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n Nov. 16 a young Tucso-nlan w as charged in LosAngeles with murder an d

in c o n n ec t i o n w i t h a15 a pa r t me nt h ou se fire

which killed 25 persons — theworst residential f ire I n t h a t

history . T he chargeswere dismissed.

e f o l l owi n g is an a c c ou n t byo Lo s Angeles Times report-

youth's ordeal whi lepolice custody.

I t had been qu i c k wor k .Within seven hours of theStratford A p ar t m en t f ire , Lo sAngeles police picked up an18-year-old T u c son t r a n s i e n twith a record of sett ing f ires.Within 16 h ou r s , Mi c h a e l A l-

tenburger was booked formurder.

Al l the dead still had notbeen iden ti f ied when a head-l ine proc laimed, "T ran s ien tAd mi t s S e t t i n g A p a r tm e n tFire, O f f i c i a l s Say ."

Three posi t ive iden t if ica-t ions and a "confession" sup-ported th e case a g a i n s t Al ten-burger and nearly threemonths af ter hi s arrest he wasordered to stand tr ia l on 25counts of m u r d e r and an arsoncharge.

T w o d ay s la ter , he wascleared. I n s i x h ou r s , D e p u tyDist . Atty . S tephen Kay,

Deputy P u bl i c D e f e n d e r S t a n -ley Mathiescn , L os Ang elesPolice Department Sgt. Jo eG o o d m a n a n d In v es t i g a t o rAlex Acosta estabished that hew as i n n o c e n t .

W i t h i n h ou r s A l te n bu r g e rw as freed, only to be tai ledinto the San G a br i e l V a l le y byme mbe r s of the Los AngelesFire D e p a r tm e n t ' s ArsonDetai l .

"This is 1984, 10 ye a r s be-f o r e , " h i s a t to r n e y , Ma th i e sc n ,charged.

"He's a k n o w n p y r o m a n i -ac," insisted arson deta i lCapt . W i l l i a m M c D a n ie l , " a n dw e should k n ow wh e r e he'slocated."

W i t h m on e y l a r g e ly d on a te dpersona l ly by h is a t to r n e y an dDist. A t t y . Joseph P . B u s c h ,Al t en b u r g er l e f t , decl in ing tot a lk a bou t wh a t had happened." I ' m getting out of here," hetold Ma th i e sc n .

He had been arres ted , liedto , pressured an d kept in iso la-tion for 85 days. He had beenbadly f r i g h t e n e d . But he hadbeen lucky, he could h a vespent th e rest of h i s l i f e in j a i l .

•

Michael Allenburger, a sk in -ny six-footer in a green cordu-r oy c oa t , t a n c or d u r oy p a n t san d green shirt, got of f theG r ey h o u n d bu s f rom Tucsonin d own town L os A n g e le s a n dwalked west to see the ocean .

I t was shortly a f t e r 8:30a . m . N ov . 15 , a we e k a f te r his18th bi r th d a y . He had from J3to ?5 , two Tucson bu s tokens,a used bus t icket and a book ,"Star T r e k N i g h t . "

Like others w ho som e t i m esuddenly leav e a place , th ebrown-haired 125-pound teen-ager ha d le f t T u c son to escapeunpleasan tness. He had beenin trouble fo r setting f i res, an dhe ha d argued with hi s m oth e r— a g a i n . So, he l e f t it all be-hind. H e th ou g h t .

W ithin 24 hours he would beth e suspect in the most dread-fu l f i re in city history and hewould be try ing to describe a21-hour odyssey in a s t r a ngec i ty .

H is wanderings ended on abu s bench at the San DiegoFreew ay and Sunset Boule-

vard , 2 .7 miles west of U C L Aand 13.8 miles f rom w h ere theold, mustard-colo red, three-storied S tratford had burnedth e n ight before .

"W h y are you out here a tthis t ime of the m o r n i n g ? "asked t r af f ic of f i c e r TerrySchauer.

"I 'm try ing to get to V e n i c e ,to the b eac h , " Altenburgersa i d .

A t f i rst , Schauer and hispartner , Robert Kehoe,thought he m i g h t be a run-away . H e had no iden ti f ica-t ion , less t h a n a dollar and, to

them, he looked a b o u t 16 .

I t didn 't take long , however ,for them to t h i n k of A l te n bu r g -er as perhaps their most im -p or ta n t arrest. H i s m a n n e rm a d e them suspic ious: verycalm an d cool at f i rst , then fo rn o a p p a r e n t reason extremelynervous , wip ing swe a ty h a n d son his pants.

When asked, Altenburgertold Schauer an d K e h oe a bou this arson record and theylearned he had arr ived at thebus depot on 6th Street lesst h a n 16 h ou r s be f or e the Strat-ford fire - at 1735 W. G th St.

The possibi l i ty was obvious:if A l te n bu r g e r ha d wa lk e dwest on 6lh,he would h a v epassed the S tratford.

The teen-ager 's speechsom e t i m e s sou n d e d s t r a n g le das he told Schauer and Kehoe— an d later others — w h a t heha d d on e f rom bu s depot tobus bench.

He spoke as a s t ran g era b o u t people he saw,what heate, s tores he entered andplaces he vis i ted . B u t exceptfo r the La Brea Tar Pits and aM c D o n a l d ' s mo st- had non a m e s .

W a l k in g ha d be e n u n c om -fortable. H is slip-on shoeswere n ot m e a n t fo r h ik in g onconcrete, but by n o o n , he said,he had walked to Hol lywood.

He recalled gett ing a r idewith a man who asked him if

he was "gay"and le t him ou tsoon af ter he said he w a s n ' t ,

He remembered meeting ad e m e n te d m a n , e a t i n g p o ta tosalad, c l imbing a hi l l to seethe ocean , g e t t i n g a map tof i n d the tar pils an d f i n a l l yarr iving there at 7 : 3 ( 1 p . m .

He c laimed he w e n t in to twod e p a r tm e n t stores, took a buson Wilshire, at e chili a t an all-n i g h t r e s ta u r a n t , rested at aM c D o n a l d ' s an d t ried to s leepin a building alcove tw o blocksa w a y .

He recounted hi s a n g e r a t a, m a n a n d w o m a n w ho h e a r dhim swear at not being able tof i n d a place to sleep and whot a u n t i n g l y offe red to take hi mwith th e m .

• F i n a l l y , he said, he wa lk e dpast fratern i ty and sorori tyhouses and stretched ou t on abus bench to res t .

Th e j u m p to a c on c lu s i ontook only a min i- leap:

Suppose that instead of rid-in g toward U C L A f r om the tarpits , Alten burg er took the busd o w n t o w n ? H e would h a v epassed with in a block of theStra t ford . H e could have setth e fire in anger at the couplewho had treated hi m withc on te m p t .

Schauer and Kehoe sti l lwe r e c o m p le t i n g p a pe r wor kwhen copies of the Los An-geles Times arr ived at theW est Los Angeles police sta-

t ion . Folding a pa pe r to a pic -ture of the bu r n i n g S t r a t f o r d ,Schauer asked, "I s this th e

Tucsonian Michae l Al ten b u r g er photog r aphed shortly1

a f t e r hi s arrest.

TheAltenburgerA f f a i r :

A searchf o r

justiceBy John Kendall and William Farr

a p a r tm e n t h ou se y o u were atlast n i g h t ? "

"An d he looked at the pic-ture brief ly ," Schauer said," a n d hi s eyes we n t d own tothe c on t i n u a t i on of the storyfrom th e f r o n t page, whichsaid words to the ef fec t ,T w en t y - f i v e dead, f o r ty in -j u r ed i n a p a r tm e n t blaze. '

"An d his eyes Jooked at thewords and he looked awayfrom ' the paper an d star tedmuttering to himself hurriedlywords to the ef fec t or s t a t i n g ,'Dead, D e a th , D ead , ' a n u m -ber of times ex tremely f a s t . "

"No. No . I d on ' t k n ow any-th ing a bou t it," A l t e n b u r g e rsaid.

S c h a u er and Kehoe handedth e youth along to an investi -g a to r wh o wou ld report byearly af ternoon th a t Alten-burger had confessed.

Altenburger w as deliveredin h a n d c u f f s to the brick an dglass R a m p a r t S ta t i on , a m i leand a half from the S tratford.O n the way there, Schauerhad seen something to report.

H is partner had lighted acigaret te, S c h a u e r said, a n dAltenburger had jumped,turned toward the f lame andstared as if h y p n ot i ze d .

Th e second in terrogation

began at 7:30 a.m. Altenburg-er agreed to t a lk to I n ve s t i g a -

- to r Mi c h a e l 0. L a m b e r t an d

Sgt. L. M . Or ozc o wi th ou t anattorney present .

He had been 16 in Septemb-er, 1 972, he told of f icer s , wh e nTucson au thori t ies arrestedhim fo r set t ing alley f i res. Hehad fired a trash bi n f i v et imes and set f ire to a nearbyshed.

After a ye a r in the FortG r a n t I n d u s t r i a l S c h oo l F orBoys, an A r i zon a correct ionalinstitution, he had been as -signed to the Columbus Hal f -wa y H ou se in T u c son . He hadbeen released l a s t N ov . 8, his18th birthday.

H e ha d arg u ed w i t h hismother , Maria C. Henry . Sheha d left and he thought shewas going to call police, so hetook the 11:20 p.m. bus for LosAngeles.

Later , others wou ld l e a r nthat Altenburger w a s a n onlychild, born i n G e r m a n y ; th a the had th ou g h t of ki l l ing hism oth e r ; that she had beendivorced, wed an Americansoldier and divorced again ;that he had gone to schoolthrough the 9th grade a n dliked ma t he ma t ics .

He would be described asintelligent, introverted, m a la d -justed, l a c k i n g sel f - conf i-dence , inarticu late and soextremely self-conscious hethought people a lways werelooking a t h i m .

A t R a m p a r t th a t m or n i n g ,however , Lambert probed formotive . H e asked Altenburgera bou t the alcove where hetried to sleep and the y o u t hoffered to sketch it.

" Ok a y , there's this complexright u n d e r n e a th here," heexplained. "And there were an u m be r o f other bu i ld i n g salong with this , apartments.An d there was th is area r ighthere there were two doors outhere.

"And I remained here be -cause it was well-lighted an dit w a s f a i r ly wa r m , see."

Altenburger said the bu i ld-in g w as white , modern , about1 0 stories, not far f rom Wil-shire Boulevard and in thes a m e area where he ate a

bowl of c h il i a n d a Mc D o n a ld ' swhere he stayed because hew as tired.

His word description wouldbe used later to iden t ify th ealcove because the sketchAltenburger drew w as miss-ing . But that , too, would comelater. For the m o m e n t , h e w aslistening to a proposal .

" O k a y , " L am b er t said ."W e'd like to give you a poly-graph e x a m i n a t i on and we cando that right n o w . And i f youshow that y ou 've be e n t r u th f u lwith us and you're t r u t h f u l

about not being involved inthis w e ' re g o i n g to releasey o u . Wou ld yo u like to do t ha tso y ou ca n be on y ou r w a y ?"

"Yes," Altenburger agreed.

"Okay," th e detective con-t inued, "because we do havesome people that sa w some-body that f i t s y ou r descrip t iona r ou n d th a t area."

A t th a t t i m e , n o on e ha didentified Altenburger. I t w asLambert 's f ir s t deception . Hissecond came a bit later. H ewa s c o l l e c t i n g th e y ou th ' schange, bus tokens and usedbu s ticket, when he suddenlyasked, "Are these y o u r s ? "

" N o , " A l te n bu r g e r said ." Y ou see, I d on ' t ca r r y

m at c h es or any thing of thistype. I do notcarry lighters oranything ."

He stared at a book ofm a tc h e s he had never seenbefore.

P o ly g rap h ex am in er RayI n g l i n , a 19-year L A P D veter-an wearing a w h i t e s m o c k ,began a two- h ou r li e detectortest at Pa r k e r C en t er asLambert watched through aone-way wi n d ow. I t was a b o u t9:30 a . m .

Like th e others , Ing lin pur-sued Altenburg er through hiswanderings, then prepared th eteen-ager to respect — a n dfear — the e qu i p m e n t wh i c hwould h u m a n d scr a t ch hi s

i n v o l u n t a r y responses ongraph paper .

Ingl in explained that eachpin would be hooked to Alten-burger to m e a su r e a n d write ame ssa ge a bou t hi s he a r t , gal-v a n i c skin response and respi-.r a t i on .

" A n d so," he said, "there is

a lie detector in this room.W ho d o y ou t h i n k th a t is?"

"Me," responded Altenburg-er.

"That's you," Ing lin sa id."You're the lie detector. Y ouk n o w w ha t ' s inside your body .Yo u k n ow what 's behind youreyeballs."

He balanced hi s e qu i p m e n t ,

then g au g ed A l t en b u rg er ' sresponses by ordering him tolie about the color of a num-ber on the wall . "I won ' t h a ve

a n y trouble reading y ourcharts," he said.

"If you • were a n y w h e r earound that bu i lding l a s tn ight , that's th e f i r e we're

ta lk ing about," Ing lin sa id,showing Altenburger a news-paper pic ture of the burn in gStratford. "Does that look likethe alcove you went into?"

"No," Altenburger s a id . "It

w as a bui lding which w asm u c h taller."

Quest ion — Ca n y ou be cer-tain of that?

Answer — I 'm posi tive .

Q. You had some ma t che son you when they picked yo uup. W here'd you get thosematches? ( Paus e) You had ared book of matches on y ou .

A . I don 't k n o w .

' Q . W e l l, where did theycome from? Did you pickthem up in a r e s t a u r a n t ?

A . I j u s t d on ' t t h in k — a n y -where.

Q . W h a t are you going to te l lm e? You 're te l l ing m e thosearen't your matches? Jus t tellthe tru th. You don 't believethey ' re your matches.

A . They are not my match-es.

I n g l i n told Altenburger hehad $3,500 worth of e quipme nt

to help prove the teen-ager'sinnocence if he didn't set thef ire, but he said if the y o u t hw as l y i n g he'd have to helphimsel f .

" Y ou u n d e r s ta n d t h a t ? "Ing lin said. "Now, I k n owy ou ' r e a s t r a nge r i n town a n dall those things. I want you totake that piece of p a p e r an dlay i t r ight on top of there an dpu t y o u r r i g h t h a n d over th etop of it.

"No. Put it right up on thedesk over there where y o u rhand is , and jus t lay y o u rhand r ight on i t . Now that's

wh a t we're ta lk ing about isthat hotel . Right? No otherhotel. Now i f you d i d n ' t se tthat one, then that 's all I 'm

concerned about. Y o u didn 'tset any other fires a t an y oth-er locations di d y o u ? "

"No," Altenburger sa id . "Idid not."

"O t her th a n wh a t we'reta lk ing about here , h u h ? "Ing lin sa id, "andy ou sa y y oudidn't even se t thisone."

Altenburger replied, "That'sright."

Ing lin re turned a ga in an dagain to ask whether th ey o u t h had set any f i res in LosAngeles. T he a nsw e r w a sa lwa y s , "No,"bu t some t ime sAltenburger seemed equivo-cal.

"You 're posi t ive?" Ing linasked at one point . "Or, are

you say ing y ou h a d some laps-e s o f m e m or y . D o y ou th i n kyou had a lapse of m e m o r ylast n i g h t?"

A l te n bu r g e r said, "Thething i s — the ma t che s . Ifthere were matches o n m yperson , then I think I wouldhave doubts a nd believem a y b e I did and did not knowit."

T he L A P D 's p o ly g r a p he qu i p m e n t has a capabi l i tywhich Ing lin tested ear ly inth e e x a m i n a t i o n : a t o n esounds when questions ar easked. It is supposed tochange tone according to bodi-ly responses.

N o w , in a f i n a l series ofquestions, Ing lin used the tone

an d Altenburger a ga in deniedset t ing the f i re . Finally , Ing lin

Continued on pa ge 4

20, 1974 T U C S O N D A I L Y C I T I Z E N P A G E 3

8/4/2019 Stephen Kay Doubted Altenburger's Guilt (April 20, 1974)

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A f f a i rC o n t i n u e d f r o m p a g e 3

asked hi s s u b j e c t f ive t i m e sho w h e t h o u g h t h e w a s d o i n g .

A l t e n b u r g e r d i d n ' t r e p l y atf i r s t, b u t e v e n t u a l l y h e sa i d ,"Wel l , t h e w a y y o u so u n d . .."

Q. Well, it's w h a t y o u k n o w .W h a t d o y o u k n o w f o r sure iny o u r h e a r t ?

A. I t h i n k I did not set thef i re .

Q . S o w h e n I look at those

c h a r t s , it sh o u l d b e a r t h a t o u t .Is t h a t r i g h t ?

A c t u a l l y , I n g l i n d i d n ' t h a v eto look at h is c h a r t s to k n o wA l t e n b u r g e r h a d l i e d a b o u tho w m a n y f i r e s he had se t inA r i z o n a .

At R a m p a r t , A l t e n b u r g e rh a d d e n i e d t o L a m b e r t t h a t h eh a d se t a n y f i r e s a n d n o t g o tc a u g h t . T o I n g l i n , h o w e v e r , h ea d m i t t e d f o u r others: a "d i-l a p i d a t e d s t r u c t u r e , " tw oa b a n d o n e d t r u c k s a n d a t r a s hc o n t a i n e r — a t o t a l of 1 0 . Thel a s t f o u r h a d b e e n se t s i n c etest fall .

I m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r th e test ,L a m b e r t a r r es t ed A l t e n b u r g e rfo r m u r d e r , t h e n d r o v e t o t h eS t r a t f o r d t o sh o w h i m t h eb u r n e d b u i l d i n g a n d t h e n e i g h -borhood. Ing l in wanted tom a k e s u r e th e y o u t h k n e w it sl o c a t i o n .

Before r e t u r n i n g to R a m -p a r t , A l t e n b u r g e r a sk e dL a m b e r t and his p a r t n e r to le th i m sh o w t h e m w h e r e h e h a db e e n t h e d a y b e f o r e . T h e yr e f u se d .

A l t e n b u r g e r h a d n o t slept ina b e d f o r m o r e t h a n 3 6 h o u r sw h e n h e r e t u r n ed t o a R a m -p a r t i n t e r v i e w r o o m . H e w a sh u n g r y , tired a n d n e r v o u s a n dL a m b e r t t h o u g h t h e w a s n e a rb r e a k i n g . In a b o u t 10 m i n u t e s ,t h e d e t e c ti v e e m e r g e d t o r e -p o r t t h a t h e h a d .

L a m b e r t w o u l d t e s t if y l a t e r

t h a t A l t e n b u r g e r a d m i t t e dse tt ing f i re to a chair in theS tratfo rd lobby because hew a n t e d to kill hi s m o t h e r an dhad fel t sa t i s f i e d a f t e r w a r d .

W h a t th e 'youth sa i d in t h a t1 0 m i n u t e s was not r e c o r d e d .L a m b e r t fa i l ed t o t u r n o n at a p e r e c o r d e r . H i s l i e u t e n a n tsuggested h e ge t a t a p e ds t a t e m e n t .

" H i , M i k e , " L a m b e r t b e g a nthe second in te rview. "Kin d oft i r e d , h u h ? "

H e a sk e d w h e t h e r A l t e n -b u r g e r ha d b e e n t r e a t e d f o r am e n t a l c o n d i t i o n , w h e t h e r hen ow fe l t b e t t e r a n d w h e t h e r h esa w a m a t t r e s s at the Strat-f o r d . A n a r so n i n v e s t i g a t o rw o u l d t es t i f y t h a t th e f i r e w as

started i n a ma t t r es s .Q . D i d y o u p u t i t b e h i n d th e

c o u c h o r w a s a m a t t r e s s b a c kt h e r e?

A. I c a n ' t r e m e m b e r .

Q . O k ay , b u t y o u r e m e m b e rt h a t t h a t ' s w h y y o u se t t h e f i r ebecause yo u w a n t e d to kill

y o u r m o t h e r r i g h t ?

A. Yes, sir .

L a m b e r t d w e l t o n t h e w i t -ness w ho su p p o se d l y saw Al -t e n b u r g e r r u n n i n g f r o m th eS t r a t f o r d .

Q . D o y o u r e m e m b e r w h a tt h a t l a d y l o o k e d l i k e t h e r ethat sa w y o u ?

A. I j u s t r e m e m b e r — old .

A n d , th e d e t e c t i v e r e t u r n e da g a i n t o t h e m a t t r e ss .

Q . Y o u d o n ' t — B u t y o u

don ' t r ec a l l an y m a t t r e s st h e r e , h u h ?

A. No. .

Q . Yo u d o n ' t r e m e m b e rl ighting any th ing e lse , just thec o u c h ?

A. Yes.Q . Y o u ' r e sure y o u d i d n ' t

l ight — t h e r e w a s a m a t t r e s st h e r e . Y o u d i d n ' t l i g h t th em a t t r e s s f i r s t . Do you r e m e m - •ber seeing a m a t t r e s s t h e r e ?

Q . I t h o u g h t m a y b e yo um i g h t h a v e m o v e d t h e m a t -tress back t h e r e a n d p u t i tb e h i n d t h e c o u c h . D o y o u

r e c a l l ? T r y a n d t h i n k b a c k .T h e r e w a s n o r e p l y , a n d

L a m b e r t sa i d h e w a s g o i n g tot a k e A l t e n b u r g e r d o w n t o w nan d l e t h i m g e t s o m e rest.

" O k a y , " th e d e t e c t i v e sa i d ,"that's th e j a c k e t y o u w e r ew e a r i n g last n i g h t ? " A l t e n -b u r g e r sa i d , "Yes."

"That's t h e o n e t h e l a d yrecognized ," Lamber t said ."She said it stood ou t like a —

P r os ec ut or

Deputy Dist . Atty . S tephenKa y d o u b t e d A l t e n b u r g c r ' s

guil t .

like a sore t h u m b . L i k e I sa y ,yo u were seen , you k n o w , byq u i t e a f e w p e o p l e t h e r e . "

W h e n L a m b e r t l e f t y th er o o m , t h e r e was silence* t h e nw h i sp e r i n g . " I d o not — I sti l ld o n o t b e l i e v e t h a t , " A l t e n -b u r g e r w h i sp e r e d t o h i m s e l f ,"I still d o n o t be l ieve I se tthose f i res."

At 3 : 3 5 p . m , A l t e n b u r g e rw a s b o o ke d f o r m u r d e r . T h r e ed a y s l a t e r h e w a s r e t u r n e d t oP a r k e r C e n t e r fo r a n o t h e r li etest . H i s m o t h e r h a d v i s i t e dh i m t h a t m o r n i n g .

T h e se c o n d p o l y g r a p h t e s tha d j u s t b e g u n w h e n A l t e n -b u r g e r admitted te l l ing anoth-er lie. Ingl in w o n d e r e d i f they o u t h h a d n ' t l ied to a u t h o r i -t i es .

" E x c ep t , o n e t i m e t h e yasked me if I was in t h a t

r o o m, " A l t e n b u r g e r said "I tw a s t h e f i r s t t i m e I e v e r d i dt h a t . I sa i d , y e a h , b u t I w a sn o t . "

" W h a t r o o m ? " a s k ed I n g l i n .

" T h e a p a r t m e n t s , " A l t e n -burger rep l ied . "The S t r a t f o r dA p a r t m e n t s . "

Ing l in asked h o w h e k n e wt h a t , su g g e s t i n g A l t e n b u r g e rm i g h t be sa y i n g he r e a l l yd i d n ' t k n o w .

Q . We ll , but you sa i d yo uc o u l d n ' t f i n d th e p l a c e yo uwere in ou t the re . Is that cor-r ec t ?

A . T h a t ' s n o t w h a t I sa i d . Isa id t h e y w o u l d n ' t sh o w it tom e.

Q. Well , h o w c a n t h e y sh o wit to you w h e n yo u c a n ' t e v e nf i n d it ? T h e y c a n ' t look b e h i n dy o u r e y e b a l l s .

A. B u t , t h e n if I w e r e g i v i n gt h e m d i r e c t i o n s to w h e r e Iwas I could f ind it. D o w n Wil-snire B o u l e v a r d .

Al tenburger accused pol iceof t ry ing to pu t words in h ism o u t h b y t e l l i n g h i m h e h a dse t t h e S t r a t f o r d f i r e , t h e n r u na w a y . He thought they w e r el y i n g b e c a u se n o w i t n e ss h a di d e n t i f i e d h i m .

Ing l in challenged A l t e n b u r g -er w i t h a n o t h e r p o l i c e d e c e p -t ion , l ike the red book ofm a t c h e s a n d t h e o l d l a d ye y e w i t n e ss .

Q . H o w c o m e y o u r c l o t h e ssmelled like sm o k e w h e n t h e yp icked you up? T h a t ' s t h e f i r s tth ing they to ld me . They saidy o u r clo thes smel led l ikesm o k e . H o w c o m e ?

A . U n u u h .

Q . Well , t h e r e had to be ar e a so n . Y o u h a d t o b e a r o u n d 'sm o k e s i n c e y o u c a m e t o L o sAngeles.

A. M a y b e t h e y w e r e l y i n g .

Q. Wel l , I don ' t — let's n o t ,yo u k n o w , no w that's easy tosay. N o w y o u ' v e m a d e t h a tc h a r g e b e f o r e b u t w h e n y o uc a m e i n h er e the f i rst day tom e y o u r c l o t h e s d i d sm e l ls t r a n ge . Y o u sm e l l e d s t r a n g ean d t h e r e w a s a s t r a n ge sm e l la b o u t y o u . N o w , w h a t w a s i t ?

A. I d o n ' t k n o w . I t w a ss w e a t .

Q . N o . I t w a s m o r e t h a ns w e a t . W e r e yo u a r o u n dsm o k e a n y w h e r e t h a t n i g h t ?

A . N o , I w a s n o t .

Q . Since yo u c a m e to L.A.?

A . N o , excep t t h a t , d i d i tsm e l l so m e t h i n g l i k e a l c o h o l ?

Q. No, i t was a strong smel l ,l i k e a sm o k e sm e l l .

A. The o n l y p l a c e I had b e e nw a s t h e La B r e a T a r P i t s .

Q . T h e r e ' s no a sp h a l ta r o u n d t h e r e b u r n i n g . T h a ta sp h a l t h a s b e e n t h e r e f o r am il l ion yea r s . . . You w o u l d n ' tpick i t up in y o u r c l o t h e s atl ea s t . So w h a t d id you h a v e iny o u r c l o t h e s? M i c h a e l , w e r eyo u d o w n t h e r e w h e n th e f i r eu n i t s c a m e ?

A. No .

Q . T o t h a t h o t e l ?

A . N o .

Q . W e r e you in t h a t l o b b y ?

A. No , I w a s n o t . I h a v en e v e r se e n t h a t p l a c e b e f o r eu n t i l they shosved i t t o m e .

•

W h e n A l t e n b u r g e r ' s p r e l i m i -n a r y h e a r i n g b e g a n b e f o r e L o sA n g e l e s M u n i c i p a l J u d g eA n t o n i o E. C h a v e z , th e casem i g h t h a v e s e e m e d i r o n c l a d— to an o u t s i d e r .

An arson exper t w o u l d t e s t i -fy th e S t r a t f o r d was set on

f i re . A - d e t ec t i v e w o u l d r ec i t ea confession a n d t h r e e w i t -n e s s e s w o u l d i d e n t i f y A l t e n -b u r g e r .

As th e a t t o r n e y s sa y , th ec o r p u s d e l i c t i o f t h e c r i m e a n dt h e c l i n c h i n g e v i d e n c e : w h a tm o r e c o u l d a p'rosecutorw a n t ?

A c t u a l l y , D e p u t y D i s t A t t y .S t e p h e n K a y , 31, a r e l a t i v e l yy o u t h f u l p r e o s e c u t o r w i t hexper ienc e in severa l specialc a s es su c h as the C h a r l e sM a n s o n m u r d e r t r i a l , h a dg r a v e d o u b t s a b o u t A l t e n b u r g -e r 's gu il t .

H i s o p p o n e n t w a s S t a n l e yM a t h i e se n , 53, a v e t e r a n of thespecial t r ials d i v i s i o n o f t h ep u b l i c d e f e n d e r ' s o f f i c e .

M a t h i e s e n has a ru le . He,tries n o t t o j u d g e , b u t i n A l t e n -

bu r ger ' s case he sa i d , " I w a s

f i r m l y c o n v i n c e d t h a t i t w a sjus t a bum rap." H e resolvedto hi t the pr e l i mi n a r y h e a r i n gas h a r d as possible .

Ka y i n v o l v e d h i m se l f in a l lphases of the c a s e . He pokedthrough the S t r a t f o r d an d lis-t e n e d t o h o u r s o f t a p e - r e c o r d -ed question ing . Th e r e c o r d -ings, m o r e t h a n a n y t h i n g else,c r e a t e d hi s doubts.

As a pr o s ec u t o r , K ayt h o u g h t Altenburger to ld aconsisten t sto ry and he no tedthe . r e m a r k a b l e d i f f e r e n c eb e t w e e n th e S t r a t f o r d a n d t h ebui lding w h e r e th e t e e n a g e r

c l a i m e d h e h a d s t a y e d .

E v e n A l t e n b u r g e r ' s ow nd o u b t s h e l p e d c o n v i n c e hi sp r o se c u t o r .

"You could te l l by l isten ingto h i m . I t w a s l ike h e w a sf ight ing a ba t t le , l ike, 'I k n o wthis isn't so, but yet I c a n ' tex pla in t h e m a t c h e s a n d t h esmoke. '

"I'll tell y o u I lost moresleep on th is case t h a n a n yother I 've e v e r b e e n i n v o l v e din an d that 's b e c a u s e o f g r e a td o u b t s I h a d .

"I w a n t e d e v e r y t h i n g o n t h erecord because i t ' s k i n d ofhard fo r a deputy d istr ict at-t o r n e y to say , 'Wel l , l e t ' ssu b m i t t h i s 25 c o u n t s o f m u r -

d e r a n d o n e c o u n t o f a r s o n . ' "B e c a u se he w a n t e d a p u b l i c -

record , Kay re jected sugges-t i o n s t h a t h e a v o i d a l e n g t h yp r e l i m i n a r y hear ing by goingto t h e g r a n d j u r y .

M a t h i e s e n p r a i se d K a y ' si n t e g r i t y . " A l t e n b u r g e r w o u l dh a v e b e e n in a h e c k of a posi-t i o n , " t h e d e p u t y p u b l i c d e -f e n d e r said .

E a r l y w i t n e sse s a p p e a r e d t om a k e t h e case a g a i n s t A l t e n -b u r g e r se r i o u s e n o u g h . J u d yR o w e l l a n d h e r h u s b a n d ,F r a n k , w e r e f o l lowed to thes t a n d by F l o r e n c i o T a p i a . A lll ived at the S t r a t f o r d b e f o r eth e f i r e .

Each p o i n t e d o u t A l t e n b u r g -er as so m e o n e t h e y ha d seenin th e lobby w h e r e th e f i r es t a r t e d . B u t , th e I l o w e l l s o f-fered c onf l ic t ing d e t a i l s an dTapia said he had g l a n c e d ats o m e o n e w i t h gla s s es o f f ,l o o k i n g d o w n .

Ar son I n v e s t i g a t o r D o n a l dE. B r i a n o f f e r e d th e o p i n i o nt h a t th e S t r a t f o r d f i r e w a s s e tin a ma t t r es s next to the lobbydesk "witl i open f lam e he ld inh u m a n h a n d s . "

A n d , L a m b e r t r e c o u n t e dA l t e n b u r g e r ' s c o n f e s s i o n .

M a t h i e s c n ' s q u e s t i o n sstrong ly suggested t ha t theS t r a t f o r d f i r e m i g h t h a v e b e e ne lectr ical in o r i g i n , no t a r s o n .Late r , he w o u l d insist , " Id o n ' t b e l i e v e t h e r e w a s a r so n

at all ."

E a r l y in c r o s s - e x a m i n a t i o no f L a m b e r t , M a t h i e s e n a s ke dw h a t ha d h a p p e n e d to A l t e n -burger 's ske tch of the a l c o v ewhere he stayed on the n i g h to f th e f i r e . Th e d e t e c t i v e sa i dit h a d be e n " a p p a r e n t l y m i s -p l a c e d i n t h e c o n f u s i o n . "

Q . N o w y o u to ld M r. A l l e n -b u r g e r , did you not , o r askedhi m w h e t h e r o r n o t s o m em a t c h e s o n t h e d es k w er e hi sw h e n he e m p t i e d hi s p o c k e t s ;isn ' t t h a t c o r r e c t ?

A. Yes.

Q . Y o u k n e w t h o se w e r e n ' tA l t e n b u r g e r ' s d i d y o u n o t ?

A. Yes, that is c o r r ec t .

Q. Did you t e l l Mr . A l t e n -burger that a l a d y ha d seenh i m r u n n i n g a w a y f r o m th escene of the f i r e?

A. Yes, I did.

Q . Y o u k n e w t h a t w a s n ' t th et r u t h , d i d y o u n o t ?

A. That is c o r r e c t .

The deputy pub l ic de fen derdeal t with th e o t h e r policedecept ion by estab l ish ing thatn e i t h e r of the o f f i c e r s w hopicked u p A l t e n b u r g e r ha dsmel led smoke on h is c l o t h i n gn o r told a n y o n e t h e y h a d .

Mathiesen cal led Ing l in as adefense witness and exploredthe polygraph o per a t o r ' s t e s t so f A l t e n b u r g e r .

Ka y asked Ing l i n a sing le ,unprosecutor- l ike question onc r o ss - e x a m i n a t i o n . He w o n -d e r e d w h e t h e r A l t e n b u r g e rw as a good l ie de tector sub-ject . '

"1 w o u l d say he is a ve rypoor sub ject t o r u n o n a p o l y -graph," Ing l in s a i d , " a n d t h a tw a s t h e d i f f i c u l t y r e q u i r i n gtw o runs."

Inglin w a s t h e f i n a l w i t n e s so f t h e si x -d a y h e a r i n g . I m m e -dia tely a f ter he l e f t th e s t a n d ,Ka y b e ga n a s u m m a t i o n .

W h a t m i g h t h a v e b e e n c o n -sidered u n u s u a l w a s t h e t e n o ro f K a y ' s a r g u m e n t . I t wasa n y t h i n g b u t a d e m a n d t h a tA l t e n b u r g e r b e h e l d t o a n -sw e r .

Ka y said h e t h o u g h t L a m -b e r t w a s t e l l i n g t h e t r u t hw h e n th e i n v e s t i g a t o r sa i d

D e f e n d e r

Public D e f e n d e r S t a n l e yMathiesen was s u r e of his c l i -

e n t ' s i n n o c e n c e .

A l t e n b u r g e r h a d c o n f e sse d .B u t , h e w a s m o r e e q u i v o c a la b o u t th e t r u s t w o r t h i n e ss oft h a t confession .

Supposedly, Kay s a i d , th ed e f e n d a n t ha d a d m i t t e d s ta r t -ing the S t r a t f o r d f i r e w i t h

m a t c h e s , bu t h e p o i n t e d o u tt h a t a n e xp e r t ha d s u r m i s e dt h a t o t h e r m a t e r i a l s h a d b e e nused to ign ite i t .

A l s o , o n t h a t p o i n t , Ka y saidA l t e n b u r g e r h a d c o n f e sse d to

star t ing th e f i r e in a c h a i r ,w h e n , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e F i r eD e p a r t m e n t , t h e b l a z e b e g a nin a ma t t r es s .

As for the e y e w i t n e s s e s ,K ay said he d i d n ' t t h i n k th eRowells sa w A l t e n b u r g e r ,a l though t h e y sa w h i s p u b -l ished p ictu re an d t h o u g h tt h e y h a d . He noted Tap ia onlyha d a br ie f g l a n c e o f t h e m a nhe saw.

Ka y sa id he did not con-d e m n L a m b e r t fo r u s i n g f a l ses t a t e m e n t s b e ca u se so m e -t i m e s t h a t i s a g o o d i n t e r r o g a -t i o n t e c h n i q u e , b u t h e a d d e d :

"On the o t h e r h a n d , i f youge t somebody in a s i t u a t i o nw h e r e t h e y s t a r t b e l i e v i n g

s o m e t h i n g t h a t d i d n ' t h a p p e n ,w e l l , t h e n t h a t i s the p r o b -l em . "

A ll t h i n g s c o n s i d e r e d , K ay

told C h a v e z , th e c r u c i a l p o i n tw a s w h e t h e r A l t e n b u r g e r ' sconfession w as t r u s t w o r t h y .

"I t h i n k e v e r y b o d y in thec o u r t r o o m , c e r t a i n l y t h e o f f i -

cers a r o u n d m e, k n e w w h a t Iw a s t a l k i n g a b o u t , " K a y sa i dlate r . "One of them said af t e r -w a r d s , 'Wel l , you so u n d l i k e apubl ic d e f e n d e r . '

"Wel l , I ' m j u s t n o t g o i n g tog e t u p a n d a r gu e so m e t h i n g Idon ' t be l ieve . I n e v e r w i l l . "

T h e r e w a s n o d o u b t t h a tM a t h i e se n so u n d e d l i k e ad e p u t y p u b l i c d e f e n d e r . H e

p o r t r a y e d A l t e n b u r g e r a s at een - a ger w h o h a d b e e n h a -r a s s ed , d e c e i v e d a n d ' pres-su r e d .

He said h is cl ien t had beenstr ipped o f " e v e r y s e m b l a n c eo f h u m a n d e c e n c y " by a poly-g r a p h o p e r a t o r w h o , h e said ,w a s n o t o b j e c t i v e .

H e a r g u e d t h a t th e b a c k -g r o u n d t o n e w h i c h s o u n d e ddur in g par t o f the lie test ha dno p u r p o se e x c e p t to c o n v i n c et h e d e f e n d a n t t h e o p e r a t o rc ould read those no ises, too .

An d w h i l e t h a t t o n e w ass o u n d i n g , M a l h i e s e n said thatI n g l i n ha d r e p e a t e d l y a sk e d ," H o w d o y o u t h i n k y o u ' r ed o i n g , M i c h a e l ? "

" W h a t i t i s is o n e c o n t i n u o u si n t e r r o g a t i o n by a t h u m b - a n d -screw m a n w h o i s m a k i n g iteasier f o r t h e n e x t p e r so n inth e series o f i n t e r r o g a t i o n s toput the f ina l s c r ew s to them a n , " h e sa i d .

" W h a t h a p p e n s d u r i n g t h i speriod o f i n t e r r o g a t i o n ? M r .A l t e n b u r g e r ' s h a n d is p lacedo n a p i c t u r e o f t h e h o l e l ,m a k i n g h i m m u c h m o r e n e r -v o u s , p u t t i n g hi m m o r e in theposi t ion of w o n d e r i n g w h a t isg o i n g o n h e r e .

" A n d h e i s w o n d e r i n g a b o u tt h e m a t c h e s . T h e m a t c h e sk e e p p o p p i n g u p .. . T h a tpaper is b u r n i n g i n t o th e b o y ' sh a n d .

"H e c o m e s o u t o f t h e r e at

t h e e n d w i t h t h e t h i n g r i n g i n gin hi s ea r s : Y o u h a v e n ' t p a s -sed i t . You h a v e ' t p a sse d it .An d w h a t h a p p e n s t o h i m ?

" H e g e t s t h e i r o n s c l a m p e don h is w r i s t , a n d h e i s t a k e no v e r t o t h e S t r a t f o r d A p a r t -m e n t s , w h e r e G o d k n o w s w h a tt h e y to ld h i m , be c a u s e it isn ' tt a p e r e c o r d e d .

" A n d a s M r . L a m b e r t i n d i -c a t e d , e v e n t h o u g h he has asoft voice , l ie t h o u g h t M r.A l t e n b u r g e r w a s r e a d y w h e nhe c a m e b a c k , a n d h e poppedhi m i n t o t h a t i n t e r r o g a t i o nr o o m a n d i n 1 0 m i n u t e s h e g o this c onf ess ion ou t o f h i m .

" A n d a g a i n h e l i e s t o h i ma f t e r h e b e g i n s th e t a p e r u n -n i n g . He l ies to h i m , an d h e

says he l ied to h im for onev e r y g o o d r e a so n , in o r d e r tog e t M r . A l t e n b u r g e r t o t a l k .He said t h a t .

" N o w you wo uld th ink, i fyo u b r i n g t h a t li e d e t e c t o r — Im e a n t a p e r e c o r d i n g i n t o p l a ya g a i n , t h a t t h e r e w o u l d b ec o r r o b o r a t i o n of t h a t c onf es -sion out o f Mr. A l t e n b u r g e r ' sm o u t h . T h e r e i sn ' t . "

M a t h i e s e n c o n t e n d e d t h a tA l t e n b u r g e r ' s r a t i o n a l i n t e l -l e c t h a d b e e n o v e r b o r n e ,t h e r e f o r e an y so-cal led confes-s i o n w a s n o t t r u s t w o r t h y .

C h a v e z w a s b r i e f , n o t i n g inpassing that th e q u e s t i o n i n g o fA l t e n b u r g e r " h a d to be h e a r dto be b e l i e v e d .

"I w o n ' t sa y h e w a s t h e m a non th e rack," C h a v e z sa i d . "Id id h e a r . .. o f f i c e r I n g l i nt a k e o b j e c t i o n to y o u r c a l l i n g

P A G E 4 T U C S O N D A I L Y C I T I Z E N S A T U R D A Y , A P R I L 2 0 , J 9 7 4