As pieces of a larger puzzle fell into place, Hinterthuer and other investigators came to believe that they knew who blew up Larry Anstett and why.
They came to believe that their years of police work were discarded by Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher,
and as a result, the prime suspect in the Anstett murder was never brought to justice.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Ralph Anstett Jr. visits his brother Larry’s grave every year with his sisters, brothers and father.
“Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Larry was still alive,” he says.
“We still hope that this case will be solved, every day we hope. It’s been bad for us. We lost part of our family. And we feel somebody should pay for the loss.”Victims and survivors, cops and culprits. In the long aftermath, the line that separates grows immaterial. Michael Vermilyea, the target of the 1974 bombing, lives somewhere in Waukesha County, popping up now and then in a biker bar. Willy Cresca, the car thief turned accomplice, floats in and out of jail on one charge of theft after the next, estranged from his family and friends.
“Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if Larry was still alive,” he says.
“We still hope that this case will be solved, every day we hope. It’s been bad for us. We lost part of our family. And we feel somebody should pay for the loss.”Victims and survivors, cops and culprits. In the long aftermath, the line that separates grows immaterial. Michael Vermilyea, the target of the 1974 bombing, lives somewhere in Waukesha County, popping up now and then in a biker bar. Willy Cresca, the car thief turned accomplice, floats in and out of jail on one charge of theft after the next, estranged from his family and friends.
Bucher discounts the claims that he was intimidated or that his judgment was impaired by political ambition.
He commends Hinterthuer and Simet for their “persistence” but says the difficulty in identifying the skeletal remains was not the only stumbling block.“All the other proof that you build your case on just isn’t there,” he says.
“I’m not afraid of sticking my neck out.… [But] ethically, we have standards that you have to go on. It’s just not there. It’s close, but it’s just not there.”
He commends Hinterthuer and Simet for their “persistence” but says the difficulty in identifying the skeletal remains was not the only stumbling block.“All the other proof that you build your case on just isn’t there,” he says.
“I’m not afraid of sticking my neck out.… [But] ethically, we have standards that you have to go on. It’s just not there. It’s close, but it’s just not there.”
"To have it die because of one demigod out in Waukesha?
‘What more can we do?’ ” says Hinterthuer. “Our hands were tied. We had done virtually everything we could. There was nobody else out there we could talk to, there was no additional evidence that existed.
”Hinterthuer had had enough. In May 1997, after 30 years of duty, he retired from the Milwaukee Police Department.
He still harbors resentment toward Bucher for not pushing harder on the Machan case.
Possibly Bucher was intimidated by the Outlaws, Hinterthuer speculates. Or possibly his aspirations to one day run for political office – specifically, the job of state attorney general – got in the way of pursuing a case that was risky.
“To have it die because of one demigod out in Waukesha? That’s obscene,” says Hinterthuer.
”Hinterthuer had had enough. In May 1997, after 30 years of duty, he retired from the Milwaukee Police Department.
He still harbors resentment toward Bucher for not pushing harder on the Machan case.
Possibly Bucher was intimidated by the Outlaws, Hinterthuer speculates. Or possibly his aspirations to one day run for political office – specifically, the job of state attorney general – got in the way of pursuing a case that was risky.
“To have it die because of one demigod out in Waukesha? That’s obscene,” says Hinterthuer.
Bucher wouldn't budge
In May 1995, “Billy the Kid” Wadsworth surfaced again in Milwaukee.
His girlfriend was facing a jail sentence in Waukesha for passing bad checks and Wadsworth was willing to make a deal with the district attorney to get her freed. He was ready to speak out about the Outlaw slayings, this time publicly. He even agreed to several interviews with local newspaper and TV reporters, claiming he could set the record straight on the murders of Cliff Machan, the Drobac family and Larry Anstett.
It was a risky move, Wadsworth says, looking back. According to Wadsworth, the DA offered to place him in a witness protection program.
But the deal fell through.“Talk was cheap,” says Bucher. “When I wanted more than talk, the price was too high.” Wadsworth, he says, wouldn’t agree to his ground rules.
Wadsworth, though, says it was Bucher who poisoned the deal, upping the ante by adding more charges against his girlfriend.“I wanted him to let my girlfriend out of jail, let her out on bond,” says Wadsworth.
“I didn’t ask for him to do any political favors. Just let her out.”
The ball remained in Bucher’s court. He had the grand jury testimony, including the transcript of Wadsworth’s testimony. He had all the evidence the investigators could muster.
But Bucher wouldn’t budge.
His girlfriend was facing a jail sentence in Waukesha for passing bad checks and Wadsworth was willing to make a deal with the district attorney to get her freed. He was ready to speak out about the Outlaw slayings, this time publicly. He even agreed to several interviews with local newspaper and TV reporters, claiming he could set the record straight on the murders of Cliff Machan, the Drobac family and Larry Anstett.
It was a risky move, Wadsworth says, looking back. According to Wadsworth, the DA offered to place him in a witness protection program.
But the deal fell through.“Talk was cheap,” says Bucher. “When I wanted more than talk, the price was too high.” Wadsworth, he says, wouldn’t agree to his ground rules.
Wadsworth, though, says it was Bucher who poisoned the deal, upping the ante by adding more charges against his girlfriend.“I wanted him to let my girlfriend out of jail, let her out on bond,” says Wadsworth.
“I didn’t ask for him to do any political favors. Just let her out.”
The ball remained in Bucher’s court. He had the grand jury testimony, including the transcript of Wadsworth’s testimony. He had all the evidence the investigators could muster.
But Bucher wouldn’t budge.
Bucher was unconvinced
Bucher was unconvinced.
More evidence, he told the investigators, bring me more evidence.
And they did.With the help of state and Waukesha County investigators, they tracked down medical X-rays of Cliff Machan and confirmed through a local chiropractor that Machan had suffered a shoulder injury, which was consistent with the X-rays and skeletal evidence.
They confirmed that Buschman was renting the storage garage at the Letko farm when Machan disappeared and that a load of pea gravel was delivered to the garage around the time Machan’s grave presumably had been dug.They confirmed that the engine to Machan’s cut-up Chevy pickup had been sold by Willy Cresca to a Waukesha County farmer.
They confirmed that the explosive used in the Anstett bombing was in fact TNT and that the shrapnel was made up of spent welding rods. A cake of defused TNT was later traced to informant Billy Wadsworth in northern Illinois, lending credibility to Wadsworth’s claim that he and Buschman stole the TNT and that Wadsworth had seen the bomb being assembled.But it still wasn’t enough.
“We would get the evidence Bucher asked for,” says one former detective, “then he’d backstep and say, ‘No, I’m not doing it.’
And without a reason. He just kept moving the yardstick.”
More evidence, he told the investigators, bring me more evidence.
And they did.With the help of state and Waukesha County investigators, they tracked down medical X-rays of Cliff Machan and confirmed through a local chiropractor that Machan had suffered a shoulder injury, which was consistent with the X-rays and skeletal evidence.
They confirmed that Buschman was renting the storage garage at the Letko farm when Machan disappeared and that a load of pea gravel was delivered to the garage around the time Machan’s grave presumably had been dug.They confirmed that the engine to Machan’s cut-up Chevy pickup had been sold by Willy Cresca to a Waukesha County farmer.
They confirmed that the explosive used in the Anstett bombing was in fact TNT and that the shrapnel was made up of spent welding rods. A cake of defused TNT was later traced to informant Billy Wadsworth in northern Illinois, lending credibility to Wadsworth’s claim that he and Buschman stole the TNT and that Wadsworth had seen the bomb being assembled.But it still wasn’t enough.
“We would get the evidence Bucher asked for,” says one former detective, “then he’d backstep and say, ‘No, I’m not doing it.’
And without a reason. He just kept moving the yardstick.”
“Finally, we had everybody on the same page,” says Hinterthuer.
The remains were discovered in the jurisdiction of Waukesha County.
But Waukesha County refused to open a homicide case.
And in a blow to the investigators, Biedrzycki resigned as medical examiner to take a fellowship at Harvard University. To the new medical examiner and
to District Attorney Paul Bucher, the evidence still was not strong enough.
The remains were discovered in the jurisdiction of Waukesha County.
But Waukesha County refused to open a homicide case.
And in a blow to the investigators, Biedrzycki resigned as medical examiner to take a fellowship at Harvard University. To the new medical examiner and
to District Attorney Paul Bucher, the evidence still was not strong enough.
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