Chapter 30
Paula Waters
There was no cross examination of Frank Jordan. Neither Paula or George Black wanted to prolong the attention of the jury on the video of the murders. The judge thanked him and asked Rutledge for his next witness. Rutledge called Detective Stuart Miller, the detective assigned to handle the case. He explained the crime scene as he saw it when he arrived shortly after the 9-1-1 call, the condition of the victims, and the procedure they followed in securing and then processing the evidence. Then he asked the detective about their subsequent investigation of the murders.
“Detective. Did you interrogate anyone at the crime scene?”
“Yes. We talked extensively to Ricardo Rizzi, the waiter who served the victims, the other waiters, hostesses, kitchen staff, Mr. Emilio Bellucci, the owner of the restaurant and the parking attendants.”
“What was Mr. Rizzi’s reaction to the victims at his table being poisoned?”
“He claimed complete shock at what had happened and denied poisoning the food.”
“Did he seem sincere?”
“More or less.”
“Did Mr. Rizzi ever become a suspect in these murders?”
“Yes, the next morning I got a call from one of the technicians at the forensics lab advising me that they had completed their tests on all the food served to the victims at the restaurant and determined that the Parmesan cheese had been laced with a poison containing cyanide.
“Hearing that, I remembered that one of the members of the kitchen staff indicated he had seen Mr. Rizzi filling cheese bowls before taking one to the table. Based on the fact that he had filled the cheese bowl and then served it to the victims, I asked my supervisor to get a warrant to search Mr. Rizzi’s apartment.
“Several hours later the warrant was issued and we went to his apartment to conduct the search.”
“What happened then?”
“He wasn’t at his apartment but his girlfriend Sonia Bennett was. She let us in and the first thing of significance we found was a shoe box under Mr. Rizzi’s bed containing $10,000 in large bills.”
“Was the money neatly stacked?”
“Yes, it was neatly stacked and wrapped in one thousand dollar piles like it had come directly from the bank.”
“And what did you do with the shoe box and its contents?”
“We took it and processed it as potential evidence.”
“And you have that shoe box with you today?”
“I do,” he said and handed the box to Rutledge.
“Your Honor, I request that State’s Exhibit #2 be entered into evidence.”
“Ms. Waters?”
Paula had studied all the evidence weeks earlier so she replied, “No objection.”
“Mr. Black?”
“No objection, Your Honor.”
“Then State’s Exhibit #2 is admitted.”
“Did you find anything else of interest in the apartment?”
“Not in the apartment, but in the garage assigned to Mr. Rizzi.”
“What did you find?”
“An opened box of Vacor Rat Poison.”
“And what was the condition of the box of rat poison?”
“It was in poor condition. The lid had been partially ripped off, the box was stained and it was faded. It had obviously been there for years.”
“And did you do anything with the Vacor Rat Poison?”
“Yes. We took possession of it and processed it as evidence.”
Rutledge offered the box of rat poison as evidence and the judge admitted it without objection as State’s Exhibit #3.
“Now, in the course of the investigation of these murders did you come across any more Vacor Rat Poison?”
“Yes. We did. An informant advised us that the defendant Christopher Hunt had been at the scene of the crime but fled before the police had arrived, so we questioned him about the murders. In the course of that discussion we were not satisfied with his explanation of why he fled the scene, so we sought and obtained a search warrant for his home and car. In the process of searching his 1996 Lincoln Continental we discovered a plastic sandwich bag containing particles of a gray colored crystalline substance similar to the Vacor Rat Poison under the front seat of his car. It was later determined that the substance was, in fact, rat poison exactly like what was found in Mr. Rizzi’s garage.”
Rutledge continued to question Detective Miller for another hour and then passed the witness.
“Ms. Waters. Your witness,” the judge said.
Paula stood. “Detective Miller, did you find Ricardo Rizzi’s fingerprints on the shoe box which is marked as Exhibit #2?”
“No. We did not.”
“Did you find Ricardo Rizzi’s fingerprints on any of the money or the bindings for the money that was in the shoe box?”
“No. We did not.”
“So, you don’t know for a fact that Ricardo Rizzi ever saw the money, do you?”
“Not for a fact, but—”
“Thank you. Did you find Mr. Rizzi’s fingerprints on the box of Vacor Rat Poison?”
“No.”
“Did you find any evidence that Mr. Rizzi took any of the rat poison out of the box?”
“No.”
“You didn’t find Mr. Rizzi’s fingerprints on the plastic bag in Mr. Hunt’s car, did you?”
“No. There were no fingerprints on it.”
“Did you have an occasion to go into the garage where you found the rat poison?”
“Yes. I searched through it.”
“Is the garage locked?”
“There was a lock but it didn’t work.”
“So, anybody could have gone into Ricardo’s garage and taken some of the poison?”
“It’s possible.”
“How long have you been a detective?”
“Fifteen years give or take,” Detective Miller replied.
“So, in those fifteen years you’ve probably seen just about every kind of murder weapon imaginable, right?”
Detective Miller nodded. “Yes. That’s true—guns, knives, heavy pots, tire irons, baseball bats, stiletto shoes, plastic bags—you name it and I’ve seen it used to kill somebody.”
“In your experience, what is the first thing a murderer does with the murder weapon after he has killed his victim?”
Detective Miller shrugged. “Gets rid of it, I guess.”
“Right. But Ricardo Rizzi didn’t get rid of the rat poison, did he?”
Detective Miller shook his head. “No, he didn’t.”
“He left it right where it had been in his garage out in the open, right?”
“Yes.”
“Doesn’t that lead you to believe that he didn’t know that it had been used as a murder weapon?”
“Objection! Calls for speculation,” Rutledge exclaimed.
“Sustained,” the judge ruled.
Paula went on with her cross examination and when she was done George Black took the witness on cross.
“Detective. You testified that you found a plastic bag under the seat of Mr. Hunt’s car containing rat poison.”
“Yes. I did.”
“Isn’t that a little too convenient?”
Detective Miller didn’t respond.
“Objection! Calls for speculation.”
“Objection sustained,” the judge ruled.
“Well, weren’t you surprised to find the plastic bag with rat poison in Mr. Hunt’s car several days after the murder?”
Detective Miller shrugged. “I guess I was a little.”
“In your opinion wasn’t that a pretty stupid thing to do—leave remnants of the murder weapon in your car where it is sure to be found?”
“Criminals often do stupid things. It happens all the time.”
“Isn’t it possible, if not likely, that someone planted the plastic bag in Mr. Hunt’s car?”
“Objection! Calls for speculation.”
“Overruled. You may answer the question.”
“Anythi
ng is possible.”
“And in that vein it would be pretty stupid to pay somebody in cash and then leave your fingerprints on the box that contains the money?”
“Like I said. Criminals do stupid things all the time.”
“Perhaps, but doesn’t this rise to a level beyond common stupidity? Isn’t it more likely someone deliberately found a box with Mr. Wilkinson’s prints on it and used it to hold the money?”
“Objection. Calls for speculation.”
“Objection sustained,” the judge ruled.
Black asked a few more questions then passed the witness. Rutledge took the witness on redirect and they all went another round with this witness. Rutledge next called the medical examiner, Dr. Roger Watson, who described the condition of each of the bodies and explained how the poison had interfered with the enzymes controlling the oxidation process, preventing the red blood cells from absorbing oxygen. He testified that death came quickly and victims experienced excruciating pain prior to their deaths.
The next witness was Sandy Richmond’s treating physician, Dr. Leo Rule. He testified that Ms. Richmond had ingested a smaller dose of the rat poison and was still alive when she got to the hospital twenty minutes later. He told the jury he administered amyl nitrate and then pumped her stomach. She was then given oxygen and later received an intravenous injection of sodium nitrate followed by an injection of sodium thiosulphate. He testified he thought she had fully recovered from the trauma.
Then Rutledge called Brandon Wilkes. He had wanted to call Jodie which would have meant she couldn’t have participated in the trial as second chair, but Paula argued her testimony wasn’t essential since Brandon had been there and could provide the same testimony. Brandon walked up to the witness stand and took a seat.
“Mr. Wilkes. How are you employed?”
“I work for Bassett Security as an investigator and bodyguard.”
“And did you have an occasion to meet a woman named Evelyn Sanders?”
“Yes.”
“And what were the circumstances of your acquaintance with Ms. Sanders.”
“I was working undercover with Jodie Marshall trying to gain her trust and confidence so we could obtain information from her.”
“And how did you go about doing that?”
“We participated in her aerobics class and became friends.”
“And did you have an occasion to take her to Emilio’s Italian Restaurant?”
“Yes, we did.”
“And what happened when you got to the restaurant?”
“She became very excited and upset. When we asked her what was the matter she told us that she had witnessed the recent murders there.”
“Objection, hearsay,” Black said.
“Your Honor. This was an excited utterance and clearly reliable. Also, the witness is dead so this is the only way to get in this testimony.”
“Objection overruled.”
“Did she explain what she saw?”
“Yes. She said she had accompanied Christopher Hunt to the restaurant and that they were sitting at an adjacent table when the murders took place.”
“Did she say she saw who poisoned the Parmesan cheese?”
“No. She didn’t see that happen, only when it was served by Mr. Rizzi. She watched the victims die.”
“Did she say she was at the table the entire time they were at the restaurant?”
“No. She said she was away from the table for a few minutes when they first got there. She went to the bathroom. And there was a period of time Hunt was gone from the table too.”
“Objection!” Black exclaimed. “Non-responsive.”
“Objection sustained. Just answer the question, Mr. Wilkes.”
“Did she say what happened after the murders?” Rutledge asked.
“She said that Mr. Hunt insisted they leave immediately before the police came.”
“Objection,” Black said. “Hearsay within hearsay.”
“Overruled,” the judge said.
“Now Mr. Wilkes. You testified you were working for Turner & Waters on this case, right?”
“Yes.”
“So, you’re anxious to please your client, right?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Did you and Ms. Marshall discuss your testimony today?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Did she tell you how to testify?”
Brandon frowned. “No. We just discussed our recollection of the encounter with Evelyn Sanders.”
“Why did you do that? Were you having trouble remembering everything that happened?”
“No. I remember it perfectly.”
“But you wanted to get your stories straight?” Black pressed.
“No. We remembered it exactly the same.”
Brandon’s questioning went on for some time but nothing new came out. Next Rutledge called Walter Sledge. He testified he was the owner of Walter Sledge Architects and was working on a development for Wilkinson Properties.
“What was the name of the development?” Rutledge asked.
“Highland Corners.”
“And how is it coming along?”
“They’re still in the acquisition stage.”
“You mean they still haven’t acquired ownership of all the property needed for the development?”
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“What property do they still need to acquire?”
“One more lot.”
“And would that lot be owned by Emilio Bellucci?”
“Mr. Bellucci and his wife I believe own it.”
“Have there been negotiations between the Bellucci’s and Wilkinson Properties to acquire the property?”
“Yes, Tom Wilkinson has been trying to get the Bellucci’s to sell it for over six months.”
“Why won’t they sell?”
“I don’t know.”
“Has this inability to get this last lot caused any problems for Wilkinson Properties?”
“Yes. They have to pay interest on the loans they obtained to acquire the other properties and prices for materials and labor always seem to go up over time.”
“What kind of losses are we talking about?”
“Interest alone is over $12,000 a month and there’s no telling how much more the project will cost due to the delay. The delay also postpones the start of income from the property.”
“Have you given Tom Wilkinson an estimate of the additional cost he will be looking at due to the delay in acquiring this property?”
“Yes. I believe the delay has already cost in excess of $250,000.”
“Thank you. Pass the witness.”
“Ms. Waters. Your witness,” the judge said.
Paula didn’t know what to do with this witness. She had no dispute with what he said so there wasn’t much point in cross examining him. “No questions, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Black, your witness.”
George Black rose and went to the lectern. “Mr. Sledge. Didn’t Wilkinson Properties have a contingency plan for the eventuality that it couldn’t acquire this last piece of property?”
“Yes. They agreed they would modify the project such that it wrapped around the Bellucci lot.”
“And would that have hurt the project that much?”
“Well. It would look a bit tacky, but with shrubs and trees we felt we could mitigate the incompatibility.”
“Would the property have been worth any less without the Bellucci lot?”
“Not significantly. That particular lot would have been devoted to green belt so its loss wouldn’t have affected expected revenue.”
“Thank you, Mr. Sledge. Pass the witness.”
The judge looked at the clock on the wall. “It’s getting late, let’s recess now and reconvene tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.”
The judge got up and left the courtroom. The room suddenly came to life as people began talking as they left the courtroom. Paula looked at Ricardo and smiled.
??
?Well, that didn’t go too badly,” Paula said.
“Really? I couldn’t tell,” Ricardo replied.
“It could have been a lot worse. Their case has weaknesses and I think the jury will recognize it.”
“I hope so,” Ricardo said.
When Paula and Jodie got back to the office they were surprised Stan wasn’t there. Marie advised them that he mysteriously disappeared at 4:30.
“He didn’t go off to meet his hooker, did he?”
Maria shrugged. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”
“What’s he been doing all day?”
“Working on Ram’s lawsuit, I think. They’re in desperate straits. They may have to go back to Pakistan if they don’t collect some money pretty quickly.”
“Hmm,” Paula said irritably.
Paula and Jodie went to the conference room to talk about the case and discuss tactics for the coming day. Paula couldn’t believe Stan wasn’t there to help them.
“If he’s off with his hooker when I need him, he may be looking for a new partner.”
Jodie sighed. “He’s probably working on an angle to get the insurance company to settle Ram’s claim. I don’t think he’d desert us in the middle of a trial if it weren’t something pretty important.”
Paula shook her head. “Yeah, something pretty important like a blond with big tits!”