Chuckle y Today's Fi60 Piess telephones Husband's complaint: City News Desk 222-660- 0 "My wife loves to buy To Place Classified Ads 222-680- 0 anything that's marked Insurance Dept. ".! '222-647- 0 down. Yesterday she ; For Home Delivery 222-650- 0 came home from the store All Other Calls 222-640- 0 with two dresses and an Section A, Page 3 SECOND FRONT PAGE Sunday, February 11, 1979 escalator."

on Willetts Willi uWl Bigplans backfired f j 1 r-- i. s ft ; By BILLY BOWLES vj Free Press Staff Writer Murder his deals and debts To those who knew him casually, Guy Willetts exposes was a well-to-d- o Grosse Pointe businessman. The second he was of was tions aboard, and sail into in Middle East He was of two drove a company president port eight president companies, OTAC Trade Alliance Council Interna- countries as a trade fair. tennis at the Club of Oceanic floating Thunderbird, played Country tional Inc. a business firm. Princes, sheikhs and Arab heads of state would traveled to Cairo for business and promotion Detroit, Majorca come aboard, Willetts assured financial backers for and swam in his It is Willetts' OTAC partners Richard D. ID pleasure backyard pool. and prospective exhibitors, to hear the American But closer knew better. French, John G. Kiley, Mat Alfei and others who : acquaintances sales The cost to the 100 exhibitors he . "He couldn't down and himself are under investigation by the Oakland County pitches. i m;n j honestly go buy to up would be $100,000 each. rvtr a bowl of chili most said a former Prosecutor's Office and the State of Michigan. expected sign days," secretary. "He always thought big," said a former em- 1. Po MUCH OF WILLETTS life resembled a motion ploye. WILLETTS, 51, WAS MURDERED Feb. "He came on said a lice said was hit man shot him because he it that very strong," Gary Harrer, it probably a who picture script engineered way. friend and admirer of Willetts and owner of the bar in the head as he sat in a car outside the A born full of ideas but with a twice Soup promoter, poor and restaurant in the Executive Plaza in Kitchen Saloon on near east side. track record for them out, he courted Building Detroit's carrying near downtown Detroit where Willetts a lot It was discovered was a headlines the most businessmen spent later that there $2.5 joyfully way of time. "You didn't know how much to believe million insurance on his His business shrink from them. policy life. sometimes." were the beneficiaries. The were Willetts boasted he would reverse the U.S. partners partners The trade fair venture sank last fall under investigation for fraud and Willetts was co- balance of trade deficit with the Middle East floating when OTAC could not come with $1.4 million operating with authorities, it was learned. through the business venture for which he organ- up needed to lease the ship for 30 days. OTAC lost its It sounds like a movie A friend said it ized OTAC more than three years ago. script. $125,000 deposit. sounds as if Willetts wrote it. He told a Chicago Tribune reporter last year that OTAC would $20 billion in sales to those Movie scripts were Willetts' business. As presi generate WILLETTS CONFIDED a lot in Harrer. He nations. fi: W mT"-!iilti'l- f " fc III II Mill Ill ' dent of Willetts Films Inc., he produced travelogues informed Harrer of the $2.5 million insurance " V ..THII and other motion Free Press Photo by TARO YAMASAKI picture documentaries, although policy after it was taken out in December 1977. He that business was all but dormant at the time he was HIS PROPOSAL WAS to lease a cruise ship, put Guy Willetts in 1 978 photo: "He came on very strong." a friend said of him. "You killed. industrial exhibits from the largest U.S. corpora See WILLETTS, Page 1 9A didn't know how much to believe sometimes." Jackson Mayor Young Fin escapee Cops ger killed in done in oils: West o ranners m By GERALD VOLGENAU Free Press Staff Writer Artfulpolitics Robert E. Taylor, who killed a woman motel clerk in By SANDY McCLURE Free Press Staff Writer Port Huron in 1975 and later became only the fourth man It is customary for political figures to manage to have Arrest Death to escape Jackson Prison, was their portraits prominently displayed. It may help politi- immor- BOB died of and that stabbed to death during an cally, and perhaps it provides a momentary sense of By CALVERLEY strong strangulation inmate at the tality. Free Press Staff Writer the alleged assaults and Armstrong's fight Washing blood-alcoh- ton State at The latest is a three-by-five-fo- ot oil painting of Mayor Several Detroit police officers tes- high level could have Penitentiary been factors. Walla Walla, corrections offi Coleman Young by Detroit artist Carl Owens, which was tified Friday and that last contributing Saturday if cials confirmed unveiled Friday night at a fund raising reception for the May they saw three fellow officers Spitz also stated that Armstrong Saturday. had been a Taylor, 34, of Port Huron, mayor at Cobo Hall. assault a handcuffed and unconscious dragged by flashlight across his neck, marks would have was stabbed six times Friday June Ridgeway, a city assessor who also manages the prisoner who later died. One officer $150-per-tick- et been left. No such marks were found night and died in the prison mayor's political funds, said the affair said some of the police involved held a netted more than for account. on the body, he said. hospital, officials said. $350,000 Young's political IIP i. ?js t quick meeting immediately afterward He was serving four 60' Owens' will hang in the Manoogian Mansion as a to get their stories together. portrait THE INCIDENT began about 11:15 sentences in Washington to the three-by-five-fo- ot At the three officers' preliminary year companion piece portrait that last 19 when and after being convicted last Detroit Patricia did of examination Recorder's p.m. May Springer July another artist, Burnett, Joyce Garrett, Saturday, his encoun- of and the friend and new of Court Judge Henry Heading delayed partner, Sherry Butler, kidnapping robbing mayor's longtime director the city's tered in his car two exotic dancers in Seattle. of Public Information. until March 2 his decision on whether Armstrong parked Department beside a on Officers Charles Springer, 30, Jay fire hydrant Kercheval There are other oil and of the re- TAYLOR WAS tried in paintings photographs 30, and James near Dickerson. After Armstrong official Hammer, Pigeon, 32, Port Huron in October mayor throughout the Manoogian, the mayor's should stand trial on man- fused to move the vehicle, the two 1976, but the unveiled has Involuntary first-degre- residence, Friday night special officers discovered he was and convicted of e portrait slaughter charges for the death of that significance. wanted for traffic violations and murder based on testimony Leslie Wayne Armstrong, 27, who past his three brothers. died after he was arrested on 19. had improper tags on his car. given by IT WAS THE CONCEPTION of the late Robert May ran The brothers turned him in Millender, Heading said he would give the Armstrong when threatened the who into office with said. for a reward. political kingmaker helped propel Young officers' defense attorney, Al Varga, arrest, police as Detroit's first black Officers Butler called was a life mayor. time to prepare a brief arguing for Springer and Taylor given for and then chased sentence for to death "He decided it was important to do, and raised the money dismissal and Assistant Wayne help Armstrong shooting until him in a vacant lot clerk Val- for it according to Tina Bassett, Ms. Garrett's County Prosecutor Robert Pearl a they caught night privately," about two blocks With erie Lee Mills, who worked at close friend and deputy director. chance to reply. The briefs will proba- away. help center on the from Hammer, they handcuffed Arm- the Port Huron Howard John- "Bob watched the project develop over the last two years bly complex testimony of Medical Examiner strong's hands behind him. son Motor Lodge. and saw the almost completed before he died last Wayne County portrait Dr. Werner Testimony indicated that fall," Ms. Bassett said Saturday. Spitz. the of Miss during killing did not for the but a favorite OFFICER BUTLER testified that Mills, Taylor shot himself in Young pose portrait picked SPITZ originally said Armstrong one which Ms. Garrett has in her City-Coun- ty Hammer his knee on the foot. This later helped lead photograph died of a "suspected drug ingestion." put Armstrong's office as a model for Owens to follow in neck as he face in the field. to his conviction. Building his Later, after hearing accusations of lay down Owens used it a of She said she Arm- While trial in painting. along with stack other photos, police reservist Donald Johnson that saw Springer hit awaiting Ms. Bassett said. in the abdomen with his flash- Port Huron Jail, he Hammer had strong County Was the dragged Armstrong at least once. escaped once, but was recap- mayor pleased? around with a flashlight under the light He commented But she said she see tured. Later, in a notorious Friday night that it flattered him, but neck, Spitz decided Armstrong had that didn't I like I see. the escape from Jackson Prison, added, what died of strangulation. Armstrong dragged by flashlight "That's art." Carl Owens' of Young, who commented,"! like what I under his chin and that she tried to Taylor walked out of the portrait Mayor At the preliminary examination some that's see. That's art." when he Arm gates dressed like a guard. And, might add, politics. Friday, Spitz again said that Arm-- stop Springer jabbed strong. HE WAS NOT seen au Johnson repeated his story by on the stand: That Hammer thorities again until January 1978. Then was ar picked up Armstrong with the Taylor him rested in Washington state flashlight, dropped once, GM UAW claims and then dragged him 1 0 or 12 when he was shot in the stom downplays feet using the flashlight. with his own a profits, ach gun during When asked if officer with two exotic dan- A top UAW official accused General Motors but that Carter calls on workers to go slow in wage The $3.5 billion profit was the largest ever by a Butler struggle could see Johnson said: cers he was trying to kidnap. Corp. Saturday of trying to mask its record 1978 demands. private industrial corporation and marked the third this, "It would have been im- Taylor was picked up later profits in the way it reported them. straight years of record profit for GM. he medical BLUESTONE'S REMARKS, made in a letter to possible for her not to have when sought help Vice-Preside- 1 1 UAW nt Bluestone said the Also, profits for the fourth quarter of 978 hit $ seen unless for his wound at a in Irving the 148 UAW bargaining units at GM, were seen as she had her eyes hospital $3.5 billion for 1978 announced GM last billion for the first time In the company's history. closed." Edmonds, Wash. profit by the start of the rhetoric that always precedes week actually is a return of 22.2 percent on invest- The convicted murderer contract UAW contracts with the auto Bluestone criticized GM's on ANDREW Mi- ment for the automaker's shareholders. once bargaining. emphasis reporting SIMS and to Michi- Only 14; are was not extradited on invest- industry expire Sept. negotiations expcted its yearly profits as a percentage of dollar sales chael Henderson, two officers I since 1965 has GM had a higher return mid-Jul- for the remainder of his I I to open in y. rather than of Investment. As a who to the call gan J ment for shareholders, said Bluestone, head of the percentage percent- responded for life but instead was held An GM is to be the firm in the of GM 1978 said term, union's GM division. expected target age sales, said, profits after taxes in help, they saw Pigeon in Washington to serve the Irving bluestone, whose bargaining, and as such would set the contract were 5.5 percent, down from 6.1 percent in 1977. sitting on Armstrong in the four 60-ye- ar terms for armed letter was seen as a prel- Bluestone also said that President Carter's anti-inflati- pattern for the industry. The last time GM was the Bluestone said GM uses return on investment, backseat of a patrol car and robbery, assault and ude to contract policies fail to deal with what Bluestone target company was in 1970, when 400,000 GM not profit as a percentage of sales, in determining bouncing up and down on termed "excess profits" by corporations like GM, workers went on strike for 67 days. bonuses of its executives. him. "He (Pigeon) was sitting up there laughing and clap- By SUSAN BROWN He said that reaction occurs when the elderly AS A RESULT of the 1971 study, Pastalan is ping his hands and bouncing Free Press Staff Writer feel they have no control over what happens to monitoring the relocation of patients at the Wayne on the prisoner," said Sims. "I Elderly people who are moved to new surround- them. County Walter Reuther Long Term Care Facility, talked to my partner and said, ings face double the death rate of those who are not "They feel they have no control over their own and has for the last few years helped the State of 'Let's get out of here 'cause relocated, according to a study by a University of fate and a significant number just sort of give up." Pennsylvania reduce the trauma of relocating el- that's not right. " Michigan professor. Pastalan said the Washtenaw group was com- derly residents when the state closes inadequate Officer Cheryl James testi "It looks like the move itself kills, particularly pared with a similar group of residents at a Lapeer nursing homes. fied that she saw Springer, when it's said Leon Pastalan, director home moved en masse to a new Hammer and a third unidenti- When involuntary," nursing which "You can never the effects neutralize but of environment and at the U-- Institute of and with another of home really fied officer kick as elderly aging building, group nursing can some of the Armstrong in Ann Arbor. in who were not you help mitigate consequences," he hndcuf fed. She said she Gerontology residents Southeastern Michigan he said. lay Pastalan studied for over a year the outcome moved. saw Hammer drag Armstrong when moving 61 patients at a Washtenaw County He said that to help lessen the trauma, family with the flashlight against his must move nursing home had to be moved to other nursing "JUST WITH the physical disruption of moving, and friends should take the elderly patient to the neck and Springer hit the pris homes in the state. we found deaths were over what we expected but new home before moving time to acquaint him or oner in the stomach with his The patients were separated from friends at not as dramatic an increase as radical relocation," her with the physical layout and the staff. flashlight. their former home and from the medical staff who Pastalan said. Shelly Foy, Hammer s should be allowed to had cared for them. They were forced to deal with In comparison, he said, the death rate for elderly He said elderly persons partner, testified that Sprin- most move to new roommates, new social situations, new build- residents who were not moved remained constant. keep of their possessions when they ger hit Armstrong with his death and medical staffs had not learned to He said he has identified three factors that quell fears that their belongings will be lost or but she said ings they yet flashlight, repeat may contribute to relocation stolen. seen trust, he said. problems. edly that she had not the after the move, about half the Advanced age "over 80" is one of the the victim with a During year Most Pastalan is the anyone drag died a "dramatic increase" over the 28 he said. important, said, convincing his neck. patients factors, that someone still cares about him flashlight against annual rate at their former nurs- Another is a confused mental state. "Not elderly resident "I believe what percent mortality crazy, or couldn't come sooner Pastalan said. confused," he said. "Those who are not sure of her. had she said. ing home, just happened," "My the time or the place." "You have to assure them they have not been eyes were on Springer. "THERE ARE who will will The he said, is a medical abandoned," he said. "Assure them that the new people give up, they third factor, poor PIGEON TOOK the stand die," said Pastalan, 45. "They just will themselves prognosis patients with a number of physical place is a good place, too, and that you care very to die." problems. much what happens to them." See POLICE, Page 19A