EXTORTION!
system was shut down and all the backup tapes were missing. She further stated that she saw our technician packing all the tapes in a duffle bag. I told her I did not authorize any actions
October, 16. 1988, I took my wife and Wendy to an answering service convention in the Baha- mas. The association liked to have the conventions at exotic locations. I left Steve at home to take care of things while we were gone. 4 AM the next night Steve got a call from Joan Harrell, working the night shift. She said that the system was down. Steve rushed over to the office. What unfolded was a serious crime. Joan Harrell Affidavit: On Oct. 17, 3 am I was the night supervi- sor and the only person on staff at Ding-a-Ling
that night. I arrived at 4:45 am and discovered the following: 1. All backup tapes missing 2. Computer systems shut down 3. Backup system shut down improperly. 4. Entire system unplugged 5. We could not take or receive phone calls including emergency calls jeopardizing all of our clients’ callers, including potentially life-threatening calls for doctors. 6. Keys to the computer cabinets missing preventing access to the systems. 7. $1,600 in cash missing I initiated steps to restore the system over the next two hours. After getting things work- ing I discovered a type written letter on our stationery, demanding 65K! The letter indicat- ed more than one person was involved in the theft. It also said do not contact the authorities or else. I immediately contacted the police and took steps to hire both an armed guard and a private detective. The letter stated I could not get the systems working without his help. I ignored his threat and restarted the system, successfully. Once the system was settled I found addi- tional items missing: 8. 100-175 beepers with a value of 30-50K 9. The technician’s employment records. 10. The technician’s beeper contract with a copy of his driver’s license. 13. Floppy diskettes for the billing system. 14. A master list of clients including their private information. 15. The key cabinet was broken and all the keys were missing. 11. Two company checkbooks. 12. Company books and records.
answering Service. Late at night, someone identified himself as Stephen’s assistant. He was wear- ing a company T-shirt. I opened the door and he said he was going to run some tests per Stephen’s instructions. He said he wanted to
do the tests prior to normal working hours so as to not disrupt the morning traffic. He said he would be testing the tapes. I told him he could not do anything with the tapes until 4 am since I was running a backup. He said no problem he would do a few things in the front office until then. At 4 am I saw a pile of tapes near the backup machine and asked what were they doing there. He said he was planning to test them. I said ok. A few minutes later I saw him place the tapes in a duffel bag and asked what he was doing. He said it was easier to bring them into the computer room. I was distracted by a phone call. After the call was over the technician said as soon as this call is over the system is going down for a few minutes so I can begin testing. Moments later there was a loud piercing sound through the office and a bright flashing light on the computer screens. Then everything went dead. I complained about the noise to the technician, but it did not stop. I yelled again to him to please stop the noise. He went to his car and never returned. The noise continued for about 5 minutes. At that point, I called Stephen Shooster. Stephen Shooster Affidavit: Oct. 17, 1986, 4:25 am, I received a call from Joan Harrell, night supervisor. She advised the
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