Will the continuing
silence about a grieving mother's son believed to be murdered
at Mt. Carmel finally end??
|
Michael Dean
Schroeder |
WHY? |
*Taken from video tape the Branch Davidians sent out
after Feb. 28th raid.*
Epilogue:
Kathy Schroeder
[Tape begins abruptly.]
Steve Schneider: ... Kathy back, and you wanted to
make one final statement, and you didn't earlier because why?
Kathy: I didn't want to say anything earlier, I didn't
have the emotional composure.
I want to add one more thing if I may, bear with me.
Steve: Okay, you've got seconds.
Kathy: Sunday, my husband was killed by ATF agents.
I want everyone to know,
that was totally against ...
he was just coming home to his family. He didn't kill anyone.
That's all.
Steve: Okay, we'll pass that on. Thank you.
Full autopsy report at the bottom
of this page provided for reference.
The presses lack of interest and continuing silence about key
facts of Waco, and the obvious lack of journalistic investigating
is disheartening at the very least. Have any of the major news
sources filed Freedom Of Information Act papers to gain evidence?
Lee Hancock from Dallas Morning News has. Who else?
Mike McNulty breaks this case wide open, and the general press
barely yawn!
Why has the silence over Waco been so deafening? I cannot believe
what I have seen happen, ever since the FBI started it's one sided
news conferences in 93'. Before the siege even began, there was
complete biased reporting, ONLY echoing the carefully controlled
FBI press conferences. A systematic campaign began to demonize
these quiet people, and to further demonize the survivors, and
their grieving families, and the tradition continues today. I
guess it helps them sleep at night to justify their actions, by
spinning the tale. I simply do not know.
Why hasn't the press grabbed onto the evidence that dead Branch
Davidian Michael Schroeder's MISSING dark blue stocking cap has
been FOUND in an evidence room by Mike McNulty! VITAL evidence
that his mother has been desperately searching for!
FBI told everyone it was LOST!
Close up of sweatshirt and cap at the scene of the crime.
WHY ISN'T THE PRESS REPORTING
AND INVESTIGATING THIS NEW EVIDENCE????
We ONLY allow JUSTICE to people
that we think DESERVES IT? Or people that can AFFORD IT?
NO one has bothered to truly report their crucial side. Importantly,
no one in the past was allowed to see the innocents, and their
faces... those mothers and babies, who were normal and HUMAN as
any of us. I do not bother myself about their religion and what
they believed in, and that certainly wasn't the real issue there.
The FBI demonized them in front of all America, in effect, mocking
them, which somehow seemed to clear their conscious. They didn't
bat an eye in the end, to send in a deadly mixture of CS gas and
MC (methylene chloride)with the Bradley's.
When CS is burned, it produces hydrogen cyanide, the same gas
used to execute prisoners on Death Row. WHY weren't the press
reporting that to us?
It's right before your eyes. Who's pocket will it be hurting
to have such a thing printed? I don't understand the press and
how it is ran, I thought it was a much fairer medium than it apparently
is. The further silence about Waco has been sickening to say the
least.
Being a mother of two severe hemophiliac boys who need constant
care, I have to pay attention to laws and politics, I vote, I
abide the law, and I thought this was a free, a great country
where the truth could be told, the innocent let free if wrongly
accused, and crimes committed by criminals does not go unnoticed
or unpunished. EVEN if it was the government
that broke the laws. Are they not as responsible when they murder
as a common criminal is? I am so horrified trying to explain
this to my children.
I cannot imagine Sandy's horror at losing a precious child, and
I cant imagine how much all of this must have taken its toll on
all of Michaels family, and the continuing silence about Michaels
death is further taking its toll on them.
I am asking WHY IS THIS NECESSARY that they SUFFER?
WHY cant they get their answers? 6 years isn't enough time to
find all of Michaels documents, personal belongings, any information
pertaining to his death? Why would the Judge rule that any inquiry
into Michaels death was frivolous and unnecessary?
I do not understand, a one man crusade to publish EVIDENCE showing
GROSS governmental injustice and negligence, and a PRESS and JUDGE
that IGNORES it! Our government and it's agents are allowed to
shoot and kill on sight, and are IMMUNE
from the same laws as you and I? WHY
IS THAT?
Lon Horiuchi, a sniper from the Ruby Ridge
massacre then immediately sent to kill at Waco, was ruled to be
protected by the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, which
keeps federal agents from state prosecution for actions within
the scope of their job. Someone jokingly pointed out that James
Bond was given pretty much the same clearance. The "00"
giving him complete permission to kill without consequence. Except
this is reality, and real people are being hunted down. Enter
Lon Horiuchi007. Catch him if you can....he's a slippery
snake to get a hold of.
The cry that any one opposing the "official" spin
on things is immediately deemed a conspiracy nut, does not excuse
away clear and viable evidence that exists, showing a clear trail
of horrible mistakes, and forth knowledge of their negligent and
intentional actions. They have admitted to targeting the room
where the women and children hid. They CONCENTRATED on that room,
awaiting the mothers "instincts" to get her children
out of there. It's too bad most were dead from the cyanide gasses
expelled from the heated fumes, some while their children were
still alive to witness this! Where's the story about THAT? A dangerous
chemical that kills... being used against AMERICANS? BEFORE we
find them guilty of ANYTHING!?
The Branch Davidians are all but DEAD! And the ones that survived
are so darn OLD and sick, not to mention basically homeless...
it's pathetic and sad.
NO ONE is speaking out for them, and they are being demonized
a second time, and only a handful of people have even LOOKED into
their cases!
Michael Dean Schroeder
I recently became aware of Michael Schroeder's mother Sandy,
and her desperate plight to find answers about her sons killing.
She has told me a little about her ordeal in trying to track evidence
and documents pertaining to the day of his shooting.
"When the ATF first told
the media about Michael and his friends, they told
us three men came out of Mt. Carmel guns a'blazing, one was wounded,
one got
away and one was killed. That was a total lie. The three men had
worked
their way through the fields from the Mag Bag where they were
at work that
morning almost to Mt. Carmel. That fateful day, Sunday, February
28, 1993,
they heard of the raid at Mt. Carmel and of course wanted to go
help their
wives, children, and friends. Michael's son was almost three at
the time.
Those agents were shooting into his son's bedroom."
"Then the media at the ATF/FBI
prompting reported that a body had been
"found" four days after the fact. Well, Mr. Wallace,
can you explain how 14
well trained sharpshooters can forget where they left a human
body? Even a
dumb hunter can find an animal he shot and remembers where he
left it!
(Trial testimony declares that the agents visited Michael's body
daily)"
Sandy Connizzo-Michaels Mother in
a letter to Mike Wallace of 60 Minutes.
Michael's case:
Michael was killed by 14 law officers on February 28, 1993
while trying to ENTER Mt. Carmel after hearing word that his family
was being shot at. His wife, infant son, and 3 step children were
trapped inside their home that day. Two men followed along with
him. Each man grabbed a fire arm they owned for protection. In
Michaels case, witnesses say it was a 9mm.
*In the evidence vault, where
Mike McNulty recently found Michaels hat,
he also found a stun gun which belonged to him.*
His mother questions the evidence and agents testimony:
"...In that four day period
was it possible the gun
evidence was planted? Yes, Michael did own a Glock17." (semiautomatic pistol)
"I think he would have had to be stupid to try getting into
Mt. Carmel without his gun but then
again, maybe he only had the stun gun with him that day??"
6 of the 14 officers allowed to be questioned (the others have
NOT been under oath) state Michael stood in an open field,approximately
100 yards away, wearing a dark blue stocking cap, when officers
say they called out to him to halt and put his hands up and after
a period of 30 seconds of just staring at each other, Michael
raised his weapon and fired at officers. Officers say he fired
three times in their direction then with return fire, they opened
up on Michael's position. Norman Allison crouched in the bushes
next to Michael, trying to stay out of the line of fire.
All 14 officers were carrying various weapons ranging from snipers
rifles, to pistols and shotguns, Michael was said to be armed
with a pistol. Opposing accounts come from the man with Schroeder
that day. Sixty-two year old Bob Kendrick was laying down in the
grass on the other side of the hill from Michael Schroeder and
the firing agents, from his position... he wouldn't have been
able to see the shootout. But Kendrick swears the first three
shots were from a large caliber rifle, the
second shots were from Michael's side. The
first coming from the barn where agents were stationed.
Equally important is the collaborating statement made by one
of the Special Agents who, when interviewed on March 5,
by Texas Rangers, said: "Now,
the fire, the fire sounded to me like what I know as rifle fire
because it had that, that familiar crack at the end... it DIDN'T
sound like 9mm fire. I know what 9mm rounds sound like."
They eventually hit Michael from his indefensible position,
and he jerked a couple of times, the officers stated, and he fell.
They watched him for several minutes, and called a cease fire
while they waited to see what would happen.
Unfortunately what the coroners
pages tells us is much different....
It shows Michael was hit 6 times total. His torso and limbs were
the areas involved. One shot entered his right shoulder, punctured
his lung, and another which struck him just above the waist on
his right side, puncturing this young mans iliac artery.
Official cause of death is "internal injuries due to multiple
gunshot wounds"
Due to the extensive damage the above stated wounds caused, common
sense and laws of nature, shows us he wouldn't have been standing
very long, if at all after the first shot hit him, let
alone the 2nd... the 3rd... the 4th... the
5th... aaand the 6th??? As
Dick Reavis, Waco investigator and author said, it would take
subhuman strength to remain standing under those circumstances.
In a word... it ain't gonna happen.
The VERY important fact of this
coroners report, is the fact that Michael Schroeder also suffered
three other wounds
that wouldn't have been listed as his cause of death, being the
first described wounds would have been enough to kill him, and
were reported as the killing shots.
The evidence shows he was probably already laying on the
ground mortally wounded when shot twice
in the temple. According to the
coroners report, two were on the
right side, going to the brain. The
other was dead center to the back
of his head, presumably an exit wound
from one of the other two bullets ricocheting around inside of
his head.
According to trial testimony of 6 of
the agents, none of the lawmen would admit they approached
Schroeder, or his corpse, to make sure that he was dead, WHO he
was, or to perhaps offer him custody in a guarded hospital room
till he was healed?
A few of the officers heard yelling coming
from the vicinity of where Michael was, after calling out to the
person to surrender, Norm Allison was placed into custody. As they walked
the agents reported hearing two shots coming from where Michael's
body lay. ALL of the officers claimed they didn't deliver any
close shots to his head, and did not visually inspect the dead
"suspect" what so ever.
There is a saying used by our Marines:
"I would rather die standing on two feet than live my life
on my knees."
Michael wasn't even given the dignity of dying in such a manner.
Existing evidence shows the BATF
agents, were bitterly angry over earlier BATF agents' deaths,
and gave very little warning as they started firing on Michael,
who's autopsy clearly shows he wouldn't have remained standing
long enough to receive the two gunshots to the head. The tremendous
evidence such as the shooting heard after some of the agents had
walked away and misleading officials into believing the cap was
missing, suggests that agents who were the only people in Michaels
area, came up to Michaels body and then "finished him off"
with two shots to his head.
The coroners report would of course correspond
with the officers statements about no close head shot being delivered.
ONLY because there was no trace of powder residue
usually found in such cases. Michael's
dark blue stocking cap would have acted
as a filter for the residue,
but there was a problem....
the fact that it disappeared en route to the coroner.
Michael's DARK
BLUE STOCKING CAP was last seen placed
inside the hood of his sweat shirt,just inches from his head when
his body was recovered FOUR days later. Then it simply DISAPPEARED.
It was not in his body bag, and did not turn up when Rangers tried
to investigate the shooting a second time.
Law officials LEFT that mans body to
rot for FOUR days, while JEFF JAMAR
REFUSED Rangers or ANY one from retrieving
it, or investigating.
At the end of 4 days, finally Jeff Jamar
allowed a limited search of the area surrounding Michael's
death.
"When his body was picked
up the Rangers, they were hurried in their crime scene investigation
by the FBI . So the rangers marked areas of evidence to come back
the next day and finish their evaluation. But Jamar would not
let them back at the scene for 10 days until the evidence was
all washed away.
"When we got to Texas a week after the shootout I kept leaving
voice mail messages with the FBI, ATF, Rangers, Local Sheriff
and absolutely no one would return my calls. Yet, they announced
on TV that they were allowing the parents to talk with their kids
inside."
Sandy
Connizzo-Michaels Mother
The Rangers requested to go back
and make footprint MOLDS around Michael's body to see if any of
the lawmen had approached Schroeder's body, after the shooting....
but JAMAR REFUSED
the request for TEN DAYS!!
WHY?
Texas Rangers bitterly complained that vital evidence was being
lost and Jamar is STILL REFUSING
them??? AND
STILL IGNORING Michael Schroeders
parents!?!?! WHY?
His reasoning was the safety of the agents
trying to retrieve the body, but NOT one shot was ever fired from
the Branch Davidians side, once the cease fire was called and
BATF removed it's agents from the property. Hundreds of soldiers
and troops, helicopters and tanks, and they cannot pick up a dead
man, or go inspect the site at ALL???
The fear of being shot was NOT a valid excuse for leaving this
man out there, and NOT allowing investigators inside to view the
evidence. I have not seen an excuse that was plausible enough
to allow this vital evidence be washed away!
TEN DAYS after constantly being
questioned by fearful parents of Michael Schroeder WHERE their
son was, they told them he was dead.
"We decided to drive out
there. (to Mt. Carmel) We got there the 8th of march, when we
finally found the place, we were met by ATF agents who put a machine
gun in the window of our car. I explained my plight and they said
they would have someone call me. That was late afternoon. About
2 or 3 hours later a negotiator called and said the name Schroeder
sounded familiar but he was new on the scene and didn't want to
give me any wrong information so he would check it out and have
someone contact me. Then about 10:30 or 11 pm, Texas Rangers came
to the hotel room to tell me Mike was dead.
"I was told to call Justice
of the Peace, David Pareya, to find out where Michael's body was
and when I could view it. I thought Mr. Pareya was being kind
when he advised me not to go see it, that I would want to remember
him as he was alive not partially decomposed. Against my better
judgment, I decided to take that advice. Actually, I was probably
to much in shock to think clearly then."
I have since sent a formal FOIA type letter to Judge Pareya to
release Michael's entire autopsy file including any tapes (voice
or video) pictures, memos, notes in other words the whole ball
of wax. Two reporters have been applying pressure and still I
get absolutely no response! The reason I have asked for everything
is because I was stonewalled over some pictures."
"I had tried for many years
to get the exit interviews of the men who shot Mike through FOIA
records when I finally got them to send something other than copies
of pages in the Dept of Treasury report, all I got was 30 pages
of redacted references to other documents."
Sandy
Connizzo-Michaels Mother
*Michael legally owned two Glock17 firearms. Ballistics
tests, and a tracing of records was never done on a Glock17 said
to be found near Schroeders body 3 days later to determine if
this was even HIS weapon. This weapon was picked up a full DAY
before they actually REMOVE Michaels corpse! There's the testimony
of agents claiming to hear 9mm fire from Schroeders position,
Both Kendrick and Allison testified that Michael took a 9mm with
him to Mt. Carmel, yet agents recover an entirely different weapon
FOUR days after the fatal shootout! And still an incredible 10
days before they inform his parents!
Both federal officials involved
in this initial investigation called for an independent inquiry.
Along the way such talk was either mooted, or denied.
Very precious little information has been given to Michael Schroeder's
mother about the events of what happened that day, or whether
ANYONE is further investigating the serious inconsistencies in
agents reports, testimony of the 62 yr. old man present (Bob Kendrick
now 68yrs old), the agent confirming his testimony about
law officers shooting first, or the fact that JEFF JAMAR was impeding
a crime investigation which Texas Rangers had full jurisdiction
of, being it was in Texas.
NO ONE is honestly, or in depth
reporting on Investigator Mike McNulty, and that he has FOUND Michael Schroeder's dark
blue stocking cap in the evidence
locker currently in storage, with his
NAME
clearly written on the evidence
bag!!!
He reported that it DID have residue of some kind on it, and it
NEEDS ANALYZED!
CLICK here to see the full
coroners report
WHY aren't YOU the "press"
contacting Sandy
Connizzo, the mother?
Or the investigators and lawyers involved?
Dan Gifford,
SomFord@worldnet.att.net,
Branch Davidian lawyer Dave Hardy - dhardy@goodnet.com
After having to repeatedly battle
the system to recover Michaels belongings she is continuing to
be stonewalled. WHY?!?!?!? WHY?
is she being ignored?
SHE DEMANDS to see a full report surrounding the circumstances
of Michael death, and the records and articles that rightfully
belong to his family! WHY? isn't she being
allowed Michael's property? WHY? isn't Michael's
surviving wife being allowed? Judge Walter Smith, the judge presiding
over the Branch Davidians wrongful death suit, admonished the
lawyers for even attempting to bring Michael's case before the
court. He called it frivolous, and threw it out. IF that is the
final ruling, they need to give this mother her sons belongings.
WE will conduct our OWN investigation,and have the evidence analyzed.
WHAT right does the government have with her sons belongings now,
they should be lawfully hers to have.
WHY? are
they stonewalling?
There are too many unanswered
questions in this case to simply walk away. This case is not over.
I am so sad, that the press has ignored any and all calls for
help from these Americans.
Where is the unbiased reporting? History making investigative
reporting? Showing BOTH sides of an issue, and not always repeating
only what you are fed.
Please do not let that be the case here. This woman and this family
desperately needs help. Michael's step children and son are growing
up now, and they are trying to get on with their lives. This new
information has opened old wounds, and they hurt deeply. Everyone's
silence and lack of caring are incredible, and deeply sad.
She is being given the SAME run around that Arizona Attorney Dave
Hardy was given before he finally sued and won his suit against
the government. Perhaps Sandy needs someone to support her in
filing her own lawsuit based on the run around she's been given
for over 6 years! I would be more than willing to bet the government
has no plans for wanting to pay out another record settlement
over the same case, and would rush to give her what she needs
before it ever entered court.
Someone out there has to be in a better position than any of us
at getting to those people, and pushing buttons!
Where are you?
She is being abused a second time as things stand, and no one
hears her pleas for help. She did nothing wrong. She only wants
answers, and her boys belongings.
Why is our government stonewalling her???
Click to read a letter that Sandy
has sent to Mike Wallace at 60 Minutes.
**UPDATE**UPDATE**11/19/99**UPDATE**UPDATE**
Justice Pareya called Sandy on
11/19/99 to tell her that after reviewing Michael's case
he discovered it was NEVER CLOSED!
He stated that this happened because of repeated stonewalling
from the FBI, ATF AND Texas Rangers.
Every time his office asked for information it never came, it
completely impeded their investigation
and they couldnt close it.
**UPDATE**UPDATE**11/19/99**UPDATE**UPDATE**
Sandy Writes:
"He said he just received a
rather large package from the Texas Rangers that he would have
to read
then he will continue to investigate the case. Perhaps a private
inquisition or if necessary public.
He said there were witnesses he wanted to interview too"
This is miracle news to Sandy
and Michael's family! I quickly wrote to Sandy after hearing this
and told her
"DO NOT let them close it before
we can get someone in there to investigate!!!
As long as it's still open... its NOT over!" Here was her response!
Here is how I responded to your idea
about reinstating the wrongful death
suit. An e-mail to Joe Phillips, my contact at Caddell: Thank
you for the idea !
Hi Joe,
I have recently been in touch with Justice
Pareya. The purpose was to get a
conformed copy of Mike's complete file. After he finally got the
file out
and looked at it, he called to tell me that the file is STILL
OPEN! Open
because he too was stonewalled by the FBI, ATF, and Texas Rangers.
He is
looking into the circumstances surrounding Michael's death.
If it would not be too much to ask could
you please contact him with any
information you may have retrieved regarding Michael's death.
Also, would
this development give us the opportunity to have Michael's case
put back
into the wrongful death suit??
Anxiously awaiting your response.
Sandy
I pray Justice Pareya is sincere
when he says he will investigate this thoroughly and Sandy finally
finds some answers. Judge Smith needs to take a look at the new
developments in this case, and reinstate it BACK into the wrongful
death suit! Please take the time to write to your officials, Justice
Pareya, Judge Smith, lawyers
We will continue to update with news from Pareya's investigation
as we hear it.
A Poem From A Mother's
Heart
For Michael
The Cord
We are connected, my child and
I,
By an invisible cord not seen by the eye
It's not like the cord That connects us 'til birth
This cord can't be seen By anyone on earth
This cord does it's work Right
from the start
It bonds us together Attached at the heart
I know that it's there Though no one can see
The invisible cord From my child to me
The strength of this cord It's
hard to describe
It can't be destroyed. It can't be denied.
It's stronger than any cord Man could create
It withstands the test Can hold any weight
And though you are gone, Though
you're not here with me
The cord is still there. But no one can see
It pulls at my heart I am bruised....I am sore
But this cord is my lifeline As never before
I am thankful that God Connects
us this way
A mother and a child Death can't take it away!
(Author unknown)
A
Mothers Memorial to her Murdered Son, Michael Schroeder
The treatment of Michael Schroeder
and his remains were less than we give those of a deceased animal.
We show more sympathy for pet owners than the government did his
grieving parents. And the abuse continues to this day.
Even if you read this and
turn away, please be aware of this family and what happened to
them. Let the governments own inconsistencies, and out right denials
guide your conscience. It is a very important issue at Waco, that
should not be forgotten or lost in the shuffle. I IMPLORE you
to not look away after knowing these facts! Please.
Thank you ~Sharlene~
Contact your
Congressmen and tell him to investigate this mans death!
If you are a survivor,
or a relative of someone who perished, and would like to see the
case up on this site,
please send me e-mail by clicking here *Sharlene*
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