Gang Mom (21 page)

“Did you order any guns?”

“No.”

“Who did?”

“Jim, Joe, Wayde, Angel.”

“After that, did you see Angel with a gun?”

“Yes.”

“What kind?”

“Blue Smith and Wesson thirty-eight.”

“Did you touch it?”

“No, it was stuck in Jim’s pants.”

“Was it loaded?”

“No, they needed to buy bullets.”

If she never touched the gun, how did she know it wasn’t loaded?

“I told Jim to give the gun to Larry,” Mary continued, “because he was more responsible. Jim was playing with it. Angel had it the next morning for the thing in Mapleton.”

“Did you believe that she was going to shoot a woman in Mapleton?”

“No.”

Despite the fact that the gang members were making threats, despite the fact that they were walking around with a gun,
Mary Thompson
, Michaud thought,
in her infinite wisdom, didn’t believe they’d go through with it
. Just like she didn’t believe they’d go through with killing Aaron.

“Any other contact [with the gang members]?”

“Jim called and said he swore on his ’hood that he would get Aaron Iturra. I asked him if he meant his set, not his ’hood, and he said yes. I told him to let the Portland gang member take care of Aaron Iturra. They were the ones who had issue with him.”

The testimony of the Portland gang expert, Neil Crannell, completely contradicted what now appeared to be the cock-and-bull story that Mary had made up about “Sonny,” the mysterious gang avenger from Portland.

“Did you feel there was any danger to Aaron in regard to Jim?”

“No.”

“Joe had the gun, did you feel he was any danger to Aaron Iturra?”

“No.”

“What happened next regarding Aaron Iturra?”

Mary told the same story she’d told the cops about Brown and Elstad coming to her house after the murder, confessing what they’d done and how she helped Joe dispose of the murder weapon, even though she thought it all some sort of charade.

“Did you think they’d killed him?”

“No, I couldn’t believe it.”

“Did Joe tell lies?”

“Yes. I went home and told John, and John said, ‘It’s just another story, Mary.’ EPD was in the living room in the morning when I got up. They said Aaron Iturra was shot. They asked if I knew who did it. I asked them where Beau was. I thought maybe Jim and Joe were covering for Beau.”

“Did you tell EPD what you knew?”

“No, I said there was a man at the house the week before that may have something to do with it.”

“Was that true?”

“Yes.” And Mary proceeded to tell the jury about “Sonny.” This time, she embellished it a little. “He came in and said he needed to know about Aaron Iturra. He asked where he lived and if I had a picture. He said he wanted to see what Aaron Iturra did to Beau. I was evasive because I didn’t know him. He was well-dressed but had no ID.”

A well-dressed gang member? What, do they dress up when they’re going out to do “hits”? And the bit with the ID. A “gang avenger” comes to your door and you ask him for his ID? Not likely.

“Were these other people real or a fantasy?”

There was a long pause.

She’s pausing while she makes up her story
, Michaud thought.

“I told the EPD about other people who had conflict with Aaron. I tried to get more information about the gun. EPD said it was a small caliber. I was trying to decide if Jim and Joe really did it. Beau was at MacLaren. I thought maybe some other kids that were having trouble with Aaron earlier in the week did it.”

“Ever go to the police?”

“I went to the police and told them what I knew about Aaron Iturra. For three days I tried to put pieces together.”

Michaud could see it now. A new TV series—‘Mary Thompson, Private Eye.”

“I wanted to make sure Beau was safe,” said the concerned mother. “Angel came over and showed me the baby, and I asked her if she knew and she said Jim did it. I called Ric Raynor and left a message. He was at MacLaren talking to Beau and I wasn’t comfortable talking to any other officers. I had a responsibility to tell what I knew. John and I went to look at puppies. Then I went to get Raynor.”

And Mary related how she met Raynor, her friendly cop, and subsequently gave her statement to police.

“After Aaron Iturra’s death …” Chez began to fumble, forgetting Joe’s name. Collecting himself, he continued, “Did you have any communication with Joe?”

“Yes, I had daily conversations with Joe.”

I’ll bet that’s not all
!

“Did you discuss the murder?”

“Joe did. He got angry and said I wouldn’t believe him anyway. I tried to get Joe to go to the police. Asked him to talk to Raynor, but he refused.”

“Any communication with Jim?”

“He called Monday about Angel’s baby. I asked him if Aaron Iturra was in the hospital dying and he said he wasn’t aware of it. I asked if he shot Aaron and he said he wouldn’t talk on the phone.”

“Any further communication with EPD after the sixth?”

She had called Raynor in November. Seemed that someone was harassing her, through phone calls and letters mailed to her house.

“Anyone question you about your involvement in the murder?”

“Raynor, at my house.”

“Did you know that you were a focal point of the investigation?”

“I thought that I had hindered it because I waited so long to tell the police what I knew. I became aware on October seventh that I was a suspect. I retained legal counsel.”

“And was that me?”

“Yes, you advised me to keep in contact with the kids, but not to talk to EPD, except to tell them about the harassing notes.”

So, now, Mary the
stoolie
was back. Only this time, she was willing to rat on kids to save her own behind.

“Did your attitude towards EPD change?”

“Yes, it changed drastically after Beau’s arrest. The investigation was biased.”

Then Mary related her version of the chase.

“On the seventeeth, Beau went to get the gun away from Lisa. He felt she might use the gun on herself or someone else.” So Beau was trying to prevent a suicide attempt, rather than use the gun for criminal purposes. “Lisa wanted a claim to fame. She changed daily. She wanted to shoot someone, deal drugs. Commit suicide. I don’t care for that attitude.”

“Did you know the Suburban was stolen?”

“Yes.”

“How did you know?”

“Sam Warthan showed up in it. I asked where they got it and he said his uncle who worked at the DMV. Beau told me it was stolen and they had switched the plates. They were using the Suburban to get a gun. My Volkswagen wouldn’t start.”

“Did you attend a jumping in?”

“No.”

Liar
.

“Did you pick up Lisa at home on the twenty-fifth,” and take her to the gang induction ceremony at the park?

“No.”

Liar
.

“Take the kids in John’s truck?”

“No.”

Liar
.

“Give the kids bandannas?”

“No.”

Liar
.

“When you went to the police on October sixth, what did you feel your responsibility for Aaron Iturra’s death was based on?”

“I hadn’t paid enough attention to what the kids were saying or doing. If I had, he wouldn’t have died,” Mary said, and started crying.

Scripted tears, spare me
!

“How did you feel?”

“I felt terrible.” Mary continued to cry.

“Why don’t we take a recess,” Judge Velure broke in, “so the witness can collect herself?”

After the recess, Mary took the stand again, looking more composed.

“On October sixth, you told your concerns to the EPD?”

“Yes.”

“What were your feelings for Aaron Iturra at the time of his death?”

“I was still a little bit angry. I thought about calling him after Lars died. I was resolved to being over the anger and hurt.”

It was interesting. Mary used popular therapeutic terms like “issues” and “resolution,” and yet, of anyone in that courtroom, she probably had more unresolved “issues” and less “resolution” in her life than anyone else.

“Did you intend anything you said to hurt Aaron Iturra?”

“No!”

Liar
.

“Encourage others to hurt Aaron Iturra?”

“No.”

Liar
.

“Encourage others to beat up Aaron Iturra?”

“No.”

Liar
.

“Encourage others to kill Aaron Iturra?”

“No,” Mary answered, and again began to cry.

Scripted! Liar
!

“Are you glad they killed Aaron Iturra?”

“No.”

She neglected to point out that with Aaron dead, there was no one to testify against Beau, and that Beau had been released right after the boy was murdered.

“Can anything you said be interpreted to mean ‘Go kill Aaron Iturra’?”

“No.”

Liar
.

Mary continued to cry.
Wouldn’t want to break the momentum
!

Chez turned to Skelton. “Your witness.” Skelton got up to do the cross.

Skelton had been looking forward to this moment since the trial began. In most murder cases, the defendant doesn’t take the stand because they become too vulnerable. But Mary had, and now it was the people’s turn.

Unlike “Matlock,” defendants rarely, if ever, confess on the stand. In fact, as soon as one did confess, the judge would stop the proceedings to give the defendant her rights and advise her against saying anything more until she consulted with counsel. In other words, the judge would make sure the defendant kept her mouth shut.

The reality was that, to impeach the testimony of a witness, you had to trip them up in their own lies, show them to be a liar, all in front of a jury. It was no mean task, especially with a system-savvy defendant like Mary.

Go get her Steve
!

“Did you ask Sam to take the fall for the theft of the Suburban?” Skelton began.

Mary said that she believed Sam was responsible for the theft of the Suburban, and she was worried that Sam was gonna “snitch.”

“Are you denying your son did the stabbing at the Grocery Cart?”

“Beau never admitted that,” she answered cagily.

“You had the police report and the list of witnesses, right?”

“A partial list.”

“You knew Larry was there?”

“Larry told me.”

“When?”

“Right after Beau was arrested.”

“You were concerned about Beau’s participation?”

Mary’s number-one concern, she said, was getting the truth out, that Beau had had nothing to do with the Grocery Cart stabbing, that it was all Aaron’s fault. She was desperate to get this message out, because “Beau had several charges pending,” and would go back to jail if convicted of the stabbing. But Mary’s mission was repeatedly forestalled. She kept asking Larry Martin to go forward with the truth, and he kept refusing.

“Even though Larry
wasn’t even there
?”

“Yes, he was a gang member.”

“Did you finally persuade him?”

“He decided on his own.”

Yeah, right
.

“While Lisa was [at your house] did you make derogatory statements about Aaron Iturra?”

“Yes, Lisa and Joe did. There was name-calling.”

“Such as?”

“Asshole, f—er, punk, mark.”

“Did you make the statement ‘Snitches get killed’?”

“Not in front of Lisa.”

“To anyone?”

“Didn’t Detective Rainey say that?”

“I’m asking the questions here! Are you saying that you never said that?”

“I don’t remember telling Detective Rainey that he was a snitch.” She did say that Aaron had lied in his statement to police.

“The question was, did you say ‘Snitches get killed’?”

Mary sat on the witness stand as though she had wax in her ears. She just refused to answer.

“You aren’t gonna answer the question?”

“I remember Detective Rainey said, ‘Snitches get killed’” she finally answered.

“Did you ever say anything to Lisa that would make her conclude that you had made that statement?” Skelton asked, getting disgusted.

Mary muttered something. She was obviously stalling for time. But time had run out.

“Would the court make her answer?”

“No,” Mary answered finally.

“If you didn’t say anything, then why the statement during one phone call, ‘If you don’t tell, I won’t tell’?”

“On the phone, Lisa said that. Lisa said some things after Aaron Iturra’s death and the statement pertained to that.”

End of the day, the saga continues tomorrow, stay tuned for more riveting action
.

FIFTEEN

JULY 12

Jim “Mr. Blackwell” Michaud noted that, for the third day in a row, Mary wore the same blue outfit. Her gang color admittedly, but couldn’t she at least buy a new dress?

During the night, Skelton had carefully gone over his cross examination. For his part, he was determined to show Mary up as a liar on the stand.

“Well, Mrs. Thompson, you’ve had overnight to think about it. Regarding any conduct that you may have had with Lisa Fentress that was incriminating against Aaron Iturra, did you come up with anything else?” Skelton began.

“No,” Mary replied.

“Your October sixth statements to the police were complete disclosure, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Open the tape transcript to Number six-fifty, January twentieth. You are talking to Lisa about a police proposal that she take a polygraph. You say you don’t think Lisa could answer any questions about you or she would fail. Why worry about it if you gave complete disclosure on October sixth?”

“We had talked since then and I believed her. I felt it incriminated me for not telling the police.”

“Oh, you’d talked since then. So how would that incriminate you?”

“Because I didn’t tell the police about her meetings with Wayde, Jim, Joe to do things to Aaron.”

“Why does that incriminate you?”

“Because I didn’t tell. I had forgotten about her, I didn’t know her involvement.”