Unacknowledged 2016 E-mails to Wally and Kevin Dupuis

 

Thomas J. Hinze

Wally and Kevin Dupuis Sr. are, respectively:

(1) former and present Band Chairman of the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, and 

(2) first cousin and brother of murder victim Trina Langenbrunner.

I will refrain from directly uploading any pictures of the two gentleman, but here is a link: https://www.fdlrez.com/government/tribalcouncil.htm You can also find pictures of either of them by typing his name with the word "images", in a search engine.

It is nearly 2 decades ago that I first became aware that I had witnessed a clue that the St. Louis County Sheriff's investigators said they were looking for in the Trina Langenbrunner murder case: a pair of "size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes".

I had seen a pair of shoes of that size and brand on the feet of my former neighbor, Tom Hinze, pictured above, and I saw them the same week as the murder. As time went on, I became aware that Mr. Hinze met more than one clue that the investigators said they were looking for in the case. In fact he met every clue.

I was taken aback when I informed the investigators of what I had seen, that they refused to investigate anything that I had told them about, or even to DNA-test Mr. Hinze.

Instead, they arrested another person (a member of the Fond du Lac Band), and convicted him solely on the basis of his "confession", with no sworn witness testimony or forensic evidence ever having been presented to a jury. There was no jury trial at all, only the "confession".

This blog has been a record of my actual letters or emails to various officials regarding my testimony and research, with either their actual response to my correspondence, or the fact that they refused to respond, at all.

The blog also relates my recollection of personal meetings with a couple of the Sheriff's investigators back in 2001-2003, and their reaction to my testimony. (They laughed and refused to investigate.)

I also traveled to meet with Trina's mother, her son Kevin Dupuis, and their cousin Wally, sometime late in 2001, at the Fond du Lac Community Center, on the Reservation. I told the family members my testimony, and I also told them the reaction that I had got from the St. Louis County Sheriff's investigators.

I was taken aback when I got the exact same reaction from both Wally and Kevin as I had got from the Sheriff's investigators. They scoffed at me, and weren't at all interested or concerned that the "investigators" refused to DNA-test the person I said met all the clues. (I wasn't aware at the time that Wally and Kevin were active in the Fond du Lac Band Government, or that Wally in fact was a detective for the Cloquet Police Department.)

Trina's mother Margaret Dupuis, however, did come up to me after the meeting, and thanked me for coming and telling them what I had seen.

It was nearly 5 years ago that I wrote emails to Wally and Kevin, regarding my eye-witness testimony in the murder of their cousin / sister. I had told them the basics at the meeting in 2001, but wanted to tell them that I had found much more than that, since.

I was unable to find personal email addresses for either the present or former Band Chairman, so I wrote to them at the Reservation website, with the addresses "ATTN Wally Dupuis please" and "ATTN Kevin Dupuis please".

I got no response from anyone at all, and when I attempted to go back to the website to write a new email to follow up, I got this notice: 

 

I then emailed a new follow-up query to the website for the Fond du Lac Community Center with the same "ATTN: Kevin Dupuis, please" request that I had used when I first tried to contact them through the reservation's site. 

Again, I got no answer from anyone (though not long after I sent that query to the Community Center, I noticed that I am no longer blocked from accessing the fdlrez.com site).

It seems obvious to me that Wally Dupuis who worked as a detective for the Cloquet Police Department SHOULD CERTAINLY be able to give me the address of the "July 6, 2012 Cloquet Arson Fire", if there really was such a fire, at all. But I've waited nearly 5 years now for any response from Wally, and have got none whatsoever.

Therefore, I've decided I've waited long enough to publish these emails, and am doing so now.

I can only think of one reason that the two Dupuis cousins would not be a bit concerned or even outraged that claimed eye-witness testimony regarding the murder of their cousin / sister was shushed and covered up. That reason would be that they were told not to be concerned, and they complied, for whatever their reasons might be. I'd like to hear their reasons. 

Here is a question from the Pine Journal as Wally was running for a post on the Reservation Business Committee, and Wally's answer, in 2016:

Q: Why should tribal members vote for you on Election Day? What makes you a better choice than your opponent?

A: Tribal members should vote for me, Wally Dupuis, because I have never walked away from my duties or the obligations of my job regardless of how much it hurt my heart. ..................... "

https://www.pinejournal.com/news/4052008-rbc-district-i-candidate-wally-dupuis

**********************************************************************

Here are the emails, copied and pasted:

ATTN: Kevin Dupuis, please

Jul 25, 2016 at 12:27 PM

PrintRaw message

Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To: fdlwebmaster@fdlrez.com

Dear Mr. Dupuis:

On June 9, I emailed the below to Wally Dupuis, through this same email address (since I can't seem to find any other personal email address for either him, or you).

I haven't received any reply from Wally in over 6 weeks now, so I thought I would send you the same email.

It applies to you equally, as I distinctly remember speaking with you at the Community Center in 2001, and being sneered at and brushed off, about the same way that Wally brushed me off.

All I have asked is that the guy I saw wearing size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes the week of the murder be DNA-tested. That shouldn't have been too much to ask, but he was NOT DNA-tested. I'm sure you can understand that pisses me off.

If I don't receive any reply from either you or Wally within a reasonable time, I will post this letter on my blog regarding my ignored testimony in Trina's murder and the framing of Joseph Couture in the murder, PLUS the framing of both Joseph and Sandra Couture in a "July 6, 2012 Cloquet arson fire" that never even happened (blog is linked below) -- and I will report that I haven't received any reply from either one of you.

And then I will continue from there.

Thank you, and regards,

Lloyd Wagner

 

""""Dear Mr. Dupuis:

Well over 12 years ago I called you on the telephone regarding testimony I had about the murder of your niece, Trina Langenbrunner.

Your answer to me that evening was that you didn't know anything about me except what I was telling you, and you kind of rudely cut me off.

I still have that same testimony, and would like to point out that the man who I saw wearing size 11-12 New Balance shoes just 2-3 days before the murder is dead now, so no one can accuse me of "making up information in hopes of a reward", as Sheriff Litman and also Trina's daughter Shelley have accused me of. The man I say did the murder, Tom Hinze, is dead, so he cannot possibly be convicted of the crime, and so there is absolutely no concern about any reward.

Hinze died without EVER being DNA-tested in the case, and Joseph Couture was convicted only on his (forced) confession, without any sworn testimony or physical evidence (DNA) EVER being presented to a jury.

Anyway, I think maybe you can understand that I am damned angry when someone smears me as a liar, but has steadfastly REFUSED to DNA-test Mr. Hinze, to prove me a liar.

I have an admission by email from the Public Defender's office that Litman did not DNA-test the man Tom Hinze who I repeatedly informed him about. I also checked with the head of the forensic team in the case, Mr. Steve Hagenah (presently a Law Enforcement Instructor at Leech Lake Tribal College), and he cannot or will not confirm that Litman sent the forensic team any information at ALL on Hinze ... though Hinze met every one of the criteria the Sheriff's investigators said they were looking for, and even though I repeatedly informed the "investigators" about my information. Just DNA the guy, eh? and be done with it.

I suggest that: 1. Litman didn't want the info from me, and refused to look into the info from me, even though I have repeated it, over many years, 2. Hinze is the white son-of-the-ex-sheriff of Red Lake County, and 3. Litman would rather frame a Native and induce him to "confess", than to DNA-test and honestly prosecute the white son-of-a-sheriff, even though, and I'll say it again, Hinze met EVERY criteria Litman's investigators said they were looking for.

I will link you to my correspondence with the head of the forensic team, here in two links, and if you care, you can read further, from there. There is also a post in the blog quoting the Public Defender, and there are also several posts showing that the "Cloquet arson fire" of July 6, 2012 that two people "confessed to", doesn't even show up in any records of any fire department in either Carlton or St. Louis County. I would guess that means the fire didn't even happen, but was totally concocted. That's how far Litman and his "investigators" are willing to go in the framing of Couture. I've checked with several sources on that fire, including the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, and my correspondence on that matter is also in the blog, if you care.

I think the blog I wrote gives an ample introduction as to who I am, so you don't only have to get your only impression of me from lying Sheriff Litman putting me down as a "liar".

I'll also say that I think [names redacted] and their parents can give good reference as to my honesty. [Name redacted] told me that he went to school with you.

Regards,

Lloyd Wagner

Links: http://formerlyfarmerly.blogspot.com/2015/02/attempts-to-correspond-with-steven.html

http://formerlyfarmerly.blogspot.com/2015/02/attempts-to-correspond-with-steven_20.html

 

 

Regarding Comment From "Older Sibling of Sandra Couture"

Thomas J. Hinze

I haven't written anything in this blog as there have been no updates. I have linked to posts on my Facebook and VK page from time to time, and also on Youtube.

Several weeks ago I saw in my email that there had been a comment submitted to the last post, "Coerced Confession - Throwing One Out to Salvage Some Others?"

The comment was from some unnamed person using the pseudonym "Patvan", who claimed that Sandra Couture was his or her "little sister".

I decided not to publish the comment on that last post. I find it worthless, as it contains no proof of anything at all, just more unproven claims from an anonymous person. Instead I've waited until I had time and was in the mood to reply, and to make this new post out of both my reply and the comment. 

The comment as I found it in my email is copied and pasted below, indented. My only reply is to point out that though I have "begged" for comments on my blog, what I made very clear is that what I was asking for was INFORMATION, not just some more comments containing unproven and undocumented claims from some unnamed person claiming to be somebody.

The INFORMATION that I need and am still asking for is before I "owe an apology" to anyone is:

1: What is the address of the cabin that was supposedly burned by Sandra Couture on July 6, 2012? I need this information so I can provide it to the Cloquet Area Fire District, and to the Fire Reporting officials ("Incident Reporting Inspector" and "Investigator") from the Fire Marshal's Office of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, who are responsible for all incidents in both St. Louis and Carlton Counties. None of those agencies have any record of ANY fire occurring in Cloquet on that date, and no fire was reported in any local media the next morning, either.
Also, neither "Jaida Couture" the person who claimed to be the granddaughter of the victim, or "Patvan" the claimed older sibling of the person who he/she claims actually set the fire on that date can find out the address of the place either. There is just no answer at all to that question.
Why not?

2. What size feet does Joseph Couture have? I need this information, as I find it very unlikely that two people in the area of the Trina Langenbrunner murder were wearing size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes the same week of the murder in which size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes were one of the main clues. 
"Jaida Couture" told me that her mother bought Joseph the shoes of that size.
I know for sure that I saw size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes on Tom Hinze's feet the week of the murder, and that they were much bigger than his feet. I knew that the reason he was wearing shoes that were much bigger than his feet was that he had just been released from jail to which he had been admitted barefoot, and had been given a pair of shoes "out of storage" from the jailer who had out-processed him.
I was in correspondence with a retired jailer, Duane Johnson, who very likely could have found out and informed me and the Sheriff's investigators of who had out-processed Tom that night, had he not suddenly died while we were in correspondence.
I did notify the Sheriff's investigators of what I had seen, and that I was prepared to swear to it in a jury trial. However, there never was any jury trial, no sworn witness testimony, nor any forensic data ever presented to a jury. There was ONLY the sudden confession while I was still trying to tell the (uninterested) Public Defender's office that I had seen size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes on Tom Hinze that week, and that Tom also met all the other clues the Sheriff's investigators said they were looking for.
However, both the head of the Forensics Team and the Public Defender's Office informed me that Tom Hinze has never been DNA-tested.
Why not? What kind of "investigators" wouldn't DNA-test somebody who met all the clues? And what kind of Public Defender's office wouldn't care, and wouldn't even inform the person they were supposedly defending of my existence and testimony?

Anyway, that's the end of this post. The comment from the unnamed person who claims that Sandra Couture is his/her "little sister" is below, indented. All the other things mentioned above are in various past posts, if anyone is interested in reading the entire sad and outrageous story of the St. Louis County, Minnesota style of "justice".

[Trina Langenbrunner Case "Solved"?] New comment on Coerced Confessions - Throwing One Out to Salvage ....

Jun 6 at 6:43 AM

PrintRaw message

Patvan <noreply-comment@blogger.com>

To: lewagner2002@yahoo.com

Patvan has left a new comment on your post "Coerced Confessions - Throwing One Out to Salvage ...":

You begged for someone to comment on your blog for years. When Jaida Couture responded you attacked her because her comments didnt agree with what you think happened. You were sarcastic and condescending to her while she was sharing something that was very painful for her and her family. You wont admit that your theory is wrong.
I dont know anything about the Trina Langenbrunner murder but I do know Joseph Couture. I stepped in and stopped him when he was beating Sandra. Ive seen those crazy eyes when he is angry. I believe he could kill.
As for Sandra Couture I know her very well. She is my little sister. Right before she confessed she told me she started the fire and made the phone calls. She made sure nobody was there because she didnt want to hurt anyone. She only meant to burn the vehicle not the cabin.
I hope this will put an end to your insistence that her confession was coerced. Your wrong!!! Please dont email me in response to this comment. I dont care what you have to say.
Also you owe Jaida Couture an appology!

Coerced Confessions - Throwing One Out to Salvage Some Others?

 

Thomas J. Hinze

I haven't written anything new in this blog for well over a year, as there haven't been any new developments worth writing about. I have continued to try to publicize the information as much as possible by posting links here and there to some of the posts.   
The post that has received the most views by far has been "Attempts to Correspond with Steven Hagenah, Pt 2", as this post shows most clearly the absolute and inexplicable REFUSAL of the police investigators to seriously investigate or even DNA-test Tom Hinze, the son of a former (Red Lake County) Sheriff, who met every single "clue" in the murder case that the investigators said they were looking for. 
And the post also shows the attitude of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in the case. None of them cared about sworn testimony or forensic data being presented to a jury in a trial, or that the defendant Joseph Couture had been kept ignorant of my testimony of ANOTHER person meeting the "clues" the investigators claimed they were looking for, or that that other person had never been DNA-tested, despite my repeated pointing out that he met all those clues -- the police and prosecutors had obtained their "confession", and that was enough to convict the defendant, and "solve the case".  
By the way, as I am writing this, I have been doing some searching around the Internet. I have just become aware that Steven Hagenah has passed away, on May 9, 2016. Here is a link to an obituary in which his skill at "pulling confessions" is praised. Well, I suppose that's a useful skill, especially if there's no matching DNA data available in the case. May he rest in peace.
But anyway, but to bring this matter more up to date, back in October 2016, I read the following in the Duluth News Tribune. I'll post a quote to the most pertinent part of the article, here: 

 A judge has thrown out a cold case murder charge against an Iron Range man, ruling that his confession to the 1987 slaying of an elderly Virginia woman was the result of a “highly coercive” interrogation by police.
Bruce Wayne Cameron, 45, is set to be released from the St. Louis County Jail more than 16 months after authorities charged him with intentional second-degree murder in the death of 83-year-old Leona Mary Maslowski.
Sixth Judicial District Judge David Ackerson ruled on Friday that Cameron’s June 2015 statement to investigators — in which he confessed to assaulting Maslowski inside her Virginia apartment — was given involuntarily and in violation of his 14th Amendment right to due process.
“The detectives essentially told the Defendant what they wanted him to say and then led him into saying it,” Ackerson wrote in a 32-page order.
Defense attorneys had argued that the statement was coerced through leading questions and false promises by the investigators.
"We are happy for Mr. Cameron and his family,” Chief Public Defender Dan Lew told the News Tribune. “He's sat in jail for almost a year and a half waiting for this day.”
...............................................
Cameron, who was 16 at the time, had been at a party in the duplex above Maslowski’s apartment the night of her death and had been interviewed by law enforcement multiple times.
The investigation turned to him last spring when he was identified as a possible suspect based on a palm print and fingerprints discovered on a kitchen door in Maslowski’s apartment.
Police said he denied involvement in an April 2015 interview, but offered the confession on June 2, 2015, when confronted with the forensic evidence.
According to court documents, he told investigators that he had entered Maslowski’s apartment, "most likely drunk" and in search of alcohol. He said he was confronted by Maslowski and punched her when he thought she was moving toward the phone. He also said he used an object to hit her in the head and possibly choked her, according to the criminal complaint.
Defense attorneys moved to suppress the statement, arguing that Cameron was led to believe that the forensic technology was enough to implicate him in Maslowski's murder and that confessing was the only way to keep his case in juvenile court — where he would face lighter sanctions — and out of prison.
Despite his age at the time of the incident, the juvenile court lost jurisdiction over Cameron when he turned 21, requiring the matter to be handled in standard court.
Ackerson noted that the BCA agents did “well over 90 percent of the talking” in the interview and that Cameron’s answers were mostly limited to one word or one phrase, citing examples of the agents repeatedly asking Cameron if he had struck Maslowski with various blunt objects.
The judge said Cameron’s version of the events simply did not fit the established facts of Maslowski’s death and criticized the agents for attempting to “lead and steer” him into confessing.
“The only reasonable inference from the extreme leading of the Defendant by the detectives is that the Defendant’s will at that point was entirely overcome, and he was merely trying to say whatever they wanted him to that would get him the benefit of juvenile court treatment and the promise of not going to prison,” Ackerson wrote.
The judge also wrote that a mental health assessment concluded that Cameron suffers from a “mild cognitive impairment” and that he appeared to be “thoroughly intimidated and frightened by the coercive nature of the interrogation.”

Well, to put it mildly, I was amazed, and nearly overcome with the warm, hopeful feeling that yes, there can indeed be justice, in St. Louis County, Minnesota, after all. I mentioned the case in messages to a couple of my Facebook correspondents, with the comment that Mr. Daniel Lew, the Chief Public Defender mentioned, is a Public Defender who actually does his job!
What I did next then, naturally, was to immediately write to Mr. Lew regarding the "confessions" in the Langenbrunner case. I'll just post the email itself ... actually, this is the second email I sent on November 20, as it includes the full text of the first email I sent October 25, which I never got an answer to:

 Dear Mr. Lew,

I sent you this nearly a month ago, and haven't heard anything from you, so I am sending it again.
I am assuming that perhaps the first email was overlooked, or that maybe you needed time to research and consider.
I'll wait for a few more days, then decide how I will proceed.

Thank you,
Lloyd Wagner

--- On Tue, 10/25/16, Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>
> Subject: Coerced confession in another St. Louis County murder case
> To: dan.lew@pubdef.state.mn.us
> Date: Tuesday, October 25, 2016, 5:44 PM
> Dear Mr. Lew:
> I just read of your success in getting the coerced
> confession of Mr. Cameron suppressed by Judge Ackerson. My
> congratulations.
>
> I am a witness in the Trina Langenbrunner murder case
> (September 2000), and I have maintained for many years that
> my testimony regarding Thomas J. Hinze has been deliberately
> ignored and covered up by investigators from the Sheriff’s
> Department, and by the MBCA.
> 
> Mr. Hinze met every clue the investigators said they were
> looking for, yet the Sheriff’s office absolutely refused
> to take my testimony seriously, or to DNA-test Mr. Hinze.
> The fact that Mr. Hinze was never DNA-tested was confirmed
> to me in 2013 in an email by former investigator for the
> Public Defender’s Office, Mr. Ron Taggart.
>
> In 2012, Mr. Joseph Couture was arrested, and in 2013 he
> also confessed to a murder I say he could not have done. He
> was convicted solely on the basis of his confession. No
> sworn testimony or forensic evidence was ever presented to a
> jury.
>
> Not only was Mr. Couture framed and induced to confess to
> the murder, both he and Sandra Couture were also induced to
> confess to a “Cloquet arson fire” of July 6, 2012.
>
> I have checked media reports and also have checked with the
> Cloquet District Fire Chief, and with the Incident
> Investigator and Inspector from the Minnesota Department of
> Public Safety for the Cloquet area (both in St. Louis and
> Carlton Counties).
>
> There is no record in any media of that fire the morning
> after it supposedly occurred, but only reports of it AFTER
> it was supposedly “solved”. None of the gentlemen in
> either the Fire District or the DPS have any record of such
> a fire even having occurred. The claimed grand-daughter of
> the "fire-victim" could not give me an address of the house
> that was supposedly burned, even after several weeks of
> correspondence. (I believe my correspondent was someone else
> posing as the "fire-victim's" grand-daughter, because as I
> say, there are no records of any such fire.) However, both
> Joseph and Sandra are serving 7 years each for this “arson
> fire” they confessed to.
>
> As I could not get my testimony into a courtroom no matter
> how hard I tried, I instead wrote a blog reproducing my
> correspondence with many various people (letters in the
> past, and emails more recently) concerned with this case.
> These are the original text files of beginning in 2003,
> which I have never deleted, and I also have never deleted
> any of the emails.
>
> I will give you a link to the first post in the blog, and
> ask you to please consider looking at it. I will also attach
> a screenshot of a list of all the posts, so you can get a
> quick overview of the number and variety of people I have
> contacted regarding this case. http://formerlyfarmerly.blogspot.com/2014/09/introduction.html
> 
> Thank you very much.
>
> Best Regards,
> Lloyd Wagner

And here is the screenshot of the list of all the posts in this blog, that I also sent to Mr. Lew:

 Then, after waiting over 2 more weeks without any response from Mr. Lew, I sent him this email, on December 7, 2016:

 Dear Mr. Lew,
I've decided I'm going to resume posting on my blog regarding the Trina Langenbrunner murder cover-up and framing, plus the related matter of the concocted-out-of-thin-air "arson fire" of July 6, 2012.
What I plan to do within the next few days, is to post a completely new blog post, which will consist mainly of the email that I wrote and sent twice to you. I also plan to add comments to that, to compare the Cameron induced confession (as reported in the Duluth News Tribune) with the Couture framing, and to point out how the two cases are different.
The behavior of the police, prosecutors, and Public Defender's Office in the Couture case was much MORE egregious than in the Cameron case, and it is glaringly obvious, and yet I can't even get a comment from you.
Anyway, I will not bother you again, but I just thought I would let you know what I am going to do, in case you do want to make a comment before I post that.
Sincerely,
Lloyd Wagner    

Well, I said above that I wouldn't bother Mr. Lew again, but then I reconsidered. The reason I reconsidered is because after I had written the above email, I watched the entire Netflix series of "Making a Murderer". 
Something that caught my attention in that very interesting 10-part (so far) series about that Manitowoc County, Wisconsin murder case, was someone's pointing out that challenging an obviously coerced confession in some murder cases is tantamount to accusing the police and prosecutors of deliberate misconduct. (!)
This is especially true in a case like the Trina Langenbrunner murder, where repeated witness testimony was ignored for years, the life of the witness (myself) was threatened, and a DNA test of the person who I repeatedly said met all the investigators' "clues" was never taken. 
And besides that, an "arson fire" was concocted completely out of thin air -- as described briefly in the first email above, and written about in more detail HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE, and HERE -- and two people, Joseph and Sandra Couture, were also induced to "confess" to that fire that never even happened. The two were sentenced to 7 years in prison each for that, as well, and ordered to pay restitution, besides, of nearly $35,000 each ... well, in such an egregious matter, it's understandable that even a Chief Public Defender might be hesitant to buck the obviously stinking (not to say criminal) corruption in the County.
So, upon reflection of the above, I wrote one more email to Mr. Lew, on December 16, 2016, as follows:  

 Dear Mr. Lew,
I have been reflecting further on that Cameron case, and Mr. Cameron's induced confession being thrown out by the Judge. That's something I have never heard of happening before, at least in St. Louis County.
I look at it in two ways. In one way, it gives the public the heart-warming impression that justice eventually does prevail, in St. Louis County cases. In another way, it almost seems as though they arrested him, knowing ahead of time that his induced "confession" would be thrown out -- to give the public the heart-warming impression that justice eventually does prevail, in St. Louis County cases.
That case shows only minor malfeasance on the part of the investigators and interrogators. They were just a little over-zealous, I suppose. The case is still open.
But in the Couture case, the malfeasance was much worse. Actual crimes were committed by certain people in law enforcement, in covering up testimony and evidence, in manufacturing new "evidence", and even in concocting a new crime for a framing. I won't go through it again, as I have already explained it to you in brief, and offered my blog with all of its documentation.
As you were not in your present position at the time all of that malfeasance was occurring, it is probably not fair to drag you into it, or to diss you in my blog, as though you were a part of it. Getting an over-zealously obtained confession thrown out by a Judge is entirely of a different order than pointing out actual conspiracies and crimes committed by people in high positions of law enforcement ... not even to mention the obviously coerced false confessions.
However, please reflect on the fact that the Coutures have effectively had NO defense, except from myself. I am just a witness who happened to see something, and who refuses to accept the Sheriff's telling me that I did not see what I saw. So, I just keep on telling people what I saw, and I keep on digging into why the Sheriff was so determined NOT to DNA-test the man who I said (and the Sheriff also damned-well knew) met every clue the investigators said they were looking for.
I am a former bankrupted vegetable farmer who had dirt under my fingernails and grease on my jeans, and who is now an English professor at a University, living in a rented apartment in Thailand. I certainly cannot afford to hire a lawyer.
So, I have written to you, the Chief Public Defender, in St. Louis County. It seems to me that you are at least in as good a position as I am, to speak out about this case of injustice.
I also realize that if you do speak out, they will do their very best to discredit and destroy you, as they have done to me. However, I am not destroyed, and my conscience is clean in the matter. I've done the best I could.
I am not sure whether or not I will continue adding to the blog, or exactly what I will do. I will continue to speak out about it, as widely as I can. You do what you feel you have to do. I would appreciate your help, or even your advice.
Sincerely,

Lloyd Wagner 

Well, to make a long story a little shorter, I got no response from Mr. Lew. 
Probably completely unrelated to my emails to Mr. Lew, I did notice in Blogger Statistics within the past couple of weeks that there were 5 views of THIS POST, all in one day. That's over 1/5 of the total number of views that post has received over the past 2 years since I published it. That post is the record of my correspondence regarding one important facet of the case with retired jailer, Duane Johnson, who suddenly died, at about the age of 60, in 2014.
If that has anything to do with anything, only God knows, and I can only speculate. I asked a couple of mutual friends who knew Duane much better than I did, if Duane had ever mentioned anything about our correspondence to them. I got absolutely no reply. So I don't know. It did interest me that there were 5 views of that one post, in one day.
On my testimony, however, and on my research, and on my correspondence on this case, I provide ample links and documentation to back it up. I have it all backed up by screenshots, as well, and not only on my own computer.
All the Sheriff's Department and MBCA would have had to do to prove me a liar, would have been to DNA-test Mr. Hinze and prove him innocent (if they actually thought he was) -- but they refused to do that. Instead they released Mr. Hinze without ever DNA-ing him, and years later came up with a "confession" from Mr. Couture to "solve" the case.  Mr. Couture confessed to the same things I had repeatedly described about Mr. Hinze's actions the week of the murder, wore the same size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes (though no one will tell me what size feet he has) -- and the van he supposedly owned even ended up to be the same exact color as the car I described: charcoal gray. What a bunch of incredible coincidences, eh??
And then suddenly, an oh-so-easy overturning of a coerced confession by a St. Louis County judge, something I've never EVER heard of before -- and during the same time-frame of the world-wide exposure of the very similar coerced confession in the "Making a Murderer" case, on Netflix.
Hence, this blog post. 
Thanks for reading, and please share. 
 

 

Correspondence with "Jaida Couture"

Thomas J. Hinze

 I had thought that I would stop with this blog, but on September 2, 2015 this brief conversation took place in the comments section of this post called "Confession to Murder". 

jaida coutureSeptember 2, 2015 at 12:09 PM

You don't think he did it ?

ReplyDelete

Replies

LEWagnerSeptember 2, 2015 at 9:07 PM
No, I don't. Read the whole blog from beginning to end, and you'll see clearly why I call bullsh*t on Litmans' case. The Sheriff should be locked up himself for concocting this case, and for turning Hinze loose without DNA-ing him.
I was scared for my OWN life.
How are you related to Joseph? I've never met him, but knew Hinze all TOO well. And Litman, too, for that matter.
I tried to get in contact with Joseph but Corrections wouldn't even give me his address. (That's in the blog, too.)
I also wrote a letter and mailed two separate copies of it to Sandra at Shakopee to ask why she and Joseph would confess to a fire that never even happened, but Shakopee must have confiscated those too, or at least she never answered. Here's the link to that post:
http://formerlyfarmerly.blogspot.com/2015/03/letter-to-sandra-couture.html
Delete

LEWagnerSeptember 2, 2015 at 9:08 PM
If you'd rather, you can email me at lewagner2002@yahoo.com
Delete
Reply

"Jaida" evidently would rather email me, and did so. Below is the record of the email conversation that took place between "Jaida" and myself between September 3 and September 26, 2015. 
I have been waiting since September 26 for "Jaida's aunt" to have enough of a respite in her "arthritis issues" to manage to tell "Jaida" the address of the "arson fire", so "Jaida" can tell me that address, so I can inform the Minnesota State Fire Inspectors and the two Sheriff's of that address ... and I'm STILL waiting. 
I have however, just now emailed the same Fire Inspectors and Sheriffs with the link to this post, to help them in their "active investigation" as to where the "arson fire" actually occurred (texts to those emails are below the emails back and forth with "Jaida"). Perhaps the Fire Inspectors or the Sheriffs can get the actual address of the "fire" from "Jaida's aunt" in person. I'll let my readers know if I hear anything!
(Damned funny the Inspectors or Sheriffs OR Jaida wouldn't know right offhand, huh? Actually, it's damned funny that the address of the "fire" wouldn't have been reported in the paper the very next morning after it supposedly happened. I've never heard of a secret fire, before.)
But anyway ......
I considered hiding "Jaida's" email address on this post, but decided against it -- as I don't believe that I was really corresponding with "Jaida Couture" at all, but with with someone else falsely using her name and a false email address to attempt to cover up the cover-up of the murder with some unbelievable nonsense, as below:

 jaida couture <pookey_2236@hotmail.com>

To

lewagner2002@yahoo.com

Sep 3 at 2:20 AM

Joe was my step dad. Him and my mom were together for many years.. She was in a relationship with him when he murdered Trina. He told her that if she told anybody, he would kill her to. He was a very violent man. He had many knives and at one point my mom had to hide them under my clothes in my bottom dresser drawer. My real dad died when I was four years old.. Joe was somebody I really loved and considered my dad. Him and my mom got into drugs. Meth. Bad drugs.  He drank a lot. He came home and beat the crap out of my mom all the time. I witnessed a lot of violence. He was in prison for almost 5 years for molesting my sister. His girlfriend Sandra had called my grandma (who is now passed away) and told her that my mom needed to tell everyone she was lying or there would be consequences. Not long after that the cabin that my grandpa lived in was burnt to the ground. My grandpa isn't rich at all, barley has anything to his name. That's what he had. He now lives with my aunt. He didn't have insurance on his cabin. They got nothing from that.  I didn't know the other man who you knew.. But I just knew my step dad pretty well and even though it is something really crappy to have to know someone did something so horrible.. Someone you loved... I wouldn't put this past him at all.  Thank you for getting back with me.

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

 Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

jaida couture

Sep 3 at 2:32 PM

Thank you, I understand now. I guess that cabin certainly could have burned without the newspapers or TV channels hearing about it the next morning, and without the Fire District or Minnesota DPS EVER hearing about it or filing any reports. (They COULDN'T file any reports because then Joe and Sandra would have known where that cabin was and who the witness was, and then Joe and Sandra might do something to that witness if they knew where that cabin that they burned was.) Sure. And that's why the judge had to seal the name of the witness too. So Joe and Sandra wouldn't find out. 

Then after your grandfather moved out, Sandra still wasn't satisfied with just burning the cabin, two vehicles and 2 dogs, either, she went back with Molotov cocktails the second time, I suppose to burn some trees, or something? and REALLY scare your mom, this time.

And the dogs were "missing and presumed dead" in the fire. Sure, that happens to animals all the time, they don't leave skeletons or remains in a fire, they sit there wagging their tails patiently waiting for a hole to burn in the house just big enough for them to get out of, then they go running off and never come back. They just go missing, and then the Fire Inspectors have to presume them dead. Sure. Even if the Fire Inspectors can't even tell which county the fire occurred in.

And your mom knew all along that Joseph did that brutal bloody murder, but was too a-scared of him (or was it that you all still loved him so much?) to tell anyone or claim the reward while he was locked up in prison those almost 5 years for molesting your sister. It made more sense and was safer for her to wait until he got OUT to spill the beans. Sure.

And that was just total coincidence that TWO guys (1) both had size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes and (2) both had Chrysler or Plymouth mini-vans and (3) both burned clothes during the same week of the murder. And it was just good solid old-fashioned police detective work that caused Litman's department to refuse to DNA Tom Hinze, though they DNA'd a bunch of other people who didn't even HAVE anybody REPEATEDLY saying they saw them with size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes the week of the murder. Sure. That could easily be.

According to the newspaper, it was the witness, which would be your MOM, then, who bought the size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes. It would be interesting to know who in the family has size 11 or 12 feet. I tried to get the Public Defender's office to ask that question, but never got any satisfaction. Maybe you could tell me?

ALL that Litman would have had to do to prove Hinze innocent would have been to DNA-test him -- but he refused to do that. Why would he refuse? I suspect he refused because he was kind of hoping to kill two birds with one Hinze. I know I was afraid to go outside to my garden alone, after they let Hinze out into the heavily wooded and secluded Twig neighborhood where I lived, after just 5 months for his umpteenth DWI. But I went public.

Sorry, but all of this is a little too much for me to believe, especially when you ask me not to believe my own eyes and ears.

By the way, I did find the name Jaida Couture on Google, mentioned in a Reservation newspaper, and in the Cloquet area in 2008 and 2009 -- but I have absolutely no proof that you are actually Jaida Couture.

Still, I may add your comments into my blog, with my comments in red, and I may forward them on elsewhere, as well. If you have any further information and especially any confirmation that this is all true and that you are really Jaida Couture, I'd be glad to read it and report on it.

Thanks for your response.

Lloyd Wagner

 Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

jaida couture

Sep 21 at 12:20 PM

Hi again Jaida,

As I indicated, the letter you wrote doesn't seem to jibe with reality, and so I have a little difficulty in believing that you are really Jaida Couture.

I've attempted to verify your identity with another person who also says he's a shirt-tail relative of Joseph Couture (through a relative of his being married to a step-daughter of Joseph's), but so far he hasn't answered me either.

If you do have any independent verification that your grandfather's cabin plus 2 vehicles were indeed burned and two dogs went "missing and presumed dead" and then Molotov cocktails were also thrown, please supply me with that verification, and I'll be happy to report it.

Otherwise, I'll continue by posting that I have received correspondence, but NO verification of its authenticity.

There is the additional matter of Joseph and Sandra being ordered to pay many thousands of dollars of restitution for a cabin that doesn't seem to have any address, and then the fact that it would seem your mother SHOULD have received a $100,000 reward for her information, as well.

I'd appreciate any comments, especially if they're accompanied with verification.

Thank you again,

Lloyd Wagner

jaida couture <pookey_2236@hotmail.com>

To

Lloyd Wagner

Sep 21 at 5:11 PM

I asked my aunt if she could send me pictures of the cabin. She hasnt gotten back with me yet. I don't know about the cocktails. I just knew about the cabin and the dogs. Him and my uncle lived there.  Now they live with my aunt.

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

jaida couture

Sep 21 at 5:24 PM

The cabin must have had an address. Then I can verify it with the Fire Inspectors. I wouldn't need pictures, they wouldn't really prove anything without an address, anyway.

Also, how did they come up with the amount of compensation for the cabin? According to the court records, it was $34,635 for each Joseph and Sandra. Is your grandfather getting that monthly, or what?

Also, the reward? Your mother must have known about that $100,000 reward. Why didn't she get that? They certainly wouldn't have arrested him without her testimony.

Also, if she was so afraid of Joseph, why did she wait until after he got out of that 5 years of prison to tell on him, if she knew right from the first day? She was in no hurry for the $100,000, or she had feelings for Joseph, or what WAS the reason?

Thanks for your answers.

Lloyd Wagner

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

 Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

jaida couture

Sep 21 at 5:55 PM

I forgot -- there's also the question of who did your mother buy the size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes for? I'd think somebody must have that size feet, or she wouldn't have bought that size shoes. If she remembered the shoes so clearly, she must also remember who she bought them for.

Thanks,

Lloyd Wagner

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

 jaida couture <pookey_2236@hotmail.com>

To

Lloyd Wagner

Sep 22 at 4:29 AM

I will ask my aunt for the address, I don't know it I don't live by them anymore. My mom did have feelings for him, alot of feelings. She told my sister to tell people she was lying about being molested so that he wouldn't get in trouble. My mom and my step dad were on meth for a very long time. He was a very scary person and very violent but for some reason she must have had an addiction to him.  He wasn't always a horrible person. But I know in abusive relationships sometimes people don't know how to get out or whatever. And she bought the shoes for my step dad. My cousin remembers cleaning blood out of a van when he was very young. Its a situation that I wish I didn't believe was true, I considered joe my dad. My real dad died when I was four years old. As for the reward money, my mom didn't get it. She thought she was going to get some but someone else got it I guess. I don't believe but grandpa gets any money from the cabin being burned, but he might I don't know I didn't ask that information. I just know that was his home for a long time and now he is living with my aunt and uncle.

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

 Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

jaida couture

Sep 22 at 11:21 AM

Thank you. Maybe you could try calling your aunt with a telephone, or contact her via email or Facebook? Or even mail?

They still have like 1 or 2-day mail delivery there, don't they?

Otherwise, within a couple more days here, I'll just report that nobody in the witness's family knows where that "arson fire" took place, either.

AND that as far as you know, the nearly $70,000 restitution money being collected from Joseph and Sandra isn't being paid to anybody.

AND the reward wasn't paid to anybody you know of either.

And that besides the pair of size 11 or 12 New Balance shoes that I have REPEATEDLY reported seeing since way back in 2001, there was also ANOTHER pair the same size and brand that your mother bought for Joseph in 2000, and was listed by the Sheriff's Department as a clue in a bloody murder in September 2000.

And that your mother knew about that bloody murder and the shoes and the mini-van full of blood, but didn't say a word about it to anybody for almost 12 years, then waited until Joseph got out of prison for molesting your sister to speak up.

Is all that correct?

By the way, does Joseph have size 11 or 12 feet?

Thanks for all your info.

Lloyd Wagner

jaida couture <pookey_2236@hotmail.com>

To

Lloyd Wagner

Sep 22 at 5:24 PM

She did report it back when it happened right away. I guess somebody working didn't report it or didn't do something right I don't know. That's what I was told. I told you the things I know. I was a child when all this took place. I barley talk to my mother anymore because of everything that has taken place. She wasn't the only witness, there was another man who had reported about him as well. It seems like you are yelling in your messages and I don't really appreciate that. And i had texted my aunt. She has bad arthritis and a lot of issues going on right now. She doesn't always get to her phone right away.  Like I said I don't think they are getting any money but maybe they are. I don't go around asking people what they are getting for money. So I'm sorry I can't provide you with all the information you need. I'm not an investigator. I just knew my step dad. 

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

 Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

jaida couture

Sep 25 at 9:37 AM

Thanks much, I'll relay your information.

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

jaida couture

Sep 26 at 12:23 AM

By the way, "Jaida", you're an American in your 20's, and you communicate through hotmail and Google blogger and text message?

LOL.

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

 jaida couture <pookey_2236@hotmail.com>

To

Lloyd Wagner

Sep 26 at 3:01 AM

Not sure what is funny?

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

That was the end of my correspondence with "Jaida", and evidently her aunt still hadn't been able to answer her telephone.
Below is the email I just now sent to Kevin Radke and Richard Sellman of the State Fire Marshal Division of the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, and below that is the email I just now sent to Sheriff Litman (St. Louis County) and Sheriff Lake (Carlton County):

Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

Radke Scott (DPS) Sellman Richard (DPS)

Today at 11:21 AM

Dear Mr. Radke and Mr. Sellman,

The last correspondence I've had with you was on July 7, when Mr. Radke informed me,

Lloyd,

This is an active investigation and we are unable to provide any information at this time.

 

 

Scott J. Radke

State Fire Marshal Div.

Since then, I have received some correspondence with a "Jaida Couture" who told me that her aunt DOES know where that fire took place, as it was her grandfather's cabin that burned in that fire. That correspondence between "Jaida" and I took place between September 2 and September 26, 2015, and I report it in the last (November 27) post in my blog on the Langenbrunner murder cover up, formerlyfarmerly.blogspot.com

However, "Jaida" has yet to tell me the address of the fire, as she says her aunt has "arthritis issues", and I guess cannot answer her phone, even over a period of weeks or months.

Anyway, here is "Jaida's" email address, and I hope that you can contact her aunt and get some information straight from the horse's mouth (so to speak) on the location of the "arson fire" that took place either in Carlton or St. Louis County on July 6, 2012.

pookey_2236@hotmail.com

Sincerely,

Lloyd Wagner

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

 Lloyd Wagner <lewagner2002@yahoo.com>

To

County_Sheriff@stlouiscountymn.gov sheriff@co.carlton.mn.us

Today at 11:24 AM

Dear Sheriff Litman and Sheriff Lake:

I wrote you both several months ago requesting info on the July 6, 2012 Cloquet "arson fire" related to the Trina Langenbrunner murder case that I am a witness in, but I have received no reply.

I've also written to the Fire Marshal's Division of the DPS, and received only this answer from Mr. Kevin Radke:

    "This is an active investigation and we are unable to provide any information at this time."

Anyway, since then, I have received some correspondence with a "Jaida Couture" who told me that her aunt DOES know where that fire took place, as it was her grandfather's cabin that burned in that fire. That correspondence between "Jaida" and I took place between September 2 and September 26, 2015, and I report it in the last (November 27) post in my blog on the Langenbrunner murder cover up, formerlyfarmerly.blogspot.com

However, "Jaida" has yet to tell me the address of the fire, as she says her aunt has "arthritis issues", and I guess cannot answer her phone, even over a period of weeks or months.

Anyway, here is "Jaida's" email address, and I hope that you can contact her aunt and get some information straight from the horse's mouth (so to speak) on the location of the "arson fire" that took place either in Carlton or St. Louis County on July 6, 2012.

pookey_2236@hotmail.com

Sincerely,

Lloyd Wagner

Reply, Reply All or Forward | More

And that's the end of this post. Thanks for staying tuned.