Murder In Ogunquit
A Novel
By
Robert A. Chapin
Copyright July, 2011
This book has been revised on September 7, 2011
To my loyal readers and future customers: I originally assumed when this book was submitted for publication it was checked for errors and ready for insertion. I apologize for the inconvenience caused by inferior quality and it has been brought to my attention what was submitted was in fact a manuscript not for publication and should have been deleted from my files. It was only recently that I discovered my oversight.
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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the express written permission of the author, publisher and copyright holder.
This book is not intended as a literal account or an exact portrayal of any persons living or dead. Obviously, it has been important to the author to protect the identity of some of the characters in this story, and for that purpose, names and descriptions have been changed.
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Ogunquit, Maine Summer, 2010
On December 12, 2005, at precisely 12:00 midnight the Ogunquit MegaComplex Resort Casino opened its doors for business. Busses from as far away as New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and beyond were in gridlock leading to this charming New England vacation destination known as “A Beautiful Place By The Sea!”. Valet parking was frantic! Hotels were booked to sell out capacity! Restaurants were turning people away! It was absolute chaos! People with money to burn packed the betting parlors. Black Jack tables were alive with shouts and shrieks of joy and true to resort casino expectations, winners were discovered throughout the entire multiplex.
It was an extraordinary turn of events when the Abenaki Indian Nation was awarded the land and sovereignty to operate a casino in what was once again their own country. The goal was to cash in on what has become a national bringing together of Native American people to reclaim their ancestral land taken by the U.S. government in the mid 1800’s. As a result, the tribal professionals made the most of their achievement in reverence to those forced onto reservations and with an empathy and compassion set out to operate officially recognized gaming.
Their highly structured plan in addition to making a profit was to build nursing homes, a hospital, schools, fire and police complex, libraries and a multitude of construction projects. It was a wonderful period to be of Abenaki ancestry.
Opposition over legalized gambling in Maine fueled tempers for all but ten years as the Abenaki Indian Nation sued to acquire fifteen thousand acres of land. Only a meager amount of land was located in Ogunquit including The Marginal Way! The Abenaki people were allied with a dedicated partnership in the tribal elders from The Mohegan and Foxwoods gambling enterprise in Connecticut, and lobbied persuasively and forcefully for their birthright to operate a gaming multiplex in Ogunquit, Maine. Officials from Atlantic City and Las Vegas made the first move in a hostile battle with their high priced lawyers making use of every line of assault one can imagine to halt the development of the mega gambling complex.
The issue of legalized gambling in the Maine created a firestorm of debate eventually concluding in a historic decision by The United States Supreme Court in a 5 to 4 ruling in favor of granting the Abenaki Indian Nation the clear deed to fifteen thousand acres of some of the most important and valuable land on the in the state. Next, was the nasty and vicious resistance by the Maine Legislature to put a stop to the casino from being constructed on prime ocean front property in Ogunquit.
It was a nasty fight. In the Supreme Court’s ruling, it mandated all, and they specified all land within the confines of the award be turned over to the Abenaki Nation within 6 months of the ruling. The process eliminated litigation, court cases, law suits, legal actions and any other means by current landowners on The Marginal Way - the pristine waterfront overlooking the ocean.
In an unparalleled move, the Abenaki Nation would take possession of their property on the day following the six month cut-off set forth by the United States Supreme Court.
Residents were compelled to take the extremely generous cash offer and in the case of waterfront property were paid six times its value. A $2,000,000 (million dollar) piece of property was increased to $12,000,000. (million dollars).
Anyone who could authenticate their heritage of at least 16% Abenaki would share in the profits of the new casino. Underprivileged Abenaki families would receive an annual cash gift of $37,350.72 based on a complicated formula of age and ancestry. The development would employ thousands of Abenaki by heritage to work the hotels, restaurants and service establishments. The hiring of Abenaki’s was of priority, and if there were additional positions to be filled once all available Abenaki were employed, non-Abenaki (i.e.) Iriquois lineage were hired.
Most important to voters was the revenue taken in by the state lottery. In actuality, it was legalized gambling and the only benefit to the residents of Maine was a portion of the revenue was to be used to repair the infrastructure consisting of roads and bridges. There was plenty of foot dragging and blame to ‘go round.’ Bridges and roads were a disaster - not well maintained and neglected since the WPA under Roosevelt in the 1930’s. In addition to creating nothing more than another state operated bureaucracy, political cronyism was unchecked!
The lottery created so many “no show” positions that in excess of fifty million dollars was wasted annually prompting an audit. The gambling public was outraged at the payout odds in the state lottery. The addiction hotline was inundated with calls from habitual gamblers.
It was misleading and unclear when on the reverse side of the scratch ticket and posted at the betting kiosks, the odds were always calculated (for example: 1 in 987,657-½). This would imply that in order to have the slightest chance at winning, one would have to be a ½ person - and that was the vicious fly in a circle! Casino’s on the other hand had a huge overhead to meet, and in order to keep the doors open their odds were calculated so that 1 in 10 players would win in any given visit. There was no doubt that a casino would also present the same problem of people prone to overindulge.
The majority of residents were in favor of legalized gambling. It would provide plenty of good paying jobs, and was an issue to be reckoned with at election time. A lottery does not provide jobs for the masses and only favors political cronyism. Conversely, buildings, restaurants, hotels, the health care industry, police and fire, new schools, libraries, and a host of brand new employment opportunities do support the local economy!
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Ogunquit, a community with less than 1250 residents was thrust into one of the most incalculable real estate explosions in the country. Overnight, in Ogunquit and neighboring towns land values skyrocketed through the ceiling. Farmland previously advertised for $500 an acre was suddenly selling for an inflated $25,000 per acre. Not since Walt Disney developed Disney World in Orlando in the early 1960’s has the country experienced such an incredible increase in real estate. It was not uncommon for one hundred acre tracts of land located 10-20 miles inland purchased by farmers following WWII, and in the early 1950’s for $24.00 an acre ($2,400) suddenly selling for 2.5 million dollars - and that was just the beginning!
McDonalds, Burger King, Arby’s, The Olive Garden, The Outback - just about every major restaurant chain was in a bidding war. Their establishments were architecturally designed to blend into New England’s natural environment. The complex was to duplicate Rodeo Drive (pronounced Ro-day-o) and Worth Avenue. Tiffany and Company, and major retailers were in aggressive competition. Cadilla
c and European auto makers desired to be represented.
As a result, Bentley and Rolls Royce submitted designs. Overnight, the local Chevrolet dealer on the brink of bankruptcy 6 months earlier was suddenly selling cars by the dozen(s) to the casinos. The struggling car dealer sold in excess of 250 top of the line SUV’s and Corvettes in the first 3 months of casino activity. It was a financial shot in the arm necessary to bring businesses back into the black.
With passage of the resolution, the Abenaki Indian Nation wasted little time, and with assistance from The Foxwoods Casino developing a massive state of the art complex. Every major hotel chain including Marriott, Hilton, and Hyatt Regency were in a bidding frenzy for the right to be the anchor’s to the new Ogunquit MegaComplex Resort Casino housing the 4,000 room Ogunquit Inter-Continental operated by their parent multinational firm, The Mark Hopkins in San Francisco. Eventually, the 2200 room Hilton International won the bidding. In all, 6200 rooms were available within five blocks of prime beachfront property. This was going to be the largest gambling complex in the world!
One private parking lot adjoining the casino with space for 200 vehicles sold to the casino for five-million-dollars! The real estate tax base, increased from $8,802,465 (million dollars) annually in 2010 was proposed to be $34,489,860 (million dollars) when construction was completed and new homes assessed.
Land mass prohibited Ogunquit from sustaining through the ceiling growth brought about by the invasion and arrival of thousands of new employees. The Ogunquit casino development was projected to employ 62,423 new residents in support roles. With the town unable to absorb the deluge of new homes it was spread out through the neighboring towns of York, North and South Berwick, Kennebunk, Kennebunk Port, Wells, Wells Beach, Elliott, Kittery, and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Real estate brokers and sales representatives couldn’t locate vacant land quickly enough on which to build the magnitude of new homes. Farmers cashed in on parcels upon which tracts of homes numbering into the hundreds were quickly becoming mini-cities.
Pulte Homes, the developer of Dell Webb communities throughout the country purchased thousands of acres upon which they constructed 12,000 homes in the various adjoining towns. In nearby Portsmouth, New Hampshire, R.M. Jenna Homes of Florida sold 13,254 homes in their first phase of construction, and when the additional phases were offered, it was not uncommon for builders to increase their prices by 10% to 15%. Ordinarily, homes are sold first - then built, in this situation a builder would construct 500 - 1,000 homes and they sold out within 30 days!
Throughout the upsurge, Ogunquit didn’t suffer for lack of land. Although it only has 4.10 square miles, it was able to support approximately four times the current growth. The population swelled from 1260 to 4856 winter residents and residential real estate tax increased from $8,802,465 (million dollars) to $34,489,860 (million dollars). They town did manage to construct 2700 new single family dwellings. With the rapid growth the town was faced with a dilemma. In order to support the Abenaki Indian proposal, the Ogunquit town council worked an arrangement with the Abenaki’s to receive a fee of $12,500,000 (million dollars) annually - approximately a million dollars a month! This was considered a fair assessment considering the casino’s collected many times that in profits in one day.
The Abenaki Nation would pay for all increases in police and fire protection, schools, hospitals, waste water, road, and any and all municipal fees associated with a growing city.
With approximately $34,489.860 (million dollars) in real estate tax revenue annually and the additional $12,500,000 (million dollar) fee paid by the Abenaki Tribe, the town’s only responsibility would be for increased (office) manpower.
The strategy was one of the most brilliant ever developed in the gaming industry. Geographically, with Canada only three hours away, and the American dollar trading at an incredible 21 percent in favor of the Canadians, the Abenaki Nation made its own rules - and of greater benefit was a “no tax” clause. This brought Canadian busses by the hundreds and the parking lots accounted for another 45% of cars from Quebec and Montreal Provinces.
Conversely, in an effort to draw the U.S. “greenbacks” casino’s offered a one time “tax free” event to the Americans as well. For a period of the first 30 days, all winnings were “tax free.” The casino’s paid all applicable taxes over and above the jackpots. Canadians and Europeans however, remained in a constant tax free category.
The proposal focused on the 10,000 slots which accounted for 75% of all gaming revenue. Each night for 29 nights -somewhere in the vast sea of gamblers, (1) one arm bandit would pay a spectacular tax free jackpot of $1,000,000 (million dollars). The method worked so well that people were lined up alongside each other waiting for their good fortune at beating the odds. Ogunquit was also a town that never sleeps!
In all fair-mindedness to those who placed bets during the day and may have bet thousands of dollars, the procedure was sufficient and elaborate enough to identify winners at random. One did not need be present to claim their winnings. This system actually identified a winner by verification of the on - file fingerprint. For back-up, the method utilized the pupil-iris verification data program.
Cash advance machines were dispensing money like a drunken sailor - credit card processors taxed to their limits. It is estimated that each of the two hundred betting parlors collected tens of millions of dollars daily.
The crowning event was to take place on the 30th night with a gala finale when someone would win a tax free prize of $20,000,000 (million dollars)! In order to prevent pandemonium, every off duty police officer within 50 miles was hired to deal with the massive crowds waiting their turn at the one arm bandits. With the extremely large group of people waiting at each slot, the establishments strictly enforced the “eighteen minute” rule. To allow as many people as possible to cash in on the winnings, patrons were only allowed eighteen minutes of play.
The Gambling Association of America previously calculated that any amount of “play time” less than 10 minutes induced players to bet only quarters. Traditionally, those who exceeded 10 minutes of play more often than not bet $5.00 or higher.
There was no tolerance or lenience for cheating. At the end of 18 minutes, the machine locked down and a special fingerprint recognition device prevented the player from returning to that or any other slot machine for the next 24 hours.
If a player refused to exit his or her seat, they were safely escorted from the building. The Abenaki Tribe spent tens of millions of dollars on an elaborate security system - and it was only for the first month of operation! Anyone could bet as much as their pocketbook, wallet or ATM cash advance card would allow.
Penny, nickel and twenty-five cent slots were not offered during the initial 30 days. Then again, to be eligible for the $1,000,000 (million dollars), the rules of play were calculated so that a player had to reach $5.00 (with $1.00 minimums) before the machines would activate the million dollar formula. When the machine reached the $5.00 point it enticed the player even further by means of a voice congratulating the participant as a “finalist” in the one million dollar process and musical sounds proliferated the machine. This strategy attracted the gambler to insert more money and so on.
All players wanted a shot at the $1,000,000 (million dollars) and it was not uncommon for high rollers to load the machine with $3,000 to $10,000. Each punch of the button deducted a pre-selected amount from your total. For the super rich high rollers there were roughly 2500 slots producing about $33,000 each hour (for the casino) an average of $792,000 in a twenty four hour period. That’s just one machine! In the first week of activity, casino’s generated in excess of 1.5 billion dollars! The machines collected hundreds of thousands of dollars each hour. It was a windfall for the Abenakis and no small wonder these machines generated so much cash.
It was a bitter sweet time for the residents of Ogunquit. On one hand they were gainfully employed - and not just in Chri
stmas tree or potato farming, but in an industry which provided benefits: Full medical and dental - eye glass coverage - prescription drugs - profit sharing - company matching funds and so much more that mom and pop employers could not offer. On the other, their quaint New England fishing village with a previous residential base of 1250 was now thrust into the most popular gaming facility in the world. Die hard advocates of the tranquil lifestyle were convinced to sell their property and settle elsewhere on the coast of Maine. With real estate skyrocketing in value, it was a seller’s market - they all made a killing.
Along with fame and success of a gambling atmosphere was the element of crime and corruption. From the very beginning, the police department worked overtime directing their attention to the flimflam characters and transients whose scheme was to pickpocket or ensnare unwary naive victims to part with their cash.
Ogunquit, Maine
“A Beautiful Place By The Sea”
The invigorating smell of the ocean waves crashing into the shoreline of The Marginal Way, was enough to temporarily erase the stress for vacationers for as long as anyone could recall.
ChemCon CEO Jack Summers was going to walk away with a severance package of enormous proportions. With retirement only weeks away, he was not far from becoming incredibly wealthy with $93,000,000 (million dollars) in compensation! 500,000 shares of ChemCon preferred stock, a six million dollar state of the art log home in Aspen. If that was not enough, there was travel on the corporate jet, use of all company facilities, and medical coverage for life.