10/12/68 Avalon Ballroom “it’s a foxtrot, and also a ladies choice”
In a way, this is my Deadhead origin story. It's 1989. I was 14 and had just discovered “classic rock." My native musical tendencies at the time, trended around 80s hip-hop (Run-DMC, Beastie Boys), thrash metal (the big 3) and various NWOBHM—particularly Iron Maiden. The weird, disturbing/cartoonish/horror iconography and imagery were important to 14 year old me ( I guess in a way, I was primed for the Dead.)
Anyway, around this time I had an older cousin who hipped me to Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, and The Doors. Also, that summer was the 20th anniversary of Woodstock, and MTV aired the Wadleigh film I think several times. I was absolutely spellbound. I taped most of the film to a VCR cassette and probably watched Alvin Lee and Ten Years After’s blissed out performance of I’m Going Home everyday for like 3 months. I wanted Alvin Lee’s whole Woodstock vibe injected directly into my veins. I had become a wannabe hippie.
This neo-hippie vibe seemed to infect my whole friend group. We all read the Beats and Huxley’s The Doors of Perception and traded 60s/70s tapes—Floyd, The Who, The Doors, Cream. We of course started smoking pot and spending hours spacing out to psychedelic music or re-watching Fantasia, Heavy Metal, or 2001 for the umpteenth time. It was all way more interesting than Motley Crue or Winger or Bon Jovi or whatever the fuck MTV was doing.
And of course, I had heard of Grateful Dead by then—I was like 12 when “Touch of Grey” was a hit. And they were a big mainstream rock band in 1989. The news ran segments on them when they came to the area.
But initially, I thought they were kinda lame and corny--like the Beach Boys and Kokomo. Sure, the imagery was dope—like one would expect from a metal or hard rock band. But the Dead were definitely and (for me at the time) disappointingly not hard rock. And those Dead guys for sure did not look like the bad ass dudes from Slayer. From what little I heard, I was not impressed. But how to access the good stuff I knew must be there?
In a way I am a little envious of young people discovering music today. It’s all out there. Want to get into Bob Dylan? You can spend a long weekend online listening to his discography and reading countless essays about his art and emerge as a fairly knowledgeable Dylan fan 3 or 4 days later. The Dead may take a bit longer to fully grok, but all the shows are online and there is no shortage of info about where to start. These days, an intrepid neophyte could get a broad understanding of the Dead in a week or two.
In 1989, I was flying blind. It’s weird to think about how differently we used to conceptualize and listen to rock music back then. At the time rock music was rooted in mystery and scarcity. I was limited to the maybe twenty or so cassettes I had, which I listened to over and over and over again. All I knew about rock music was what I saw on MTV, read in Spin or Rolling Stone, or heard about from friends, older cousins, and siblings.
So when I looked to get into the Dead, I had little bearing for which to set my course. I picked up Aoxomoxoa at the mall because the cover looked cool. And…it was okay. Look, compared to some of the other classic rock era albums I had been exposed to by that time it just didn't really rock or roll very much. At the time, I much preferred Blue Cheer’s Vincebus Eruptum to Aoxomoxoa (and I kinda still do).
Anyway, fall of 1989 was the beginning of high school. New people and new cliques. This kid who became part of our group had a Deadhead older brother in college. And he had the goods. For the price of one or two Maxells, we could get a bootleg. Since I knew next to nothing, I asked for a show he liked. He gave me an aud from a 78 show (a show I actually like now!). At the time however, this seemingly failed even more than the Aoxomoxoa album. The sound was muddy and murky, and some of the songs reminded me of Jimmy Buffett on quaaludes.
But side 2 of tape 3 was called “Filler: Set 2 Avalon 1968.” It listed four songs like this: “Dark Star>St. Stephen>Eleven>Death What the fuck is this? Filler? I wanted killer, and now I was getting filler? Hmm. I’d heard of Dark Star. I knew St. Steven from Aoxomoxoa. “Death” was certainly intriguing. Alright, let’s give it a go…
…
(cut to scenes of dude’s face melting in Raiders of the Lost Ark, the guy’s head exploding in Scanners, the scientists learning to talk to the UFO in the last act of Close Encounters, the Sasquatch/mushroom scene in Tenacious D’s Pick of Destiny, Andy Dufrane standing in the rain after escaping Shawshank)
…
THE SHOW
This is it. This is where I GOT IT. 10/12/68 is what turned the worm for me. Actually, it was just the first set at first, though I was able to get the second set a few weeks later—ah, yes, thank you, this is the bus I was waiting for…
This is pure, uncut Primal Dead. For me, this show is exhibit A of Jerry Garcia as a swaggering gun slinging guitar god. His playing is full of snarling psychedelic attitude and creativity (I think he’s playing a Les Paul here?). You know how Phish people used to refer to “Machine Gun Trey?” Yes, well, here we have Flame Thrower Jerry.
Let’s consider Grateful Dead in the fall of 1968. This show occurs at a time when Pigpen and Weir had presumably been kicked out of the Dead. In the days leading up to the Avalon shows on the 12th and 13th Jerry, Phil, Mickey and Bill were kinda sorta rethinking the Dead line-up w/the “Mickey and the Heartbeats” shows played at the crosstown Matrix on the 8th, 9th and 10th.
Indeed, Pig did not play on the 10/12 Avalon show. For his part Weir does what he can rhythmically as Jerry, Phil, Mickey, and Billy lay waste to all before them. I mean, you’ve got to love a band that fires a dude and then just lets them stick around and earn the job back. Knowing the back story now, this show almost seems like some kind of trial by fire for ol’ Bob. I mean, imagine trying to keep up with this music? In short, this is elemental, fire-breathing psychedelic acid rock played by young men with something to prove.
The Dark Star is early—not as open ended as 72-74 Dark Stars. The Live/Dead version, recorded about six months later, is perhaps more mature and developed, but this one has off-the charts energy and inventiveness. This is my favorite of the early Primal Dead, pre-72 Dark Stars.
I think The Eleven here is an all-timer. Jerry and Phil conjuring viscous curlicues of dark light while Bill and Mickey lock into some kind of inter-galactical syncopation. And the Death Don’t Have No Mercy is just phenomenal. My personal favorite. Jerry really goes for it—he never apes the blues, but he makes it his own. Really passionate guitar playing and even more passionate vocals.
Like the Dark Star here, The Other One would range farther (furthur? lol) out in the future, but this version is just a snarling beast, dripping with liquid magma and unrelenting energy. Likewise, the jam on New Potato Caboose scales the holy psychedelic summit of bliss.
For personal reasons, of course, 10/12/68 is one of my favs. This is a great show to check out if you are looking for raw, primal 60s Dead—an interesting companion to Live/Dead.
It’s also a good gateway show, especially for rockers. I got a few hard rockers turned on to the Dead through this show. The balls-out energy and talent is palpable. Years ago, I played The Other One from this show to an Army buddy who likes metal like Mastadon and Opeth. About halfway through he low whistled and said, “Goddamn, that hippie motherfucker is playing the shit out of that guitar. Gotta respect that.”

Names are allowed if in MSM (main stream media) and we use initials to save time as well as to protect those not in MSM and can not be legally named in connection to the case.

Family

Libby's Family:

• Father: Derrick German (DG) Libby's dad who lived with her a their family home in Delphi. He was the person she had arranged to pick her up from the pick up location on the MHB trail. He is also the person who started the search party after failing to find her and her calls went unanswered.
• Mother: Carrie Timmons (CT) Libby's mom who lived out of state. She kept in contact with Libby via SM (social media) and had spoken that day. She is largely out of the picture in the investigation given her location and is (understandably) very frustrated over the progress of the case.
• Sister: Kelsi German (KG) 16 at the time Kelsi was the biggest consistency in Libby's life. She is the one who dropped her sister off at the drop off point as a favour to her sister, as she felt bad for saying no initially. Kelsi is the leading figure in the media regarding the case, having taken up a career path in Criminal Psychology following the murder of her sister.
• Grandma: Becky Patty (BP) Becky is the paternal grandma of Libby and was her legal guardian at the time from the time Libby was a toddler. She and her husband, Mike, shared the home and parental responsibility of Libby. She has taken a step down from media following her diagnosis with cancer.
• Grandpa: Mike Patty (MP) Mike was Libby's step grandpa, step father to Derrick. He also raised Libby from her toddler age, as well as Kelsi and his son, Cody. He was prominent in early media but stepped down following the health of his wife, Becky.
• Cousin: Cody Patty (CP) Cody is biologically a nephew of Becky, but adopted by her and Mike. He is the legal son of the two and adoptive half-brother of Derrick. He has raised as a sibling dynamic with Libby and Kelsi but is still called their cousin by them and media.

This was Libby's core and direct family, who either was a part of the day, as Derrick was, or are outspoken on SM and MSM. She has more, but they don't play a big role in the day or the information we receive.
Abby's Family:

• Mother: Anna Williams (AW) Anna is Abby's mother, she is quite reserved but speaks on behalf of her daughter fairly regularly. She was at work at the time Abby was dropped at the trail and had no idea her daughter was going there that day. She does not harbour any resentment towards the Patty/German family, as she stated "had she been asked, she would have, of course, said yes."
• Uncle: (DE) Not in media, his involvement is down to leaks on SM, by discussing the case with someone he felt he could have trusted. He isn't really in the media so use of his name is limited.
• Grandparents: As with DE, her grandparents stay reserved about the case. Her grandparents lived with Abby and her mother at the time of Abby's murder.

Officials

Carroll County Sheriffs Office (CCSO)

• Sheriff Toby Leazenby (TL)

Indiana State Police (ISP)

• Superintendent Doug Carter (DC)
• Sargent Kim Riley (KR)
• Sargent Jerry Holeman (JH)

Carroll County Prosecutor Office (CCPO)

• Former Prosecutor Robert Ives
• Prosecutor Nicholas McLeland

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI)
City of Delphi (CD)

• Former Mayor Shane Evans (SE)
• Mayor Anita Werling (MAW)

MSM and Recognised Content Creators

MSM

• Carroll County Comet

Content Creators

• HNL: Down the hill (DTH) (Recognition: Interviews with CCSO, ISP, German/Patty family and Williams family)
• Scene of the Crime (SotC) (Recognition: Interviews with German/Patty family and Williams family)
• Murder Sheet (Recognition: Leaks recognised by the German/Patty family)
• Gray Hughes (Recognition: German/Patty family interviews)

There are more, obviously, but with no connection to Officials or Family.

Named POIs

^{I am not USA and can not provide all US MSM links. Unfortunately, the only people discussing the case in the UK are tabloids. I will still link but I apologise in advance.}

• Keegan Anthony Kline (KAK)
• Daniel Nations (DN)
• James Brian Chadwell II (JBC)
• Thomas Bruce (TB) (I need help with this link beyond Wikipedia please)
• Charles Eldridge (CE)
• Paul Etter (PE)

Internet POIs and Rumour

These people are not named in MSM in any way and their names can not be used.

• (TK) Father of KAK. A POI because of his association and possible cyber-access of KAK and his accounts.
• (DP) Witness of the scene and male half of the "arguing couple" at the north end of the bridge. A POI because of his proximity to the scene.
• (PB) Firefighter and first responder who was one of those who found the bodies of Abby and Libby. A POI because of his car being parked at the nearest possible point to the girls bodies, supposedly overnight from the 13th-14th.
• (MH) Youth pastor. A POI because of questionable use of the churches van logging on scanners around the scene of the bridge.
• (GK) Convicted murderer and member of the "Kokomo crew." A POI because of his claims of knowledge and his previous real-life murders of his ex-GF and a male acquaintance. You can use his name when talking about local killers but not as an accusation of being BG (I know, I don't make the rules)
• (RL) Property owner of the lot, RL can be spoken about and referred to by his name as the person who owned the site the girls were found. However, as of late with the release of his search warrant paperwork he has been under accusation on online forums and SM. He has since passed on.
• (FSG) Not really a POI, people tend to jump on accusing him once they first hear of a man loitering around the trails. Once you learn his age (old) and the fact he is actually the curator of the trail he gets a lot less suspicious. He is largely just known now as a dude who was on the trails around the time of the crime but some people are still suspicious of him.

There are more, but currently these are the main topics of conversation. Add your own initial but don't give a big description. Curious people will search the initial in the reddit, read theories and come to their own conclusions. Just say what they did (job) and why they came to attention. I would also like for the comment section to not become debates, so keeping it simple would be ideal. This isn't a place to discuss the likeliness of peoples participation but to help people understand the story more and engage in threads easier. Thank you.

KK commented on a FB post about a series of crank calls. Guy called 911 in 3 different cities and said he stabbed and killed his girlfriend and was going to kill her kids. KK commented that the crank caller should go to prison and wrote "Imagine all the officers responding emotions"
Strange comment considering that it's been reported that LE were deeply affected by A and L. Maybe he was just be a "Jackass" like his favorite movie.
https://m.facebook.com/KokomoScanneposts/2865631970156411?_se_imp=0IOr5zVJQ1OVNRWYU

WKHR - NBC 13:

Kokomo police confirm they are investigating a shooting at a Walmart.
It happened just before 3 p.m. at the store at 1920 E. Markland Ave.
KPD MaJ. Brian Seldon said the investigation is just getting underway and he could not provide further information.

Kokomo Tribune:

According to Kokomo Police Department Maj. Brian Seldon, the shooting occurred inside the store, and one unidentified male was taken to an area hospital with a gunshot wound.
[...] Seldon did later confirm that police currently have four people detained.

WXIN - Fox 59

(From a reporter) [...] Police confirm victim was flown to an Indy hospital.

Kokomo Police Department:

KPD is currently working a shooting investigation that occurred inside Wal-Mart, 1920 East Markland. One victim has been transported to a local hospital. This is an ongoing investigation. Please avoid the area.
KPD is interviewing three individuals related to the Walmart shooting investigation. This was an altercation that developed into a physical confrontation. It was not an active shooter situation. One victim was transported for treatment.

Kokomo Scanner (Unoffical account):

So far one victim with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. 4 people possibly left out the grocery

https://twitter.com/KokomoScanner
All the noise that comes over the police scanner in tweet form.