The Daily Journal from Franklin, Indiana • Page 1

WEDNESDAY FRANKUN GREENWOOD, INDIANA APRIL 26, 1978 20 hit -a ton of weather' before crash Pi of lf I'm south of the heavy weather, boy this is rough out here' Don Mullendore moments before fatal crash. have tangled with rough weather before it crashed into a plowed field, digging a crater of eight feet. The plane crashed about 40 miles southeast of the airport. Pathology report Rush County Coroner John Todd said today that pathology reports on Mullendore will be more extensive than those on the other passengers. He said the more extensive tests are "routine." "It's just like with the driver of an automobile in a fatal accident He's the one who was driving and he could be the one held responsible if anything was wrong," Todd commented.

"We're not putting the blame on (Continued on back page, col 3) to "maintain that altitude." "Roger," he replied, and apparently referring to the weather asked: "Do 1 look okay on in there? If it's real bad in there I might (transmission is garbled) on runway five and try to get in quicker." The controller replied that "most of the weather I am showing is north of the Shelbyville VFR and is moving south, south-eastbound." Mullendore's next transmission is garbled though one audible comment indicates that there are some clouds "but it's not too rough yet." Then he was asked to change transmission levels Mullendore then began his references to worsening weather conditions. The recording released today supports earlier theories that the aircraft might between the pilot and the tower at Indianapolis was made public today in an 11 a.m. news media gathering at the airport tower in Indianapolis. Mullendore made initial contact with the control tower at 9:40 p.m. Sunday to report that he was 22 miles east of Sbelbyville.

He was instructed to maintain an altitude of 6,000 feet, then told to descend to 5,000 feet as the plane moved toward the storm front. "Four-Nine Mike Charlie (Mullendore's plane identification) I have a ton of weather out here. My heading is 210 degrees (southwest)" the pilot told the unidentified air traffic controller at the Indianapolis airport. Tell me, will I be through this piece of stuff here in a minute?" he asked. By SALLY KING UmmX Staff Writer Franklin pilot Don Mullendore reported "a ton of weather out here" moments before the twin-engine Piper Navajo Chieftain he was flying crashed in a farm field northwest of Rushville Sunday.

Mullendore and eight United States Auto Club officials were killed in the crash of the charter flight en route from a race at Trenton, N.J. to Indianapolis International Airport. Mullendore's last statement to the air traffic controller at Indianapolis came after the controller informed him that radar showed that the heavy weather was south of his plane's location. "If I'm south of the heavy weather, boy this is rough here," the pilot returned. A recording of the transmissions "I'm showing you south of all the heavy weather at the present time," the controller answered.

He was finally told to "maintain 3,000 (feet altitude) and we'll see if we can get you under that." The air traffic controller attempted four more times to make connections with Mullendore's aircraft over the next few moments, but there was no return transmission from the pilot. First transmissions Mullendore's earliest transmissions to the tower were distant and he was instructed to transmit on a different frequency. In his very first conversations with the tower he is flying at 6,000 feet and is told Morgan sheriff checks possible Harmeier suspect I -I Vii 'r- LJp.V. MARTINSVILLE, Ind. (UPI) David A Kinnaird, 35, Lake Hart, is being held in the Morgan County Jail on $175,000 bond in the kidnap-rape of a teenage Mooresville girl and abduction of her boyfriend.

Kinnaird made a preliminary court appearance Tuesday, but his arraignment was continued until Friday. Morgan County Sheriff Paul Mason said authorities were also checking Kinnaird as a possible suspect in the death of an Indiana University coed whose body was found six months ago. Kinnaird faces two counts of criminal confinement while armed, one of rape while armed, one of engaging in sexual deviate practices, and two of battery with a deadly weapon. "The girl and boy hitchhiked to town from the Lantern Hills trailer park south of Mooresville Saturday. They were hitchhiking home when they were picked up about 10 p.m." along Indiana 67, Mason said.

He said the man drove them to an area near the trailer park and pulled a gun, forcing the boy into the car trunk and the girl to lie on the floorboard. They were driven to a machine shop in on the Indianapolis near eastside, where the 17-year-old boy was tied to a chair and the 16-year-old girl raped. "After the assault they were driven back to the trailer park," Mason said The teenagers were able to give authorities a description of the building that led to the arrest of Kinnaird by Indianapolis Police detectives. Mason said since the abduction and rape were continuing offenses, Kinnaird will be tried in Morgan County. "We haven't got the gun yet, but we have plenty of other evidence," Mason said.

He said the gun was described as small and believed to be an automatic. Mason said "Naturally, we are checking to see if there could be any connection between this case at that of Ann Harmeier, but we would do that in any case in which there is any similiarity." Miss Harmeier, 20, a coed at IU-Bloomington, disappeared last Sept 12 after her car became disabled along Indiana 37 a couple of miles north of Martinsville as she was returning from her home in Cambridge City. Her half-nude body was found five weeks later in a cornfield about four miles from the car. She had been strangled with a shoestring fastened to a hairbrush and is believed to have been sexually assaulted. Cashier robbed in food store A Greenwood grocery store was robbed by a gun-wielding suspect Tuesday afternoon.

According to police around 5:45 p.m. a lone gunman wearing a ski mask entered the Majik Market grocery on County Line road. The gunman ordered a 10-year-old boy who was in the store to lie face down on the floor, and directed the cashier to put all the money in a paper bag. The suspect escaped with $572. The gunman held a .357 Magnui' pistol with a silencer on the cashier and un one occasion threatened to shoot if the cashier didn't hurry and gather the cash, police said The cashier said that the gunman fled west from the store into the Parliament Place parking lot.

The gunman was described as white, 145 pounds, 5 18 to 20 years old, black, curly hair, unshaven with a goatee. He was said to be wearing a black leather jacket and dirty blue jeans. Police were told that the gunman may have been driving a brown 1966 or 1968 Pontiac. Police authorities comb the Woolco department store in Greenwood for suspects in an attempted robbery. Two Sbelbyville men were arrested in connection with the incident.

At right, Greenwood Sgt. Bob Harold inspects some of the more than $13,856 in merchandise which bad been gathered before police arrived at the scene. (Daily Journal photos by Terry Anderson) Greenwood police foil store robbery around the area, so he alerted patrolmen to stop the vehicle." Harold added, "Inside the store Monroe was found hiding in a sleeping bag in the camping section." Spurling told the Journal after his arrest he was not guilty of the charges. He maintained that his car had broken down in the parking lot of the store, and that he was unaware that anyone was inside the establishment. Spurling, who said he is a friend of Monroe, stated that his car overheated about 11:30 p.m.

in Greenwood. He said he pulled into the Woolco parking lot to let the engine cool off. It was still overheated an hour later, he maintained. Spurling said he walked up to police when they arrived at the shopping center, and that he initially was per mitted to leave. He said he was arrested about three miles from the store, after he had left in his car.

He also said there was no evidence to link him to the alleged crime. Harold refuted Spurling's claims of innocence, noting that Monroe had admitted the crime and had implicated Spurling as a participant. "We caught them cold," Harold said with obvious relish. Greenwood police aided by Johnson county sheriff's deputies and Indiana State Police continued to comb the large department store early this morning on a hunch that there was at least one more suspect who had eluded capture. However, a thorough search did not turn up any other suspects.

ment store, Greenwood police were apprehending a driver of the alleged getaway car, who had apparently attempted to leave the scene without his accomplice. Arrested were James W. Monroe, 21, Sbelbyville route six and Timothy J. Spurting, 23, 54 East Washington Street, Shelbyville. Both were charged with attempted theft, and are being held in Johnson county jail on $2,000 bond.

Harold explained the sequence of events which led up to the pair's arrest by stating, "Sgt. Robert Ferguson was the first to get to the scene. He noticed Spurling walking away from Woolco and going back to his car which was parked at the Mobil station nearby. Earlier in the evening, Ferguson had noticed that the auto was hanging By TERRY ANDERSON Journal Staff Writer A burglar alarm system and some good instinctive police work thwarted a would-be robbery at the Woolco department store in Greenwood early this morning. Around 2:25 a.m.

Greenwood police were called to the department store on U.S. 31 after a silent alarm inside the store had been tripped. Inside the store police found a duffle bag and a sleeping bag filled with watches, cameras and other items. They also found a would-be thief hiding among sleeping bags in the camping department. Police estimated the value of the items which had been gathered at $13,850.56.

At the same time that police were combing the inside of the large depart Good evening Weather Election 78 1 Sunny skies gave Johnson county residents a reprieve from the wet and chilly weather which has been prevalent over the last few days, but windy conditions kept coats buttoned up. The forecast still calls for clear skies and cool temperatures with lows around 40 and highs in the mid 60s. Tuesday saw a low temperature of 41 and a high of 50. At 8 a.m. today the temperature was 46.

A measurement of .46 inch of rain was recorded Tuesday, with the extended outlook predicting mild weather through the week with a return to showers and thunderstorms Saturday and Sunday. Candidates Interviews with four 6th Distrirt Opinion GOP congressional candidates vying in the upcoming primary election are on Page 6 of today's edition of the Daily Journal. The election series continues Thursday with a look at three GOP primary races for county council seats. Today's story was written by staff writer Sally King. Commentaries on solar energy as a power source and Carter's war on inflation, as well as "Mountains and Molehills" by Dick Van Valer, appear on today's Viewpoints page.

Page 2. School Lifestyle Remember Mary Pickford, "America's Sweetheart?" Whether you do or not, you'll want to see the article on today's lifestyle page about this motion picture legend. Page 12. I She's billed as the "Jane Pauley of the Middle School." A feature about a youngster who resembles the well-known TV broadcaster, is lead announcer for her school radio program and has even received an autographed picture of Miss Pauley, is found on today's school page with other school news. Page 16.

CB Convac Today's "Convac" column talks about a little gimmick (of questionable legality) which warns of approaching "Smokeys" a "furzbuster." Read about this development on page 14. Sports Inspector probes Franklin's landfill The spring track season receives the attention of the Daily Journal sports department today, with summaries of both boys' and girls' track "best performances" included, as well as a summary of the boys' county track meet. Pages 8 and 9. State Board of Health inspector Steve Poe, left, this morning cited surface solid waste management section, Poe noted that "the weather poses a lot of drainage as the biggest problem with the Franklin landfill. During a regular the facility.

Also at the landfill during the inspection were mayor monthly inspection of the facility on County Road 300S, Poe suggested some im- F. Edward Vandivier and street commissioner Larry Coffman. provements to landfill operator Merrill Dugan, right. A representative of the (Daily Journal photo) irnn ii ftiitm Mm.