And Then She Killed Him (15 page)
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Investigator Hebenstreit had continuously been intrigued by Miriam Helmick’s comment in her conversation with several people about a car fire. In fact, Miriam had only brought up such an important incident very late in the interview, when asked directly by Detective Bev Jarrell if she had been involved with any other police matters. Miriam had mentioned that the authorities had found a wick-type item placed into the gas tank and ruled the fire as arson.
MCSO Investigator Chuck Warner contacted Sergeant Sean Wells, of the Delta Police Department, regarding the car fire of April 30, 2008. Sergeant Wells said that there had been a suspicious car fire on that date and the case was still under investigation. Wells faxed Investigator Warner a copy of the report about this car fire. The vehicle in question was a 1994 Buick Roadmaster registered to Alan and Sharon Helmick. The fire had occurred on the 700 block of Main Street in Delta, Colorado.
A short time later, Investigator Hebenstreit received a packet of material from the Delta PD related to the car fire. Included was an audio CD of Officer Summer Kirkpatrick’s interview with Alan and Miriam Helmick about the incident. The interviews had been conducted on May 1, 2008. During the interview, Miriam Helmick said that a woman named Barbara Watts was the only person she could think of who might have wanted to start a car fire. Miriam added that she didn’t know if Watts was in town.
When asked if she had any criminal history or was being investigated about anything, Miriam answered no. Miriam then said that she had put gasoline into the vehicle on Saturday, April 26, at the gas station connected with the Orchard Mesa City Market and Alan had not been with her at the time. Miriam also said that she usually drove Alan’s Chevrolet truck and not the Buick Roadmaster.
Miriam stated, “We go so many places together. We’re rarely apart.” And she admitted that it was unusual for her to go shopping or to a gas station without Alan. Officer Kirkpatrick noted that Alan had a number of businesses and asked if Miriam was part of that. She answered no, but she added that Alan liked her to go with him on his business rounds so that she would know what was going on. Miriam related that she sometimes made business phone calls for Alan, but legally she was not involved. Miriam also stated, “Everything is in Alan’s name—the house, bank account, credit cards. He gives me money and takes a draw from time to time from the dance studio I run. Life is wonderful.”
Officer Kirkpatrick asked Miriam to detail her actions on the day right before the car fire. Miriam said she had to use a bathroom because she felt ill. “As I got out of the car, I had been in such a rush, I dumped my drink and purse on the ground. I had to pick that up after I came out of the restroom. I’d even hit my head on the car door while rushing to the bathroom and it still hurts. I kinda passed Robin Cook coming out with the trash and I know she stood there and talked to Alan for a good five minutes while I was inside.”
At that point, Alan was back in the vehicle. Miriam continued, “I came back out and it was so hot I asked Alan to pop the trunk so I could go get my sandals. But when I went outside to get them, I had to turn around and rush to the restroom again.”
Officer Kirkpatrick asked, “So you did get your sandals out of the car?”
Miriam laughed and replied, “No . . . it’s got the electric lock on it, so I kinda pushed it (the car-key locking system) back down and ran back into the bathroom. I never even got to the back of the car.”
While Miriam was in the ladies’ room the second time, she said, she heard Alan come into the building and say to someone that he needed a fire extinguisher. Miriam related that she didn’t see any fire or smell anything while in the restroom. Then she added that the wind had been blowing hard that day, and it might have blown the smell in the opposite direction. In fact, it was so windy, when she dropped her water bottle, she had to chase it down the road later.
Miriam also said that Alan had asked for a cigarette when she was at the car, when she had been asking for her sandals. She gave him one just before running back into the restroom. Miriam related that she didn’t retrieve her sandals until later after the car fire was put out.
Officer Kirkpatrick asked Miriam a very pointed question. Why did the bathroom Miriam had been in smell like lighter fluid when officers went in there? Miriam answered, “Because Alan gave me the wick after the car fire and told me to do something with it. So I threw it in a garbage can. Alan then told me to get it back out later, which I did.”
Officer Kirkpatrick brought up the fact that Miriam had been looking for a pair of pliers after the car fire, and Kirkpatrick asked why. Miriam responded that Alan had seen a wick, but he couldn’t get it by just using his fingers. Miriam related that most of the wick had been in the tank, with a small piece sticking out near the gas cap.
Officer Kirkpatrick then dropped a real surprise on Miriam. Kirkpatrick said that there was a surveillance camera across the street pointed in the direction of where the car fire had taken place. Kirkpatrick asked Miriam what she thought they would learn from that. Miriam said she didn’t know.
In fact, this had been a ruse on Officer Kirkpatrick’s part. There was no surveillance camera across the street. Kirkpatrick wanted to see Miriam’s reaction to this statement.
Officer Kirkpatrick asked about life insurance policies and Miriam answered that Alan had life insurance, but all of it went directly to his estate, and those proceeds went to his children. Miriam added that Alan had been ill lately, but he was feeling much better now. And once again Miriam confirmed that Alan had been in the car at the time the fire started, and she had been in the restroom.
Summer Kirkpatrick next interviewed Alan, outside of Miriam’s presence. Alan told Kirkpatrick that both he and Miriam had been previously married, and both had lost their spouses. Concerning a motive for the car fire, Alan said there were only two people who came to mind as possible suspects. One was the former vice president of the Olathe State Bank. This was a man named Don, who had done some prison time after an incident Alan had reported. Even with that, Alan said he couldn’t imagine Don doing something like this.
The other person was Barbara Watts, whom Miriam had been involved with in the dance studio business. Alan said Barbara had once had Miriam arrested in Mississippi for bank fraud, stealing money from her checking accounts, and altering bank statements. Alan added that Miriam had been found not guilty in that case. Alan wondered if Barbara Watts was still angry about this and wanted to get even.
Alan then said that all of his money and assets were in his name, and Miriam was only a minor shareholder in the dance studio and horse-training business.
“Miriam is dependent on me to make money,” Alan claimed. The implication was that he was more valuable to her alive than dead.
Officer Kirkpatrick wondered why Miriam’s name wasn’t on everything, and Alan said they didn’t want to put her name on everything because of the problems Miriam had in Mississippi. Another reason was Miriam’s late husband’s problems with the IRS. Alan told Miriam he loved her, and no matter what they’d make the best of the situation and he’d stand by her. In fact, he had even told her that if she was guilty of the crimes in Mississippi and had to serve out some time, he’d stand by her and take care of her. “I know that Miriam isn’t a malicious person,” Alan declared.
Alan continued, “Her first husband didn’t leave her with anything. He was running around on her, pulling his money out of the bank to spend on other women.” Of course, these were things based upon what Miriam had told Alan about her first marriage.
Alan did admit that Miriam came with some “baggage.” He added, “I’m not saying she couldn’t have done it. I’m not stupid. And if she comes with malicious baggage, I’ll find out about it. You can always be wrong about people, and I didn’t want her on anything for a while.”
By those remarks, he meant he didn’t want Miriam’s name on his various business interests and in his will until he found out for sure about her. Then he added that he was worth several million dollars and he wanted the bulk of that money to go to his children and grandchildren when he died. Miriam seemed to be okay with that.
Alan added that he wanted the home in Whitewater to go to Miriam when he died. There was still a lot of debt on it, but he estimated that it had between $250,000 and $300,000 in equity. Alan said, “That’s her home, because we acquired and developed that, and developed the equity after we were together.”
Officer Kirkpatrick asked at what times the Buick had been unattended by either one of them in recent days. Alan said that Miriam told him she had gotten gas on Saturday, but she had a bad memory about specific dates. They had gone to the Texas Roadhouse on Sunday and it had been in the parking lot unattended at that time. Since then, it had not been out of their sight until it was at the parking lot on Main Street in Delta on April 30, the day of the car fire.
Alan said, “The car is in the garage ninety-five percent of the time.”
As to the morning of April 30, Alan said that he got up at around seven and noticed about that time that one of their horses had escaped. Just what he did about this, he didn’t say. Alan did say that he and Miriam went to the courthouse between nine and nine-thirty to pay taxes on two parcels in Delta County, and they parked between the library and jail. Both he and Miriam went into the courthouse together; then they drove to a parking space in a lot at the title business on the 700 block of Main Street.
Miriam followed him inside the building, and Alan went to the title office while Miriam went downstairs to the ladies’ room. After that, Miriam came up to the title company and sat outside the door, because “she didn’t want to be involved in the business.”
After he finished his business at the title company, which was actually the selling of his half interest in it, Alan said that he and Miriam left and got back into the car. Miriam had “stomach troubles” and jumped out of the car after giving Alan her last cigarette and cigarette lighter. When asked if he always smoked, Alan said that he had quit cold turkey on November 15, 2007. Alan added that he didn’t know it at the time, but his doctor told him later that quitting like that had been the worst thing for him. His body chemistry changed and his resistance to diseases went down. Alan related that he got the flu in January and kept getting sick off and on for months after that. Alan said that Miriam had made a deal with him that she would quit smoking when they went to Lake Powell on March 17, 2008. But they weren’t able to make that date because Alan was sick again. Since November, Alan admitted, he now smoked off and on, and felt healthier.
Officer Kirkpatrick asked if Miriam had dropped anything on the ground as she ran back into the building to use the restroom. Alan replied that she hadn’t, as far as he knew. He did say that Miriam’s purse was in the car, because he put the cigarette lighter back into the purse after using it. (Miriam, of course, had said just the opposite—that she had dropped it on the ground while running to the restroom and had to pick it up on her way back to the car.)
Alan added that he was sitting in the car, which was running, and Robin Cook came out of the building. Alan began talking with Robin, who was carrying a live wasp in a container. It may have been in a wastepaper basket, since Miriam had spoken of Robin emptying the trash. Apparently, she didn’t want to kill the wasp and let it go outside, instead. Alan and Robin spoke for about five minutes, until Miriam came out of the building after her first trip to the restroom. Before Miriam got into the car, she complained of being sick again. She rushed back into the building to use the restroom a second time.
While Miriam was gone that time, Alan sat in the car, listening to the radio, when he noticed a white plume of smoke coming from the back of the car. At first, he thought it was normal exhaust fumes and he turned the car off. But the white plume increased in intensity and volume, and he soon realized it was a fire coming from the car. Alan explained, “There were flames going everywhere!”
Alan stated that he rushed to the back of the car and then into the building looking for a fire extinguisher. As he searched the building, he met Miriam coming out of the restroom. He quickly told Miriam what was happening. She obtained a pitcher somewhere in the building, filled it with water, and ran outside, throwing the water on the car. She did this several times, running back and forth to collect more water.
Alan related that they called 911 immediately. Once he got the fire doused, he noticed what he thought was a piece of burned gas cap, but it turned out to be a “wick.” Alan said he pulled the wick out of the gas tank just before the police and fire department arrived.
Officer Kirkpatrick asked Alan why Miriam would want to get into the trunk of the vehicle. Alan said that Miriam always kept various sets of shoes and boots in there, and she had been wearing tennis shoes with no socks that day. He assumed the tennis shoes were bothering her, and she told him, “Pop the trunk. I need to get a different pair of shoes.” Alan thought this occurred just before he started talking to Robin.
Kirkpatrick asked if Miriam had changed her shoes to sandals, and he answered no, she hadn’t changed shoes. Alan surmised this was because Miriam got sick again and ran back into the building to use the restroom before she could do so. Alan commented that Miriam was the only one near the back of the car, and he would have been able to see if anyone else had sneaked up and put a wick into the gas tank. As to Kirkpatrick’s comment that it seemed that Miriam had been the one to start the fire, Alan responded, “But that can’t be! I’m the one who had the cigarette lighter.” And then he paused and was thoughtful.
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