Joseph Gutheinz

Joseph Gutheinz
Born	(1955-08-13) August 13, 1955
Ethnicity	American
Occupation	College Professor, Attorney at Law, Author, Retired Law Enforcement
Religion	Catholic
Spouse(s)	Lori Ann (Bentley) Gutheinz (m. 1976 to Present)
Children	Joseph, Christopher, Michael, James, William and David
Parents	Lt. Col. Joseph R. Gutheinz, Sr., J.D. (U.S.M.C.) and Rita C. (O’Leary) Gutheinz (U.S.M.C.) — both deceased

Joseph Richard Gutheinz (born August 13, 1955) is an American attorney, college professor, commissioner, fraud examiner, writer, and former Army intelligence officer, Army aviator and Federal law enforcement officer, perhaps best known as the founder of the "Moon Rock Project" which aims to track down missing Apollo moon rock samples.

He holds six college degrees from Monterey Peninsula College, California State University, Sacramento, the University of Southern California and South Texas College of Law, and eight teaching credentials and ten law licenses. He is an attorney at law (1996 to present) He is a mediator. He is a Certified Fraud Examiner (1990 to present), who gave a speech at the 12th Annual Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Convention at Disney World in Orlando Florida about one of his cases. He has taught for Central Texas College, Alvin Community College and for the University of Phoenix from 2002 to present. He is a Commissioner on the Texas Commission on Fire Protection (2013-),having been appointed by Texas Governor Rick Perry. He has served as a Member of the Texas Council on Sex Offender Treatment (2009 to 2012). He has served as a Member of the Texas Criminal Justice Advisory Committee on Medical and Mental Impairments (2004 to 2008). He is a former advisor to the Coalition for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights. He has been a consultant on aviation and NASA related cases (2000 to present). He is the founder of the Moon Rock Project (2002 to Present). He is an author (2004 to present). He has co-authored separate national magazine stories with his eldest son, Joseph Patrick Gutheinz (Fix the Hubble Telescope: Mankind’s Spyglass on the Universe); his eldest grandson, Joseph Phillip Gutheinz (age 12)(Confusing Science with Science Fiction: The Remarketing of an Asteroid Threat); his eldest granddaughter, Emma Gutheinz (age 8) (Where Dinosaurs Were Dreams Remain); and his nephew Jonathan Gutheinz (Mission to an Asteroid), each story appeared in Earth Magazine, a magazine published by the American Geosciences Institute. He has over twenty years of Federal Government service beginning as an Army Intelligence Officer and Aviator, followed with service as a Special Agent with the FAA Civil Aviation Security, U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General and from 1990 to 2000 as a Senior Special Agent with NASA Office of Inspector General.

Early Years

The Gutheinz family is a close knit family with ties across the United States and connections to Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Canada and Taiwan. The Gutheinz family motto is: "Arbeit macht das Leben lebenswert" (Work makes life worth living). Joseph Richard Gutheinz, Jr. was born at Camp Lejune North Carolina on August 13, 1955. His mother, Rita C. (O’Leary) Gutheinz, was a former Marine Corp enlisted woman and his father, Joseph Richard Gutheinz, Sr., was a career U.S. Marine Corps enlisted man turned Officer. Rita Gutheinz grew up on Embassy Row in Washington, D.C. and followed her brother Dick O’Leary into the Marine Corps. She was the former Co-Captain of her high-school basketball team. Joseph Richard Gutheinz, Sr. grew-up in Utica, New York, and was a Varsity soccer player in high school. Joe Sr., graduated from high school early and took and passed the New York Regent’s Exam in order to join the Marines at age 17, in time to serve in World War ll. Joe, Sr. served in mainland China in World War ll as a Marine Corps enlisted man. He served in both the Korean War and Vietnam War as an Infantry Officer, and for two tours of duty in Vietnam, as a Military Intelligence Officer. Joe, Sr., saw fierce action in the Nevada Cities Campaign in the Korean War in 1953 and was both an Intelligence Officer and Infantry Officer during the Tet Offensive in Vietnam in 1968. As a Lt. Col. in the 1970s Joe, Sr. was the point man for the United States Marine Corps in Operation Homecoming, the joint services operation that helped bring American POW’s home from North Vietnam. When Joe Sr. left the Marines in 1976 he commenced a 20 year career as a Family Law Attorney practicing in San Diego. His daughter Jean Gutheinz assisted him in his practice. Rita Gutheinz died in 1982 of cancer and Joe Sr. died in 2000 due to complications associated with his Parkinson’s disease. Joe Sr. and Rita Gutheinz had six children together, Joe, Jr., Patricia, Suzanne, Jean, Patrick and Dianne (Helm). Patricia and Patrick died in their infancy, and Patrick is buried in Arlington Cemetery near his maternal grandparents.

Joe in Army Flight Uniform with sister Dianne Helm

Captain Joseph Richard Gutheinz, Jr., (USA) in his Army flight uniform, with his sister Dianne Gutheinz, at Fort Polk, Louisiana. He was then Executive Officer of the 258 soldier Transportation Aviation Maintenance Company, 5th Infantry Division.

Joe, Jr.’s paternal grandfather was Joseph A. Gutheinz, his paternal great grandfather was Wilhelm (William) Gutheinz, who was born on 14 July 1842 in Tirol, Austria and his paternal great-great grandfather was Joseph A Gutheinz who was born in 1807 in Nesselwängle, Reutte, Tirol, Austria. Both Joe Jr.'s father (Joe Sr.) and his great grandfather (Wilhelm Gutheinz), were war veterans, and had well established reputations for engaging in bar and street fights. Wilhelm Gutheinz had once been shot and wounded by a roving gang and he had once shot his neighbor over a property dispute, without much coming out of either shooting incident. He had also once severely beaten one of his 14 sons with a club over a gambling issue, but the charges were dropped when his son failed to show up to court. Like his maternal grandfather, Martin Joseph O’Leary, a World War l Army veteran and the inventor of fiberglass paper, Joe Jr. has never consumed alcohol. Joe Jr., even refuses alcohol in Catholic Church services.

Joe Jr. was kept back a year in elementary school after a fight left one of his legs broken in 3 places and rendered him unable to attend school. By the time he was 14 years old he was already attending one of the 10 colleges he would eventually attend and believed losing the fight as a second grader was a great motivator in his life. As a teenager Joe, Jr., ran cross country, track and was active in scuba diving.

Joe, Jr. married Lori Ann Bentley, at the Durham Chapel at Fort Ord California on January 16, 1976. Lori was born at Fort Sill Oklahoma on February 2, 1954 and as a teenager she was a high school cheerleader and lifeguard. Lori earned her Associate of Art's Degree from Monterey Peninsula College on June 11, 1975. She has worked for Firestone as a phone operator and at Denny's Headquarters as a secretary. On July 12, 1976, when a mass murderer killed 7 and wounded 2 of her co-workers at the California State University Fullerton Library, where she worked, she was off on a single day of sick leave. On February 21, 1981, Lieutenant Joe Jr. and Lori Gutheinz hosted a showing of the Francis A. Schaffer and Dr. C. Everett Koop film “Whatever Happened to the Human Race?” at the Harvey Theatre in Kitzingen Germany. They also hosted a live discussion about the issues addressed in the film immediately thereafter. The film was sponsored by the Kitzingen Chapel, and it was the first showing of that film in English in Germany. In 1994 when Lori was shopping at a Bread and Butter store on El Camino Real, in Clear Lake Texas, she was taken at knife point to her throat by a man demanding money from the store owner. Two of Lori’s sons, William age 10 and David age 7 were by her side. After the person committing the robbery obtained the money, the robbery suspect fled leaving the Gutheinz’s behind, but was caught shortly thereafter. When the prosecutor called Lori and asked Lori to help her put the robbery suspect away for 25 years, Lori asked that the man be shown mercy. Lori, a lifelong opponent of the death penalty, has always tried to find the good in people. Together Joe, Jr. and Lori have six sons, Joseph (born in Garden Grove, California), Christopher (born in Sacramento, California), Cpt. Michael (USA) (born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, Cpt. James (USA)(born in Würzburg, Germany), William (born in Fort Rucker, Alabama) and David (born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma). Lori, is a devout Catholic and has been active in charity work, like her late father and mother as well several of her siblings and a couple of her children. She spent years providing aide to unwed mothers through the Gabriel Project as well as through other venues. On January 19, 2008, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, Houston’s first Catholic Cardinal, presented Lori Gutheinz a plaque containing the likeness of the Madonna and baby Jesus, in recognition of her 13 years as Coordinator of the Gabriel Project. For several years she hosted a Christmas dinner for the poor with the assistance of Wal-Mart. Lori's parents are Col. William Bentley (USA Deceased) and Joan Bentley. Her siblings are Mary (Grow), Stephen, Maj. Theresa (Gomez)(USAF Ret.), PFC John (USA Deceased), Col. Joseph (USA Retired), and Tony Bentley.

Significant NASA Office of Inspector General Cases

Gutheinz led the 9 agency Omniplan task force investigation which resulted in the largest count indictment and conviction in NASA history . Omniplan had been a NASA prime contractor and subcontractor under Rockwell Space Operations Company (RSOC). In 1992 Gutheinz determined that Omniplan was submitting false claims to NASA through Rockwell, for buildings, vehicles and equipment that it claimed it was leasing through three companies, Mercury Trust, Space Industries Leasing and Space Industries Properties. These three companies were in fact shell companies controlled by Omniplan’s owner Ralph Montijo, and the property was in fact owned by Montijo and not third parties. Gutheinz created a task force from scratch, and joining NASA OIG were 25 agents, inspectors, auditors and a financial analyst from eight additional agencies, the Defense Contract Audit Agency, FBI, Labor Racketeering, the United States Postal Inspection Service, Labor Pensions and Welfare, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, IRS CID, and the Harris County Appraisal District. After a four-year case Ralph Montijo was convicted on 179 felonies and adjudicated on 1 forfeiture count. Omniplan, Omnipoint Production Service, Mercury Trust, Papa Primos of Texas, and Papa Primo’s of Arizona were also convicted and put out of business and Space Industries Leasing and Space Industries Properties were also put out of business by court order. In addition to Ralph Montijo and 5 of his companies four associates of Ralph Montijo were also sentenced in this case, a case which FBI Director Louis Freeh called the most significant case in NASA history. Gutheinz’s chief auditor on the case was Ronald Marta and the Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting this case was Cedric Joubert. In 1995 Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin’s economic advisor were given a two-hour briefing on the Omniplan case in building 265 at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Building 265 was the SCIF that housed the Omniplan task force. At that time building 265 was partially covered by a dirt mound and had an elaborate system of safe doors and cipher locks throughout the facility, to include a room for a dedicated hello line. The advisors were keen on how to create an Office of Inspector General within Russia. Gutheinz subsequently gave a speech to the International Business Forum about the Omniplan case, a speech attended by one of the principle defense attorneys in that case.

In 1990, the NASA Administrator announced that a Tupperware container containing cocaine was found in the Orbiter Processing Facility (OPF) at the Kennedy Space Center. The OPF was a high security facility behind a bank styled safe door where the space shuttles were taken to be retrofitted for space, to include replacing space shuttle tiles. Gutheinz was tasked to discern the source of the cocaine. In a three-day period working all three shifts he obtained a dozen confessions from space shuttle workers at the OPF regarding their abuse of narcotics. However, no one admitted to the cocaine. Gutheinz approached NASA Security and discerned that the alleged cocaine was originally alerted to by an uncertified bomb dog and that it was not appropriately tested; he then asked for a lab test. The substance found in the Tupperware container was talcum powder.

Gutheinz served as the case agent in a joint investigation with the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Inspector General investigating the Arkansas Aerospace Education Center, this case was referred to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno by Whitewater Special Prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Gutheinz was the affiant on two search warrants in this case and when his search warrants were executed his team of agents was augmented by FBI Agents assigned to Kenneth Starr’s Whitewater investigation. The investigation of the Arkansas Aeronautics Education Center was not without its critics, as some believed that the search of the Center, during operational hours, was needlessly heavy handed.

Gutheinz conducted the investigation of defective temperature transducers located within the space shuttles, an investigation that led to the grounding of the NASA space shuttle fleet in 1991. A temperature transducer in a space shuttle, depending on its placement, can be a criticality 1/1 item, which if it were to break off while in flight could cause the destruction of a space shuttle. His investigation was conducted at Kennedy Space Center, Johnson Space Center, in California and in New Hampshire.

Gutheinz led the Lockheed Martin task force investigation, up to his retirement, which resulted in a 7.1 million dollar settlement. This case first came to the attention of the Government during the Omniplan investigation. As in the Omniplan case AUSA Cedric Joubert was the prosecutor and Ronald Marta served as one of Gutheinz's auditors.

Gutheinz led the Rockwell, United Space Alliance and Boeing North America task force investigation that resulted in a Federal civil law suit and an out of court settlement. The civil suit was filed by a Main Justice attorney and alleged that Rockwell Space Operation's Company knew of Omniplan's fraudulent leases and failed to properly disclose that information to NASA or law enforcement.

Special Agent Gutheinz is the Complainant/Affiant in United States of America v. Jerry Whittredge.

Gutheinz conducted the investigation, made the arrest and testified against Astronaut and CIA impersonator Jerry Alan Whittredge, the so-called "Great Astronaut Impersonator". Whittredge, attended astronaut parties, received VIP tours of Navy bases, obtained schematics to the Space Shuttle propulsion system and talked his way into NASA Mission Control during a mission. Whittredge claimed to be an astronaut, CIA Regent, CIA assassin, former Marine Corps Forest Recon Vietnam veteran, Top Gun Trophy Winner and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, all of which was not true. Whittredge was in fact an engineer by training, a Senior Parachute Rigger, skydiver, long distance runner, active in Martial Arts and had an Airline Transport pilot's license. Whittredge came to Gutheinz's attention after he tried to meet the Commanding Officer of Pensacola Naval Air Station in order to fly Navy jets there while awaiting, he claimed, his first space mission as an astronaut. In a resume posted on an IMBb webpage about Jerry Whittredge as viewed on December 20, 2012, the following representations were made about Jerry Whittredge. Whittredge was a “Gunnery Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps. Saved 34 pilots that were shot down in North Vietnam by parachuting in (HALO) and brought them home. POW during the Vietnam War at Hanoi Hilton. Awarded the Medal of Honor in 1975.” Whittredge was a “Field Agent in the CIA from 1975 to 2005. Trained in covert operations, insertion and extraction procedures, weapons, flying military aircraft, photography and elude/escape. Some information will remain classified.” These representations appear to be at odds with the 1998 investigation that was conducted on him that led to his arrest.

Gutheinz investigated the Russian Space Program and the fire and collision on the Mir Space Station, a case referred to in a best-selling book by Bryan Burrough titled Dragonfly: NASA and the Crisis Aboard Mir. His investigation had four distinct phases. The first phase dealt with his investigation of million dollar homes at Star City Russia with a mysterious funding source; the burglary of American Astronaut homes at Star City Russia, the theft of building supplies and American vehicles at Star City Russia, constant surveillance of astronauts at Star City Russia, unsafe working conditions at Star City Russia and allegations that Russian Cosmonauts were being paid twice, once by Russia and a second time by America, in violation of agreements between Russia and the United States. The second phase pertained to his investigation of the fire on board the Russian Mir Space Station; safety problems on board the Mir; safety problems at the TsUP (Russia’s mission control); communication problems between the ground and the Mir; and he investigated allegations that Russia concealed from America and the world facts about the duration, intensity and seriousness of the fire. The third phase dealt with the crash of the progress into the Spektr module; and the violation of procedure by failing to abandon the Mir when the Spektr hatch to the rest of the Mir could not be timely closed. The 4th phase pertained to his investigation of stolen Pre-launch Assessment Review (PAR) tapes that were found to have been taken after Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner's House Committee on Science and Technology requested them for ongoing hearings into the Mir. Gutheinz was able to reconstruct what was said on those tapes by interviewing the participants in those discussions, he discerned that many believed the Mir was a disaster waiting to happen.

Gutheinz led and went undercover in Operation Lunar Eclipse, the first sting operation to recover a moon rock, the Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. The Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock had been offered to Gutheinz for 5 million dollars, and Texas billionaire and one time Presidential candidate, H. Ross Perot, put up the money which facilitated the moon rock's recovery. In April 1999, H. Ross Perot was presented a plaque from the three participating Federal agencies for his service to country in support of Operation Lunar Eclipse. The three participating agencies in Operation Lunar Eclipse were NASA Office of Inspector General (SSA Joseph Gutheinz aka Tony Coriasso), the United States Postal Inspection Service (Inspector Bob Cregger aka John Marta) and United States Customs (SA David Attwood and SA Dwight Weikel). Operation Lunar Eclipse was a sting operation Gutheinz designed to catch con-artists selling terrestrial rocks and dust and offering them as Apollo era moon rocks and lunar dust. This con began immediately upon the return of Apollo 11 and continues to the present day. Upon determining that the seller of the Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock was selling a genuine Apollo era moon rock Gutheinz investigated further and determined that there was a lack of accountability on all the Apollo 11 and 17 Moon Rocks and lunar dust that the Nixon, Ford and Carter Administrations gifted away to the states and nations of the world. Gutheinz requested, in the 1998-1999 timeframe, that NASA OIG attempt to account for the moon rocks and lunar dust that had been previously gifted, but as NASA OIG is a relatively small law enforcement agency with a large mission it was determined that at the time such an investigation would not be feasible. From 2002 to present Gutheinz’s graduate student have tracked down Apollo era moon rocks and lunar dust that were gifted to the states and nations of the world. (See the Moon Rock Project below). In December 2011 NASA OIG revealed the finding of an audit they conducted on loaned, not gifted, Apollo era lunar samples, which revealed a lack of accountability by both NASA and the recipient individuals and entities.

Gutheinz successfully led the investigation of 5 companies selling private rocket missions into space and his investigation was responsible for the closure of those companies and the refund of the money obtained from the scheduled passengers. Sales for these space trips were made all over the world and Gutheinz and United States Postal Inspector Bob Cregger conducted interviews on the case all over the country, to include Alaska. One search warrant was executed in this case by Gutheinz and Cregger.

Two or three years after Gutheinz retired from NASA Office of Inspector General he was hired by a United States Attorney’s Office, as a consultant on a case. The case has been described as significant, lasted about a year, was NASA related and had a positive outcome from the Government’s perspective, but the nature of the case, parties involved and any settlement obtained by the Government has never been disclosed.

Federal Service Awards

Joseph Gutheinz received for his service in the Federal Government awards from six Federal agencies and one state. His awards include the NASA Exceptional Service Medal; the President’s Council on Integrity and Efficiency Career Achievement Award; the NASA Superior Accomplishment Award (Special Act or Service) for his investigation of the Russian Mir Space Station fire and collision; a Special Commendation from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas as well as a Letter of Commendation from the Director of the FBI, for his leadership of the Omniplan task force investigation; a Certificate of Appreciation from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas for his leadership in the Lockheed-Martin investigation; a United States Department of Transportation Certificate of Achievement for Superior Performance for his investigation of the Denver Airport and pilots covered by the FBI/FAA pilot match program; and the Honor Graduate Pin from the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center as well as a Letter of Commendation from the Department of Treasury, for graduating first in his class in the Criminal Investigators Course at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. His United States Army awards include the U.S. Army Meritorious Service Medal (United States) and the U.S. Army Aviator wings; he flew the Hughes TH-55 Osage and the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters. Gutheinz has also been appointed an Honorary Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma and an Honorary Harris County Deputy Sheriff.

Law and Order

Joseph Gutheinz has been an outspoken critic of flaws within the criminal justice system both in the United States and around the world. He has argued that not enough has been done to integrate grand juries; he has argued that defendants with mental illnesses should enjoy additional rights and safeguards, and he has fought for the humane treatment of inmates. Gutheinz and his graduate students at the University of Phoenix and undergraduate students at Alvin Community College have closely studied the case of NASA and Pentagon hacker Gary McKinnon, even holding a mock extradition hearing and a mock “hybrid” grand jury proceeding at a court house near Alvin Community College. What troubled Gutheinz about the case was his concern that Gary McKinnon’s Asperger’s Syndrome condition would be ignored as a plausible defense in the United States. Gutheinz was asked by Gary McKinnon’s mother and lawyers to submit an affidavit in Gary McKinnon’s defense, which he did along with an Op/Ed he wrote for the Herald of Scotland. Both were submitted to the high court of England in an action opposing McKinnon’s extradition to America, one of the many legal steps Gary McKinnon took to remain in Great Britain. After 10 years of fighting extradition Gary McKinnon finally was able to block his extradition to America on October 16, 2012.

Aviation Safety and Security

Technical rendition of STS-71 docked to Mir

Joseph Gutheinz has been on national news shows, been quoted in numerous print publications and has written several stories about aviation safety and security. In the 1980s after investigating a student pilot in Colorado for attempting to fly a plane drunk, a pilot who could not be prosecuted because there was no state or Federal law making it a crime to do so, he lobbied both Colorado and New Mexico to pass Flying Under the Influence laws, which both states did. During that same timeframe he successfully investigated over two dozen pilots who falsified their airman medical applications by lying about past alcohol and drug convictions and he investigated another student pilot who falsified pilot credentials reflecting he flew for a major airline and then flew a commercial multi-engine plane, these cases made Gutheinz concerned about the integrity of the aviation flying community. His activism over aviation safety and security began when he was a student aviator and saw a friend die in a helicopter crash at the U.S. Army flight school and continued thereafter with his past association as an advisor and spokesperson for the Coalition for an Airline Passenger Bill of Rights.

Gutheinz is a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment but has been an outspoken critic of guns on planes and in the classrooms. He has argued that pilots should not be armed and that TSA Air Marshals should only draw their weapons to protect life. Gutheinz’ s opposition to pilot’s flying armed is not an opinion apparently shared by many members of the Air Line Pilots Association. For example “Capt. Bob Hesselbein, head of security for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the number of armed pilots is ‘a tremendous deterrent’ to hijackings. ‘An organized terrorist team, their challenge is to take control of the cabin, then the flight deck’." Gutheinz wrote an Op/Ed for the Vernon Daily Record criticizing Harold ISD School District decision to allow elementary school teachers to be armed with handguns in the classroom. As with the Pilots Association it is little surprise that Professor Gutheinz’s perspective is not universally embraced by those who work in the education field. For example, Harold ISD Superintendent David Thweatt defended the school boards decision of allowing school teachers to be armed in school, by citing the unusually long distance between the Sheriff’s Department and the campus.

Gutheinz who is retired from the NASA Office of Inspector General is a supporter of manned and unmanned space missions. However he is an outspoken critic of NASA’s inclination to downplay and conceal mistakes and unnecessary risks. As a NASA OIG Senior Special Agent he refused to back down from his investigations of problems of the space shuttle fleet and the Russian Mir Space Station. Since retiring from NASA he has been highly critical of NASA’s handling of the Columbia disaster and post Columbia decisions.

Mock Trials, Extradition Hearings and Grand Juries

As a criminal justice and paralegal college instructor at Alvin Community College from January 2004 through December 2011, Joseph Gutheinz hosted hybrid mock trials, mock extradition hearings and mock grand juries, where his students would put on trials, hearings and grand juries on current cases. Gutheinz opened these forums to the public and from time to time was joined by others in the community and at Alvin Community College. He would make a point to invite both liberal and conservative groups to attend and participate as part of the audience. Gutheinz’s students have had mock trials on several people to include death row inmate Charles Raby, a man who was convicted of the murder of an elderly woman; Marine Corps enlisted man Cesar Laurean, for the murder of Lance Cpl. Maria Lauterbach (U.S.M.C.) and Marine Corps imposter Gregory Despres, who was subsequently found guilty of killing two people in Canada. Each case was unique, for example, Charles Raby was convicted on fundamentally the strength of a confession alone; Cesar Laurean tried to use his duel citizenship with Mexico to avoid deportation back to American from Mexico, a country he fled to, and he subsequently successfully avoided the death penalty in that case; and Gregory Despres who told U.S. Border Patrol Agents he was a Marine Corps assassin and subsequently gained entry into America after killing two people in Canada and while displaying a chain saw and sword to U.S. Border Patrol Agents.

The Moon Rock Project

Joseph Gutheinz is best known for creating and leading The Moon Rock Project at the University of Phoenix, a project where he has instructed his criminal justice graduate students in investigative techniques by having them track down Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks (each encased in a Lucite ball) attached to plaques that President Nixon and Ford gave to 135 nations of the world, all 50 U.S. states and to America's territories. To date he and his student have assisted in successfully tracking down 79 missing Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks and plaques, most notably three that were retained by Governors in office in the 1970s, namely Governor John Vanderhoof of Colorado, which was investigated by student investigator Richard Kevin Griffis; Governor Arch Moore, Jr. of West Virginia, which was investigated by student investigator Sandra Shelton; and Governor Kit Bond of Missouri, which was investigated by student investigator Lisa Moore and Professor Gutheinz. A plaque bearing Gutheinz's name along with Sandra Shelton's has been placed next to the West Virginia Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock in the West Virginia State Museum, recognizing Shelton's superb efforts to find and recover her assigned moon rock and Gutheinz's Moon Rock Project. On March 16, 2013, at 8:00 ET the Oprah Winfrey Network’s television show “Lost and Found” first aired a show titled “Unbelievable Mysteries Solved”. The hour long program told of three unrelated stories, the last of which featured both Joe Gutheinz and his former graduate student Sandra Shelton. The story focused on Sandra Shelton’s Moon Rock Project investigation and how her investigation led to the recovery of the West Virginia Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock.

In 2009 Associated Press reporter Toby Sterling took interest in Gutheinz’s Moon Rock Project and this Amsterdam based reporter enlisted the efforts of Associated Press reporters all over the world and with Gutheinz’s insight and assistance tracked down additional moon rocks. One of the reporters who contacted Gutheinz in response to Toby Sterling’s global initiative was Lucy Millet of the Cyprus Mail newspaper. Gutheinz told Millet that since 2002 his students had been looking for both the Cyprus Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, each encased in a Lucite ball, and had reached the conclusion that both were likely taken or destroyed during that island nations uprising of 1973 and 1974; when government buildings were ransacked and destroyed, culminating with the assassination of America’s ambassador to Cyprus, Rodger Davies. Rodger Davies, was assassinated on August 19, 1974 and America's embassy there was subsequently evacuated. On the same day that the Cyprus Mail story appeared stating that both of the Cyprus moon rocks had been taken, Robert Pearlman of Collect Space.com informed Gutheinz that the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock had never been presented to Cyprus, but was in the possession of a deceased American diplomat’s child whose father worked at the American Embassy in Cyprus in 1974. Pearlman reportedly notified NASA Office of Inspection General in 2003 about the whereabouts of the moon rock. Gutheinz, who had been in contact with Cyprus since 2002 knew that those in authority there were in the dark about its whereabouts, believing that both moon rock displays had been presented to Cyprus. The first thing Gutheinz did was to notify Cyprus authorities and members of America’s Embassy there about the status of the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Then he opted to publicize its status to persuade the possessor to turn it in. He accomplished this by among other things asking for a Congressional investigation. As a result of his public pressure NASA Office of Inspector General was notified on November 23, 2009 that the Washington, D.C Law Office of Akin and Gump had the Moon Rock in question, which they received from a client. The Government and law firm then negotiated for several months for its surrender. On April 16, 2010 the NASA Office of Inspector General at Johnson Space Center took custody of it. From that time until now NASA has elected not to turn over the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock to Cyprus. Gutheinz has written a minimum of two stories asking American to turn over the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock to Cyprus, as he opines that it is the property of Cyprus and not American. An indication that Joe Gutheinz and his students three year campaign to have the United States hand over the Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock to Cyprus may soon be successful was announced on May 15, 2013 by the Cyprus Government and leaked by the American Government. It has not yet be announced when the handover will take place and who will be involved in the presentation.

A Graduate Student at the University of Phoenix.]] On August 18, 2010, Elizabeth Riker, a Criminal Justice graduate student at the University of Phoenix and a participant in the Moon Rock Project wrote a story for the Capital City Weekly in Juneau Alaska that triggered one of the most interesting civil cases in the history of space exploration, a case that some believed would once and for all settle the question as to whether or not private citizens can own Apollo era moon rocks. NASA takes the position that no one may own, with the right to sell, Apollo era moon rocks or dust. Joseph Gutheinz assigned Riker the task of hunting down Alaska’s Apollo 11 lunar samples. After she conducted her investigation she determined Alaska’s Apollo 11 lunar samples and plaque were missing, the subject of her story. The person in possession of the Apollo 11 lunar samples and plaque, Arthur Coleman Anderson, filed a lawsuit against the state of Alaska, after reading Riker's story, the name of the case is: “Arthur C. Anderson, an individual Plaintiff vs. The State of Alaska, and Alaskan State Museums, and agency of the State, Defendants”. Anderson claims he found the Apollo 11 lunar samples and display in 1973 in a trash heap, after a fire burned down the Alaskan Transportation Museum in Anchorage, he was then only 17 years old. The lawsuit asks the court to either grant Anderson ownership of the states Apollo 11 lunar samples with plaque or conversely, to compensate him for taking care of it since 1973. By court order the Alaskan Apollo lunar samples and plaque were temporarily turned over to NASA pending the outcome of the civil suit. On December 6, 2012 the Alaskan Attorney General’s Office and the United States Attorney advised, in a press conference, that Coleman Anderson had dismissed his case and relinquished his claim to the lunar samples display to the State of Alaska. It was disclosed in that press conference that new information about how the lunar samples were recovered after the 1973 fire had been obtaines and how a photo examination expert from the FBI had confirmed that the lunar samples display, that was the subject of the lawsuit, was the one presented to the state back in 1969 by President Richard Nixon. This determination was made by comparing an old photo to the stand and lunar samples.

In 1998 Joseph Gutheinz learned while leading Operation Lunar Eclipse that both the Nicaraguan Apollo 11 and 17 moon rocks are missing. One of the two was allegedly sold in the Middle East for between 5 to 10 million dollars. A few Latin American flags are identical except for the center, such as Honduras and Nicaraguan flags. The seller of the Honduras Goodwill Moon Rock showed Gutheinz a picture of the flag on the moon rock plaque with the center concealed, so Gutheinz knew that the moon rock he was negotiating for was from one of the Latin American countries with similar flags, possibly Nicaragua’s. When Gutheinz began the Moon Rock Project he assigned both Nicaraguan moon rocks to his students to investigate and his students were unable to locate either. In 2012 Lawyer Richard Wright notified NASA that he had the Nicaraguan Apollo 11 Moon Rock. At that point the story about its strange journey surfaced. The Nicaraguan Apollo 11 Moon Rock was presented to Nicaraguan Dictator Anastasia Somoza Garza. Mercenaries then stole the moon rock from the dictator’s compound. The mercenaries traded the moon rock for unidentified items to a Costa Rica Baptist missionary. The missionary then sells it to Las Vegas Casino mogul Bob Stupak for $10,000 and stock in his casino. Stupak dies and leaves it in the care of his attorney Richard Wright who negotiates with NASA for its return to NASA with eventual re-gifting to Nicaragua.

On or around February 18, 2004 the Maltese Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock was stolen from the Malta Museum of Nature and History. Gutheinz was called during the early morning hours by a student and told about the theft. He began to look into the theft, and became convinced that only an amateur would have left behind the self-authenticating plaque. He subsequently urged Malta to announce an amnesty period for its safe recovery and offered a reward of $10,000 from his own funds for anyone who would turn in the moon rock to the authorities. The amnesty period he requested was never offered and the moon rock is still missing.

University of Phoenix (UOP) graduate student Rebecca Lyford and other UOP graduate students participating in the Moon Rock Project since 2002, have attempted to find the Romanian Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, which Lyford determined was sold by the estate of the late dictator of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, and his wife (Elena) after they were both executed on Christmas Day, 1989, for crimes against humanity. Gutheinz took issue with the Romanian newspaper Jurnalul over its contention that Romania never received the Romanian Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, and upon Gutheinz proving the paper evidence to the contrary, the paper wrote a new story admitting that the expert information they were provided was incorrect and that Romania did indeed receive both the Romanian Apollo 11 lunar samples and Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, each encased in a Lucite ball and attached to a plaque. Jurnalul reporter Daniel Ionascu, who located Romania’s Apollo 11 Moon Rock, took interest in the status of Romanian moon rocks after reading a series of stories by AP reporter Toby Sterling. Romania’s Apollo 11 Moon Rock is at the National History Museum in Bucharest.

In 2002, Joseph Gutheinz first assigned his University of Phoenix Criminal Justice students the task of tracking down Canada’s Apollo 17 Moon Rock. The first efforts discerned that the moon rock and plaque were unaccounted for and believed stolen decades earlier. Gutheinz’s students finally tracked down the moon rock to a storage facility at the Canadian Museum of Nature. Over the years students asked why the Museum had not displayed the moon rock. In 2009 Gutheinz and his students once again pressured Canada and the Museum to place the Canadian Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock on display for the 40th anniversary Apollo 11. Finally their efforts paid off and the moon rock was transferred to the Canadian Science and Technology Museum and placed on display .

Student investigator Cleo Luff determined that Irelands Apollo 11 Moon Rock had been involved in a fire at the Dunsink Observatory in 1977, and then accidentally thrown away in the Finglas dump (Landfill). On April 22, 2007 Gutheinz was called the world’s foremost authority on stolen moon rocks by the Irish Mail on Sunday. He gave the history of Ireland’s Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock in that story which at the time of the article Gutheinz said was at risk of being stolen from the National Museum of Dublin, due to poor security. Gutheinz advised that when Ireland’s President Erskine Hamilton Childers died in office in 1974 his wife Rita asked to keep it for sentimental reasons. Gutheinz said Ireland did the correct thing by telling Rita Childers “no”.

In her November 30, 2010 story titled “Goodwill Moon Rock: Where is Arkansas 5 Million Dollar Treasure?”, student investigator Atesha Brownlow presented her findings that Arkansas was missing its Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock and that it was not in an inventory control system to be tracked and accounted for. On December 12, 2010, reporter Sarah Wire's major story about the missing Arkansas Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock was published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette titled: “Hunt is on high, low for moon rock state got from Apollo 17”. Subsequently Michael Hodge, a state archivist, found the moon rock and plaque on September 21, 2011 in a box of Governor Clinton’s archived records. The moon rock had been detached from the plaque and the inventory Hodge was looking at simply said "plaque and flag" with no mention of the moon rock. The moon rock was subsequently returned to the state. There was no evidence or allegations that President William Clinton knew or was responsible for the placement of the moon rock and plaque in his archived records.

Joseph Gutheinz assigned one of his graduate students the task of tracking down Hawaii’s Apollo 11 and 17 Goodwill Moon Rocks. The graduate student did locate a moon rock given to a facility in Hawaii to honor of the late astronaut, Lieutenant Colonel Ellison Onizuka (USAF) who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, but the student was unable to find either of his two assigned moon rocks. Gutheinz made his own inquiries and discerned evidence that some time earlier, in a prior administration, both moon rocks had been on display in the Hawaiian Governor’s Office. However, in multiple calls to the Governor’s office employees there denied they had the moon rock or knew where it was. According to the Maui News Gutheinz was told to contact the Hawaii State Archives by a staffer in the Governor’s Office. The branch chief of the Archives Office advised Gutheinz the following in an email:, "I regret to inform you that the Hawaii State Archives not only does not have the moon rocks, but we have never had them! Also, I have no idea where they are." After sending inquiries to every museum, planetarium and university in the state as well as several state agencies Gutheinz advised the Honolulu Adviser newspaper that the moon rocks were no-where to be found. A few months later when the Governor’s office staff was conducting an inventory of its storage lots they found both moon rock displays. They have since entered both the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 Moon Rocks into an inventory control system. Gutheinz advises that "when you don’t know you have an item, you won’t know when someone steals it".

On a few occasions Gutheinz initiated state investigations through individual states Attorney General Offices into missing moon rocks. He did this after his graduate students first determined the moon rocks were missing. Two of these cases pertained to the New York Apollo 11 Moon Rock (lunar dust), which was investigated by student investigator Lisa Moore; and the New Jersey Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, which was investigated by student investigator Jaime Burgos. In both cases state investigations were opened and closed without success. Gutheinz now plans to personally investigate both of these missing moon rocks.

Additional Moon Rock Project Student Investigations:

• Florida's Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Richard Kevin Griffis.

• Idaho's Apollo 11 lunar samples. Student investigator: Jennifer Newton

• Kansas' Apollo 11 lunar samples. Student investigator: Bonnie McCalester-Turner.

• Illinois' Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Lisa Moore.

• Maine's Apollo 11 lunar samples. Student investigator: Letitia Applewhite

• Michigan Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Carol (Sue) Keller.

• Montana's Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Adeola Egbeyemi

• Nevada’s Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Evan Schwartz

• New York's Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Lisa Moore.

• North Dakota's Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigators: Pamala Depweg and Rebecca Dates.

• Oklahomas Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Rose Niang-Casey.

• Oregon's Apollo 11 lunar samples. Student investigator: Toni Dowell.

• Pennsylvania’s Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Martinique Wilkins.

• South Dakota’s Apollo 17 moon rock. Student investigator: Sarah Little.

• Tennessee's Apollo 11 lunar samples. Student investigator: Jacquesse Smart.

• Vermont's Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Mashaundra Alecia Guice.

• Dominican Republic’s' Apollo 11 lunar samples and 17 Goodwill Moon Rock. Student investigator: Edgar Garcia. (Repeat reference).

Note: Each Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock gift is a single rock encased in a Lucite ball, carved off of one mother rock known as the Goodwill Moon Rock, a rock that is maintained at Johnson Space Center. The so-called Apollo 11 moon rock gifts are historically misnamed. In fact each gift contains four or five collections of lunar dust or soil, with perhaps small pebbles within them,encased in a Lucite ball. Apollo 11 gifts have been called an Apollo 11 moon rock, Apollo 11 Moon Rocks and lunar samples. An Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock gift weights about 1.142 grams and an Apollo 11 “Moon Rock” gift weights about .05 grams. The Apollo 11 lunar samples were collected by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Buzz Aldrin, Jr. at the Sea of Tranquility on the lunar surface. The Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock was collected by astronauts Eugene Cernan and Dr. Harrison Schmitt in the Taurus-Littrow valley on the moon.

On November 26, 2012 Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Olson, Director for Public Affairs of the Minnesota National Guard, contacted Joseph Gutheinz and advised him that a Minnesota National Guardsman had found Minnesota’s long missing Apollo 11 lunar samples and display in storage at the Veteran’s Service Building in St. Paul, Minnesota. Gutheinz was asked to accept calls from the press about the uniqueness of this find and to participate in a press conference in Minnesota on November 28, 2012, when the lunar artifact would be presented to the Minnesota Historical Society for safekeeping by the Adjutant General of the Minnesota National Guard. Gutheinz did as requested and addressed the news conference for about three minutes via Skype, from his Friendswood Texas office. In Lt. Col Olson’s introduction of Gutheinz he called Gutheinz “the foremost expert on the status of Goodwill Moon Rocks”. Previously one of Gutheinz’s graduate students had tracked down Minnesota’s Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock to the Minnesota Historical Society, where it is now in safekeeping.

There are hundreds of news stories addressing the value of an Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock and placing that value as $5 million dollars each. This was the asking price of the Honduras Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock, as noted in United States of America, Plaintiff v. One Lucite Ball Containing Lunar Material and One Ten Inch by Fourteen Inch Wooden Plaque, Defendant, Case No 01-0116-CIV-Jordan Magistrate Judge Bandstra; District Court of the Southern District of Miami. Additionally in a May 6, 2010 NASA Office of Inspector General Investigator’s report looking into the newly acquired Cyprus Apollo 17 Goodwill Moon Rock's value, titled “Valuation of Cyprus Moon Rock”, Case No. 0-JS-10-0060-P, it was determined that the 5 million dollar value could be established my multiplying the $442,500 sales price of 10% of a gram of Lunar 16 dust, which sold at Southeby’s in 1993, by 11, reaching the size of a Goodwill Moon Rock and then rounding down to 5 million dollars.

Gutheinz and his students have departed from their search for Apollo 11 and 17 moon rocks to address the concerns of individuals who claim to have found moon rocks or who acquired moon rocks from their deceased scientist/ parents’ estates. When Gutheinz believes a person may have a real moon rock he has advised him/her to turn it over to NASA; has assigned students the task of looking into that persons claim; or has asked the possessor to join his personal Facebook account where he and his former students will ask follow-up questions. In a widely covered story Gutheinz traveled to Buffalo Texas in 2012 to look at an alleged Apollo era moon rock being sold on EBay for $300,000. Gutheinz has also been critical of NASA’s handling of moon rocks to include loaned moon rocks and the lack of security some temporary recipients have provided to America’s Apollo era lunar samples.

Because of Gutheinz’s efforts to find missing and stolen moon rocks for over a decade he has acquired a nickname: “The Moon Rock Hunter”. The Moon Rock Hunter nickname was originally conveyed on Gutheinz by his graduate students, as a joking takeoff on "The Crocodile Hunter”. Gutheinz would add to this description by pretending to wrestle a 1.142 gram moon rock during his lectures about missing and stolen moon rocks, while telling his students, “when you find a moon rock you must first wrestle it to the ground”. It came to the attention of the media after his son Christopher Gutheinz gave him a gift of a spinning globe with the caption reading, “Moon Rock Hunter”. Gutheinz keeps this globe in his office, which has been reported on by reporters conducting interviews of Gutheinz in his law office.

. and two documentaries, Moon for Sale (Documentary), and Lunarcy. Michigan State University is now producing a major documentary about the Moon Rock Project entitled “Missing Moon Rocks” . The film is being directed by 19 time Emmy Award winning director Troy Hale and features Joseph Gutheinz of the Moon Rock Project and Robert Pearlman of CollectSpace.com. Gutheinz's nephew Jonathan Gutheinz is a member of Troy Hale's crew for the documentary and Jonathan's mother, Jean Gutheinz, had worked for both the law office of her brother Joseph Gutheinz, Jr., in Texas and the law office of her late father, Joseph Gutheinz, Sr., in California. In December 2012 it was announced that Troy Hale will be entering the Michigan State Emmy competition with a 3 minute “short documentary” on moon rocks, featuring Robert Pearlman of CollectSpace.com, Joe Gutheinz and several of Gutheinz’s students. This documentary is in addition to the major documentary Troy Hale is now working on with respect to moon rocks. Jonathan Gutheinz, a film major at the University of Texas Arlington, assisted by his mother Jean Gutheinz, a Theatre Arts graduate from California State University San Diego, filmed a meeting between Rafael Navarro, Associated Press Reporter Michael Graczyk and the Moon Rock Hunter, Joseph Gutheinz, in Buffalo, Texas, when Joseph Gutheinz examined what Navarro had claimed to be lunar dust, dust he was selling on eBay for $300,000. Gutheinz has written four magazine stories about The Moon Rock Project and the moon, a November 2004 story for Geotimes Magazine titled “In Search of the Goodwill Moon Rocks: A Personal Account”; a September 2008 article for Earth Magazine titled "Settling the Moon: A Home Away From Home"; a March 2011 story found in Earth Magazine titled “A Decade-plus of Tracking Lunar Larceny” and a January 2012 article appearing in Earth Magazine titled "Dirty Little Secrets about Moon Rocks" On October 1, 2012 Joseph Gutheinz gave a speech at Goddard Space Flight Center to the Engineering Colloquium where he discussed in great detail both Operation Lunar Eclipse and the Moon Rock Project, and a video has captured that speech. On October 9, 2012, the CBS action drama NCIS aired an episode entitled “Phoenix”. The writer and co-producer of that show, Steven Binder, acquired information about stolen and missing moon rocks form Joseph Gutheinz, information he used in writing that story.

On February 6, 2013, Joe Gutheinz announced on his Facebook that he will be teaching a class titled the Moon Rock Project and Investigation at the College of the Mainland in League City Texas from July 10 to August 28, 2013. This will be the third college Gutheinz has hosted his Moon Rock Project at and the first class named after the project.

See also

• The Case of the Missing Moon Rocks
• Lunarcy
• Moon for Sale (Documentary)
• Kit Bond
• Missouri lunar sample displays
• John David Vanderhoof
• Arch A. Moore, Jr.
• West Virginia lunar sample displays
• Illinois lunar sample displays
• Cyprus lunar sample displays
• Robert Pearlman
• Malta lunar sample displays
• Norway lunar sample displays
• Romania lunar sample displays
• Apollo 17 lunar sample display
• Apollo 11 lunar sample display
• Phoenix (NCIS)
• Gary McKinnon
• Certified Fraud Examiner
• "Unbelievable Mysteries Solved" Lost and Found (TV series)
• Mir
• Jerry M. Linenger
• H. Ross Perot
• Mock Trial