Customers say kidnap suspect raised no red flags

[September 02, 2009]  SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- To those who did business with him, Phillip Garrido was a quirky printing company owner who produced business cards, brochures and flyers for people in his town. His main source of help was a young soft-spoken woman he introduced as his daughter.

Former clients of Garrido are now horrified that the woman was actually Jaycee Lee Dugard, allegedly held captive in a ramshackle backyard compound for years by Garrido. They are also stunned to think that they had allowed a convicted sex offender into their businesses and, in at least one case, their home.

"I can think of numerous occasions he had been in the house with my kids while he delivered cards," said Ben Daughdrill of Oakley, who ran a hauling business and was Garrido's customer for six years. "Looking back now, it just disgusts me."

His business was called Printing for Less, and he built his clientele by word of mouth, mostly thanks to his low rates. His labor costs may have been minimal, since his main worker appears to have been Dugard.

Customers who worked with Dugard said she was professional and competent. Her demeanor gave no one reason to believe she was being abused or in any kind of danger. They say she did not venture much conversation, let alone reach out for help.

The family appeared to dress in second-hand clothes, sometimes ill-fitting, which gave the impression they were poor, Daughdrill said. Garrido often talked of money problems, he said, and once drove to Daughdrill's house in a "ratty car" that he said matched the description of the car used in Dugard's 1991 kidnapping.

In recent years, customers said Garrido had become more vocal about his religious beliefs, which centered on his claim that God was speaking to him directly.

"I heard him talking about God, but he wasn't talking about the God I knew," said Andy Dryer, who owns A&S Transmission in Antioch.

Dryer worked on Garrido's car a handful of times over last four years and bought business cards from him for about two years. From Dryer's shop, about two blocks from Garrido's house, he can see the trees that shrouded the backyard compound where authorities say Garrido kept Dugard captive.

Dryer said Garrido asked him and his wife to attend a church service at his house, but they did not go.

"It was like he was doing his own cult or something," Dryer said.

Customers across the suburbs and small towns of eastern Contra Costa County were jolted when Garrido and his wife Nancy were arrested last Thursday and charged with snatching Dugard, now 29, from a South Lake Tahoe bus stop 18 years ago. The couple pleaded not guilty Friday.

Before he was arrested, Garrido was hard at work to make his beliefs more widely known. His visit to the University of California, Berkeley's campus last week to hand out religious leaflets drew the attention of campus police, which ultimately led to the meeting with a parole officer where Dugard's identity was revealed.

On a blog Garrido apparently maintained for the past two years, he details his purported ability to channel divine messages to others using only his mind.

"The Creator has given me the ability to speak in the tongue of angels in order to provide a wake-up call that will in time include the salvation of the entire world," Garrido wrote in a post dated Aug. 14.

The blog includes blurry scans of documents he claims were signed by customers who saw him demonstrate his mental abilities and who would vouch for his sanity. He includes scans of the business cards belonging to the individuals who supposedly heard him "speak."

Tim Allen, one of Garrido's customers whose card was on the blog, said his signature was forged. Allen, president of East County Glass and Window Inc. in Pittsburg, said Garrido came into his showroom once with a box through which he claimed God spoke to him. Allen said Garrido opened the box and asked, "Can you hear it?" The only voice speaking was Garrido's, he said.

"I felt sorry for the guy. He was just kind of a weird dude, and I just kind of felt bad for him," Allen said.

Customers said Garrido's behavior struck them as strange but not threatening. They continued to use his services because his prices were low, and because they found they could deal easily with "Allissa," who seemed normal.

When Garrido delivered printed materials or picked up checks, he would often arrive with two younger girls, whom he would introduce as his daughters. They would stay close to their father and said little, customers say.

Daughdrill said there was nothing in Garrido's behavior that made him suspect he was a convicted sex offender who had kidnapped and raped a Reno casino worker in the 1970s -- let alone someone who allegedly would keep an 11-year-old kidnapping victim imprisoned for years.

"Nothing raised a red flag for me," Daughdrill said.

[Associated Press; By MARCUS WOHLSEN]

Associated Press writer Lisa Leff in Berkeley and AP Radio reporter Craig Smith contributed to this report.

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