Samuel H. Sloan
Administrator with Will Attached of
Estate of K. Michael Goodall
461 Peachstone Terrace
San Rafael CA 94903
415-894-7201
samhsloan@gmail.com
SUPEIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF MARIN
Estate of K. Michael Goodall
-against-
Case No. PR 1100596
Michaan’s Auctions
2751 Todd Street
Alameda CA 94501 and
Hamilton Kipp
Petition under California Probate Code Section 850
to Recover Estate Property
Samuel H. Sloan, being duly sworn, states:
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I am the administrator of the Estate of K. Michael Goodall. This is a proceeding to recover property that was stolen in February, 2011 from the residence of the deceased located at 461 Peachstone Terrace, San Rafael California. This personal property has been found at Michaan’s Auction House located at 1951 Monarch Street in Alameda CA. This is on the old Alameda Naval Base. I do not know exactly how they got the property, as there are conflicting explanations. They say that the property was brought to them by Hamilton Kipp. I do not know who that is. They have refused to return it. As it is clearly property of the estate or of the people living who were living there when Mike Goodall died, I am bringing this proceeding to compel its return.
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On March 1, 2011, when I returned to the house and attempted to enter the house of the Late K. Michael Goodall (“Mike Goodall”) located at 461 Peachstone Terrace, San Rafael CA 94903, I discovered that my key to the house no longer worked.
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I called Roy Hoppe who, as far as I knew, was the only other person with a key to the house and found that his key no longer worked either.
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I thereafter tried all the doors and windows. I discovered that a small window in the back of the house had been left unlocked. I am certain that this window was not previously left unlocked. I crawled in through that window, thereby regaining access to the house. I discovered that the entire house had been emptied of its contents. All of the furniture and fixtures, art work, paintings, etchings, and even personal mail, signed original legal documents, bank statements, personal checkbooks, family photos and photo albums, financial accounting and everything else had been taken. Since nobody else other than myself and Roy Hoppe had a right to be in that house and since we had both resided there since 1998, it was obvious that the house had been a victim of a burglary.
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Later I went down the street to a neighbor who had known Mike Goodall since childhood and asked for his help. He came to the house and helped me remove the locks to the doors. I took the locks to Jackson Hardware in San Rafael and they re-keyed the locks and made new keys for the locks.
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Since then, I have had the only key to the house. However, I have been letting Roy Hoppe in any time he wants. At the moment, we are not living in the house because all of the furniture including beds, tables and chairs had been removed by the burglars. I plan to move back in as soon as I recover adequate furniture for living there.
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After discovering that the house had been burgled, I called 911 to report the burglary. Deputy Anthony Savas of the Marin County Sheriff’s Department responded to the call. Deputy Savas told me that he regularly patrols the neighborhood and a few days earlier he had observed “a Spanish Guy” with a dumpster who was removing the contents of the house. As this had seemed to be a routine case of somebody moving out, he had not stopped to inquire. Deputy Savas took my report of a burglary and also spoke to Roy Hoppe on the telephone about this case.
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It remained a mystery as to what had happened to the contents of the house which is the property of the Estate of K. Michael Goodall until my girlfriend Shanti Onofre (who is the mother of my late daughter Jessica) informed me that she had seen the furniture from Mike Goodall’s at Michaan’s Auction House in Alameda. Shanti Onofre lives in Alameda California near to the old Alameda Naval Base where Michaan’s Auction House is located and she had gone there to attend an auction. Since she had often visited Mike Goodall’s home, she had immediately recognized Mike’s furniture.
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I was doubtful of this but nevertheless on April 21, 2011 I went there to investigate. It is a huge auction house on the former US Naval Base. The building appears to be a former aircraft hanger or dry dock for ships. There is a sign outside saying “Estate Auctions”. The door was open as various customers were viewing the stuff. I entered and before long I saw a box filled with tournament chess sets and roll up tournament chess boards. Since Mike Goodall was the largest chess tournament organizer in Northern California, I immediately realized that this must be his stuff. I took a photograph of it and this photograph is marked Exhibit A.
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There were many other boxes nearby, all bearing the number 5214 and a lot number. Next to the box of chess sets and boards was a box of personal correspondence and papers. At the top of this box was a personal checkbook in the name of Roy H. Hoppe. Below the checkbook was some personal correspondence including a letter from Beth Perry to Mike Goodall. Beth Perry is the maternal aunt of Mike Goodall. I took a picture of that box too. That picture is marked Exhibit B.
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Then I saw a box marked “Goodall Estate 5/25/11”. I learned that this meant that all the boxes from the Goodall Estate were scheduled to be auctioned off on May 25, 2011. I took a picture of that box and that picture is marked Exhibit C.
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At about this time I was noticed by an employee of Michaan’s who asked me why I was taking pictures. He identified himself as “Nick”. I told him that all of these boxes were the property of the Estate of K. Michael Goodall and this material had been removed from Goodall’s house through a burglary. I demanded that all of this property be returned immediately.
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When Alex refused to return the property, I informed him that he was in possession of stolen property and I was going to call the police and have him and all other employees of Michaan’s Auction House arrested for possession of stolen property.
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Nick said he would find out how the Goodall stuff got there. He proceeded to look up some files and informed me that the Goodall stuff had been brought there by Hamilton Kipp who, he said, was the Executor of the Goodall Estate. I informed him that I, Sam Sloan, am the court appointed administrator of the Goodall Estate and I have no idea who Hamilton Kipp is as I have never heard that name before.
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I have since been able to obtain a list of the stuff that Michaan’s Auction House plans to sell at auction. That list is marked Exhibit D. It is at michaans.com/ . It is all clearly the stuff belonging to Mike Goodall or the other people living in the house when he died including myself and Roy Hoppe.
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However, there are a lot of missing items including the most valuable items in the house. There was a lot of art work on the walls, including paintings and etchings. None of this material is on the list, nor was it in Michaan’s Auction House when I was able to get in there. For example, the painting marked Exhibit E is not on the list. It shows an Indian Guru with female Indian supplicants worshiping him. This is a picture I took in Mike Goodall’s house. There was also a bicycle in good working condition in the garage. I suspect that it was stolen by the movers. I suspect that the most valuable works of art have already been sold by Michaan’s Auction House.
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I have repeatedly contacted Deputy Anthony Savas of the Marin County Sheriff’s Department and his supervisor Sargent Snyder demanding that the burglars who stole this property be arrested and prosecuted. He says that he believes that Bank of America is behind this. He says that he has checked with his supervisors and banks unlike normal landlords do not need a court order to go into somebody’s house and steal all their stuff. I have pointed out that Bank of America is not in any way a mortgage holder or owner of this house. The house was originally built in the 1950s by Col. Kenneth F. Goodall, Mike’s father, with his own two hands. He was a retired Colonel in the Air Force, which is the reason why this house is located near Hamilton Air Force Base. As he built the house himself, he never borrowed any money and thus there was never a mortgage on the house. Thus, the Bank of America had no claim, none whatever, to this house, and they certainly have no claim to the contents of the house which includes the personal property of Mike Goodall, myself and Roy Hoppe.
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Accordingly, I am filing this petition to demand the return of ALL the property to the house. As I now have the only key to the house (unless they have broken in again) I will be available to help the movers return the property to the house.
WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that this court order the return of all the property taken from the house of Mike Goodall located at 461 Peachstone Terrace, San Rafael California.
___________________
Samuel H. Sloan
Sworn to before me this 13th
day on May 2011
NOTARY PUBLIC
Exhibit A
Tournament Chess Equipment belonging to Mike Goodall and Roy Hoppe found at Michaan’s Auction House in Alameda, California
Exhibit B
Miscellaneous items including Roy Hoppe’s personal checkbook and a letter from Beth Perry (Mike Goodall’s aunt) to Mike Goodall found at Michaan’s Auction House in Alameda, California
Exhibit C
Mike Goodall property found at Michaan’s Auction House in Alameda, California with label showing that this property is scheduled to be auctioned off on May 25, 2011
Exhibit D
List of Goodall Estate personal property to be sold at auction at Michaan’s Auction House in Alameda, California
Exhibit E
Painting of Indian Guru being worshipped by his female supplicants. This painting was one of many removed from Mike Goodall’s house which has not shown up at the Michaan’s Auction House or anywhere else so far. This picture was taken in Mike Goodall’s house.
Exhibit F
Drivers Licenses showing that Sam Sloan has been a resident of 461 Peachstone Terrace, San Rafael California since 1998.