On March 19, 1981, two and a half months before the murder, Detective Lieutenants Robert Zellmer and Edward Bauer interviewed Eddie Birnbaum, the man that had taken pictures of various nude Tracks Tavern parties. (SEE EXHIBIT 5.1) Many police and public officials were present at those parties and some police officers, including Detective Elfred Schultz, had removed their clothes and publicly displayed themselves. The participants of those parties, which were held in public parks, performed various lewd acts and children had been present. Laurie Bembenek had not been to any of those parties, but when she learned about them she reported the criminal violations to the police.
Copies of pages 8, 9, and 10 of Zellmer and Bauer’s report provides substantial insight and depth of their investigation, the illegal conduct of Schultz and others, and that Birnbaum believed that Laurie had been the person who had “started all of this.” It was well known at the time that Bembenek had, in fact, been the “whistleblower.
Although representatives of the Milwaukee Police Department had repeatedly contacted District Attorney E. Michael McCann he refused to prosecute any of the parties involved. Instead, he deliberately withheld any evidence of police misconduct from everyone, refused to prosecute Schultz or anyone else involved, and used them to investigate and testify against Bembenek.
A few of the hundreds of “Tracks Party” pictures obtained by Private Investigator Ira Robins are attached. (SEE EXHIBIT 5.2) Robins requests that anyone with information or knowledge of any of the people in the pictures please e-mail him at irarobins@gmail.com or call him at 414-305-8832.
EXHIBIT 5.1
EXHIBIT 5.2
Prior to getting these photos and publishing many of them in the Shepherd Express, it should be noted that the police and the DA told me that these photos didn't exist. I was an associate editor for the Shepherd in the late 1980s. I moved to the DC region in 1990 and had these photos for 20 some years. I recently gave them to Ira Robbins who also had seveal photos. The Milwaukee police requested these photos from me when I was in DC. They contacted a Laurel police officer in Maryland - Stephen Moe. I told Moe there was no need for me to talk to the Milwaukee police because they have the photos. I had my car vandalized and received a few threats while writing the series that sparked more media interest in this case and didn't want to go through that again. I told Moe that Bembenek gave similar photos to Milwaukee police when she filed the complaint, but they chose not to investigate the case. Why? After she filed her complaint she geot charged in the murder. If I would have given them my photos, I felt they would just destroy them. I wasn't going to do that. Keep in mind the Internet didn't exist back then. Glad to see they are here for everyone to see.
ReplyDeleteHey tim, Thanks for the very informative comment. FYI-Over the years I collected hundreds of the nude party pictures along with a video of the nudes at the 1980 "Tracks" Tavern party. I have already identified 4 Milwaukee Police officers in those pictures and also a lot of citizens. Laurie complained about, and the police internal affairs were, investigating the 1979 and 1980 parties and had repeatedly and unsuccessfully gone to DA E. Michael McCann attempting to have schultz criminaly charged. The video you gave me was from the 1987 "Tracks" party. Apparently the District Attorney gave blanket immunity to the "Tracks" along with the immunity he gave Schultz. Nobody has ever been prosecuted. Regards. Ira
ReplyDeleteRun Bambi Run
ReplyDeleteCan't explain it but I have been haunted by Lawrencia's sentence of guilty. The summer of 1979 my boyfriend took me to a picnic in Lincoln Park. A friend of his owned the Tracks and this was the second year for his bar’s picnic. My boyfriend was very excited and said it would be fun and I wouldn't believe was I would see. He was correct I didn’t believe what I saw. There were lots of drinking, pot smoking, loud music and wet t-shirt contests. One of the contests was about to begin just as we arrived. People were putting together picnic tables to be used as a runway. There was a big crowd gathering around. T-shirts (white) were given to the woman who volunteered for the contest. Once they were wet they would strut up and down the tables gyrating in response to the crowd. While this was going I was looking around at the whole situation. When I looked behind me there were three Milwaukee City Police cars and the Officers were sitting on the hoods. The crowd was just wild and the woman who got naked was the winner. While this woman was naked I turned to see what the police were doing? Were they coming? Would I be arrested for being at a picnic where there were drugs and nudity? It was strange because the police were doing nothing. They were enjoying the naked woman just like everyone else. Later the guys had their turn and had a wet jock contest….guess who was the winner? The Shepherd Express published this article in the late 80's. As the Milwaukee Police Officers were watching one of their brothers was struting his stuff.
I always believed Lawrencia was innocent. Enjoy the article.
Posted by Teresa's Brain on the Web at 5:49 PM 0 comments
Labels: Christine Schultz, Elfred Schultz, Harold Breier, Lawrencia Bembenek, Milwaukee Police, Track's Tavern
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
This story has much credibility because of all the different network programs . Those pictures is very good as for evidence of the type of judicial system in the state of wiscon sin . There isn't any dought of the innocence of Lauri Bambenek and hope al those who took part in her distuction will pay the ultimate price .
ReplyDelete