[meteorite-list] Dead fish and the Elbert A. King Collection

From: John Gwilliam <jkg_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:04:47 2004
Message-ID: <4.2.0.58.20020508163938.009bfb60_at_mail.theriver.com>

--=====================_7272953==_.ALT
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed



This message is intended primarily for Mr. Casper but I've included Steve
Arnold since he is one of the combatants..albeit a reluctant one. I
apologize to the rest of you List members in advance...especially Bernd.

***************************************
With all due respects to both Michael Casper and Steve Arnold:

Would the two of you please leave the rest of us out of your
arguments. This King Collection issue has been dug up and rehashed
repeatedly here on the Meteorite List with the same conclusion - absolutely
nothing. If or when this issue is resolved in court, I'm sure the List
members would be interested to hear the outcome - a copy of the court
transcript would provide weeks of entertainment.

Until then, take your fight outside.

My next step will be to add a filter to my email program that will take
messages from the both of you and dump them directly in the trash. I know
this will be of no consequence to Michael, but it will mean that I won't
receive any of Steve's special offers from his email list that I currently
belong to - which means he will suffer a loss of revenue.

BTW, when Lisa King posted her message to the list (the first time), I
wrote her a very polite note asking if she would be more specific in her
requests. I told her that I had purchased several specimens from Steve
Arnold over the past three years or so and would be willing to provide her
with specifics if there was a legitimate reason. I GOT NO REPLY! The only
thing Lisa King did was to post a copy of her original message to the
Meteorite List a few days later.

Smell Fishy?

You tell me.

Sincerely,

John Gwilliam



At 07:35 PM 5/8/02 -0400, Michael Casper wrote:
>Steve Arnold GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT!
>
>I have in my hand an offer placed with the KING ESTATE for $250,000.00 AND
>proof of
>HIGHER OFFERS!
>
>"Sharon was executor of Dr. King's Estate after he died in 1998. In 1999,
>Sharon King hired me as the exclusive agent on a five year contract to
>sell the meteorites belonging to Dr. King's private collection."
>
> My attorney visited Mrs. King and she was in no condition to sign ANY
> contract. She appeared heavily DRUGGED.
>
>Mrs. King told me that if she failed to sign a certain contract that a
>certain "male nurse" would LEAVE her ALL ALONE.
>
>I was informed that A certain "LAWYER" that may have been involved may
>have been subject to certain VIOLATIONS of the TEXAS BAR in the past.
>
> More later....
>
>
>
>
>
>>----- Original Message -----
>>From: <mailto:MeteorHntr_at_aol.com>MeteorHntr@aol.com
>>To:
>><mailto:meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>meteorite-list@meteoritecentra
>>l.com
>>Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 2:08 AM
>>Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] Relating to the Elbert A. King Collection
>>
>>In a message dated 5/4/02 3:25:12 PM Central Daylight Time,
>><mailto:Michael_at_caspercoin.com>Michael@caspercoin.com writes:
>>
>>>The name is Michael NOT Mikey. Yes I did lose out of representing
>>>the "King Collection". If I would have sold the collection his daughters
>>>would have been paid.
>>>It is a fact that I offered OVER $200,00.00 cash to the family. That is
>>>$200,000.00 more than they received!
>>>Steve Arnold, a questionable attorney and a corrupt male nurse saw to that!
>>>the King Family has NOT been paid by Steve Arnold AND ASSOCIATES (Geoff
>>>Notkin?).
>>
>>
>>
>>Hello list,
>>
>>I regret having to post this to the list, but I feel that some
>>explanation is necessary.
>>
>>For those who are unaware, Sharon King, Dr. Elbert A. King's widow,
>>passed away in September 2001. Lisa King is her stepdaughter. Sharon was
>>executor of Dr. King's Estate after he died in 1998. In 1999, Sharon
>>King hired me as the exclusive agent on a five year contract to sell the
>>meteorites belonging to Dr. King's private collection.
>>
>>As usual Michael Casper has made some unsubstantiated comments:
>>
>>1. He implies that no money was paid to the King family. However, In the
>>year 1999 alone, with me as sole agent, over $325,000.00 (YES, I REPEAT,
>>OVER THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!) was paid from
>>individual and institutional buyers to Sharon King for the sale of items
>>in Bert's Collection. Additional sales were made in 2000 as well.
>>
>>2. Casper claims to have made an offer of over $200,000 for the entire
>>collection. However, the largest offer he made to me for the collection
>>was $100,000. Jim Strope and Darryl Pitt were "silent" partners with
>>Casper in his bid for the whole collection. As I understand it, Casper
>>did not have enough personal funds to cover his $100,000 offer. At some
>>point, I know Pitt and Strope backed out of the deal with Casper for
>>various reasons. I haven't talked with them about this in nearly 3
>>years, but I am sure they can verify this information. When I received a
>>larger offer for the collection, Casper said "I am not going to bid this
>>up, you go get your best offer and then come back to me and I will beat
>>it." The highest offer I received from another party, was for $225,000
>>which Sharon King turned down. I asked Casper if he wanted to top that
>>offer and he asked "What will it take for me to buy it?" I asked Mrs.
>>King and she was firm on wanting at least $300,000. When I passed this
>>on to Casper he said some things I won't repeat here, and he never
>>submitted another offer to me after that. Mrs. King then decided to sell
>>the meteorites individually. I contacted several institutions including
>>the U.S. National Collection at the Smithsonian and they were not
>>interested in purchasing or trading for any of the specimens. I also
>>contacted the British Museum of Natural History in London and they were
>>willing to trade for just one specimen from the collection. Several
>>other specimens were sold to another interested institution and then we
>>began selling the remainder via auctions to the general public.
>>
>>3. Casper mentions that "the King Family has not been paid." If by that
>>he means that Sharon's stepchildren have not been paid yet, then he is
>>correct. Sharon King's Estate is still in Probate, so of course the
>>heirs have not received any of Sharon's assets yet.
>>
>>4. I am not sure what he is referring to when he mentions "a questionable
>>attorney" and a "corrupt male nurse." However, as for his comments
>>concerning Geoff Notkin, Geoff was my webmaster during some of the sales,
>>but he had nothing to do with anything other than website updates.
>>
>>Many items from the King Collection were purchased by people on this
>>list. It is possible to verify that all the checks were made out to
>>either Sharon King or to the King Estate's law firm's trust account. It
>>is also possible to verify through those canceled checks that all funds
>>passed through one of these accounts and NOT mine. After the funds
>>cleared the bank, my commission was paid either by Sharon or her lawyer.
>>
>>There was a comment made that Casper might be open for a lawsuit due to
>>things he has said on this list. Maybe that might be the case, but even
>>if I would win a lawsuit against him, I would still have to prove
>>"damages" before I would be awarded any money. Since Casper's
>>credibility has suffered so much, it is hard to imagine that his comments
>>have cost me any loss of sales (damages), so why should I sue
>>him? However, I did have several auctions on ebay this last weekend
>>right in the middle of all this commotion.
>>
>><http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems
>>&userid=meteoritebroker.com&include=0&since=7&sort=3&rows=0>http://cgi6.eb
>>ay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=ViewListedItems&userid=meteori
>>tebroker.com&include=0&since=7&sort=3&rows=0
>>
>>I would be very interested to know if anyone would be willing to swear
>>under oath that they did indeed plan to bid on some of my lots, but then
>>decided not to bid based directly on Casper's public and or private
>>comments. Not suing Casper has nothing to do with any fear of "full
>>disclosure" on my part.
>>
>>Even though the statute of limitations has expired for the King Estate to
>>consider filing a lawsuit against Casper, I would be interested to know
>>if anyone was scared off early on by Casper's public fiasco on this list
>>three years ago (see list archives April/May
>>1999).
>><http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/>http://www.pairlist.net
>>/pipermail/meteorite-list/
>>
>>Lisa King has inquired about purchases made from the King Collection
>>after February 4, 2001. Although my records indicate that I have not
>>sold any items from the King Collection after January 2001, if anyone has
>>purchased such material from me since then please feel free to contact
>>her. I would appreciate a copy of any correspondence with her concerning
>>these topics.
>>
>>I know this is far more detailed than most of you care about, but I hope
>>I have cleared up any confusion that has been caused. I must admit that
>>I am pleasantly surprised by all the support I have received both on the
>>list and off. I would like to say thanks to all of you.
>>
>>Thank You,
>>Steven K. Arnold

John Gwilliam Meteorites
PO Box 26854
Tempe AZ 85285
http://www.meteoriteimpact.com
--=====================_7272953==_.ALT
Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

<html>
<br>
<br>
This message is intended primarily for Mr. Casper but I've included Steve
Arnold since he is one of the combatants..albeit a reluctant one.&nbsp; I
apologize to the rest of you List members in advance...especially
Bernd.<br>
<br>
***************************************<br>
With all due respects to both Michael Casper and Steve Arnold:<br>
<br>
Would the two of you please leave the rest of us out of your
arguments.&nbsp; This King Collection issue has been dug up and rehashed
repeatedly here on the Meteorite List with the same conclusion -
absolutely nothing.&nbsp; If or when this issue is resolved in court, I'm
sure the List members would be interested to hear the outcome - a copy of
the court transcript would provide weeks of entertainment.<br>
<br>
Until then, take your fight outside.<br>
<br>
My next step will be to add a filter to my email program that will take
messages from the both of you and dump them directly in the trash.&nbsp;
I know this will be of no consequence to Michael,&nbsp; but it will mean
that I won't receive any of Steve's special offers from his email list
that I currently belong to - which means he will suffer a loss of
revenue.&nbsp; <br>
<br>
BTW,&nbsp; when Lisa King posted her message to the list (the first
time), I wrote her a very polite note asking if she would be more
specific in her requests. I told her that I had purchased several
specimens from Steve Arnold over the past three years or so and would be
willing to provide her with specifics if there was a legitimate
reason.&nbsp; I GOT NO REPLY!&nbsp; The only thing Lisa King did was to
post a copy of her original message to the Meteorite List a few days
later.&nbsp; <br>
<br>
Smell Fishy?<br>
<br>
You tell me.<br>
<br>
Sincerely,<br>
<br>
John Gwilliam<br>
<br>
&nbsp;<br>
<br>
At 07:35 PM 5/8/02 -0400, Michael Casper wrote:<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2><blockquote type=3Dcite cite>Steve Arnold GET =
THE
FACTS STRAIGHT!</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>I have in my hand an offer placed with the KIN=
G
ESTATE for $250,000.00 AND proof of </font><br>
HIGHER OFFERS!<br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>&quot;Sharon was executor of Dr. King's Estate
after he died in 1998.&nbsp; In 1999, Sharon King hired me as the
exclusive agent on a five year contract to sell the meteorites belonging
to Dr. King's private collection.&quot;</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>&nbsp; My attorney visited Mrs. King and she
was in no condition to sign ANY contract. She appeared heavily
DRUGGED.</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>Mrs. King told me that if she failed to sign a
certain contract that a certain &quot;male nurse&quot; would LEAVE her
ALL ALONE.</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>I was informed that A certain
&quot;LAWYER&quot; that may have been involved may have been subject to
certain VIOLATIONS of the TEXAS BAR in the past.</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>&nbsp; More later....</font><br>
&nbsp;<br>
&nbsp;<br>
&nbsp;<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
</font><blockquote type=3Dcite cite>----- Original Message ----- <br>
<b>From:</b> <a href=3D"mailto:MeteorHntr_at_aol.com">MeteorHntr@aol.com</a>
<br>
<b>To:</b> <a=
 href=3D"mailto:meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com">meteorite-list@meteorit=
ecentral.com</a> <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, May 08, 2002 2:08 AM<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [meteorite-list] Relating to the Elbert A. King=
 Collection<br>
<br>
<font face=3D"arial" size=3D2>In a message dated 5/4/02 3:25:12 PM Central=
 Daylight Time, <a=
 href=3D"mailto:Michael_at_caspercoin.com">Michael@caspercoin.com</a> writes:=
 <br>
<br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite cite>The name is Michael NOT Mikey. Yes I did lose=
 out of representing <br>
the &quot;King Collection&quot;. If I would have sold the collection his=
 daughters <br>
would have been paid. <br>
It is a fact that I offered OVER $200,00.00 cash to the family. That is <br>
$200,000.00 more than they received! <br>
Steve Arnold, a questionable attorney and a corrupt male nurse saw to that!=
 <br>
the King Family has NOT been paid by Steve Arnold AND ASSOCIATES (Geoff <br>
Notkin?).</blockquote><br>
<br>
<br>
Hello list, <br>
<br>
I regret having to post this to the list, but I feel that some explanation=
 is necessary.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
For those who are unaware, Sharon King, Dr. Elbert A. King's widow, passed=
 away in September 2001. Lisa King is her stepdaughter.&nbsp; Sharon was=
 executor of Dr. King's Estate after he died in 1998.&nbsp; In 1999, Sharon=
 King hired me as the exclusive agent on a five year contract to sell the=
 meteorites belonging to Dr. King's private collection.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
As usual Michael Casper has made some unsubstantiated comments: <br>
<br>
1. He implies that no money was paid to the King family.&nbsp; However, In=
 the year 1999 alone, with me as sole agent, over $325,000.00 (YES, I=
 REPEAT, OVER THREE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS!) was paid from=
 individual and institutional buyers to Sharon King for the sale of items in=
 Bert's Collection.&nbsp; Additional sales were made in 2000 as=
 well.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
2. Casper claims to have made an offer of over $200,000 for the entire=
 collection.&nbsp; However, the largest offer he made to me for the=
 collection was $100,000.&nbsp; Jim Strope and Darryl Pitt&nbsp; were=
 &quot;silent&quot; partners with Casper in his bid for the whole=
 collection.&nbsp; As I understand it, Casper did not have enough personal=
 funds to cover his $100,000 offer.&nbsp; At some point, I know Pitt and=
 Strope backed out of the deal with Casper for various reasons.&nbsp; I=
 haven't talked with them about this in nearly 3 years, but I am sure they=
 can verify this information. When I received a larger offer for the=
 collection, Casper said &quot;I am not going to bid this up, you go get=
 your best offer and then come back to me and I will beat it.&quot;&nbsp;=
 The highest offer I received from another party, was for $225,000 which=
 Sharon King turned down.&nbsp; I asked Casper if he wanted to top that=
 offer and he asked &quot;What will it take for me to buy it?&quot; I asked=
 Mrs. King and she was firm on wanting at least $300,000.&nbsp; When I=
 passed this on to Casper he said some things I won't repeat here, and he=
 never submitted another offer to me after that.&nbsp; Mrs. King then=
 decided to sell the meteorites individually.&nbsp; I contacted several=
 institutions including the U.S. National Collection at the Smithsonian and=
 they were not interested in purchasing or trading for any of the=
 specimens.&nbsp; I also contacted the British Museum of Natural History in=
 London and they were willing to trade for just one specimen from the=
 collection.&nbsp; Several other specimens were sold to another interested=
 institution and then we began selling the remainder via auctions to the=
 general public. <br>
<br>
3. Casper mentions that &quot;the King Family has not been paid.&quot; If by=
 that he means that Sharon's stepchildren have not been paid yet, then he is=
 correct.&nbsp; Sharon King's Estate is still in Probate, so of course the=
 heirs have not received any of Sharon's assets yet.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
4. I am not sure what he is referring to when he mentions &quot;a=
 questionable attorney&quot; and a &quot;corrupt male nurse.&quot; However,=
 as for his comments concerning Geoff Notkin, Geoff was my webmaster during=
 some of the sales, but he had nothing to do with anything other than=
 website updates.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
Many items from the King Collection were purchased by people on this=
 list.&nbsp; It is possible to verify that all the checks were made out to=
 either Sharon King or to the King Estate's law firm's trust account.&nbsp;=
 It is also possible to verify through those canceled checks that all funds=
 passed through one of these accounts and NOT mine.&nbsp; After the funds=
 cleared the bank, my commission was paid either by Sharon or her lawyer.=
 <br>
<br>
There was a comment made that Casper might be open for a lawsuit due to=
 things he has said on this list.&nbsp; Maybe that might be the case, but=
 even if I would win a lawsuit against him, I would still have to prove=
 &quot;damages&quot; before I would be awarded any money.&nbsp; Since=
 Casper's credibility has suffered so much, it is hard to imagine that his=
 comments have cost me any loss of sales (damages), so why should I sue=
 him?&nbsp; However, I did have several auctions on ebay this last weekend=
 right in the middle of all this commotion.&nbsp;&nbsp; <br>
<br>
<a=
 href=3D"http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICommand=3DViewLis=
tedItems&amp;userid=3Dmeteoritebroker.com&amp;include=3D0&amp;since=3D7&amp;=
sort=3D3&amp;rows=3D0">http://cgi6.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?MfcISAPICom=
mand=3DViewListedItems&amp;userid=3Dmeteoritebroker.com&amp;include=3D0&amp;=
since=3D7&amp;sort=3D3&amp;rows=3D0</a> <br>
<br>
I would be very interested to know if anyone would be willing to swear under=
 oath that they did indeed plan to bid on some of my lots, but then decided=
 not to bid based directly on Casper's public and or private comments.&nbsp;=
 Not suing Casper has nothing to do with any fear of &quot;full=
 disclosure&quot; on my part. <br>
<br>
Even though the statute of limitations has expired for the King Estate to=
 consider filing a lawsuit against Casper, I would be interested to know if=
 anyone was scared off early on by Casper's public fiasco on this list three=
 years ago (see list archives April/May 1999).&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a=
 href=3D"http://www.pairlist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/">http://www.pairl=
ist.net/pipermail/meteorite-list/</a> <br>
<br>
Lisa King has inquired about purchases made from the King Collection after=
 February 4, 2001.&nbsp; Although my records indicate that I have not sold=
 any items from the King Collection after January 2001, if anyone has=
 purchased such material from me since then please feel free to contact=
 her.&nbsp; I would appreciate a copy of any correspondence with her=
 concerning these topics. <br>
<br>
I know this is far more detailed than most of you care about, but I hope I=
 have cleared up any confusion that has been caused.&nbsp; I must admit that=
 I am pleasantly surprised by all the support I have received both on the=
 list and off.&nbsp; I would like to say thanks to all of you. <br>
<br>
Thank You, <br>
Steven K. Arnold</font><font face=3D"arial">=
 </font></blockquote></blockquote><br>
<div>John Gwilliam Meteorites</div>
<div>PO Box 26854</div>
<div>Tempe&nbsp; AZ&nbsp; 85285</div>
<a href=3D"http://www.meteoriteimpact.com/"=
 EUDORA=3DAUTOURL>http://www.meteoriteimpact.com</a>
</html>

--=====================_7272953==_.ALT--
Received on Wed 08 May 2002 08:13:20 PM PDT


Help support this free mailing list:



StumbleUpon
del.icio.us
reddit
Yahoo MyWeb