Gettysburg man now says he's not running for U.S. House seat

[Freddie Stubbs]

ABERDEEN, S.D. - A Gettysburg man who signed "Phantom Molester" at the bottom of letters to former Gov. Bill Janklow now says he's not running for the U.S. House seat that Janklow vacated.

Merlyn Schutterle, 62, had been running as an independent. In March, he had said he was gathering petition signatures to make it on the general election ballot.

Schutterle wrote letters signed "Phantom Molester" to Janklow in 1996 when he first started complaining that authorities had unfairly accused him of being a child molester. Janklow then ordered the South Dakota Highway Patrol to keep Schutterle under 24-hour surveillance.

Schutterle later was taken to the state mental hospital in Yankton but was released after a psychiatric evaluation determined he was no danger to himself or others.

more: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/politics/8632801.htm