[Nd-talk] FW: Reminder: Helen Dobbins Brown--A Mom To Remember

Mon Jun 10 19:23:26 UTC 2019

From: The Blind History Lady <theblindhistorylady at gmail.com> 
Sent: Monday, June 10, 2019 12:40 PM
To: mota1252 at gmail.com
Subject: Reminder: Helen Dobbins Brown--A Mom To Remember

Larry Hill 

. 

Hello Blind History Lady Fans;

I have enjoyed speaking to many groups in the past several weeks and looking forward to several additional upcoming engagements to talk about our blind ancestors. If you are interested in a presentation for your church or community group, please drop me a line and we can set one up via Facetime or another option.

It has been pointed out to me that the Blind History Lady is a bit of a “Pollyanna”. A few say I present only feel-good stories about our blind ancestors. While it is true that far too many of our blind ancestors led unfulfilling lives, many in poor houses or asylums.  Others have done a good job of telling us how horrible being blind is. So, I choose to tell the stories of our blind ancestors who have made a positive impact on our history in this country and in the blind community. 

But, today, I will give the “anti-Pollyanna” folks a story, just for them.

I chose this month’s subject out of so many blind criminals because it is a man that I remember. This event was near my neighborhood and I was a young mother at the time. Mr. Hill’s moment in time left a lasting impression in my mind.

Let’s meet Larry Donnell Hill. 

Larry was born March 10, 1950. He led a hard life and found himself in trouble with the law at an early age, many times. During one of his stints in jail, Larry was blinded in an “industrial accident”. 

After serving out his time, Larry was released from prison on robbery, criminal sexual conduct and being a felon in possession of a gun. A week after his release he was to marry Marilyn Carter. The day before they were to be married, her body was found in her home, stuffed in a closet. Larry was convicted of her murder two years later and sentenced to 27 years. 

Serving his sentence in Stillwater prison in Minnesota, Hill became friends with fellow inmate, Willie Johnson, who was released in January of 1989. Before Willie’s release, the two hatched a plan to spring Hill. 

On the morning of Friday, March 17, 1989, Hill was escorted by two unarmed guards to the Medical Arts Building in downtown Minneapolis to visit a doctor to check on anew prosthetic eye. Johnson was waiting in the parking garage. He watched as the guards and Hill went up in the elevator. A few minutes later, Johnson donned a clown mask and rushed into the examining room where Hill had been taken. Johnson caught everyone but Hill off guard with a gun. Using tape, the guards and doctor were bound and gagged. Hill and Johnson left the offices and headed for a safe place to hide. As soon as the doctor was able to free himself, he called the police and the man hunt began.

Larry had been corresponding with Lois Platt while in prison. She thought she was helping a man who just needed a friend. When Lois found out he had been convicted of murder, she stopped writing him in prison more than 18 months before this fateful day. 

The two men went to her home a little after noon that Friday and forced their way in. Lois had two young children and her sister in the house at the time. Larry took Lois upstairs and assaulted her. Lois’s boyfriend, Reggie Jerrold came home and found the two men in the apartment. One of the children yelled to Reggie that “Larry is upstairs with mom and he has a gun”! Johnson held a gun on the other child and grabbed for the talkative one . Somehow Reggie and Lois’s sister Peggy were able to talk themselves out of the apartment and called police. 

The apartment was quickly surrounded. Late Friday night, Lois was sent out of the house to start her car sitting in her driveway to drive the men away. When she reached the car, the police grabbed her. Lois struggled to get free from the police, exhausted and frantic for her two children’s safety. 

“We just plain took her,” Capt. Terry Cook of the Minneapolis police department said. “We couldn't let her go back inside.”

She was taken to the hospital where her family tried hard to console Lois. Her mother went before TV cameras and radio microphones pleading for the release of her grandchildren. Every station picked up her interview, playing it multiple times in hopes that the two men would listen and free the children. 

Another interview was picked up by one of the television stations. It was given by Larry’s current wife, Darleen. She had married him while he was in prison. She too gave an emotional plea but targeted to the police. “Please do not shoot him” she cried. She claimed that he could never hurt anyone because he was blind. 

The police knew a different Larry. They did not consider his blindness as part of their equation when dealing with him. His criminal record spoke for itself. Darleen knew about the prison break before it happened. Larry had convinced her that he wanted to be out of prison even for just a few days to be with her. Police suspected that Darleen had been the one who picked the two men up at the Medical Arts Building and drove them to Lois’s home in Apple Valley. Several neighbors told police that they saw a woman matching Darleen’s description, drop off the two men at the Platt house and accurately described her car 

The police were in frequent contact with Larry over the telephone during the standoff. In each call, Larry repeated his demands and always remained calm and clear. Larry knew the routine and seemed more in control of the situation than the police. 

When the negotiator called again to tell him a car, provided by the police was outside, if he let one of the kids go, Larry calmly returned, “That means you understand, that we would be walking out there like sitting ducks.  Dude, do you think that I am an actual fool? That wasn’t a part of the original deal and you know it. I don’t know why you keep bringing me that….  No, if, and ands [sic] about that”. 

About 1:30 on Sunday morning, the authorities arranged to have drinks delivered to the door. When one of the children emerged to pick them up, officers threw in two stun grenades, which emit huge reports that disorient those nearby momentarily. Larry was not disoriented. As soon as the grenade went off, Larry with a knife in his hand, grabbed the girl, bringing the knife up to her throat.  The S.W.A.T. officer took a shot. In five seconds, it was over.

A local newspaper reported on Sunday Morning; “The police shot Mr. Hill, 39, when he grabbed the girl at knifepoint,” Captain Cook said.

His accomplice, Willie Johnson, 47, saw his friend lying dead. The police entered and in the next ten seconds, Willie was quietly arrested. Thus, ended the more than 36-hour standoff. 

''We basically had a hard decision to make,'' Captain Cook said. ''We were dealing with some very desperate men. It was unacceptable to allow the men to leave with the children.''

Blind people are a cross-section of society.

You can read more of my Books at   <http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=001ddQ8lC9bAGwzX5ZwvNmeb9DXkMUMYjaGI49tyNxnFY9msf9WdX_EKtQ7cSMALERrkLXX__pkYIeI0nX29A-0zn8dkMiN5ust-a669UPcQbvdgK6AnJ7TSH0EuT9D9Evqcdc0S4-Eh4xjbj1JhmvfLJXGy0yaiUzhmvpGK4EBA5CNssl9iEhPew==&c=maftHYL9FlpJ6eQWJGrfrWIQlvPGeOTn9xypdSpUjR038AwAOLFYPg==&ch=EAlTJnsa5cFAf_a6Gt-7ovkqSzsHidHd2iwwZSXiiPao0Kl6TUcwdA==> https://www.smashwords.com 

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