Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] Re: crime in rural america

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Mark A Abner <wizard1 AT kih.net>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Re: crime in rural america
  • Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:28:50 -0400

maybe I am just an old KY fueder but I think the sherrif and some fox hunter
would have gotten into an argument on some back road one night and have shot
each other

Mark

Leigh Hauter wrote:

> here's a good 'crime in rural America' story for y'all.
>
> Over a decade and a half ago a friend of mine died. He was the
> step-son of a man who inherited a very, very large fortune. And once
> in a while, when his step-father felt generous, my friend would get a
> gift.
>
> So when he died he had been living in a large house on 30 or so acres
> near Middleburg, VA. that his step-father had bought him.
>
> Now Middleburg, Virginia, for those of you who don't know, is an
> upscale town in the middle of beautiful rolling hills full of very
> large horse estates owned by very wealthy people.
>
> It so happens that many of these extremely wealthy people's sole
> interest in life is dressing up in strange clothes and riding their
> horses through the countryside in hot pursuit of a pack of hounds
> which are allegedly chasing a fox.
>
> Well, when my friend wrecked his airplane (another gift form
> step-daddy) and died, everything he owned went to his mother, who
> lived on top of a skyscraper in Chicago, and she said to my wife, 'I
> hate Virginia and the fox hunting crowd. Why don't you live in my
> son's house for as long as you like.'
>
> Of course we moved out of our small farm house and into this large
> modern house immediately. And lived their several years.
>
> However, there was one problem.
>
> The fox hunters' hounds followed by the fox hunters themselves all
> dressed up in their peculiar fox hunting regalia, astride their
> expensive fox hunting horses, would cross my friends' property (or
> now it was his mothers' property) once a week during 'hunt season' in
> the hope of running a scrawny, wormy, mangy, flea bitten fox to
> ground.
>
> (actually, the hunt didn't just cross the property, but it often cut
> across the front yard, less than a dozen yards from the front door).
>
> One day, while I was giving my friend's mother a periodic report on
> the condition of her property, I mentioned the hunt, and their race
> across the front yard.
>
> She was horrified. 'I hate fox hunters, I hate that entire set of
> people. Put a fence up so they can't trespass across my property.'
>
> Well, I did.
>
> And no sooner had I, then the leaders of 'the hunt' would have one of
> their hired hands come over while we were at work and tear the fence
> down.
>
> This went on for almost a year. I would build a fence. It would be
> torn down. I would rebuild it, it would be demolished again.
>
> And then the week before the next fox hunting season started rolled around.
>
> I still remember that day. Cold, damp, snow still on the ground. My
> wife and I drove off to work and no sooner had we got there than we
> both got phone calls: 'your house is on fire.'
>
> Someone had taken my clothes out of my closet and tossing them on our
> bed poured gas or some other flammable on them and lit it.
>
> Burning down the house.
>
> There was no doubt on the part of the sheriff. It was arson.
>
> And the first thing they asked was: 'Why did you burn down your house?'
>
> Our pleas of innocence were mostly of no avail. In fact when we
> reported that the head of the fox hunt had told us, 'you will be
> sorry if you cause the hunt any more trouble. You'll come home one
> day and you won't have a house.' The sheriff ignored us.
>
> (we found out later that soon after the fire a woman, very involved
> with the fox hunt, had given the sheriff a ten thousand dollar
> campaign contribution.
>
> So we moved back to our little farm house, worried that the people
> that had burnt down the house would sneak up on us one night and
> finish the job they had started.
>
> And all the time the sheriff's office is asking everyone about us.
> Going into our background, questioning our bosses.
>
> Until...
>
> Until they found out that we, as house sitters, were uninsured. That
> we lost all of our possessions in the fire. Our books, our
> furniture, our clothes, everything. And none of it was covered by
> insurance.
>
> It was then that they realized that we had absolutely no motive for
> destroying all of our personal possessions by burning down the
> beautiful house where we were living, and could go on living for
> years, rent free.
>
> With that, the sheriff dropped his investigation into the fire.
> Finished, another unsolved rural crime.
>
> But we wouldn't let it drop. We asked around, and asked and snooped
> and we found people who were witnesses to people in this very
> exclusive fox hunting club saying that they were going to have our
> house burnt down if we continued to cause them trouble.
>
> In fact, we got so close to finding out exactly what happened that a
> couple who had been working for one of the multi-multi millionaire
> fox hunters suddenly packed up all of their things in the middle of
> the night and disappeared.
>
> The sheriff, when confronted with the evidence said: 'the case is
> closed. It's unsolved. And anyway, its none of your business.'
>
> and I guess that it wasn't. An arsonist paid by one of the
> wealthiest people in this country burnt down the house we were living
> in, destroying all of our possessions.
>
> And the sheriff, when it was apparent that the wealthy were behind
> the fire, dropped the case.
>
> I don't know which was the bigger 'crime in rural America' the arson
> or the cover up of the crime.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Market-farming mailing list
> Market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/market-farming
>
> Get the list FAQ at: http://www.marketfarming.net/mflistfaq.htm






Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page