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True Murder with 53 00:02:33.919 --> 00:02:48.800 your host journalist and author Dan Zufanski, Good Evening. 54 00:02:49.879 --> 00:02:53.960 Everyone felt the same way. Small town Nebraska widow Helen 55 00:02:54.000 --> 00:02:58.639 Wilson didn't have an ounce of meanness inside her body. Then, 56 00:02:58.719 --> 00:03:02.439 on February fifth, nineteen eighty five, on one of the 57 00:03:02.560 --> 00:03:07.680 coldest nights on record, the unthinkable happened. The sixty eight 58 00:03:07.759 --> 00:03:11.120 year old resident was murdered inside her second floor apartment. 59 00:03:11.879 --> 00:03:16.680 But why. Local residents were floored. What type of monster 60 00:03:16.759 --> 00:03:20.919 would target a vulnerable widow to fulfill his homicidal sexual fantasies. 61 00:03:21.800 --> 00:03:26.520 The crime scene was eerily ritualistic. The trail of evidence 62 00:03:27.080 --> 00:03:31.719 turned frustratingly cold, until an astonishing breakthrough occurred four years later. 63 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:35.319 A torn scrap of money recovered at the crime scene 64 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:39.360 became the presumed smoking gun that helped solve the hideous crime. 65 00:03:40.599 --> 00:03:43.919 The news of six arrests was absolutely stunning to the 66 00:03:43.960 --> 00:03:47.000 locals in this easy going, blue collar community of twelve 67 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:52.840 thousand residents. But why were six loosely connected misfits who 68 00:03:52.879 --> 00:03:56.800 lived as far away as Alabama, Colorado, and North Carolina, 69 00:03:57.280 --> 00:03:59.639 being linked to the rape and murder of a beloved 70 00:03:59.680 --> 00:04:03.919 Nebrascal widow. As they sat in jail, the constant threatn 71 00:04:03.960 --> 00:04:08.039 of Nebraska's barbaric electric chair scared the daylights out of 72 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:12.360 these troubled souls. Except for one of them, Joseph White, 73 00:04:12.400 --> 00:04:16.600 remained defiant in his fight to prove his innocence. It 74 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:19.639 didn't matter. All six of the condemned were convicted of 75 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:22.720 murder and sent away to prison for the ghastly crime. 76 00:04:23.800 --> 00:04:27.600 The town moved on, convinced that justice was served. For 77 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:30.800 more than twenty five years, the Beatrice six rotted in 78 00:04:30.800 --> 00:04:35.120 prison until the unthinkable occurred in two thousand and eight. Now, 79 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:39.199 the Red state in America's heartland faced a real quandary 80 00:04:39.480 --> 00:04:43.560 that could only mean one thing. Nebraska had a colossal 81 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:47.720 failure of justice on its hands. The book that were 82 00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:52.120 featuring this evening is Failure of Justice, A brutal murder, 83 00:04:52.439 --> 00:04:57.199 an obsessed cop, and six Wrongful Convictions, with my special guest, 84 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:01.160 journalist and author John Ferrick. Welcome back to the program, 85 00:05:01.160 --> 00:05:05.560 and thank you for a green to this interview. John Ferrick, thanks. 86 00:05:05.439 --> 00:05:07.120 So for the opportunity to be back on the show. 87 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.600 Dan, thank you very much. 88 00:05:09.680 --> 00:05:10.120 This is. 89 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:14.639 An incredible tale. I know I always say that, and 90 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:16.879 I use that word, I overuse that word, but this 91 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:23.920 is a wild tale. Anyway, John, congratulations on this. We're 92 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.319 just gonna jump right into this because we've read a 93 00:05:27.319 --> 00:05:32.759 lot to cover and it's a fantastic, surprising, shocking, and 94 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:36.480 an amazing story all the way around. Let's start with 95 00:05:37.560 --> 00:05:41.000 introducing the audience to where this takes place, and that 96 00:05:41.240 --> 00:05:50.240 is in southeastern Nebraska. In as we mentioned, Beatrice, Nebraska, 97 00:05:50.279 --> 00:05:54.040 population twelve thousand. Tell us a little bit about what 98 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:59.519 it's known for a little bit about Beatrice, Kansas, population 99 00:05:59.639 --> 00:06:02.639 twelve thousand, where it's located. Tell us a little bit about. 100 00:06:02.399 --> 00:06:06.120 It, sure, Dan, And just this is one of those 101 00:06:06.160 --> 00:06:09.480 weird quirks I'll just point out only if you spent 102 00:06:09.600 --> 00:06:12.160 time or lived in Nebraska, and I lived out there 103 00:06:12.199 --> 00:06:15.920 for nine years. A handful of these communities have a 104 00:06:16.920 --> 00:06:21.160 funny sounding names. So the town has actually pronounced Beatrice. 105 00:06:22.279 --> 00:06:25.839 I would have thought that it was Beatrice. There's also 106 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:28.879 another town that you would think it is Louisville, but 107 00:06:28.920 --> 00:06:32.560 it's really Lewisville. So it has these little oddities about it. 108 00:06:32.600 --> 00:06:36.879 But Beatrice, Nebraska, is a community. It's been about twelve 109 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.680 thousand people for about the last fifty to sixty years. 110 00:06:40.839 --> 00:06:44.759 Population has remained stagnant, hasn't gone up or down at all. 111 00:06:45.920 --> 00:06:53.560 It's a Christian community. It's considered a suburb of Lincoln, 112 00:06:54.519 --> 00:07:00.120 but to its own degree, it also has its own identity. 113 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:04.879 It's probably best known in Nebraska for being a state 114 00:07:05.120 --> 00:07:08.839 development home. It's uh it's been a state uh state 115 00:07:08.920 --> 00:07:16.319 facility for persons with severe and profound mental retardation mental illness, 116 00:07:16.519 --> 00:07:21.600 uh going back one hundred years and uh. And on 117 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:26.879 the flip side, it has some strong industry manufacturing. It's 118 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:30.360 really well known, really proud of the fact that it's 119 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:34.439 known for for uh uh for its role in the 120 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:37.600 lawnmower industry. It makes UH. There's a there's two or 121 00:07:37.600 --> 00:07:40.199 three big companies that have been around for a while 122 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.160 that that make a lawn more equipment and law a 123 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.639 lot more parts. So so it has it's a it's 124 00:07:46.680 --> 00:07:51.160 a robost community for a smaller community in Nebraska, whereas 125 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:55.680 a lot of smaller towns in Nebraska outside of Lincoln 126 00:07:56.079 --> 00:07:59.800 and outside of Omaha have struggled the last thirty or 127 00:07:59.800 --> 00:08:03.959 four years as jobs to move toward the big two 128 00:08:04.079 --> 00:08:07.480 cities in Nebraska. But Beatrice has still been able to 129 00:08:07.519 --> 00:08:11.639 hang on to itself and still retain that small town 130 00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:17.240 charm and identity, and for the most part, it's been 131 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:21.480 a pretty safe community to raise a family and also 132 00:08:21.519 --> 00:08:25.240 a safe place to retire if you're a senior citizen 133 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:25.839 as well. 134 00:08:25.920 --> 00:08:30.519 Dan okay now, and thank you for correcting me on 135 00:08:30.560 --> 00:08:34.039 the pronunciation, and Beatrice, and so take us as you 136 00:08:34.120 --> 00:08:37.080 do in the book to nineteen eighty three and a 137 00:08:37.120 --> 00:08:43.759 string of very strange home invasions perpetrated against elderly women. 138 00:08:44.240 --> 00:08:48.279 Tell us about what happens in nineteen eighty three in Beatrice. 139 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:54.080 The summer of eighty three was a terrifying time for 140 00:08:54.200 --> 00:08:58.200 this community. And again just for our listeners, this is 141 00:08:58.240 --> 00:09:01.639 the time before the internet, so really the only way 142 00:09:02.480 --> 00:09:04.879 you know, for news to get out in a small 143 00:09:04.919 --> 00:09:09.360 community like that was usually through the local newspaper, you know, 144 00:09:09.480 --> 00:09:13.840 or word of mouth. And during the summer of nineteen 145 00:09:13.879 --> 00:09:17.799 eighty three, there was a string of the late night 146 00:09:17.919 --> 00:09:26.799 home invasions, and these home invasions all involved attacks on 147 00:09:27.000 --> 00:09:31.759 elderly widows. These were women, they were all in their 148 00:09:31.799 --> 00:09:36.600 seventies in their eighties, that lived alone. And these attacks 149 00:09:36.639 --> 00:09:41.279 typically happened between ten or eleven at night and as 150 00:09:41.320 --> 00:09:43.519 early as I believe one or two in the morning. 151 00:09:44.960 --> 00:09:49.399 These were and these were these were scary events. All 152 00:09:49.440 --> 00:09:53.759 all these situations, either the women were asleep or they 153 00:09:53.759 --> 00:09:56.039 were in their room watcher in their living room, I 154 00:09:56.039 --> 00:10:00.360 should say, watching television and love and behold, all of 155 00:10:00.399 --> 00:10:03.840 a sudden, out of nowhere, a young man who was 156 00:10:03.879 --> 00:10:09.320 around in his early twenties was standing on top of them, 157 00:10:09.600 --> 00:10:13.200 trying to trying to attack and rape these women. And 158 00:10:15.240 --> 00:10:19.080 in all these situations, the women were brave and they 159 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:22.200 fought back, and that seemed to do the trick as 160 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:25.320 far as scaring this individual off. He seemed to be 161 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:29.759 afraid of these women that would fight back. He figured 162 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:31.879 he would get his way with them if they would, 163 00:10:32.799 --> 00:10:35.840 a coward to his advances. But to their credit, they 164 00:10:35.879 --> 00:10:38.759 all they all fought back or screamed or yelled, and 165 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:41.799 that just scared him and he uh and he ran 166 00:10:41.879 --> 00:10:45.000 off and uh and uh. The police, to their credit, 167 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.519 were tried really hard to get the word out, you know, 168 00:10:47.600 --> 00:10:50.879 let people know about this. These attacks figure out who 169 00:10:50.919 --> 00:10:53.240 the perpetrator was, but nobody really got a good look 170 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:58.200 at him, and so there was just vague general descriptions 171 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:02.200 of a young man that looked to be around age 172 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:10.320 twenty or so, early twenties, very thin and yeah, not 173 00:11:10.399 --> 00:11:15.200 of a muscular build. But beyond that, there really wasn't 174 00:11:15.279 --> 00:11:19.480 much for the police and Beatrice to go on. And 175 00:11:19.639 --> 00:11:22.679 what really became odd then is that as the police 176 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:27.279 were preparing, you know, for this individual's next attack, trying 177 00:11:27.279 --> 00:11:29.960 to figure out where they might strike again in this community, 178 00:11:31.000 --> 00:11:33.759 all of a sudden, the attacks stopped. So there have 179 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:40.000 been three or four attacks in about a very short radius. 180 00:11:40.039 --> 00:11:42.519 I believe it's mentioned in the book, but I think 181 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:44.519 somebody had a police officer to point out that if 182 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.120 you drew a circle around the whole area, we're only 183 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:50.080 talking to four or five block you know radius as 184 00:11:50.080 --> 00:11:53.759 far as where all these attacks occurred. But bottom line is, 185 00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:56.679 these attacks stopped after the summer of nineteen eighty three, 186 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:02.039 fall comes, winter comes, nineteen eighty four comes and goes, 187 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:08.799 and nothing ever happened again. And for the most part, 188 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:13.240 the community forgot, you know, forgot about this perpetrator, this deviant, 189 00:12:13.720 --> 00:12:17.159 you know that that was preying upon elderly women by 190 00:12:17.200 --> 00:12:20.200 the time nineteen eighty five rolls around. Anne. 191 00:12:23.240 --> 00:12:27.679 Now, let's introduce the victim of this story, Helen Wilson. 192 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:30.279 She's about five foot tall, and she's almost sixty nine 193 00:12:30.320 --> 00:12:33.679 years older. She's going to celebrate a birthday soon. And 194 00:12:33.720 --> 00:12:37.120 she's a very small, slight woman, longtime widow. Her husband 195 00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:40.480 had died quite a while ago in the close knit family. 196 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:44.639 So tell us about her sister Florence and her son Darryl, 197 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:47.960 and what Helen was like and what her life was like, 198 00:12:48.440 --> 00:12:51.559 and where Florence lived. Just tell us about that whole 199 00:12:51.600 --> 00:12:56.279 situation and what they were doing on February fifth that 200 00:12:56.399 --> 00:12:58.000 evening as a family. 201 00:12:59.600 --> 00:13:03.080 Yeah, correct, So Helen had Helen had been a widow 202 00:13:03.159 --> 00:13:06.960 for for many years. Her husband died unexpectedly. He had 203 00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.399 a heart attack in his early fifties. His name was 204 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:13.919 Raymond and and Helen and Raymond had had three children 205 00:13:14.679 --> 00:13:20.360 and two sons and a daughter. And Uh and her 206 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:25.879 daughter and one of her sons lived in Beatrice nearby 207 00:13:25.919 --> 00:13:32.799 her and Helen was Uh was a very likable figure. 208 00:13:33.240 --> 00:13:37.279 Really cared about her family deeply, especially her grandchildren and 209 00:13:37.519 --> 00:13:41.440 great grandchildren. Really loved the babysit children, and she also 210 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:45.639 helped out at the Methodist Church in in Beatrice on 211 00:13:45.799 --> 00:13:50.000 Sunday mornings, she would help babysit children in the nursery 212 00:13:50.480 --> 00:13:54.799 and and she was also she also liked to go 213 00:13:54.919 --> 00:13:59.000 on bus trips uh and UH, and she would join 214 00:13:59.080 --> 00:14:03.240 these groups the AARP and I go on bus tours. 215 00:14:03.279 --> 00:14:07.960 And people really took a liking to Helen because she 216 00:14:09.919 --> 00:14:12.840 was very affectionate, very friendly, and outgoing. And she also 217 00:14:13.039 --> 00:14:16.080 liked to take a lot of pictures, so people would 218 00:14:16.080 --> 00:14:19.159 actually kind of joke and refer to her as little 219 00:14:19.399 --> 00:14:24.120 little miss Sunshine. And she also loved to take a 220 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.240 lot of pictures of her own family members. And one 221 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:32.559 of her famous sayings was look natural now when she 222 00:14:32.559 --> 00:14:36.039 would take a picture of somebody. So she just had 223 00:14:36.039 --> 00:14:38.840 the special persona and everybody liked her and loved her. 224 00:14:39.799 --> 00:14:45.679 And she lived in February of nineteen eighty five. She 225 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.559 had lived for the last several years in a three 226 00:14:48.639 --> 00:14:55.080 story apartment building that used to be an old telephone 227 00:14:55.559 --> 00:15:00.240 company building. It's a three story sturdy brick buil bilding 228 00:15:00.759 --> 00:15:03.720 right at the edge of the downtown, so you just 229 00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.639 walk a block or two and you're you know, you're 230 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:07.840 right in the middle of the heart of the business 231 00:15:07.840 --> 00:15:11.840 district in town. And and right next door to her 232 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:17.679 lived her sister, Florence and Florence Florence's husband Ivan, who 233 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:20.919 everybody in the family referred to as Read. So that 234 00:15:21.039 --> 00:15:25.360 was really nice just having Florence and Read right next 235 00:15:25.399 --> 00:15:30.200 door to her. Helen didn't drive, so so she was 236 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:33.960 able to lean on her family members to help her 237 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:37.559 out and and and she was also able to just 238 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:41.320 enjoy meals together too, having her sister right next door 239 00:15:41.960 --> 00:15:44.559 and her brother in law as well, so it has 240 00:15:44.559 --> 00:15:48.320 a very close knit family. And again this apartment building 241 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:54.000 was only had about ten total units in it. About 242 00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:58.440 half the people were senior citizens elderly, and there was 243 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:05.000 also a few uh, twenty somethings, single women or women 244 00:16:05.080 --> 00:16:09.000 that lived with other friends that were, you know, just 245 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:14.080 right out of college or just entering the workforce. If 246 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:17.559 that helps kind of paint a picture as far as 247 00:16:17.000 --> 00:16:20.399 what Helen's life was like in Beatrice at that time. 248 00:16:22.879 --> 00:16:27.399 Now, the Daryl and his wife Katie, and Helen. Helen 249 00:16:27.440 --> 00:16:30.519 had a cold, maybe for a couple of days when 250 00:16:30.600 --> 00:16:33.360 she had gone out, but other than that her health 251 00:16:33.480 --> 00:16:37.720 was fine. But she was in in her home, in 252 00:16:37.720 --> 00:16:41.399 her apartment, and Florence was next from next door and 253 00:16:41.960 --> 00:16:45.200 read were over at Helen's and they were having again 254 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:47.559 what you described as she's a close knit family. They 255 00:16:47.600 --> 00:16:51.159 were having just again get together for an excuse to 256 00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:54.960 get together and have a meal. And they departed earlier 257 00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.720 in the evening. So tell us just a little bit 258 00:16:59.759 --> 00:17:04.480 about that last the last thing that these people remember, 259 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:09.720 and in what state was Helen in just before they. 260 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:15.039 Left, So we're talking this is a I believe it 261 00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:19.279 was a Tuesday night, and and what's important about that too, 262 00:17:20.119 --> 00:17:24.880 was a Tuesday night was also when Helen's daughter in law, 263 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:29.839 Katie would would would have her bowling, her weekly bowling night. 264 00:17:29.960 --> 00:17:32.440 So uh, so Katie was out bowling earlier in the 265 00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:37.640 evening and Helen's son, her local son, Darryl, stopped by 266 00:17:37.759 --> 00:17:40.599 and uh and just you know, came over. See Mom, 267 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:44.000 cracked open a couple of beers. They sat in the 268 00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:50.160 living room. Helen's apartment was a small, small, small unit. 269 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:52.920 It was I believe four rooms. It had an open 270 00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:57.400 living room, a very very tiny kitchen, a very small 271 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:01.119 bedroom and in a bathroom. And that's really about it. 272 00:18:01.200 --> 00:18:04.200 But anyway, they spent some time together just sitting around, 273 00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:09.480 and Katie had stepped by, I believe sometime around nine 274 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:13.440 o'clock or shortly thereafter after she finished her bowling that night, 275 00:18:14.599 --> 00:18:18.720 and I remember it was sometime shortly before the ten 276 00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:23.920 o'clock news came on, is when Darryl and Katie both left. 277 00:18:24.920 --> 00:18:29.799 And what's really important too about that particular night was 278 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:32.319 that it was one of the coldest nights on record 279 00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:37.200 in southeastern Nebraska. It was very, very cold, howling winds 280 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.920 temperature eventually that night is going to dip to about 281 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:46.240 seven six or seven degrees below zero factor in windchill. 282 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:49.359 It's even colder than that. But that's a key point 283 00:18:49.440 --> 00:18:52.680 because there's not going to be that many people out 284 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:58.759 and about walking around Beatrice, Nebraska. On February fifth, slash 285 00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:03.640 February sixth, nineteen eighty five, Katie and Darryl leave around 286 00:19:03.680 --> 00:19:10.480 ten o'clock PM. Helen possibly stays up, remains awake for 287 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:13.759 a little longer, eventually goes to bed. And she had 288 00:19:13.799 --> 00:19:17.519 been battling she didn't know it at the time, she 289 00:19:17.680 --> 00:19:20.039 was battling pneumonia. She just saw she had a bad 290 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:23.240 nagging cough that she had picked up while she was 291 00:19:23.279 --> 00:19:27.160 out in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, which is about four hundred and 292 00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:30.559 fifty miles west. She had been out there just a 293 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:35.480 couple of weeks earlier to visit one of her other children, Larry, 294 00:19:35.519 --> 00:19:38.359 and Larry's family out there, and it was while she 295 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:41.880 was out there that she picked up this cold, this 296 00:19:42.000 --> 00:19:48.200 nagging cough, and didn't realize the severity of this cold. 297 00:19:48.400 --> 00:19:55.240 And again she goes to bed sometime late on February 298 00:19:55.319 --> 00:19:58.680 fifth of nineteen eighty five. 299 00:20:00.039 --> 00:20:03.359 Nicky Land Slots, you can get lucky just about anywhere. 300 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:06.960 This is your captain speaking. 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No, we're just necessarily we're gett my law 318 00:20:58.000 --> 00:20:59.160 eighteen plus terms and conditioned to play. 319 00:20:59.160 --> 00:20:59.920 So what's every details? 320 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:05.880 Now, what's happened is, as you're writing a book, there's 321 00:21:06.559 --> 00:21:09.440 a power shortage in the middle of the coldest night 322 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:15.440 on record, and at six am, as later reported, there's 323 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:18.599 a drifter or at least an unknown resident at the 324 00:21:18.720 --> 00:21:25.240 gas and shop. Corner store bought some potato chips, and 325 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:29.480 the clerk just later recalled, all I think he had 326 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:33.279 some blood on him, but didn't really remember anything about him. Now, 327 00:21:34.799 --> 00:21:37.279 Florence lives right next door. Her sister lives right next door, 328 00:21:37.400 --> 00:21:42.759 so nine am she wants to check on her sister. 329 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:45.920 So tell us what happens in the morning with Florence 330 00:21:46.200 --> 00:21:49.240 and how things go that morning. 331 00:21:51.319 --> 00:21:55.279 So we're on It's Wednesday now and February sixth, still 332 00:21:55.720 --> 00:22:01.160 really cold outside, Florence goes next door, Yeah, just to 333 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:04.240 figure out where you know, Helen had a bad check 334 00:22:04.279 --> 00:22:06.759 on her, just knowing that she had been very sick 335 00:22:07.400 --> 00:22:10.119 the last couple of days, just to check on her welfare. 336 00:22:10.839 --> 00:22:15.039 And she knocks on the door several times and doesn't 337 00:22:15.240 --> 00:22:16.079 get a response. 338 00:22:16.359 --> 00:22:16.480 Uh. 339 00:22:18.039 --> 00:22:21.000 She she had an extra key, She had a spare key. 340 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:24.160 Uh the family members often do they have extra keys 341 00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:28.079 for for you know, for the you know, for different situations. 342 00:22:28.200 --> 00:22:33.359 So so Florence used her spare key to open up 343 00:22:33.880 --> 00:22:38.079 Helen's apartment unit, which was unit number four, and and 344 00:22:38.240 --> 00:22:42.200 Florence was battling her own health issues herself. She she 345 00:22:42.319 --> 00:22:45.920 had she was having very she was having a time 346 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:49.079 remember was gauaucoma, but she had she was she had very, 347 00:22:49.240 --> 00:22:55.400 very poor eyesight. And so she walked into Helen's apartment 348 00:22:55.960 --> 00:23:01.039 and wandered through through the and it she wanted. She 349 00:23:01.119 --> 00:23:05.119 eventually goes to the bedroom, goes back to the living 350 00:23:05.200 --> 00:23:09.680 room and thinks that she sees Helen laying on the 351 00:23:10.119 --> 00:23:17.799 floor in the living room, possibly asleep. She goes back 352 00:23:17.880 --> 00:23:21.799 and tells her husband, read, uh, just notifies him, you know, 353 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:25.599 about the situation, because obviously it wouldn't make sense for 354 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:28.759 Helen to be sleeping on the floor in her living room. 355 00:23:30.519 --> 00:23:33.039 And Red goes in there next door, and and he's 356 00:23:33.200 --> 00:23:37.000 obviously had better eyesight and immediately picked up on, you know, 357 00:23:37.119 --> 00:23:40.799 what had happened here, and and he found Helen's nightgown 358 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:45.200 had been pulled up pretty much over her head, exposing 359 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.799 her and uh and and he went down and checked 360 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:52.039 her and and realized that she, you know, that she 361 00:23:52.240 --> 00:23:57.200 was dead. And I should also point out too, there 362 00:23:57.359 --> 00:24:02.359 was a large scarf that had been woven wrapped around 363 00:24:02.400 --> 00:24:06.039 her head several times as well, so you could not 364 00:24:06.200 --> 00:24:10.440 see her face, you know, if you approach the body 365 00:24:10.559 --> 00:24:12.440 or you know, or it could come into this come 366 00:24:12.480 --> 00:24:15.759 into this room. So so so he runs back to 367 00:24:15.839 --> 00:24:19.599 the his unit. They immediately called the police, and within 368 00:24:19.759 --> 00:24:23.400 just a couple of minutes police officers and and also 369 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:28.160 an ambulance unit to arrive primuch simultaneously. And this is 370 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:32.680 around nine in the morning now, and and the two 371 00:24:34.160 --> 00:24:37.440 ambulance technicians or paramedics went up there and touched the 372 00:24:37.519 --> 00:24:41.000 body and checked checked for signs of a pulse and uh, 373 00:24:41.559 --> 00:24:45.480 and immediately determined that Helen was dead, and she had 374 00:24:45.519 --> 00:24:49.720 been dead for for quite some time and uh, and 375 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:55.200 they eventually uh quickly notified the local police chief, Donald 376 00:24:55.240 --> 00:25:00.359 lukeroth Uh and uh there was immediate sense that this 377 00:25:00.559 --> 00:25:04.640 could be a homicide scene. So the local police acted 378 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:09.640 very carefully to make sure that the unit was preserved 379 00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:13.799 and nobody touchsd anything that they shouldn't. 380 00:25:16.279 --> 00:25:17.880 Now, what you did mention, but you write in the 381 00:25:17.920 --> 00:25:21.319 book is that her hands were restrained and that scarf 382 00:25:21.400 --> 00:25:26.519 you talked about acted also like a gag. The sister 383 00:25:26.680 --> 00:25:29.359 with the poor eyesight had missed a lot of blood 384 00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:32.400 all over the place in terms of the walls. So 385 00:25:32.559 --> 00:25:35.200 tell us what the police found. You talked about they 386 00:25:35.240 --> 00:25:38.359 were very careful in collecting evidence, and that bears out 387 00:25:38.480 --> 00:25:42.039 in later in the book. But tell us what, again, 388 00:25:42.200 --> 00:25:46.720 this is before DNA or at least any development in DNA. 389 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:49.880 So what did they find in terms of the crime 390 00:25:49.960 --> 00:25:54.400 scene besides this obvious rape? But tell us what they 391 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:57.119 did find. What was the description of the place in 392 00:25:57.279 --> 00:25:59.319 terms of what did the police find? 393 00:26:01.400 --> 00:26:03.519 Uh? So when they get to the scene, one thing 394 00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:07.960 they noticed was that the scene was really not in 395 00:26:08.079 --> 00:26:11.920 any type of disarray. Helen's body is found on the 396 00:26:12.039 --> 00:26:18.000 carpet of her living room, her under her underwear, her 397 00:26:18.200 --> 00:26:23.200 her her her undergarments had been removed, and but there 398 00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:25.680 was no sign that they were torn or ripped or 399 00:26:25.720 --> 00:26:30.240 anything like that, but it it it was apparent that 400 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:33.279 somebody had had taken them off gently and placed them 401 00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:37.839