Friday, May 22, 2015

Still Digging on That "Arson Fire"

 It's been a while since I posted on this blog. I've been busy trying to wrap up the academic term at the University, writing and grading final exams, etc. And no information seems to fall directly into my lap, any more than does money or luck.
However, a week ago or so the Duluth News Tribune published an article about a special arson-detecting dog from the Cloquet Area Fire District that "assists authorities across the Midwest". Though that dog didn't come to them until 2013, I sent a couple of emails to the Fire Chief of the Cloquet Area Fire District, to ask about the reported arson fire of July 6, 2012. 
Below is my second email, and Mr. Shroeder's reply.

From: Lloyd Wagner [mailto:lewagner2002@yahoo.com]
Sent: Friday, May 15, 2015 2:30 AM
To: kschroeder@cloquetafd.com
Subject: followup query on Cloquet arson fire
Dear Mr. Schroeder:
I sent you an email a few days ago about an "arson fire" that was reported in the media to have been set by Sandra Couture on July 6, 2012 at the house of a Cloquet resident, and responded to by Carlton County sheriff's deputies.
Sandra Couture was accused of having set this fire to intimidate some unnamed witness in the Trina Langenbrunner murder case.
I pointed out that unlike any other fire, this fire did not appear anywhere in the media until AFTER it was reported "solved" by St. Louis County investigators, and that this fire doesn't show up in any Carlton County fire statistics, anywhere.
I thought that since you are the Cloquet District Fire Chief, you would be the person to ask for an explanation of this anomaly, or who would be able to suggest someone else I might ask instead.
I'd like your comment to post on the blog I've been writing relating my testimony in the Trina Langenbrunner murder, which I linked to in my previous email. Here again are the links which relate most directly to that reported fire:
I realize you're probably busy, and I'll wait for another day or two to proceed.
Thank you again for your time and interest in this matter.
Sincerely,
Lloyd Wagner
 
Kevin Schroeder

Mr. Wagner,
 
I have looked into our records, and based on the limited information that you have provided, I can find no record regarding the fire you refer to on July 6, 2012 in the CAFD system.  Please keep in mind that there is a large area that has a “Cloquet” mailing address  that is not served by our department.  We routinely get inquiries for incidents that occurred at a Cloquet mailing address that lie outside of our response area and are served by other fire departments in both Carlton and St. Louis Counties.  Your email lists a response by Carlton County Sheriff’s deputies, but an investigation by St. Louis County investigators.  This would lead me to believe the fire was North of the CAFD protection area in St. Louis County, and would have been handled by any of a number of volunteer fire departments in that area.   Based on what you have provided me, it appears the best contact would be the investigating officers in St. Louis County.  They would have the information on whose jurisdiction the fire occurred in.
 
I am sorry I could not provide more detailed information on any incident on July 6, 2012.
 
Kevin
 
 
CAFDlogo.JPGKevin Schroeder, District Fire Chief
2801 Dewey Avenue, Cloquet, Mn 55720
218-499-4274 | Fax 218-499-4289
www.Cloquetareafiredistrict.com
After receiving this prompt response, I asked Mr. Shroeder further: Who in Carlton County would have been responsible for reporting the total fire statistics to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety? ... but almost immediately after having asked that question I decided instead to follow the advice that Mr. Shroeder had already given me, and to contact the St. Louis County Sheriff's Department.
Those of you who have been reading this blog may laugh, because obviously, I've come full-circle, here -- the FIRST contact was to the St. Louis County Sheriff's Department, way back in 2001, and I've gone several 10's of thousands of miles since then!
However, this time, I've sent the same email to two Sheriffs' Departments, both St. Louis County, and to Carlton County. I hope that between the two, I can at least get this "arson fire" nailed down solid. The email which I will send just before I post this, is below, with the subject, "Cloquet arson fire of July 6, 2012", which for some reason I can't seem to paste as part of the email.

Dear Sheriff Litman and Sheriff Lake:
I thought it would be easier to send the same email to both of you.
I have some questions about the arson fire reported in the media as having occurred in Cloquet on July 6, 2012, (the one that was confessed to by Sandra and Joseph Couture in St. Louis County Court, as a tampering with unnamed witnesses in the Trina Langenbrunner murder case.)
I noticed a few things about this reported fire that raised questions in my mind, and I ask for your response:
1. It was the first fire I can ever remember that was not reported anywhere in the media the very next morning after it happened, but was only reported a couple of weeks later -- AFTER it had been solved by St. Louis County investigators (based on their having broken a code used in the jail between Sandra and Joseph Couture). 
2. It was reported that the fire was responded to by "Carlton County deputies", but when I looked up fire statistics for incendiary fires in Carlton County for 2012, the total damage reported for seven incidents was $8,600. This despite the fact that the one fire in question had reportedly destroyed a house, plus two vehicles, plus two dogs (who left no skeletons, but were "missing and presumed dead" in the fire).
3. I recently wrote to Mr. Kevin Shroeder, Fire Chief of the Cloquet Area Fire District, who told me that according to his records, no fire took place in that district on that date, nor on July 19, when Molotov cocktails were also reported to have been thrown at the same address, (and also responded to by Carlton County deputies). Mr. Shroeder pointed out that there are some addresses in St. Louis County that do have Cloquet addresses, and also some Cloquet addresses in Carlton County that are out of the Cloquet Area Fire District.
     A. If the fire was indeed in Carlton County, but out of the Cloquet Area Fire District, then it seems it should have shown up in the Carlton County report as an incendiary fire in 2012.
     B. If the fire actually took place in St. Louis County, then it seems it should have been responded to by some St. Louis County fire department, instead of by "Carlton County deputies", as reported.
5. Why would the address of the fire be kept secret from the public? In fear that the Coutures might find out? That of course makes no sense, because if they really did burn a house, they must have known where it was. (!)
6. Which entity initially investigated and made the official determination that the July 6, 2012 fire was an arson fire?
7. Was this fire reported to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety as a St. Louis County fire statistic for July 6, 2012, or as a Carlton County fire statistic? How about the Molotov cocktails that were thrown on July 19, 2012? Why can't I find either of these fires in any Northland news reports anywhere, until in August 2012?
Sheriff Litman may recall that I have repeatedly offered testimony regarding a certain person who met every criteria the Sheriff's Department said they were looking for in the case, since 2001. My testimony has been ignored, and I have even been called a liar in this case, without any DNA data ever being presented to attempt to PROVE me a liar. St. Louis County investigators refused to DNA test the person I pointed at, or to investigate other forensic [information] I pointed at. Instead, they let the guy know that I was talking about him, which caused him to threaten MY life. Then he was given a very short sentence in NERCC (just across the road from where I used to live) for his umpteenth DWI, and released right back into the rural wooded neighborhood, despite my complaints he had threatened my life.
I've repeatedly attempted to get my testimony into the official record and in front of a jury, and have not been able to do so. For that reason, I started a blog several months ago, to relate that testimony and to present the text of all letters and other communications I have regarding the case.
This email will appear as part of the next post in that blog, and any reply (or lack of reply) I receive to it will be subsequently reported, as well.
Here are the blog links that relate most directly to that reported fire of July 6, 2012.
I thank both of you for your time,
Sincerely,
Lloyd Wagner
I will be sending the above email shortly, then polish this post up a little, before I publish it.
Thanks for reading, and please stay tuned.
 

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