Skeptic Project

A articel about this guy from 2001
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When Jeffrey R. Weinhaus gets out of the St. Francois County Jail today, he'll be looking for a new place to live. He's used to it.

Many people are counting the hours until he's gone. He's used to that, too.

Three years ago, Weinhaus retreated to the woods of St. Francois County to run a drive-through holiday-lights extravaganza called J.C.'s Christmas In Lights after his frenetic and free newspaper trashed so many people in Jefferson County.

In Weinhaus' world view, politicians are commies, cops are the SS, lawyers are godless pagans and Jesus is coming. High on his list of conspiracy theories is that America is enslaved by a satanic cabal of banks, oil companies and Freemasons.

His newspapers -- the Bulletin and its successor, the Provocateur -- are mostly stream-of-consciousness diatribes he writes in a single session. His views have earned the 35-year-old publisher his share of enemies, but also 10,000 readers and a loyal cadre of advertisers.

Over three years in his new county, the Festus native made enemies in places high and low. Now he's serving a month in jail for contempt of court. He's also reached an agreement with his landlord to leave by Dec. 31.

"They all want to see me get on down the road, " Weinhaus said in a jailhouse interview this week. "So I'm going."

The more Weinhaus saw of St. Francois County government, the less he liked.

Hours before the candidate filing deadline last year, Weinhaus entered the race for sheriff as the Republican candidate. He adopted an upside-down elephant as his logo. His platform: to expose corruption within the county.

Consequently, the Provocateur started paying more attention to public affairs in St. Francois County.

"His paper said I was a communist, " said the incumbent sheriff, Dan Bullock. "And it said I'm not really a bad guy, just stupid, and that I don't know any better."

Bullock beat Weinhaus by about 10,000 votes.

Weinhaus, believing he was the true winner, filed an "emergency request for injunctive relief" the morning after, asking the court to remove County Clerk Sandra Wells as chief election official for the county. A judge denied the motion. A few weeks later, Weinhaus demanded the ouster of Bullock and a judge. Those were denied, too.

People in St. Francois County started to take notice of Weinhaus, said Tom Burcham, a lawyer from Farmington, Mo.

The paper also had some things to say about Burcham, who last year was the Republican candidate for the Missouri House in the 106th District.

"He said I have horns growing out of my head, " Burcham said.

Burcham won his race, too.

Burcham noted the criticism didn't hurt his campaign. "It was suggested by many people that I sue him for libel, " Burcham said. "I'd rather see the guy get on with his life."

ALL THE RAVE

Weinhaus did just that this summer. J.C.'s Christmas of Lights was a holiday moneymaker but was closed 10 1/2 months a year. Weinhaus had an idea to use the property to bring in money year-round.

Weinhaus sold the property to a man in Imperial and signed a contract to manage the property. He built an outdoor stage and courted St. Louis-based party promoters to host rave festivals with techno music, which, for the uninitiated, is nonmelodic music composed of electronic tones and fast pulses.

Weinhaus knows something about music. He got his start in radio, selling ads and spinning records for KHAD in De Soto before moving on to stations in Sullivan and Owensville.

The first rave in April brought 1,700 teens and people in their 20s to Weinhaus' facility. Deejays were flown in from Los Angeles and New York. Weinhaus said he took advantage of the opportunity to talk to as many partyers as he could about Jesus Christ.

Mainstream Christians have it all wrong when it comes to spreading Jesus' word, Weinhaus said. Jesus called the sinners to repent. Thus Weinhaus' gospel: You don't find the sinners at Christian rock concerts and revivals. You find them at raves.

"I was selling bottled water at the concession stand, and I would give anyone a free water if they said, 'Jesus loves me, '" he said. "I had all these kids coming up and they're all high on ecstasy, and they're saying, 'Jesus loves me!'"

Word of the next party spread on the Internet, and 2,700 ravers showed up on May 5. The music and lights pulsating from the woods bothered a lot of neighbors.

Donna Black was curious to see what was going on and joined a neighbor to watch the party from a bluff overlooking the property.

She said she saw young kids dressed in outlandish get-ups, some sucking pacifiers, other wearing necklaces of candy. Was that boy wearing car-wash mitts? She couldn't be sure. What she could be sure of was that two boys and a girl were having sex in full view of other partyers.

Complaints poured into the police department, which had to scramble to do some research on raves, Bullock said.

The officers learned that ravers often use drugs to enhance their experience. Some of them suck pacifiers to keep from grinding their teeth while high on ecstasy, a psychedelic amphetamine which is to raves what Milwaukee's Best is to frat parties.

Officers were ready for the next party - billed as the Love Festival - on May 11. Fifty law enforcement officers from across the county appeared and set up roadblocks for safety checks. A dozen partygoers were arrested on alcohol- and drug-related charges. Just 1,200 ravers made it to the party; hundreds more were turned away.

By mid-May, Weinhaus' neighbors had organized into a group called Citizens Against Raves. In June, Senior Judge William Rader issued an injunction prohibiting Weinhaus from holding more raves. On Aug. 3, Weinhaus appeared at the courthouse in Farmington to ask Rader to lift the ban.

About 40 members of Citizens Against Raves were there. But so were 40 rave enthusiasts. They marched around the courthouse holding signs that showed their support for Weinhaus.

"I didn't recognize any of them as being local people here, " Bullock said. "They wore the clothes that they wore to the rave parties. I don't know exactly how to describe them. Some of them, especially the girls, wore skin-tight clothes and all different color hair and body piercings."

Inside the courtroom, the ravers sat to the right and the local people sat to the left. The judge said he would rule on Weinhaus' request within three days.

Weinhaus didn't wait that long. The next night, he held another party. Weinhaus said he did it to raise money for his legal defense. Deputies arrested him on the spot and charged him with disturbing the peace.

A month later, Rader sentenced him to six months in jail and two years of probation for violating his order not to hold any more parties. He suspended five months of the sentence.

In the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a billboard went up at Weinhaus' facility overlooking Highway 67. It said, "American Terrorists, 24th Judicial Circuit."

Weinhaus checked into St. Francois County Jail on Nov. 1. A few nights before checking in, Weinhaus said he planned to sue just about everyone when he got out.

"The other only recourse I have is to shoot people, but that's not the way, " he said. "Jesus said to choose life."

Rockport Entertainment Complex has been sold again, this time to another Imperial man who has already revived J.C.'s Christmas In Lights. The owner, Stan Jagow, plans family-friendly events next year, such as motorcycle shows, haunted houses and Christian rock concerts. But no raves.

When he's released from jail today, Weinhaus, his wife, Val, and his 2-month-old daughter, Trinity, will be forced to move. They have agreed to leave by the end of the year.

That suits Weinhaus, who said he is through with Missouri - for now.

"I'm moving to Illinois, " he said.
http://www.stltoday.com/gadfly-figures-he-s-worn-out-his-welcome/article_c9e4e08a-fc60-11e1-a859-001a4bcf6878.html