And where is Chris Giauque? Robin asked these questions on another thread. Since we're talking about the effects of 215, It's worth asking...
Cannabis distributor Les Crane slain 11/18/05
Chris Giauque's brother has set up a website with information and links.
Chris disappeared from Humboldt County on August 9, 2003. Several months later, the Humboldt County Sheriffs classified his disappearance as a homicide. Chris has not been found. Anyone who has information about his disappearance is encouraged to call me (Clint) at: 707-822-4415 or email me at clintgiauque at yahoo.com
There is a $50,000 reward for anyone who knows where his remains are located. Anyone with information can also call the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office at (707) 445-7251.
***
Chris' brother sent the following letter to over 2000 residents in Redway, California (southern Humboldt County) August 9, 2005, and to local news media and local and federal law enforcement agencies. The letter has details about Chris’ disappearance and the unsuccessful search to find him.
11 August 2003. Rebecca Giauque called me and said that Chris had been missing for 2 days. Rebecca had married Chris 2 weeks earlier. She said that she was a suspect and had hired an attorney and a private investigator. She would not provide further details.
I called Chris’s friend. He reluctantly told me that Chris had gone to Spy Rock in Mendocino County to pick up over $100,000 in cash from Ben Lomax on the night he went missing. Rebecca and Lomax had filed a missing persons report. They decided to not tell the Humboldt Sheriffs about the cash because it was from an illegal marijuana business that Chris and Lomax co-owned. This friend refused to talk to the Sheriffs because he did not want to get into any trouble.
After speaking with the Humboldt Sheriffs, I received another phone call from Rebecca. Rebecca Giauque said that she did not want the Sheriffs to know about the over $100,000 in cash that Chris picked up the night he went missing. She then warned me to stay out of Chris’s business.
12 Aug 03. I called the local media and offered a $50,000 reward for Chris’s location.
13 Aug 03. Chris’s blue Toyota pick-up was found in Humboldt County at the junction of Elk Creek Road and Avenue of the Giants. The Sheriffs immediately considered it a homicide. The Sheriffs asked me if I had seen Rebecca since they could not find her and she was not returning their calls.
23 Aug 03. I interviewed Ben Lomax. Lomax was the last person to report seeing Chris. Ben Lomax admitted that he had given Chris over $100,000 in cash on the night he went missing. The cash was from over 100 pounds of outdoor marijuana. Lomax and Rebecca had not reported the cash to the Sheriffs because the marijuana business was not legal. Lomax was upset with me for telling the Sheriffs about the cash and his illegal marijuana business. Lomax said he thought Chris was killed while burying the cash in Salmon Creek. I reported this conversation to the Sheriffs along with the fact that Chris had over $1,000,000 in cash buried on his Salmon Creek property that he shared with Rebecca Giauque.
30 Aug 03. Rebecca called me and said that she would have me arrested if I came onto any of Chris’s properties. This was the last conversation I had with Rebecca Giauque.
16 Apr 04. I learned that Ben Lomax had given tens of thousands of dollars in cash to Rebecca’s private investigator, Jeff Cyphers, in the Eureka Bayshore Mall parking lot. The source of this money was Lomax’s illegal marijuana business.
Rebecca’s attorney, Kelly Walsh contacted me that same day. He was very upset. Attorney Kelly Walsh repeatedly threatened me and said, “you better keep quiet or I will have you taken care of”. I later learned that investigator Cyphers and attorney Walsh had used Walsh’s Eureka law office to collect tens of thousands of dollars in cash directly from Lomax, and much more cash indirectly (PR030266, May 21, 2004. Judge J.M. Brown). The source of this money was Lomax's illegal marijuana business.
I have taken attorney Walsh’s threats very seriously. I know that people who are involved in the collection of large amounts of drug money can be dangerous. Chris’s disappearance and homicide s an example. After attorney Walsh’s threats I was repeatedly followed and harassed by investigator Cyphers. I have also witnessed a violent attack against a close supporter of mine.
The Sheriffs admit that private investigator Cyphers has close friends in their department. Cyphers also worked closely with one of the detectives on Chris’s case. I do not know why private investigator Cyphers would collect my murdered brother’s marijuana debts from the main suspect in his homicide. I have tried to interview Cyphers but he will not answer my questions. This information has not interested the Sheriffs department and they will not investigate.
For the past 2 years, I have been too afraid to speak out. By going public with this information, I hope to shut down Ben Lomax’s illegal marijuana business and the flow of illegal cash to people that have repeatedly harassed and threatened me. This would help my family’s search for Chris. I realize that this is unusual but I am asking for help from the local community.
I know that there are people who know what happened to Chris but are not willing to talk to the Sheriffs. I encourage anyone with any information about Chris Giauque to call me (Clint Giauque) directly at (707) 822-4415. This includes people with information about the collection of Chris’s marijuana debts.
I have offered a $50,000 reward that is still available to anyone who can tell me where Chris Giauque is located. Rebecca Giauque and Ben Lomax will not offer any reward.
Sincerely,
Clint
_________
Federal authorities raided Lomax’s property three weeks after publication. Lomax was arrested and indicted on charges of conspiracy to cultivate and distribute 4400 pounds of marijuana with a street value of $17,000,000 along with 14 other people. Lomax was released on bail and is currently awaiting trail. A copy of the US Attorney’s News Release can be seen at:
U.S. Deptartment of Justice - $17 million marijuana cultivation operation uncovered; 15 indicted -
September 8, 2005
_________
Still missing 8/28/03
GIAUQUE BROTHER PUSHES FOR RESOLUTION
COMMET seizes 8,000 marijuana plants
Advocate Missing from Spy Rock Area 8/31/03
Missing Activist Wins Back Disputed Ounce of Pot
Judge Seizes Marijuana at Government's Request
Patient Sues U.S. for Return of One Ounce of Pot 11/19/01
ill bet that chris is dead in a shallow grave somewhere.....just a hunch.
ReplyDeletei remember when chris first moved to the area....within months of his arrival, his property was labeled "sitting duck ranch".....
i was doing contracting work in the area at the time.
EVERYONE knew his motives. none of the neighbors liked him. he moved a bunch of his friends to the property. soon, he was able to purchase another piece near his. quads would run from property to property at all hours of the night....the feds had helicopters taking pictures of his newly dug basement before he was able to build his giant new home over it....CAMP and other law enforcement visited the place on a regular basis....
all more reason for legalization...the less dreadlocked mafia types the better in my opinion. they tend to talk peace, but live another way...
You are an enigma, Tom. I've heard people in Mendocino Co. speak of the death of Les Crane with the same callous disregard you have here in talking about Chris Giauque. Sad.
ReplyDeletewhat? how have i disregarded him? by referring to him as a dreadlocked mafia type? that guy dug his own grave...
ReplyDeleteLiterally?
ReplyDeleteIt's a dangerous business, an illegal and dangerous product, and a vicious subculture of criminals. You want to play with fire, expect to get burned and don't expect people who work hard and pay taxes to get all misty-eyed, especially when your friends and family are minimally cooperative with the law because they are in the same racket.
ReplyDeleterose,
ReplyDeletenot literally. the poster at 1:54 summed up my point basically.
Well, that's a relief. Maybe he's alive and in hiding. I do agree with 1:54.
ReplyDeleteSo now you see what i mean, otherme?
rose,
ReplyDeleteof course i see what you mean. there is big money in the pot business, we all know that. the ONLY way that gangsters smuggling booze during the prohibition were stopped was legaalization. no matter how many dreadlocked mafia types we lock up, more will pop out of the woodwork. its a drain on the system.
On that we are also in agreement. Maybe we have more in common than you'd think.
ReplyDeleteI have alot of friends who, like you, see all the growers making money, but they have the integrity to refuse to do it themselves. Yet you seem conflicted over the issue. Why?
You do seem to be backing up a little bit, Tom.
ReplyDeletetow dead guys and theotherme still says that pot growing isn't dangerous!
ReplyDeleteGo kill some more brain cells TOM.
Well, it's not exactly a eulogy you've written here, Tom...
ReplyDeleteTom,
ReplyDeleteYou've said you work for a timber corp. & mention here having done contract work. Are you a timber faller? Just curious.
robin,
ReplyDeletebacking up? ive called for legalization all along....
as for the eulogy comment, im not sure what you mean.
rose,
ReplyDeletehow am i "conflicted" because i see people making money from pot? because im not jealous? i dont get your point. and,no,for the hundreth time, i dont grow pot,so dont go there. thats childish. and i dont know any political activists, so dont bring them into it either. just answer me how i am "conflicted" over the issue of marijuana.
Now don't go gettin' all agitated again. I was merely noting that I respect you for your decision NOT to grow dope. I know alot of people who have done the same, and though they occasionally joke that they oughtta change their mind and rake in the easy bucks, they don't.
ReplyDeleteWell, you don't exactly say what a great revolutionary Chris was in the battle to legalize pot, Tom, or what a shame it is that he has so mysteriously disappeared or offered any sympathy to his brother. See, that's what I don't understand. We're all for legalizing pot but the most public advocates for that stance disappear or get murdered & there seems to be little, if any, grieving amongst the lower-profile growers when that happens. Or the cops, for that matter. Why do you suppose that is?
ReplyDeleterose,
ReplyDeleteso how am i "conflicted"?
robin,
no,im not a tree faller. i was doing some remodeling work near where chris bought land.
Ah, so you're a carpenter. I thought you said you work for a timber corp. Did you know Chris personally?
ReplyDeleterobin,
ReplyDeletei did not know chris. i saw him in town quite a few times, but i got my info about him from the salmon creek locals that i was working for. white guys with giant dreadlocks tend to stick out...his giant truck was visable coming from a mile away...everyone knew who that guy was
robin,
ReplyDeleteid rather keep myself anonymous,so id rather not say where i work. but i can tell you this, carpentry is not my day job, but i take jobs from time to time when im not busy with projects of my own.
Of course.
ReplyDeleteI get the impression that you've lived in the Eureka area a long time so have had the opportunity to observe the many social & economic changes there. What do you think have been the best & worst changes there in, oh say, the last 15-20 years?
I'm wondering, also, if you are very familiar with Mendocino Co.?
Robin
ReplyDeleteWe are not all for legalizing marijuana. All this bullshit about legalize it, tax it, save the poor, build more schools. It gets a little old.
Whatever these maggot dope growers say they don't what legalization either. They just don't want any enforcement. Keeping it illegal does keep the profits for selling it high. Dope growers grow dope to make money, not becasue they want to help the sick or dying. Anyone that says different is just a liar. Even these hyocrite pieces of shit that run the cannabis clubs sell at street (black market ) prices. If they really cared about "sick people" they would reduce the price.
Don't know much about Les Crane but I know a little about Giaque. I am in a fix on this. I'm sure Giaque is as dead as Crane and I think anyone that participated in these deaths, or prospered from these deaths, are scum of the earth and should get life in prison for their deeds. BUT, I have little sympathy for these two. It's not like they were good citizens on their way home from work and were run over by a drunk driver (or a stoned driver). These two were criminals engaged in criminal activity. They were profiting from there criminal actiions.
Too bad, so sad.
Excellent points, 6:16. I have to admit I never thought about what someone would pay at a "clinic/dispensary" - what do they pay? What is the street price? I would have thought you'd be correct that they should/would NOT be selling at street prices to all these severely ill college students.
ReplyDeleteIt is curious that none of the 'activists" are up at arms over those two killings - there are no vigils for those two, no protests at the courthouse, no "solidarity" from Salzman and crew, no alert-the-media crusades by Shellenberger.
It's one reason why I'm asking what the unintended consequences of legalization might be - there's certainly one set if the rest of the state or nation didn't follow suit - we would have more people moving here to conduct otherwise illegal activity, just as we have now only worse - there would undoubtedly be more organized crime moving in.
Even if you could deal with that, I don't think the growers who have been making these huge incomes tax-free are suddenly going to be willing to fork over half their income to Uncle Sam. So you'd have a whole new set of enforcement problems and forfeiture laws - arrests...
Then again, maybe it would galvanize massive support for a change in the tax codes, and support of the Fair Tax. All of the people making six figure incomes would suddenly be in the "rich should pay more" category, and they may not like it too much.
Gosh, 6:16. Have you mistaken me for a bleeding heart liberal?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you didn't see this:
ReplyDeleterobin shelley said...
I was going to send you the PD & AVA articles, Rose. Glad you & Mark beat me to it. This is such an emotional topic for me. Mendocino Co. - specifically, Laytonville - was my home for 50 years... & now it's not.
I don't know Mike Nemeth but what he says speaks volumes: he says the proposed ordinance would be unfair to people like him who moved to Mendocino Co. specifically to grow dope & then has the balls to try to justify his drug dealer status by saying he wants to grow dope because some of his relatives are getting old & HE wants to HELP them IF they development ailments. Screw education! Screw research! Now everybody's a doctor & pharmacist! I wonder how much he will charge his ailing family members if & when they need his services.
On one hand, I'm glad to see somebody finally stand up & publically declare themselves a drug dealer because I think the discussion about the abuse of Prop. 215 is needed. But, on the other hand, his bullshit excuse detracts from anything useful he might have to say on the subject. I have yet to hear any old time, longtime growers stand up for legalizing pot. Some of the newcomers who have spoken out are... well, gone. Google the name Les Crane & read that story as an example of what I'm talking about. Crane was very outspoken about what he was doing. Some people kicked in his door one night, shot & killed him, left two witnesses & still have not been found. The general consensus in Laytonville is that the moral to the Crane story is "let that be a lesson to you".
The sheriff of Mendocino Co. is a Humboldt Co. boy by the name of Tom Allman. Anybody go to South Fork High with him? Twenty years ago, when I was a reporter & he was a deputy, I would have described Tom as the straightest arrow in the quiver so his slouching posture on the pot problem today surprises me.
Humboldt Co. citizens need to keep a close eye on what's happening to the south because, as long as Gallegos is in office, there is a very real danger of the exact same thing happening in Humboldt.
11/08/2007 7:05 AM
Or these:
ReplyDeleterobin shelley said...
Well, 10:50, you're right & all of us who've grown up or lived in Humboldt & Mendocino Counties for any length of time know it. Obviously, it's a sore topic for you, too.
...
Prop. 215 is a ruse & everybody knows that, too. I happen to believe marijuana really is good medicine for some cases but forget the medical BS & legalize it as the recreational drug it is. Put a tax stamp on it just like cigarettes & booze. Let R.J. Reynolds or Phillip Morris take it over - maybe create some low-paying jobs in the Emerald Triangle - sell it in grocery stores & liquor stores & casinos. How cost effective is it to grow your own tobacco or make your own beer or wine or run your own still? Wouldn't it be the same for dope? Sure, you could still grow your own but who would care &, unless you are a connoiseur, why would you want to? The neighbors might complain about the smell but nobody would be kicking in the back door in the middle of the night looking to steal pot or money. Take it off the black market & maybe the Mexican & Asian drug cartels would move out, too.
9/30/2007 5:47 PM
robin shelley said...
Mendocino Co. is in the same boat & probably Trinity Co. & others, too. I don't know that it hurts the local economy so much as the state is missing out on a hell of a tax opportunity. Think of the millions or billions of tax-free dollars that go out of these counties annually. Marijuana is Big Business & CA ought to figure out a way to capitalize on it. On the local level, it's probably more of a boon to the economy... after all, it does bring in business & employ people whether we like it or not. Some of the smaller towns might well dry up & blow away without it.... look at Laytonville, Garberville & Redway, for instance, where marijuana is flaunted. What else is there that could support those old timber towns?
I'm with you, 10:50 - it needs to be discussed openly but, then, some people have gone missing for being too open in their discussion.
Marijuana prohibition has failed & the industry it has spawned is too big to unravel. We need to be honest. It's not about civil rights or what's harmful & what's not, it's not about medicine & it's not even about getting high (although that IS what drives the market). It's about money. Lots & lots of money.
Rose said...
ReplyDelete"Excellent points, 6:16. I have to admit I never thought about what someone would pay at a "clinic/dispensary" - what do they pay? What is the street price? I would have thought you'd be correct that they should/would NOT be selling at street prices to all these severely ill college students."
I believe some pay higher than street value,as they perceive they're getting the best quality.My understanding is that the dispensary in Arcata works with about 80 different growers or so,for various products.
Don't worry,Dan Johnson,his partners,and some 215 possesers will be making some nice cash at the new facility in Arcata.
The marijuana industry has "spawned" because of Prop 215.
ReplyDeleteThink of the changes since 215! How many lawyers that once specialized in marijuana cases are having trouble finding work. They said they wanted 215 (to appease their clinets)but in the end they did not. I have spoken to two such attorneys and that have said 215 cut off almost all of their business (kind of funny).
They stop prosecuting and we have a "crisis" in Arcata, we have the biggest siezure year for pot EVER in Humboldt County. And that's with only one or two deputies working pot and CAMP only coming two weeks a year instead of two months a year.
With 215 as law and every city or county being able to make their own rules there is a constant state of confussion. If one grow has 400 plants and four "recomendations" the cops have to leave it, and who knows if the "recomdndations are real, photocopies, or bullshit ones from the lieks of Dr. Miller.
Arcata for example. What happened to Arcata when Dave Merserve and crew where in power? Merserve was pro pot and used his power over the not so brave and not so noble chief of police Randy Mendoza to turn a blind eye to a host of indoor grows. And look at the problem now ! PG&E is replacing transformers all over Arcata. The fire department is putting out fires. Lnadlords are getting their property trashed. Legit college kids have trouble finding affordable rentals and then have to pay HUGH security deposits (becasue landlords half ass expect them all to grow dope and damage the property). And let's not forget at least one, probably two, explosions from making hash with butane ?! And that is just Arcata.
Then we have those that say oh my look at all the money pot brings to the community ! How the economy would colapse without the marijuana ? Schools would close ? Lions and tigers and bears oh my !
9:10 PM you are right . It's about lots and lots of money. And big money corrupts. It corrupts citizens, public officials, elected officials, and sad to say a whole generation. Humboldt County has become a hellhole and meth is only a small part of it.
Mark Mresquan is a blithering fucking idiot. Tooooo bad there is no medicine to cure him.
ReplyDeleteThat is all very interesting but what I would like to know is who killed Chris Giauque? If he was a pot dealer, he did not deserve to be robbed and executed. What rumors are people hearing? Who had the most to gain by his death? Did his wife assume ownership of all his property? Including the buried1 million? What happened to Lomax? What was the attorney Walsh's relationship to Giauque and Lomax? Did Chris Giaque ever make a deal with the authorities? Could it have been a revenge murder? It appears he was murdered and it does not appear he deserved it. That's just not right. Good people don't stand by, solve this crime.
ReplyDeleteWho killed Chris ? Chris was an unpleasant guy and was not well liked. I encountered him one time and walked away with an extreme dislike for him. But he did not deserve to get killed.
ReplyDeleteAs I understand it the "ex-wifey" got the property and all that goes with it. She was not cooperative with the cops. What happened to Lomax ? I'd like to know. There is some unusual stuff going on with the lawyer and the slimey private investigator.
Chris did not make a deal with the cops. Nobody really believes that. The people that stole from Chris or benefited from his death would like you t believe that.
Does anyone "deserve" to be murdered? I don't think so.
Well maybe joe stalin deserved to be murdered. Anyway, what kind of "unusual stuff" is going on with the lawyer and what is the nature of the slime oozing from the P.I? Why wasn't Chris well liked? Did anyone besides Lomax know that Giauque was going to pick up the $100,000? What was/is the nature of the connection between Lomax, Giauque and the Fresno crew that got popped by the Feds?
ReplyDeleteWhat Fresno crew?
ReplyDeleteRe: the price of POT sold in "clinics" - from the AVA Mendo Pot Chronicles: Four masked men, at least one of them armed with a .22 caliber revolver, kicked in their front door, and demanded money. Rex ran to his room in an apparent effort to alert his wife of the robbery and retrieve his personal handgun. He was confronted by the intruders in his bedroom and shot once in the chest. He died an hour later at a local hospital....
By the way, that is from mlan article on another murder - On January 9th of this year, Rex Farrance, 59, a long-time technical editor of PC World Magazine, was murdered in a home invasion robbery. Farrance, at the apparent behest of his son, had a large indoor grow going in his home in Pittsburg in the East Bay. Last week three men, Tremaine Amos, 25, of Bay Point, and Darryl Hudson and Montrell Hall, both 23 and both of Pittsburg, were charged with Farrance's murder, and the associated robbery and burglary
ReplyDeleteThis guy wasn't even a pot advocate.
See the link "COMMET seizes 8000 marijuana plants" also google "marijuana fresno conspsiracy" and you will find info about a case out of Fresno involving a stereo equipment store owner and a national distribution ring for both Mexican and domestic marijuana. Among those convicted was a standout football player at the university of Georgia who originally hailed from Fresno and was projected to be drafted into the NFL. Were either Giauque, his wife or Lomax originally from Fresno? Unlike the Rex Farrance case, Giauque's remains unresolved. "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground" the Lord said, and "Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold." There is no statue of limitations for murder.
ReplyDeleteI know this seems a long time but I really want to know what Charlie Magpie and His Crew had to do with Chris's disappearance.I was a Runner for a dispensary in Oaklnd and I remember Chris very well he had an appearance that stuck out.I had no idea this happened until later and then I started tp piece some things together and to be honest with you it still scares the shit out of me.I left Ken Estes and his fold when he started to consort with the likes of Charlie Magpie and his associates.I do not regret leaving after being thrust into a scandal with the vietnamese gangsters they also consorted with.I am an ethical person and the people he was dealing with were shady.Chris seemed like a genuinely great guy and gave me some hash and had some OIL that was bomb.I really wonder because I realized that a war ensued between the Humboldt old timers and I feel The Grandaddy and Gods Gift were strains that may have been hijacked and during the hijacking Chris got Fucked good and his cash taken.What I mean by HIJACK is A certain someone pretended tonbe the strains developer and I feel that was a farce to get the mass amounts of money that those strains were getting in Oaksterdam at th time at 1727 Telegraph.Think about it.Ken was in the middle and was used himself.he was left holding the bag.He is a nice guy that gets in with the wrong crowds.He bailed Charlie OUT from for closure nad Charlie sure did come up with matching funds to expand from nowhereville after being BROKE.I winder HUMMMMMM.
ReplyDeleteI do Wonder what happened and actually shared what I have felt for a while but it took time to piece together a theory.I have no solid evidence I just remember coincidences.HUMMMM. be safe I am probably wrong but who knows.Charlie was in Jail for Attemted Murder later on that year.
ReplyDeleteYou have an interesting perspective - I remember reading about Oaksterdam.
ReplyDeleteOaksterdam University - Quality Training for the Cannabis Industry
Does anyone know what Chris' fanny pack looked like?
ReplyDelete