Gang Mom (20 page)

Chez was making a valiant try, but he didn’t have much of a defense. The prosecution tapes and witnesses had been particularly damning. The only thing that might persuade the jury to see reasonable doubt and therefore acquit his client was to have her testify. Of course, that was a dual-edged sword; the prosecution would get a crack at her too. But they had no choice.

JULY 11

This was it, the highlight of the trial, “Gang Mom” herself testifying. Would Chez be able to turn the tide that seemed to be moving inexorably against his client? Or, would Skelton march forward and take her apart?

“Do you, Mary Thompson, swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

“I do,” Mary said, and sat down in the witness box. Michaud noticed that she had dressed for the occasion. She was wearing the same blue pants outfit for the second day in a row. Blue—her gang color.

Chez began with the basics, establishing that Mary was married to John Thompson, that she’d lived in Eugene approximately eight years, and in southern Oregon before that, that she had gotten interested in gangs due to the criminal involvement of her seventeen-year-old son Beau Flynn, whose criminal behavior first surfaced in 1992, and that her talks with Chuck Tilby, one of Eugene’s two gang cops, sparked her further interest in gangs. She needed to know why Beau was attracted to gangs.

“What caused you to think Beau Flynn was interested in gangs?” Chez continued.

In a slow, sincere tone of voice, Mary said that things began to feel wrong around her house. She got wind that Beau was committing crimes. Then there was his school locker, painted on the inside with gang graffiti.

“Did you find a gun?”

“Yes, in his bedroom in a box of baseball cards.”

Baseball cards
? Michaud wondered.
Those are worth money. Why’d he bother to steal
?

Mary said that she had called Ric Raynor after finding the gun. By that time, Beau was already in jail for the first time.

Mary’s allegiance to Raynor was making the cop’s life difficult in the department. Many saw him as too sympathetic to a woman they believed to be a stone-cold killer.

“Did you subsequently get involved with gang members?”

“Yes, on the mall. They all had a story to tell. I would talk to them. Some were Beau’s friends, some weren’t.”

“Do you know gang signs?”

“Yes,” Mary said, and proceeded to sign some of them for the court.

“Where did you learn the signs?” Chez wondered.

“All over,” Mary replied obliquely.

“From Aaron Iturra?”

“Yes.”

So
that’s his strategy
, Michaud thought.
Discredit the victim and the jury comes back with a “not guilty
.”

Chez went on to establish Mary’s anti-gang credentials as a member of the Gang Prevention Task Force. She was recruited, she said, by Officer Chuck Tilby, the same guy who was quoted in the
Register Guard
story as saying, “We need a hundred more like her” about Mary.

“What were your duties in the task force?”

“Gang prevention in Lane County, attending meetings, working on efforts to make a bus banner saying ‘Don’t let gangs make a killing here.’ Also made T-shirts. I also attended a downtown conference on gangs.”

“Do you know gang members?”

“Yes.”

“What gangs are here [in Eugene]?”

Mary listed them by name: Crips, Bloods, Asian Pride, Latino sets. She was a sort of sociologist, interested in the whole concept of gangs. “I became obsessed, to get my son back.” Books, documentaries, gang conferences, corresponding with police and juvenile authorities in San Francisco and Los Angeles, Mary became a real gang expert.

“Do you know what
mixing in
means?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know?”

“I watched a documentary about it.”

“Was Beau jumped in?”

“Yes, he told us some time later.”

“Were Joe Brown and Jim Elstad jumped in?”

“I have no knowledge of them jumping in.”

“Was Beau Flynn ever incarcerated?”

“Most of his young life.”

“Was Beau in MacLaren in 1994?”

“He had been released.”

“Was he home?”

“Yes.”

“Were his friends at the house when he was home?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Larry Martin, Wayde Hudson, Jim Elstad, Joe Brown.”

“Was the house a magnet [for gang members] when Beau was home?”

“Yes, when he was home, and away.”

“How did you feel about that?”

Mary had no problems with the gang members hanging out at her place. She knew that if they were at her house, then they weren’t out committing burglaries. In the interests of protecting the community, “They would talk and I would learn from them. I didn’t judge them for their gang activities. They needed somewhere to be where they were able to be themselves.”

“Did you walk the walk?”

“Yes.”

“What does that mean?”

“I can talk the gang lingo, do gang signs, but I’m not really sure what
walk the walk
means. Beau would do this little thing, this little dance when he talked about his crimes. I guess that was it.”

A regular Fred Astaire
.

“Were you promoting or discouraging gang activity?”

“I’m not against gangs, I’m against gang violence. I don’t want them to hurt people. I was able to intervene with the police.”

“Did you have Beau arrested?”

“Many times.”

“Did you turn kids in for having arms?”

“Yes, I would call Tilby or another officer.”

“In 1994, after Aaron Iturra’s death …”

“I knew very little about Beau’s crimes prior to the death. After the death, Beau was released to me.”

Then, despite the tapes the jury had heard, Mary gave an impassioned defense of Beau’s character. How he “tried to do the right thing and then would try to deviate. He was brutally honest about his crimes. He started to hook up with the wrong people.”

Skelton was on his feet in a flash.

“Objection, hearsay.”

“I’ll allow it to explain Ms. Thompson’s activities,” said the judge.

“Beau got no greater high than stealing while people were asleep. It’s his rush in life, how he gets his high. I made a deal with him to not do any more crimes until after Christmas and then another one to stay clean until after New Year’s, then we made daily deals to try to keep him home. He enrolled in Lane County Community College.”

Beau Flynn, college boy. What would he do to a professor who didn’t give him a good grade? Intimidate him? Burglarize his house? Shoot him?

“Do you know Wayde Hudson?”

“I met him through Aaron Iturra in 1994.”

“Was he in your house?”

“Yes.”

“Larry Martin?”

“I met him through Aaron Iturra in 1990.”

“Joe Brown?”

“We met in, 1993 or 1994. I’m not sure when.”

“Jim Elstad?”

“Same as Wayde.”

“Angel Elstad?”

“I met her the Friday before Aaron Iturra’s death.”

Not according to Angel, who’d previously testified she had gone over to Mary’s house ten or twenty times prior to the crime.

“Linda Miller?”

“I met her downtown on the mall in ’92. Beau was on the run and I met her while looking for another gang member who might know where Beau was.”

“Cameron Slade?”

“I met him through Aaron Iturra in 1994. He wasn’t a frequent guest at the house. I didn’t care for him much.”

So now it’s Aaron that’s the common link between all these gang members
, thought Michaud.
What, is this like the Kevin Bacon game on the net
? Pick any actor in Hollywood and you can find a way they are linked to Bacon. Only in real life, pick any gang member, Mary was asserting, and chances are they got into the gang because of Iturra.

“Who were the gang members?”

“Joe Brown, Aaron Iturra. Linda Miller claimed she was. Claimed she knew Tupak Shakur, the famous gang rapper. Only Beau was a Seventy-four Hoover. After Beau was arrested, Wayde, Joe and Jim claimed to be Seventy-four members.”

“Lisa Fentress?”

“I met her at a gang-prevention meeting. She claimed membership in [another gang,] Sir Thirteen.”

“How about other affiliations?”

“Seventy-four Hoover, not sure, maybe December or after Aaron Iturra’s death.”

“Are you a member?”

“No.”

Liar
, Michaud thought.

“You’re not a Seventy-four Hoover member?”

“No.”

Liar
.

“You’re not the leader of the Seventy-four Hoovers?”

“No.”

Liar
.

“Was Larry Martin at your house in late ’94, early ’95?”

“He lived there. He had issues at home and stayed at our house.”

“Was Aaron Iturra at your house before September?”

“A lot. Weekly.”

“Were Elstad or Brown?”

“Every so often with Wayde.”

“Did you have a dispute with Aaron Iturra?”

“Yes.”

“Over what?”

“Beau was arrested at Willamette High School. Beau was handcuffed in one room and Aaron Iturra in the other. Officer Grimes stated that Aaron said he took Beau’s knife to keep Beau from hurting anyone. I was upset. I didn’t think Beau stabbed anyone ’cuz he said he didn’t. I couldn’t believe Aaron was lying.”

It was a mystery why Skelton hadn’t objected. Whatever Grimes said to Mary was hearsay.

“Did Aaron look out after Beau?”

“I didn’t ask him to,” answered Mary, ducking the question. “Aaron Iturra told Beau they would hang out and do it right. I thought that Aaron could be a positive influence. He had risen above gang life. He was a talented artist. He was dealing with his issues and had a goal. I thought Aaron was above all this. I felt that Beau needed someone to go to. I felt all of us were honest with each other.”

Now there’s a mind-boggling concept
, thought Michaud.
Mary Thompson and honesty
.

“Did any of the kids say Beau did the Grocery Cart?”

“No.”

“Did they say anything different happened?”

Mary proceeded to say that it was Aaron who really had the knife, that Wayde, who was also there, got a hold of it somehow, and “Wayde said he had the knife but didn’t think he stabbed anyone.”

“Did you turn the knife in?”

“Yes.”

“Where did you find it?”

“In Aaron Iturra’s jeans piled up in the corner of Beau’s closet.”

“Were Aaron Iturra’s clothes at your house?”

“Yes.”

“What else?”

“His school stuff, backpack, clothes.”

“Did you return his stuff to Aaron Iturra’s house?”

“Yes, there was quite a bit. I gave it to Tina. I later asked Aaron if he took the knife from Beau. He said no, he said he took it from Wayde! We argued about Grimes’s questioning at the high school. Aaron Iturra lied because Beau lied,” Mary said, and started crying.

What a great performance
.

“I was hurt. I changed my opinion of Aaron Itura.” She continued to cry.

“Did you say negative things about Aaron Iturra to the kids?”

Michaud leaned forward.

“Yes, I was hysterical after Beau’s arrest. Beau told Wayde to tell the truth. I paged Martin and Wayde. Larry called back and said he’d find Wayde. Then a pickup came and all these kids piled out. They were very upset. They said they can’t believe Aaron Iturra lied. I told them all he had. I cussed him and said I wished he were dead. I made the statement September sixteenth, after the arrest.”

“Any other statements?”

“Yes, I said I wish he were dead. Me, Joe and John were present.”

“Any more negative statements?”

“None to that magnitude. I refused to have his name spoken in my house.”

“Any of the kids say anything negative about Aaron Iturra?”

“No.”

“Any kids threaten to kill Aaron?”

“Joe and Wayde in a group setting.”

“Did
you
ever say Aaron Iturra needed to be taken care of?”

“No!”

The tapes, of course, contradicted her. But one thing for Mary—she was giving it her best shot.

There followed a series of questions about Mary’s current and past drug usage. She testified that she didn’t currently inject meth or snort it, or for that matter, smoke pot. Who knows? If she was asked if she had ever used pot, she might have answered, “Yes, but I didn’t inhale.” Then, to prove his client wasn’t a saint, Chez asked if she had ever used drugs and Mary answered truthfully, “Yeah, at different points in my life.”

“What is your house policy regarding drugs?”

“They could come to work through their problems, I wouldn’t hide them. I respected them and they had to respect me by following the rules. No drugs. I wasn’t running a flop house. They had to leave if they had drugs but could come back without them.”

This despite the fact that gang members testified that they shared drugs with Mary.

“Alcohol?”

“It was not allowed in the house except for one occasion, when Beau was released and they were determined to get smashed, so I bought them some to drink at home.”

“Ever inject meth?”

“Yes, in late April 1988 in southern Oregon. Hadn’t used it prior to that for some time. I was an informant.”

Well, for a change, an honest answer
.

“Did you have contact with the kids after your dog Lars died and before Aaron Iturra’s death?”

“Yes, with Larry, Joe, Angel and Jim. Jim and Angel said they were going to Mapleton to kill a woman who’d abused her child.”

Those in the courtroom listening had to wonder why, if there was even only a kernel of truth in that statement, she hadn’t called Raynor or Tilby immediately.

“Did they have a gun?”

“Yes, Joe did.”

“Where did the gun come from?”

“Joe Brown stole it in a burglary.”

“Did the kids talk about the Pleasant Hill burglary?”

“Yes, there was talk all summer about a gun store in the country that didn’t have an alarm system. Joe Brown wanted to do it. The weekend of Beau and Aaron’s arrest, I learned it was in Pleasant Hill. I said they couldn’t or they would get caught and go to jail. I told them it was federal mandate that all gun stores have alarms hooked into the police department. But gang youth always have a story, each badder than the one before. I thought they were just talking.”