Tags:
True Crime,
Murder,
Serial Killers,
forest,
oregon,
portland,
eugene,
blood lust,
serial murder,
gary c king,
dayton rogers
assignment to investigate
Jenny Smith's untimely death. Since there was no doubt that this
was a crime of the most violent sort, Lieutenant Detloff, as well
as Sheriff Bill Brooks, wanted their most crack detectives on the
trail of the killer while the trail was still red-hot. They were a
conscientious team, each having worked their way up through the
ranks from road patrol to homicide, a trek that took many hard and
frustrating years. They were more than merely competent. They were
a team who worked together with diligence and near-perfection that
no criminal would be happy to have on his tail.
Turner arrived at the sheriff's office in
Oregon City at 4:20 A.M. He was met there by Lieutenant Detloff and
Detective Strovink, and was advised that Machado would join them
later at the crime scene. Detloff informed him that, while he was
en route to the sheriff's office, the victim had died in surgery at
Emanuel Hospital as a result of her wounds. The information didn't
surprise Turner; such information never did. News of the woman's
death did mean, however, that the crime had been elevated from a
serious assault to a homicide, which made Turner all the more eager
to go after the assailant while the clues, evidence, and witnesses'
memories were still fresh. Turner knew, as does virtually every
cop, that the best opportunity to identify and capture a killer or
other criminal is during the first twenty-four hours of the
investigation. After that the trail becomes colder with each
passing hour, and their chances of catching the perpetrator
diminishes accordingly.
Turner and Strovink picked up homicide kits,
flashlights, and portable radios in preparation to go to the crime
scene. Before leaving, they attempted to roust Deputy John
Gilliland, the department's criminologist, from his sleep, but he
apparently had forgotten to take his phone off the answering
machine before going to bed. The two rings before the machine takes
over apparently weren't enough to wake him, and since he wasn't
normally required to wear a pager they were unable to immediately
reach him. Because Gilliland lived in Portland, the Clackamas
County Communications Center asked the Portland Police Bureau to
send an officer to his house to try to stir him out. Dawn had just
broken when the detectives arrived at the crime scene twenty
minutes later, and they were advised that Gilliland had been
awakened and was on his way.
Deputy Tutmark led Turner, Strovink, and
Lieutenant Detloff to a pool of congealing blood and pointed out
soiled rescue supplies that the paramedics had left behind in the
northeast corner of the parking lot. Tutmark explained that the
victim had been found at that location, apparently after having
been chased a short distance by the assailant.
Tutmark led the detectives to the front of
the GMAC building, where he pointed out a pool of what appeared to
be antifreeze. Turner and Strovink observed that tire impressions,
where a vehicle's tires had apparently passed through the greenish
yellow liquid, had been marked off by spray paint. Nearby, they
observed a pile of female clothing that had also been marked off.
Turner, taking notes, listed a pair of Levi's pants, one white
shoe, several shoelaces knotted and looped at both ends, a white
bra, a Nike sweatshirt and one pink sock. Turner commented that the
shoelaces resembled a restraint of some kind.
"Where are the victim's underpants?" asked
Turner. "And what about her other shoe and sock?" Tutmark reported
that those items hadn't been found, but remarked that they might
turn up during the ensuing crime scene search if the suspect hadn't
taken them with him. As Tutmark's briefing continued, another
deputy momentarily called Strovink away.
A man named Richard Bergio, said Tutmark, had
courageously chased the suspect. Bergio, he said, had obtained the
suspect's license plate number and had gotten a good look at the
vehicle. He was sure he would recognize it if he saw it again. When
Turner asked how,
David LaRochelle
Walter Wangerin Jr.
James Axler
Yann Martel
Ian Irvine
Cory Putman Oakes
Ted Krever
Marcus Johnson
T.A. Foster
Lee Goldberg