Posted on 08/13/2008 8:48:44 PM PDT by varina davis
Edwards' mistress raised in Ocala
By Fred Hiers Star-Banner
Published: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 6:30 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, August 13, 2008 at 4:49 p.m. OCALA - Before she was former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards' mistress, before she was Rielle Hunter, before she was the face splashed on national television networks, she was the teenage equestrienne Lisa Druck of Ocala.
Chuck Olsen/The Associated Press At work: In this video still, Rielle Hunter films John Edwards after a rally in New Hampshire in 2006.In a story already spawning countless tabloid headlines, here's another - Hunter was familiar with controversy long before she slipped into bed with the former presidential candidate.
Hunter's father, James D. Druck, a successful Ocala lawyer representing insurance companies during the 1980s, was implicated in a scam that involved a local man, Tommy "The Sandman" Burns, who electrocuted horses for their owners to collect the insurance money. One of Burns' first victims was the show horse Lisa Druck rode, Henry the Hawk.
Burns said in a 1992 Sports Illustrated interview that James Druck showed him how to electrocute Lisa's horse using a stripped extension cord and a wall socket. Burns said Druck showed him the scam so Druck could collect $150,000 in insurance. Burns' arrest in 1991 drew national attention. Druck died of cancer in the Tampa area in 1992.
Hunter was born Lisa Jo Druck in Fort Lauderdale on March 20, 1964. By the time she was a teenager in the late 1970s, the family had moved to Ocala, where her father started his law practice.
She attended St. John Lutheran School in Ocala, although she apparently did not graduate. She also attended North Marion High School in 1981.
Bill Mathis of Nashville, Ga., was an '81 graduate from North Marion and has a yearbook showing her as a senior that year. The yearbook lists activities for Druck as "swim team, Spanish, homecoming court and debutant," but the school didn't have a swim team and she's not listed with members of the homecoming court.
Susan Ergle, a literature teacher at St. John School, remembers attending classes with Druck in the same building 27 years ago.
"She was pretty wild," Ergle remembered. "I didn't hang out with her that much; I was more of a goody-two-shoes.
"She was always hanging with the upperclassmen, going to parties."
Some of James Druck's law partners after arriving in Ocala were Dan Hicks and Irwin Weiner, both of whom still practice law in Ocala. Hicks said he knew little about his former law partner's private life and Weiner did not return telephone calls for this story.
By 1982, James Druck and his wife, Gwen, bought Eagle Nest Farm on County Road 225-A and moved there. That same year, they divorced after nearly 21 years of marriage. In addition to Lisa, they had three other daughters, Roxanne Rae, Jennifer Ann and Melissa Sue.
As part of the divorce settlement, James Druck got custody of the two minor children, Melissa Sue and Jennifer Ann. Lisa Druck was about to turn 18 in two months.
Later in 1982, James Druck married for a second time, but the marriage was annulled after 22 days.
About the time Lisa Druck's horse died, Burns had already earned the nickname "Sandman," a term horse owners gave him because when he showed up at horse shows, invariably a horse would mysteriously die.
Burns and accomplice Harlow Arlie, both of the Chicago area, were held at the Alachua County jail after their arrest in Newberry, according to stories published by The Gainesville Sun.
Burns' choice of execution was electrocution because many veterinarians would wrongly determine the cause of death to be colic. That became a problem for Burns in 1991 when one horse owner couldn't get an animal insured for colic, so the owner asked Burns to break the horse's leg instead.
So, on the night of Feb. 2, 1991, Burns held the horse while his accomplice Arlie swung a crowbar into one of the animal's rear legs. The animal ran into the night screaming, falling onto its broken, dangling leg. The animal was euthanized when a veterinarian was called by the horse's owner.
The two men were sentenced in Alachua County Circuit Court. Both pleaded guilty or no contest to animal cruelty and insurance fraud and received jail sentences, according to Sun file stories.
After leaving Ocala, Hunter went to the University of Tampa but left in 1984. In 1987, she surfaced in New York in connection with a circle of hard-partying friends, including the novelist Jay McInerney. In an interview published in a 2005 Breathe magazine article, the writer said he modeled one the characters in his third novel after Druck.
Druck left New York and moved to Los Angeles to become an actress, and by 1991 married Beverly Hills lawyer Alexander Hunter. By 1994, she had legally changed her name to Rielle Hunter. Six years later, the couple divorced.
In 2006, during a New York fundraiser for Edwards' presidential bid, Hunter introduced herself to Edwards' staff as a producer and briefly met Edwards. One month later, Hunter had a $100,000, six-month contract with Edwards' campaign to produce videos for the Internet chronicling the Edwards campaign.
Fred Hiers may be reached at fred.hiers@starbanner.com or 867-4157. Star-Banner reporter Joe VanHoose and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Father of the scumbag was an unbelievable lowlife scum-sucking piece of excrement. I can understand now why she wanted to change her name and identity.......
Trailer trash.
Horrible person!
I thought Breck Girl and Reille met in a bar.
Dying would be too good for this scum of the earth.
That explains why she looks like a horse.
holy shemp I am glad I have this info..................I REALLY DONT GIVE A FARK! What is he running for? really bring this crap out when he is running for something....diversion,diversion,diversion. proles are easily distracted.
The owner of a company where I worked had a stable of race horses. He could never give a straight answer to “what do you do with horses after they’re too old to race?” We all knew the poor beasts were electrocuted by creeps paid to sneek into their paddocks at night. The Miami Herald ran a huge feature story, but the murder of horses went on.
When I left the company, I took one of our biggest clients with me, because of the horses. A little revenge. It didn’t really hurt him—I just wanted to give him a bad moment.
Exactly. What gives?
They are meant for each other.
George Lindemann, Jr., went to jail for that.
Well, Ocala is famous for its horses.
I can’t even fathom this sort of cruelty to animals. Heartbreaking for the horses. Very, very sad.
Note that she wasn’t related to “Snadman” Burns, low-life scum-sucker though he was...
Just like a shyster lawyer would do....Daddy Druck and Silky Edwards....destroy lives for greedy gains. Druck killed horses while Silky boy destroyed physician practices and healthcare facilities. That horsie girl would be attracted to a corrupted man just like her scumbucket daddy is telling!
John Edward’s whore really had a wild life.
Ain't it the truth? Pond scum devoid of human souls.
--ccm
I used to love Charisma. I’m so glad Lindemann did hard time.
I also remember the Druck case. The moment I saw this article, “horse” and “Druck” and “Ocala”, I remembered this.
I always thought Edwards was slimy. After reading his non-apology apology, I know he is. Trash attracts trash.
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