and spoke briefly about their cases, a sad litany of unsolved child abductions and murders. With the memory of Tammy Lopez’s voice in his head, Sweet knew that each case file represented a family’s torment and the lack of justice. When it was his turn, Sweet gave a quick review of what he knew about the Reyes case, including that David Penton had been listed as a possible suspect. He also noted the details that Sunnycalb had provided that matched the evidence, which he thought made it worth paying attention to what the inmate had to say.
However, he quickly learned, some of the other lawmen present already knew about both Penton and Sunnycalb, and they weren’t impressed. Several said that Penton had once been a suspect in their cases, too, but no one had been able to make a case against him or place him in the area at the time of the abductions.
The meeting concluded with Teft informing the others that she would let them know the results of the DNA testing as soon as they came in. If it came back a positive match for Penton, then Sunnycalb’s credibility would improve. If not, perhaps the description of him as untrustworthy was accurate.
Five days later, Detective Teft called with bad news. The DNA comparison was negative. Penton was not her killer. “We’re done,” she said. She wasn’t going to take Sunnycalb’s calls anymore.
Mike Bradshaw also called Sweet to say he was dropping out. He said he’d questioned Sunnycalb in the past, and he just didn’t trust the guy. For one thing, he said, sometimes they’d be talking and suddenly Sunnycalb would clam up, or it would take him awhile to answer a question, as if he had to think it through. But more damning was that Bradshaw had learned that Sunnycalb had put in an “open records” request to obtain information about the Texas cases. “The guy read about all this stuff he’s telling us. I’m just not dealing with him anymore.”
Sweet thought about what Bradshaw said. The sergeant was older and more experienced, as were many of the investigators from the other agencies who believed that Sunnycalb was just another lying convict. Maybe they were right; between being wrong about the Julie Fuller case and the open records revelation, it didn’t look good.
Still, Sweet wasn’t quite ready to give up. Maybe it was his inexperience; maybe he was just being naïve and hoping that the information would turn out to be true so that he could bring some closure to Roxann’s family. But it also felt like it was something he had to see to the end, that a greater power was pushing him, and he couldn’t let it go.
“I think I’m going to keep talking to him,” Sweet told Bradshaw.
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then Bradshaw said, “Good for you. Go for it; it will be a good learning experience.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
July 12, 2000
T he next time Sweet spoke to Sunnycalb, he challenged him about his claim that Penton was involved in the Julie Fuller abduction and murder.
“Look at the letter,” Sunnycalb retorted. “I didn’t say he did it, I said, ‘You would do well to consider him.’” He said he’d been trying to check out what Penton was telling him and had found Julie’s name on a list of missing children he’d been able to obtain in spite of his incarceration. He’d noticed some resemblance between her murder and Penton’s other boasts and thought it was worth bringing to the attention of the Fort Worth police.
After getting off the telephone, Sweet called Det. Teft and asked her to send him a copy of Sunnycalb’s letter. When he read it, he saw that the informant had told him the truth; Sunnycalb only suggested that Penton was a possibility due to the similarity and timing of Julie Fuller’s murder to the other Texas cases.
Being right about his letter kept Sunnycalb’s credibility alive with Sweet. It was the beginning of a long series of telephone calls as Sunnycalb fed him information in bits and
However, he quickly learned, some of the other lawmen present already knew about both Penton and Sunnycalb, and they weren’t impressed. Several said that Penton had once been a suspect in their cases, too, but no one had been able to make a case against him or place him in the area at the time of the abductions.
The meeting concluded with Teft informing the others that she would let them know the results of the DNA testing as soon as they came in. If it came back a positive match for Penton, then Sunnycalb’s credibility would improve. If not, perhaps the description of him as untrustworthy was accurate.
Five days later, Detective Teft called with bad news. The DNA comparison was negative. Penton was not her killer. “We’re done,” she said. She wasn’t going to take Sunnycalb’s calls anymore.
Mike Bradshaw also called Sweet to say he was dropping out. He said he’d questioned Sunnycalb in the past, and he just didn’t trust the guy. For one thing, he said, sometimes they’d be talking and suddenly Sunnycalb would clam up, or it would take him awhile to answer a question, as if he had to think it through. But more damning was that Bradshaw had learned that Sunnycalb had put in an “open records” request to obtain information about the Texas cases. “The guy read about all this stuff he’s telling us. I’m just not dealing with him anymore.”
Sweet thought about what Bradshaw said. The sergeant was older and more experienced, as were many of the investigators from the other agencies who believed that Sunnycalb was just another lying convict. Maybe they were right; between being wrong about the Julie Fuller case and the open records revelation, it didn’t look good.
Still, Sweet wasn’t quite ready to give up. Maybe it was his inexperience; maybe he was just being naïve and hoping that the information would turn out to be true so that he could bring some closure to Roxann’s family. But it also felt like it was something he had to see to the end, that a greater power was pushing him, and he couldn’t let it go.
“I think I’m going to keep talking to him,” Sweet told Bradshaw.
There was a pause on the other end of the line, and then Bradshaw said, “Good for you. Go for it; it will be a good learning experience.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
July 12, 2000
T he next time Sweet spoke to Sunnycalb, he challenged him about his claim that Penton was involved in the Julie Fuller abduction and murder.
“Look at the letter,” Sunnycalb retorted. “I didn’t say he did it, I said, ‘You would do well to consider him.’” He said he’d been trying to check out what Penton was telling him and had found Julie’s name on a list of missing children he’d been able to obtain in spite of his incarceration. He’d noticed some resemblance between her murder and Penton’s other boasts and thought it was worth bringing to the attention of the Fort Worth police.
After getting off the telephone, Sweet called Det. Teft and asked her to send him a copy of Sunnycalb’s letter. When he read it, he saw that the informant had told him the truth; Sunnycalb only suggested that Penton was a possibility due to the similarity and timing of Julie Fuller’s murder to the other Texas cases.
Being right about his letter kept Sunnycalb’s credibility alive with Sweet. It was the beginning of a long series of telephone calls as Sunnycalb fed him information in bits and
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