Troy Houghton: The Minuteman

Yes, that would be what I'd do. Bettie did collect on his social security or life insurance or something like that in 1988. He didn't have many assets though. This is a pretty sad read (and it was right before he disappeared):

rand wrote:

Yes, that would be what I'd do. Bettie did collect on his social security or life insurance or something like that in 1988. He didn't have many assets though. This is a pretty sad read (and it was right before he disappeared):

If she collected, maybe he is legally dead? Then you could request under the FOIA

She told me she collected something (I think life insurance) for his death in 1988.

rand wrote:

She told me she collected something (I think life insurance) for his death in 1988.

Then you should be golden. Produce documentation that he was declared dead, and they should not refuse your request. I think you would be crazy not to after all the time & effort you put in on Troy as a suspect

How would I get the documentation? Bettie certainly won't give it to me.

rand wrote:

How would I get the documentation? Bettie certainly won't give it to me.

Not sure. If she had him declared dead, then there has to be a document someplace on file.

No death certificate. Seagull checked.

I am no expert, but if I am not mistaken, insurance companies dont pay out on life insur policies unless the person is declared dead. Any insur experts here?

Seagull said the same thing.

There will not be a death certificate for TH, but just like Jimmy Hoffa and Donna Lass, he has been legally declared dead.

Which means you can get his FBI file.

I just posted an FOIA request I did and the response I got from the FBI. I included the name and address of the FBI FOIA officer.

You can see it here:

https://zodiackillersite.forummotion.com/unconfirmed-zodiac-letters-mailings-general-discussion-f6/foia-request-for-12-16-69-fairfield-zodiac-letter-this-state-is-in-troublebleeding-knife-of-the-zodiac-t422.htm

AK Wilks wrote:

But was he proud and boastful of the fact he was a convicted flasher?

It seems he was embarassed by it and tried to pass it off as him and his wife sunbathing.

The "14" most likely refers to a 14th victim, either Avery or IMO Nancy Bennallack. The card was sent after Bennallack was murdered but before it hit the papers.

I'm sure he wouldn't boast to the cops at the time "yeah I did it I showed them girls all of my glory"! After all, he, I'm sure, didn't want those charges and to spend time in jail. But later (if he was Zodiac) he offered a clue to who he was with the nice little pumpkin covering his privates and then you open the card and he shows you his goods.... as a clew..... A little stab, if you will, at the pigs.....

precisely. Glad to see you here, Kevin

Mageau thought that Arthur Leigh Allen might be Z. Look at how much TH looks like ALA with hair in these pictures:

TROY H




ALA

I'm surprised at how thin Houghton looks in the second photo, rand. Or is it just the camera angle?

IN THE MY NAME IS CIPHER LETTER, Z INTRODUCES THE CIPHER WITH, By the way, did you crack the last cipher I sent you? My Name Is --
TO ME, THIS IS A CLEAR INDICATION THAT Z IS TRYING TO CLUE US IN ON HOW TO SOLVE THE 340.
MY TRANSLATION OF THE MY NAME IS CIPHER GOES LIKE THIS:



TRANSLATION:

AKA M(ARIES SIGN) MONOTONE (crosshair has the t in it)

AKA MARY'S MONOTONE
IT JUST HIT ME. OKAY, IF MY THEORY IS CORRECT, THEN THIS SAME METHOD SHOULD BE USED TO TRANSLATE THE 340.
SO I JUST TRIED IT OUT. HERE'S WHAT I GOT FOR THE FIRST LINE UP TO THE PERIOD ON THE SECOND LINE:


WHY WOULDN'T I GO TO KILL PAUL'S BROTHER.

Nachtsider wrote:

I'm surprised at how thin Houghton looks in the second photo, rand. Or is it just the camera angle?

It was taken in 1961. TH gained weight by 1966 (top photo).

rand wrote:

Mageau thought that Arthur Leigh Allen might be Z. Look at how much TH looks like ALA with hair in these pictures:

TROY H




ALA

Just for kicks, I'd like to see Houghton's hair and glasses superimposed on Arthur Leigh Allen. He does look very much like him. I think Houghton was young in that picture of him when he was thin. Betty told me "Troy was about 5"11" and he would go up an down in weight, It was a constant struggle for him." I imagine when he was underground it was the same; maybe even on purpose. I believe he was angry that the life he knew was taken from him, but as a sociopathic person, it was not the missing of the family but the ability to live out his minuteman life publicly.

It is very interesting that Bryan Hartnell's description of Zodiac almost completely mirrors what was said by others about Houghton's dress.... Bryan Hartnell said, "He looked sloppy with clothes that were too tight in areas that were all pulled up here" (probably meaning the groin area)

Rand, just my opinion, but no one has ever put together a better case than you have. I know, I know, most is based on circumstantial evidence but believe it or not "cases are tried based on circumstantial evidence".....

Couldn't agree more. It's him. Not a shred of doubt in my mind. None.

Hey Rand, something is troubling me about the psychology and whether or not he might actually not be the person he appeared to be.

What IF Troy Houghton wasn't guilty of the flashing charges? What if he was set up because of his associations? Would that not make a man extremely angry and perhaps have a vendetta towards LE?

What if he actually was an informant for one of the agencies, CIA, FBI, ATF, etc. AND he got screwed and tattooed by other LE and the agency you was working with didn't exactly step up and help you out? I remember you posting a FBI worksheet from a NY contact in the 1950's where he called and volunteered his men to help invade or fight Cuba or Puerto Rico(I think). You asked Betty Houghton about this and she said he was a Fuller Brush man.

Does it not seem a little strange that General Walker, DePugh, Troy Hougton all were charged with minor sex charges at some time which embarrassed and probably caused some disruption within the MM? Did such charges along with the weapons charges actually cause the MM to disband (at least publicly) and if so...the process worked pretty good for the government didn't it?

What does our government do with the folks that do the gun running and the covert activities here and there when they are thru with them?

He is supposedly an uneducated loser who seems pretty comfortable with press and MM intelligence. It is very arrogant to sit and tell press that he has a "little list" of people who would die if DePugh went to jail.

Quote :

COINTELPRO began in 1956, in part because of frustration with Supreme Court rulings limiting the Government's power to proceed overtly against dissident groups; it ended in 1971 with the threat of public exposure. 1 In the intervening 15 years, the Bureau conducted a sophisticated vigilante operation aimed squarely at preventing the exercise of First Amendment rights of speech and association, on the theory that preventing the growth of dangerous groups and the propagation of dangerous ideas would protect the national security and deter violence. 2

Many of the techniques used would be intolerable in a democratic society even if all of the targets had been involved in violent activity, but COINTELPRO went far beyond that. The unexpressed major premise of the programs was that a law enforcement agency has the duty to do whatever is necessary to combat perceived threats to the existing social and political order.

Rand...do you happen to know if Troy Houghton spoke Spanish?

MS: I don't know, but I can find out about the Spanish.

I doubt TH was set up on the indecent exposure charges, though Harry thinks he might have been in Cheyenne, WY. The reason I doubt it was that two teenage girls positively identified him as the guy who flashed them outside a mall and told police, prior to their finding TH in a hotel with fake ID, that the man was driving a car with Canadian license plates. TH was driving a car with Canadian license plates. The most important reason, for me, is that TH was originally convicted in 1957. He was not running guns, that I'm aware of, in 1957. Again, two teenage girls identified him as the flasher in a remote wooded area somewhere in LA county. Why would 4 teenage girls lie about this? They weren't working with COINTELPRO.

BIG NEWS! I've found out from a most reliable source that Troy Houghton "did like the Mikado, though he was more into Glen Miller and jazz."

That's all I can say at this time. I'll fill in the details later.

On page 29 of this topic you posted a FBI document that is a bit smudged, but the gist of it was in May ? 1964 Title Minutemen. Information concerned: INTERNAL SECURITY. (does this mean internal to the FBI?)

I can't see if there is a code or informant number indicating if this is an informant write up of info or IF this is info directly from Troy Houghton.

Troy Houghton- advised or advising? he ? intends to resign.

Synopsis: He stated he was recently in Kansas City, Missouri to attend seminar sponsored by the Army Navy Wat College. Houghton advised he recently purchased two deactivated machine guns from Richard Laughli ? of Collinsville, Illinois (OK if this is a FBI informant INFORMING on Troy Hougton making this statement...how likely is it TROY would tell the INFORMANT the name of the guy who sold him the guns AND where he was from?)

Then it goes on to detail the above starting with May 4th 1964 TH advised that he intended to resign his position as California Coordinator of the "Minutemen" in the neat future for health reasons. Houghton stated that he he planned to enter hospital soon for treatment for an enlarged heart and a slipped disk in his back. Houghton stated that his replacement has not been named, however, he feel certain it will be someone in the LA, CA area.

Question...did he actually resign? (he appears to be still in the MM and a leader years later).

Assuming he did have surgery and had an enlarged heart (at a young age) we could assume he had surgery May-Aug 1964. (How did he have the surgery? He was a failed miner and doesn't appear he had a permanent job with any sort of benefits??) Get where I am going with this? He had to have some sort of Medi-Cal coverage if he was "planning" to go into the hospital since it appears this was elective surgery. Who footed the bill of his surgery IF he actually did have surgery? Did Betty talk about this surgery?

Also you posted the info that he met the requirement for court appointed attorney status in 1968. That is very little income. He traveled a great deal for someone with such a small income. Remember Godfrey I think it was who was getting an income of up to 250 a month from the FBI all those years as an informant as well as expenses.

He had to have a great deal of money to buy 2 machine guns. Of course assuming that DePugh and the MM paid for that...but still...I don't see TH's supposed income and jobs coming close to covering his family needs and his travel expenses.

It's impossible to explain why 4 teen girls in 2 different locations would accuse him...I tend to believe he did do it simply because there were "witnesses".

But in reading alot about the cointel-pro program (especially the 60's) they used alot tactics to embarrass and discredit the groups they were going after often letting sexual tendencies (real or not) and misdeeds out into the press, letters to family and work about the "perversion" of a person. How many flashers in LA get big write ups in the newspaper over and over? I think it was only news because there was a concerted effort to leak this info to the press in order to disrupt the MM organization.

I just thought how odd it was that Kennedy went to the measures they did to discredit General Walker, first firing him, then getting him committed and then later he gets a sex charge. Then DePugh gets a sex charge (I believe after he got out of prison). And then there was TH in the late 50's...then 60's...and the press he got for not registering as a sexual offender.

Now maybe it is common for folks that are on the edge of societys' rules and in their beliefs to have "issues" with the social norms of the time, but it also seems to be a common tactic of the cointelpro forces to use such tactics. It is easier for us to all believe that the Zodiac was a pervert...BUT it was you that pointed out that the Zodiac crimes might not have the motive that is expected. Which got me thinking alot of about it. So it's all YOUR fault Rand. LOL!

Maybe the Halloween card IS pointing out the "flasher" issue but not for the reasons that he was guilt of what he was charged with. Maybe it's some weird sort of righteous indignation and thumbing his nose at the cops or system that commits MM to asylums, charges them with sex crimes in order to discredit the organization, and forces them to go underground.

MS: yes, there was a temptation to turn informant for money. But Troy wouldn't do that. I swear he would have taken a bullet for DePugh. He told Harry Jones that he was willing to die in a gunfight with the cops had they tried to go upstairs at MM headquarters and get the private MM files. He was up their with a shotgun waiting for them. He was arrested and went quietly, but LE didn't get the files. I'll print the page about this soon.

As for the FBI document: it's a summary of an FBI interview of Troy Houghton. The FBI interviewed him regarding the Kennedy assassination. He gave them as little as he could.

Here's a document that you might find interesting: