Charlie's Key (8 page)
Soon as he leaves, I give my face another wipe and head up toward the gate.
“Hey, Tough Enough,” she says when I get close. “You two looked pretty intense down there.”
“Yeah,” I say. “Listen, I got a favor to ask.”
“Okay.”
“You guys got computers over there—ones you can do a search on?”
Clare nods. “Some stuff’s blocked though. YouTube, medical stuff. Porn.”
“What about newspapers? Can you search those?”
“I think so. I don’t use it much, just to check email—and even that has to go through the office server. Don’t want us setting up drug deals.”
I look to see if she’s kidding, but she’s not smiling.
“So if I give you some names, you could google them?”
“Sure. Who?”
“There’s two. Michael Sykes and Nick Sykes.”
“Okay. Michael and Nick Sykes. S-y-k-e-s?”
I nod.
“Okay. I’ll do it this afternoon…How’s your hand?”
“It’s okay. Looks worse, but hurts less.”
I show the bruise to her.
“I’ll go do that search now,” Clare says. “And see you out here tomorrow.”
I nod again.
“Say hi to Frankie from me.”
“Sure,” I say, but she’s already headed back up the hill. Watching her go, I think maybe I won’t say anything to Frankie at all.
Soon as I see Clare the next day, I know she’s read the stuff and that it isn’t good.
“Hey, Charlie,” Clare says when I get to the fence.
“Hey.”
“This is from the search.”
She slips a bunch of papers through the fence.
“Sorry about your dad—there’s a story about the accident in there.”
“You read it?”
“Sure. You didn’t say not to.”
“Guess not.”
“There’s other stuff too—about your uncle.”
“’Bout him killing people?”
She nods.
All of a sudden I’m almost crying.
“I gotta go—gotta read this,” I say, turning to head back to The Hollow.
“See you tomorrow,” Clare calls out, but I don’t turn round. Instead I go right to my room, shut the door and start reading.
The Telegram
, Monday, May
15
,
1989
POLICE SEEK MAN IN CONNECTION
WITH MURDER
Police started a province-wide search over the weekend for Nick Sykes, a St. John’s man suspected of killing a member of the Brothers of the Holy Order Saturday evening.
Officers from the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary and the RCMP manned checkpoints at the airport in St. John’s and at the Port aux Basques ferry terminal to the mainland after issuing a countrywide arrest warrant for Sykes on Sunday.
He’s wanted in the death of Brother Sean Sullivan,
53
, who was found dead Saturday evening in his apartment at the Cliffside Orphanage in St. John’s. The orphanage is run by the Brothers of the Holy Order.
Sykes had been a resident of the orphanage since
1987
and left last year when he turned eighteen.
Several Brothers at the orphanage are being investigated for alleged physical and sexual abuse of boys there over the past two decades, although police say Br. Sullivan is not among them.
RNC Staff Sgt. Randy Turpin says witness reports led them to issue the warrant against Sykes, though he wouldn’t give details on what witnesses told police.
Sykes is a white male, 19, with dark curly hair and a medium build. When last seen he was wearing blue jeans, a brown leather jacket and work boots.
Police say anyone spotting him should contact them immediately. They cautioned against approaching him, describing him as dangerous and possibly armed.
The Telegram
, Tuesday, May
16
,
1989
SYKES STILL AT LARGE
Police continued their search yesterday for the man wanted in connection with the murder of a Brother of the Holy Order in St. John’s over the weekend.
A warrant was issued Sunday for the arrest of Nick Sykes, 19, just hours after the body of Brother Sean Sullivan was discovered in Sullivan’s apartment at the Cliffside Orphanage Saturday evening.
Police are releasing a few more details about what they believe happened that night, noting witnesses describe hearing an altercation between Sullivan and Sykes early Saturday evening.
Sykes was seen leaving the orphanage just after six that evening.
An appeal for the public’s help in locating Sykes brought in several sightings over the past 24 hours, says RNC Staff Sgt. Randy Turpin.
“We’ve had a few good reports, all of which we’ve looked into,” Turpin said Monday. “There’s been a cluster down toward Trepassey, but nothing substantial yet.”
The public is warned not to approach Sykes, but rather to contact police.
Sykes is a white male, 19, with dark curly hair and a medium build. When last seen, he was wearing blue jeans and work boots. He was also wearing a brown jacket, which police now describe as vinyl, not leather, as reported Monday.
The Telegram,
Thursday, May
18
,
1989
SYKES ARRESTED IN TREPASSEY
Police arrested murder suspect Nick Sykes yesterday without a struggle after a postal worker reported seeing him leaving the Trepassey post office shortly after noon Wednesday.
Sykes is wanted for the killing of Brother Sean Sullivan, who was slain Saturday in St. John’s.
The tip that led police to Sykes came from an unidentified worker at the post office who saw the suspect leaving the building just as she returned from a lunch break.
Police believe he was searching the post office for cash since he had no money on his person when he was arrested.
Sykes will appear in court today.
The Telegram,
Friday, May
19
,
1989
File not found, contact server
The Telegram,
Tuesday, September
12
,
1989
Witness Puts Sykes at Scene
Nick Sykes’s first-degree murder trial began Monday in St. John’s with a young witness putting Sykes at the scene of the murder just hours before Sean Sullivan’s body was found last May.
The witness, whose identity is protected due to his age, was a resident of the Cliffside Orphanage at the time of the murder.
Under questioning by Crown Prosecutor Francine Richards, the witness told Judge Nelson Hamilton that he heard raised voices inside Sullivan’s apartment around suppertime on Saturday, May 13.
He told the judge he couldn’t identify who was speaking, only that they seemed to be having a heated disagreement “with lots of yelling.”
The witness testified the argument was still going on when he went to supper, just before 5:30
PM
. He headed back to his room shortly after 6:00, but went outside the orphanage briefly to search for a jacket he’d left at the playground earlier in the day. He testified that as he was getting his jacket, he saw someone leaving Brother Sullivan’s apartment through a rear window that exits onto a fire escape. He identified that person as Nick Sykes.
Testimony later in the day from RNC specialist Norm Henneberry showed police found footprints in the mud beneath the fire escape that matched the boots worn by Sykes when he was arrested three days later in Trepassey.
Henneberry testified the footprints were fresh and deep, consistent with an impression made by someone jumping from a height of several feet. The fire-escape ladder ends three feet, two inches above the ground, he told Judge Hamilton.
The trial continues today.
The Telegram,
Wednesday, September
13
,
1989
SYKES BROTHER REVEALS ABUSE
In a surprise move, the brother of suspected murderer Nick Sykes took the stand for the prosecution Tuesday, telling court Nick Sykes had made allegations of abuse against the Brother of the Holy Order he’s accused of killing.
Michael Sykes,
17
, told Judge Nelson Hamilton that Nick first mentioned the abuse when both Sykeses were living at the orphanage, in
1987
.
“He said something happened with Brother Sullivan—nothing more than that at first,” said Michael Sykes, who appeared nervous on the stand, frequently looking at his older brother.
The younger Sykes testified Nick eventually told him Sullivan had made “overtures of a sexual nature.”
Asked for details about the “overtures” by Crown Prosecutor Francine Riche, Michael said his brother refused to discuss specific acts.
“He just said it made him feel dirty—that Brother Sullivan was a pervert.”
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Jerry Purdy, Michael admitted Nick never directly threatened revenge against Br. Sullivan.
“He just said it wasn’t right—what was happening to the boys there—and that somebody ought to do something to make it stop,” Michael testified.
Mr. Purdy then asked Michael if he believed Nick was referring to himself when he used the word
somebody
.
“I don’t know who he meant,” he told the court. “The police, the church, Child Services—just somebody had to stand up and do something to stop it. He told me nobody gave a damn what happened to us, because we wasn’t rich kids—people figured we was just bad kids getting what we deserved.”
The day’s testimony took a toll on both brothers.
Michael appeared to be on the verge of crying more than once as he testified against his brother, while Nick used profanity in several shouted attacks where he denied what his brother was telling the court.
In the last and loudest attack, Nick warned his brother he’d never forgive him “for being a rat,” telling Michael “you’ll get what’s coming” as sheriffs escorted him from the courtroom.
The two came face-to-face briefly when Nick Sykes was escorted to the prison van by sheriffs at the end of the day’s testimony. Spotting Michael on the sidewalk, he lunged for his brother and had to be restrained by guards, who tore the elder Sykes’s jacket in the altercation. The confrontation ended with Nick Sykes spitting into his brother’s face before being dragged into the van.
Tuesday’s testimony marks the first time the prosecution has entered evidence suggesting a motive for the slaying. Police had earlier ruled out robbery, since nothing was removed from Sullivan’s apartment.
Several Brothers at the orphanage are under investigation for physical and sexual assaults against boys there that extend back two decades, but until Tuesday’s testimony there had been no suggestion of any abuse on the part of Brother Sullivan. The trial continues tomorrow.
The Telegram,
Thursday, September
14
,
1989
File incomplete, error 177…determined the blow as the cause of death.
“It fractured the victim’s skull,” testified Dr. Wasabi.
“In this case,” the pathologist said, “it appears the single blow from a sharp object was sufficient to kill the victim. The killer would have to have been in a highly agitated state to deliver such a blow.”
The Telegram,
Monday, September
18
,
1989
SYKES FOUND GUILTY
The jury hearing the case against Nick Sykes took less than three hours to reach their verdict Saturday, finding the St. John’s man guilty of killing Brother Sean Sullivan last May.
But in returning a verdict of manslaughter rather than first-degree murder, the jury dismissed the Crown’s closing argument that Sykes planned the killing in advance.
Still, the jury left no doubt that the
19
-year-old was the person who battered Sullivan’s skull inside the Brother’s Cliffside Orphanage apartment, sometime between
5
:
00
and
6
:
00
pm on May
13
.
Nick Sykes had lived at the orphanage between
1987
and
1988
, when he was released at age
18
. Also living there was his younger brother Michael, whose testimony for the prosecution last week established motive for the murder.
Sentencing will take place September
27
.
The Telegram,
Thursday, September
28
,
1989
SYKES RECEIVES MINIMUM SENTENCE
Nick Sykes will spend the next
5
years inside a federal prison for killing Brother Sean Sullivan.
Judge Nelson Hamilton imposed the sentence Wednesday, rejecting the Crown’s call for a sentence of at least
10
years.
“While causing the death of another human being is always a grave act,” said the judge, “I had to take into account Nicholas Sykes’s motivation for his attack stemmed from his own suffering at the hands of Brother Sullivan. While not excusing the attack, it does offer an insight into the workings of the attacker’s mind.”
Sykes was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury this month in the May slaying of Brother Sullivan.
Sykes’s sentence will be served at the federal penitentiary in Dorchester, New Brunswick.
It began immediately, with the convicted murderer escorted from the courtroom in shackles, led away by two sheriff’s officers.
The Telegram,
Friday, August
2
,
1993
SYKES KILLS AGAIN
Convicted killer Nick Sykes has been found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of a fellow inmate at the Dorchester Penitentiary in New Brunswick.
Sykes was found guilty Thursday, along with two other prisoners, who all took part in a March 14 riot that left one inmate dead and 13 injured. Three guards were also hospitalized after the riot, which began when an Easter showing of the movie
Ben Hur
was cancelled due to the discovery of illegal homebrewed liquor in several cells.
Sykes was convicted of murder along with Stephen Duchy and Art Griswald. New Brunswick Supreme Court Justice Paul Caseman found all three equally responsible for planning and starting the fire on the prison’s D Wing, which led to the death of a prisoner trapped in his cell.