Middleman files theft complaint against Bigfoot hoaxers
By CHRISTIAN BOONE, KATHY JEFCOATS
Thursday, August 21, 2008
The two Georgia men who admitted pulling off the Bigfoot hoax claim to be good ole boys just out for a laugh.
But an Indiana man who says he paid the duo $50,000 for a Bigfoot body alleges “they’re cops that perpetrated a fraud.”
William Wald Lett Jr. of Eaton, Indiana, filed a theft complaint Thursday with the Clayton County police against two men who allegedly took his money. Though the men are not identified in the complaint, authorities think they are former Clayton police Officer Matt Whitton and former corrections officer Rick Dyer.
Lett said he brokered and videotaped the transaction on behalf of Tom Biscardi, a legendary Bigfoot hunter in California. Biscardi said he’d repay the loan to Lett at 50 percent interest within 90 days.
Lett, 56, said he met the men the night of Aug. 14 in the Clayton County Justice Center parking lot, handed over cash, followed the men to a nearby house and loaded a freezer containing a frozen, furry object onto a trailer.
Lett said a third, unidentified man guarded the Sasquatch “corpse” at the house. “They were really on edge,” Lett said of Whitton and Dyer.
When Lett got back to Indiana, the object thawed and was revealed to be a Halloween costume.
“They were in a panic about getting that money,” said Lett, who calls himself “an investor,” not a Bigfoot tracker.
Whitton and Dyer appeared on WSB-TV Wednesday and admitted to their roles in the hoax, saying it was a practical joke. Neither Whitton, Dyer or their recently hired attorney, Steve Lister, have returned repeated telephone calls seeking comment. Whitton and Dyer were not home when a reporter visited their last reported addresses.
Lett said that once the hoax was revealed, Whitton and Dyer contacted him to apologize for taking his money.
“They told me they wouldn’t have taken it if they had known it belonged to me,” Lett said. “So I told them to just give it back and put an end to it.”
They refused, allegedly telling the financier they had planned to make some $500,000 from their hoax.
“They’re not quite grasping the fact they’ve committed a felony,” Lett said.
Clayton Police Capt. Greg Dickens said suspects are not identified in incident reports until charges are filed. The case may be assigned to a detective today.
“I think the solvability expectation in this case is pretty high,” he said.
Whitton, 28, was fired Tuesday after six years with the department because of his involvement in the hoax, said police Chief Jeff Turner. Dyer, 31, worked at three different state prisons, according to Georgia Peace Officers Standards and Training Council records.
However, he now sells used car over the Internet and drives a truck for Big Foot Towing Co.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/clayton/stories/2008/08/21/bigfoot_theft_claim.html
