[meteorite-list] Death, Mr. Casper and Mr. Arnold

From: E.P. Grondine <epgrondine_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Thu Apr 22 10:04:48 2004
Message-ID: <20020512200843.9295.qmail_at_web11604.mail.yahoo.com>

Hi all -

I regret having to remind everyone of this, but my
assumption is that all who participate in the
meteorite list will die someday. In other words,
baring the foundation of a new religion, someday you
will die.

At that point, the liquidation of your estate is a
problem which will face your estate's executors. It
is likely that your estate will also include a
meteorite collection, and thus your estate's executors
are going to be faced with the problem of fiding a
reputable agent to liquidate your collection.

Mr. Casper believes, whether correctly or not, that
Mr. Arnold did not adequately represent the heirs in
this case. It may be that Mr. Casper is mistaken,
that he has been provided with faulty information, but
in any case Mr. Arnold as agent has a duty to fully
and publicly record his actions.

Of course, one handy solution to leaving your estates
executors with the problem of finding a reputable
agent would simply be to leave your entire meteorite
collection to me in your will.

ep






--- John Gwilliam <jkg_at_theriver.com> wrote:
>
>
> 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


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Received on Sun 12 May 2002 04:08:43 PM PDT