Who Killed Jackie Nations?

Jackie Rose Nations (59†), mentally disabled since birth, committed suicide by jumping from her sixth-floor apartment window during the early hours Sunday (17 Sep 00). A healthy and fairly active woman for her size, Nations evidently died a painful, lingering death. She lay dying on a roof for up to three hours without help while a “security guard” slept.

	Alleged Homicide by Abuse

According to several witnesses, her niece Audrey F. Dunbar (35), considered her a burden and constantly abused her. A question whether she committed suicide in despair or as revenge upon her family for the abuse that she experienced, will forever remain unanswered. Her family and Council House directors need to answer many questions.

Someone called police (17 Sep 00 05:26) to report a person sleeping on the roof of the first floor public rooms. Officers responded to find Jackie dead with bilateral lower extremity fractures and facial injuries. She died from vertebral, jaw, and rib fractures due to blunt force injury to her head and trunk. Fully clad, she had appropriately placed clothing.

Jackie lay directly below the open window of her apartment. Inside the window, a folding chair stood facing the wall and dust and debris on the windowsill showed recent disturbance. Everything inside the apartment appeared neat and orderly. The evidence indicated that Jackie had stood on the chair and exited through the window.

Police found no signs of forced entry and the chief medical examiner concluded that Jackie committed suicide. Both police and the medical examiner ruled out homicide, yet the administrator, Stephen A. Mitchell (40) has since accused at least two residents with premeditated culpability in her death. He has made official statements without a smidgen of evidence to support his contentions - an encore to the murder scenario he concocted a month earlier which included Jackie. [Contractor’s Daughter]

Robert Cowdin awakened at 08:30 Sunday, three hours after the police arrived, and learned of Jackie’s death. The police did not know that Cowdin, a night security guard, worked that night so they did not question him. Cowdin contacted Mitchell and said that he would talk about “the other situation” [Jackie’s death] Monday when he would arise at 10:00. Cowdin routinely closed the front desk between 21:00 and 22:00 and did not patrol the building at night.

An article in Contra Cabal (19 Feb 00), just seven months before Jackie’s death, addressed the lack of security at Council House. All the directors and their attorney received a copy of that article. It contained this statement:

The security problem has reached a stage where residents should ask whether someone must suffer a violent death before the board of directors takes action. . . . Residents do not report rule infractions because they know that Mullen will not do anything about them. Their reticence probably relates to his hostile reaction to complaints and a history of procrastination and kill-the-messenger techniques that make appeals fruitless.

Council House claims to employ security personnel to provide extra safety to residents. However, the two people bartering free accommodation for services act only as desk clerks and not as security guards. They apparently have no credentials for security work and one allegedly acts illegally.

Council House claims to a secure building rank as misleading at best and fraudulent at worst. A secure building requires detailed post orders. Patrol instructions form part of any contract with security guards and strict patrol compliance standards form an important part of building security.

Residents must know how to contact a security guard anywhere and anytime during an emergency. . . . Council House operating statement claims expenditure and budgeted expenditures for Security Payroll/Contract as $18,966.00 (1998/99) and $23,400.00 (1999/00), respectively. Yet [it] employs neither security guards nor contracts with a security company for services. Perhaps the directors should explain where that money went. [The Mullen Legacy]

Well, someone did suffer a violent death and the board of directors has still not taken action five years later (03 Jun 05). Neither Mitchell nor Mark T. Mullen heeded the warning and Council House still employs Cowdin as a security guard.

Sarah V. Barrie, Dunbar’s mother, had her father Ernie and his wife Rose transfer real estate by quit claim deed to herself in consideration of “love and affection”. Then she granted them the full use, control, income and possession of the property for and during their natural lives then dumped Ernie and Jackie (his retarded daughter) at Council House. Jackie later committed suicide there.

Instead, Mitchell blamed her victims and tried to kill the messengers bearing witness to the incidents by using ostracism and other harassment. He harassed Kabbani after the Williams incident and tampered with her as a witness in other instances of abuse until she instructed a lawyer. [Racism]

Authorities will probably never know the full extent of the abuse that preceded the suicide. However, evidence shows that Mitchell, in a consort with Dunbar and her mother V. Sarah Barrie, launched an immediate cover up of the circumstances surrounding Jackie’s death.

Seattle police held a follow-up interview with Mitchell at his home after the medical examiner had made a determination. During that interview a few hours after the suicide, Mitchell tried to implicate JoRene Dodson (a tenant) by telling police that she had threatened to murder Jackie. [Contractor’s Daughter]

Mitchell told police that one of his social workers (Ramsburg) had heard JoRene Dodson make a death threat to Jackie. He told the officer that police responded to that threat and incarcerated her. Mitchell went on to say that Katrina M. Ramsburg (26) had reported the death threat to him and that he now believed Dodson had lured Jackie into a situation that effectively placed her at risk. Later, Dunbar, who had no direct contact with Dodson, manufactured evidence to support an antiharassment motion against her based upon hearsay by Ramsburg.

Mitchell failed to tell the officer that the whole Dodson episode one month prior to the suicide amounted to nothing more than a thespian fantasy. He retaliated for a petition Dodson and other tenants had circulated two years earlier when she also informed authorities of unlawful activities at the facility over several years. Moreover, Mitchell took three days to concoct the script with Dunbar and Ramsburg before calling police to arrest her.

Later, Ramsburg denied to an investigator (Painter) that she performed any counseling or social work at Council House. When questioned, she switched roles and said that she worked as a service coordinator. She later foreswore in writing any part in the Dodson/Nations murder scenario despite having testified under oath to the contrary with Dunbar and Mitchell.

As part of the Nations cover up, Dunbar and Barrie cleaned out the apartment and cancelled the lease the day after Jackie’s death. They did not hold a memorial service customarily held for deceased residents. Instead, they organized a public tag sale of all Jackie’s belongings four days later. Mitchell has apparently destroyed all records of the tenancy; however, sources have provided copies of them for fact-checking.

Mitchell has since accused other people of complicity. He even claimed to authorities that this reporter has a mental condition, and that reports of resident abuse at Council House published in Contra Cabal and filed with federal authorities caused Jackie’s death, without a shred of evidence to support his contentions. Contra Cabal did not contain any reports about Jackie Nations until after her suicide except for listing her once as a nocturnal noisemaker. In any event, Jackie could not comprehend written material beyond the level of an illustrated advertisement, according to friends and neighbors.

Mitchell wrote to municipal oversight authorities:

It is with a heavy heart that I compile this information. The horror of September 11th proved to me that there are times when you simply cannot protect yourself from fanatics. Council House and myself have been the victims of relentless attacks full of malice and insane accusations not supported by any fact. I am desperate to find relief. I have to confess that even after this non-profit spent nearly twenty thousand dollars to protect ourselves [lawyer fees incurred with the stated intent to jail this reporter on trumped up charges for reporting crimes], the harassment continues. It is difficult for me to even compile the information as it forces me to look into the mind of a mad man who continues to spew venom at our organization at every opportunity. . . . One resident whom he focused his attacks on jumped to her death from her 6th story window. [Then he] supported another resident who made a death threat targeting this woman and my activity director and her infant son. Stephen A. Mitchell. (07 Dec 01)

Psychiatrists reading this excerpt from a 2000-word diatribe by Mitchell addressed to Jeaneen Watkins, Seattle City Attorney’s Office, may judge for themselves which one has the mental problems, this reporter or Mitchell. They may also inquire into the state of mind of Watkins’s bosses, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, City Attorney Thomas A. Carr, and his assistant (wannabe judge) Michael J. Finkle. Finkle filed the letter as a criminal complaint. Nickels had a lowly receptionist respond to an objection despite serious charges and a jail sentence based upon false accusations and perjury. Carr turned a blind eye when his staff: accepted criminal complaints without informing the first party; denied due process to the person accused; and, silently withheld documents by using fatuous claims of attorney work product.

Immediately following an appellate hearing (14 Nov 03) (now subject to Supreme Court review (23 Jun 05)), Mitchell and Dunbar filed criminal complaints with Seattle Police Department (SPD) and claimed to have filed copies with the office of Norm Maleng, King County Public Prosecutor. Eighteen months have now elapsed since the original filing of that complaint (and several years on similar complaints) yet City of Seattle continues to silently withhold documents effectively granting Mitchell and Dunbar impunity for filing false police reports. [Silent Withholding]

Robert W. Hood, Public and Community Safety Division Chief, Seattle City Attorney's Office, released redacted copies of those police reports after SPD neglected to do so. However, Hood has not released copies of the criminal complaints, or evidence appended to those reports, to the first party despite four requests for those public records.

Carr, Finkle, Hood, and Watkins, all work for the city attorney’s office and each of them has withheld a plethora of public records over an extended period. This shows a pattern or practice of aiding and abetting Mitchell and Dunbar in filing false reports with a government agency - a criminal offense. Moreover, they repeatedly neglect or refuse to give the first party copies of those reports or process them in accordance with departmental regulations. By that, they effectively deny due process of law and pervert justice.

Stephen A. Mitchell, Building Manager, Council House, identified with the subject of this cartoon then filed a criminal complaint with City of Seattle. He claimed a "thinly veiled threat of castration". He told media that it caused him to "sleep with a baseball bat". What is a tall pygmy? How does one castrate a eunuch? Perhaps Supreme Court justices will provide answers. Seattle City Attorneys know that Stephen (aka Stefan) A. Mitchell, Building Manager, Council House, Seattle, has filed many false and misleading reports with City of Seattle law enforcement and other agencies in attempts to intimidate and to harass Council House tenants. Thomas A. Carr, Michael J. Finkle (a wannabe judge), and Robert W. Hood penalize the victim by silently withholding records instead of prosecuting the offender. City of Seattle officials use political expedience to cover up crimes committed by political associates. They willfully accept and record false police reports and deny the accused person access to first-party records. [RCW 42.20.040] [RCW 9A.76.175]

Carr/Finkle/Hood Dereliction and Silent Withholding Michael J. Finkle, Attorney, City of Seattle (CoS), has a letter and supporting documentation that form part of an official complaint by Council House. The letter claims that the cartoonist threatened to castrate the Council House building manager by publishing this cartoon. Finkle claims: "In accordance with RCW 42.17.260(1) and RCW 10.97.080, we are prohibited from providing you with a copy of non-conviction data, even though you are the subject . . . " [Dereliction and Collusion] [Silent Withholding] Mitchell has shown a pattern or practice by filing similar documents with a federal agency. City of Seattle has retaliated for reporting dereliction and malfeasance by oversight agency officials and alleged misappropriation of funds and elder abuse at Council House. [Histrionics and Narcissism] [Thespian Liar] [Another Jim Jones?]

Third Age - Premeditated Ripoff

Elderly people when they enter their third age or twilight years discuss how to handle their financial affairs. Many of them do not have previous experience. They approach their problems in a variety of ways. Some have long-term health care insurance and preserve their assets for the next generation. Others use their assets until they run out and then rely upon Medicaid. Others have family members who coerce them to transfer their assets to them and persuade them to rely upon Medicaid. This manipulation effectively accelerates and increases the amount of potential inheritances.

Dunbar and her extended family chose the latter option to the detriment of her grandfather and aunt - both legally defined as vulnerable adults and now deceased. In Washington, “vulnerable adults” means people who do not have the functional, mental, or physical ability to care for themselves.

Nations' death probably classifies as homicide by abuse - a class A felony - due to her status as a vulnerable adult and unlawful tenant by virtue of disability and age. She had no help from social services. Dunbar and her extended family misappropriated her real estate and used her and her father as a means to obtain government funds.

The family probably contributed to her death through abuse, neglect, or indifference. Neglect of a vulnerable adult means the failure of a caregiver to provide the care necessary to avoid physical harm or mental anguish. It includes failure to provide proper food, clothing, medical treatment, medication, and hygiene. Financial abuse includes the improper taking or misuse of money or property.

That construes as gross negligence especially, when Jackie’s family acted for financial gain. Just because someone has guardianship or power of attorney over a person, does not mean that they can do what they wish with that person's funds. The law places significant restrictions on how they may spend those funds. If a guardian or a person who holds a power of attorney violates those restrictions, they commit a crime.

If Council House had employed a qualified service coordinator instead of an out-of-work actor with the funds that US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provided, and employed competent security guards instead of thugs that sleep all night, then Jackie might have received the help that she obviously needed and would probably survive today.

Dunbar manages rentals at Council House (independent living apartments). Mitchell and his predecessor Mark T. Mullen have maintained the occupancy percentage required by HUD and increased income by illegally renting apartments to vulnerable adults for at least ten years.

King County classifies people unable to express or demonstrate physical harm, pain, or mental anguish, as vulnerable. Mental abuse means any willful action or inaction not limited to coercion, harassment, inappropriately isolating a person from family, friends, or regular activity, and verbal assault that includes ridiculing, intimidating, yelling, or swearing. "Pattern or practice" means an intentional violation of rights granted by the Civil Rights Act evidenced by more than an isolated instance, or by regular repeated conduct in violation of that Act.

A pattern or practice of abuse has contributed to the death of vulnerable adults and the discomfort and danger of tenants living independently. Several vulnerable tenants currently remain at risk and suffer daily abuse at the hands of Mitchell, Dunbar, and their thugs.
[Five Kapos]

Dunbar, a subliterate and abrasive woman, devoid of any social graces, has a BS in communication from Seattle Pacific University (SPU); however, she cannot string two phrases together to make a sentence or distinguish different meanings and spellings for similar sounding words. A duplicitous person, she behaves in an outrageously loud way and respects nobody. Like Mitchell, she toadies to those with power or money when it suits her.

On a falsified resume, Dunbar obtained a lucrative job at Council House. Since then, she has repeatedly terrorized elderly people. She has sworn at least three declarations containing perjury and suborned tenants to swear false declarations so that, with Mitchell, she can have perceived enemies incarcerated. Not bad for a notary public sworn to uphold the law.

Mitchell and Dunbar, in a consort with several elitist tenants, continue to discriminate against vulnerable adults because of their infirmities and race. That classifies as elder abuse. Elder abuse consists of willful action or inaction that inflicts injury, unreasonable confinement, intimidation, or punishment upon elderly people.

All three managers exploit tenants by compelling or exerting undue influence over them to perform services for their own benefit. Financial exploitation has led to the illegal or improper use of property, income, resources, and funds. At least two vulnerable adults have died from neglect and abuse. The directors had four independently living tenants incarcerated without due process of law. They have since covered up deaths and federal, state, and municipal officials ignore complaints and reports of unlawful activity. [Last Cruel Days. Homicide?]

Elder Abuse

Relatives sometimes avoid nursing home care for ethical reasons. They do not want their relatives drugged. Others see a financial advantage in avoiding those facilities. Instead, they illegally warehouse elderly relatives in places like Council House without the care that they need. They then misappropriate their assets.

Mitchell and Dunbar refuse to accept that they must not rent independent-living apartments to vulnerable adults. Moreover, for profit they conveniently overlook regulations that classify the building as an apartment block and treat it as a nursing home.

Council House apparently opted out of providing assisted living facilities several years ago to avoid the expense of alterations to the building. Consequently, it remains ineligible to house vulnerable adults yet does so on a regular basis. During the past five years, Council House has granted leases to about ten of them. Two of them have died from alleged homicide by abuse and the others have suffered elder abuse on a regular basis.

James Ernst (Ernie) Nations (91†) and his daughter Jackie Rose Nations (59†) lived in the house in Castle Rock, Washington that he transferred to Barrie. Both vulnerable adults, they did not under any circumstances qualify to rent an apartment at Council House; yet their family derived financial benefit by illegally obtaining a lease and disposing of their assets - a classic case of family dumping for financial gain.

The extended Nations family chose to cheat the government. They needed cooperation from Ernie, an Alzheimer’s victim, and Jackie, a retarded person from birth, to work their scam - Ernie for age eligibility (over 62) for HUD housing and Jackie to look after him as caregiver. They then defrauded both federal and state agencies by posing as caregivers.

A loving and ethical family would have either purchased long term health insurance for the father or used his assets to insure nursing home care for the remainder of his life. Instead, Dunbar decided to act illegally in a consort with her employers for their mutual benefit.

Public records showed calculated intent to defraud government agencies. Sarah Barrie, Dunbar’s mother, had her father Ernie and her sister Jackie transfer real estate by quit claim deed to herself in consideration of “love and affection”. She falsely represented them as husband and wife. Then she granted them the full use, control, income and possession of the property for and during their natural lives.

However, soon after, Sarah obtained a special power of attorney over Ernie, witnessed by Jackie and James A. Barrie (Sarah’s husband), then abrogated the “use for life” clause. She moved Ernie to a nursing home. Two weeks later, Dunbar obtained a special power of attorney over Jackie, also witnessed by James Barrie. Sarah then sold the real property.

Ernie suffered from an advanced stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Despite his condition, Sarah moved him out of a nursing home where she had placed him temporarily while transferring the real estate. Dunbar then used him as a straw man to overcome the minimum age limitation (62) on a lease for Jackie (57), not eligible because of her age and disability regardless. Ernie too classified as a vulnerable adult unqualified for a lease.

Mullen and Mitchell, knowing the circumstances, colluded with Dunbar and unlawfully leased the apartment to Ernie and Jackie. Ernie’s incompetence and incontinence did not permit him to live there; instead he commuted to Council House most days with Dunbar who used Jackie to clean up after him and clean his clothes.

Despite her mental disability, Council House set Jackie to work without pay which placed her in grave personal danger. Using Jackie as a caregiver for her father in itself amounted to elder abuse without taking into account the constant public revilement heaped upon her by Dunbar.

Statistics show that female vulnerable adults in apartment blocks and nursing homes classify as prime candidates for rape. Yet, Dunbar made her aunt work for Council House at night to deliver pamphlets and notices to apartments. That resulted in Jackie roaming hallways aimlessly at all hours because she could not find her way back to her apartment unaided. In a panic, she regularly banged on any door to get help back to her apartment.

Examination of hundreds of documents obtained under the Public Records Act, and from other sources, shows that James Barrie and Audrey Dunbar allegedly defrauded the Washington State welfare system. They claimed income as caregivers concurrent with Jackie and Ernie leasing a HUD controlled independent-living apartment.

Sarah Barrie (formerly Dunbar nee Nations sister to Jackie and mother to Audrey), works as the State of Washington, Department of Ecology, Fleet Operations Coordinator, at an annual salary of $43,644.00 (31 Jan 05) - probably the reason for using her husband as a welfare proxy.

Jackie Nations jumped to her death (17 Sep 00) from a sixth floor window two weeks before her sixtieth birthday after a week of abuse by her niece Audrey F. Dunbar, witnessed by several people. A witness gave an interview (23 Jan 01) on condition of anonymity.

Ann Onymus heard a thud followed by groans in the early hours one Sunday morning. She did not think much about it until she later learned of Jackie’s death. She mentioned the groaning to other tenants and another woman volunteered that she had heard the thud followed by crying. At first, she thought that Jackie must have jumped off the balcony because of her size. She thought that she could not fit through the window.

Ann said that Council House held no memorial service similar to those provided for other deceased residents and that Dunbar’s mother [Jackie’s sister] attended at Council House on the Wednesday and Thursday following her suicide to clear out Jackie’s apartment. She described Sarah Barrie as a rough woman, medium build, and chubby. Friday, Dunbar held a sale in the lounge to dispose of all Jackie’s belongings - five days after her death.

James E. Nations (Jackie’s father, Dunbar’s grandfather and the principal lessee) stayed overnight at the apartment infrequently because he suffered from incontinence, Ann said. He commuted to Council House with Dunbar on a regular basis. She added that Jackie had to wash his clothes often, because of his uncontrolled bowel movements, and to look after him during the day which she found a burden.

Jackie placed tags on apartment doors during the night and collected and recorded any non-turned tags in a log. She also distributed The Knob during the night [house magazine published once a week]. Ann added that she found Jackie lucid in conversation and able to express concerns about abuse by her niece, Audrey Dunbar, and that she felt bad because Dunbar would not let her run her own life and that she had no say in it.

Ann reported that Dunbar had previously offered under-the-table payments to residents to give care to Ernie at her house in Lynnwood during the day. Some residents objected to these illegal payments because it affected their eligibility to reside at Council House. Ann said one tenant accepted employment for three weeks then quit because of low pay, traveling time, and illegality.

Gilda Kabbani says that she spoke with Jackie about a week before she died while Jackie sat in the Council House lobby. She says that she found her very depressed. Kabbani said that Jackie appeared very sad and although mentally slow still had some wits about her. She said that Jackie told her that when Dunbar moved her father out she no longer had a touchstone and felt very vexed. Kabbani corroborates the statements made by other tenants about Jackie's psychological condition during the weeks preceding her suicide.

Kabbani then referred to a previous instance of elder abuse that obviously still disturbed her. It involved Mitchell and Cowdin with a physical assault on a black resident. Kabbani witnessed one of Mitchell’s thugs, Virginia Lambert, attacking Willy Mae Williams - a long-term tenant by putting her in a head-lock.

Kabbani called police but neither Mitchell nor Cowdin preferred charges against Lambert. Witnesses have sworn that Lambert physically attacked different black women in the building on separate occasions. They said that she often lost control yet Mitchell took no action.

Instead, Mitchell blamed her victims and tried to kill the messengers bearing witness to the incidents by using ostracism and other harassment. He harassed Kabbani after the Williams incident and tampered with her as a witness then she instructed a lawyer. [Racism]

Lola T. Wheeler, formerly president of Council House Resident’s Association, volunteered information in an emotional state soon after Jackie’s suicide. She said that she witnessed verbal assaults upon Jackie by Dunbar in Council House lobby on the Wednesday and Friday preceding her suicide. Wheeler said that Jackie had a habit of sitting quietly in the lobby to watch people pass.

Wheeler said that Dunbar came out of her office in a rage and verbally assaulted Jackie on a regular basis. Council House employed Wheeler as a desk clerk. She occupied a desk in the lobby where she could see everything that transpired. Mitchell later suborned testimony from Wheeler in his campaign to indict and jail this reporter.

Though mentally challenged, and unable to communicate well with people, Jackie had a pleasant disposition and always smiled and called out "Sam" whenever this reporter passed by with his dog. Sam had to be put to sleep following Mitchell's eviction.

JoRene Dodson made damning statements during a tape recorded interview. A transcript of part of that tape will appear in an article about her experiences with Mitchell, Dunbar, and Ramsburg. They had her incarcerated after a mandated counseling session at which Ramsburg posed as a social worker.

Other tenants have made statements off-the-record which precludes publishing them. However, they will probably lift the restriction to testify when requested. Evidence from witnesses established a pattern that shows intentional violation of civil rights which construed as elder abuse of an egregious nature.

Uncoiling Convolution

Audrey Dunbar and Sarah Barrie removed Ernie Nations from a nursing home and Jackie Nations from her home, then warehoused them at Council House evidently to save nursing home fees. They used Ernie for housing eligibility in order to house Jackie so that they could rip off the real estate and the taxpayer.

Dunbar drew a salary from Council House as rental agent. She also worked for a nearby facility that competes for elderly tenants run by Mullen (formerly Council House administrator) - a direct conflict of interest. A notary public, she had a grandfather in an advanced stage of Alzheimer's disease; a retarded aunt whom she used to clean up after her father’s incontinence and employed as a Council House worker without pay; and, an infant whom she dumped upon tenants for baby-sitting - all illegally warehoused at Council House.

Dunbar organized her relatives. With Sarah Barrie (mother), and James Barrie (step-father) they scammed the taxpayer. By that, they received government payments and also preserved the money from the sale of real estate formerly owned by Ernie Nations (grandfather) and Jackie Nations (aunt) which Sarah transferred to herself for “love and affection”. A developer bought the prime location property to add to an adjacent parcel for development as a combined lot.

While involved in apartment rentals and extracurricular activities, Dunbar coerced tenants to drive Ernie around and to baby-sit. Her appeal for funds for a college education for her infant and refusal to account for donations to a non-profit organization as required by law provide a measure of her avarice and dishonesty.

Jackie committed suicide. Sarah Barrie cleaned out the apartment the day following Jackie’s death and Dunbar held a tag sale of all her possessions the following day. They held no memorial service for her - the custom for all other tenants that die at Council House.

Mitchell covered up the suicide and implied to police - after the medical examiner had published a conclusive report - that JoRene Dodson, another tenant, had murdered her (a physical impossibility). Ernie died from Alzheimer’s disease. Mission accomplished!

Institutional Responsibility

In Washington, an institution holds ultimate responsible if it accepts a vulnerable adult as a tenant. Thus, Mitchell, Mullen, and Dunbar have effectively committed homicide by abuse that carries a life sentence as punishment. Dunbar knowingly indulged in conflict of vested interests as employee and caregiver so she probably has a double liability in law. In addition, she violated her responsibilities as a notary public.

Council House directors and their management staff have committed many federal offenses against residents that include: filing frivolous lawsuits; suborning senior citizens; physically and psychologically abusing them; misappropriating federal funds; falsifying documents; promoting thuggery; procuring unlawful evictions; denying due process of law; and practicing search and seizure.

People regularly enter assisted living conditions as a last resort before a nursing home. To avoid that type of accommodation, some of them talk managers of independent living facilities into accepting them. Attorneys bribe managers in return for leases so that they can warehouse “nuisance” clients and “manage” their assets.
[Last Cruel Days. Homicide?]

If Council House accepts a tenant who can live independently but needs some assistance, then the law draws a fine line between partial inability to provide for oneself and vulnerability. Disabled tenants can hire aides and continue to live in the facility; however, the disabilities suffered by Ernie and Jackie far exceeded legal limitations before Mitchell, Mullen, and Dunbar granted them a lease.

Some tenants pay aides by the hour to assist them; however, should they become vulnerable then managers can evict them and place them in a nursing home. If an elderly person cannot afford an aide, then social services might provide one. If they did, then most likely it would amount to temporary support. For permanent support the facility would have to make building alterations and provide assisted living on an regular basis.

Government Dereliction

Jackie Nations committed suicide and her relatives and Council House benefitted financially from the circumstances preceding her untimely death. In the opinion of several witnesses, Dunbar’s abuse of Jackie during the week prior to her death contributed to her aunt’s suicide and her probable slow, painful death. Legally, that construes as homicide by abuse which carries a life sentence upon conviction. Her death exposed a pattern or practice of abuse against senior citizens at Council House that has proliferated at a level exceeding the published statistics that relate to elder abuse in King County, Washington, generally.

As the elderly population increases, so do the incidents of abuse against it. Federal, state, and municipal authorities hold a mandate to prosecute cases of elder abuse and neglect of disabled people. By law, they must work collaboratively with police, social service agencies, and medical professionals to improve referral, investigation, and, ultimately, prosecute cases of abuse and neglect of elderly people yet they fail to do so. Instead, they grant impunity to managers and building owners. [Impunity]

A public statement of intended action against elder abuse by King County Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng seems hypocritical. Four years after making the commitment, Maleng still neglects to investigate complaints of homicide by abuse or take any action against Council House for other elder abuse.

Maleng announced (01 Jun 01) the new elder abuse project as having three-fold goals: to prosecute cases of neglect of the elderly and disabled; to work collaboratively with police, social service agencies, and medical professionals to improve referral and investigation; and, to prosecute cases of abuse and neglect of vulnerable adults. In the minds of tenants, Maleng ranks as another political blowhard while Council House managers continue to abuse tenants with impunity. [Vulnerable Adults]

King County elder abuse regulations do not apply only to vulnerable and disabled adults. They also apply to abuse of healthy, elderly people living independently in housing that receives municipal, state, and federal subsidies. The situations described at Council House relate to senior citizens 62 and older and several vulnerable adults below the legal age for residency who live there. [King County Elder Abuse Project]

Hopefully, King County, Washington, has enough apolitical and ethical prosecutors to insure the prosecution of Mitchell and Dunbar and at least one unbiased judge to jail them for the crimes that they have committed against senior citizens. Government officials have done nothing so far except to grant them impunity through laissez faire policies, political machination, and judicial corruption and misconduct. All the appropriate government departments have known the facts about the death of Jackie Nations for twelve months (21 Jun 04) and none of them has apparently investigated the circumstances leading up to her death.

Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Jim McDermott (his mother Roseanna lives at Council House) have known about a string of other cases of elder abuse for eight years. They have both followed laissez faire policies. Neither of them has bothered to investigate complaints independently. Instead, they have believed what HUD has told them without question, then written a plethora of self-serving letters that amount to nothing more than a cover up.

HUD-Seattle (and their agent Bremerton Housing Authority (BHA)) has a long history of covering up complaints and silently withholding documents. They turned a blind eye to avoid facing issues. Officials use any excuse to evade proper oversight and use statements from other agencies without verifying or validating them to duck responsibility. In this case, they used false Department of Health reports for that purpose without fact-checking them - something this reporter did assiduously by obtaining and perusing hundreds of public records. [Agency Accountability]

Several qualified candidates had applied for the service coordinator position at Council House. They had MAs in social work but Mitchell turned them down. One applicant, later interviewed by this reporter, had extensive geriatric experience and met all of the qualifications required by HUD having previously worked in a similar position. Yet, Mitchell turned her down in favor of Ramsburg.

State of Washington received a report about the lack of credentials and the abusive behavior of Katrina M. Ramsburg (26), an out-of-work actor (then just out of school at age 22 but not yet graduated) posing as a HUD-funded social worker and/or service coordinator. Mitchell had ignored applications from fully qualified social workers with long-term experience to prefer his thespian partner.

In a letter to HUD (27 Mar 01), Mitchell told Carlita Quintos (BHA) that Ramsburg only had a sociology degree and that he met her acting in a production. One week later he stated publicly (03 Apr 01) that she had a degree in social work and that he had petitioned HUD to fully fund her as a service coordinator. Seattle Pacific University confirmed that she did not have a degree in social work. Neither did she have any of the other qualifications required before HUD would fund a service coordinator. Quintos evidently authorized payment anyway. [Social Workers] [Service Coordinators]

Later, when Ramsburg applied to Blue Cross for a job, she admitted that she did not have a degree in social work, only a BA in sociology (3.0 GPA). However, she claimed status and experience as a social worker using the title that Mitchell had bestowed upon her. She spent most of her time at Council House working on theatrical projects at taxpayer expense (as does Mitchell) and eventually left for an acting job through the 5th Avenue theater. She claims to have acted in professional West Coast theater since the age of five.

Ramsburg amused herself abusing senior citizens for about two years while double-dipping as a professional actress and posing as a social worker. Effectively, HUD paid her about $61,000.00 ($30,240.00/pa) while she “rested” until she could find another gig.

During her second day on the job, Ramsburg started abusing tenants. With Mitchell and Dunbar, she wrote the script for a scenario which ironically included the murder of Jackie Nations in its final act. They played out that script until it resulted in incarceration and eviction of an elderly woman. They then filed an antiharassment complaint against her using the script as evidence which effectively caused eviction from her home. Ramsburg later recanted in writing but Mitchell and Dunbar still rely on court-ordered impunity to cover up that alleged homicide by abuse. [Contractor’s Daughter]

After much cajoling to obtain public records, the documents showed that the office of Mary Selecky, Secretary, Washington Department of Health (DOH), sent Donald Painter, an investigator to interview Mitchell (another out of work thespian) and other administrators ostensibly to investigate complaints. Painter had graduated six months before with a promotion from “entraining” to “trial service”. [Travesty]

Did State of Washington and HUD dereliction indirectly cause the death of Jackie Nations? Maybe, maybe not. It has certainly increased the incidence of elder abuse at Council House by encouraging Mitchell and Dunbar to ratchet up their coercion of elderly people. HUD, City of Seattle, and Washington courts have effectively granted them a license to kill with impunity.

Agency officials, fully aware of the circumstances, do nothing while Council House directors and managers continue their monstrous abuse. Two serious cases of elder abuse have occurred this year (2005), one of them racially motivated. Both victims suffer from serious illnesses and their trauma could result in death.

Donald Jackson (a black man on oxygen support) had his possessions thrown into the street despite a medical report which stated that eviction could cause his death. National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has now taken multiple abuse of black people at Council House under advisement.

Felippe Jacques, probably Mitchell’s most malicious and violent thug, orchestrated the Jackson eviction over an extended period before and after Jackson had a spell in hospital intensive care. After Jacques succeeded in persuading Mitchell to evict Jackson on trumped up charges, Jacques (an acknowledged racist who recently changed apartments) moved his woman friend into Jackson’s vacated home situated across the hall from his own. [Noblesse Oblige]

Lola Todd Wheeler also complained of intimidation by Jacques. She said that she suffered anxiety because Jacques had formed a gang that curried favor with administrators, and other people close to them, then they intimidated selected residents. She said that the gang promoted values of those in leadership against the values of those wishing to remain free spirits by deciding for themselves within Council House rules.

Jacques accused her of sitting and associating with communists. He told her to stop those associations. She did not agree. Then he ordered her (a former president of the residents' association) to surrender her bulletin board key so that he could control what appeared on the residents’ bulletin board. She refused to surrender the key. Later, in the lounge, another Mitchell thug, Michael Johnson, intimidated her about the same issues. [Five Kapos]

Jacques also played a prominent role in Mitchell’s harassment of Jeanne Hawk (64), an activist born in San Mateo, California, now living at Council House. Jacques wrote: “Unfortunately . . . her stupidity is only matched by her craziness. A fat and smelly woman. She will never raise [sic] above a small nuisance and will stay on the level of [then Jacques names a black person and two Jews - names withheld] dysfunctional morons”. [Hawk and the Raven]

Hawk, confined in a wheelchair, filed a formal complaint regarding racism at Council House which included use of the term “nigger” by another resident. Disingenuously, Mitchell told her to call Bremerton Housing Authority (BHA) with her complaint. He knew that BHA would do nothing because HUD officials support landlords against tenants using laissez faire policies. [HUD-Seattle/BHA]

The same day that Hawk complained to HUD Mitchell issued her an eviction warning for “rude and abusive behavior”. Two weeks later he sent her a final warning. That started a reaction that degenerated over six months and eventually involved Seattle Office for Civil Rights (SOCR), City of Seattle.

Steven Zwerin (SOCR investigator) arbitrarily closed Hawk’s case without due process. To evade complying with the law, he then reopened it (within eight hours of receiving a media request for documents from Contra Cabal) which effectively returned the documents to work product status avoiding public scrutiny of dereliction by his office.

Zwerin then contacted Hawk with another set of promises that he apparently did not keep. Evidently, that has resulted in Mitchell (a Council House director and administrator) using the same catch-22 that he has used several times before - refusal to accept rent then eviction for non-payment of rent. [Hawk and the Raven]

Hawk, wrote (28 May 05): He [Mitchell] has gotten crazy about watching all the surveillance tapes to see what I am up to. Everyone who speaks to me is now targeted for retaliation. He believes he is still in control here and that the world is not only unaware of his behavior but they have no ability to affect him. On the other hand he is riddled with fear so that he becomes more bizarre as the days pass.

Washington Superior Court has now granted a temporary no-contact order naming five Council House residents and staff pending a jury trial. Contra Cabal must not list those names due to an unconstitutional prior restraint previously granted to Council House by Washington Superior Court now under Washington Supreme Court review.
[Order on Civil Motion] [Washington Supreme Court]

Prior to exposure in Contra Cabal, Mark T. Mullen (a former administrator) withheld information about BHA and other complaint procedures for many years then manipulated them when tenants realized they had a legal right to complain. Will agency officials break the mold and actually investigate then prosecute the subjects of these complaints or will they follow their usual laissez faire policies? Probably not until Greg Nickels (Mayor of Seattle) loses reelection. [Agency Accountability]

Fear

People do not know the precise time and place that they will die and generally they have no chance of altering events. Neither can they protect each other from fear. They need government-financed counseling to relieve them of anxieties and to help them to fight their fear themselves.

No one at Council House will wait with bated breath for agencies to act. Tenants have had too much experience of agency inaction and cover up that allowed sociopathic control by Council House managers and their thugs to increase. Many will not risk the retaliation associated with filing complaints; instead, they maintain a political silence. They ignore civil rights remedies for fear of violent reprisals and almost certain eviction. An examination of the eviction and elder abuse record for the past five years shows that they have good cause to worry. [Conspiracy of Silence]

Council House directors have neglected to employ a counselor as required by law. Congress has decreed that tenants must receive help from a qualified and experienced service coordinator to guide them through their later years and has paid for that service. The directors have misappropriated those funds for administrative purposes. They have allowed the use of funds for purposes expressly forbidden by federal regulations. This has allowed constant abuse of residents without giving them recourse.

Tenants under two successive administrations have lived in fear - fear of ostracism and public humiliation. Directors, by their indifference and administrators by draconian methods, have succeeded in terrorizing some and punishing others. They have changed their lives forever by demeaning them into acceptance of conditions that they never before experienced by using racial, religious, and ideological criteria.

If tenants submit to terrorism and practices that make them fearful then they have allowed despots to win. Coercive persuasion and terrorism create two alternative conditions - change thinking or remain silent. People self-censor in fear of retribution for speaking their minds on heterodox issues to conform to political or religious beliefs of their tormentors.
[Political Correctness]

Sociopathic Control - Zero-Tolerance Policies

Directors and managers contributed to deaths through abuse or indifference. That construes as gross negligence, especially when some of them act for financial gain. Both police and medical examiners ruled out murder, yet Mitchell has since accused at least two residents with premeditated culpability in Jackie’s suicide. He has made official statements to media falsely accusing tenants of other criminal activity without a smidgen of evidence to support his contentions.

Mitchell, by consensus and repeated aberrant behavior, probably classifies as a dangerous sociopath. He wrongly fantasizes that all Council House tenants, despite their independent status, rank as vulnerable adults and that gives him rights as a fiduciary with power of attorney. He apparently believes that this arrogated power gives him a right to deny due process of law and to abuse or evict tenants at will. Although lawyers have argued the validity, and stipulated on the falsity of his claims, he still persists in them.

Mitchell insists that he has absolute power to interfere with tenant lifestyles and to control every move of tenants. Tenants have to run a gauntlet to enter the building and must disclose private information about their guests. Dunbar keeps a book of mug shots, most of them obtained illegally and contrary to law, to which she allows Mitchell’s thugs access. They all use private information protected by federal law to blackmail or coerce tenants. [Five Kapos]

Mitchell persists in his supremacist behavior, unchecked. HUD has still not moved to launch a full investigation although they received adequate information for that purpose more than five years ago. Instead, they have chosen to collude with Mitchell and his predecessor Mullen to cover up elder abuse and misappropriation of government funds. To that end, they continue to withhold public records. Must other residents die before HUD officials stop the out-of-control, Council House directors and managers in their tracks? [Silent Withholding]

Fourth Estate

It is not the purpose of journalists to judge people alleged to have committed crimes; instead, they expose them. Reporters have a dual obligation: truthfully to report wrongdoing to their readers and sometimes a competing obligation to wrongdoers. They meet both obligations by alerting authorities about upcoming publication when circumstances suggest violence or abuse. When authorities do nothing, then a journalist’s personal responsibility ends whatever the outcome.

The principle of reporting crimes and wrongdoing bases upon law and to some extent ethics (ethics being the lowest common denominator that the law allows). The three branches of government are charged with insuring enforcement of the law, and perhaps more important, with the duty to insure that the public sees it enforced.

Mitchell and Dunbar committed egregious crimes and the state has neglected to investigate, prosecute, and punish them to the full extent of the law. When any one of the three branches of government (state or federal employees) behave in a derelict manner, contrary to the expectations of those who elected or appointed them, then the fourth estate comes into play.

A basic journalism tenet allows wrongdoers to explain themselves before publishing details of their alleged crimes. Sometimes that results in publication of a rebuttal. By that, they have a chance to give their side of the story. By a court order that they obtained, Mitchell and Dunbar denied themselves that opportunity.

Council House fraud involves abuse, misappropriation of taxpayer funds, and fabrication of evidence and witness tampering by four administrators. This reporter has withheld publication of details and published only an abstract for twelve months to give federal, state, and municipal authorities an opportunity to gather documents and interview witnesses without interference by third parties.

Those authorities have neither investigated nor prosecuted multiple offenses, probably because the directors hold prominent positions in a variety of politically sensitive areas. The former Council House president, Lynn, is married to Judge Anthony P. Wartnik who has committed judicial misconduct on issues related to Council House.

Administrators, directors, and government agencies have neglected to meet their responsibilities. They have not properly investigated alleged homicide by abuse and other deaths; instead, they have mounted a massive cover up. Pertinent questions remain unanswered. Instead of taking remedial action, Council House directors and managers have consistently tried to kill the messenger.

Naming alleged wrongdoers insures that the public will have no doubt to whom a report applies and helps hold harmless as many innocent people as possible. Precise identification avoids mistaken identity. Use of names and addresses within legal constraints to support exposé exists as a time-honored tradition. [Shame Naming and Blaming]

As members of the fourth estate, reporters expose malfeasance. They investigate, verify, and validate facts then write about transgressions of law and public policy by officials and quasi-public servants. That remains a primary function and researching public records insures accurate reporting.

Reporters will have few personal feelings whether Mitchell and Dunbar end up behind bars for life. They have broken the law and two people have died by neglect and probably homicide. They had no compunction in jailing four tenants and made the life of hundreds of elderly people a living hell without reason and evicted them without probable cause or legal representation. Why should they not do jail time?

Reporters do not put people in jail. Neither prosecutor nor judge, they publish facts that speak for the victims and accept whatever happens. If Mitchell and Dunbar rot in jail then it will give them time to reflect about their behavior. To do what they have done to elderly people ranks as monstrous: to have done it for money ranks as incomprehensible.

Prior Restraint

Instead of investigating, Council House directors and public officials have attempted to stop publication of reports. The directors obtained a blanket injunction restraining this reporter from approaching hundreds of people to verify and validate his material. Presumably, the directors think that if they can stop publication of the truth about alleged abuse they can evade responsibility for their neglect.

Dunbar filed a declaration (02 Apr 01) with Superior Court containing multiple perjury with the sole intent of obtaining an antiharassment order on false premises. She complained that this reporter investigated her background by obtaining public records on suspicion that she abused her aunt. The investigation proved the suspicion well founded.

Dunbar’s declaration contributed to a prior restraint, effective eviction, and denial of the right of free assembly and freedom of expression. She claimed that the reporter had harassed and kept her under surveillance by obtaining copies of public records and:

. . . contacting the coroners office after my [her] aunt had passed away to obtain information on her death, researching the sale of my [her] previous home and the purchase of my [her] present home.

Later, in a consort with Mitchell, she filed another perjured declaration to have the reporter placed in solitary confinement, all to cover up mutual complicity in issues surrounding the death of her aunt, Jackie Nations. Other people came forward with detailed information and some agencies provided public records that allowed fact-checking.

The directors attempted to have this web site taken down. Instead of addressing the issues the directors had the reporter thrown in jail for 111 days (25 days in solitary confinement) to try to silence him - an action now subject to Washington Supreme Court review (23 Jun 05).
[Rampant Judicial Delusion]

A court-ordered restriction, obtained by the directors using suborned and perjured testimony, affects people mentioned in this exposé and prevents the reporter from contacting them. Individuals mentioned negatively in published material have a constitutional right to respond to what they read about themselves. The directors have denied them that right through prior restraint. [Court-Facilitated Terror]

All information contained in this essay derives from public and other documents verified and validated both inside and outside the State of Washington. After publication, alleged wrongdoers may write to the editor if they wish to state their point of view. They must clearly state that they waive anonymity and restrictions on contact still in place under the unconstitutional restraining order granted by James A. Doerty. They must then support any contentions with documentation. This unusual opportunity may mitigate damage caused to them by Council House obtaining unlawful injunctions that construe as prior restraint of their free speech and civil rights.

Using personal data to support a story warns the public of unlawful activity and has always been considered ethical journalism. Otherwise, criminals can hide behind a curtain of censorship and prior restraint. Council House directors cannot lawfully restrict publication of names as they have tried to do for four years. Naming individuals remains the prerogative of reporters and holds harmless innocent people.

Conclusion

So, who did kill Jackie Nations?

Readers must decide for themselves because the officials whose salaries they pay: State of Washington, Aging and Adult Services Administration (Hank Hibbard); WA Department of Health (Mary Selecky); City of Seattle (Thomas A. Carr); US Department of Housing and Urban Development (John W. Meyers); and, King County Public Prosecutor (Norm Maleng); could apparently care less. A bevy of public officials entrusted with the responsibility of caring for the aged and protecting them from elder abuse, neglect their duties. [Agency Accountability]

Officials practice willful blindness and neglect to investigate complaints. Instead, they continue to unlawfully withhold public records that would expose their dereliction. An exception: Mary Selecky, Secretary, WA Department of Health fully responded to public record requests after some coercion. [Silent Withholding]

Agencies continue knowingly to accept false and misleading statements for filing by Mitchell and Dunbar. With these false declarations they continue to harass, silence, and try to jail the messenger - behavior now subject to Washington Supreme Court review (23 Jun 05). [Washington Supreme Court]

Perhaps Maleng should tell Council House directors how many bodies he needs to persuade him to prosecute Mitchell, Dunbar, and Council House for homicide by elder abuse. Council House elite will feel much more secure when they know that Mitchell and Dunbar have reached their optimum number of deaths, evicted all black tenants, and attained full occupancy by leasing to vulnerable adults.

Awareness will probably not satisfy the inordinate lust for power and money of Council House directors. They will probably not effect change until the courts decide in accordance with law instead of political affiliation.

Duplicitous Twins - Tall Pygmy and Tall Pigmy Mitchell wrote a formal complaint to HUD/BHA when I used constitutionally protected speech to describe him. I told him he was a fucking asshole when he ran into the street screaming hysterically like an elongated, sixteen-year old girl with megrims, then assaulted me. That thespian performance alone justified the description. However, he has spent five years proving my point and continues to do so. I made a fair and unbiased evaluation and verbalized it correctly. I have an equally compelling epithet ready for Mitchell’s arrogant and incompetent alter ego and collaborator, Clarence Nelson (HUD/BHA), when he breaks his vow of political silence. It seems that Mitchell is white on the outside and black inside while Nelson is the reverse. As for carrying baseball bats to protect themselves from satire: the twins should take their heads out of their fundamental orifices to make room to store their bats. [Conspiracy of Silence] [Silent Withholding]

Ages shown as at date of publication (28 May 05) and deceased persons as at death.
A case study on Hawk will shortly appear in a companion article. [Hawk and the Raven]
A case study on Jackson will appear in a future edition of Contra Cabal. [Whitewash]

[Nmesis]