An Act Of Murder (24 page)

“The ironies in this case are compelling,” Dean told the court. “She had two-and-a half-months to figure out the course of her life back in late fall 1997 and early 1998. And, as it turns out, I think the evidence tragically shows she had two months to figure out how to get rid of her husband. And, again, why she felt she had to do what she had to do, in the way that she did it, is something I don't think any of us will totally understand.”

Dean told the judge that Steve was a decent, hardworking guy, whose young life was now over. And now a ten-year-old child was virtually orphaned because her mother killed her father. He said the Hrickos' family and friends were left wondering if there was anything they could have done to prevent Steve's death.

“There probably wasn't,” he said. “Suffice it to say, it's clear that the defendant premeditated this murder for quite some period of time. And she was obviously propelled by a vision of some sort of a better life that she had created in her mind with this new young man and an insurance recovery of well over four hundred thousand dollars.”

But only one thing stood in the way of her goal, and that was her husband, Stephen, Dean said. So she eliminated him and nearly got away with it, he said. Kim used her special skills and knowledge and access to highly dangerous substances to get rid of her husband, Dean said. The irony was that as she planned Steve's murder, he thought they were well on the way to fixing what was wrong in their marriage, Dean told the court.

“And that screams out at you when you look at that journal that was presented in evidence about Stephen's feelings, about how he felt and how he hoped. And how she literally abused that trust that weekend,” Dean told the judge. “The cold cruelty of this woman defies any further description, Your Honor. She stands convicted of the most serious of all crimes, first-degree, premeditated murder. The legislature here in Maryland has required a life sentence and I suggest that this woman richly deserves that sentence.”

Dean said her conviction for arson was a felony that carried with it a sentence of thirty years. Dean asked the judge to impose consecutive, not concurrent, sentences, because she not only subjected her dead or dying husband to the horror of the fire she set, she also endangered other people in the same multiunit cottage.

Next to address the court was Kim's attorney William Brennan. Brennan told the judge that although the legislature mandated that the court must impose a life sentence for a first-degree murder conviction, it also left it to the court's discretion to decide if it should suspend any portion of that sentence. And, he said, the legislature also gave the court the discretion to determine whether or not the arson conviction should run concurrent or consecutive.

“And in looking for aid and guidance in sentencing, the legislature has acknowledged that not all murders are the same and not all persons convicted of murder are the same. [The legislature has acknowledged] that people are different and crimes are different.”

Brennan said although some murders were so heinous, so cruel, so beyond the pale, that the murderers, who were evil and vicious, deserved life sentences, Kimberly Hricko was not one of those people.

“In this case, Your Honor, the record is before the court, the presentence investigation and the letters [that] have been sent to the court indicate this person, Kimberly Hricko, Your Honor, does not deserve a life sentence and nothing suspended,” Brennan argued.

Brennan told the judge that it was no surprise that some people ended up before the court, because they had led a life of crime, but it was a complete shock in Kimberly's case. He said Kim's supporters still couldn't believe that she killed her husband, because the Kimberly Hricko they knew was a good, honest, decent person. They knew her as a volunteer, a soccer mom, a wonderful person, not as a person who committed a crime, he said.

“And by way of explanation, but not excuse, Your Honor, the presentencing investigation indicates that Ms. Hricko has suffered from depression for over six years,” Brennan said. “She was on Zoloft . . . and obviously, we all know, Your Honor, that depression can affect judgment. It can change personality.”

Brennan told the judge that although some people didn't deserve leniency when they were sentenced, because they had committed crimes that were so vicious and had always led lives of crime, Kimberly Hricko was not one of those people. Therefore, Brennan asked the judge to impose concurrent, not consecutive, sentences and to suspend a portion of the life sentence.

Kimberly asked the court for leniency as well, but she never admitted she killed her husband.

“Your Honor, on January [15], 1999, the jury returned its verdict and I have no choice at this point but to accept that verdict,” Kimberly said. “I understand the grief and pain expressed by the Hricko family. I feel love and compassion for them and I have prayed daily for their peace. I hope they can understand that I share a great deal of the loss and grief for the loss of Stephen. I feel so sorry for all the sorrow and loss they've endured. I also understand the impact that Stephen's death has had on my daughter, Sarah. Her loss is double. She has neither parent now. Your Honor, please look beyond the simple one-dimensional version of me. Please look at my life with an open heart. A life that feels so disparate from all this. Thank you.”

Now it was Judge Horne's turn to speak. Horne said he had read all the letters submitted by the defense and the prosecution, as well as the presentencing investigation report and had listened to the attorneys' statements and Kim's statement.

Horne said although the people involved viewed Kim differently, they were all united in one way—in the belief that it was a very sad occasion for everyone, not just one group or the other. Horne said he guessed they were also united in the hope that Kim's sentencing would bring them some degree of closure so that they could all go on with their lives.

And, he said, they were all united in something else—their compassion for Sarah.

“There's no one in here that does not feel great compassion for this little girl,” Horne said. “And that's wonderful, but I would urge you to remember that in the years to come that she will continue to need your help and your thoughts and your compassion and your love and your assistance and your support. This won't end for her and she will continue to need all of you.”

Horne said that no matter how they felt about Kimberly, they all must make sure Sarah had all the family support that they could provide.

“With respect to Kimberly Hricko and her supporters, I understand Mrs. Hricko that your position throughout this incident has been that you were not guilty of this crime,” Horne said. “And you have just acknowledged that you understand, and I hope your supporters understand, that I must proceed today on the basis of the jury's finding that you are guilty. . . . Given that fact, what I am presented with is a planned, premeditated destruction of another human being's life. And a destruction of that life in such a manner that . . . jeopardized the lives of other innocent people, who could easily have perished in the fire that occurred on the evening in question.”

Horne told Kimberly her crime was not one of “hot blood,” nor a reaction to any stimulus that had just occurred. Instead, he said, it was a deliberate crime that had been planned for a considerable period of time.

“And . . . if you were able to commit such a heinous crime against someone you had once felt so strongly for that you married that person, you had a child by that person, then I would submit that would make you a very dangerous person to everyone else in society, because you would be capable of doing the same thing to anyone else who caused you difficulty or stood in your way or incurred your wrath,” Horne told Kimberly.

“You will be incarcerated, and in the reality of the world in which we live, there is every reason to believe that the day will come when you will be released from incarceration,” he said.

Therefore, Horne told Kimberly, her life would be divided into three parts—the life she led before she went to jail, the life she would lead in jail, and the life she would lead when she was released from jail.

“And it is the hope of this court that when that occurs, you will be prepared to act right and be the person that all of your supporters know,” Horne said. “I hope you will be the fine person that they know and that they expect you to be.”

Horne then sentenced Kimberly to state prison for life on the murder charge and sentenced her to thirty years on the arson charge. The sentences were to run concurrently, he said. After explaining Kim's postconviction rights of appeal, court was adjourned.

One of Kim's strongest supporters, Laurel real estate agent Cathy Rosenberger, was at Kim's sentencing hearing. She wanted to speak on Kim's behalf at the hearing, but Kim's defense attorneys decided against it.

Rosenberger, who put up $40,000 of her own money for Kim's defense, helped Kim after her trial by presenting her postconviction attorneys with information that she and Kim thought would be useful in developing alternative theories to explain Steve's death. And she provided them with her insights into Steve's personality and health. She also supplied this information to Kim's trial lawyers. Although she has stopped contributing money to Kim's postconviction relief efforts, Rosenberger said she still believes in her innocence. Rosenberger said she was the person who asked Kim's family and friends to write letters to Judge Horne on Kim's behalf.

“Kim's attorneys told [Kim and me] it would be beneficial for Kim if all her friends and family wrote letters to Judge Horne describing how they knew her and a story or two about something Kim had done for them,” Rosenberger said. “I was instructed by Brennan and Trainor to contact all the people and ask if they would write on Kim's behalf. The lists of names came from Kim, her mother, and friends. I did not have much time, so I wrote to everybody and told them if they had any questions to call me.”

Rosenberger wasn't prepared for what happened next.

“Lots of people called to find out how Kim was doing and to say how concerned they were. Before I wrote to them, they didn't really know who to talk to,” Rosenberger said. “I talked to [one woman] who had many kind things to say about Kim being a volunteer for children in the courts. Sarah's teacher talked for a very long time. She had been a dinner guest at Kim's and they went shopping together. One time she was sick and Kim sent her a get-well card and called to see if she could bring her some food. One soccer mom told me about how Kim was very involved in Sarah's soccer team. Kim was a coach and also gave an end-of-season party at her house for the kids and coaches.”

Rosenberger turned over all the letters she received to Kim's lawyers, but was surprised that they only submitted the best fifty letters to Judge Horne.

“Judge Horne took a recess to read the letters before he gave the sentence,” she said. “When he came back from his chambers, he put the binder containing the letters on his bench in front of him. When he started to talk, he put his hand on the binder. He looked as if he was touched by the letters and all the people's lives that have been touched by Kim—from a grade school teacher to ministers. There were four ministers in the courtroom to give support to Kim at the sentencing. Horne made a comment about them. There are not many people in this world who could ask sixty or seventy people to write a kind word about them and how they have touched their lives.”

Rosenberger recalled the first time Kim touched her own life. She said it was in 1996 when she rented the Hrickos their town house on Dorset Road in Laurel. However, when Rosenberger took Kim and Sarah out to look at various properties, Steve wasn't with them, she said.

“We found a place and Kim said it would do fine and I asked her if she wanted her husband to see it and she said no, he trusted her judgment,” Rosenberger said.

The Hrickos moved into the town house and Rosenberger stopped by during the 1996 Christmas season to visit. That's when she first met Steve. Her first impression of him was that he was not very friendly.

Rosenberger talked with Kim several times after Christmas and stopped by to see her one more time. Eventually in July 1997 the Hrickos were told they had to move by August. So Rosenberger took Kim and Sarah to look at houses—the Hrickos had decided to purchase a home rather than continue to rent.

Steve didn't go with them until they had narrowed the choices down to four. Each time Rosenberger took the Hrickos to look for homes, she would meet them at the town house on Dorset Road. Sometimes Kim came straight from work; because Steve got home first, he was in charge of feeding Sarah.

“He acted like this was hard for him to do,” Rosenberger said. “I remember seeing some burned French fries and something else that looked bad on a cookie sheet.”

Rosenberger recalled one particular time she picked up the Hrickos to go look at a house. First, however, she had to drop Sarah off at soccer practice. When they arrived, Kim and Sarah got out of the car, leaving Rosenberger alone with Steve for about eight minutes.

“It was a very long eight minutes,” she said. “Steve was very unfriendly and I tried to talk to him about golf and where he works. Nothing would loosen him up. He just would not talk. He made me very uncomfortable. If Kim was not so outgoing and friendly, I probably would not have continued to work with them because Steve really made me nervous.”

Rosenberger and Kim felt that the pesticides Steve used in his work somehow contributed to his death.

“I have spoken with several people who had the same job Steve had and they all told me that up until recently golf course personnel were very careless about the use of pesticides,” Rosenberger said. “I have done research on the Internet and at the National Medical Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. There are many side effects from using pesticides carelessly for a long period of time.”

Rosenberger said at trial Kim's lawyers only touched on Steve's medical history. She said Steve was seeing several doctors for a variety of ailments, including depression, insomnia, back spasms, and bronchitis. One doctor even set up an appointment for Steve to get an EKG, but Steve blew off the appointment.

“That doctor ran one test and saw something that concerned him enough to send Steve for more extensive tests,” Rosenberger said. “Since Steve didn't show [up], the tests were not done. What did that doctor see in a physically fit thirty-five-year-old man that concerned him enough to want Steve to get further tests?”

Rosenberger wanted to know why Kim's defense team didn't call Steve's doctor as a witness, especially since Steve was mixing several medications when he died. And, she noted, his depression medication had just been doubled. Steve was taking Xanax, Flexeril, Effexor, and he also took Theraflu shortly before he died, she said. Doing her own investigation, Rosenberger asked three pharmacists their opinions about mixing those particular medications.

“They all said they didn't like the mix, especially topping it off with Theraflu,” she said.

Rosenberger said she read a story in the June 1999 edition of
Reader's Digest
about the dangers of mixing drugs prescribed for depression with cold medicines.

“The medical examiner did not test for all these drugs,” she said.

Rosenberger also said that Kim's attorney William Brennan read part of Steve's journal at trial and it was obvious that he was severely depressed and had a number of other medical problems. Although Steve looked big and strong, he really was not a well man, she said.

Rosenberger said she had her own theory about what happened in room 506 of the Harbourtowne resort over Valentine's Day weekend, 1998—a theory obviously arrived at with input from Kim. The following is Cathy Rosenberger's theory:

The room was very cold and the wind was whipping across the river. The water was very choppy and Kim even saw some whitecaps. Steve was hungry, but it was too early to go to dinner, so he left and drove to a convenience store in St. Michaels and bought several hot dogs and Cokes. While he was at the cash register, he noticed the latest issue of
Playboy
behind the counter and decided to purchase it and sneak it back to the room, so Kim wouldn't see it.

Steve liked to keep some magazines like
Playboy
around, but Kim always gave him a hard time about bringing them into the house because she was afraid Sarah would find them. However, Steve still bought them and hid them in his golf bag, suitcase, truck, or anywhere he thought Kim wouldn't find them.
(Again, contrary to Rosenberger's speculation, Mike and Maureen Miller, however, said nothing could be further from the truth. They said the only
Playboy
magazines Steve ever had were collectible editions that had belonged to his dad.)

There was some champagne in the room, so Steve and Kim each had a glass. Kim didn't like the taste, so she didn't have any more. The couple then settled in to read the
Washington Post
they had brought with them from home before going to dinner.

After dinner Steve stopped at the bar and bought two more beers to take back to the room. The couple then stopped at the hotel desk to get another fire log for the woodstove. Back at the room they put the log in the woodstove on top of the first one, which was still burning. Then they turned the television on to watch the movie
Tommy Boy.

Steve mixed a packet of Theraflu for his cold. Earlier, he had taken Effexor, Xanax, and Flexeril. The doctor had just doubled Steve's dose of Effexor for his depression, so he hoped it would help. He was taking the Flexeril because he had recently pulled a muscle in his back. When the movie was over, Steve started acting strange. He appeared to be drunk and was slurring his words. Even his movements were odd. Kim knew he hadn't had much to drink all evening, so none of this made sense.
(However, this statement directly contradicted the story Kim told police and anyone else who would listen—that Steve was totally sloshed.)

Steve was somewhat obnoxious and Kim became upset. She dressed and grabbed her coat, purse, and car keys, telling Steve she needed some space. Steve was still on his bed when she stormed out of the room. He had pushed the bedspread toward the end of the bed. Once Steve was alone, he decided to take out the new
Playboy
he had hidden in his suitcase. He didn't know where Kim had gone or how long she would be out. Since she could come back at any minute, Steve decided to lie down between the two beds with his feet facing the woodstove. He took two pillows off the bed to put under his head. Steve figured by lying on the floor, he would hear the door open before Kim could see him.