enough. She was already mad at Kirk over the pot and anxious over so many police coming around. And now she was scared. She started ranting about how much trouble Kirk was causing. She told Kirk not to smoke any more dope in her house. Then she said heâd just have to leave. Kirk shrugged. Heâd finished rolling the joint. Thelma, who was pregnant at the time, said, âWell,you going to get me high too?â Kirk said sure. Something he didnât know was that Thelma was friendly with Detective Cottom. She had promised him, after Kirk had been taken to the police station, that sheâd report back anything Kirk said about the little girl. Kirk and Thelma walked outside and started up toward the elementary school. Kirk lit the joint, and the two shared it. According to what Thelma later told Cottom, Kirk couldnât stop talking about what had happened at the station. He rambled, talked excitedly, acted strange. Kirk told her the police had put the girlâs shorts and a rock on the table. He told her that by putting the girlâs underwear on the table, the cops had gotten him upset, but that he wouldnât ever let them see him cry. He also said he felt guilty about what had happened to the little girl.
Kirk was, in fact, distraught. The whole experience had unnerved him. And too, he felt the need to explain what had occurred so that his friends wouldnât think heâd gotten busted for having weed and agreed to become a snitch. The two walked back toward Roseâs house with Kirk still talking about the little girl, ranting some, and muttering to himself.
Near Rose Carsonâs house, Kirk ran into some guys he knew who needed help lifting a broken motorcycle into the back of a pickup truck. Kirk offered his assistance. There were two girls with them, Tina Christopher and Tina Furbush. Thelma said good-bye and went back into Roseâs. With Kirkâs help, the guys heaved the bike into the pickup and then took it over to Tina Furbushâs garage. Kirk knew Tina Furbush but had never met Tina Christopher. Tina Furbush was nineteen and Tina Christopher was just eighteen. Tina Christopher, it turned out, had dropped out of high school after tenth grade. After the guys left, the two Tinas invited Kirk into the house. He rolled another joint and they all smoked it. They all got seriously ripped. Kirk started talking about a little girl and being accused of killing her. About how it had happened in Baltimore. Hementioned two boys, a pond, and a rock. One of them asked him if the rock was the murder weapon, if it had blood on it. They talked about whether it was a bloody rock. Kirk kept rehashing what the cops had said to him. He seemed obsessed, went on about the clothes, the rock. His words, at least the ones Tina Christopher claimed to hear, would become the darts that would later be hurled against him.
Tina Christopher, when questioned two days later by the cops, was vague about what Kirk had said. But she thought heâd talked about the clothes the little girl wore and a rock that was supposed to have been bloody. He mentioned a pond and two boys, she recalled. And she thought she heard Kirk say that the girl went off into the woods with a guy that Kirk was with. She described it as a lot of rambling nonsense. The police typed up a statement and had her sign it. Over the ensuing months, she would often contradict herself to investigators about exactly what it was sheâd heard.
Kirk, after his arrest, said sheâd either misheard or misunderstood him. He admitted that he might have told her that the rock was the murder weapon and he agreed he probably told her what heâd read in the newspaper about the pond and the two boys, but he denied ever saying that the rock was bloody or that he was with the man who went into the woods with the little girl. And he never told anyone, ever, that he was involved with the crime.
Thelma Stultz, back at Rose Carsonâs, called
Kirk was, in fact, distraught. The whole experience had unnerved him. And too, he felt the need to explain what had occurred so that his friends wouldnât think heâd gotten busted for having weed and agreed to become a snitch. The two walked back toward Roseâs house with Kirk still talking about the little girl, ranting some, and muttering to himself.
Near Rose Carsonâs house, Kirk ran into some guys he knew who needed help lifting a broken motorcycle into the back of a pickup truck. Kirk offered his assistance. There were two girls with them, Tina Christopher and Tina Furbush. Thelma said good-bye and went back into Roseâs. With Kirkâs help, the guys heaved the bike into the pickup and then took it over to Tina Furbushâs garage. Kirk knew Tina Furbush but had never met Tina Christopher. Tina Furbush was nineteen and Tina Christopher was just eighteen. Tina Christopher, it turned out, had dropped out of high school after tenth grade. After the guys left, the two Tinas invited Kirk into the house. He rolled another joint and they all smoked it. They all got seriously ripped. Kirk started talking about a little girl and being accused of killing her. About how it had happened in Baltimore. Hementioned two boys, a pond, and a rock. One of them asked him if the rock was the murder weapon, if it had blood on it. They talked about whether it was a bloody rock. Kirk kept rehashing what the cops had said to him. He seemed obsessed, went on about the clothes, the rock. His words, at least the ones Tina Christopher claimed to hear, would become the darts that would later be hurled against him.
Tina Christopher, when questioned two days later by the cops, was vague about what Kirk had said. But she thought heâd talked about the clothes the little girl wore and a rock that was supposed to have been bloody. He mentioned a pond and two boys, she recalled. And she thought she heard Kirk say that the girl went off into the woods with a guy that Kirk was with. She described it as a lot of rambling nonsense. The police typed up a statement and had her sign it. Over the ensuing months, she would often contradict herself to investigators about exactly what it was sheâd heard.
Kirk, after his arrest, said sheâd either misheard or misunderstood him. He admitted that he might have told her that the rock was the murder weapon and he agreed he probably told her what heâd read in the newspaper about the pond and the two boys, but he denied ever saying that the rock was bloody or that he was with the man who went into the woods with the little girl. And he never told anyone, ever, that he was involved with the crime.
Thelma Stultz, back at Rose Carsonâs, called
Similar Books
