Gang Mom (8 page)

“Yeah.”

“When was that conversation?” Raynor wondered.

“I think that one came out in the truck with Joe. He said that he was going through the bitch’s purse, and Aaron turned his head and Jim never hesitated. He went, ‘Pooooh!’”

“How’d they get in the room?” Rainey continued.

“They went through the garage door.”

“
They
said that or
one
of them said that?”

“Joe said that.”

And motive? While the law didn’t require it, Rainey knew that motive helped to convict.

“Did you ask Joe why they killed Aaron that night?”

“No, ’cause I didn’t think they did it. I couldn’t believe it.”

Mary sounded extremely convincing.

“So, what was your understanding from either Jim or Joe about who was actually at Aaron’s place when the killing took place?”

That was crucial. With both boys on the scene, it would be two murder charges instead of one.

“My understanding from Joe Brown was that Joe Brown was there and Jim Elstad.”

“So, do you know how they got to and from Aaron’s house?”

Translation: Was there a getaway car with a driver we can also charge?

“On foot. I just concluded that they did it on foot.”

“What else can you remember Joe told you during the car ride?”

“He said something about if Jim gets caught, he’ll say he did it.”

“That he would take responsibility for killing Aaron?”

“Right. And I said something about, ‘Well, do you really think they’re gonna catch Jim?’ And he said, ‘Nah.’ And that also led me to believe that nothing had actually happened.”

“Did Joe indicate to you that he knew that when he went to Aaron’s place that night that Aaron was gonna die?”

“No.”

“So, is it possible from what they told you then, that when they went there, it wasn’t specifically with the plan of killing him? But that it just happened while they were there?”

In which case, it wouldn’t be premeditated and the death penalty would be off the table.

Mary looked perplexed. She shook her head. “I don’t know. I don’t have those answers. They didn’t tell me. And I wasn’t there.”

Rainey leaned in toward Mary and without thinking, she sat back in her chair.

“Was there any information from these guys or anybody else for that matter, that anything was taken from Aaron’s room?”

“No.”

“Then what was Crazy Joe going through her purse for?”

“Looking for her wallet.”

“And what was he gonna do with that?”

“Take the money!” Mary exclaimed, not bothering to hide the impatience.

“Is that what you know or are you guessing?”

“That’s just what I figured.”

“Mary, since then, since that morning, have you talked to any of these people?” Raynor interjected.

“I’ve talked to everybody since then, except Wayde Hudson,” she answered quickly.

She was glad Raynor, whom she trusted, had begun to question her. She felt that Rainey was just trying to trap her into some sort of admission.

“You’ve talked to Jim?”

She nodded.

“I talked to Jim on the phone on Monday while he was at the hospital and his sister was in labor.”

Jim Elstad’s sister Angel had been pregnant and had just given birth to a healthy baby boy. Angel had stopped by that night. She recalled that the girl had been too pregnant to get out of the car.

“Did you talk about the incident?” Raynor continued, substituting the less emotional word “incident” for “murder.”

“No. He called up and told me that Aaron Iturra had been shot. And I went, ‘So?’”

Gee, she’s being real emotional about this
, Rainey thought.

“See, this is all part of what’s mind-blowing to me,” Mary continued. “He said that the police had been there and put stuff on his hands, and there was nothing wrong with his hands. And then we talked about Angel. And at that point, when he told me nothing came up on his hands, I kind of thought, ‘Well, he didn’t do it.’ ’Cause what I know about it is what I got off the TV, and that stuff changes colors right away. You know? So, this was part of me not believing he did it.”

“How about Joe Brown? Have you talked to him since then?”

“I’ve talked to Joe every day. And, Joe just keeps calling me and telling me the cops are jammin’ him. And I said, ‘If you didn’t do anything, you have nothing to be guilty of.’ He said, ‘Yeah, you’re right.’ And then, it was kinda like, yesterday when Angel told me that Jim did it and that I needed to tell the police, I knew then that they did it for sure.”

“Well, let’s talk about that conversation with Angel then,” said Rainey, leaning back in his seat. “When did that occur? Did she call you or …”

“No, she came by on her way home from the hospital with Christopher, her baby.”

“Okay. So, the baby and Angel are there. You’re there. Is anybody else present during this conversation?”

“No.”

“And what does Angel tell you?”

“Angel walks back up under the carport and I look her right in the eye and I go, ‘These guys didn’t do this.’ And she said, ‘Jim did it.’ And that floored me. I was still trying to believe they hadn’t done it until Angel looked me in the eye and said, ‘Jim did it. That’s why you need to tell the police we were here Sunday night visiting until about eleven thirty.’”

In other words, Rainey thought, “Gang Mom” was supposed to provide Elstad and Brown with an alibi. They were visiting her instead of murdering Aaron.

“She was supposed to call me later in the afternoon, and I was supposed to go over and see the baby. And I assume that that was to talk to her about what had happened. And then, I had the phone call from you asking me what time they were here till. And I said, ‘Eleven thirty. Eleven fifteen or eleven thirty.’ And, I hung up and I said, ‘No. I can’t continue to do this.’”

Nope, Mary was a good citizen. She wouldn’t lie for one of her kids. But it was okay for Aaron to lie to protect Beau. She failed to see the irony.

Rainey said, “So when I call you later, after Angel has just spoken with you, the information that you gave me about them visiting the house earlier in the evening on that Sunday …”

“Was incorrect.”

“And that lie was based on what Angel had asked you to do.”

Mary nodded.

“Why would she ask you to do that as opposed to somebody else?”

“Well, because she was trying to make sure I said the same thing so there would be no questions.”

“She was trying to line up her story, then?”

Mary nodded.

“So you and Angel haven’t had any further conversations about the killing?”

“No.”

“No. And in terms of Jim Elstad, other than when he called you from the hospital, have you had any further contact with him?”

“No.”

“If I could back up for just a moment?” Raynor asked.

“Sure,” Rainey replied.

“In fact, were Elstad and Brown ever at your house on that evening till eleven fifteen or eleven thirty?”

“I don’t think so.”

“So you don’t have any further contact with Jim Elstad other than that phone conversation?”

“That’s right.”

“Was there anything distinctive about the gun in terms of damage, or any kind of wear pattern to it, or anything like that?” Rainey asked, getting back to basics.

“I never held the gun, I never fired the gun, didn’t even want to pay attention to the gun,” answered Mary emphatically. “Had all this not come down with my son, I’d’ve picked up the phone and called the police and told them these kids got a gun. I know how gang members get. They all sit around and talk nonsense.”

“Did the gun look newer to you versus beat-up or anything? What did it look like to you?”

“The gun looked like a thirty-eight.”

“Color?”

“It looked like a black gun. Or the correct terminology, a blue gun.”

Mary really knew her weapons. Only someone familiar with revolvers would know that what seems like a black color on gun metal is actually blue, the result of a bluing process done at the factory.

“In terms of the numerous contacts you had with Crazy Joe after the killing, did he continue to make statements to you about the killing?”

“No. He made statements about getting caught.”

“What were those statements?”

“That they’d never really catch him.”

“Why did he think that?”

“I don’t know why he thought that.”

“Was there any conversation with you and Joe about him feeling like he needed to take additional precautions to keep from getting caught?”

“No.”

“Did Crazy Joe ever express any remorse about what had happened?”

“No! They didn’t act, they didn’t act panicked. They didn’t act upset about it at all. I thought they should. I thought there should be, at least, you know, some remorse. And they never said. ‘Oh, I feel bad. I feel bad for me, I feel bad for Aaron. I feel bad for his family.’ They never said none of that.”

“But how can you be sure of what
they
said if the only one you had any real contact with was Crazy Joe?”

“Joe yesterday …” Mary began, then her voice trailed off as she realized she had been caught in a lie. Without giving her a chance to explain, Rainey continued, “Mary, it’s still not clear to me, in terms of at least Crazy Joe anyway. After the killing. Did he make other statements to you regarding the killing?”

“We talked on the phone. No. He was calling mostly to see how I was.”

“Did he ever tell you not to say anything to the police?”

“He asked me what I was telling the police ’cause I had told him the police were at my house. And I said I told them nothing. And he said, ‘Good. Don’t.’ And, that’s all he said about it.”

“I’m gonna have to switch this tape over. The time right now is 1344 hours,” said Rainey, shutting off the machine.

While the tape was being changed, Mary went to the bathroom. Rainey had a chance to talk with Michaud and told him of the substance of the interrogation so far, because that’s what it was, an interrogation, pure and simple. While neither cop was expecting Mary Thompson to confess to killing Aaron Iturra, they knew now that their instincts had been right. Mary was involved right up to her big fat neck.

“Okay, send a detective out to rattle Angel Elstad’s chain,” Michaud advised.

“She’ll never give up her brother Jim.”

“Maybe not, but maybe there’s something else she’ll say that’ll help us. And get warrants for Elstad and Brown. I want ’em brought in.”

SEVEN

Most times when death occurs, the bereaved can count on family to help out, but in Janyce’s case, that would not happen.

Janyce Iturra’s family lived in Portland. There were sisters and brothers there, a mother and a father still alive, but there had never been anything between them. To Janyce, they were a narcissistic bunch. To expect anything from them would be to set herself up for further disappointment and grief. Janyce’s opinion was that her kids wouldn’t even know their grandmother if she walked down the road.

If there was one positive thing about Aaron’s death, it just reinforced in Janyce’s mind that she wasn’t going to allow things to happen to her kids that had happened to her growing up.
I love my kids with all my heart
, Janyce thought.
And they know that. And growing up, I never even knew that was a possibility
.

Like her kids, Janyce was grieving. And like her kids, she was angry too. She wanted Aaron’s killer to die in the worst way. But there was nothing she could do about that anger because she was the one who had to remain in control. Revenge right now would just prevent her from going on. Better to push it down. She’d bring it out when the time was right. What was that old Sicilian proverb that she had heard someplace? Oh, yes, she remembered.

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

While her revenge lay thriving in her conscience, there were funeral arrangements to make. That was going to cost $5,000 and she didn’t know where she would get the money to cover the costs. And she needed help with Aaron …

“Tina, I can’t do everything by myself,” she told her daughter. Tina knew that.

“I’m going to have to ask you to grow up quick, baby. I want you to go shopping and pick out something he would like.” Janyce was asking her oldest daughter to pick out the clothes her son would be buried in.

Aaron no longer had to worry about school, but his siblings did. The kids had been out of school since the murder. Time to go back. She needed to get as much normality back into their lives as possible.

Living arrangements. Since the murder, they’d been living away from home, but she couldn’t impose on her friend any longer so she had to make plans to take her brood of five—no,
four
, she had to remind herself,
four without Aaron
—back home. Back to the house where her son had been murdered.

How do you clean blood off walls
?

Actually, you don’t. Because of its organic origin, blood seeps into the very fabric of the wall. Wipe it as much as you want, paint over it with oil- instead of water-based paint to hide its color, whatever you do, forevermore the blood will always be part of the house. Some part of Aaron will always be there.

And so, as Tina picked out her brother’s funeral garments, as Janyce simultaneously made plans to bury her son and move her brood back home, just miles away, the cops picked at the detritus of her life and began the second part of the questioning of the one woman who seemed to hold the key to what had really happened the night of Aaron Iturra’s death.

Despite their inaccuracy, “NYPD Blue” has very dramatic interrogation scenes. Usually, the suspect sits in the green interrogation room with the two-way mirror, at a scarred, pitted table. He sneers at “Sipowicz,” while “Simone” shouts out questions. Then, “Sipowicz” ’s hand lashes out like a whip to slap the suspect who clams up.

Let’s face it, really dramatic stuff. Real life instead of reel life?

Not
.

It takes hours for a cop to get the suspect settled and comfortable enough to begin to talk about what really happened, and then, if the cops are very lucky, to make a confession. While there may be some cool revelations that come out during interrogations, for the most part, they are cluttered with boring information. In Mary’s case, it was her fixation on dogs.