ACORN worker’s husbands still alive after all
posted at 8:48 am on September 16, 2009 by Ed Morrissey
In the latest ACORN video from BigGovernment’s James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles, Theresa Kaelke brags that she can help the erstwhile pimps get away with anything, including tax evasion and child prostitution. After all, she tells the two undercover journalists, she killed her husband after first setting up a cover story about being a battered wife, and she turned tricks herself without paying a dime to the IRS. That comes as big news to one of her former husbands, whom the Riverside Press-Enterprise finds alive and relatively well at the age of 66 in nearby Newberry Springs:
Since she claimed on the video to have killed her husband, two San Bernardino police homicide detectives interviewed her at the office Tuesday.
Police said they have been in contact with Kaelke’s former husbands and the homicide claims do not appear accurate.
“At this point, we can’t prove that there’s anything to her statement,” said San Bernardino police Sgt. Dave Dillon. “We can’t show that ever happened.”
One of her ex-husbands, Ronald Kaelke, 66, of Newberry Springs, said he was unaware of any investigation or that his ex-wife had made any claims of murder.
The couple divorced in 1987, but attempted to reconcile and lived together from 2002 to 2005, Ronald Kaelke said in a telephone interview. In 2007, the couple traded allegations of domestic violence and received separate restraining orders against each other, he said.
“As far as her murdering an ex-husband, that’s news to me,” Ronald Kaelke said. “She’s definitely got problems and goes off the wall sometimes.”
And indeed they do have separate restraining orders, as this search of the records shows. Small wonder, too, since the video also shows Kaelke threatening to kill the man to whom she refers the pair for more advice if he talks about their case. Kaelke and ACORN now say she was just playing along, but her history indicates that she’s not always playing when she makes threats.
As a side note, I do appreciate the subtle snark in the P-E’s reporting. “Police said they have been in contact with Kaelke’s former husbands and the homicide claims do not appear accurate.” Well, if they’re in touch with all of her former husbands, the claims aren’t accurate by definition. It’s a reporter’s slight dig, a little nudge to the ribs that fortunately made it through the editing process.
Was Kaelke just playing along with a joke? That seems like a big stretch. Kaelke sounds more like a blowhard who likes to impress people with wild stories about herself.










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Meth head.
jbh45 on September 16, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Nobody ever said they were legally married.. Get the corpse sniffing dogs.. Now!
GoodBoy on September 16, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Or could it be that ACORN, being what it is, attracts lots of liars?
wildcat84 on September 16, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Lying about murder for street cred. By any means necessary.
Fletch54 on September 16, 2009 at 8:51 AM
I just hope BigGovernment can find a picture of Kaelke and Boxer together. Please, please, pleeeeease.
Lance Murdock on September 16, 2009 at 8:52 AM
Whether she is a killer or just a threat maker, our tax dollars should not go toward employing her.
myrenovations on September 16, 2009 at 8:53 AM
The more likely explanation, IMHO, is that Kaelke is “not all there.” The problem is that, while logically that should call into question ACORN’s hiring and staffing practices, instead it will be used by the Enchanted Media to discount ALL the videos, even though the earlier ones were obviously legitimate because the ACORN employees were all fired. I really don’t want ACORN to get off the hook now, when they’re so close to going down for the count. :(
jwolf on September 16, 2009 at 8:53 AM
Jeff from WI on September 16, 2009 at 8:54 AM
These ACORN folks…they’re such NICE people. I’m SOOOO happy my tax dollars are in the safest of hands. /sarc
mimi1220 on September 16, 2009 at 8:54 AM
BTW, I understand that there are a total of 48 hours of tapes?
mimi1220 on September 16, 2009 at 8:55 AM
Ted Kennedy did BOTH and we employed him.
Jeff from WI on September 16, 2009 at 8:55 AM
The Left will kill this by focusing on the fact that the husbands are alive, rather than focus on the children whose lives were being throw in the dumpster by a govt funded group.
They’ll try and make the entire issue out of the one statement of her being a murderer and that it was fabricated, yet plug their ears when faced with the fact that NUTJOBSRUS is assisting illegal activities from coast to coast. I am sure that Jeanine Gawdawfulho will heartily bring this up and say its an attempt to paint these kind and caring people are whacked by a bunch of racists.
JP1986UM on September 16, 2009 at 8:56 AM
If the MSM harps on that after actively ignoring this story it won’t gain them anything, nor will it have any traction.
It will only further prove to the public that the MSM isn’t mainstream, it’s a propaganda wing of the Obama administration and that they are in this particular case covering for Obama’s previous employer.
wildcat84 on September 16, 2009 at 8:56 AM
ACORN…..full of nuts
Yeah, I know….I got nothing
Jerome Horwitz on September 16, 2009 at 8:56 AM
“Theresa Kaelke took an ax
And gave her husband 40 whacks.
And when she saw what she had done,
She gave her client 41.”
jgapinoy on September 16, 2009 at 8:56 AM
I guess ACORN is attractive to nuts.
forest on September 16, 2009 at 8:56 AM
…because everyone likes to play along when whorin’ out 12 year olds is discussed.
mjbrooks3 on September 16, 2009 at 8:56 AM
Yeah, she definately acts like a meth eater. She seemed to be tweakin so hard, I was waiting for her to break that ink pen in half.
surrounded on September 16, 2009 at 8:57 AM
Heh!
Shiny_Tiara on September 16, 2009 at 8:57 AM
The ACORN worker lied, so obviously the reporters aren’t trustworthy.
/MSM
LibTired on September 16, 2009 at 8:59 AM
If anything may get her is her claim of not paying the IRS taxes owed. Oh, wait, she is on the most favored list having worked for Mr. Obama’s buddies ACORN, so like others in his administration and those who were to be there and cheated on taxes, paying taxes are for the little, non-connected, non-elite people. Do I sound bitter, nooooo not me.
amr on September 16, 2009 at 8:59 AM
Fair point.
myrenovations on September 16, 2009 at 8:59 AM
He must be a CNN or MSNBC fan.
mankai on September 16, 2009 at 9:00 AM
I don’t care if no paperwork was filled out and if none of these Acorn workers on the video can be tied into a specific crime. My problem is this: Acorn is supposedly about “helping neighborhoods” and the poor. If they are willing to enable and “understand where you are coming from” when you talk about establishing an underage prostitution ring (or a crack house or tax evasion scheme) then they are not “helping neighborhoods”. They already have these problems and I don’t need my tax dollars being spent to continue an ongoing problem.
texabama on September 16, 2009 at 9:00 AM
Sounds like one-upmanship to me. As in, so you’re trafficking under-age sex slaves, well I shot my husband. Her version of street cred.
flmom on September 16, 2009 at 9:01 AM
I can’t believe that Beck and Breitbart wouldn’t have researched this prior. The way they have planned this reveal I expect it’s another well-laid trap. Why else would they only show half the tape? Politicians are certainly involved. Beck gave them warning.
Socmodfiscon on September 16, 2009 at 9:02 AM
What kind of person brags about killing someone in order to empathize with two strangers? Looney-Tunes.
Cindy Munford on September 16, 2009 at 9:02 AM
This may act to blunt the effect of this one video – but if there are several more to come then the stone will start to roll again. I personally didn’t think that this new one added much to the picture, but if they go to other places with similar results, then the pattern building continues. O’Keefe must have some major stones or some killer video to come b/c he seems pretty confident when I’ve seen him.
volnation on September 16, 2009 at 9:02 AM
I knew she was lying. In California they have twinkles like this. Status is important (whether actual or perceived). It’s why I call it ‘la la land’.
She’s talking to hookers and pimps, she wants them to know she’s ‘down with them’, she one ups them by saying she killed someone. It’s typical for people in California who make up whatever story they want about themselves to make them look better or more important. In la la land, everyone is a star.
ThackerAgency on September 16, 2009 at 9:03 AM
I’m really disappointed in you Ed. We a playing into their hand by even discussing this.
Don’t focus on the fact that she said she killed her husband. That was never the point of these videos!!!
MobileVideoEngineer on September 16, 2009 at 9:03 AM
This video does seem to be at variance with what she has up at Match.com, though.
Mr. D on September 16, 2009 at 9:03 AM
So instead of being a murderer, she’s batsh!t crazy. Wow, let my company hire her next!!! You know how companies are just drooling to hire them some liars.
Still doesn’t change the fact that THREE other offices fired people after the tapes came out. And that our little liar here was trying to assist a pimp and a prosty with setting up a brothel staffed by underaged girls.
mjk on September 16, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Where are all the success stories of ACORN helping people out of poverty?
Are there any?
cricket chirps
rbj on September 16, 2009 at 9:04 AM
“Our workers were totally in on this, it was meant to be taken in a spirit of fun, so we fired them.”
Bishop on September 16, 2009 at 9:04 AM
What does appear accurate is that ACORN leaves her in charge of their office in San Bernardino.
Dusty on September 16, 2009 at 9:05 AM
Doesn’t matter…ACORN is corrupt and needs to be shut down. Every aspect of it.
milwife88 on September 16, 2009 at 9:05 AM
I was thinking that same thing while I was watching her standing there yammering on and not sitting down.
keebs on September 16, 2009 at 9:05 AM
What does it matter if she played along or not? She works for and represents Acorn. If she is this crazy in one meeting, who knows what she told the person that came in last week or the week before. Either way, we are funding an organization that is not on the up and up which has been proven time and time again.
sherry on September 16, 2009 at 9:05 AM
He said he gets his news from Charlie Gibson
Jeff from WI on September 16, 2009 at 9:06 AM
It’s not unusual for street thugs to lie about their exploits to “enhance” their resume. That is what this women seems to be, a street thug, of the female variety.
I don’t see how the fact that she lied about committing a homicide, takes anything away from the fact that she was giving advice on how to avoid taxes on an illegal enterprise. I do admit that the left and the normal media will try and spin it that way, but I don’t think they will have much luck with normal people.
Of course the left loons will buy the story that she was “playing along”.
kam582 on September 16, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Yes, I suspect that the rest of the tape makes it worse. Notice how a lot of people would be going: “See? She was lying.” Yet, the whole tape hasn’t been released. Breitbart, Beck and these reporters are playing them like a violin.
mjk on September 16, 2009 at 9:06 AM
I think it’s typical of the mindset of ACORN. Do and say anything to win. She wanted to “win” in this conversation of sleaziness. There are lots of people who’s mantra is to be the person who is ALWAYS doing something just a tad more than you do. Y’all know the type, I’m sure. Example:
Me: “I went swimming”
One-upmanship person: “I went swimming…at night…in shark-infested waters”
SouthernGent on September 16, 2009 at 9:06 AM
Theresa Kaelke lied
And her husband didn’t….died?
milwife88 on September 16, 2009 at 9:07 AM
I don’t care if the husband is alive or dead. That’s not the point. The point is these people were never turned away from the offices on the tapes. ACORN has never said, “We don’t condone prostitution or child trafficking.” NOTHING like that. NO, they tell them where to bury the money and all the illegal tricks of the trade.
Oink on September 16, 2009 at 9:07 AM
As found out buy one of our posters yesterday, she seems to be the main recruiter in the San Bernadino area. So, counting her and ex-wife #2, there are at least two crazy women in California.
kingsjester on September 16, 2009 at 9:07 AM
Yep. That or coke and/or nutjob.
marklmail on September 16, 2009 at 9:08 AM
So, does ACORN do background checks?
stenwin77 on September 16, 2009 at 9:09 AM
She claimed she was a prostitute too. Did that story check out?
Hummmm wonder if there is a dead pimp out there somewhere, as in unsolved murder.
stenwin77 on September 16, 2009 at 9:10 AM
So then, any criticism of her is racist…..
Oh, nevermind.
Vashta.Nerada on September 16, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Said yesterday this woman sounded too insane to be credible. Who the hell admits to murder in front of people they just met?
BadgerHawk on September 16, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Heh. One of my cousins plays that game. The last one went:
Me: “I lived in Chicago/San Francisco/Atlanta.”
Him: “I was in the roughest part of Los Angeles.”
Me: (rolls eyes with annoyance)
Him: continues to brag about his street cred
Me: (decides to finish this conversation because he’s boring): “Israel during the infitada”
For some reason, I seem to win.
mjk on September 16, 2009 at 9:10 AM
I thought Fox released the entire tape yesterday. But yeah, I have to believe they did some of their own research and found out her ex wasn’t actually dead.
BadgerHawk on September 16, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Better question: Who the hell hires someone like that? It can’t be the first time she’s made claims like that. The other ACORN worker in the room seems oddly silent during that…
mjk on September 16, 2009 at 9:12 AM
Hmmm, maybe I heard wrong…. It’s possible.
Of course, there are some other tapes running around so Lord only knows what other batsh!t insane ACORN workers said to James and Hannah.
mjk on September 16, 2009 at 9:13 AM
What really got me about this whack job murderess wannabe is what she said about never spanking her own kids.
And here she is, advising a young couple on how to set up an underage prostitution ring with illegals?
It’s all about the chilrens, I guess.
TXUS on September 16, 2009 at 9:14 AM
The “Only 3 out of 4 supports child brothels and tax evasion” isn’t really a defense.
the_nile on September 16, 2009 at 9:14 AM
This will bring the MSM out of their coma.
…..Charlie Gibson frantically calls ABC, begs to do in-depth story
fogw on September 16, 2009 at 9:15 AM
It might just say something about Kaelke’s character that she thought talking about killing her husband was impressive.
Loxodonta on September 16, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Until the next tape is released. Then it’s “ACORN? There’s a story on ACORN?”
mjk on September 16, 2009 at 9:16 AM
This wacko lady is your tax dollars at work.
Adult
Child
Organized
Rape
Network
Mojave Mark on September 16, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Yeah, and the longer your rap sheet the more likely ACORN will hire you.
Ampleforth on September 16, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Everyone at ACORN is playing — they’re just not playing with a full deck.
bitsy on September 16, 2009 at 9:18 AM
Someone who thinks they are talking to another person with the same moral compass that they have.
In their minds, there is nothing wrong with that type of reaction in a personal situation. It just makes sense to them. When serious criminal activities are taking place, what do you do.. call the police? Hell no. You keep it real and take care of it yourself.
Itchee Dryback on September 16, 2009 at 9:19 AM
Well, apparently they help pimps and prostitutes start brothels. Those people probably didn’t end up poor.
wildcat84 on September 16, 2009 at 9:19 AM
So if they don’t fire this lady does it mean they are racist or is she too high up on the ACORN food chain to let go? If she really knows those names she was dropping they will probably want to keep here right were she is. But quieter, of course.
Cindy Munford on September 16, 2009 at 9:19 AM
She’s a wackjob, and this being shown to the world may just push her over that edge she clings to. If I were the man with a restraining order against her, I’d watch myself.
bridgetown on September 16, 2009 at 9:21 AM
Are they going to fire her?
Blake on September 16, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Was she married to Charles Gibson at one time?
pappy on September 16, 2009 at 9:22 AM
GB said during his broadcast last night that they couldn’t find any information if she killed her husband or not.
joshlbetts on September 16, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Maybe it was a boyfriend? Or her pimp? Or her dad? You’re probably right and she is a blow hard, but I say investigate her thoroughly anyway.
csdeven on September 16, 2009 at 9:22 AM
Aspirin overdose…
the_nile on September 16, 2009 at 9:23 AM
I also thinks she’s a meth head. My daughter and I were watching Beck and she said to me…why isnt she sitting down? whats wrong with her? haha
Meth heads will lie too!
becki51758 on September 16, 2009 at 9:23 AM
If you’re telling people who you ‘know’ to be living a life of crime, what’s to stop you? She just ‘knew’ that they wouldn’t go blabbing. They’ve got their own hides to worry about.
bridgetown on September 16, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Wonder what the job application form and interview is like when trying to get employment at ACORN….
ACORN Employment Application Question 17:
Are you totally nuts and whacko in the brain?
a) Yes.
b) Sometimes or not or maybe.
c) That`s what the voices in my head say.
d) All of the above.
——————
Ever wonder why the poor and uneducated stay where they are?
It is because of community organizers such as ACORN are giving such knowledgeable, wonderful advice.
albill on September 16, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Bingo.
TXUS on September 16, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Is this a rhetorical question?
Loxodonta on September 16, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Wouldn’t Acorn have gained more credibility by calling out the actors and saying “we’re on to to you, get out of here..”
rather than supposedly playing along?
These people are a bunch of buffoons.
DLEW on September 16, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Personally, I think it’s irrelevant.
Kaelke was helping to write legislation for California State Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod of District 32.
joshlbetts on September 16, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Acorn is no different than lobbyists and washington.
It’s all about the $$. Corruption is rampant.
bridgetown on September 16, 2009 at 9:25 AM
Beck made a point to say on his show that he didnt know if she was telling the truth or not. He also said they were trying to find out.
becki51758 on September 16, 2009 at 9:25 AM
http://moderateinthemiddle.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/update-acorn-tape-up-san-bernadino-twofer-tuesday-stevie-nicks-plus-more-acorn-now-with-alleged-felonies/
joshlbetts on September 16, 2009 at 9:26 AM
I suspected that she was a
liarI meanintellectually dishonesterr I mean fibber.Dang, it is hard communicating with the new rules on word usage.
I don’t want to run afoul of the word gestapo.
TheSitRep on September 16, 2009 at 9:26 AM
ACORN LIED
HUSBANDS DIED
DLEW on September 16, 2009 at 9:26 AM
ACORN: psycho commie magnet.
Akzed on September 16, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Pure Meth tweaker and whackjob.
thomasaur on September 16, 2009 at 9:27 AM
Good point. +2
Bus so ashamed of themselves that they wished they were dead.
Not even Lorien1973 would hit this crazylady. Right, Lorien?
rbj on September 16, 2009 at 9:28 AM
You Lie!
Aristotle on September 16, 2009 at 9:28 AM
Nah. Just one John and one joint too many, before showing up for her ACORN-gig day-job.
Yoop on September 16, 2009 at 9:28 AM
Why do the trollsters never make it to the ACORN threads?
Bishop on September 16, 2009 at 9:28 AM
BTW, good thing there wasn’t a pole in the middle of the room. There would have been a lot more of her act on the tape.
Yoop on September 16, 2009 at 9:30 AM
60 Minutes is planning a secret camera sting on rogue reporters who use secret camera stings.
mankai on September 16, 2009 at 9:31 AM
They’re filling out the paperwork for their El Salvadoran child “performance artists.”
mankai on September 16, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Perhaps they’re out gathering nuts? Long winter comin’, ya know.
Yoop on September 16, 2009 at 9:32 AM
Yuck!
thomasaur on September 16, 2009 at 9:33 AM
Just like Obama. Lying and bragging while overstating accomplishments.
seven on September 16, 2009 at 9:36 AM
The story isn’t really this pathetic woman Kaelke. It was obvious to me from watching the video that she has, as they say, “issues”, and probably wasn’t going to score too high on the credibility scale.
The real story is that taxpayer money is going to an organization that, in the most generous of possible terms, has an internal control problem. We are going to learn a lot about ACORN, not so much from the videos themselves (although those are revealing), but from how ACORN reacts.
So far, claiming the videos are doctored yet firing those employees involved, threatening to sue the filmmakers, and letting loose their unctuous spokesman Leventhal or whatever his name is, suggest to me that they are very worried. Worried about what, a few “recruitment errors”, as their spin would have us believe? That doesn’t add up, and it is becoming more apparent that the rot goes very deep. There’s obviously an Obama connection, but will it ever be uncovered?
mr.blacksheep on September 16, 2009 at 9:37 AM
She may have lied about the killing, but I’ll bet she’s had a hand in the oldest profession throughout her life.
As soon as she started talking about being a madame, I couldn’t help thinking of the line in Caddyshack from Al Czervik (Rodney Dangerfield) to the judge’s wife, while dancing: “You’re a lot of woman, you know that? Yeah, wanna make 14 dollars the hard way?
In the end, if liberals want to fund this nonsense, have at it. But taxpayers shouldn’t have to do so. Thanks, GOP, for being asleep at the wheel all these years.
Terminate ACORN’s funding and terminate its tax-exempt status immediately.
BuckeyeSam on September 16, 2009 at 9:39 AM
Let us not forget that ACORN, or parts of it, have now been renamed Community Organizations International.
We must keep up the pressure against ACORN and all affiliates, subsidiaries, and re-organizations.
We just really need to stop all funding for all social engineering programs. ACORN is only one of many sucking at my wallet “for the good of the people.”
riverrat10k on September 16, 2009 at 9:40 AM
I’m still laughing!
mankai on September 16, 2009 at 9:40 AM
think about this:
these ACORN workers never bat an eye when the guy says “i’m a pimp/law student, but i don’t want anyone to find out about my crimes when i become a Congressman”.
because these ACORN people just know that they campaign & commit election fraud for people just like him. and that many of these same type people are in Congress this minute
kelley in virginia on September 16, 2009 at 9:41 AM
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