Riverdale County Court Wisconsin USA, Thursday October 3rd, 2013.
Astounding, astonishing, amazing - just some of the superlatives uttered, printed and captured on camera this afternoon in reaction to a decision made by Riverdale County Circuit Judge Emily McPherson to dismiss the case against Greg Jaskowiak, 58, dubbed the "Blackmailer who never was" by regional and national press organisations. The case is becoming a national and international Cause célèbre.
The case against Jaskowiak came into being following the tragic suicide of 43 year old Silvia Mary Hammond, in Riverdale, Wisconsin on Christmas Eve, 2012. Detectives who interviewed friends and family of the deceased began to become aware of a sudden change which had taken place in the behaviour of Mrs Hammond in the weeks leading up to the holiday period. She became withdrawn, moody and started drinking alcohol to excess. This behaviour was out of character and those close to her were very worried by these developments. They firmly believed that her state of mind had resulted directly in her self administered demise.
Then detectives made a startling find. Hidden among her possessions, trapped between the pages of one of her books, was an envelope, addressed to Mrs Hammond using her home address. Inside the envelope was a folded piece of paper, which when unfolded revealed five words "I KNOW YOUR LITTLE SECRET". From this point on, the police investigation became a hunt for a potential blackmailer. A blackmailer who may have indirectly caused the death of Silvia Mary Hammond.
Then the police had tremendous amount of luck. Analysis of the envelope and its postmark revealed that the letter had been mailed at a Post Office in a small town some 200 miles west of Riverdale on the 12th December 2012, at 3.15pm. Interrogation of footage from CCTV cameras, which had been installed in the Post Office only months before, revealed that only four people had purchased stamps and posted mail within the identified timeline. As it turned out, all four were locals and known to staff at the Post Office and were therefore very easy to trace. One customer in particular drew the attention of investigating officers. It could clearly be seen that he had posted a small bundle of envelopes. Envelopes which even on the grainy footage looked very much like the one sent to Mrs Hammond.
Before approaching any of the four potential suspects, on-line searches were carried out to try and discover any links between the individuals and Mrs Hammond. In addition, other records were searched with the same aim. No connections were found.
Acting on a hunch, and with the CCTV footage in mind, they decided that their first call would be to Greg Jaskowiak, who lived alone in an old converted farmhouse four miles out of town. Armed with a search warrant, a team of six officers made a dawn raid on the remote property. Detectives were astonished when the first thing Jaskowiak said to them was "Is this about the Hammond woman?" He told them that he had read about her death in his weekly newspaper. They were convinced that they had captured their blackmailer. However, they were to be further astounded when, following a full search of the dwelling, they found what was thought, at that time, to be the ultimate incriminating evidence. In a neat pile, beside the computer printer were 50 sheets of printer paper, on each one of which had been printed the five words "I KNOW YOUR LITTLE SECRET" The paper, the font and the placement of the letters on the paper were all an exact match to the letter sent to Mrs Hammond on the 12th December.
Jaskowiak was arrested and taken away for questioning. Evidence from the house was bagged and confiscated for analysis and to be used as exhibits in the subsequent trial.
Following his arrest, a very strange thing happened. The local press got hold of the story and details of the blackmail note were somehow leaked. Following publication of some of the facts, detectives working on the case received a number of calls from other police forces across the country. They had all worked on cases where people had either attempted to, or had actually taken their lives after receiving similar anonymous letters. They also heard from others who had received the letters and approached the police in anticipation of being blackmailed.
Jaskowiak had an explanation. For the past eight years, every month, he had dispatched 50 similar envelopes, containing the same message, to random people all over the states. Every envelope was personally addressed. At first he had simply taken random names and addresses from phone books. More recently, he had searched for names and addresses randomly on-line, through social media and other sites. He did not know any of the people to whom he sent the message. He made no request for money or favours, and so argued that no crime had taken place. For the charge of blackmail to stick, there must be a threat of menaces, or a request of some sort made. His only motive for acting in the way he had, was to receive a psychological thrill as he anticipated how the missives would be received and acted upon at their destination.
At his trial, he stated "We all have some guilty little secret. Something which we would not want others to know. For some of us, it is something relatively trivial. For others, they would be mortified if they were found out. People cheating on their husbands or wives. People cheating on their employers, their taxes, their country". Later in his testimony, he continued: "I did us all a favour. How many people, as a direct result of receiving one of my 'Conscience Prompters' stopped stealing from work, stopped cheating on their partners, stopped beating their kids? Fear of being caught, fear of being found out, that is what motivates people. It's the only motivator". "All I did, was plant a seed".
In a dramatic turn of events late this afternoon, following extensive legal advice, for technical reasons, the trial was halted, the jury were dismissed and all charges were dropped. Mr Jaskowiak is expected to make a full statement tomorrow, Friday. The controversy surrounding this case looks likely to be around for a very long time to come
PA
