CHAPTER II: PART B
A STAR IS BORN
"I want you never fearing of wrongful incrimination by local police (cult leaders)."
-Attributed to Jared Loughner in YouTube video
Jared Lee Loughner was born on September 10th, 1988, to Randy and Amy Loughner, who live in a quiet Tucson suburb 5 miles west northwest of the Casa Adobes Safeway and roughly ten miles south southeast of Pinal Park Airfield in Marana, the CIA's admitted primary airfield during the Vietnam era and a beehive of illicit Intelligence activity. Amy, a quiet yet seemingly friendly woman (she has never spoken to her neighbors, yet, unlike her husband she does smile and wave) is ostensibly employed as a Pima County Parks Manager. Her husband Randy, supposedly employed in the construction industry in some distant past, bought the house around 1981, before marrying Amy, and is said to enjoy restoring vintage cars. He is rarely seen, preferring to leave the house under cover of darkness, and is not exactly described as Mr. Rogers by others in the neighborhood.
Also employed at Tucson Medical Center was Amy's mother, Lois Totman, by all accounts a proud and loving grandmother of young Jared Lee. Amy's father, Laurence Totman, was a former Navy veteran and nurse at the Tucson Veterans Affairs Hospital. After the shooting, one individual claimed Jared's mother was Jewish and Amy even attended the same Synagogue as Gabrielle Giffords. This was then broadcast by every media source imaginable, adding to the confusing jumble of truth, speculation, rumor, and outright lies which in essence clouded the story during it's time in the spotlight. It turns out Amy may have had a Jewish maternal grandfather, although her family seems to have been practicing Catholic on both sides for generations. The lie, as usual, was loudly spoken and quietly retracted, if retracted at all.
Records show Amy graduated Cal State Polytechnic University in Pomona with a degree in ornamental horticulture in 1981. She began working for Pima County Parks and Recreation as a maintenance worker in 1987, a year before the birth of her only child, Jared. She is now manager of the 101 acre Agua Caliente Regional Park in Tucson. Less is known about the life and work history of Randy Loughner. He appears to be very anti-social, rarely speaking to neighbors, and then only to scare them from his property or yell about trash left on the curb. There are no records of police calls made about Loughner during his time on Soledad Street, however there are more than a few police calls made by Loughner including claims of vandalism, an abandoned truck, and rocks thrown at his own vehicle. Some neighbors claim to have been scared of Loughner, while others have claimed at least two immediate neighbors actually moved due to "fear" of Loughner. Odd that people in a suburban neighborhood would abandon their property out of fear, yet seemingly not a single police report or any type of complaint was ever filed.
Randy apparently was quite proud of his cactus lawn and walked his dog daily. Sometimes Amy would walk with him but the two were never seen speaking or holding hands. Obsessed with privacy, his house and backyard were obscured by trees, bushes, and a very high fence. Not long after the shooting, he built a wooden wall on the front of the house blocking all doors and windows, and filled in all holes and gaps where anyone could peer into the backyard. A strange event occurred during the media circus initially following the shooting. Reporters and sightseers trying to look in the backyard saw an apparent makeshift altar with a small replica human skull in a flower pot full of dead oranges next to several tall candles and a bag of potting soil. A reporter actually jumped into the backyard and photographed the scene, prompting Loughner to call the police. The police arrived quickly and moved the crowd away from the Loughner house. Most accounts state this occurred on Sunday, January 9. At the time of this writing, no trespassing arrests have been made and no charges filed.
(Note - I cannot for the life of me put together a specific timeline which includes this event, raising several questions. 1) Was this before or after the FBI searched the house? One anonymous comment on an Internet story claims it was before the FBI searched, but that remains in the realm of hearsay. 2) The "shrine" remains undisturbed and unmarked, which would seemingly be highly unlikely after even the initial police search. Had the police been there yet? 3) If not, it means the media found out the shooter's alleged identity, assembled in a large group outside of his parent's house, spotted the "shrine" through the fence, and climbed the fence to photograph it before the police even showed up? We know this to be false because at the time of this incident the Loughners were inside the house, whereas after the shooting they arrived home from the grocery store to find the media, police and onlookers waiting.
So, 4) after the initial police investigation did the cops leave the "shrine" undisturbed and the house unguarded and inhabited with potential "tamperers" at best, improbable "accomplices" at worst (proper police investigators would not leave anything to chance so early in an investigation, particularly one of this magnitude) until whenever the FBI got around to investigating the attempted murder of a member of Congress? Or, 5) did the FBI find this "shrine" to be of no interest, not even worth so much as a look under the skull or around it for other evidence?*
You would think such an item, Halloween decoration or not, would garner a tiny bit of interest in light of recent events, not to mention Loughner's wearing of a skull mask in "his" YouTube video, chillingly similar to the skull in his backyard. Not only would it be potential evidence and a treasure trove of information for the FBI profiling department, but any self respecting law officer would look into such a blatant example of potential cult activity at least to confirm or rule out possible accomplices. So soon after the event, he could have been a "militia" member, Neo-Nazi extremist, Muslim terrorist, Ron Paul supporter, drug cartel affiliate, juggalo, or a member of any number of other groups (
* Apparently if you answered "4", you might be correct. One account states that on Monday, January 10th, the FBI got around to visiting the house (although another account puts the skull/reporter event on that day). The Loughners, left alone with evidence all weekend, apparently barricaded the doors and refused to answer. FBI agents supposedly broke down the door to gain entrance. No obstruction charges have been filed.
"There was times when we'd be out with other neighbor kids, and Jared wouldn't be allowed out. He'd be watching from the window or door," neighbor Rick Dahlstrom told ABC News. "They all became very isolated. Randy was isolated, Amy wasn't out anymore. Something changed. They just kept to themselves."
This is one of many conflicting accounts relating to the nature of Jared Lee and his parents. Depending on who you ask, Randy was a loving father or a raging animal, Amy was outgoing and friendly or quiet and reserved, and Jared was a nice yet socially awkward child or a creepy weirdo who was obviously going to grow up and gun down senior citizens at a suburban supermarket.
"If you would have told me then that this could happen, I would never believe it. They were very caring parents." - Michele Montanaro, friend of the LoughnersObviously, little is known about the childhood of Jared Lee. The life of a lower middle class schoolboy is hardly noteworthy outside of his immediate community, and a detailed biography of his early life would be even more difficult in this case, without the cooperation of his parents. To look for answers in the story of young Jared Lee would literally be like looking for a needle in a haystack, but at least local Tucson journalists could have made some effort. The only effort the media put into this story was in interviewing neighbors and a few alleged high school friends of Loughner.
"The people who lived here before us left because they were afraid," - Stephanie Woods, 22, who, along with her brother, has lived next door for seven years.
"No matter what we do, it's always wrong. If the trash collector comes a day late, (Randy) comes out and tells us our trash stinks, as if we can do something about it, they are not normal neighbors." next-door neighbor Anthony WoodsConsensus pretty much states that Randy Loughner was a strange and angry man. He somehow frightened neighbors into selling their homes, liked to call the police, and seemed to keep a tight leash on his boy. Reports state that Amy seemed to be a very caring and attentive mother to young Jared, and her parents seemed to spoil Jared in the way many grandparents do. He played an instrument, did well in school, and does not appear to have been destined to deviate so far from societal norms, despite his crazy father. Nobody aside from Randy, Amy, Jared, and maybe the Central Intelligence Agency really knows what went on behind the doors of the Loughner home, however a few educated guesses might be made.
It was widely reported on the Internet that Loughner was a mind control victim immediately following the shootings. This is a somewhat reasonable speculation, however no real evidence was ever put forth to back the claim. The classic mind control victim (this cannot be dismissed as conspiracy "theory". The CIA was caught repeatedly working on mind control and openly admitted the Russians had the capability) is taken and reprogrammed at an early age, yet this was probably not the case with Jared. He appears to have been a fairly well rounded child, a fact in contradiction with the behavior of a typical child victim. He did, however, come from a complete military/medical background and live in a city so infested with intelligence operatives it made East Berlin look tame by comparison. His neighborhood itself is supposedly an area teeming with homes used to store and redistribute wholesale drug shipments fresh up from Mexico. He also lived in a very private household with a very questionable patriarch. Surely both Jared and Amy may have been living in the hellish shadow of domestic violence, but as it was never reported or even remarked upon, the claim cannot be made. He was described as "a little off" by one of the neighbors, but was more likely a socially awkward, insecure, lonely child living with a strict father than a victim of ritual abuse and brainwashing.There is also no verifiable evidence of schizophrenia in the family, although Randy's behavior was not quite "normal". Schizophrenia is a disease which more often than not appears in late adolescence, as did Jared's more extreme behavioral issues, but is rarely diagnosed in young children who have not suffered extreme trauma. He is labeled by the media as a schizophrenic, easily believable considering not only the crime he is accused of but also his behavior both before and after the shootings, begging the question of whether his madness is a natural disorder or was created by external forces.
On the Autumn Equinox of 2004, Jared was stuck with a sharp object by another teenager while at school. Apparently a boy named Tony Kurz walked up and stuck Jared with a needle protruding from a Bic pen. The police were summoned to the high school and then proceeded to question Tony. In Reaganesque fashion, the boy "did not recall" whether he stuck Jared or not, and seemed to have misplaced the needle. Jared's parents did not wish to press charges, but they did request that Kurz be tested for HIV and other such diseases. This concluded Jared's first documented encounter with the police, whom he later referred to as "cult leaders."
As stated in a quote a few paragraphs above, something about Jared and his family "changed" as Jared moved into his late teenage years. It doesn't seem that the family "changed" so much, they were always isolated from the rest of the neighborhood, but Jared began to change - noticeably. Of course, most kids change when they become teenagers, but the change in Jared went far beyond acne, nocturnal emission, or general pointless rebellion. He seems to have caught a fast train off the deep end.
Following this split, it is reported that he began experimenting with marijuana, salvia, and various psychedelics, including the CIA's drug of choice, LSD. On May 12, 2006 he apparently showed up for school after consuming a heavy amount of Vodka. Police were called to the school and Jared was taken to Northwest Hospital due to the severity of his intoxication. According to the police report "He (Loughner) advised he drank the alcohol because he was very upset as his father had yelled at him......I was advised by the nursing staff that he had stolen the alcohol from his father's liquor cabinet." Amy and Randy were apparently summoned to the hospital to sign a referral as Jared was considered under arrest. No record has been made available concerning this arrest or what punishment, if any, was handed to Jared by the courts. At this point in time Jared dropped out of high school, began acting and speaking in increasingly abnormal fashion, and occasionally began to show an interest in things like currency, language, brainwashing, and the Mayan prophecies. He also displayed an interest in local politics, and attended more than one of Gabrielle Giffords' "Congress on your corner" meetings in the summer of 2007. At the final gathering he attended (until 2011), he posed a rather bizarre question to Giffords: "What is government if words have no meaning?" This statement is classic Loughner upon observing any of his game forum posts or YouTube videos, but one might assume that Ms. Giffords was caught quite off guard by the question. Apparently she fumbled for an answer before simply moving on to the next question, which supposedly angered Jared greatly.
Fifteen days later, on September 10th, 2007 (Jared's 19th birthday) Jared caught a drug paraphernalia charge in Tucson proper and was sentenced to a Diversion program which he completed in November of 2007. Loughner and a friend, Bryce Tierney, were driving around smoking marijuana, probably to celebrate Loughner's birthday, when they were pulled over, searched, and found to be in possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. Both were ticketed and released. At his court appearance on October 4th, Jared was given a twenty dollar fine and sentenced to a Diversion program which he seems to have completed rather quickly. Exactly what Diversion program he completed is a bit of a mystery. According to Neal Cash, President of the Community Partnership of Southern Arizona - which manages publicly funded behavioral services in Tucson - "There's no record of his receiving publicly funded mental health treatment or anyone contacting the local mental health hot line about him." Cash's files would not include records of Loughner receiving private treatment.
(Pima County Courthouse. Perhaps tellingly, the Bank of America Building towers ominously over its shoulder.....)
To Be Continued..............................
