[EMAIL PROTECTED] (Kelly J West) writes: The following case was taken from the true crime book " The Crimes of The Rich and Famous", Rose G. Mandelseberg, ed. Pinnacle Books;WIndsor Publishing Co. There's a small document on display at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. It may not seem like much to the average person, but American historians at one time proudly touted it as the oldest printed document in America. The document, called "Oath of a Freeman," was a pledge of allegiance required of all pilgrim settlers in this country in the early seventeenth century. For the last couple of years, the document has been for sale for 1.5 million. It passed a battery of tests to prove its authenticity. The only problem with the document is that most experts are now convinced it is an elaborate forgery. It's also a key element in two bombing deaths in Salt Lake City. Every morning, James Martini arrived at the Judge Building in Salt Lake City between 6:40 and 6:45 A.M. He was rarely late for work, and October 15, 1985, was no exception. It was about 6:40 A.M. when Martini, who operated a jewelry shop in the building with his father, arrived for work as usual. Only on this day Martini decided to wait in the lobby for his father to arrive. Moments later, a rather ordinary-looking man entered the building and pushed the button for the elevator. About 20 to 30 seconds later, Martini's father entered the building and together all three men got onto the elevator. Martini noticed the man was carrying a box addressed to Steven F. Christensen, a 31 year old financial consultant with offices on the sixth floor. Martini thought it odd that the man exited the elevator on the fifth floor, but thought nothing of it at the time. At about 8:10 A.M., Steven Christensen arrived for work and picked up a package left outside his door. Seconds later, a booby-trapped shrapnel bomb tucked inside the box exploded, shredding Christensen's chest and sending more than 150 pieces of metal ripping through walls and ceilings on the sixth floor. Christensen's death stirred a stormy controversy in Salt Lake City and James Martini's testimony was to become a key, but controversial, element in the most puzzling homicide case in the state's history. When it was through, homicide investigators had solved much more than a bizarre bombing death. They had cracked what many believed was the most extensive forgery scheme in the American history. The scheme involved hundreds of historical documents sold over a six-year period for hundreds of thousands of dollars. --------------- if you find this interesting, I will type the rest of it in daily installments. If not, let me know and I will save my fingers the exercise! Kelly _____________________________________________________________________ You don't need to buy Internet access to use free Internet e-mail. Get completely free e-mail from Juno at http://www.juno.com Or call Juno at (800) 654-JUNO [654-5866] Subscribe/Unsubscribe, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the body of the message enter: subscribe/unsubscribe law-issues
