The Burlington Free Press from Burlington, Vermont • Page 13

Deaths and Births Page 2B Vermont Primary Page 2B Friday, July 30. 1976 St. John Guilty to Pleads Fraud Vermont 'I roundup Fiddlers' Contest I Jlf A ifik ft r-v te''' vb II ffMRnIP By JANE SMITH Frt Preu Staff Writer The trial of David P. St. John, charged with defrauding a Winooski widow out of much of the $300,000 she received from her husband's life insurance policy, ended abruptly Thursday when the 34-year-old former resident of Barre pleaded guilty to two of the six counts he had faced.

U.S. Atty. George W.F. Cook said the government in plea bargaining agreed to drop the remaining charges. St.

John is free to return home to Hawaii on a $10,000 personal recognizance bail bond and will be sentenced at a later date. U.S. District Court Judge Albert W. Coffrin accepted St.John's change of plea shortly after 2 p.m. on the third day of the trial.

The former speech major at the University of Vermont can be sentenced up to five years in jail on each count. He pleaded guilty to devising a scheme on or about May 23, 1974 to defraud Claire LaVallee of some of her money. The scheme involved assuring Mrs. LaVallee he was a skilled businessman so she would trust him to invest $225,000 for her. St.

John owns a modeling school and agency in Honolulu. Seven years ago he managed an insurance agency in Burlington. According to the charges, St. John told Mrs. LaVallee her investments would double in two years when he knew they probably wouldn't.

He also admitted to causing Mrs. LaVallee to sign documents that said she was loaning him money, rather than giving him money to invest for her. A further part of the scheme outlined Free Preu Photoi by JIM WILSON operates a 20-ton crane for fhe W.H. Crane Comes Body of Drowning Victim Is Recovered From Gorge by the government to which St. John pleaded guilty was to insure secrecy.

Mrs. LaVallee was told by St. John not to tell anyone about "their little secret." The government also claims St. John offered to pay Mrs. LaVallee 10.000 to get rid of the lawyer who was questioning her about her financial transactions.

Mrs. LaVallee. whose husband Isadore died Dec. 10. 1973.

met St. John in Hawaii in May 1974. She was introduced to him by her insurance agent Joseph LaCross of Barre. who had gone to high school with St. John.

In July 1974. St. John returned to Vermont to attend a class reunion at Spaulding High School. On that visit he went to see Mrs. LaVallee.

who turned 100.000 to him for investments. During that trip. St. John spoke to the Barre Rotary Club, the Taylor House rehabilitation center in Montpelier and to Weeks School students in Vergennes, informing people about Hawaii and what it is like to be in business there. On a second visit to the state in October 1974.

St. John received an additional 125,000 from Mrs. LaVallee to invest. The investments included a house in a residential area near the University of Hawaii, several cars and some jewelry. Mrs.

LaVallee did not receive any money from them. St. John pleaded guilty to telling Mrs. LaVallee he owned lakefront property in Addison, when in fact the property had been purchased with her money. David Geary, attorney for St.

John, said Thursday that several months ago St. John signed a release turning over the property in Hawaii and Addison and several cars to Mrs. LaVallee. currents shortly after 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Recovery operations began shortly after 9 a.m. Thursday, according to Richmond Police. Palrolman Charles Eade said Laffoon jumped into the gorge at the same spot in which three other persons have drowned in (he past seven weeks. Slate police diver Roy Prior said Laffoon's body was found on the rocky-floor of the gorge in about 25 28 feet of water. Laffoon is the 11th person to drown in the gorge since May 30.

1969. Witnesses said after he dove into the water. Laffoon surfaced, clung to a rock, then went under. A clinical psychology major. Laffoon was a native of El Cajon, and lived at Northgate Apartments in Burlington.

The three-and a half acres on which the gorge is located is owned by William Skelton of Burlington, according to Richmond town records. Skelton bought the property about five yeais ago from Burlington businessman John F. Shearer. Uonrtmty of Vermont VIOLA QUARTETS J. SLATOR fine Acts Owocttt with Ynet Ifxh, ola Cooch tatn, SWbwro Farms, ijn Awgvtf 8 pm WATER MUSIC NY.

Chamber Sokxtts S. CSompJotl, King Street Dot, Tvet Aim Poos should preport to bood shj ot 7 30 pm. Sod Out! ORGAN CONCERTI ftr Dovajtos, O-joil, Motot festival ts0 eotof Ho II, We4 Avgvsl 4, oi Void Out! WIND CONCERTI and his late wife, Y. Oioe4je loioitts, wt ossta ortrsis urlVan fti Agwif 6, 1 as a repottet REQUIEM CWal lWi Vter Ofches- Burlington Savings rVVNjef Chopef, noowi, Avgtof Ol. move then home its fine tradition of teS: 14 lo 0'e 234 wnnrmw.

teser. 6543411 Set in Craftsbury CRAFTSBURY About 100 fiddlers are expected to participate in the annual Craftsbury Fiddlers' Contest Saturday, beginning at noon and continuing through the afternoon and evening. The site for the contest, a barbecue and camping is located on the Roland William's land west of Vermont 14 towards North Wolcott. At town meeting it was voted to have the town sponsor the contest for the first time and to hold it at a location other than the Common. As many as 15,000 to 20,000 have come in recent years and crowds have outgrown the village site.

When the contest was first held 13 years ago, only a dozen fiddlers competed in the gymnasium of the Craftsbury Academy. Then it moved to the Common and has been until this year, by the Horse and Buggy Club of the United Church. With nationwide publicity, the event has attracted fiddlers from all states in the northeast and from Canada. Christian Manor Asks To Be Recertified MONTPELIER Ellsworth Tewksbury, president of the Steven Patrick Christian Manor for Exceptional Boys, said Thursday the school has applied to the state Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services (SRS) for recertifica-tion as a group home. The school's contract with SRS expires Saturday.

The department had tried to remove eight of its wards from the school, but Tewksbury and some of the boys' parents refused to let a state official take the boys. The school was ordered by a judge in Windsor County Superior Court to apply for re-certification from SRS and approval for accreditation from the state Board of Education. Tewksbury said the school had not yet applied to the Board of Education for accreditation. Drug Charges Denied Two men pleaded innocent in Vermont District Court in Burlington Thursday to charges of selling drugs. Michael G.

Harris, 21, of St. Albans and Mt. Vernon, N.Y. and Joseph K. Kolzera were arrested by state police undercover narcotics detectives Wednesday night.

Harris is charged with selling phencyclidtne and hashish to undercover officers. Kolzera is charged with the sale of hashish. Bail has been set at $1,500 on each count. Highway death toil This year: 48 Last year: 62 1 Killed, 6 Injured In Grand Isle Crash GRAND ISLE A young boy was kilted and six other persons injured in a two-car accident Thursday night oil the East Shore Road at the entrance to the Grand Isle State Park Dead is Robert Kazlauskas. 7.

of Wokotl. Conn. Injured were Raymond KMlauskas. U. his wife Jean.

it. then daughter Jean, I. and their son Raymond Jr 10. as well another of Wokotl boy. age 12.

whose name was ncd released, and Michael Cameron. 21. of Grand Isle. All wre in the tmetgenty Room of the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont late Thursday bight. A hospital spokeswoman said no information on their conditions was available Police were still al the en af midnight Thursday and toold provide ii inform'.

concerning th nature of the accident Holloed Mon fovod Deed H'rtXASD-Th body of Dale Green. t. of H'rfiand was found fey his ar le oft a road one and a half miles fr'n Greens home, poiice said They sd Green, last seen Wednesday night, died of self-infix, ted ganshot wounds to the head 8 men with whom she works. She admitted to having wondered what their reaction would be, but said the guys "are great." The only guys who weren't great were the ones in charge of the union. There are, Miss Scott said, rigging jobs that are restricted to union members.

"For the sake of the business" she applied to join. "1 was stalled," she said. "Guys don't really want girls in there. But 1 knew 1 was qualified and I knew all I had to do was get them down there to see it." She does not know if on-the-spot inspection is standard for union applicants, nor does she know if most applicants wait months before they receive notice of acceptance, as she did. The reason she doesn't worry about any of that is that it would distract her from her job.

"A crane is like your right arm," she said. "And your mind should be completely on your work. If it's not, it's dangerous." Not to her, she said, but to Church Affair country and now for the first time I'm scared," she said, claiming Moon "turns children against their parents" by alleged-ly programming them into sons and daighters of the church. Mrs. Zimmerman attempted to carry the protest inside City Hall but city police told her she had to leave the sign outside.

Despite the equal numbers of protesters and Unification Church members about 25 in each group the confrontation ended at without incident at 9 30 Among the protesters were several people who had testified earlier in the day at the state Senate's investigative hearing into activities of the Unification Church. Essex Junction attorney Eric Schuppin and his wife, whose daughter, Tamara. still is a member of the church after the couple's unsuccessful attempt last year to forcibly take her away from a Connecticut shopping center, passed out anti-Church By MIKE DONOGHUE Fret Preu Staff Writer The body of Carthray M. Laffoon III. 24.

a University of Vermont graduate student, was recovered from Huntington Gorge in Richmond by slate police divers Thursday morning. Laffoon disappeared in the turbulent South Hero Voters OK Zone Proposal SOUTH HERO-Voters approved the town zoning ordinance Thursday. 11418. "I'm delighted." said Charles Slevens, chairman of the planning commission. The commission has been working on the ordinance since 1972.

The ordinance is essentially the same as the interim zoning regulations under wliii the town has been operating for the past four years. "We tried to keep the ordinance simple, Sevens said i a GORDON MILLS WILLIAM Scoff Rigging Co. Naturally the men she works with, the men within reaching distance of the massive hook on tne end ot the crane. So absorbed does she become, she said, that although she is terrified of thunder and lightning, she does not even notice if a storm strikes while she is operating her crane. "It's work," she said in explanation.

We work together. She was taught to operate a crane bv her father and brother and said, "I guess it's in the blood. It used to make my mother mad. I know it dangerous and it not nice to do, but 1 eniov it I was 1 1 years old when the first girl moved into my neighborhood. I grew up with boys." She's 25 now and admitted that she doesn't "feel much like a lady" when she gets home after a day in the cab of a crane.

She doesn't know any other female crane operators. But none of that matters when placed along side the fact that she enjoys what she does. Picketed literature. Schuppin said he had hoped for more protesters but said numbers were kept down because of the light rain. "Every little bit helps," he said, however.

Carol Siegel, chairperson of the Chittenden County Democratic Committee, said she came because she is a neighbor of the Sc huppins in Jericho and has observed "the terrible thing they've been through We have to convince the children what is going on. The Church is lobbying in Washington (and) that isn't good thing Thomas McEwen, assistant pastor of the Community Bible Church in South Burlington, said. "I turned out to show the people I'm for Christ instead of Moon." The turnout of protesting adults indicated they "are informed of the dangers." he said. "But it's the young kids, they're not really informed." he said, and therefore turn to PROTtSTORS, Page 2B Collar, has also ben terminated this month, accordir.g to both Roberts and Lowcork Attempts to reach Osmer for comment were unsuccessful. In the report, Roberts mniord that in dumissmg Omef ptrrt to May Col lar d'pfivd him of his matching retire merit funds "Is this the way to reward eight years of dedicated srviceT" Roberts ad Lowtor said that per tent of what Roberts aigs the report it true and "he tan d' umrt According to Low tor k.

in Collar a seven years as director, the authority i g'vetning board, the federal Hosisirg and Urban Development ftfl'D) rgoral crffpce Manchester, and the rmrrr office hare ail bee, aware of what was t'ut afi at the authority, but have 'refused to 6i anythita, about rt Accord to asde Nor man James. S'mo "has not sen the it was srt to bis rVHows Fa'ls aM krem boihrr.g about at all Lowrorg charged that Co'tar had "tharrgd the rutes and policies the auth'irrty. little by little, over the years no be is Der Fuhrer." Liz Scoff of Burlington Operating By GAYLE GERTLER Free Press Staff Writer She's a woman, and the interest she generates stems initially from the fact that not many women operate 20-ton cranes. Crane operating is traditionally a man's field, like piloting planes or playing football or tending bar. So the first question people ask her is how she feels about women's lib.

Just for the record, then, Liz Scott does not consider herself a women's libber. She considers herself a woman who operates cranes. She works for her father's rigging company, W.H. Scott and has been fascinated by cranes for as long as she can remember. "It's in my mind; it makes my imagination go," Miss Scott said.

"I want to be as good as my father was. And, boy, he was good." There has been no problem with the Unification By MARGARET MCCAHILL and WALT PLATTEBORZE fl rW StoH About 25 placard-carrying picketers confronted members of the Unification Church at Burlington City Hall Thursday, charging1 the church, founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, attempts to grasp national economic and political power through thought control of its faithful. Church opponents came to City Hall in response to the Unification Church's "Bicentennial God Bless Amenta Festival." The church had rented the building auditorium from the city a few days ago. "Moon Let Our Children Go." read a placard carried by Mrs.

Flore Zim-nermann, a resident of Belgium during the World War II German occupation and the most vociferous of the self proclaimed "Anti Moons." "For 20 years I was happy in this Ex Housing By SUSAN GRttX A recently dismissed Vermont Stale Housing Authority employee has sent a letter to Gov. Thomas Salmon protesting his dismissal and charging the authority secretary and executive director John Collar, with inefficiency, tax waste and misuse of public funds Armand "Bill" Roberts. form authority field representative and tenant in authority rented apartment in the White River Junction ra. was tired on July 14 for unauthorized use of agency tars on two specif occasions. The first instant was drive to New Hampshire to pick op his son.

at a time when Roberts' own vehicle was brf repaifed. Then, on Jury I. according to Roberts, an authority car was used without his knowledge by lweguests for a trp to Hartiand while he was at svmrk tn White Rrret. Collar contended that whether Roberts knetv about the use of the autntmobiie thai day. It was still hrt responsibility "That vas lrx final straw." Coliaf said.

a-Hiftf that Roberts had tn "on probation." having been employed by the authority only a few months Asked to comment on the allegations of ssasie and misuse of funds presented by Aide Raps Agency Gordon Mills to Buy Addison Independent Controlling interest in The Addison County Independent, published by Mr. and Mrs William J. Slatot for nearly JO years, is to be sold to Gordon T. Mills, edl'rf erf The Burlington Free Press, and Mrs Mills. Plans for the sale of the Independent, one of the largest wkty newspapers in Vermont, were disclosed by Mator in Thursday's edition Matof said he intends to sell controlling interest in Addison Press which publishes the Independent and operates commercial print ir plant, to the Mills Mills announced Burlington his resignation from the Free Press, effettrve Aug 31, to assume active management of the Independent.

The Independent, which tircviates primarily in Addi son County, was purchased by Slatof Celine, in 1M7. Roberts on July 1 in an II page report. Collar said "I have not seen it. and until I see it, I have no commc-nt In his letter to Salmon. Rbrts.

who describes hirr.sflf as a form efficiency expert and "troubieshooW." said that he had first tried to speak to Collar about the "unproductivity" be hd obsc-rved within the authority dufirig his first month of training- 'Rather than appreciate this ef fort, he was annoyed and at a staff meeting, asked me to put in writing, which I did When he submitted this rport to Collar. it was ignored and I was informed by staff members that I was about lo be fired on any pttense as a result erf discussing meffirieftcies ard tax waste in the office," be chargd. "It was rteref submitted to me." Coliaf sd about the report 'He rfuJ rt on several oraston Roberts charged. adimg that this was dcyne the presence of several other A'cordirg to field Supervisor George Lowck. Collar ed the car issue as an excuse 'He sas just waiting to gt ome-tfimg on Robrts He afraid of him he sd Thursday Norm the special assistant to A retired Army tototrel, Slatot was previously tity edtv of the Waterbury (Conn) Republican American Mrs State was a columnist for the Independent until her dear this year Mills jwied the Free Press 19 esnorHH wmeT.

ite naa on eaitot since He ts a dfrtor of the Greater Burimgloft YMCA, Chittenden County Intel Community Servwes and the Automobile Chb of Vermont an a corporator of the Bank Mills said he and Mrs Mills Man to from Burlington to Middlbry. "In assuming ownership of the Indeprdent, we pledge to continue torrwmir.ty service to Addison County." Mills said No staff changes are planned, he said.