Of Guilt and Innocence (27 page)

Two months into the investigation Tony was involved in a car accident while at work. He was drug tested as a result and was subsequently suspended for testing positive for steroids, as well as ecstasy and cocaine. An internal affairs investigation of Tony ensued and, after several months, it was discovered he had also leveraged his position of authority into sexual relations with numerous women, dating back to his second year of duty. Tony was subsequently arrested on abuse of power charges and several counts of rape. He ended up taking a plea bargain and served twelve years in prison.

 

The detective who picked up Carlos's murder investigation discovered Tony had literally taken no notes. Interviews, specifically with Julia, were not recorded in any way. Try as he might, he knew making a case against anyone would be difficult, and the case ultimately went unsolved.

  

Jorge went back to his capacity as a Pembroke Pines detective and was promoted to sergeant three years later. Despite his successes over the remainder of his career, Jorge was always haunted by the idea that he had been so wrong about Louis Bradford. Maybe if he hadn't been, Jim would have been able to build a case against him before he had a chance to take his own life. Maybe if he had seen something, some type of sign when he met Carlos Hernandez, it all could have been avoided. Both men would be in jail and not dead. It knocked down his confidence as a police officer and he would never regain it as long as he worked.

 

Jim's case load began piling up again. The Wooten case was the last kidnapping and child murder he ever worked, and he was glad about it. Lost in the rollercoaster that was the Ashley Wooten case was the actual rescue of another little girl. Both Jim and Dan received commendations for their involvement in the Heather Martin rescue. Jim was voted police officer of the year for the county for his coordination of the rescue. He was finally able to take pride in it. To feel good that he had helped someone. Both the Ashley Wooten and Heather Martin cases made Jim a better father, at least that's what he would always tell people. He enjoyed time with his girls a lot more after that. Jim continued solving cases, pissing people off, and alienating himself from his co-workers until he retired at age fifty-five, still a detective.

 

Dan remained a detective for two years after the Wooten case then was promoted to sergeant. He and Jim remained friendly, and as fate would have it, toward the end of Jim's career, Dan was transferred back to the detective bureau and took the position once held by Sergeant Phillips; he had become Jim's boss. At first Dan was excited about it. He felt a sense of satisfaction that he would finally have the say he never had working as Jim's partner. He was finally going to be the one running the show. Sadly, he realized he was wrong very quickly.  

 

As for Jemile, the Broward County Sheriff's Office made good on their word to help him with his charges for the assistance he gave in closing not one, but two serial killer cases. Jemile served only six months and returned back to the house on J Street.  

During his six month incarceration, Jemile's operation was overtaken by one of the local gangs and they weren't too pleased at Jemile's insistence that he be included in their now larger operation. A month after his release, Jemile was shot and killed in a drive by shooting. No arrest was ever made for his murder.

 

It didn't take long for Julia to drop Tom. She had no use for him now; he had served his purpose. She was cold and she was hurtful when she told him of this decision.  She told him if he didn't accept that they wouldn't be together she would turn him in to the police. And that was that; they never spoke again.  

Julia never came under the suspicion she should have in Carlos's death. Partly because of the damage to the investigation done by Tony, but also because of her genuine reaction to the news that Carlos was a serial killer. That particular interview came early on, in the presence of multiple task force members, including Lieutenant Greer. There was no acting necessary when it came to that interrogation. She was speechless initially. Then she simply denied that it was true. She pondered how it could have happened without her knowledge. But it didn't take long for the pieces to fit. She had always believed Carlos was cheating on her when he was out at night under the guise of work, but now she knew what he was really doing.

She was hurt when the shock wore off. Her narcissistic nature allowed her to question how he could do that to her. How he could kill people and keep such secrets from her. It never entered her mind that she had no right to be hurt by his secrets or his actions. That not only had she kept secrets of her own, but she had been responsible for taking a life as well: his.  

Satisfied she had no part in the South Florida Strangler killings, or the murder of her husband, she was never questioned about either again.  

Julia's beauty added to the sensationalism that surrounded Carlos's death and discovery as the Strangler. National news outlets found her intriguing. She wasn't what they had expected from a serial killer's wife. She wasn't mousy or abused or fearful. She was vibrant and gorgeous and alive. She began making media appearances and loving every minute of it. She no longer had to play the grieving widow. She could be someone who was angry, who despised her husband for who he was.  

The money Carlos had sought to get her in his passing with the massive life insurance policy actually provided her with very little. Lawsuits on behalf of his victim's families ate up the majority of it. However, she kept the house, and she made more than she ever needed by doing talk show interviews, reality television, even writing a book. She now had everything she ever wanted. Fame. Money. Freedom. No one ever suspected the truth: that she was the femme fatale behind the death of a serial killer.

  

Tom, too, had dealt with the shock of discovering that the man he had murdered was a serial killer. In reality it helped him to breathe a little easier. Thinking of all the murders Carlos had been responsible for and all the people who hated him because of them, he felt it would be harder now for police to discover he was involved. They would have a massive suspect pool by his estimation. He also felt less guilty knowing the life he had taken belonged to a truly evil man. A man much like the one who had murdered his daughter.   

Depression swept over him after Julia broke things off. He questioned his whole life and if it was worth living. He became consumed by the past, reliving happier moments. He dwelled on that one day, that one instant in which his whole life changed. He dreamed of the ability to go back and change it. If he had just stayed home and not golfed. If he had been able to keep his phone turned on. It drove him near insanity. He still spoke with Mark and saw him occasionally, but their relationship was never the same. Mark had finally become what Tom once was: stable, reliable, the one to look up to. He had surpassed Tom and no longer needed to idolize him.  

Tom would always feel both guilty and victimized. He realized that at times the supposed line between guilt and innocence, between victim and perpetrator became blurred. At times he wondered if people had to be one or the other. He realized sometimes they were probably both. His life had become about one moment. Before that moment occurred he had been happy, he had been successful, he had hopes and ambitions, he was viewed as a good guy. After that moment occurred, his only hope was that he could somehow get back what he had before it.   

 

Lisa Wooten eventually began putting her life back together. She had developed a strong dependency on sleeping pills and pain medications after Ashley's death, and after a few months her sister began trying to wean her off them, which took some time and persistence. This, of course, was when she found out about the extent of Tom's extra-marital affairs. She not only had to finally deal with the death of her daughter, but the dissolution of her marriage at the same time. But in time she was able to function again and she returned to her job, which had been waiting for her. One of the hardest things for her to accept was that she had actually met the man who kidnapped and murdered her daughter, and that she found him to be so normal. That she hadn't felt frightened by him at all. She realized in time that he was like a chameleon and had gained the trust of not only herself, but nearly everyone he had interacted with. She had solace in knowing he would never fool anyone again. That he would never hurt anyone again.  

She moved in with her sister until she could get back on her feet emotionally and financially, and she and Tom divorced four months after Ashley's death. The divorce was amicable and relatively uncontested, without a custody battle, although Lisa refused to speak to Tom and rarely looked in his direction. They did unite for one final act as a family about two weeks after their divorce: to clean out Ashley's room. Neither had had the heart or stomach to do it before this, but since their divorce and Tom's decision to sell the house, they knew they needed to do it now and it was something Lisa felt she should be a part of. It was torturous. It was gut wrenching. It was final. She was officially gone now, Lisa thought. Her things were packed in boxes and given to a local Goodwill store, except for a few items Lisa and Tom had taken for themselves. Eventually Lisa was able to rent her own place, and on her bedroom dresser, mixed in with various framed pictures, sat a few stuffed animals and one white patent leather shoe.

 

 

 

John Scanlan is a police officer on the picturesque island of Palm Beach in South Eastern Florida. After moving south from the small, Western New York village of Le Roy in 2005, he subsequently fell in love with South Florida's tropical beauty and laidback lifestyle, which is the backdrop for his first novel,
Of Guilt and Innocence
.  A graduate of Brockport College, John's previous endeavors include training with the United States Border Patrol in Charleston, South Carolina and working as a legal aid for the former Immigration and Naturalization Service in Buffalo, New York. He currently resides in Palm Beach County, Florida with his wife and two small daughters.