Where is the unsold marijuana now?
A. I don’t know.
Q. Who hid the unsold marijuana?
A. Earl Miller.
Q. When was the last time you saw the marijuana?
A. About two weeks ago, Sunday.
Q. Where did Earl get the marijuana that he sold Eli Stutzman?
A. He went down in the basement and came back up in about five minutes with it.
Stutzman’s name was not on the arrest warrant, but his connection was obvious. The warrant stated that marijuana had been purchased the night before the sheriff showed up to serve it.
“You mean that goddamn Eli Stutzman is what got youout here?” Earl Miller said when Frost waved the warrant in his face.
“I’m not saying who it is,” Frost replied.
“What do you think we’re running here, a grocery store where everyone comes and shops? Stutzman was the only one here last night.”
Earl told the sheriff and his deputies to go ahead and look around. “You won’t find shit.”
Frost read the brothers their Mirandas and took them to the county jail in Wooster. Levi was released after questioning, but Les and Earl had to spend the night in a cell. It was not a complete loss: Earl Miller was glad that he didn’t have to get up at 5:00 A.M . to milk.
The following night Levi Miller drove up to Marshallville to have a little chat with Stutzman. He found Stutzman in bed in his room. Miller wasn’t there for small talk, and the look on his face must have made that evident to Stutzman.
“We want to know if you did this to us,” Miller said.
Stutzman shook his head but said nothing.
“We’ve been treating you like a friend. We want to know if you screwed us,” Miller insisted, trying to keep his voice low.
Stutzman denied it. He said he didn’t know what Miller was talking about. His face went red and he kept a blanket wrapped around him as though it offered some protection.
Miller didn’t touch Stutzman, although he thought a little force might loosen his tongue. He left with no more information than he’d had when he arrived.
The Sunday after the Miller brothers’ arrest brought an unlikely visitor to their farm: Eli Stutzman. Stutzman complained that the sheriff’s department had forced him into going undercover. He said he was sorry and wished that he hadn’t done it.
“He said he was going to tell the judge he had beenpressured and tricked by the sheriff’s department,” Levi Miller said later.
Stutzman didn’t say why or how he had been coerced, and the Millers didn’t ask. Levi Miller thought Stutzman’s participation stemmed from his desire to join the department—if he did a good job, they’d hire him.
They get to wear uniforms and carry guns. It might be a big deal to an ex-Amishman like Stutzman
, he thought.
Later, when Miller gave it more thought, it all seemed so far-fetched:
How was Stutzman forced into making the buy? What did they have on Stutzman?
Stutzman changed his mind a day later and said he was not going to recant. Once again he was siding with the Wayne County sheriff.
When Levi Miller found out, he flipped. “When he’s talking to us, he’s with us. When he’s talking to them, he’s on their side. Eli Stutzman doesn’t have a mind of his own!”
On November 2, Stutzman told the Chupps that Henry E. Miller had called to warn him to stay away from the Millers’ farm. “They’re out for blood,” he said.
Stutzman seemed shaken by the threat. He told Abe he had been making calls to the sheriff for help. “Someone has been making death threats,” he said.
Stutzman showed Ed Stoll some of the dozen hand- and typewritten notes he’d received. The message on each was the same:
“If you talk . . . we’re going to get you. There’s no place to hide. We’re watching you closely.”
Ed Stoll called the sheriff to report the threats.
“Eli was scared . . . and he had proof they were after him,” he recalled.
The writer of the notes stated that he had seen Stutzman doing various chores around the farm—things that someone
A. I don’t know.
Q. Who hid the unsold marijuana?
A. Earl Miller.
Q. When was the last time you saw the marijuana?
A. About two weeks ago, Sunday.
Q. Where did Earl get the marijuana that he sold Eli Stutzman?
A. He went down in the basement and came back up in about five minutes with it.
Stutzman’s name was not on the arrest warrant, but his connection was obvious. The warrant stated that marijuana had been purchased the night before the sheriff showed up to serve it.
“You mean that goddamn Eli Stutzman is what got youout here?” Earl Miller said when Frost waved the warrant in his face.
“I’m not saying who it is,” Frost replied.
“What do you think we’re running here, a grocery store where everyone comes and shops? Stutzman was the only one here last night.”
Earl told the sheriff and his deputies to go ahead and look around. “You won’t find shit.”
Frost read the brothers their Mirandas and took them to the county jail in Wooster. Levi was released after questioning, but Les and Earl had to spend the night in a cell. It was not a complete loss: Earl Miller was glad that he didn’t have to get up at 5:00 A.M . to milk.
The following night Levi Miller drove up to Marshallville to have a little chat with Stutzman. He found Stutzman in bed in his room. Miller wasn’t there for small talk, and the look on his face must have made that evident to Stutzman.
“We want to know if you did this to us,” Miller said.
Stutzman shook his head but said nothing.
“We’ve been treating you like a friend. We want to know if you screwed us,” Miller insisted, trying to keep his voice low.
Stutzman denied it. He said he didn’t know what Miller was talking about. His face went red and he kept a blanket wrapped around him as though it offered some protection.
Miller didn’t touch Stutzman, although he thought a little force might loosen his tongue. He left with no more information than he’d had when he arrived.
The Sunday after the Miller brothers’ arrest brought an unlikely visitor to their farm: Eli Stutzman. Stutzman complained that the sheriff’s department had forced him into going undercover. He said he was sorry and wished that he hadn’t done it.
“He said he was going to tell the judge he had beenpressured and tricked by the sheriff’s department,” Levi Miller said later.
Stutzman didn’t say why or how he had been coerced, and the Millers didn’t ask. Levi Miller thought Stutzman’s participation stemmed from his desire to join the department—if he did a good job, they’d hire him.
They get to wear uniforms and carry guns. It might be a big deal to an ex-Amishman like Stutzman
, he thought.
Later, when Miller gave it more thought, it all seemed so far-fetched:
How was Stutzman forced into making the buy? What did they have on Stutzman?
Stutzman changed his mind a day later and said he was not going to recant. Once again he was siding with the Wayne County sheriff.
When Levi Miller found out, he flipped. “When he’s talking to us, he’s with us. When he’s talking to them, he’s on their side. Eli Stutzman doesn’t have a mind of his own!”
On November 2, Stutzman told the Chupps that Henry E. Miller had called to warn him to stay away from the Millers’ farm. “They’re out for blood,” he said.
Stutzman seemed shaken by the threat. He told Abe he had been making calls to the sheriff for help. “Someone has been making death threats,” he said.
Stutzman showed Ed Stoll some of the dozen hand- and typewritten notes he’d received. The message on each was the same:
“If you talk . . . we’re going to get you. There’s no place to hide. We’re watching you closely.”
Ed Stoll called the sheriff to report the threats.
“Eli was scared . . . and he had proof they were after him,” he recalled.
The writer of the notes stated that he had seen Stutzman doing various chores around the farm—things that someone
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