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The Citizen, 1989-12-22, Page 2PAGE 2. THE CITIZEN, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1989. Henschel pleads guilty to theft. Sentencing Feb. 5 February 5 has been set for the sentencing of Klaus Henschel, former owner of Brussels Stock- yards after he pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of theft and fraud in connection with the bank­ ruptcy of the company in 1988. The original 15 counts of theft and fraud laid after Mr. Henschel and his family disappeared from their Brussels home October 24, 1988 were combined into two charges, one for the theft of cattle valued at $685,000 and another for the theft of money from the Brussels business in the amount of $104,330. Charges against Kirstin Henschel, originally jointly charg­ ed in the crimes, were dropped by Crown Attorney Robert Morris. Mr. Morris read a 15-page information document to the court outlining the events leading up to and following the crime. When he realized he couldn’t make enough money from operating the Stock- yards to pay his debt, Mr. Hen­ schel concocted a scheme to order cattle from western Canadian pro­ ducers for Brussels Stockyards Limited and resell them through a fictitious company Oxford Live­ stock. He enlisted the assistance of a cousin Juergen Buettemeyer to help pull off the scheme and later three men from Germany also became involved in trying to get the money from the proceeds of the sale out of Canada and into a Swiss bank account. The scheme was tripped up when the western cattlemen, especially Paul Ripley of Southwest Livestock of Alameda, Saskatchewan arrived in Brussels October 22, 1988 to complain that he hadn’t been paid for the cattle ordered. Mr. Hen­ schel was not home but Mrs. Henschel said her husband was in hospital in London and would meet with him the following Monday, October 24 to iron out the prob­ lems. Mr. Henschel phoned Mr. Ripley twice over the weekend to assure him they would meet on the Monday. But over the weekend Mr. Buett­ emeyer took a truck to Brussels to load up the family’s belongings. The couple flew out of Canada on October 24 to Germany via Amster­ dam. Employees arriving at the Stockyard office in Brussels Mon­ day morning found the safe had been tampered with and jammed. When it was opened the next day it was found the proceeds of the Friday sale had disappeared. Quick action by authorities pre- vented the money from being transferred out of Canada and court action later recovered money. The company was put into bankruptcy but with the seizure of the money and the sale of the Stockyard buildings and land, all but about three per cent of the money was recovered. Defence Attorney Fletcher Daw­ son agreed with most of the facts in Mr. Morris’ brief with minor revisions. He pointed out that Mr. Henschel had returned to Canada voluntarily and turned himself in. He also pointed out that the loss to the businesses involved was rela­ tively minor, about the same as losses they could normally expect as a cost of doing business. Mr. Dawson asked for prepara­ tion of a presentence report before sentencing took place and Judge R.G.E. Hunter set the February 5 date for sentencing. (For a more complete account of the events see the January 3 issue of The Citizen.) Murray, Maria & Gwen Maitland Valley Insurance Brokers Ltd. Morris man killed Tuesday in crash near Belgrave A 65-year-old Morris Township man is dead following a two vehicle accident that occurred on Cone. 4-5 at sideroad 15-16 about 6 kilomet­ res east of Belgrave on Tuesday afternoon. According to Wingham OPP the victim, Robert Milton Fraser of RR 5, Brussels was southbound on 15-16 at an unknown speed when he failed to yield at the intersect­ ion. He was struck on the passen­ ger's side by a Culligan truck driven by Frank Leishman, 43, of Dashwood. Mr. Leishman was eastboung at a stated speed of 75-80 kilometres an hour when the accident occurred. Both vehicles travelled into the south ditch upon impact. Police stated that Mr. Fraser was dead at the scene. Mr. Leishman and a passenger in the truck, James Leishman of Morris Town­ ship were taken by ambulance to Wingham and District Hospital. There was no report on their condition available at press time. Citizen’s holiday hours The Citizen office is now closed for the Christmas holidays. There will be no issue between Christmas and New Year’s. The first issue of 1990 will appear on January 3 as usual. Our offices will be open Dec. 28 and 29 to accept news and advertising for this issue. The deadline for the issue will be 4 p.m. on Dec. 29. From all of us to all of you, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Blyth euchre winners named ^TTPiririrriririrrTT<iririririririri'^ R R R RR 16est pf the season | ___ MERRY | CHRISTMAS' J Wisfiiitq you tfic i 22 I I aymond enovations Ltd. Bob & Bruce Brussels 887-6663 The weekly euchre was held at Blyth Memorial Hall on December 18. The winners were: Ruth Shiell, high lady; Lloyd Appleby, high man; Mae Pepper, low lady; Bert Daer, low man; Lillian Appleby, ladies’ lone hands; Al Codington, men’s lone hands; Marg Nesbit, Mel Jacklin, Bernice McClinchey, R. Dougherty, special table; Walter Pepper, 2nd high; June Jacklin, most 2’s; Alice Buchanan and Eldon Crich, marked cards. Euchre will resume on January 8. Th e spirit of Christmas is all around. We appreciate your business and hope to serve your needs in theJuture from Management & Staff Topnotch Feeds Ltd. BRUSSELS