IN LOVING MEMORY OF Harold L. Martin
After 10 years in prison, Son writes his Father a memoriam
GLADWIN COUNTY - On March 4, 2010, Harold N. Martin was arrested for the suspected murder of his father, Harold L. Martin. The murder had occurred in Billings Township in Gladwin County on Feb. 28, 2010.
Harold "Nick" Martin later pled guilty but mentally ill in the murder of his father. Martin was sentenced for 25 to 50 years in prison for second-degree homicide by the Gladwin County Circuit Court on Sept. 12, 2011. He was credited with 557 days already having been served for the time between his arraignment and his sentencing.
Harold L. Martin's obituary ran in the March 3, 2010 edition of the Gladwin County Record. In the obituary, it reads that he was born on July 27, 1948 in Midland. He was a Veteran of the United States Army, serving in the Vietnam Era. He was employed as a welder and pipefitter and retired from Boilermakers Local #169, Dearborn and was also a member of Pipefitters Local #85. He had lived in Gladwin County his entire life and was a member of F.O.E. Albright Shores Aerie #3655, holding the office of Trustee in 2006.
On February 25, the Gladwin County Record received a letter from the Richard A.Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia. The letter was from Harold N. Martin and contained an introductory letter, as well as a memoriam.
In the introductory letter, Martin explained that in honor and respect for his father, he wrote a memoriam that he wished to be published in the newspaper. The memoriam he wrote is as follows:
In Memoriam
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Harold L. Martin
July 27, 1948 -- February 28, 2010
It's been ten years since my father' s homicide. I want to reminisce on some of his life as well as what he truly meant to me.
In 1988 when I was eight years old, my aunt rushed to pick me up while I was attending baseball practice; my dad had been in an automobile wreck. After work he stopped to weld his friends' transmission and had a drink of alcohol. On his route home he had a diabetic insulin reaction, resulting in the crash. Tragically, a boy my age died. Dad wasn't legally drunk, but there is a zero tolerance when a casualty occurs. After a dirty judicial process, a one year plea bargain work release agreement, from the mitigating circumstance was withdrawn at the sentencing hearing. I lost my dad that day to a 5-15 year prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter.
I visited him in prison, we talked over the phone and corresponded regularly. I longed for my mentor and friend. He taught me about the outdoors, fishing, trapping, archery, and baseball from the age four. We often hunted together on opening day of both archery and rifle seasons.
Dad won his appeal from being involuntarily intoxicated and returned home one year early in 1992. Shortly after his return to work, we bought a home that he asked me to pick out. Years later (2005), the design plans we talked over became a reality and together we renovated it to its pristine condition. Soon after, dad returned to the professions of Boilermaking and Pipefitting trade unions. I returned to playing sports in school, and spending quality time hunting and fishing with him. Dad was part of my first archery and rifle deer harvests at age 12 and 14. Together we raised and trained beagles for rabbit hunters to purchase; and looked forward to chasing spring run steelhead in northern Michigan's rivers.
One day dad took me on a grand tour of the Midland Cogeneration Venture power plant; a 7,800 megawatt facility with 12 boilers. For the next four years, all we talked about was my interest in pursuing a career as a Boilermaker. His preference was that I attend college. However, I chose to study this field of work while I patiently waited until I was old enough to join the Boilermaker Union. Finally, after years of studying the trade and waiting until I was old enough, I became a third generation member in 2000.
GLADWIN COUNTY - On March 4, 2010, Harold N. Martin was arrested for the suspected murder of his father, Harold L. Martin. The murder had occurred in Billings Township in Gladwin County on Feb. 28, 2010.
Harold "Nick" Martin later pled guilty but mentally ill in the murder of his father. Martin was sentenced for 25 to 50 years in prison for second-degree homicide by the Gladwin County Circuit Court on Sept. 12, 2011. He was credited with 557 days already having been served for the time between his arraignment and his sentencing.
Harold L. Martin's obituary ran in the March 3, 2010 edition of the Gladwin County Record. In the obituary, it reads that he was born on July 27, 1948 in Midland. He was a Veteran of the United States Army, serving in the Vietnam Era. He was employed as a welder and pipefitter and retired from Boilermakers Local #169, Dearborn and was also a member of Pipefitters Local #85. He had lived in Gladwin County his entire life and was a member of F.O.E. Albright Shores Aerie #3655, holding the office of Trustee in 2006.
On February 25, the Gladwin County Record received a letter from the Richard A.Handlon Correctional Facility in Ionia. The letter was from Harold N. Martin and contained an introductory letter, as well as a memoriam.
In the introductory letter, Martin explained that in honor and respect for his father, he wrote a memoriam that he wished to be published in the newspaper. The memoriam he wrote is as follows:
In Memoriam
IN LOVING MEMORY OF
Harold L. Martin
July 27, 1948 -- February 28, 2010
It's been ten years since my father' s homicide. I want to reminisce on some of his life as well as what he truly meant to me.
In 1988 when I was eight years old, my aunt rushed to pick me up while I was attending baseball practice; my dad had been in an automobile wreck. After work he stopped to weld his friends' transmission and had a drink of alcohol. On his route home he had a diabetic insulin reaction, resulting in the crash. Tragically, a boy my age died. Dad wasn't legally drunk, but there is a zero tolerance when a casualty occurs. After a dirty judicial process, a one year plea bargain work release agreement, from the mitigating circumstance was withdrawn at the sentencing hearing. I lost my dad that day to a 5-15 year prison sentence for vehicular manslaughter.
I visited him in prison, we talked over the phone and corresponded regularly. I longed for my mentor and friend. He taught me about the outdoors, fishing, trapping, archery, and baseball from the age four. We often hunted together on opening day of both archery and rifle seasons.
Dad won his appeal from being involuntarily intoxicated and returned home one year early in 1992. Shortly after his return to work, we bought a home that he asked me to pick out. Years later (2005), the design plans we talked over became a reality and together we renovated it to its pristine condition. Soon after, dad returned to the professions of Boilermaking and Pipefitting trade unions. I returned to playing sports in school, and spending quality time hunting and fishing with him. Dad was part of my first archery and rifle deer harvests at age 12 and 14. Together we raised and trained beagles for rabbit hunters to purchase; and looked forward to chasing spring run steelhead in northern Michigan's rivers.
One day dad took me on a grand tour of the Midland Cogeneration Venture power plant; a 7,800 megawatt facility with 12 boilers. For the next four years, all we talked about was my interest in pursuing a career as a Boilermaker. His preference was that I attend college. However, I chose to study this field of work while I patiently waited until I was old enough to join the Boilermaker Union. Finally, after years of studying the trade and waiting until I was old enough, I became a third generation member in 2000.
At age 18, I worked my first union jobs with dad. I started first as a laborer and after a few months of hard work, I embarked on my journey of becoming a boilermaker. Two years later I began a career in the boilermakers. Dad and I constructed two new natural gas power plants. We worked on an abundance of projects for a few years until he retired; he taught me a ton about our craft. During this time, I had three children whom my father came to love and enjoy.
NOTICE: This next paragraph was revised by its original author on May 16, 2020.
[ I worked hard to keep the family name, first established by my grandfather. Dad was noted as the best welder in Michigan. Evidently I worked too hard; I held more certifications than any other member of Local #169 and had a near zero failure rate of radiographic welds. I took it seriously, as Dad taught me to do in everything. I thought of my dad as the "Michael Jordan" of welding. After seven years I took a leave from boilermaker work, I joined pipefitter's local #85 apprenticeship in 2007; hiring on as a welder, and within 60 days of shop fabrication I displayed mental illness with schizoaffective traits, my symptoms increased until I went through extreme delusions. When diagnosed mentally ill, my occupational exposure was not considered. One morning, my father was killed and I grudgingly admit that I am guilty for this tragic event. Unfortunately, during the judicial proceedings the court did not explore my occupation as being a result of my actions, and I have recently discovered evidence that supports I was misdiagnosed. I now have irrefutable proof, that I suffered from "manganese madness," a condition caused by welding fume. Essentially, I was poisoned by both my occupation and the medications that continued ailing me. In short, I was discontinued from all medications in 2016, as they caused adverse effects.Today, I seek the public's support to correct this injustice, either by petitioning the governor to commute my sentence, or to help me attain an attorney to file a motion in the court for newly discovered evidence. ] [End of revision, by: H.N.M.]
Extreme grief haunts me daily. I'm in prison for killing my best friend. Somehow I've forgiven myself, I was out of touch with reality when this occured. This new evidence is very similar to my dad's case when I was a child. A friend last year started a blog campaign to circulate this story. Visit: https://haroldnmartin.blogspot.com/.
My dad was an outstanding man. He never intentionally harmed me, or anyone else. Unfortunately, some facts take years to surface, as I did not understand my mental illness for nine years. Much more can be said of my dad and I fully intend to write a book in order to capture these wonderful memories of my father.
Dad you were the kindest, most patient, humble, dearest father a child could ever have. I'm so, so sorry. Your ways have become my ways. And I'm now attending a university, as I seek to live in a way to make you proud. Thank you for being my father.
Sincerely Your Son,
Harold N. Martin
Martin continued the memoriam letter with a description of "manganese madness," a condition that he previously claimed is caused by welding fumes.
The behavior, known as "manganese madness" (Mena 1979) includes nervousness, irritability, agression, and destructiveness, with bizarre compulsive acts such as uncontrollable spasmodic laughter or crying, impulses to sing or dance, or aimless running (Emara et.al. 1971, Mena et.al. 1967; Rodier 1955; Schuler et.al 1957). Patients are aware of their irregular actions, but appear incapable of controlling behavior.
Behavioral and cognitive disturbances secondary to manganese toxicity include reduced concentration, emotional liability, and psychotic symptoms (e.g. visual and auditory hallucinations, flight of ideas) "Manganese madness" was described in mining villages of northern Chili. Behavioral manifestations tend to precede the akinetic-rigid manifestations of manganese toxicity.
Prolonged exposure to manganese may lead to manganese poisoning, a condition known as manganism. You should be concerned about this disease if you are a welder because you may have been exposed to high levels of manganese through welding rod fumes, which contain various toxic metals. (See Manganese in Welding Fumes).
Manganism looks similar to Parkinson's disease. Patients with either disease exhibit a fixed gaze, tremors, body rigidness, and slowed movement (bradykinesia). Welders exposed to manganese are more likely to develop Parkinson's disease than the rest of the population, especially at an early age.
Clinical Stages of
Manganese Poisoning:
Doctors recognize three stages of manganism or manganese poisoning (Int J Occup Environ Health. 2003 Apr-Jun; 9(2): 153-63). In the first stage, patients are exhausted, apathetic, and weak, and may get headaches. The patient's problems may easily be confused with depression and other illnesses. Some researchers believe that this early stage is reversible. If you are a welder who has been experiencing these early symptoms, you should remove yourself from the source of manganese exposure.
The second stage involves short-term memory loss, impaired judgement, slurred speech, and sometimes even hallucinations. "Manganese madness" was the term used to describe the compulsive, strange behavior of workers in the manganese mines (J Toxicol Clin Toxicol. 1999; 37(2): 293-307
The Gladwin County Record
would like to thank the
Martin family for their
understanding and support
in formulating this article."
Source: Memoriam is the entire page of section D-5, March 25, 2020 Gladwin County Record & Beaverton Clarion. You can find it at www.gladwinmi.com
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