Mystery of dead man and his 1,200 guns deepens

a reply to: megabogie

LOL. Not at all, I didn't take it that way.

In fact I would like to know for sure myself.

a reply to: oletimer

from that same wiki link, looks like Knapp was born in 1952...so he could have been a slow learner and still in high school at age 20! I have a few relatives who were old enough to drive in junior high so anything is possible!

a reply to: megabogie

Haha. You seem to have a valid point. Surely he wasn't in High School at 20. LOL

a reply to: oletimer

sorta of a downer really...that would have been a great story if knapp actually grew up with an "alien hybrid". might explain his fascination for the unexplained!

a reply to: oletimer

on a whim, I e-mailed George Knapp and told him you found that picture! Since he's a member here , I invited him to join us! I doubt he comes but he did show a lot of interest in the topic Sunday night. He may show up to reassure us he was not still in high school at age 20.

Now that was an AWESOME idea.

Great work that!

Lets hope he comes for some giggles.

originally posted by: Answer

originally posted by: LadyGreenEyes
As for the guns, my husband doesn't think they look like the sorts of pieces a serious collector would want, either, though they also dont' look like the gun runner types. So, what they were for is a good question!

Really?

There are 4-5 precision rifles with McMillan stocks (not cheap and probably custom builds) in one pile, a Barrett M82 ($8,500), multiple quality semi-auto battle rifles, and I see several others that are staples in most gun nut collections.

There are several random guns thrown into the mix because a lot of collectors buy whenever they get a good deal... even if it's not a collectible. Some guys are quantity over quality but this guy seems to be a bit of both.

Well, he didn't study the pics, and based that on the portions of the lists we could read. Some of both, for sure, but not a standard "collector only" sort of group, in any case. Unless he just wanted numbers, and high dollar stuff.

originally posted by: Answer
I still stick to the simple fact that IF the guns were for some sort of societal breakdown, he would have had multiples of the same type and/or they would have been lower end. I've seen collections like that and guys tend to have a bunch of SKS's or some other cheap rifle.

I quite agree. Whatever his purpose, that seems the least likely.

originally posted by: Answer
I used to sell to a doctor who had a room full of high-end "tactical style" guns and all but a few were unfired. He just liked to have them. It's like a guy who collects action figures, stamps, etc... sometimes their collection is all over the place.

Sometimes it is! I'd take guns over some of the stuff people collect, any day.

originally posted by: concerned190
That's what I was getting at by my last post. If it's a coded message to get to the bunkers because of some type of natural disaster. The talk of earthquakes in california. And yellowstones roads are melting.
www.rawstory.com...
Or maybe the econmy? There is a guy who predicted the crash of 08 to the date. His name is reinhardt, anyway, he says another crash is going to happen very very soon. enronnext101.wordpress.com...
There is also CERN, who knows what that machine is capable of unleashing.
There is a lot the Sept 23 comet theory.
Anyway, if it's a coded message it could be for a natural disaster.but then again it could be for anything.

Wow I missed that last year! Melting roads; no way that's good!

Weird story, all around.

a reply to: 321equinox

Valid points, all. If he was some important g-man type, it seems unlikely they'd leave him there. That's why I suspect he was working for a group that pretended to be government, and wasn't.

originally posted by: oletimer
Clasmates dot com
Westchester High School, Los Angeles CA.
1970 Yearbook, page 176, bottom row next to last on right.

Clasmates dot com
Westchester High School, Los Angeles CA.
1971 Yearbook, page 33, bottom pic, bottom row, 3rd from last on right.

Clasmates dot com
Westchester High School, Los Angeles CA.
1972 Yearbook, page 50, top row, next to last on right.

Clasmates dot com
Westchester High School, Los Angeles CA.
1972 Yearbook, page 130, bottom image.

Standing beside George Knapp!

He looks like the character 'Paul" from The Wonder Years! Wow.......

Thanks for the updates, again!

George Knapp actually answered me! He's interested in pursuing the story, especially if a Vegas connection can be found. He confirmed that was not his 20 year old self in the Lash yearbook. I would like to include his e-mail response here but without his permission, I don't think it would be proper.

On another interesting aside...the obit of Lash's Dad mentions he worked with Dr. Elmer Belt. I don't recall this being discussed yet. He was a urologist and pioneer in male to female sex change operations, in the 50,s & early 60's! He was also quite the bibliophile and considered an expert on Leonardo Da Vinci. His extensive collection on Da Vinci was donated to UCLA Arts library in 1961.

a few links en.wikipedia.org...
zagria.blogspot.com...
blogs.library.ucla.edu...
www.ajog.org...

sorry if i missed this in the discussion...memory and time are no longer my friends

originally posted by: megabogie
George Knapp actually answered me! He's interested in pursuing the story, especially if a Vegas connection can be found. He confirmed that was not his 20 year old self in the Lash yearbook. I would like to include his e-mail response here but without his permission, I don't think it would be proper.

On another interesting aside...the obit of Lash's Dad mentions he worked with Dr. Elmer Belt. I don't recall this being discussed yet. He was a urologist and pioneer in male to female sex change operations, in the 50,s & early 60's! He was also quite the bibliophile and considered an expert on Leonardo Da Vinci. His extensive collection on Da Vinci was donated to UCLA Arts library in 1961.

a few links en.wikipedia.org...
zagria.blogspot.com...
blogs.library.ucla.edu...
www.ajog.org...

sorry if i missed this in the discussion...memory and time are no longer my friends

A pioneer in SRS especially Male to female, very interesting very interesting indeed.

a reply to: TrappedPrincess

I thought so as well. Dr. Belt was also good friends with Upton Sinclair.

Dr. and Mrs. Belt also built a number of other libraries, donating an extensive collection that pays tribute to their friend, the writer and activist Upton Sinclair, to Occidental College in 1950. - See more at: www.pbagalleries.com...

All the ingredients for a great Agatha Christie yarn!

www.pbagalleries.com...

originally posted by: megabogie
a reply to: TrappedPrincess

I thought so as well. Dr. Belt was also good friends with Upton Sinclair.

Dr. and Mrs. Belt also built a number of other libraries, donating an extensive collection that pays tribute to their friend, the writer and activist Upton Sinclair, to Occidental College in 1950. - See more at: www.pbagalleries.com...

All the ingredients for a great Agatha Christie yarn!

www.pbagalleries.com...

This story just keeps getting crazier and crazier with every new detail that emerges. I'm of the mind that this guy was most likely involved in something very clandestine, which organization he worked for if any is still a mystery and probably always will be.

CNN video here...

www.cnn.com...

originally posted by: DJW001
Occam's razor says the man was in the black market arms trade. He would buy a few weapons a week at various gun shows so that he wouldn't get a background check that might alert the authorities to him, then he would sell them to criminals or other parties who did not want their background checked for cash money. The actual sales would be conducted in a safe house or back alley in another city. He told his girlfriend weird stories to explain his mysterious behavior. This does not preclude him being a bit of a nut as well.

They investigated him for criminal activity and couldn't find any. There is no way in hell he could operate for that long and make that kind of money without being picked up a few times on police radar. There are way too many informants, under covers, etc for him not to be at least profiled by ATF, FBI or a local PD. Even if he was operating solely internationally, there would be a lot of stuff left behind and he'd probably be well known to other agencies.

His father was a microbiologist and he left school while studying in the sciences field, when he dropped out he cut off contact to his family, hate to say it but this is exactly how/what happens when people get recruited by intelligence agencies.

Maybe he did some work back in the 80s 90s ?? He claimed his illness was from chemical weapons, and while his stories of James Bond-like missions are obviously BS, and seen as BS by people that knew him, its quite possible he was a scientist working on some project, he was exposed to a cancer causing agent, hence his death and mild truth to all the fabricated tales surrounding him.

Theres really no explanation for the kind of money he was making without him leaving behind tell tale signs of what he was doing. Police ruled out criminal activity, no drug trade and arms trade doesnt make sense.

It is possible he did work for some other foreign intelligence outfit who pretended to be US intelligence I guess, which begs the question what was he actually doing? Whatever it was, it was worth quite a bit of money.

Some think the guns were just a way of storing money aside, since their value doesnt depreciate and theyre relatively easy to move, but why all the ammunition? None of it really makes much sense to be honest.

This story is so weird. I've come across a few more articles, with a possible source of Lash's income:

From the Aug 5th Palisades News
This information is from a July 23 KFI radio interview with investigative reporter Eric Leonard:

Leonard also called him incredibly wealthy, citing at that time he met Lash that the recluse was making possibly $30,000 to $40,000 a week from a family trust. Supposedly his father, biochemist Joseph Jerry Lash had patents on several heavily used pharmaceuticals. Lash’s father died in 2010.

It seems Lash has extended family possibly interested in inheriting his stash:

Lash is survived by six first cousins, who are represented by the Law Offices of Daniel Brookman, a long-time Santa Monica attorney. Brookman was a long-time acquaintance of Lash’s father, Joseph Jerry, who passed away in 2010.

This second link is from August 6th Palipost.com mostly containing neighbor accounts of Catherine Nebron and Jeffrey Lash.

I can't seem to cut/paste from this site, but it tells of a blond woman driving a Mercedes Benz (Nebron's assistant, Dawn Marie Vadbunker?), delivering green trash bags to the Lash residence every evening, and Lash inviting the former home owner's association president to join his survivalist group.
That last part is curious. In the CNN video posted above by ATS member baddmove, the lawyer representing Nebron states unequivocally that Lash was not a survivalist.

Anybody else have updated info? I'm curious if the assistant, Dawn Vadbunker, ever returned from Oregon. Have the cops located his many other vehicles, possibly also stuffed full of cash, guns and ammo?

originally posted by: Olivine
This story is so weird. I've come across a few more articles, with a possible source of Lash's income:

From the Aug 5th Palisades News
This information is from a July 23 KFI radio interview with investigative reporter Eric Leonard:

Leonard also called him incredibly wealthy, citing at that time he met Lash that the recluse was making possibly $30,000 to $40,000 a week from a family trust. Supposedly his father, biochemist Joseph Jerry Lash had patents on several heavily used pharmaceuticals. Lash’s father died in 2010.

Anybody else have updated info?

The story Eric Leonard told seems to be full of holes.
This can be verified via a thorough search of patent records.
Lash's father has no patents anyone can locate for any time-frame.
In addition, he appears to have authored two medical publications.
Both articles are about microbiology, not biochemistry, or pharmaceuticals.

a reply to: oletimer

There are a few more listings posted here: (click on the "LASH JJ." link below the "A simply-constructed micro-extractor for blood analysis." to get to the page I copied the below from, the link does not work if I post it directly due to bb code formatting)

1. A simply-constructed micro-extractor for blood analysis.

LASH JJ.

Am J Clin Pathol. 1948 Jul;18(7):584-6. No abstract available.

PMID:
18868928

Similar articles
Select item 13114297

2.Comparative bacteriology of vaginal trichomonad infestations; a study of 190 clinical cases.

LASH JJ.

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1954 Jan;67(1):138-42. No abstract available.

PMID:
13114297

Similar articles
Select item 14795570

3.The clinical use of NU-445 (gantrisin) in the treatment of urinary tract infections; a report of 100 cases.

STEWART BL, LASH JJ.

J Urol. 1950 Dec;64(6):801-10. No abstract available.

PMID:
14795570

Similar articles
Select item 14771387

4. A simplified casein hydrolysate-serum medium for the cultivation of Trichomonas vaginalis.

LASH JJ.

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1950 Sep 5;30(5):641-2. No abstract available.

PMID:
14771387

Similar articles
Select item 18125785

5.A cultural method for the diagnosis of trichomonad infestations.

LASH JJ, BELT E.

Am J Obstet Gynecol. 1949 May;57(5):980-3. No abstract available.

PMID:
18125785

Similar articles
Select item 18898703

6. Protein hydrolysate-enriched media for the propagation of Trichomonas vaginalis (Donné).

LASH JJ.

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1948 Jan;28(1):111-9. No abstract available.

PMID:
18898703

Items 1, 4, and 5 look like they could be related to patentable procedures. Now the patents may be registered to his laboratory rather than to him directly which could be the reason any such patents don't show up when searched for.

Other than inherited patents/copyrights, I can't think of a passive income stream which would produce the kind of money this guy had to have had in order to be able to procure all of the weapons and vehicles he is said to own.

Interesting to see what more comes out of this story.

Lash's fathers companion/partner/stepmother said she didn't know where the younger Lash got all of his money from, implying it's not from his father in any way.