Dear Ann (Part Three)

Dear Ann, Part Three :

As it turned out, Ann, Howard Schaller was not after me that night. We found this out very quickly because, as Howard continued to pound on the car, coming around the side to punch the passenger windows and try the door handles, he shouted some vulgar epithets that were directed at your sister. He didn't call her by name, and I don't know if he even knew it, but he knew who she was and he knew that she was inside our car. I know you are aware of all this and I know it is a terrible memory. I am only repeating it here to describe the events of that evening in as full and continuous detail as I am able. It is extremely important for us to remember everything we can of what happened that night.

As I mentioned earlier, we were absolutely terrified inside the car because it felt like we were sitting ducks. From his actions and extreme aggression, it felt to all of us that, if Howard broke into the car, he would certainly assault us and maybe kill us. From his words, we could tell he was after your sister. He wanted her to get out of the car, and to our horror, she did. I can remember Lys shouting at her to stay put, but sitting in the back seat I could see her hand going for the door handle and the next thing I knew she had the door open and was stepping out to face this madman, who was twice her size and had the build of a weightlifter.

The next few minutes are memories I have replayed in my head over and over again for 25 years. I will keep my descriptions of them brief and to the point because they are violent and ugly.

Seeing Lillian exit the car shocked me, as I am sure it did you. Even though I was in a debilitated condition, I got out right after she did, because I was afraid for her. I must have been on automatic pilot and infused with emergency adrenaline. Howard Schaller was immediately in your sister's face, berating her at the top of his lungs. I interjected something and he told me to shut up. Whatever stupor I had been in was gone and everything was happening very, very fast. Howard was yelling at Lillian, but I couldn't understand what it was about. I don't remember his words, but I do recall his next action very clearly. Your sister was wearing a cameo necklace that was very important to her. I won't describe it, but what happened was that Howard suddenly grabbed the necklace by it's chain and demanded to know what it was. I will never forget Lillian's defiance of him in that moment. She just stood there without flinching as he pulled on the chain around her neck, and she told him what the cameo represented and what it meant to her. He said he wanted it. She said he couldn't have it.

Then Howard tried to snap it from her neck and your sister resisted.

I watched in horror as he slapped her hard, in the face.

Ann, I know it is not easy to read this, but you already know this detail anyway, and I have to recount it because the truth must be told about the entirety of this horrific event, which no one besides me has ever acknowledged to this day.

I remember fighting back against Howard after he hit your sister, and again it must have been pure adrenaline on my part. I think I shoved him in the chest, pushing him backwards. He was big, but a lot older than me, with a lot of wear and tear from hard living, and I don't think he was expecting it. I caused him to stagger backwards, and now his attention was on me. I could see that your sister was reeling from the slap, and within seconds she collapsed to the ground. She had fainted.

Howard Schaller now stood about fifteen feet away from me and he had the metal chain chain in his hand. He was challenging me to fight him and of course I was terrified. I remember hearing a voice trying to calm him down - "C'mon Howard" - and I turned to see a guy named Alex who had also been a coworker at MGM. Alex had been my friend when I worked there, but - as with Howard - I also hadn't seen him in at least seven years. However, I knew that he was a close friend of Howard's.

Here I must enter a full disclosure. During the time I worked at MGM, I was introduced to methamphetamine by a shift boss. This was in the Fall of 1979 when I was nineteen years old. I worked the afternoon shift, which often ran overtime until midnight. For a while, I bought meth from this shift boss, but he later introduced me to his supplier, who was Howard Schaller. Howard was the boss of the day shift, and as it turned out he was supplying speed to half the guys in the film lab. I was one of them, and I wound up buying directly from Howard from approximately mid-1981 until late 1982. I had quit the lab in December 1981, so all during 1982, when I bought grams of speed, I went directly to Howard's house in Canoga Park to buy them. That was my association with Howard Schaller. He was the day shift boss at the Metrocolor film lab. He was also a major speed dealer. Howard was 22 years older than me, so in September 1989 he would've been 51 to my 29.

My memory of seeing Alex in the parking lot during my brief altercation with Howard is vague but definite. Voice recognition plays a big part in memory. Babies who are only weeks old know the sound of their mother's voice. I know Alex was there that night in the Northridge Hospital parking lot. He was a biker like Howard, though he didn't look the part. He was a nice guy and a friend of Howard's, and must have been with him at his house when the news came down that something had happened at Concord Square. This is a very important detail, Ann, but I have to leave it alone for the moment.

What happened next, as Howard was challenging me to fight him, was that - finally - a policeman intervened. I remember one single police officer being on the scene. The parking lot was dark. It was around 10pm on Friday night September 1st, the beginning of Labor Day weekend, so not many people were around. All I recall observing was Howard directly in front of me, our mutual friend Alex from MGM off to the side, and finally a lone LAPD officer who reluctantly stepped in because he saw the enraged state Howard was in and even then, he only acted because he was exhorted by others - possibly the ladies in the car - to do something. This police officer clearly did not want to overstep his bounds. He was intimidated in his own way by having his jurisdiction taken away from him.

But he eventually did step up to the plate after being yelled at to do something, and I remember him ultimately cuffing Howard Schaller, after which I assume he put him in his police car.

Everything I have described, from the time Lillian exited our car to the time Howard was apprehended by the police officer, took at most five minutes. It all happened very fast.

After this point, my memory turns back to Lillian, who was laying on the pavement. She was either unconscious or close to it. She had a condition of hypoglycemia to begin with, and while she was a strong young woman under ordinary circumstances, she still had a fragile constitution. The extreme stress of the situation combined with the cowardly slap from Howard had caused her to faint.

Now she was on the ground of the Northridge Hospital parking lot.

Lillian is now married and I haven't spoken to her in 25 years, but at the time she was my girlfriend. I wanted to protect her, so I got down on the asphalt with her to see if she was okay.

(to be continued)