"Hi there, Mr Hsu. Hillary sent me. I'm your universal health
care specialist. Let me help you into the back of my van....."
Posted on 09/14/2007 4:53:48 PM PDT by LdSentinal
If fugitive Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu had not booked a train compartment across from Willow Springs resident Joanne Segale, he might still be on the lam.
The retired Sonora Elementary bus driver, concerned after a night in which her neighbor had not stir-red, alerted officials after peeking through the compartment's window to see a bare-chested man wedged between the door and bed.
She had no idea it was Hsu, who skipped a Sept. 5 court hearing — losing his $2 million bail — to flee the law and a growing media clamor over his past fundraising and business dealings.
Prior to his flight, he mailed a suicide note to several friends and charities, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
After recovering from his still unexplained illness in St. Mary's Hospital in Grand Junction, Colo., Hsu was booked into a Mesa County Jail pending extradition to California to face 15-year-old charges he bilked 20 California investors for $1 million in a Ponzi scheme, according to the Associated Press.
A Colorado judge has set Hsu's new bail at $5 million, but the prosecutor — noting the two-time fugitive's checkbook shows a $6 million balance — wanted a $50 million bail, the AP reported.
Segale's chance role in one of this summer's big political stories has put her, at least briefly, at the center of a whirlwind of media attention.
"It's beginning to be a domino effect right now," said Segale, a 28-year Tuolumne County resident who had never done a media interview before.
Now she's been interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, a Colorado NBC affiliate and the New York Daily News — who flew their reporter from Los Angeles to Colorado to speak with her.
As her husband, Jim, said to a recent visitor at their home: "The celebrity is right out there."
"It's been exciting," said Segale. "But it wasn't exciting at the time. I just thought I was dealing with a very sick person."
After spotting Hsu, Segale said she began to knock on the compartment's door and windows, asking: "Are you OK?"
Getting no response, she summoned the train authorities, who after banging on the door and yelling to Hsu, used a crowbar-like instrument to pry open the door.
Hsu was dazed and moaning as the train attendants tried to lift him, she said. The only intelligible words she heard him say were: "Am I in jail?"
But his identity was not suspected by anyone, even then, she said. "No one knew it was Norman Hsu."
After he was taken to paramedics during the train's stop in Grand Junction, Colo., attendants began placing all his belongings into a large bag, Segale said.
As she watched, she noticed a lot of medication in the small compartment, including pills and a medicine bottle scattered on the floor under the bed.
"We've had a lot of things happen on the train, but nothing like this before," said the seasoned railway passenger.
Segale got off with her husband at the next stop, Glenwood Springs, to do what they had set out: watch her daughter compete in a triathlon. She earned third place.
What is a ‘lode’ woman?
"Hi there, Mr Hsu. Hillary sent me. I'm your universal health
care specialist. Let me help you into the back of my van....."
You’ve got me. That’s as good a guess as any. There is a town called Lodi and I think it’s in CA. Or NV or AZ. But another town name doesn’t fit. I think journalism is for people that should have dropped out of school but didn’t.
PLEASE PROTECT THIS VALUED CITIZEN AND HER FAMILY!!!
Perhaps Hillary’s tentacles reach into more than one state’s judiciary???
LOL...great post!!!
Thanks.
Please, we need to see this note. NO remorse for the millions he ripped off, just sorry for the political problems for Hillary. And a swipe at Obama to boot? Ridiculous. He didn't even name Obama, but he hinted strongly at it. Hey, you're going to commit suicide, the last thing you'd care about is a libel suit. Come out and NAME Obama. The whole note is bull$hit. I'd like to see a passenger list. I'd be real curious who might have paid him a visit in his compartment.
Lode, refering to the area where she was from in California. Tuolumne county being part of the mother lode. Stupid reporter who is supposed to know that nation wide????? same thing different day
“Hsu was dazed and moaning as the train attendants tried to lift him, she said. The only intelligible words she heard him say were: “Am I in jail?”
To which one of the train attendants replied, “It’s worse than that, sir, you’re on Amtrak.”
The term “Lode” refers to the Mother Lode aka Gold Country area of Tuolumne County her in Central California.
The article itself is from the “Union Democrat” boasts itself to be the oldest newspaper in the Mother Lode dating back into the late 1800’s.
Hsu Out the Democrats in 2008!
Go Hsu-less in ‘08 Vote Republican!
Hsu for the Shrew ‘08
So, let’s say a terrorist plots and succeeds in blowing up a building. But, fortunately, no one is killed. Are you saying the laws of Colorado would require the terrorist to be released on bail? That is insane!
Tuolumne county is in CA, as is Sonora. It is hard to imagine any other state with a Tuolumne. This area is famous for its Indian names, Tuolumne, Mokolomne etc. Sounds like she is from here.
6 MILLION DOLLARS in his CHECKBOOK!!!!
His “illness” is still unexplained. The darkness that surrounds Bill and Hillary is almost a physical thing. If the media would only report it, there would be little chance of their return to power. If this were a republican, the media would be in frenzy mode 24/7 about this story.
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