Jane Doe No More (27 page)

The anxiety was building as I waited for the DNA results on Jeff to come back. At that point, it was all we had, and I needed answers. I trembled listening to Pudgie tell me there was no match. I was torn. I . . . was glad it wasn’t him, but could the results be trusted? Are we really back to square one? Will the perpetrator ever be found? Will I ever know the truth?

Captain Robert Moran weighed in with his report to IA on June 24, 1994. Considerably shorter than his brother’s twelve-page explanation, the captain appeared to be standing proudly by the side of his officer, the WPD’s investigation up to that point, and the way in which Donna had been treated by the lieutenant. Yet it was how Captain Moran articulated his belief in his officer that hurt Donna most.

Captain Moran highlighted the fact that the Vice Squad did not hear about Donna’s assault until September 13 (two days after the assault, that Monday). He made it clear that the officers at the scene “were not members of the Vice and Intelligence Division.”

The captain had passed the buck.

Next Moran focused on how Donna had repeatedly asked him to listen to the tape of the interview his brother had conducted with her. His reason for not listening to that tape, which had not existed anyway, was fairly simple: “I felt that Ms. Doe and Lieutenant Moran basically concurred as to what was said during the interview in question, making review of the tape a futile, time-consuming exercise. I feel that it is unfortunate that the tape does not exist, but that it is a moot point.”

Donna being victimized for a second time and threatened with jail, as well as having her kids taken away, was now a
moot
point. It didn’t matter to the captain.

As far as reprimanding Lieutenant Moran for what he had allegedly done to Donna, Captain Moran said he had never been asked to do anything to the lieutenant and, in fact, “Mr. Doe [requested] that Lieutenant Moran remain on the case . . . indicating that they were not seeking any disciplinary action.”

This comment from Captain Moran was absurd. It was a clear indication to us that even the captain had no regard for the emotional damage that I may have incurred during the interview by his brother, nor did he, as a leader, have any desire to find out if his brother acted inappropriately. Here was an audio recording of the whole interview, and he could not be bothered to listen to it!

As for John’s comment, well, it was taken totally out of context. John didn’t want Lieutenant Moran taken off the case simply because he wanted the case solved and the perpetrator found. He wanted Moran to get back to work and get on the right track. This was just one more ridiculous distortion of the truth. They were hiding behind lies.

No matter what Donna, John, or Maureen thought about the Morans, IA was going to have the last word. It would take some time, Maureen was told, for the IA investigation to be completed, but as soon as IA issued a report of its findings, she would be informed.

Maybe Donna could have some closure to one part of her case, which would, by the process of justice, open the door for the most important aspect to move forward.

CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN

All Apologies

The infamous missing key turned up. John’s mother, Dorothy, was reinterviewed on May 11, 1994, after she informed the WPD that she had located the lost key to John and Donna’s house.

“I don’t think the key ever left my house,” Dorothy said.

Apparently the key wound up inside the pocket of a raincoat hanging inside Dorothy’s house.

Dorothy explained: “My son [John’s brother] said he used the key to get into John’s house and then left it inside the rain slicker. He used the key in the beginning of July. It is not unusual for the boys to go into John’s house and vice versa to borrow things.”

By this time, Neil had tracked down John’s friends and family, working on the theory that whoever attacked Donna knew that she would be home alone. It was Neil’s only course of action at this point. He had nothing else to go on.

The WPD had taken samples of blood from John Palomba and his brothers, all of whom had been ruled out as suspects.

John’s brother James said he had no idea about the key being missing, and on the night of Donna’s attack, he was with his fiancée.

Neil figured maybe James had inadvertently told someone that John was going away without Donna.

“I doubt I would have told anyone John was away in Colorado and Donna was home alone,” James explained to Neil. “I have no idea who could have committed the crime.”

As June turned into July, Neil and Pudgie met with several men who could have had access to the Palomba house and knew that Donna was alone—sheetrock workers, painters, maintenance men, friends, and family—to obtain a blood sample.

Neil was particularly interested in the stag party John had missed on the Friday night of Donna’s attack. Neil was confident Donna’s assailant had been at the party. The quest then became to track down everyone who had been there and obtain a voluntary blood sample.

“One of the things we learned early on—after Pudgie and I took over—was that John Palomba’s mother’s house,” Neil said later, “was like this place where all their friends and family hung out and came and went. They had big families. This guy had to know Donna. Just by looking at the evidence: her attacker covered his face and her face; he disguised his voice; he threatened to kill her; there was no forced entry. This led us to consider the question: Was the perpetrator familiar with Donna’s house? But even beyond all that, it was the very first time John Palomba had ever been away from his wife since they had been married. To me, this was a significant fact that could not be overlooked any longer. So we focused our investigation directly on it.”

Stag parties were a staple in Waterbury then, much the same as they are today. You had a stag, and everybody went—even people the groom did not know. It was almost an affront not to go if you knew the groom-to-be. Neil felt strongly that someone at that stag party had heard (while at the party) about Donna being alone simply by keeping his ears open. When Neil looked at the timeline of the night, he realized that Donna had been attacked hours after the stag ended.

“All of John’s brothers were there, as well as many of his friends. I could picture people asking, ‘Where’s John? Have you seen John?’ And his brothers and friends saying, without thinking about it because they were among friends, ‘Oh, he’s out in Colorado . . . he couldn’t make it.’ The guy we were looking for had definitely heard someone say this—and
knew
Donna was at home by herself.”

This type of crime, Neil concluded, was not going to happen with John Palomba around.

“John’s a big guy—and he can handle himself. Our guy was well aware of this.”

In August, Sergeant James Griffin submitted his one-page testimonial to IA. In that handwritten document, Griffin said he was at the scene on the night of the crime and “Upon arrival, I made sure the scene was secure . . . and interviewed the victim and secured evidence to be sent to the lab. I made sure that the victim had medical attention. I made an extensive search but could not find a point of entry [forced]. All physical-medical evidence was processed according to standard operating procedure . . .”

This comment by Sergeant Griffin was extremely disheartening and dishonest. The scene was not secure, as any of the people that were there could testify (and did!). They did remove the bedsheets. I would think that standard operating procedure would be to cordon off the scene, take photographs, fingerprints, canvas the neighborhood, conduct interviews with neighbors—none of which was done. And it was Detective Kathy Wilson that suggested I go to the hospital, not Griffin. He could not even get
that
right. And to say there was an extensive search . . . I was astonished by Griffin’s report.