KR Development Inc.

Karen Roberts ran KR Development Inc., the largest construction firm along the Gulf of Mexico, in Houston. KR's factories were former arms manufacturing sites, although their use became dismantling war machines for use in non-military construction. The company's slogan was "Swords to Plowshares".

While Roberts was working with Michael Witten on North American reconstruction projects, there were rumours circulating that KR was supplying weapons to southern militias along the old Mexican border. KR Development apparently had a history of mistreating its workers. When Roberts obtained a position in the Western European government in 1953, Witten made calls to the KR office in Houston, and did not receive confirmation that she had sold her interests in KR upon taking a government position, which was against the Society's ethics bylaws.

Leena Mäkinen reported to Witten that a man named Daniel Lindström arrested for gun possession had told investigators that he purchased the weapons from Matthew Forsberg, an employee of KR Development who worked in the Gothenberg factory. Lindström was later found dead in his cell.

During a project of Director Witten's to redevelop former government buildings in Washington D.C., the details were leaked and in the delays that followed, an unnamed private company attempted to buy the buildings. The bidders disappeared, and instead Witten was forced to partner with KR Development, which had contracted rights to the project - he accused Sarah Chisholm of signing off on this. Director Witten was reluctant to work with KR because the company did not treat its workers fairly or give them good pay. He also resented that KR was not sharing the full plans of their development plans, and noted the absence of public housing in the plans he had available.

On March 29, Witten was called into a meeting with Roberts and Vishwathi Ramadoss, where it was revealed that the latter was backing the former's plans in Washington, and that they would be using Witten as a scapegoat for their illegal activities. Witten later drafted a letter to Roberts telling her that he would not be going down without a fight.

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A woman named Belle was one of the first to move in to one of KR's Washington developments during the early 60s. They signed up to the work skills programme available through the complex and became a certified aviation mechanic, and became, in one pilot's opinion, the best in the business. They were regarded as an excellent instructor and role model, and stayed with the company up through the 1980s. In the early 1980s, Roberts contacted one of her company's cargo pilots, and took a flight from New Orleans to Houston in the cargo hold rather than wait for a private jet. The pilot expressed his admiration for Roberts and all the company had done for the Society, particularly in the Gulf, Washington, and Chicago, as well as new projects in Toronto.

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### Involvement with the Institute

When Amy Castillo's proposed plan for the Institute failed to get past Witten's office, Castillo partnered with KR Development, which had recently opted out of a contract to build new schools and childhood centres and had Vishwathi Ramadoss on the Advisory Board. On June 21, 1961, Witten read in the business section of the newspaper that KR Development had purchased a 150,000 acre plot of land near Chesapeake Bay, but could not find out explicitly why. He suspected it would be the site of the Institute.

In 1997, a KR representative named Jure claimed that three board members of KR Development had gained congressional seats on the Societal Council. The Institute was also now allegedly under Jure's supervision with funding from KR Development, and it was used to "understand" natural families, purportedly no longer a place of violent medical procedures.

### Working with Cradles

In September of 1954, Witten suspected that Roberts was behind the manufacture of illegal weapons stockpiled in Sundsvall by Brigette's Cradle. The guns were identical to police weapons, and many of the guns used by police were unregistered, implying that KR Development was supplying to both sides of the conflict which resulted in twelve deaths.

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While in Little Rock, Arkansas, the Pilot was scheduled a delivery of crates into the Ouachita Mountains with no recipient address and almost no other information. The shipment was from KR Development to, he believed, the Cradle. While flying Karen Roberts from New Orleans to Houston, he asked Roberts if she might be able to put him in touch with someone who could help him find his wife, who he believed had gone to that Cradle. He did manage to make contact with the Cradle, but shortly after his departure, it was raided by the IID.

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Years after the Sundsvall raid, Brigette's daughter Freya was contacted by a representative from KR Development, Jure. Jure was allegedly given a job at KR Development after completing retraining at the Institute. However, he claimed not to be sympathetic to the Society's ideals and reached out in order to help protect the Hedmark Cradle from raids like the one that destroyed the Halifax Cradle. The Hedmark Cradle, under Sigrid's supervision, was resistant to Jure and KR.

In 1996, the Sunday Island Cradle successfully deterred an IID raid using rifles that were provided and instructed on by KR Development. Jure had also provided them with a boat that had been kept hidden because he warned them ahead of time that they planned to target all known means of escape. He received information on the raid from contacts and warned the Cradle, giving them enough time to be ready and then escape when the first wave fell back.

In 1999, Jure informed Freya of the IID's plan to raid the Hedmark Cradle and sent them a shipment of rifles to stand their ground with, and she reminded them of his training in defenses the previous year. She was assured, presumably by Jure, that the police would not use lethal force, but that if they did, their deaths would make them into martyrs and help the Cradle's cause as a whole. His team also packed supplies for Utrecht, Wiesbaden, and Albertville, which were going to be the next Cradles hit.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Season 3, Reel #2: August 13, 1953
2. ↑ Season 3, Reel #4: February 15, 1954
3. ↑ Season 3, Reel #5: March 2, 1954
4. ↑ Season 3, Reel #7: March 29, 1954
5. ↑ Black Box Cassette #7: MSY to HOU
6. ↑ Season 3, Reel #10: June 21, 1961
7. ↑ Season 4, Cassette #8: Winter 1997-98
8. ↑ Season 3, Reel #9: September 13, 1954
9. ↑ Black Box Cassette #7: MSY to HOU
10. ↑ Black Box Cassette #9: SEA to TIL, TIL to ABQ
11. ↑ Black Box Cassette #10: ABQ to SCL, LIT to ???
12. ↑ Season 4, Cassette #4: Winter 1994-95
13. ↑ Season 4, Cassette #5: Winter 1995
14. ↑ Season 4, Cassette #6: Summer 1996
15. ↑ Season 4, Cassette #10: Autumn 1999