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Nixon Death Note Probe Revealed

Nixon Death Note Probe Revealed image
Parent Issue
Day
27
Month
February
Year
1969
Copyright
Copyright Protected
Rights Held By
Donated by the Ann Arbor News. © The Ann Arbor News.
OCR Text

An inyestigation has reveaiefl a Northside I mentary School teacher did not "conspire" with I a 10-year-old pupil who recently sent a death I ing letter to President Richard M. Nixon, School Supt. W. Scott Westerman Jr. told the Ann Arbor Board of Education last night. The boy, when questioned last week by two U.S. Secret Service agents, said the teacher knew about the letter and assisted him. in spelling some of the words. Westerman said a 15-hour investigation, conducted jointly by the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the Ann Arbor Education Association (AAEA), indicated the boy read his letter for the President to the teacher. The teacher "expressed his disapproval to the author. The boy responded by indicating that he did not intend to send it." The letter, part of a school letter-writing project, predicted the President would be killed after the inauguration with a .22 caliber rifle. "I cannot teil you where," the boy wrote. Westerman said it would be a "serious misinterpretation" of what actually happened to infer the teacher "conspired" with the child to send the letter. The teacher did help the boy spell a word for the letter, "as he helped many other pupils," Westerman said. (The word the teacher spelled for the boy was "Pennsylvania.") But the superintendent stressed the teacher did not know the context of this or any of the other letters until later, when the notes were shown to him. The statement issued by Westerman and the AAEA, detailing the investigation, is as follows: I "A classroom teacher presented a lesson on [letter writing. He illustrated the proper form by [outlining a sample letter on the blackboard. He suggested that the letter could be addressed to any one- real or make believe- and could include content of the pupil's choosing. The purpose was to Idevelop understanding of the proper form for mg a letter. At no time did the teacher recommend that the letters actually should be mailed. "In the course of the preparation of the letters, students asked the teacher for help in spelling some words. "Pupils presented their letters to the teacher for his review after they were completed. The teacher's comments were concerned more with iorm. than with content. However, he read the letter to the President and expressed his disapproval to the author. The boy responded by indicating that he did not intend to send it. "Later that day, the boy altered the letter by erasing his name and substituting 'Spook.' He also put some poster paint on a corner 'in order to get fingerprints' on the paper. "He took the letter home to show his mother saying that he thought he would send it. His mother told him not to, predicting that if he did he would get into trouble. At a later point, he secured stamps from his father and mailed the letter." The Secret Service agents apparently were miffed that the teacher and other school officials would not allow them to question the youth at school or obtain a sample of his handwriting. Westerman said the "teacher's stance on this was I clearly appropriate," since school regulations do not permit this without the parents' permisison. i Harold Collins, president of the AAEA, criticized The News for "distorting" the incident in its Feb. 21 and 22 editions. (The News articles, compiled from pólice I ports, said the teacher reportedly helped the boy I spell words in the letter. The articles did not say I the teacher was involved in a "conspiracy." When I contacted by The News, the teacher and the I side School principal declined comment.) The agents told Ann Arbor Pólice no charges I were planned. The boy has been referred to the I State Department of Social Services for I seling. . - J