story, realized. He buried Tim Rysedorph somewhere and then drove over to Lisa’s house and had milk and cookies. Jesus Christ.
CHAPTER 19
Cops are constantly put in the position of making moral decisions. Most are compelled, generally by their nature, to do the right thing. Yet the right thing doesn’t always produce the results they need—especially when it comes to catching murderers.
A few people would argue later that Horton put Christina and Lisa Morris in serious danger by not telling Lisa he believed Evans had murdered several people, especially Christina’s father, Damien Cuomo. Effectively, Horton allowed Lisa to think Evans was nothing more than a burglar, others claimed, when he had every reason to believe Evans was a vicious—and possibly desperate—serial killer who was on the loose.
Did Horton, simply to “get his man,” use Lisa and Christina as pawns in what amounted to a human game of chess he had been playing with Evans for well over a decade? In the process, did Horton knowingly endanger their lives by putting them in harm’s way in order to flush out Evans from wherever he was hiding?
In order to get Lisa finally to give a statement, on December 4, 1997, Horton later admitted, he had to “drive a wedge” between her and Evans, and make her understand that Evans had possibly killed Damien Cuomo. He did this, he claimed, so Lisa would trust him and begin to push Evans away.
One day shortly before Lisa ended up giving Horton and Sully a formal statement, Horton stopped by her apartment and explained that he honestly believed Damien Cuomo hadn’t come home because he couldn’t.
“I have a daughter, Lisa. You know that,” Horton said. “I don’t care who you are, a bad guy or a good guy, it doesn’t matter. You are going to try to reach out to your daughter—even if you’re on the run. Look at what Gary has done to you! He probably did something to Damien and, on top of that, moved in on you once Damien was out of the picture. He’s convinced you that Damien is a terrible father, telling you he took off on you without a word when there’s a good chance he killed him. Now Christina has no father. And you, you’re sticking up for him?”
They were rough words, and perhaps Horton had crossed a line by making a personal plea to Lisa. But he felt he had to do whatever it took to find Evans.
Crying, Lisa seemed to understand for the first time that Evans had been fooling her for the past eight years.
With Lisa in a vulnerable state, Horton took it a step further just to send his point home.
“We think he’s killed Timmy Rysedorph, too, Lisa.”
A week later, prepared to talk about everything she knew, Lisa agreed to give a statement.
“Timing was not only crucial, but a huge gamble,” Horton said later, referring to the reason why he waited so long to tell Lisa he had a pretty good idea Evans had killed Damien and Tim.
“If I told her too much too soon, I could have blown the entire case. I needed to gain her confidence. She needed to trust me. If she had talked to Gary and he asked if I was coming around mentioning Falco and Tim, he would have had Scotty beam him up…. We would have never seen him again, ever. I was sure of that. Throughout the years, he had made me well aware of what would make him disappear forever. And I surely wasn’t worried about him coming back and doing something to endanger Lisa or Christina. He was not coming back to the area. Period.”
Part of Horton’s job was to read people and tweak his style according to the situation.
“I taught ‘Interview and Interrogation’ in several police academies,” he said, “the state police, FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I had time on my side, so I was able to play Lisa with whatever I wanted. Did I use her? Absolutely. Did I use Christina? In a way, I guess I did. I was very attentive to her when I had the chance—i.e., asking her about school, boys, hobbies—without sounding like a parent. I
CHAPTER 19
Cops are constantly put in the position of making moral decisions. Most are compelled, generally by their nature, to do the right thing. Yet the right thing doesn’t always produce the results they need—especially when it comes to catching murderers.
A few people would argue later that Horton put Christina and Lisa Morris in serious danger by not telling Lisa he believed Evans had murdered several people, especially Christina’s father, Damien Cuomo. Effectively, Horton allowed Lisa to think Evans was nothing more than a burglar, others claimed, when he had every reason to believe Evans was a vicious—and possibly desperate—serial killer who was on the loose.
Did Horton, simply to “get his man,” use Lisa and Christina as pawns in what amounted to a human game of chess he had been playing with Evans for well over a decade? In the process, did Horton knowingly endanger their lives by putting them in harm’s way in order to flush out Evans from wherever he was hiding?
In order to get Lisa finally to give a statement, on December 4, 1997, Horton later admitted, he had to “drive a wedge” between her and Evans, and make her understand that Evans had possibly killed Damien Cuomo. He did this, he claimed, so Lisa would trust him and begin to push Evans away.
One day shortly before Lisa ended up giving Horton and Sully a formal statement, Horton stopped by her apartment and explained that he honestly believed Damien Cuomo hadn’t come home because he couldn’t.
“I have a daughter, Lisa. You know that,” Horton said. “I don’t care who you are, a bad guy or a good guy, it doesn’t matter. You are going to try to reach out to your daughter—even if you’re on the run. Look at what Gary has done to you! He probably did something to Damien and, on top of that, moved in on you once Damien was out of the picture. He’s convinced you that Damien is a terrible father, telling you he took off on you without a word when there’s a good chance he killed him. Now Christina has no father. And you, you’re sticking up for him?”
They were rough words, and perhaps Horton had crossed a line by making a personal plea to Lisa. But he felt he had to do whatever it took to find Evans.
Crying, Lisa seemed to understand for the first time that Evans had been fooling her for the past eight years.
With Lisa in a vulnerable state, Horton took it a step further just to send his point home.
“We think he’s killed Timmy Rysedorph, too, Lisa.”
A week later, prepared to talk about everything she knew, Lisa agreed to give a statement.
“Timing was not only crucial, but a huge gamble,” Horton said later, referring to the reason why he waited so long to tell Lisa he had a pretty good idea Evans had killed Damien and Tim.
“If I told her too much too soon, I could have blown the entire case. I needed to gain her confidence. She needed to trust me. If she had talked to Gary and he asked if I was coming around mentioning Falco and Tim, he would have had Scotty beam him up…. We would have never seen him again, ever. I was sure of that. Throughout the years, he had made me well aware of what would make him disappear forever. And I surely wasn’t worried about him coming back and doing something to endanger Lisa or Christina. He was not coming back to the area. Period.”
Part of Horton’s job was to read people and tweak his style according to the situation.
“I taught ‘Interview and Interrogation’ in several police academies,” he said, “the state police, FBI and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. I had time on my side, so I was able to play Lisa with whatever I wanted. Did I use her? Absolutely. Did I use Christina? In a way, I guess I did. I was very attentive to her when I had the chance—i.e., asking her about school, boys, hobbies—without sounding like a parent. I
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