Tag: arson

Hits: 399

by Stephen Ames Berry

8/19/19 – This post amused many of our murderous neighbors when it first appeared. (“There they go! Get the ladder!” the Sykes gang’s Carrie Ann Bass would holler as we walked by.) There was no ladder, as we later learned after  toxic clouds were wreathed our home; they were using handfoggers to dispense organophosphate pesticides into our open office window whenever we went for a walk. 

Well, as I live and breathe. After being gassed in February and poisoned in March, we took a bit of a vacation. When we left, our neighbors, Herkimer’s Douglas Barton and Joyce Barton, appeared to be going through tough times: home rarely, woebegone looks, no more convenience foods, house dark, kids sad and angry.

Returning ten days later, we found the Bartons’ lives seemingly touched by gold. There was Joyce Barton on her 333 Pleasant Avenue command porch,

passing out favors to her throng of fair weather friends, as when she was the undisputed queen of Herkimer’s bustling drug trafficking row.  And  a welcoming friend to new neighbors.

Since our return, Joyce Barton’s been busy networking again with like-minded neighbors, partially in response to our unexpected return. (So many crestfallen faces when we pulled into driveway and emerged, relaxed and tanned. )

I suppose to the watching hopeful along Herkimer’s Pleasant Avenue, it seemed we’d abandoned our poisoned Herkimer home, packed up our pets, a few things and fled. Had I been hired to dispose of such nosy neighbors as we, dead or alive, I’d have then demand my money, reporting mission accomplished. But would have had the brains to not spend like a sailor.

And what did Douglas Barton do with his share of the Barton’s sudden golden shower? Douglas Barton bought the East Herkimer Fire Department. (Volunteer company–one engine.) How else to explain his meteoric return from the ranks, following his…suspicious…garage fire and

subsequent demotion from Deputy Chief? And those threats of arson coming from his porch one turbulent evening, directed at us and heard by many? If these are the attributes of a good fire chief, then we’re all doomed if catastrophe strikes.

East Herkimer Fire Department’s Empty Boots

Looking at the fire company’s roster (top), all their other top ranks are suddenly empty. They weren’t when Douglas Barton was returned to the ranks. Perhaps there was vehement opposition to Barton’s election as Chief, with old hands quitting in disgust? Or maybe they just ate some bad food and passed away.

Of Firemen and Ladders and Poison

The long-term salting of our furnace with a powdered insecticide required little finesse. The dosing of our home did with a spray-gun dispensed pesticide did. It was skillfully and stealthily carried out via a ladder, over a period of months in broad daylight. And done several times weekly with the aid of some of our depraved neighbors, who served as lookouts, calling the ladder man when we went for our morning walks and as we returned. Here’s one suspected lookout: 334 Pleasant Avenue Herkimer’s “The Blessing.”

The objective, as with the furnace salting, was to continuously poison us so we’d slowly sicken and die, never suspecting we’d been  murdered. We’d just pass away, as have probably many other Herkimer murder victims here over the years. Well, the word is now out, and jig is up. Spring is here and the ground may soon give up its dead to autopsy.

For reasons which will later sound not at all paranoid, our systematic poisoning probably began even before we moved into our house, three years ago. That cold diabolical plan was destroyed by the enraged nighttime pesticide attack of February 22nd. (See Herkimer Jewish Blogger Gassed) The attack was apparently sparked by our sharing The Herkimer Post’s annual blog statistics a two days earlier: 20,000+ worldwide view of Herkimer crime. The Barton’s and Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Dolan, rocketed our blog to success. Neither does well in sunlight. Nor does Herkimer.

Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Dolan – The Bartons’ Silent Backer?

Had I to guess who was bankrolling the Bartons, I’d say Curtis Cool, aka Curtis Dolan. Curtis has long been chums with the Bartons. He seemed a cash-heavy entity when he lived next door at 328 Pleasant Avenue, renting Herkimer Clerk of Courts’ Harriett Tangorra’s house. Curtis, who waged a lengthy campaign of harassment against us, is rumored to be the scion of Herkimer’s most respected drug manufacturing family. In Herkimer County, New York, this would grant him the status of untouchable nobility; Curtis Cool could only be tried before the Herkimer Drug Lord Himself.

Certainly Herkimer Police and fire officials refused to take complaints against him, possibly fearing they or their families might be poisoned. Because of us and our widely-viewed blog, Curtis had to give up his comfy digs next door and beat an ignominious retreat. He may harbor a grudge.

A Heartfelt “Thank You” to the Herkimer Community

Lastly, we’d like to thank the Herkimer community and authorities for their outpouring of support and sympathy following two well-publicized,  heinous attempts on our lives within the last two months. Their names and organizations are below:

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Oh well. As folks in Herkimer say with a shrug, “It’s Herkimer.”

Herkimer’s community ethos is one which historically has left a lot empty shoes behind.

Perhaps a viewing of Schinlder’s List might help restore Herkimer’s atrophied social conscience?

Oh. Hail to the Chief: