Man confirms heckling Janklow before crash
By Chet Brokaw, Associated Press Writer 
 
PIERRE - A man who once called himself the
"Phantom Molester" confirmed Friday he is the
heckler who argued with Rep. Bill Janklow a few
hours before Janklow was involved in a traffic
crash that killed a Minnesota man.
 
Merlyn Schutterle of Gettysburg, who has been at
odds with Janklow for at least seven years, said he
had a loud exchange with Janklow just before the
congressman left the Brown County Fair on Aug.
16.
 
"We don't like each other. We shout at each other,"
Schutterle told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview from Champaign, Ill., where he
is visiting a son.
 
However, Schutterle, 62, said he does not recall
the exact time Janklow left or whether Janklow ate
anything at the fairgrounds - both of which are
issues in the congressman's trial.
 
Witnesses have said Janklow left the fairgrounds
about 2 p.m. Prosecutors are trying to show that Janklow was
speeding as he drove from Aberdeen before colliding
with Randy Scott's motorcycle about 200 miles away about
4:40 p.m.
 
Janklow's defense has argued that he might have had
a diabetic reaction of low blood sugar because he had not
eaten the day of the crash.
 
Schutterle wrote letters signed "Phantom Molester"
to Janklow in 1996 when he first started complaining that
authorities had unfairly accused him of being a
child molester. Janklow then ordered the South Dakota Highway
Patrol to keep Schutterle under 24-hour surveillance.
 
Schutterle said he was discussing education on
Indian reservations with Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., when he saw
Janklow in Aberdeen on Aug. 16.
 
Schutterle said when Janklow was on stage, he sat
opposite him. "We had a stare-down for the entire
performance there."
 
Schutterle said he waited for Janklow at the gate
to tell the congressman that his speech was bad. He said he
never threatened Janklow because he knows he could
be thrown in jail if he threatened a public official.
 
"The point is, I'm going to push Bill Janklow until
he unwinds, and that's exactly what you're seeing now,"
Schutterle said.
 
Schutterle said that during their argument, Janklow
called him a child molester and threatened him.
 
"I never molested any child, and Janklow knows it,"
he said
 
Schutterle has said he was fired as a principal at
a school on Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and from a job with
the Bureau of Indian Affairs after he tried to tell
people some children were in danger of being molested by others.
He said he was falsely accused of being a molester.
 
He pleaded no contest to disorderly conduct in
Pennington County on July 28, 1998, in exchange for the dismissal
of a charge of stalking.
 
He was accused of harassing a Rapid City psychologist.
 
Schutterle has acknowledged he called himself the
"Phantom Molester" because the dictionary defines phantom
as something that is not what it appears to be.
 
He said officials' statements have made it appear
that he is a child molester but that he is not.
 
Mardell Hause of Gettysburg lives next door to
Schutterle and was not surprised his name came up at the Janklow
trial.
 
"When I heard there was a heckler, I immediately
thought of him. He doesn't like Janklow," she said.
 
Schutterle often put up signs at his home
criticizing Janklow, Hause said, explaining that she runs a day-care
operation and does not particularly like having
Schutterle for a neighbor.
 
"I don't trust him, and I don't like him," she told
The AP on Friday.

===============================================================

A lot of things have happened since I last updated almost a year ago. I have read the confusing stories in the newspaper and think the people need to hear the details of what happened because the news/entertainment media is not going to tell the whole truth.

As I mentioned in my last update, Jankal threatened to break my neck at the PAX television interview with Ms Herseth. To make threats like that, then hide behind his thugs is something I will not accept.

When I returned to South Dakota last April, I planted a garden and had a wonderful summer. I decided that I could not be challenged like that and not make a response. The first opportunity presented itself was at the State Fair.

I heard the Jankal was going to be at the fair on the Saturday of the fair. Some friends of mine challenged me to take him on there. I find it hard to resist a good challenge, so I made plans to see him.

I was with the two Sioux Falls men sitting at the Freedom Stage waiting for the Jankal to arrive. He was a little late, but as soon as he arrived he went to the ice cream stand and got a big ice cream bar. Later, he complained about his weight.

We sat there and listened to the garbage from the Jankal and his admirer, the talk show host. I began to wonder how I was going to make sure I had some communication with the Jankal, so I penned a little note on the back of a scrap of paper. It was well crafted and witty. I don’t remember the exact wording, but the context was, if he wanted to break my neck, I was there and he could give it a try.

After the interview, the Jankal stepped down from the stage to talk to the few people who wanted to visit with him. I was wearing a big hat pulled down over my face so he couldn’t recognize me. I walked up to the end of the line and stood. The Jankal was displaying some strange behavior. While shaking hands, he would pull the women up to him and kiss them. Some of the women clearly did not enjoy that. But he, being the megalomaniac he is, paid no attention and thought they should be appreciative.

The Jankal finally came to the end of the line and held his hand out to me. Then I lifted my head and he saw it was me. He still wanted to shake hands, but I refused. Then I handed him the note.

He said, “Are you threatening me?” I replied, “No, Janlklow, you threatened me.” Without reading the note he said, “If you mess with me, I’ll kill you.”

I understood the “kill you” part but I wanted clearer information about the mess with me part. I replied, “What does ‘mess with me’ mean, Janklow?” He just stared at me and repeated the threat.

I was going to stand my ground, but the aide showed up and the Jankal got behind him. There was nothing left to do, because the Jankal was going to keep behind the aide, so I had to walk away and he drove off shortly after.

The Brown County Fair

For over a year, Senator Daschle and I were debating about what to do about the destruction of the kids on the reservations. I had some written materials I wanted to give him to win the argument and I decided to do that at the Brown County Fair. Senator Daschle was serving food there, and we talked briefly and I told him of the documentation that I had sent to his office.

The Jankal showed up sometime later and I saw him talking with Senator Daschle. I did not want to make a big scene, so I let the opportunity to confront the Jankal wait until later.

I positioned myself directly opposite the Jankal’s spot on the speaker’s platform. I sat alone on the front row in the hot sun to make sure he saw me. We had a stare-down for the entire performance. Then it was the Jankal’s turn to speak. The longer he talked, the sicker it got. Finally, Senator Daschle came back up to close the show.

At that time, I knew that I had to get positioned so I could confront the Jankal. I walked to the gate because I knew where his car was parked. I knew he had to come by.

Soon he appeared and as he approached me, I said to him, “Janklow, that was the biggest pile of bullshit I ever heard.” He was not pleased. He threatened to kill me and accused me of being a child molester again. That doesn’t set well with me. That was the high point, and things went down from there. When the aide saw what was happening, the androgynous person stepped between us again so the Jankal could get out of there before he got any more tongue lashing.

Ed, a man from Groton was there with me because I know the Jankal was not to be trusted and I brought Ed as a witness. Ed did hear him threaten to kill me.

We watched the Jankal drive off, and Ed went his way and I went mine. The rest is well known history.

I was somewhat surprised that that incident came up in the trial. I should have known better. Jankal was going to lay the blame for his mistakes on me again.

I did not attend the trial because I was visiting my son who lives in Illinois. Besides, there was nothing I could do there but pose for the video vultures and media maggots.

THE NEWS/ENTERTAINMENT MEDIUM COVERAGE

I have long maintained that there were no investigative reporters in South Dakota, but Chet Brokaw proved me wrong. However, he is the only exception.

I like to give credibility tests to those who think they have influence and power. I thought it interesting when Janklow tried to blame me for the wreck that killed Randy Scott, but no reporters were trying to find me and ask me questions abut what actually happened. I wasn’t that hard to identify or find, but I was not contacted until Chet Brokaw called me on the phone.

I think the media maggots and video vultures thought I would appear with my leash in hand to do tricks for the pleasure of their attention. I loath those people. While I will endure media attention when it will advance my platform, I hate to see my picture on television or in the papers. I hate to have to go to extremes to get attention to a problem, but I will do it.

Having just written that, it brings to mind what that idiot Pierre psychologist, Dennis Pfrimmer, claimed that I did things to get attention. Pfrimmer is not only stupid, he is dangerous. I had to pay for his mistake. He is protected by law and the psychology profession whose main job is to protect the members regardless of how incompetent they are.

(Well, Pfrimmer, I did not seek attention when it was going to be so easy to do. You should lose your license.) That ain’t agonna happen. Will somebody call his attention to this? He hides from me and doesn’t want to take responsibility for his actions.

I don’t know just what day it was, I was probably discussing the insanity of humanity with my son when the phone rang and it was Brokaw. He sounded surprised to find that I had personally picked up the phone and answered. He had been the only reporter in South Dakota who actually got off his butt and did his job. He put forth the effort to find me and inform the public.

Being the curious person I am, I looked up what he had to say when the interview was done. Since Brokaw was the only one with the direct source of information, I could now analyze how the papers worked the story.

I got a call telling me KSFY had posted the story on the boards. I went to the computer and pulled it up. It started with the line,” Heckler speaks out.” They made it sound like I had gotten hold of someone to tell my story, which, of course, I didn’t. In addition to that, they had gutted the story to the point I hardly recognized it. I think they do that a lot – media misinformation.

That perked my interest. I decided to compare how different papers treated the story. I used the Rapid City Journal and the Aberdeen American News for references. I wasn’t about to wade through every paper in SD to read my account.

There was a noticeable difference in the spin each paper took. Although I have taken Cindy Eikamp, editor of the Aberdeen American, to task a time or two, I think they elected to take a more positive spin to it by leaving out a pretty negative comment by my neighbor, Mardell Hause, when she said she didn’t like me or didn’t trust me which the Rapid City Journal had printed.

I loved that comment when I read it in the Rapid Journal. Mardell is the grouchiest person in town. For a negative outlook, I couldn’t have recommended a better source myself. Perhaps the Aberdeen American decided to leave that out because it was not balanced by someone who likes me. That was a weakness in Browkaw’s technique – or was it? The editors of the papers deleted or added to the story as they saw fit so it became a malignant version of Browkaw’s article.

The Aberdeen American came out with the headline, “Heckler claims Mantle.” There was a mantle? How did I claim it? That was a complete distortion of the truth. I just answered Brokkaw’s questions and put things into perspective. I didn’t claim anything.

The Rapid Journal decided to put in my arrest record. I thought that was fair, but not giving the story as to why I decided to risk arrest led to the wrong conclusion. The answer was to protect children from abuse from others who had the protection of Rapid City psychologist Lee Pfeiffer whose client, Darwin LeBeau, was molesting other children.

I was willing to risk whatever it took to help other kids. Unfortunately, with the help of Rapid City judges Pahlke and Tice, I got punished and the children were denied protection. How corrupt fools like that get into powerful positions like that frightens me. They get by because nobody does credibility checks on them.

Pahlke, who I believe never served her country, decided this patriotic old Navy veteran didn’t deserve his First Amendment. Tice denied me my second amendment illegally and still does. How can they do this? They know it costs too much to fight it, and nobody is going to question them or hold them accountable for their actions like they hold us accountable for ours.

Then there is the problem with Rapid City police officer Armstorng who abused his power to solve his own problem. He charged me with stalking, He knew that wouldn’t stand up in court, but it solved his problem with squashing my protest on his beat. He disrespected the constitution to make his job easier – all with the power of the badge and the uniform.

Another criticism of Browkaw is he decided to be politically correct and not quote me properly. He wrote that I said Janklow had given a bad speech. I did not say that nor did I mean that. What I said to Janklow was, “Janklow, that was the biggest pile of bullshit I ever heard.” That does not imply that I though his speech was bad. His delivery was good enough, but the content was just propaganda.

I don’t mean my criticism of Brokaw to sound too harsh. The things I complain about are petty insignificant when compared to what he did. He proved me wrong in my presumption that there were no credible investigative reporters in South Dakota. I loved that. He actually did take the interview and researched even more and came up with something pretty close to getting things into the proper perspective. He brought out a lot of important issues that had not yet been put into any factual context. He did a lot to help people understand just where I was coming from. He proved he had enough brainpower to wrap it around a complex story and get it out. Browkaw has earned my respect and that isn’t easy to do.

Actually, Browkaw was not the first to contact me. Someone had prodded KSOO talk show host, Rick Nobody, into calling me. The only thing he wanted to know was if I threatened Janklow. There that idiot was with the man with all the answers on the phone and that is all he wanted to know. He is so stupid he didn’t know that if I had threatened Janklow he would have had to call the jail to find me. That is against the law. You go straight to jail for that.

Not to pick on Rick because I have met with three of South Dakota’s talk show hosts, Rick, Belfrage and Jim Thompson. They are interesting studies in personalities. They are so in love with the sounds of their voices they think what they say is important. I think they have gotten so arrogant that when they think they are focusing on an issue, they are actually having an acute attack of tunnel vision.

I suppose there are lots of things I should have included in this commentary, but if you want any more information, you can email me.

The lesson I learned, and one we all fear, is nobody can trust anything that is presented by the news/entertainment business. That is a very frightening thought. What you can trust in, is that most likely they have it all screwed up and the perception they leave us with is not the correct one. Then we wonder why things are in such a mess.

For the past six or seven years the vast majority of South Dakotans thought of Janklow as a great and powerful man, including Ms Herseth, while I have been saying he is nothing but a dirty little coward in disguise. So who is right? Still I will continue to be ridiculed and blamed for causing the whole mess. That is the same mentality that kept brutal tyrants in power all over the world.

“You punch somebody in the mouth, it hurts, but they’ll heal. But call a person

dishonest… you question their veracity, you question their character, you hurt them a lot more than punching them in the face, and it doesn’t ever go away.” Janklow – 1996

However, that is exactly what Janklow did to me. Then he and his supporters got angry with me because I refused to accept it, and some are still blaming me.

Janklow and the people in power could have solved the problem years ago, but they chose to try to beat it into the dirt because they thought they had the power to do it. Now their hands have been dirtied by the blood of Randy Scott. They will, however, continue to live in denial. Nothing will be done to try to correct the injustice.

I remember hearing Janklow saying, “I don’t sweat the small stuff, and it’s all small stuff.” The lesson in this is that seemingly small stuff can get to be huge stuff in a hurry – like speed limits, stop signs, a biker, and me. He should have sweated the small stuff.

Don’t forget to view Janklow’s farewell address. Somebody sent it as a news clip of Janklow when he was running for office. It says everything about Janklow without saying anything. Janklow says it for himself.