[meteorite-list] Suspect In Moon-Rocks Case Admits Identity

From: LabNEMS <staff_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:10:08 2004
Message-ID: <5.0.0.25.2.20030415171548.021b2c10_at_popmail.xensei.com>

Ron, All

I'm really happy to hear this. I was sweating going
up against Job in the courtroom next month.

Russ Kempton, NEMS
www.meteorlab.com




>http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=74240
>
>Suspect in moon-rocks case admits identity
>Associated Press
>April 15, 2003
>
>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The suspect who didn't show up for a
>Florida trial on charges of stealing moon rocks admitted his identity in a
>Utah court Tuesday.
>
>Gordon McWhorter, 27, of Salt Lake City, now will be sent to the state to
>face trial.
>
>He was the only one of the four defendants who did not plead guilty
>to last year's thefts from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.
>
>McWhorter failed to show up for trial in Florida last Monday and was
>arrested one day later at Juice and Java in Provo. He was taken before U.S.
>Magistrate David Nuffer in Salt Lake City for an identity hearing Monday,
>but was not cooperative and another hearing was set for Tuesday.
>
>McWhorter admitted his identity Tuesday, said U.S. Attorney spokeswoman
>Melodie Rydalch.
>
>The stolen rocks came from every Apollo mission from 1969 to 1972. McWhorter
>and his three co-defendants carried away a 600-pound safe that also
>contained meteorites from Mars, prosecutors allege.
>
>The FBI in Tampa began investigating in May 2002 when a Belgian rock
>collector alerted investigators to Internet offers to sell moon rocks for
>$1,000 to $5,000 a gram.
>
>The moon rocks were found in an Orlando hotel room in a fishing tackle box
>that also contained meteorites and NASA records documenting their
>authenticity, according to court records.
>
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Received on Tue 15 Apr 2003 05:27:46 PM PDT