October 19, 2004. Dan Lassiter lived here in Lexington and was in the horse business and started the Ponderosa restuarants which were very popular back then. Don't think I've told you this before but I have told Sherman. Sally Denton is an investigative reporter, author, and historian who writes about the subjects others ignore--from a drug conspiracy in Kentucky to organized crime in Las Vegas; from corruption within the Mormon Church to the hidden history of Manifest Destiny; from one of America's bitterest political campaigns to the powerful forces arrayed against Franklin D. Roosevelt. If you have this book and have read it, think back or look up Anita Madden--rich horsefarm matron who probably dealt in drugs as a sideline. (This is purely for your education, but remember that access to information is the greatest weapon we have, and one that you can be sure "they" don't want you to have. Sally Denton is the author of The Bluegrass Conspiracy and numerous other books. After finding out about the illegal activities, questions were raised about the capability of the Lexington Police Department and government officials. The Bluegrass Conspiracy is a book by Sally Denton which examines the life and death of Kentuckian narcotics officer turned drug smuggler, Andrew C. Thornton II.The story of Thornton's untimely death is almost too unfathomable to believe, but it's 100% true. [Channel] 27 had to take a little bit of criticism from various people when Sally was doing various stories about the police department, Kurtz said, many of which ended up in The Bluegrass Conspiracy., (Dentons book: The Bluegrass Conspiracy: An Inside Story of Power, Greed, Drugs and Murder, was first published in 1989. The search is expected to continue for days. Cocaine Bear is rated R for bloody violence and gore, drug content and language throughout. On Thursday, crews focused on digging in one particular area and brought in an excavator to dig two holes. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Famous 300-year-old bur oak was saved from development. Blonde to light brown hair, brown eyes. He owned a house here in Lexington on Old Dobbin Road (a fine house) while he lived in the Governor's mansion and a man named Jimmy Lambert ran the gambling, drug, prostitution, porn, outfit out of it. (part 2), From The Side of the Road Bluegrass Deuteronomy, book 1, Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press at Bluegrass Wednesday Nights, Open Bluegrass Jam // Cinderlands Warehouse (Pittsburgh), Wernick Method Bluegrass Jam Class with Joel Denman Durango, CO, Open Bluegrass Jam // Cork Harbour Pub (Pittsburgh), Bluegrass Beyond Borders: Dave Wright & the Midnight Ramblers from Down Under, Bluegrass Beyond Borders: Bononia Grass plays with an Italian flavor, Russ Hooper: 74 years in bluegrass music and still gigging, Jason Fraley returns to Deeper Shade of Blue for one last show. http://www.smartfellowspress.com/_random1/0000000f.htm. The story eventually balloons into a mammoth scandal known as the "Bluegrass Conspiracy", but no trace of Melanie is ever found. Her name has appeared on the pages of newspapers when the list has appeared. When falling off Melanie suffered a serious head injury and was placed in the hospital for several months. This training has the potential (and the history as per Bluegrass Conspiracy and others) of being USED by government against the ordinary citizen. Instead, they found an overdosed bear. I cant say his name because then my life would be in even more danger than it is right now (Im writing this from an undisclosed location, not far from Cape Canaveral). Of all the people involved in the illegal drug ring also known as the Bluegrass Conspiracy, very few were ever punished. Gordon. $4.95. Documents the links between Lexington Kentucky police, politicians, patricians and major drug trafficking. It is an inside story of power, greed, drugs, and murder and it blew the lid off of Lexington, Ky. when it was released. Everything is painted black. Madden was born in Ashland, Kentucky.She grew up as a "tomboy" and played high school sports, such as basketball and cheerleading, while also being involved with the drama club.She later attended Western Kentucky University for two years before transferring to the University of Kentucky (UK) in 1952. www.facebook.com/chrisjonesgrass. Or, the other reason that Thornton resigned was because he knew what was about to happen with Melanie Flynn. Sally Denton does a pretty good job of telling the story of a wild time in the bluegrass. A unique variety of people make up the population, from tobacco farmers to entrepreneurs and lawyers. By the time Thornton died, Denton, employed at WKYT from about 1980 to 1983, was no longer working in Lexington, but the incident was a major example of several loose ends exposed by her reporting that were beginning to be tied up. December 2019 A cluster of cases of a mysterious respiratory disease were reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, the first traces of a virus that would kill millions of people worldwide . Melanies parents, Bobby and Ella, thought differently. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. The presidents of all the major streaming companies from Spotify to Apple Music are all Danish, are all the same person, and are all related to Mac Wiseman. Kentuckians may know the history of "Cocaine Bear," a 175-pound black bear . It's on the Kentucky River on U.S. 68 in Mercer County. There is has been great music every decade and also complete turds every decade including the vaunted 1960's and '70's. An ex-DEA agent friend of the family told me that they learned that Dan Lassiter had him killed. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. 'Shakespearean twist.'. Windstorm knocked it down. Some say that he left because of both reasons, but that will never be known. Required fields are marked *. FX's Justified has returned, and with it, our weekly postmortems with showrunner Graham Yost, who'll once again take us inside the writers room. Though just an hour south of the major metropolitan hub of Louisville, Bardstown, Kentucky, is a world away. Only the files were made but nobody was ever arrested. Bluegrasses are found in temperate and tropical climates worldwide, and several have naturalized in areas outside their native range. One day however, they finally caught up with him. It wasnt until Drew Thornton parachuted, Denton said, that people were like, Maybe Sally Denton did know what she was talking about., People did not want to believe the Cocaine Cowboys existed within the Lexington Police Department, Kurtz said. Among the major players were Governor John Y. Denton, a former investigator for Jack Anderson, relates a sordid tale of corruption in Lexington, Kentucky. To make everything more suspicious about Melanie's disappearance, Bill Canan was the police officer that Bobby Flynn reported Melanie's disappearance to. He spotted the body through his bathroom window whilst shaving as part of his morning routine. Well, he's lost his appeal to get his Kentucky insurance license back. Secret Scandals in Lexington, Kentucky. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. The film Cocaine Bear is a highly-fictionalized hypothetical account of what could have happened to the bear that was found dead after having ingested some of the cocaine Thornton dropped from his plane while flying over rural Georgia. of Fed money coming in with strings attached) are trained in another facility in East Georgia run by the CIA. Denton did not respond to an interview request for this story, but, in a 2019 podcast interview with WKYTs Amber Philpott, Denton said that Lexington in the early 1980s was an investigative reporters paradise because of the corruption in plain sight. Police are also encouraging anyone with tips to report them. In the latest episode of Uniquely Kentucky, Amber Philpott dives into "The Bluegrass Conspiracy" with Sally Denton. The fact is that it all goes back to Bill Monroe knowing too much about one of the biggest figures in the Nashville music scene. 2022 FOX News Network, LLC. . Thats how a lot of these theories work: they simply take on a life of their own. Powered and implemented byFactSet Digital Solutions. Bluegrass Conspiracy: Where are they now? If the Fed money came ONLY if the dept. who has written a number of books, including, "The Bluegrass Conspiracy." Just a friendly tip from a guy who just ordered his passport, and is ready to go now. At the time Ralph Ross was the head of organized crime and intelligence unit for the Lexington Police Department. Lexington, KY 40509 Brown; his top political aides; former . Market data provided byFactset. Lt. Albert Johnson echoed that message, telling the Herald-Leader. We have our conspiracy theories in the world of bluegrass music, too, Im happy to say. Has this training continued? In fact, her surviving husband, John Bizzack, is much more than a bland university regent. Yet even today, the 1977 disappearance of Melanie Flynn remains a mystery. ---------- I read this on planes, in a hotel room, and at my residence. By Rachel Nix Building Kentucky. Dystonia, the neurological disorder affecting banjo players, is the result of deliberate poisoning by a cabal of clawhammer banjo players hoping to achieve dominance by reducing the number of Scruggs-style players in the world. Kentucky native and blue blood Andrew Thornton II was found dead after jumping from a plane strapped with over $15 million worth of . In 1989, Sally Denton wrote a book titled The Bluegrass Conspiracy after the scandal became known. After Walsh took office, many officers either retired or took jobs elsewhere, including David Shade and John Bizzack. My Profile Brown, Jr. was married to the ex wife of Robert Evans of Paramount Pictures fame---the Heidi Fleiss case--and had been the lover of Denise Brown years before---connected to drugs---tied in with the Cotton Club murder---etc. "Carole Bizzack, 64, of Lexington, Ky., wife of an Eastern Kentucky University Regent.". My Profile They are trained with military equipment and in wire-tapping, surveillance and swat team/military tactics (which in my opinion is the cause --or partly the cause of some the terrible tragedies when swat teams go into the Wrong house and kill somebody). I suppose Sam Bushs presence as keynote speaker for the IBMA World of Bluegrass right after the Coca-Cola takeover is also just a coincidence.. She had agreed to introduce detective Bill Canan to people associated with the drug ring that was taking place in Lexington during the 1970s. Yet ultimately press coverage exposed the conspiracy. Canan was also linked to, but never charged with, the disappearance of Melanie Flynnthe 24-year old Lexington woman whose disappearance in January 1977 remains one of Lexingtons most enduring mysteries. The Lexington woman went missing in 1977 after leaving work at the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. I also put an affadavit on The Christina Moore Murder at Austin IMC. 6940 Man O' War Blvd. John Y. See more. Bills like 470 and 115 revive a toxic culture that sees all LGBTQ people, including children, as suspect. Cookie Notice The Bluegrass Conspiracy. Many of the cops and others later arrested claimed that they had been told they were working for the CIA and of course the CIA disavowed them. Melanie Flynn has not been seen since 1977. Andrew Carter Thornton II was born on October 30, 1944, in Bourbon County, Kentucky. This training has the potential (and the history as per Bluegrass Conspiracy and others) of being USED by government against the ordinary citizen. Thornton seemed to have grabbed anything and everything he could before falling to his death. Just keep it off the television, whatever you do was how they put it, when this underhanded plan was being formed. Many LOCAL law enforcement personel were at that picnic/campout that weekend. I was off at my annual professional convention, he said. Ken gave me - I think the first story on the Company [the drug smuggling ring at the center] - I cant remember when it appeared, probably 82 - the story was 13 minutes long straight, without a break, at the top of the news, the 6 oclock news. But afte that the case went cold for years. During the time of the Bluegrass Conspiracy,Lexington had a large gap between the high-class and the rest of society, making it possible to fund this operation while keeping it a secret (Danziger ET). In fact, it was well-known even before then because it was one of the rst "Califor-nia" houses built in Lexington. Next week: The real long term plan to hold the IBMA World of Bluegrass in outer space by 2015, and the coming requirement that all bands carry either drums and/or accordion by 2016 to be eligible to showcase or play the Fan Fest. 4) I exchanged posts with you at conspiracy cafe where you put the Blue Grass Conspiracy post. The Universal Pictures film, described as a "character-driven thriller" highlights the events of the infamous Bluegrass Conspiracy.. and our 859-299-3636|news36@wtvq.com. On September 11th, 2010, the Lexington Herald-Leader released an article 25 years to the day of his death. I pulled together many seemingly disparate Kentucky characters and exposed their good-ole-boy network of criminality. www.facebook.com/chrisjonesgrass. (LEX 18) Authorities have recently searched a property along the Kentucky River on the Mercer and Jessamine County line in connection with the 1977 disappearance of Melanie Flynn. They are trained with military equipment and in wire-tapping, surveillance and swat team/military tactics (which in my opinion is the cause --or partly the cause of some the terrible tragedies when swat teams go into the Wrong house and kill somebody). bluegrass, (genus Poa), in botany, the largest genus in the grass family (Poaceae), comprising more than 500 species. They theorized that Melanies disappearance had been covered up by the police and all the other evidence that could have lead to her had been disposed of. As I reported exclusively during that time, Vance, a former Fayette County deputy sheriff and top aide to former Kentucky Governor Julian Carroll, conspired with a Lexington woman to kill a state attorney. She has received the Investigative Reporters and Editors Best Investigative Book, and her books have been named Editors Choiceand Notable Book by the New York Times. When Melanie was reported missing, she was classified by the Lexington Police as endangered missing. Another police officer customer of the Earley Bird Cleaners was Larry Walsh. Its fitting because ours is a kind of music that has been systematically denied mass-market exposure for decades, and I suppose thats just a coincidence. (Note: There will be heavy use of quotation marks throughout the rest of this column. Her ex-husband was Robert Evan's fame of the Cotton Club Murders and Denise's former lover and Paramount film producer. At one time, actor Warren Beatty was on the board of directors of the resort. She worked for a prominent public sports agency. Dentons reporting turned over the rocks, and the evils - the weevils - came out, Kurtz said previously, highlighting the continuous nature of the revelations during that time. Constantly recognizing businesses, towns and roads in such a narrative is a lot of fun for me. Melanie Flynn disappeared in January 1977. "An attractive young lady, daughter of a prominent family. When found after his free fall, Thornton, was wearing night vision goggles, a bulletproof vest, Gucci loafers, a army green duffel bag containing 40 kilos of cocaine valued at $15 million, $4,500 worth of knives, and two pistils (Andrew C. Thornton II). Remember the Round Up in Tennessee that was investigated about the time of the Simpson case where the agents showed racism. This, the second of five related stories this week, looks at the WKYT journalists who worked to dig up the network of organized crime and corruption with ties to the story behind the film. You can listen to the full podcast below, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - Even decades later, Ken Kurtz remembers exactly where he was on Sept. 11, 1985. Her father had been on city council. Walsh had never been involved in undercover work or narcotics investigations. Cornishville, KY is said to be the drug capitol of the world.. I havent been a journalist in Kentucky for a long time, but I can still remember what they were suspected of and charged with back in the early 1980s when I was the investigative reporter for WKYT TV. The secret entrance is in the hair products aisle but it can only be seen by the light of the moon (which doesnt exist). "It just went on for month after month and nothing, nothing.". Lexington and state police took equipment to scan underground and took K-9s to the area. Market data provided by Factset. Thats the big conspiracy theory in bluegrass music, but we also have numerous other ones, which I feel compelled to share with you now. Greetings from the road. He had been a state senator. If they're true, Louisville fans won't see a Roman Empire-like collapse but it's possible Pitino could do something similar to Lute Olson and take a leave of absence in order to deal with this matter. It has sold more than 250,000 copies.) Some may have called this just a coincidence, but Ross looked at it one of two ways, and both could have been logical. If I came out and publicly announced that it was satire, those taking it seriously might still believe it anyway, so what good would it do? February 24, 2023. Fans have actually been seeing an Alison Krauss hologram on stage. Your email address will not be published. Anita Madden (Bluegrass Conspiracy) was right in there with Lambert, John Y. DONT WAIT. Melanie Flynn went missing in January 1977 and many believed that her disappearance was tied to the infamous Blue Grass Conspiracy. Many of Lexington Kentucky's policemen, lawyers, and high society members are considered to have been a part of this group of criminals. Many years have passed since the show first aired in 2004. Legal Statement. While in the hospital, Melanie lost her sense of smell and taste. Denton was a WKYT investigative reporter from about 1980-83 and who worked several reports on corruption in the Lexington police department. That was absolutely unheard of, she said, and we were only scratching the tip of the iceberg then.. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Key members of 'Bluegrass Conspiracy' died within days of each other. In 1894 Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army, was convicted of treason. Something that struck the police, however, was that Melanies keys and purse were not found in her car at the site were her car was found. Remember that local cops, DEA, FBI, etc. Both of Melanies knew that Canan was involved in the disappearance. Her book, "The Bluegrass Conspiracy" was released in 1989 to both raves and jeers. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Siegel told LEX 18 that he has watched police dig up dirt piles for at least two full days and carefully search the area. The alleged strategy was that now if people Google "frozen . The area where Melanies car was found and where the apartment complex was located was known during that time as a drug hot spot. After not arriving to her doctors appointment and all of Melanies clothing was in her room at her parent house. Use it wisely.) To make it seem as there was nothing fishy was going on, Melanie would take Canan to lavish parties thrown by Anita and Preston Madden; mostly Anita would host the parties while Preston followed her around like a lost puppy. They ranged from the faked moon landing and flat earth theories to the one about Disney making Frozen as a distraction from the fact that Walt Disney was cryogenically frozen. had an intelligence unit, how many do you think turned it down. http://www.amazon.com/Bluegrass-Conspiracy- Jill Crabtree will be the only one with knowledge of the tunnel system now under construction that will connect the bunker with the IBMA offices in Nashville. But to try and pull all the threads together - I mean, honestly, its taken me almost 40 years to connect a lot of the dots.. #1. This training has the potential (and the history as per Bluegrass Conspiracy and others) of being USED by government against the ordinary citizen. I just think the Heidi deal and other connections (whew! @kentuckyforkentucky Reply to @joeyvanrijk #greenscreen # . If I were being careful, I wouldnt list these ten popular bluegrass conspiracy theories for you now. It specifically mentioned a septic hole at Murphy's Landing. LGBTQ Kentuckians are the target. HOME; INTERIORS; EXTERIORS; OFFICE & PORTRAITS; PUBLICITY/EVENTS; CONSTRUCTION; INFO When Bobby was describing all the allegations to Lexington Police he stated, Bill Canan was a friend of the family and that Melanie and him were dating. To make everything more suspicious about Melanies disappearance, Bill Canan was the police officer that Bobby Flynn reported Melanies disappearance to. A very good friend at the time was a man we heard of later with another Democratic governor by the name of Dan Lassiter. What many don't know is that many of the local law enforecement (due to huge amts. If Thornton would leave the department, then he would be charged with stealing the drugs, people knew that Thornton had connections so they would let him off the hook by the people he knew. Although Thornton denied any allegations that him and Melanie had no other relationship the just being close friends. Bizzack+and+cover-up&hl=en&gl=us&ct= www.chrisjonesgrass.com In that world passes a sordid cast of . Well, one of the "money" people behind this operation was a horse business woman by the name of Anita Madden.