Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell (59 page)

Additional information suggests that he may have been involved in other questionable practices while administering pelvic examinations. The information suggests that he gave an unusually large number of pelvic examinations, the examinations lasted an inordinate amount of time and it appears that some patients were subjected to treatment that was not medically necessary. The observation was that during the long pelvic examinations, patients would be squirming on the table and forced to endure treatment that was not medically necessary.

Information from Crawford indicates that there was one instance in which a nurse's aide at the Crawford Hospital complained to nurses about Mr. Story's treatment of one elderly patient. The nurse's aide reported that during a supposedly routine examination, Story was "just playing with her."

The information from Crawford indicated that Dr. Bishop was advised of the alleged misbehavior by Mr. Story and Dr. Bishop confronted, or at least discussed the situation with him. Following the discussion with Dr. Bishop, Mr. Story's questionable practices ceased and only a short time later he left Crawford for Lovell, Wyoming.

Sironen now had the answer to a key question, one that was asked by every sentencing judge: Is there an established pattern, or is this an isolated case? It appeared that the formation of Story's M.O. went back almost twenty-eight years. Experience had shown that offenders who followed a pattern often returned to it on release, especially if they refused to admit their guilt or undertake a program of rehabilitation. Despite his medical degree and mild appearance, Dr. John Story was shaping up as a textbook example of the hardened criminal.

Three weeks after the first interview, the PSI found himself back in the Park County Jail. This time Story had several things on his mind. "You're not gonna talk to my brother Jerod, are you?" he asked.

Sironen said he hadn't decided.

"Well, he won't be any help. I'd rather you didn't talk to him." He paused. "Will you be seeing my mother?"

"I may," the PSI said.

Story looked ruffled. "When you talk to her, I think you should be sure to clearly explain what you're doing. Maybe somebody else should be there, because I don't know what you're gonna do to her."

Sironen thought, This man still thinks he can give orders. "I don't understand," the PSI said. "What do you think I would do to your mother?"

"I don't know, but she's eighty-five years old. Don't give her any false hopes."

They chatted for a while. Then the investigator said, "I haven't found anything to indicate that you're not guilty, or anything to suggest that you're interested in rehabilitation. If you keep on denying everything, you'll give the judge no choice. You're not crazy —that's been established at the state hospital—so he can't send you down there. He can't put you on probation, because you're not treatable. How can you be treated when you won't admit you have a problem? Now let's talk about this and see if we can come up with alternatives. If we can't give the judge some options"—he paused for emphasis—"you're going to the pen."

Story began a lengthy peroration. The PSI described it in his final report:

Mr. Story reported that he believes the present offense resulted from a conspiracy involving one Arden McArthur and the Mormon Church. Mr. Story reported that he believes that because he refused to join the Mormon Church at the repeated urgings of Mrs. McArthur, she has gone on a personal campaign against him. He reported that Mrs. McArthur alleged that her two daughters had been assaulted by him in the past and she is the one that stirred up all of the other individuals in the community to come forward and falsely accuse him.

When asked repeatedly and directly for any information substantiating his beliefs about Mrs. McArthur and her church connection, Mr. Story was only able to give vague descriptions of how Mrs. McArthur had a great deal of power and influence over a majority of the women in the community.

Mr. Story further reported that he believed the conspiracy against him was more widespread than just within the community of Lovell. He reported that due to his lack of cooperation with the State Medical Board over the years, particularly concerning welfare patients, people at the state level were also in a conspiracy against him.

When asked to provide specific information, Mr. Story again was unable to provide details of any type of conspiracy. When questioned specifically about how one woman in a small community such as Lovell could somehow influence a statewide conspiracy against him, Dr. Story was unable to provide any explanation.

The two men discussed the "conspiracy" for another hour. Story asked, "Do you know the connections on the Lovell police department, how many are related to my accusers, how many are Mormons?"

Sironen replied, "In any group in Lovell, you're gonna find relationships like that."

He tried to get Story to discuss the cases on their merits, one by one, and this time elicited a few comments. Story said he felt sorry for Hayla Farwell; "she had marital problems and medical problems." Both Farwell and Mae Fischer, he said, were "easily led." He made vague charges about Terri Timmons' reputation, called Wanda Hammond "unattractive," claimed that Annella St. Thomas had made her accusation as a result of "family problems" and that Emma Lu Meeks's late husband had had "quite a reputation." It was the same sort of character assassination he'd attempted on the witness stand. He seemed jittery as he ran down the list, repeatedly clearing his throat and shifting in his chair.

After two hours, the PSI asked, "What about your strange examining room practices in Crawford?"

Story turned pale. Several times he started to talk, then finally said in a voice just above a whisper, "You went to . . . Crawford?"

"Yeah."

"Who'd you talk to?"

"I don't think that's important. What's important is the indication that you were doing the same kind of thing."

"I never raped anybody in Crawford!" Story said, raising his voice for the first time. His color went from gray to pink, and his brown eyes flashed. "Who said that?"

"I didn't say you raped anybody. I just said you were doing strange things in the examining room."

The conversation deteriorated. Finally Sironen said, "Look, I'll sit here for three more hours if you want me to, but we're not getting anywhere. Unless you've got something else to tell me, I'm done."

Story glared. The PSI flipped off his tape recorder and called for the guard to open the door. Back at his office, he dictated his conclusions:

Mr. John Story appears to have established a very definite pattern of criminal behavior which includes humiliation, victimization and sexual assaults on select female patients. It appears that this behavior has progressed from its initial stages of simply humiliating women in the examining room as early as 1958 in Crawford, Nebraska, to actual sexual assaults on female patients in Lovell as recently as 1983. He appears to have been quite selective concerning his victims in that, for the most part, he selected only those women who were particularly vulnerable at the time. It appears that Mr. Story used a wide variety of methods to select his victims and to increase their vulnerability.

First, it appears that he used his position of authority as a doctor to intimidate patients. It appears that he then based further actions on individuals' responses to his position of authority as a doctor and if they seemed particularly easily led or influenced, he continued with his victimization. Throughout the police department investigation and this investigation are references to Mr. Story's view of himself as a doctor. He did not like to be questioned about his medical decisions or, for that matter, any decisions, and he made that quite clear with people he worked with. Additionally, he did not volunteer information to his patients or other individuals concerning medical decisions.

Second, Mr. Story has a good command of the English language. He has a substantial vocabulary and a good understanding of semantics. It appears that he has developed a pattern of using the language to help intimidate, confuse and humiliate other people.

Again, during the investigation it was learned that it was widely known that Mr. Story could talk all around a subject or talk over people's heads and did so regularly. It appears that when he combined his command of the language with his knowledge of medicine and medical terminology, he easily confused and intimidated a good number of people.

Finally, it appears that Mr. Story believes that he is superior to most other individuals in society. This seems evidenced first by his criminal behavior in the present offense and additionally by his attitude toward various social programs, rules and controls suggested by the state of Wyoming. It appears that he has the attitude that the laws and rules apply to all other individuals, but not to himself.

With such an attitude, it seems quite understandable how he could continue to humiliate, intimidate and victimize his patients with probably a relatively clear conscience. Throughout the trial on the present offense and his incarceration pending sentencing, he has steadfastly maintained his innocence and proclaimed he was convicted as the result of some grand conspiracy against him. It would appear to this Writer that the idea of a conspiracy would be the only way he could allow himself to view his situation, as he is far superior to other individuals and only a conspiracy could have resulted in his conviction.

In this writer's opinion, Dr. John Story does not appear greatly different from other rapists this writer has dealt with, except that he has a better education and has committed a larger number of offenses. His attitude toward the present offenses appears to be that he is above the law, the laws are for other people and that his only mistake was in getting caught. He appears to have somehow made the determination that it is okay to sexually assault his patients in the examining room, but it is probably not okay to have an affair with his neighbor's wife or to murder someone. It is not clear, however, how he has made that distinction and what would stop him from going even further in his victimization of people.

In his report, Sironen noted that there were twenty-two confirmed victims, seventy-five unconfirmed, "and perhaps more."

Shortly before the sentencing hearing, a copy of the PSI's observations was turned over to Story and the defense lawyers. Next to the

PAUL SIRONEN

information from Crawford, the doctor scribbled, "Lie . . . lie." He sprinkled question marks throughout the document and underlined numerous passages. In the repeated references to "Mr. Story," he overwrote each M into a D.

86

SENTENCING

Marilyn wrote in her journal: "John has now been in prison 55 days. The sentencing will be June 18th. John is so strong. Lord, protect his mind, his body, his spirit. . . ."

The Defense Committee spent weeks preparing for the sentencing hearing. Jan Hillman and her mother stitched up boxfuls of white armbands and painted big banners:

FREE DR. STORY SET MY DR. FREE WE BELIEVE IN DR. STORY WHO'S NEXT, ARDEN?

A week before the hearing, Committee members began a telephone campaign, urging Story supporters to attend and bring as many others as they could round up. The plan was to fill the small courtroom, shut out the prosecution groupies and the whiny victims, and make an impression on the judge.

At daily prayers in the Bible Church, Reverend Ken Buttermore continued his message of nonviolence: "Don't get angry. Moses got angry and failed to believe. The people angered and provoked him and he struck the rock twice. We cannot let people provoke us to anger. We must keep our eyes fixed on Christ in praise, and thank
Him,
despite what Dr. Story's accusers are doing."

Parishioner Rex Nebel recruited two of his biker friends from Billings. "Hey, one of these guys looks like Bluto in the cartoons," he told a friend. The other muscleman wore a T-shirt with a black widow spider across the front. Both were veterans of Vietnam and the North California marijuana wars. Rex outfitted them in black baseball caps with "WAR" inscribed on the peaks. The letters stood for "Won't Accept the Rapes."

"In case things get out of hand," he told his imported centurions, "we'll just kick ass. We'll tear that place apart. We'll stomp those little husbands through the walls."

On sentencing day, the sun came up in a cloudless June sky. Picketers arrived hours early. They wore white armbands and flowers to symbolize Dr. Story's purity and innocence. Jan Hill-man handed out her placards and was pleased to see some new ones appear:

ASK GARY DOTSON—WOMEN
DO
LIE WYOMING LAW-EVIDENCE APPRECIATED, BUT NOT REQUIRED

The conservative Wes Meeker marched under the weeping birch in front, his grandchildren following him with placards. "If anybody had ever told me I'd be carrying a sign," he called across the lawn to Hillman, "I'd've had their brains examined!"

"Hey, Wes," Jan bantered back, "I've done it before. It's no problem. You'll feel right at home!"

The Defense Committee's new watchword was passed from mouth to mouth: "Don't Let the Flowers Wilt." No one knew exactly what it signified, but it had a nice ring.

As cars drove up and parked, Defense Committee members photographed the license plates and occupants for future reference. Cordons of placard-waving supporters formed along the walkways to the front and side doors. The judge walked past Nebel's security force and said, "Good morning, gentlemen." The big men stared through mirrored shades.