2011-09-25 Wisconsin TV and newspapers (IN,CONTACTEE)
La Crosse (Wis.) TV channel 19 (WXOW)
See aliens and extraterrestrials in para. 6, 19, 21, 27.
YAHOO NEWS
Father appeals for help for mentally ill suspect
For four weeks, dozens of heavily armed law officers using high-tech
gear, all-terrain vehicles and tracking dogs have scoured more than 30
miles of thick redwoods for a man who allegedly gunned down a beloved
city...
WXOW 19 La Crosse - Sep 25 02:05pm.
http://www.wxow.com/story/15543663/father-appeals-for-help-for-mentally-ill-suspect
Father appeals for help for mentally ill suspect
Posted: Sep 25, 2011 10:39 AM CDT
Updated: Sep 25, 2011 10:07 PM CDT
By BETH DUFF-BROWN
Associated Press
FORT BRAGG, Calif. (AP) - For four weeks, dozens of heavily armed law
officers using high-tech gear, all-terrain vehicles and tracking dogs
have scoured more than 30 miles of thick redwoods for a man who
allegedly gunned down a beloved city councilman and a conservationist
with a high-powered rifle from hiding places deep in the forest.
Wanted posters pepper this fishing and lumber town three hours north of
San Francisco. Armed agents ride shotgun on the region's biggest tourist
attraction, the fabled Skunk Train that has been traversing the redwood
route from Fort Bragg to Willits since 1885.
And everyone wants 35-year-old Aaron Bassler captured. Some say dead, some say alive.
Elusive as he is, Bassler is no Rambo-like rogue survivalist.
People, including his father, say he is mentally ill with a history of bizarre behavior.
James Bassler said his son is a paranoid schizophrenic, who believes he is on the run from alien spacecraft, not the law.
"We don't want him to die; we don't want anyone else to die," said
Bassler, a silver-haired fisherman who maintains the killings might have
been avoided if county officials had heeded his pleas to get his son
psychiatric treatment. "It would not have taken much to stop this
thing."
Bassler said his son, who has deteriorated from the handsome and
academically successful teen depicted in family photos, to an
increasingly troubled and isolated man, is likely burrowed deep into the
woods, living off wild fruit and breaking into cabins, some abandoned
by residents who have fled.
The largest local manhunt in decades was mounted after authorities say
Aaron Bassler fatally shot Fort Bragg City Councilman Jere Melo on Aug.
27.
The 69-year-old security contractor and a co-worker at a private timber
company confronted Bassler while investigating reports of an illegal
marijuana farm outside of town. Police say Bassler was cultivating some
400 poppy plants, but no marijuana, and was holed up in a makeshift
bunker when he fired on Melo and the co-worker, who escaped and called
for help.
Bassler is also being sought in the fatal shooting of Matthew Coleman of
the Mendocino County Land Trust. The former Fish and Game Department
employee was found dead next to his car on Aug. 11 up the coast from
Fort Bragg.
Both men were highly respected for their love of the land and their
community work. "It's an overwhelming loss for our small community,"
said Fort Bragg Police Chief Scott Mayberry. "Sadness and fear now go
hand in hand."
Fort Bragg - a town of 7,000 with both down-home and upscale businesses
mixed in with a small fishing fleet and lumber yards - is on edge.
People wonder aloud why local and federal law enforcement agencies can't
find an alleged killer who emerged near his mother's home, only to
escape into the forest again.
"There's some unease that this lunatic is out there on the loose and
they're frustrated that he hasn't been caught yet," said Mary Ann
Carroll, a sales clerk at Tangents, a downtown gift shop.
Capt. Kurt Smallcomb, who is heading the search for the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office, bristles at the criticism.
"I have no reason to believe he's left our perimeter," he said. "He's
been living in this forest for close to 30 years. It's his home. But
we're just starting to learn it."
The town hates being at the center of a drama that is scaring off badly needed tourists and leaving it the butt of jokes.
"You've turned our holiday into a scene from the film 'Deliverance,'"
quipped Mike Smith of Leeds, England, who had not heard about the
murders. "We'll be on the lookout for anyone playing a banjo."
Bassler described his son as withdrawn from reality and immersed in a
world where he felt it necessary to warn of extraterrestrials.
Aaron Bassler would spend hours holed up in the basement at a house
owned by his grandmother. With nothing but a mattress on the floor and
black curtains on the windows, he would draw submarines and aircraft,
weapons systems and aliens.
"Some were like the big-headed, big-eyed aliens like you see in the
movies; some of them were reptilian," his father said, standing with his
wife on the porch of their modest Fort Bragg home, while a police
helicopter pounded overhead.
Shortly after high school Bassler started drinking and using drugs,
maybe mushrooms or acid. James Bassler said he never really knew.
He said his son was first arrested after crashing a party at 19. His
behavior grew increasingly irrational, he could not hold down jobs, he
would trash apartments and he had numerous run-ins with the authorities.
"He couldn't deal with people anymore. He couldn't stand to be around people," said Bassler.
His father brings out the red Chinese military stars that his son had
fashioned out of rubber and buried in the back yard. Bassler threw
similar red stars with a fake bomb over the gate of the Chinese
consulate in San Francisco, leading to his arrest in 2009. In that case,
Bassler was given psychological counseling, but then released when it
was determined under California law that he was not an imminent threat
to himself or others.
Bassler was arrested on DUI charges in February for ramming his truck
into a school tennis court. He lost his license, and shortly after his
grandmother died, he lost his room in her basement. "We could see it
building up," his father said. "He lost his truck, then he lost his
place to live; all his links to the real world."
In a Feb. 23 letter to Dr. Doug Rosoff, who heads up the Mendocino
County mental health board, Bassler wrote: "Federal authorities arrested
him for harassing the Chinese consulate in San Francisco. He was
apparently acting out on his delusions dealing with space aliens and the
Chinese."
Bassler called on Rosoff to diagnose his son and put him on medication to help stabilize him. But he said he got no response.
Ross Walker, an attorney with county counsel's office, said officials could not comment due to privacy laws.
The senior Bassler hopes the case will lead to the adoption of the
so-called Laura's Law in Mendocino County. The state law adopted in 2002
- but left to each California county to implement locally - allows for
court-ordered assisted outpatient treatment for those who refuse
treatment and have been repeatedly jailed or hospitalized due to mental
illness. It's named for Laura Wilcox, a young woman in Nevada County who
was killed by a man who refused medical treatment. Nevada County is the
only one to implement it thus far. Los Angeles County is conducting a
pilot program.
Carla Jacobs, a mental health advocate with the California Treatment
Advocacy Coalition who helped draft Laura's Law, said that if it had
been in place in Mendocino County, it would have allowed the elder
Bassler to seek a court-ordered investigation to determine if Aaron
qualified for assisted outpatient treatment.
Without that, she said, "the families are left out in the wilderness crying for some help."
The Mendocino County Board of Supervisors has ordered a report on the costs and effectiveness of Laura's Law.
For now, Bassler awaits word of his son.
"This is not Afghanistan," he said. "They'll find him. He'll make a mistake."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
==
ANOTHER VERSION. NO relevant passages, despite the inclusion of “extraterrestrials” in the Google hit entry.
La Crosse (Wis.) Tribune. I could not find this in the printed issues of Sep. 25-26 and Oct. 2-3.
GOOGLE NEWS
Father appeals for help for mentally ill suspect
La Crosse Tribune - Sep 25, 2011
Bassler described his son as withdrawn from reality and immersed in a
world where he felt it necessary to warn of extraterrestrials. ...
http://lacrossetribune.com/news/national/article_ea44513a-f9e3-5132-bec4-4279fd44e7c8.html
Huge California manhunt ends with suspect's death
Associated Press | Posted: Sunday, October 2, 2011 3:08 am
CAPTION
FILE - This Feb. 2011 file photo provided by the Mendocino County
(Calif.) Sheriff shows Aaron Bassler. Bassler, 35, is suspected of
killing a city councilman on Aug. 27 and one other person several weeks
before. Bassler is thought to be hiding out in the redwoods outside of
Fort Bragg and is believed to have broken into several cabins to steal
food and at least two other weapons. Authorities say they are closing in
on a murder suspect who has been the subject of Northern California's
largest manhunt in decades _ even as they reported that he shot at a
group of sheriff's deputies Thursday Sept. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Mendocino
County Sheriff)
The 7,000 residents of Fort Bragg can now relax after spending more than
a month on edge while the area's largest manhunt in decades enveloped
their coastal community about three hours north of San Francisco.
The massive operation came to a close when authorities shot and killed
the subject of the search, a fugitive accused in the deaths of two area
officials.
Elizabeth McNeill, who works as a clerk in an appliance store in
downtown Fort Bragg, said she is feeling a sense of relief, "It's a sad
situation, but now people can relax."
Aaron Bassler, 35, was shot seven times in an area of redwood forest
about 6 miles east of Fort Bragg after being sniffed out by a
bloodhound, said Mendocino County Sheriff Thomas Allman. Three members
of the Sacramento County SWAT team were in the trees about 40 yards from
Bassler when he came toward them on a timber trail.
Bassler was suspected of killing a city councilman in late August and a
county land trust official several weeks before. Bassler was thought to
be hiding out in the redwoods outside of Fort Bragg, breaking into
several cabins and businesses to steal food and weapons.
Both of the men authorities say Bassler killed, Fort Bragg City
Councilman Jere Melo and Mendocino County Land Trust officer Matthew
Coleman, were well-regarded in the community.
"I just hope Jere's wife can get some closure," McNeill said.
The manhunt disrupted life in the area as law enforcement officials
restricted forest use and told residents to stay out of their vacation
cabins until Bassler was arrested.
Wanted posters offering a $30,000 reward for Bassler hung in the windows of most shops.
Chriss Zaida, who owns a clothing store in the area, heard celebration in the streets when news of Bassler's death spread.
"But I'm not high-fiving people," she said. "I have the utmost sympathy
for his victims, but also for the law enforcement agents who had to do
what they had to do. And I can't imagine what his family is going
through."
Bassler's father, James Bassler, was not immediately available for
comment. He has told The Associated Press that Aaron Bassler had
undiagnosed mental illness and said he had tried unsuccessfully to get
help for his son.
Authorities had been searching for Aaron Bassler since Aug. 27 when they
say he shot and killed Melo, who with a co-worker was investigating
reports of an illegal marijuana farm in his role as a security
consultant for an area lumber company.
Melo's associate escaped and called for help, leading authorities to
hundreds of poppy plants and a bunker where they say Aaron Bassler was
holed up when he shot Melo, 69.
Officials had been confounded by Aaron Bassler's survival skills and
ability to elude them in the 400-square-mile search perimeter.
Authorities believe that during his time at-large, he broke into a
half-dozen cabins in the woods to restock his food supplies.
"He's very savvy in the woods. He's proven to be very adept," said Sgt. Chad Lewis of the Sacramento County Sheriff's SWAT team.
Dozens of local, state and federal authorities scoured the forests near
Fort Bragg, but Bassler eluded them for more than a month. Authorities
got close to him Thursday, when they say he exchanged gunfire with
Alameda County deputies. Authorities say Bassler was dressed in black
and had a high-powered rifle that was seen in a surveillance photo taken
last week, the same weapon they say he used to kill Melo, the same one
they said he was carrying Saturday.
A break in the search came Friday when a shop owner told authorities his
door had been kicked in and that ammunition, beer, food, two compasses
and some boots had been stolen. A bloodhound from the Pomona Police
Department named Willow and his handler, Pomona Police Officer Joe
Hernandez, began tracking the burglar's scent, leading them to Bassler.
"I wish that this incident could have ended without another shot being
fired," said Allman, the Mendocino County Sheriff. But, he added, "I
fully support the manner in which this ended. There will be no more
lives which will be endangered by Aaron Bassler."
Allman initially said Bassler raised his gun before the deputies fired.
He later said the fugitive raised his rifle as he was falling from the
gunfire. There had been no verbal exchange, but the sheriff said the
deputies saw Bassler walking with his finger poised near the trigger
before they fired.
The sheriff said Bassler's rifle was loaded with about 30 rounds, its
safety off. He also noted that officials believe Bassler had already
killed two people with the same weapon he was carrying on the trail and
had shot at three sheriff's deputies days earlier.
"Any confrontation or contact with law enforcement agents was going to
be lethal and deadly," Allman said, adding that law permits officers to
shoot at a suspected felon under such circumstances.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material
may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted in National on Sunday, October 2, 2011 3:08 am Updated: 5:01 am.
--
Racine (Wis.) Journal Times. I could not find this in the printed issues of Sep. 25-27 and Oct. 2-3.
GOOGLE NEWS
Father appeals for help for mentally ill suspect
Journal Times - Sep 25, 2011
Bassler described his son as withdrawn from reality and immersed in a
world where he felt it necessary to warn of extraterrestrials. ...
http://www.journaltimes.com/news/national/us/article_2998e0d9-381c-5a55-9b7d-3c18920d0065.html
Huge California manhunt ends with suspect's death
Associated Press | Posted: Sunday, October 2, 2011 3:08 am | Loading…
Mendocino County Sheriff
FILE - This Feb. 2011 file photo provided by the Mendocino County
(Calif.) Sheriff shows Aaron Bassler. Bassler, 35, is suspected of
killing a city councilman on Aug. 27 and one other person several weeks
before. Bassler is thought to be hiding out in the redwoods outside of
Fort Bragg and is believed to have broken into several cabins to steal
food and at least two other weapons. Authorities say they are closing in
on a murder suspect who has been the subject of Northern California's
largest manhunt in decades _ even as they reported that he shot at a
group of sheriff's deputies Thursday Sept. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Mendocino
County Sheriff)
The 7,000 residents of Fort Bragg can now relax…
THE REST IS THE SAME AS POSTED BY THE LA CROSSE (WIS.) TRIBUNE, ABOVE
--
Watertown (Wis.) Daily Times. The clipping service did not send this
(because the article doesn’t actually include “extraterrestrials”), and
the Milwaukee library does not get this paper.
GOOGLE NEWS
Father appeals for help for mentally ill suspect
Watertown Daily Times - Sep 25, 2011
Bassler described his son as withdrawn from reality and immersed in a
world where he felt it necessary to warn of extraterrestrials. ...
http://www.wdtimes.com/news/national/article_55b0efe7-61a6-550a-a222-1fd7e5e6911e.html
Huge California manhunt ends with suspect's death
Mendocino County Sheriff
Huge California manhunt ends with suspect's death
CAPTION
FILE - This Feb. 2011 file photo provided by the Mendocino County
(Calif.) Sheriff shows Aaron Bassler. Bassler, 35, is suspected of
killing a city councilman on Aug. 27 and one other person several weeks
before. Bassler is thought to be hiding out in the redwoods outside of
Fort Bragg and is believed to have broken into several cabins to steal
food and at least two other weapons. Authorities say they are closing in
on a murder suspect who has been the subject of Northern California's
largest manhunt in decades _ even as they reported that he shot at a
group of sheriff's deputies Thursday Sept. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Mendocino
County Sheriff)
Posted: Sunday, October 2, 2011 3:08 am | Updated: 5:05 am, Sun Oct 2, 2011.
Huge California manhunt ends with suspect's death Associated Press | 0 comments
BODY IS THE SAME AS POSTED BY THE LA CROSSE (WIS.) TRIBUNE, ABOVE
…felon under such circumstances.
© 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed
