From: Gary Hunt at the Outpost of Freedom in Waco, Texas
Date: APRIL 8, 1993 PHONE: (817) 662-2442, ext 223I had an interesting conversation down at the Salvation Army Half Way House the other day. I had gone down to drop some off reading material and asked if I could see one of the Branch Davidians "living" there. I was told that I could not because they were material witnesses. I asked the lady, Janet, if she had been deputized. She said no, that the Salvation Army was under contract to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It"s gonna be very hard to drop anything in the red bucket next Christmas.
The Salvation Army prison had allowed press to contact those inside by leaving a message, but they"ve changed the rules now. All requests have to go through tae court appointed attorneys. I guess if they, the attorneys are hourly they"re gonna make a bundle playing mailman.
Anyone ever wonder why "material witnesses" need taxpayer funded attorneys?
By the way, those of you who have made contributions have provided bibles to those inside the Salvation Army prison. It seems that the BATF either lost theirs or thinks that they are evidence or have decided to read them to see if they can learn anything. Maybe if they read them long enough we can get this darned thing over with.
Now, a little explanation as to why I"m a day late with this one. I had written this release on the 8th, but it seems that something I had written about was changing while I was writing about it. I guess you call that fast changing news.
Don Bunds had been staying in my motel. Don left shortly before Robert Gonzales on the 28th of February. Seems that Don has been "hiding out" in a BATF safe house since early March. They moved him there from Kingsway Inn. I guess that they figured I wouldn"t find him if he were so close to me. Trouble is I didn"t have any questions to ask him, so I didn"t bother.
Anyway, I met with Don"s son, Mark, yesterday afternoon. I know I wasn"t followed when I went over there (I think), so I suppose they are watching Mark"s house and saw me go there. Well, I was writing about Don and walked outside for a bit of fresh Waco air when I saw these black uniforms driving away. I walked around the building and saw that the room which had been occupied was now empty. Guess they didn"t want me to know both of the Bunds.
Anyway, who is Don Bunds? He seems to be a key witness for the BATF. He had been a close member of the Davidians since the mid-eighties. He was one of those that supported Vernon Howell back when Vernon took over the church with the support of most of the members. Part of the hierarchy, so to speak. So, I was speculating as to why the BATF was paying his room and board rather than the Salvation Army.
The speculation? He either turned against the religion that had become a part of his life, or he got caught or threatened with a crime and was coerced into testifying against Koresh. Reminds me a bit of what the federal people wanted to do with Randy Weaver last August. Well, I guess the speculation must continue for the time being. Maybe when I find where Don got moved to I"ll turn it over to the press people with big expense accounts.
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