Russell Turcotte
 To Russell Turcotte main page.
We need your good help once again
3 December 2002
Posted by ErthAvenger to NDN AIM
From: "Hunter Gray"
Note by Hunterbear:
We need your good help once again.
This attached detailed report is from Ms. Tammy Miller -- cousin of murdered
Russell Turcotte. Russell, a 19 year old Turtle Mountain Chippewa,
disappeared at Grand Forks, North Dakota last mid-July. Law enforcement
efforts to find him were much less than laconic -- with the North Dakota
officials taking the strange position for months that it was a case which
belonged to Wolf Point, Montana: Russ' home. His body was found just off
Highway 2 near Devils Lake, North Dakota in early November. Almost
immediately, the State's Attorney in that county -- Ramsey -- made a
vigorous [and very strange] effort to get me to remove all material relating
to Russell from our large website, Lair of Hunterbear www.hunterbear.org Of
course, I very strongly refused to do so, stand absolutely with that
position, and we update that special page regularly. It has much material
on the Turcotte case and certain other cases, and is at
http://www.hunterbear.org/NATIVE%20AMERICAN%20COMMISSION%20PAGE%204.htm
Russ' very large funeral, which Tammy describes so vividly, was held at
Wolf Point, Montana on November 18.
But the investigation certainly appears to be lagging. The State's
Attorney, in his unsuccessful effort to get me to clear my web page on the
tragedy, also indicated he is waiting for an unknown someone, some day and
some way, to make a in-prison confession. None of us accept that as viable
in the remotest sense! The sheriff apparently does not, either.
In the meantime, back at the Forks [Grand Forks], the September, 2001
murders of the three Turtle Mountain men -- Jerome DeCoteau [who I knew, as
I do many members of his family], and Robert and Damian Belgarde [father and
son] remain unsolved. Periodically, "off the record" indications are given
me that arrests in those cases may be close -- but the arrests never occur.
Your help is much needed. Again, we ask for e-mails. Please contact these
two State of North Dakota officials and ask them to lend every resource at
their command to push the murder investigations of the four Turtle Mountain
Chippewa men and secure arrests. In addition to the need for justice, there
is also the fact that there must be no more of these murders.
The two officials are:
Honorable John Hoeven, Governor
governor@state.nd.us
Honorable Wayne Stenehjem, Attorney
General ndag@state.nd.us
Thank you very much. Tammy Miller's report now follows.
Hunter Gray
[Hunterbear]
From Tammy Miller:
December 2, 2002
Boozhoo Hunter,
First I would like to yet again send thanks to the many people who expressed
the condolences. The funeral services were very touching and peaceful.
Many, many people gathered to celebrate life and remember my cousin. The
services were held in the high school auditorium. There were so many
people, some had to stand in the hallways of the school as no more could fit
into the auditorium. At the feed after the services I met several people
who had traveled for hundreds of miles to attend. I have never seen such a
gathering of warm hearted people. And it was people from all walks of life,
that in itself shows the impact he had on people.
As time passes, we are experiencing the frustration of dealing with the
investigative process. Little to no information is being attained. At
least not to the knowledge of my Uncle, whom I spoke to a couple days ago.
He phoned with frustrations of the lack of information and a request to help
keep this investigation in the forefront. In speaking with him, I have
learned the coroner's report has yet to be released and they offer no
information of when or if it will be released.
He did state a investigator or detective from North Dakota was to travel to
Wolf Point, MT to speak with the law enforcement there. This action causes
me to question the direction they are taking in this matter. On the other
hand this may be an indication of them leaving no stone unturned. I have my
doubts after reviewing the correspondence you received. We encourage the
letters and emails to the Governor's office, law enforcement and to the
media in attempts to keep this matter "on the front burner". I believe the
media attention and all the publicity surrounding this from the beginning
has made a huge impact and, if continued, will cause the investigators to be
accountable in their actions.
It is not acceptable that the method of concluding this matter be "waiting
for an in prison confession". That is ludicrous. While the leads may be
cold, due to lack of action taken initially, there still has to be something
to go on. I know my cousin would have fought, as he was trained as a boxer
until he decided that was not to be his path (just a few years ago), and he
would not have gone down without a fight no matter how peace loving he was.
There are clues, it's just a matter of diligence and determination in
finding them.
And on a final note, my Uncle and I discussed the request received by you to
remove the information from your WebPages. Please do not concede to this
request. Our family agrees, for the most part, that the action taken to
make people aware will help more so than hurt. The more attention the
situation in North Dakota receives, the better the chances of improving it.
There have been far too many unanswered questions now and in the past, it is
definitely time for some answers and changes.
Migwetch Baamaapii (Thank you Until later),
Tammy Miller
Hunter Gray [Hunterbear]
www.hunterbear.org
Protected by NaŽshdoŽiŽbaŽiŽ
and Ohkwari'
index : mission statement : contact : site map : search Any reprints are under the Fair Use doctrine of international copyright law : See http://www.dlncoalition.org/fair_use.htm.
|
