That was a headline in the 23 June, 1994 Los Angeles TIMES and here is what it is all about. Terry Kinsella, a militaria collector, bought a boxfull of photos of COL ERICH HARTMANN (2805-+-1993) that were supposedly hand-signed by the top ACE of all time himself, from Tom Shutt of KING'S CROWN GALLERY. Kinsella was happy with the purchase which included a number of photos of Hans Baur, the personal pilot of Hitler, also supposedly hand-signed by Baur. Kinsella was pleased with the deal, according to the TIMES, until he grew suspicious.

"I went to the safe, took out the photos and spread them out on the desk, and said 'Uh, oh, definite forgeries."

Police confirm that the signatures were forged. Ink had pooled along the signature's looping lines, indicating the stop and start drawing of someone tracing an original HARTMANN autograph, Kinsella said. And when he held a thin stack of photos up to the light, Kinsella said that the signatures all stacked perfectly atop each other as if they were one.

Kinsella set up a STING with Ventura (California) Police and then arranged with Shutt to buy more of Shutt's collection from his by-then closed KING'S CROWN GALLERY. They met at a Hyatt hotel, looked over the selection, haggled a bit over price then agreed to buy additional items including another HARTMANN photo. Kinsella took Shutt outside to finalize the deal, and the Police were waiting.

The above information comes from the TIMES and it pretty well tells just the first part of the story. I personally telephoned one of the Ventura detectives handling this case, Greg Seeba, and he told me that this was the only complaint against Shutt in Ventura, but that there were fifty or more complaints against Shutt in Tustin, where the gallery had been.

Tom Shutt did not appear in person on his first court date; only his attorney was there to request a continuance. The continuance was granted....but Shutt did not appear in person the next date either; the attorney appeared to once again, request a continuance. It was also granted.

We know that another alleged victim was waiting in the Ventura court along with a police officer to arrest Shutt as well as Shutt's wife and his business associate, nicknamed Bud on another batch of charges. One must wonder if that is the reason that Shutt does not come to court in person, but one time the judge will let the attorney know that Shutt must appear, and the warrants will be served.

If you have ever had dealings with Tom Shutt or KINGS CROWN GALLERY that you think aren't quite correct, you may telephone Detective Finney at the Tustin Police Department. His direct number is (714) 573-3246.