[CPProt.net] Last man on moon testifies for former Cosmosphere chief

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Last man on moon testifies for former Cosmosphere chief

ROXANA HEGEMAN

Associated Press
October 27, 2005


WICHITA, Kan. - Max Ary's wife says the former head of the Kansas
Cosmosphere and Space Center wound up with museum artifacts in his Oklahoma
home because of a mistake she made.

Jan Ary testified Thursday that she was the one who packed up and moved
boxes of artifacts when the couple moved from Kansas to Oklahoma in 2002.
She said her husband, the former Cosmosphere president and chief executive
accused of stealing and selling museum items, was shocked to discover the
artifacts in their Oklahoma City home after former astronaut Eugene Cernan
told him he was under investigation.

"He just turned green," she said.

Ary, 55, who left the Hutchinson space museum in May 2002, is on trial in
U.S. District Court on 19 counts that include fraud, theft and money
laundering.

His wife said the boxes, which were labeled only as containing artifacts,
were in her husband's home office in Kansas before the couple moved to
Oklahoma City, where her husband could take a job at the Kirkpatrick Science
and Air Space Museum at Omniplex. He was replaced last week as executive
director.

Jan Ary said the boxes did not indicate they contained Cosmosphere property.
She taped them up, loaded them and put them in storage herself because of
her husband's back problems - and because he was working and she was not.

"I would not have known what they were," she said.

After discovering what had happened, her husband told her the items were
supposed to have been sold in the Cosmosphere's gift shop, she said.

She testified her husband looked ill, and eventually took the boxes to his
attorney, who turned them over to authorities after they raided Max Ary's
home.

Jan Ary also testified about how disorganized Ary's small home office had
been years earlier when he and the Cosmosphere decided to sell some items.
He had two separate piles: one with his artifacts and one with the museum's,
she said, as he prepared the items for sale.

Jan Ary broke down and cried on the stand as she described how this was
going on during a particularly difficult time for the family. While Ary was
gone for three weeks working on the recovery of the Liberty Bell 7, his
mother became seriously ill and was not expected to live, she said. Jan Ary
said she became angry with Ary and moved out of the house briefly after her
husband's return. Also, she said, his parents and several other relatives
died later that year.

Cernan, the last man to walk on the moon, testified earlier Thursday that he
personally gave space artifacts to Ary. Cernan said items he provided to the
Cosmosphere went there because he was comfortable with Ary and had faith in
him.

"Max was the reason I even considered sending some artifacts to the
Cosmosphere," Cernan said.

Cernan said he learned that Ary was under suspicion during a meeting two
years ago with Cosmosphere President Jeff Ollenburger. Cernan said that when
he suggested Cosmosphere officials sit down with Ary and talk about it,
Ollenburger told him the FBI wouldn't let him.

"I was livid at that point in time," Cernan said.

He said he felt obligated to call Ary two days later, telling him he was
under investigation by the FBI.

"It blew him away," the former astronaut said, adding Ary was one of the
most honest people he had known.

Cernan also related an incident in which the Smithsonian loaned out and lost
track of a box used to collect rock samples on the Apollo 14 mission. He
said his experience on various boards and other work has shown him museums
do a poor job of keeping track of their inventory.

"I am not sure NASA or the Smithsonian ... know where everything is today,"
he said.

After his testimony, Cernan stopped at the defense table and reassuringly
placed his hands on Ary's shoulder.

Cernan, commander of the Apollo 17 flight to the moon in December 1972, was
the second former astronaut to testify for Ary, the Cosmosphere's president
and chief executive officer. The defense began its case Wednesday, with
former astronaut Tom Stafford describing Ary as "completely honest." Former
astronaut Charles Duke Jr. had testified for the prosecution earlier in the
case, but even he acknowledged he still respected and trusted Ary.

Also Thursday, Omniplex curator Suzette Roesch testified that it's not
unusual for museums to have missing items, and said a NASA official told her
they frequently have more than 1,000 items missing at once.

"The impression I got was NASA didn't want to know about missing items until
a lot of paperwork has been filed," she said.

The defense planned to rest its case Friday, with closing arguments expected
Monday.

http://www.kansas.com/