the largest unanswered question stemming from the Bluegrass Conspiracy - a fact now punctuated by the . Wow, I haven't had this much fun reading since Bill Bryson's 'A Walk in the Woods'. But to try and pull all the threads together - I mean, honestly, its taken me almost 40 years to connect a lot of the dots.. In the latest episode of Uniquely Kentucky, Denton is asked if she thinks there will ever be answers in the Flynn case. As in all illegal endeavors, powerful people, politicians, banks and outlets are needed to protect the profits, hide them, and courts and cops needed to protect the profiteers. Privacy Policy. This training has the potential (and the history as per Bluegrass Conspiracy and others) of being USED by government against the ordinary citizen. Mar 18, 2020. Op-Ed. There is has been great music every decade and also complete turds every decade including the vaunted 1960's and '70's. I have often wondered if the Heidi Fleiss business where LAPD cops provided security wasn't one of the operations that we had here in the Bluegrass Conspiracy. They also cited a second agent who also found the circumstances suspicious since there were a number of residue-free wrappers left in the bag. Walsh had never been involved in undercover work or narcotics investigations. J. Please believe responsibly: Chris Jones wears many hats in his bluegrass career. They were paying their last respects to Andrew Carter Thornton II, who had single-handedly summed up the dark side of the American dream, or at least the Kentucky version of it, when he landed on . Greetings from the road. Your email address will not be published. wiretaps included in this. Perhaps Cocaine Bear will still be good for a laugh or two though. Who has power? I believe everything Ive ever read about Agenda 21, Area 51, and Studio 54. After calls to his elder sisters, both of whom dismissed . One of my most watched YouTube videos (more than 16 views) first appeared here and suggested that Bill Monroe actually died in 1982 and that a mysterious Committee of Five People makes all major decisions about bluegrass music, including awards nominees and winners. Another police officer customer of the Earley Bird Cleaners was Larry Walsh. You can listen to the full podcast below, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. talking to someone in a blue van near the intersection of Cooper and South Limestone Street. When you see news happening, share it! Though just an hour south of the major metropolitan hub of Louisville, Bardstown, Kentucky, is a world away. I am an investigative reporter, author, and historian who writes about the subjects others ignore--from a drug conspiracy in Kentucky to organized crime in Las Vegas; from corruption within the Mormon Church to murdered women in New Mexico; from one of America's bitterest political campaigns to the powerful forces arrayed against Franklin D. Roosevelt. Thomas Clyde Bowling, Jr. During the time of the Bluegrass Conspiracy,Lexington had a large gap between the high-class and the rest of society, making it possible to fund this operation while keeping it a secret (Danziger ET). They waited until after the death of Jimmy Martin to carry out this threat. Around this time, many Lexington police officers took their uniforms to the Earley Bird Cleaners. I dont think so. Remember the Round Up in Tennessee that was investigated about the time of the Simpson case where the agents showed racism. Bradley and Drew were able to meet many different kinds of people; enough of those people had lots of money. Denton, a former investigator for Jack Anderson, relates a sordid tale of corruption in Lexington, Kentucky. There are no urban legends in my world, and we all know that the web site Snopes.com, which purports to tell us which internet rumors are true or false, is nothing more than a front for a secret organization funded by the Koch Brothers, George Soros and the Queen of England (who all live together, by the way, in a condo in Belize). The IBMA has actually been bankrupt since the first year it moved to Nashville, and last year it was secretly sold to the Coca-Cola company for an undisclosed amount of cash and controlling interest in the IBMA Board of Directors. She had agreed to introduce detective Bill Canan to people associated with the drug ring that was taking place in Lexington during the 1970s. They've not found anything so far, but police are asking for tips and old photos of Murphy's Landing. In order to save his own life, he agreed to carry a drummer in his band. In 1996 his brother Joe, having served six years in a federal prison for conspiracy in the Judge Wood murder, dies in an automobile accident near El Paso, Texas. Her purse was discovered floating in the Kentucky River months later. I pulled together many seemingly disparate Kentucky characters and exposed their good-ole-boy network of criminality. @kentuckyforkentucky Reply to @joeyvanrijk #greenscreen # . Your email address will not be published. About two years ago, a man who lived on Cornishville Road named Hunter went to visit his wifes sister in Versailles. Its fitting because ours is a kind of music that has been systematically denied mass-market exposure for decades, and I suppose thats just a coincidence. (Note: There will be heavy use of quotation marks throughout the rest of this column. Flynn, who was from a prominent Lexington family, went missing in 1977 at the height of the so-called "bluegrass conspiracy," according to WLEX in Lexington. She knew Melanie Flynn who was killed (probably by Lexington cops). The training of the Cuban troops for the Bay of Pigs is another which was done in Florida and in Lousianna. Consequences and Effects. The poison was administered through bluegrass festival corndogs. Judging by their obituaries, they lived out their post-penitentiary lives in an exceedingly forgiving community that didnt give their infamy a second thought. A labyrinthian tale, made complex by its mix of "good guys" and "bad guys," this will be of interest to libraries with large true crime sections. We have trained cops now all over the US that could do black bag jobs, surveillance, wiretaps, etc.====trained by CIA. (How many cops trained this way since 66?). Ralph Rose, a Kentucky state policeman who began a crusade to catch Thornton and his associates, was eventually forced out by being framed in an illegal wiretapping charge. Or, the other reason that Thornton resigned was because he knew what was about to happen with Melanie Flynn. Those two are now just a handful of Grammys away from Georg Solti, who has won the most Grammys of anyhuman(a dog named Boots is actually 4 Grammys ahead of him, due to an unmatched string of awards for Best Album Graphic Design by a Non-human, Non-Classical). I suppose we will never know. He later transferred to Sewanee Military Academy, [1] graduating in 1962. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. HOME; INTERIORS; EXTERIORS; OFFICE & PORTRAITS; PUBLICITY/EVENTS; CONSTRUCTION; INFO and our The 2021 IBMA World of Bluegrass in Raleigh never actually took place. She met Preston West Madden (born July 24, 1934 . Several months ago I read with keen interest about a new search being conducted by Lexington police for the remains of the once young and beautiful Flynn. After going many months, those months turning into years, investigators got a surprise. In fact, it was well-known even before then because it was one of the rst "Califor-nia" houses built in Lexington. Henry Vance Loses Appeal. Background. http://www.smartfellowspress.com/_random1/0000000f.htm. November 28, 2007. Less than a year later, Jimmy's wife Elizabeth, who was serving a thirty-year sentence for plotting to kill the judge, dies in prison from . who has written a number of books, including, "The Bluegrass Conspiracy." _oJ:www.kcadp.org/pdf%2520files/Bowling%252 Both men would serve the majority of their sentences and then return to Lexington upon their release. After the divorce of George and Evans, Brown stepped into the picture. #1. - Sandra K. Lindheimer, Middlesex Law Library, Cambridge, Mass. "We will exhaust all of our leads again, and hopefully we can come up with something that will help the family out.". Flynn worked for Canan as an undercover informant, and a fellow police officer once testified that Canan admitted killing Flynn. Many species are useful as lawn, pasture, and forage grasses, and some are cultivated as ornamentals. We have our conspiracy theories in the world of bluegrass music, too, Im happy to say. An ex-DEA agent friend of the family told me that they learned that Dan Lassiter had him killed. After not arriving to her doctors appointment and all of Melanies clothing was in her room at her parent house. In 1985, a . You are correct to mention Ollie North as having more power than his station in life called for but you have to put the CIA in the mix whom I believe he had and perhaps still have strong connections with. It also includes the disappearance of Melanie Flynn. Also Bobby believed that Melanie didnt have much cash on her because she didnt get paid until three days later, which in the time that the three days pasted Melanie didnt come and pick up her check. But afte that the case went cold for years. (Source: WLEX/Family Photo) LEXINGTON, Ky. (WAVE) - After a few days of wet weather postponed it, the search for Melanie Flynn resumed Wednesday. I would appreciate it if you would also use air quotes while youre reading this.). Sally Denton is the author of The Bluegrass Conspiracy and numerous other books. In August of the 1977, Melanies purse was found floating in the Kentucky River around Camp Nelson, which is located about 20 miles outside of Lexington. He spotted the body through his bathroom window whilst shaving as part of his morning routine. And somebody said, Have you heard that Drew Thornton parachuted into Knoxville and has been killed? Wow!, Kurtz worked as news director at WKYT from 1975 to 1992, and hired Sally Denton as the stations first investigative reporter. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. Lexington, though a diverse and alluring city in many ways, has not always had a sparkling reputation. They were sure anxious for WHO was on it not to be known. Visit him online : See the latest outages from Kentucky Utilities, Blue Grass Energy and more, Live updates: Power restoration across Kentucky will be multi-day process, companies say. Some took this seriously, others saw it as satire. Do we have conspiracy theories in the world of bluegrass, too? Theyre all interconnected globally and will find anyone: ANYWHERE. Secret Scandals in Lexington, Kentucky. When I hear that something has been disproved, I believe thats just what they want us to think. 3) You can find my blog at Beans banality. I cant say his name because then my life would be in even more danger than it is right now (Im writing this from an undisclosed location, not far from Cape Canaveral). Lexington and state police took equipment to scan underground and took K-9s to the area. Denton did not respond to . Legal Statement. Remember that local cops, DEA, FBI, etc. "I mean Melanie is hardly the only victim in this situation.". Yet even today, the 1977 disappearance of Melanie Flynn remains a mystery. Just a friendly tip from a guy who just ordered his passport, and is ready to go now. After searching the car for any clues of where Melanie might have been and any evidence of the person who took her all Lexington Police found was a red leather jacket that Bobby Flynn identified as being Melanies. Of all the people involved in the illegal drug ring also known as the Bluegrass Conspiracy, very few were ever punished. Then cover it all up. What many don't know is that many of the local law enforecement (due to huge amts. Maybe some LA cops were there? Neither of their obituaries mentioned their criminal convictions and lengthy federal prison sentences. Thornton had been caught of steeling pot from the evidence room of the Lexington Police Department. LGBTQ Kentuckians are the target. Neither Bobby nor Ella, Melanies mother, worried when she didnt show up at home that night for family dinner. Another witness had seen Flynn later that night in Nellie Kellys, a Lexington Restaurant at the time. Required fields are marked *. I have often wondered (because of the threats and harassment to the people who video-taped that little gathering and the timing of it) if Mark Fuhrman himself wouldn't have shown up on the video if the whole thing could have been played. Donnell Gordon said. Bluegrasses are slender annuals or . Chief among them were Vance and Canan. Constantly recognizing businesses, towns and roads in such a narrative is a lot of fun for me. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand. When the missing persons report hit new station all over the state of Kentucky, they described Melanie as. The origin story of how Kentucky for Kentucky obtained the "Cocaine Bear" including the involvement of . The area where Melanies car was found and where the apartment complex was located was known during that time as a drug hot spot. This training has the potential (and the history as per Bluegrass Conspiracy and others) of being USED by government against the ordinary citizen. In her book "The Bluegrass Conspiracy," Denton details how Thornton attempted to evade arrest for marijuana smuggling first by becoming a fugitive, then by staging a gunshot attack against himself . Could the CIA have been there too? (LEX 18) Authorities have recently searched a property along the Kentucky River on the Mercer and Jessamine County line in connection with the 1977 disappearance of Melanie Flynn. It was a pretty good one, too. For his part, Canan, a former Lexington Police department narcotics officer, was trafficking in drugs, and in 1993 would be charged with possession and intent to distribute cocaine and obstruction of justice for his threats to kill witnesses against him. On February 8th, just 11 days after Melanie was reported missing, a Lexington Police Officer found Melanies 1975 red Ford Elite in the parking lot of an apartment complex on Hollow Creek Road. Vance was eulogized as a yellow dog Democrat and upstanding civic leader, while Canan was honored as a decorated Vietnam War veteran and granted a full military burial. Kentucky native and blue blood Andrew Thornton II was found dead after jumping from a plane strapped with over $15 million worth of . Required fields are marked *. But both were still on the force during the Earley investigation. Denton, a former investigator for Jack Anderson, relates a sordid tale of corruption in Lexington, Kentucky. Brown, Jr. Along with Bill Canan being her boyfriend, Melanie had gone on a few dates with the attractive Andrew Thornton. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. I believe almost all of them, too, whether they become discredited in the media or not. Your email address will not be published. Don't think I've told you this before but I have told Sherman. Your email address will not be published. Yet Nobody was ever arrested (Rothmiller's claim for the LA Secret Police as well). Thats the big conspiracy theory in bluegrass music, but we also have numerous other ones, which I feel compelled to share with you now. That person had new information about the location of her body given to him from a key figure in the investigation. It's no secret that many things were faked or over-exaggerated on the show for more exciting television, especially in reality TV. Flynn was last seen turning off Cooper Drive onto South Limestone. In a world of Vegas odds, it would have been impossible to predict that Henry Vance and Bill Canan would shuffle off the mortal coil just days apart. That's the big conspiracy theory in bluegrass music, but we also have numerous other ones, which I feel compelled to share with you now. http://www.amazon.com/Bluegrass-Conspiracy-Inside-Drugs-Murder/dp/0595196667, The Bluegrass Conspiracy: An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs and Murder, by Sally Denton. In 1990, just before the Earleys were murdered, Walsh became Chief of Police. Editorials and other Opinion content offer perspectives on issues important to our community and are independent from the work of our newsroom reporters. The scandal reached far beyond the rolling hills of the Bluegrass and became one of Lexington's and the country's most intriguing stories. Lexington, KY 40509 The Bluegrass Conspiracy. Ken gave me - I think the first story on the Company [the drug smuggling ring at the center] - I cant remember when it appeared, probably 82 - the story was 13 minutes long straight, without a break, at the top of the news, the 6 oclock news.
