I had known Duane Johnson since we were in grade-school together at Hermantown elementary school, our parents were friends, and we'd both been attendees and even cabin-mates at the Covenant Park Bible Camp in Mahtowa, Minnesota when we were kids.
Duane had also mentioned to me one time that he and his wife were good friends with one of my first cousins.
I had in 1990 been charged with a DWI on my way home from visiting some Laotian friends in Duluth, and I spent a night in Duane's jail. That's how I knew that he had worked at processing people in and out of the jail.
My religious thinking had broadened a little from the precepts of the Evangelical Covenant Church, and I no longer attended nor really agreed with the thinking there -- but I knew that Duane was still a regular church-goer and quite a religious Christian.
I thought it was not only possible, but even quite likely that the jailer who had out-processed Tom Hinze the Monday morning before the murder would recollect him, if the situation were described. And I thought that Duane would be the perfect person for me to contact.
Indented below is our conversation regarding that subject. Please bear with the lack of paragraphs in the formatting ... this is copied and pasted directly from my Facebook message record.
Hello again Duane, I remember meeting you under somewhat embarrassing conditions one time at the jail, back about 1990. I don't know if you retired as a jailer, or how long you worked there -- but I was wondering, would it still be possible to find out who was on duty at the jail one night in late August 2000 when Thomas Jerome [actually, "John"] Hinze was released after a DWI? The reason I ask is, Mr. Hinze, who we knew as "Tom" lived on the same road I lived on, the Birch Point Road, which is a dead-end. Anyway, Tom stopped in at my house on his way home from the jail. Someone had dropped him off at the end of the road, and he was walking. I noticed that he was wearing different shoes than he normally wore when we saw him -- normally, he wore unlaced work boots, but this time he was wearing these sports shoes that were quite a bit bigger than his feet. He normally wore about a size 9. I asked him where he got the fancy shoes, and he told me that since he was barefoot when he got arrested, and since he would have to walk quite a ways after being released from the jail, he asked the jailer who signed him out if there was any way he could get a pair of shoes. He told me that the jailer had given him these "out of storage", which I distinctly remember were black New Balance shoes, with white markings. I remember the brand because Tom himself was kind of laughing at the fanciness of the shoes and the fancy brand name, and because I commented, "You'll have to learn to keep your balance all over again on these new shoes." The reason I'm interested, Duane, is because about two days after this, Trina Langenbrunner was killed in Brookston, and there were people in the area speculating if perhaps Tom had done it. The Sheriff's Department had mentioned a black mini-van in connection with the crime, and Tom did have a black minivan. However, I told everyone that I knew for sure that Tom's minivan was in impound the night of the murder, so I couldn't see how he could have done it. It wasn't until the anniversary of the crime a year later that I heard that there were also New Balance shoes mentioned in connection with this crime. When I heard that, I thought back and remembered the morning Tom was released from jail, and those shoes came back into my mind. A neighbor and I drove to the Sheriff's office, and I informed Ross Litman of these shoes. However, he and fellow Investigator Sally Burns basically called me a liar who just made these shoes up in hopes of a reward. It was rather frustrating. As far as I know, and my former Twig neighbors agree with me, Mr. Hinze is dead. He was already in poor health from acute alcoholism even 10 years ago -- he drank over a liter of vodka a day. None of us have heard anything about him at all since 2003 when he showed up in Twig and threatened my life for talking about him to the Sheriff's Investigators. I've done Internet searches quite often, and have seen nothing of him on the Internet after 2000, when he moved away from the Birch Point Road (his father had died, and his mother sold their house). So, there is no question that I am trying to lie to get an award, since it's impossible to convict a dead man -- however, I am convinced that whatever Mr. Joseph Couture may be guilty of, he is NOT guilty of the murder of Trina Langenbrunner, and should not be charged with that crime. I thought I would ask you, is there any way to find either from the person who was on duty that morning, and/or by questioning the inmates who were in the jail during that same general time period, to see if a pair of New Balance shoes may have been given to Tom Hinze out of storage, as he claimed? I realize this is a long shot, but I thank you for your thoughts ... Lloyd Wagner
April 9, 2013
Duane Johnson
4/9, 8:59pm
Duane Johnson
I retired in 2004. The jail moved to their new building in 1995. I doubt if there are any searchable records from 23 years ago. The auditors office might have had pay records but I doubt they keep them this long. None of the inmate information was computerized in those days either so a search for other inmates in custody would be nearly impossible.
April 10, 2013
Lloyd Wagner
4/10, 11:30am
Lloyd Wagner
Thanks. Funny the investigators wouldn't have checked on that back in 2001 when I first told them about having seen the shoes and where I was told they'd come from. But I guess they can pretty much do what they please. Oh, well.
May 5, 2013
Lloyd Wagner
5/5, 12:15pm
Lloyd Wagner
Hello again, Duane, I was thinking again, you must know the guys who were working at the jail in August/September 2000 (I mean, I can still remember all the Hermantown bus-drivers' names from back in the 1980's.) Would you be willing to go a little out of your way to ask them if by any chance any one of them remembers giving a pair of shoes to a guy who said he'd been barefoot when arrested and had to walk out of the jail? This would have been in late August 2000 (just a few days before Trina Langenbrunner was killed). I'm thinking that the guy I'm talking about would not be easy to forget -- he was a quite jocular guy almost always dressed in all black, and would have laughed at being given shoes a couple of sizes too big for his feet, and then besides that, a flashy pair of shoes like those. He wasn't the type to wear flashy shoes at all. I think the cause of justice would be served, if I can only find someone to back my seeing those shoes on Mr. Hinze that morning. (The shoes aren't the only thing, but they would be one more thing.) If anyone DOES remember this, and would like to describe what he/she remembers, please don't send the info to me, but to the public defender. The public defender's e-mail address is ron.taggart@pubdef.state.mn.us>ron.taggart@pubdef.state.mn.us Thanks, Duane, And how is Doug doing? Please say Hi to him for me, too. Lloyd Wagner
November 25, 2013
Lloyd Wagner
11/25, 3:46pm
Lloyd Wagner
Thanks again, Duane. They convicted that guy of murder -- with no sworn testimony, and no physical evidence ever presented to a jury. Only on the basis of his "confession", which as you know, came about in a back room of the jail. I swear I saw those shoes on Tom Hinze the week of the murder, that he told me he got them when he was released from the jail. Despite that, Litman never even saw fit to DNA him. And you never saw fit to check around to see if any jailer might have remembered. And the Public Pretender's Office never even demanded any physical evidence be produced, they just accepted the "confession" without question. I couldn't even get an answer from them what size shoe-size Couture has, if it's really size 11 or 12, as the shoes I saw on Hinze WERE. Oh, well, as we all learned in Covenant Sunday School, there WILL be justice, some day. There are a few people who I wouldn't want to be when the last come to be first, and the first come to be last. Enjoy your pension, Duane. Lloyd
I never did hear if Duane contacted Ron Taggart, or not. I had asked Duane not to contact me, but Ron Taggart instead, and somehow I doubt if Ron Taggart would have told me if he HAD been contacted.
Anyway, I was rather shocked to read on Facebook that Duane suddenly died after a brief illness, on March 5, 2014. He was younger than I was, just barely 60, I believe. May he rest in peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment