The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana • Page 9

PAGE 9 -THE INDIANAPOLIS STAR- TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1987- Charges Continued From Page 1 feet tall, weighing 200 to 220 pounds, with either black or brown curly hair, who wore glasses and needed a shave. Byers, a bearded, bespectacled, 6-foot-2-inch, 220 pounder, was a near perfect match of the suspect. Claiming he was not guilty and certain he would not be charged, Byers said he would take a polygraph test and appear I in a lineup. No polygraph test was given. but a lineup was scheduled.

Byers appeared in the lineup with four other prisoners of descriptions. He was stunned when the rape victim identified I him and another store clerk said she was nearly certain. J' Byers was charged and placed in jail under a $53,750 bond. stating the prosecutor's office has declined to prosecute and asking that the charges be dismissed. Monday, as the trial was scheduled to begin In Superior Court, Criminal Division, Byers and Butler were notified of the dismissals.

Beasley said he has now focused on two other suspects both matching Byers' description. Butler said Byers Is not officially cleared, only the charges have been dismissed. "But they know he is telling the truth and they admit, even with eyewitnesses, they do not have a case," Butler said. "It has been an unfortunate experience for Steve and his family. Hopefully, it Is over." crimes.

If it wasn't for my wife, family, you and Duge, I would have rotted in jail. They treated me OK, but I was still an inmate, a prisoner. "My life changed. Becky (Mrs. Byers) accepted a transfer from Hartford to Naperville, 111., outside of Chicago, and I'll transfer my sales territory there in May after our children are out of school.

But Becky has to start next Monday. We will start over and try to forget the last six months. Legal action is a possibility, but I just don't know right now." Byers estimated the bond, Butler's fee and his lost salary cost him more than $5,000. Beasley, a veteran detective, said he spent more time on this case than any other in recent years. "1 didn't want to send an innocent man to Jail." Beasley said.

"I started investigating his alibis, that included his appearance at a Bob Seger concert in Indianapolis on Sept. 8, the same night as one of robberies." Beasley learned Byers attended with his wife; son, Brian, 14; and a family friend. Byers also said he was home with his wife on Aug. 22, the night of the robbery and rape. On Friday, Deputy Prosecutor J.

Michael Loomls asked Butler If Byers would submit to another polygraph test. Butler and Byers agreed. An Indiana State Police polygraph expert concluded Byers had no intention to deceive or. In other words, he was telling the truth. Loomls filed a motion in court He called his wife, Rebecca, at Hartford Life Insurance where she works, and told her he had been arrested.

"I didn't do it. but they (the victims) identified me. I need someone to help me," Byers told his wife. Mrs. Byers called Butler.

In the meantime, Byers was granted a polygraph test. It was administered by Sheriffs Sgt. Steven R. Sims, who concluded Byers was telling the truth. Byers was tested two more times by Sims with the same results.

"I cannot testify In court because the prosecutor did not stipulate to the results of the tests," Sims said after the tests. "But I know Byers is telling the truth when he said he did not commit the crimes. I think he is Innocent." But Detective Sgt. Ronald L. Beasley, assigned by sheriffs detectives to investigate, said the identification of the victims was strong evidence.

Butler, who learned the Byers family did not have much money, remained on the case for a small fee. He was finally able to have the bond reduced sufficiently for Byers to be released from the Marlon County Jail a week before Christmas. But as a condition of the bond. Byers remained under house arrest. His whereabouts were monitored by an electronic device.

He was able, however, to return to his Job as a salesman for Frelje Enterprises. "Sure. I have ill feelings." Byers told The Indianapolis Star Monday. "I couldn't go any place. Some 'friends' wanted to know if I really did commit the Ways and Means chairman vows to find funding for city mall mjjmiiuiiijii ill jjimuuu.

Jiiu uj 1 i ----J jao miMAi r' Engine Continued From Page 1 with General Electric Co. to market propfans. 1 Designers say they believe propfans can be up to 30 percent more efficient than current turbofan Jet engines, That kind of Improved performance with no decrease In speed makes the propfan potentially lucrative. The engine comes along as two major makers of commercial aircraft, McDonnell Douglas Corp. and Boeing are readying new models for deployment In the 1990s.

As many as 2,000 aircraft during a 10-year period could be equipped with propfans. Clarkson estimated, resulting in engine orders of up to $14 billion. A preliminary version of the PW-Alllson prop-' fan is being tested. The Joint venture plans to fly a plane in December using a prototype of the propfan It hopes will be used commercially. GE.

on the other hand, has flown a modified Boeing 727 with its high-tech propeller engine. Despite that, Allison Gas Turbine and executives said it's too soon to declare GE the winner. "General Electric has been doing a lot more public relations," said Wallace, a former GE executive. "We've been doing our homework. The market will tell." Thomas W.

Wild, associate professor of avla-' tlon technology at Purdue University, said he doubted any single group could dominate the propfans market. "The airplane buyers, If they let one company make all the engines, they'll have to pay one price," he said. "It's better to pass it (business) around." Wild added, however, that GE "has a pretty good Jump on it." Over all. propeller engines are more fuel effl-cient than turbofans. However, the traditional propeller with flat, thick blades rapidly loses that edge In fuel consumption at around 450 mph.

Turbofan engines are most efficient at 600 miles an hour. In the 1960s, with low fuel prices, airlines emphasized speed over fuel efficiency. The propfan engine developed by PW-Alllson features two rows of thin, curved blades. The two rows spin In opposite directions a feature that Wallace said will maximize thrust and reduce engine noise. As designed, two PW-Alllson engines would be mounted at the rear of upcoming aircraft, as would GE's engine.

That design would curb noise In the passenger cabin. "Airlines want quieter cabins than they wanted In the past." Wallace said. Asked how the PW-Alllson engine would affect noise levels around airports, he added: "It will meet the most stringent restriction placed on commercial aircraft." Allison Gas Turbine primarily Is a maker of military aircraft engines. It has been mostly out of the commercial business since the rise of turbofans. Executives said Allison Gas Turbine's contribution in the new venture is gas turbine engine technology.

brings "an unequalled knowledge of the commercial airline industry's requirements." Wallace said. The new propeller blades were developed by Hamilton Standard, another United Technologies unit. The companies named Novick and William A. Raabe. a vice president, as managing directors.

They are the executives who will most closely supervise PW-Alllson activities. The partnership's board of directors consists of two executives each from and Allison Gas Turbine, Including Wallace and Clarkson. The Gould study was written In 1983 and updated last year. It foresees a robust boost to the downtown If the $425 million to $500 million mall is built. Among the benefits: a dramatic Increase in retail spending downtown by downtown workers and conventioneers and a 3 percent annual Increase In convention activity.

The I.U. study, costing $40,000 and paid by the city, was released last week and is based in large part on the Gould study. In a briefing Monday on the methods used in the I.U. study, the I.U. researchers said the most conservative assumptions were used In their study to give it more credibility.

The I.U. study sees the mall bringing $1.9 billion in new spending to the state or $338 per Indiana resident from 1987 to 1999. Also Monday, city officials said the newest estimate of the city's share of the mall's cost Is $104.6 million. Earlier, the city said the taxpayers' Investment in the mall would range from $70 million to 150 million. Kidnappers found UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL The Hague, Netherlands Police freed unharmed a wealthy Dutch businessman's daughter kidnapped and held tied to a bed for 1 2 days, police said Monday.

After tracing telephone calls demanding $2.7 million in ransom to the captors' hideout, 200 officers arrested the five men and one woman suspected in the kidnapping. Grocery magnate Eric Albada Jelgersma. said of 10-year-old Valerie. "Our daughter is fine. She proved to be very strong." By JEFF SWIATEK And PATRICK J.

TRAUB STAR STAFF WRITERS Irritated by a lack of specific Information from the city about the Circle Centre mall project, the chairman of the Indiana House Ways and Means Committee vowed Monday that a funding plan will be developed, but it may not be what the Hudnut administration wants. Rep. Patrick J. Kiely. R-An-derson, committee chairman, said he sent a strongly worded letter Monday to Mayor William H.

Hudnut that "sought answers to questions I have had since this was first proposed." The committee, which Is the first to review all tax and budget legislation, will hear House Bill 1742. the mall funding proposal, today. The bill would allow the city to use some state sales tax revenue generated by the proposed downtown mall to pay the city's share of its construction. "The city and (Melvln) Simon Associates) will not be able to answer all the questions the committee will have" In its hearing today, said Rep. William I.

Spencer. R-Indlanapolls, the bill's sponsor. "They say they don't know all the answers yet." That provoked Klely to say: "If they can't answer the questions, then they have a dead bill." However, Klely said that "somewhere we will create a system for the city to pay for its share (of the mall). It may not be what they want, but clearly this is of great benefit to the city and the state. "I believe subsidies are necessary for downtown development and we need the Simons and what they have done for the city and the state.

I see no difference between this and FuJI-Isuzu, if it creates 4.000 Jobs." Spencer said he hopes the city and Simon and Associates will be able to submit Information needed on the project before next week, when House committees must complete their work on House bills. Also Monday, a privately funded study was released that maintains a major urban mall, such as the planned Circle Centre, is needed to prevent Indiana-polls' downtown retailing from "slipping into oblivion." The study, done for the Simon firm, foresees a "negative Tax A lack of information has angered Rep. Patrick J. Kiely, R-Anderson, ripple effect" If the massive mall isn't built possibly causing declines In downtown property values, employment and convention activity. "The traditional central business district cannot long survive as a viable shopping area unless a project such as Circle Centre is developed," concludes the study by HSGGould Associates, retail consultants based in Washington, D.C.

Lobbyists from Simon and the city are counting on the Gould study and an Indiana University study to prove the benefits of the mall. Gould says downtown retail sales fell from 9.2 percent to 5.8 percent of total Indianapolis area retail sales from 1977 to 1982. The $76 million in downtown retail sales in 1982 will plummet even further, to $63 million in 1992. if a mall Isn't built, the study says. The demise of Claypool Shops, Union Station and one of the two downtown department stores is possible In the 1990s without the draw of a major mall, It says.

Continued From Page 1 think the city must raise more of its funds If It expects the Indiana General Assembly to allow It to use Increased state sales tax revenue generat- i. "AUTOMOTIVE SPECIAUSTS 1 1 PREMIUM A countywide emergency communications system. Jail operations. Alternatives to placing children in the Marion County Juvenile Detention Center. A computer system for Justice-related agencies such as the courts.

Coonrod also said that property tax rates would not have to rise as much If the Income tax rate was increased. A family with a state taxable income of $20,000 now pays $80 a year at the 0.4 percent rate. The total will increase to $100 at the 0.5 percent rate. State taxable income, as figured on the Indiana state Income tax form. Is income minus items such as exemptions and deductions.

Those rates apply to people living and working in Marion County. Rates for a person working in Marion County and whose home county has not adopted a county income tax are one-fourth as much. Someone who works In Marion County and whose home county has adopted a tax pays the tax In the county of his residence. In another matter, several counctlmen expressed opposition to a plan that would allow a private company to reduce part of the open-air downtown City Market plaza space in order to build a 10-story office building. II REBU LT ENGINES I Ask about our Nationwide I 3-Year or 36.000-Mile Warranty ed by the mall to help pay for It.

The five Democrats present at the meeting voted to table the freeze proposal. Carl E. Moldthan. who is running for mayor on his own newly formed flVDV-PENDENCE Par-C ty, objected that he was not allowed to speak for the freeze. He said that the council had adver-r tised a public hearing on the freeze would be held during the meeting.

Robert G. Elrod. the council's attorney, said after the meeting the council did not have to allow public comment because, the proposal had been tabled. He said if the freeze had not been tabled, the council would have been required to allow such comment. Moldthan saidbanning public comments was "underhanded, dirty and not the least bit unusual." Hudnut and Marlon County Auditor Curtis L.

Coonrod have said the Income tax Increase Is needed to replace federal revenue sharing funds. The revenue would help pay for: Police, fire and sheriffs department pensions, i 1 352-1 1(2 EXPIRES 22887 S43S E. WtSH. ST. Li: 2.

2 Indiana vocational Technical College Presents 2 2 2 Only one councilman votes against increase in sales tax 2 Excellence President Beurt R. SerVaas. the measure: Philip Borst, Amy 2 2 Technical College Education ity Leader Rozelle Boyd, Harold Hawkins, Glenn L. Howard, Lula M. Journey, Susan Williams.

Democrats against tabling: None. Democrat David J. Page was the only council member who did not vote. He was not at the meeting. Here Is a breakdown of the 21-7 vote Monday by the City-County Council to table a proposal to freeze Marion County's income tax at 0.4 percent.

The vote means the tax will Increase to 0.5 percent July 1. Republicans voting to table S. Bradley, Richard F. Clark. Dwlght Cottingham, Beulah A.

Coughenour, Ray Crowe, Carlton E. Curry, Allen L. Durnll, Gordon G. Gilmer. David P.

McGrath, Majority Leader Donald W. Miller. Wayne Rader. Stuart W. Rhodes.

Julius F. Shaw. Stanley P. Strader. Republicans against tabling: William A.

Dowden. Kenneth N. Giffin. Holley M. Holmes.

Patricia M. Nickell. William G. Schneider, Betty M. Stewart.

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