The Franklin Files

Shadowman · Senior Member

RE: Paul Bonacci

Shadowman · Senior Member

THE COURT: What? I didn't understand.

A. He placed a call directly to Ronald Reagan. And I set my, set next to him while it was going on. The voice that I could hear through the tele -- you know, from sitting by the telephone, was that of President Reagan.

Q. (By Mr. DeCamp) That sounds like a fantastic tale, don't you think?

A. Yes.

Q. Your pictures, whatever happened to them?

A. Well, Larry King has a lot of them. From this point in time. There are 27 apple boxes full. In Oregon the State Patrol has them. I've tried and tried to get them returned. Have not been able to. There are additional pictures that were just recently taken from me that there's about at least one full apple box, probably another half more plus. That I believe the Portland police or the sheriff's department, Multnomah County in Oregon has that. They confiscated those from me when I was stopped for supposedly a broken tail light. And then arrested for parole violation about three months ago. That was on November 4th of last year. One of the pictures that may be in those is of Johnny Gosch.

Q. How would you happen to come across a Johnny Gosch picture?

A. He was pointed out to me in Portland.

Q. Fairly recently or a long time ago, when?

A. Be between probably August and October of this year, I mean this last year of 98.

Q. The pictures that were seized by Portland, Oregon State Patrol, are they still in existence?

A. I have no idea.

Q. Are you aware of the fact that I first learned of these pictures because I was contacted by the state patrol of Oregon because they found a copy of my book in your possessions when they arrested you?

A. That was Detective Rader I believe.

Q. That's correct.

A. And because of that supposedly he's left Multnomah Sheriff's Department or changed jobs, his name was on the receipt along with a Detective Pogge, I believe it was. And they've just been playing the bureaucratic pass the buck and they say, well, because he was the one behind it he has to sign it off for you to get it. Okay. I was arrested for taking pictures of a minor supposedly. Nude pictures. Something I would not do. Because, you know, make sure they are of legal age, they sign release, whenever possible I even have them notarized. Check IDs, everything. They could not find a single picture of this person that I had taken. The situation where I was at, the lawyer that I had, Ron Fishback, who was appointed to me, found out that the Franklin deal was in -- the Franklin Credit Union was involved in this. At first it didn't register to him what it was. And he was all gung ho to get me off and everything. And upon his checking into it he got with me and his attitude had totally changed night and day, somebody had obviously gotten to him. And then as far pictures and things like that, I end up having to put a complaint against him. We ended up going through, we were able to get a lawyer arranged for, I guess John DeCamp, and went on national radio. And there was a lawyer or a newspaper called the Oregon Observer that would provide me with attorney. The attorney came in, oh, yeah, he's gung ho. Well get this taken care of, no problem. Next thing I know, attorney's coming up, he says, well, we're going to take, want you to take a plea bargain because you've got all the time in, I've been in 18 and a half months on a 13 month sentence. You need to get this over with. Get it done with. Furthermore, if you do not do this and do this immediately at this next court session the district attorney has told him that they would drag this out another four to six years in court and I would remain in jail. At that point in time Judge Nely Johnson had ordered that I had been released. I believe they call it closed supervision. And I had found a job, place to live, everything. And was starting to get back into society after being incarcerated. And I just wanted to have it over with. So I took it.

Q. Going back to, going back to your time in --
A. Oh, one other thing, John.

Q. Go ahead.

A. Yeah. The attorney that they had appointed to me, I mean John was able to come up with, his name is Brian Joyce, we have not been able to locate him since last summer at all. I mean, that's just basically vanished. As far as the Portland Observer, I've been trying to call him, have not been able to, the last phone book that was published that I had seen, while I was in jail they were delivered, it wasn't even listed in the listings for a phone number any more. And it was the year before. I don I know what's actually happening in that situation. But -- you know, it's hard to say. The way this has all been unraveled.

Q. Do you know that I was called by the detective out there when they seized the pictures and they found my book there?

A. Yes.

Shadowman · Senior Member

Q. You know that I traveled out and he gave me permission to go through some of those 27 boxes.

A. Yes.

Q. Are you aware of that?

A. Yes.

Q. And I presume you know what's in those boxes but --
A. Oh, I used to.

Q. I presume you know much of the material with detailed diaries --
A. Yes.

Q. -- and pictures go back to the time when you were with Larry King, are you aware of that?

A. There should have been some in there. They still exist I would probably be surprised, but I would expect they should have been there. They were when I left Portland, I was moving back to Nebraska.

Q. How many pictures would you estimate there are? I only saw a small fraction, to be honest with you.

A. In all I probably had a few hundred of Larry King's that I had personally.

Q. I was going to say, I saw pictures then it looked to me to total somewhere between 10 and 20,000 maybe. Negatives, the pictures.

A. Oh, there would have been way more than that. There was, there should have been 108,000 slides is what I had in that van when I left Portland. As for pictures, there probably was 20, 30,000 prints and negatives.

Q. And you knew I requested the court out there preserve that evidence?

A. Yes.

Q. So it could at some day in some way get back here to Nebraska?

A. Actually it was supposed to have been returned to you.

Q. Yeah. Well, that's never occurred. But anyway. Those pictures and your diaries are in that material, is that correct?

A. Yes.

Q. And those diaries –

A. Most of them.

Q. -- detailed various things dating back to when you were in Nebraska with Larry King, is that correct?

A. Yes. There should be in there along with others that I have –

Q. These pictures would then documents or verify or prove your association, relationship with Larry King or working with him?

A. Yes.

Q. The existence of some of the young people back then, is that correct?

A. I believe so.

Q. Did you spend a lot of time in Larry King's office?

A. Oh, yes.

Q. When I say Larry King's office –

A. At the credit union.

Q. In Larry King's personal office or just the credit union?

A. His personal office.

Q. What were you doing there?

A. Basically I was told to sit there and look pretty. I was, the biggest thing was to keep quiet, you didn't I see anything, but if we need you to do something you're there. You know, it was, it was somewhat like an assistant, I guess. It was, I got the feeling that I was being groomed, that's what obviously it was. He, when I first met him he saw me, yeah, this, you'll be perfect for this and that and the next thing. Next thing he goes, you look like you just stepped out of Good Will. You're going to be with me you got to have decent clothes. He took me down, I believe it was Landon's, underneath the Red Lion there's a store called Landon's men's wear and brought me in and just basically bought a new set of clothes for me. And it wasn't I anything cheap at all. It was very expensive things. And, you know, he, it was basically like that from then on. We go on shopping trips, Minneapolis, New York and things like that. And he'd say, okay, this, this and that. And sometimes he'd buy the clothes, other times he'd have people that also worked with him would, basically he'd tell them, okay, here's my credit card, go out and make him look good.
And, you know, that was it. He'd go -- there's one day we went to Minneapolis and then believe it was Presbyterian church had a resort that we went out. He was trying to get some money or something like that. You know, reissue some certificates of deposit. And he'd made it a point that I was all dressed up, he said, I want you to look like a cowboy tonight. And then we went to there and then he introduced me to a few people there. He, the way I could make it out from what he was doing was basically going into these organizations, selling them certificates of deposit that were bogus. And they were making out the checks to the Franklin Credit Union to a numbered account or something I believe.

Q. You're aware of the fact that Larry King was convicted of doing those very things and he's serving a sentence in prison at this very time, right?

A. I knew he was in prison, didn't know what they actually got him convicted of.

Q. I want to talk about some other aspects of Larry King's conduct. Which were never dealt with, at least in a courtroom. That has to do with some of the things you brought up on child pornography, so on, so forth. Was he involved in having parties, for example, where children were brought in and used, or young people?

A. Oh, yes. Him and Alan Baer.

Q. Who?

A. Alan Baer.

Q. Where were these parties?

A. Lot of times they'd be in Alan Baer's home out in Regency Park. There were some he had a catering company, trying to think. I can't remember the exact address on it. It was in north Portland. He used to bring people down to the bedroom in the Franklin Credit Union and for his -- he'd have somebody come in, they'd go downstairs for the afternoon or something for a quickie. He'd have them up at the penthouse, his house in Embassy Row. It was just basically anywhere Larry went there was party to follow him. He always had an entourage with him. It was rare to see him without at least half a dozen or dozen people dragging behind.

Shadowman · Senior Member

Q. Were there some at the Twin Towers?

A. Oh, yes.

Q. Did you attend those?

A. He wanted me to. I didn't want much of any part of it. So whenever I seen something like that was happening I tried to avoid it like the plague.

Q. All of the young people identified, quote, a Rusty Nelson, described you, much shorter beard. Where would they have seen you?

A. Well, he kept me rather prominent, you know, as I was with him, always had a camera with me.

Q. Did you travel with him?

A. Oh, yes.

Q. Travel where?

A. New York, Washington, D. C., Minneapolis, Chicago, you know, all over. Just wherever he wanted me. He'd call me up, might be midnight, say be ready to leave on the plane at 5:00 o'clock or 7:00 o'clock, whatever. Meet me down at Sky Harbor. He'd have a private jet waiting.

Q. Do you think people really believed that?

A. No. That's why made sure to take a couple pictures now and then.

Q. Do you recognize this --
MR. DECAMP: May I approach the bench, Your Honor?

THE COURT: You may.

Q. (By Mr. DeCamp) Do you recognize this?

A. Yes, I do.

Q. When was the first time you saw it?

A. Well, I haven't seen it for half a dozen years plus. It was seen last night.

Q. Where did you see?

A. Your office.

Q. Do you know how I got it?

A. You got it from the sheriffs department in Nebraska City.

Q. That's correct.

A. Where they got it from I have a good idea but I'm still trying to nail it down exactly.

Q. Their information to me, as I told you, was that it was mailed to them anonymously and the sheriff in Nebraska City called me and said sounds like something of that Franklin stuff and asked me to come pick it up.

A. Yeah. And where –

Q. Did you look at it?

A. Oh yes.

MR. DECAMP: May I open it, Your Honor?

THE COURT: You may.

Q. (By Mr. DeCamp) What's in here?

A. Pictures.

Q. How did these pictures, where did they come from?

A. Some of these pictures are from back in the time of the Franklin Credit Union. I worked for Larry King. For instance, this one was one that was taken at The Max. One of the Sunday night parties. I believe this was one of the male strippers that Larry had arranged for. He arranged for certain things like La Cage follies to come in, things like that. He would make special arrangements just to get these people to come in so he could have a special night or party or whatever.

Q. What about these two pictures, do you recognize them?

A. That's Larry King at, it's a black history museum in Harlem in New York City. He supposedly contributed considerably to. It was pretty much brand new building, they just dedicated it right before we had gotten there.

Q. What about this one?

A. That's inside his mansion on Embassy Row in Washington, D. C.

Shadowman · Senior Member

Q. Larry King's place?

A. Yes.

Q. You were there?

A. Yes.

Q. With him?

A. Yes.

Q. For what?

A. Oh, everything from going out one day to take pictures of flower garden to going out taking pictures of parties. Going out, he'd go around the town, there would be certain people he'd stop and pick up, take them out for supper or, you know, they would go out and just short meetings, things like that. A lot of times he would dismiss the rest of the entourage, it was just Larry and myself. We'd go out sometimes, pick up person here, there, they'd get in limousine, we drive around, they talk for a little bit. Usually in hushed tones. Sometimes I could make out what was being said. Other times I couldn't. And always I was told to forget that I had seen whoever it was. And if I tried to find out who they were I was usually admonished from doing such. If I did know who they were it was basically for the most part I wasn't to address that person or I wasn't to remember that person. If I had pictures of anything like that Larry always insisted on having the film. At times when I was out in Washington occasionally I would slip an extra roll of film in, get a couple of pictures and throw it in an envelope and mail it home. So --

Q. Are there additional pictures of your association, relationship with Larry King and your trips here?

A. Okay. This is one of the private jets we flew on, two of the limousines, believe that was the Dulles airport when we went to Washington, D.C. I believe, that's inside the jet. That's inside the house again, that's Larry King again. Flower garden. Some of the pictures we took while we were out and around in limousine, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Washington. This is a theater near the black history museum in Harlem. I believe this was taken in New York City, it could have been Washington, D. C. Larry King, Dr. Waterman, the lady I believe was Larry's cousin, she was an attorney for him at the credit union. And the two guys were basically some of Larry's boyfriends that he kept in his entourage. Can I remember their names right offhand. There's closer picture of one of the boyfriends. These, I believe, are pictures from New York City from in the limousine. Some of the different hotels, the cathedral and things like that. We'd went, that trip he'd stopped in a jewelry store to get a very expensive watch if I remember right. It was extremely expensive Rolex.

Q. Rusty, Chief Wadman testified, of course, as you well know, that the only contact you had with Larry King was you rented an apartment from him. In his building or something like that.

A. Yes.

Q. My question to you, did Chief Wadman have very good reason to know that was not true?

A. Oh, yes, he did.

Q. Did Chief Wadman have, go ahead, what are some of the reasons he would have had to know that was not true?

A. Larry basically had him under his thumb. There was one instance where we were downtown Omaha, one of the side streets, I had had a little bit of problem, the police had been up to my door and I was up at the Twin Towers. And they had come in to check to see if I had a photography studio. The officer just basically came to the door, that was about it, saw that I had it, I had a model release and left. And I was shook. And I had mentioned it to Larry. And he goes, well, well just take care of that. And shortly thereafter we were down on one of the side streets downtown and I was in the back seat of his white Mercedes and he pulls into the side street, man gets in, and I had been told at one time earlier that this was Chief Wadman. And Larry had handed him a small manila envelope filled with hundred dollars bills, a stack about an inch and a half, two inches thick. And basically said this will just take care of everything. And he told me then that my problems were over. And at that point I knew there was some real big problems. And I basically just, you know, shortly after that disappeared. I knew that there with two sets of books at the credit union. I knew that his accountant was pulling something. Larry had mentioned he'd paid his accountant a million dollars. And for this he could make anything look like it was right. And these were just things, bits and pieces along the way that Larry would let slip or things that I would notice. One trip to Minneapolis we stayed, I believe it was at the Ritz, and we had the presidential suite. Larry had me stay with him that night. And early in the morning a man came to the door and Larry had a briefcase, this man came in and he'd open it up and it was filled with bearer bonds.

THE COURT: What?

A. Bearer bonds. You know, pay to the order of bearer. And he had just basically given it to him. There was some cash in there. And I couldn't quite get the gist of what was what. And in that case he referred to the man as colonel and that was all, all that was said. So, you know, it's Larry had some interesting things. I believe he had some association with the Contra ordeal. That's financing it or whatever.

Q. (By Mr. DeCamp) Rusty, you say you got disenamored or nervous or scared, they said it was time to leave, did you do anything to protect yourself, any documentation of what was doing on, did you tape anything?

A. Oh yeah. Yeah, I had. Throughout the time I was in Franklin occasionally Id have a chance to get ahold of a computer disk and copy it. Photocopies of various ledgers and things that I knew where Larry had set aside from what they should have been. And I would at times sneak a piece of paper out to the copier, get it back and, you know, take the photocopy or send it some place to where hopefully it was safe. And make tape recordings, I usually kept a little tape recorder in my pocket to make notes. And occasionally I would turn it on if I felt something was rather suspicious and then I would secrete the tape out somehow, you know, to where it would be available hopefully.