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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 13, 1979)
'..» .I. Portland Observar Thursday. September 13,1S7S Page 3 Who killed James Turel? Three weeks ago Floyd “ Frosty” Forsberg, an Oregon State Peniten tiary inmate, led Lane County Dis trict Attorney Pat Horton to what he said were the remains o f five-year- old Andrea Tolentino, who disap peared from her mother's car in Blue River three years ago. Forsberg explains his action as one more effort to convince Multnomah County District Attorney Harl Haas that he can produce evidence that will prove that he murdered James S. Turel ot P ortland—a murder fo r which another man. Rod Addicks, is serving a life sentence. Forsberg related that in June, Richard Godwin, an inmate sen tenced to O.S.P. for sexual abuse o f his daughter, asked him for assistance in getting an early release. Because he is small and weak and because o f his crime, Godwin was constantly abused and threatened by other in mates and was a fra id to go fo r meals. Forsberg befriended him , brought him fo od and provided protection for him. Over a period o f tw o m onths Godwin told Forsberg the story o f his life, including his perversity to sexually abuse young children. Forsberg hopes his revelations in the case will add to his credibility. For the past year he has tried to get Harl Haas to investigate the Turel case and says he can take Haas to evidence that w ill connect him with Dennis Cartright, the man who con fessed to the murder and implicated Addicks. Why would a man who is serving a life sentence for murder, who has been involved in bank robbery, drugs and other crime for most o f his life, spend his time on a fanatic crusade to prove he committed another m ur der? " I am a bad guy. I ’ ve spent nearly 30 years as a crim inal—out o f my own choice. I deserved to be in prison. I might never get out and I don't care; but now I want to do something right; Rod is innocent and shouldn’t be here. He has spent five years in prison for a crime I commit ted.” Forsberg says his relationship with the FBI not only caused him to mur der Jim Turel, but it is that relation ship that forces him to try to prove that he committed the crime. “ Crime was my business. I got into it with my eyes wide open; I was smart enough to know what I was doing. But I learned that the FBI is p ro m o tin g crim e by a llo w in g criminals to continue robbing banks or whatever as long as they are willing to turn in others above them. The FBI fosters and perpetuates crime.” Forsberg explains his motive for attempting to clear up his past crimes partially as the result o f his discovery o f the contusion over the FBI’ s role in organized crime. “ We ali know that the FBI has infiltrated organized crim e, but I found out that the criminals have infiltrated the FBI. One gang leader even hired his men right out o f the FBI. It’s gotten so yow don’ t know who the bad guys are and that’s dangerous.” He is committed to attempting to reveal what he considers to be the criminal involvmement o f many FBI functionaries. Forsberg says when he was paroled from McNiel Island, he was constan tly harassed and pressured by the FBI to provide information on Cur tis Mickelson whom he had helped escape from the prison. H,? was placed under surveillance, was chased by FBI agents. His family was threatened. For this reason, Forsberg says, he agreed to help Cartwright kill Turel. He had turned down C artw right’s firs t o ffe r, payment o f $5,000, because that was not enough pay for a murder. When Cartwright told him Turel did tax returns for many FBI agents and he could probably get the address o f the agent that had been harassing him he agreed to do it. He planned to get the address and kill the agent and his family. the evidence he says he can present, and talking to witnesses he says can link him to the crime. ~ He has contacted everyone he can think of, including President Carter and Congress, but gets nowhere. “ I want to appologize publically to A t torney General Redden,” he said. “ I wrote letters saying he isn't fit to be a judge because he w o u ld n ’ t in vestigate this case. Now I have learn ed that he doesn’t have the power to move in to a D is tric t A tto rn e y 's territory unless he is ordered by the Governor or there is a great public outcry. I am sorry that I attempted to hurt his career.” Forsberg is willing and ready to lead the authorities to evidence he says w ill conclusively prove his guilt. “ Isn’t it strange that they refuse to try to clear up a m urder. They w ouldn’ t let me confess to other crimes 1 have committed and have refused to follow up on information I've given about other crim inals. Doesn’ t it make you wonder what they are trying to hide?” He wonders if Governor Atiyeh will follow up on a letter he wrote to a constituent in September, “ You can rest assured that I w ill look into this further.” r / Even your best friend won I be able Io tell you're wearing bifocals with amazing Blend-vue lenses' Oplomalnc Eye Eeem. All Type« Contaci Leneee Viea A Maatercherpe *(< t Downtown I Lloyd Center I Eastport I Oregon City 631 SW Alder 266-5393 771-3233 Shopping Center 223-2171 I I 1 656-9727 »ui Ora S A n d w w n I 74(4 y z a r angga. A Hwkjowt ». Lartaal W *74e T^ta-cc (a ( a SaM an (4 c Tfatttc 5CTare«i> "DuBois” featuring Herb Cawthorne Revised, Rewritten, Reserved Don't miss itl PSU — Lincoln Hall Auditorium September 28th, 29th, 30th Tickets available thru Delta Sigma Theta Rod Addicks and Dennis C a rtw rig h t discuss efforts to prove A ddicks innocence. C a rtw rig h t im plicated Addicks in a m urder he n ow claim s he and another m an co m m itte d . his crutch so C a rtw rig h t struck again. Cartwright grabbed the crutch and finally was able to strike Turel to the floor. Then both men choked him, using a piece o f nylon rope. Forsberg and C a rtw rig h t had planned the murder carefully. They intended to take him to a place they located on M t. Hood where they could kill him and bury his body. Since his car had conspicuous handi capped license plates they used a van Forsberg had stolen for a plan ned bank robbery. For a time they considered leavinghis car in Albina. Forsberg’s past training with the FBI told him that would direct the in vestigation to the Black community. He had used the same plan in an aborted e ffo rt to k ill Judge Solomon. The plan to take Turel to M t. Hood had to be abandoned because o f the blood on the body, so the killers ransacked the office and left. The Investigation The murder was not solved until early in 1975 when a M ultnom ah County sargeant. Rod Englert, ob tained a confession from Cartwright. Dennis C a rtw rig h t was a childhood friend o f Forsberg Ac cording to Cartwright they were in volved together in various acts o f juvenile crime including burglarizing cars, garages and stealing cars. Later, as an adult, Cartwright was convicted o f assault. His fifteen year sentence was deferred and he served a year in county jail and five years on probation. He states that he determined to kill Turel after Turel cut him out o f a $10,000 construction contract. “ We never got along very well, in fact I had an intense hatred for the man.” C a rtw rig h t claim s that he im plicated Addicks to aid his own legal situation and to protect Forsberg. "They wanted so much to get Ad dicks. I knew there was no heat on Frosty and I didn’t want to involve him so I said it was Addicks. That served my purpose in two ways - to get a light sentence and to protect Frosty. I didn’ t think they would ever convict Rod but Cross and Anglin lied and corroborated my story.” C a rtw rig h t claim s he was promised an early parole by the D istrict A tto rn e y ’ s office. “ They said I would be out the first time I went before the parole board - in about six m onths. In fact they promised 1 would be out before Rod got here. Haas, Rieke, Engert and others were supposed to speak to the Parole Board.” The first time Cart wright went before the Parole Board he got a release date o f 30 years. A f ter raising a fuss because the “ deal" wasn’ t kept, he says, the date was reduced to fifteen year». Reike says there was no "deal” , but that he did offer to recommend an early release date for Cartwright. “ I felt kind o f sorry for him in a way. He was just a carpenter who got involved in a murder because o f his friendship with Addicks.” After Forsberg came forward to claim he committed the Turel mur der, C a rtw rig h t file d a ffid a v its stating that Forsberg and not A d dicks participated in the crime with him. He says he has been pressured recently to change his story, that Rod Engert visited him. "H e didn’t make any promises but he did make some implications. He asked how 1 would like to walk out free and clear.” Reike states that charges that the investigation and trial were a con spiracy are false. " I doubt that there could be a conspiracy o f that size, involving so many people. I know if there was I wasn’t part of it. If it happened, the truth will eventually come out in c o u rt.” Addicks has filed a series o f suits against District A tto rn e y H a rl Haas, Rieke and others charging them with denying his civil rights. Reike admits that Englert is con sidered to be a bit overzealous. He even got one man to confess that he had murdered his brother, and the brother was not even dead. Rieke states that he worked closely with Englert to insure that the civil rights o f Cartwright and Addicks were pro tected. Addicks contends that he was con victed with false testimony, not only that o f Cartwright but o f Silas Cross and Billy Anglin, who were paid for their information Rieke admits that the payment was unusual and perhaps unethical since the money as provided by T u re l’ s son. He ex plained that the C ounty provides money but it was not available when Englert needed it so he borrowed $1,100 from Stan Turel. Additional money that was paid later was part o f the reward offered by the family. O ther questions rem ain unan swered. T u re l’ s watch stopped at 10:20 p.m., but Addicks was in Kelso at that time. A witness claims she saw a van parked in front o f the business at the time o f the murder. A witness saw a six fo o t ta ll man through the w indow , but o f the three, only Forsberg is that tall. A flight bag identified as Turel’s was found in the Columbia River where Cartwright indicated it should be, but Fosberg and C a rtw rig h t claim it is not the right bag. They say they put the pool ball, the sock and the cord in a briefcase and threw it and the flight bag in the river. The briefcase sunk but the flig h t bag floated down the river. The briefcase and the murder weapon have never been found. One o f the corroborating witnesses reportedly said he had te stified falsely and wanted to change his story. However, he received another payment o f the expense money and changed his mind. Addicks has filed a number o f suits against Haas, Rieke and others, charging that they conspired to deny and did deny his constitutional right to legal materials, access to witnesses and prevented him from assisting with his defense by keeping him in segregation and that he was brutalized while in segregation at Rocky Butte. Forsberg wants a new in vestigation o f the case. District A t torney H arl Haas issued a press release last November, after For sberg made his claim to the killing, saying his office had re-investigated the case. He concluded that Addicks had committed the crime. Forsberg wonders how an in vestigation could have been made without talking with him, looking at th e Moins Marks House 1501 SW Harrison Street Portland 97201 Telephone 227 -2 6 8 6 DES CONNALL Professional Corporation LEGAL CLINIC CONCENTRATING IN THE FIELDS OF: CRIMINAL LAW INDUSTRIAL ACCIDENTS DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF INTOXICANTS DOMESTIC RELATIONS WORKERS' COMPENSATION BANKRUPTCY PERSONAL INJURY WILLS - PROBATE AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS CONSUMER PROTECTION If you have a problem that is not covered in this list, please call and ask whether we can help Chances are, we can If not, we can recommend someone else for you to call. One way or the other, we want to see you ge, the kind of professional legal counsel you're entitled to The best time to call us, or any attorney, is before you are embroiled in a legal problem. This is called preventative law and it makes a lot of sense Regardless, when you call us we will arrange for an initial consultation at your convenience. Cost: $20 We probably can’t solve anything in this meeting, but it is a chance for you to explain your particular problem and for us to give you some idea of what it'll take to reach a solution If you want us to proceed, we’ll give you an estimate of the fees you should plan on In writing . it f t . The M u rd er On the night o f August 28, 1974, James Turel, owner o f Columbia Bookkeeping Service, was murdered in his Portland office. “ I usually dp a clean jo b ,” Forsberg explained. " B u t this was a mess — blood aMever He just wouldn’t die.” Turel had expected Cartwight to bring a woman for him, but when he saw Forsberg, he knew something was wrong As Forsberg moved toward him . the crippled man raised his crutch to attack. Cartwright attacked from behind with a pool ball in a sock. Turel did not fall, but raised Bifocals w ithout lines...we’ve got th e m !
