investigation. We have all of his accounts flagged and he hasn’t touched a penny. There’s a lot of money in those accounts. I mean millions.”
“Wow. I wonder how he’s supporting himself.”
“I have no clue, Chief. Our Financial Surveillance Group with the Marshal’s Service is working him as an active fugitive on the old warrants, but it looks like he fell off of the face of the earth.”
“Are there any family members?”
“Only a sister in Queens. We have a court order for her phones, but there are no unusual calls.”
“Thanks, Karla. We may approach his former partners in the law firm.”
“That would be one partner. Arnold Kemp died of a heart attack a few years ago, but I think Roland Brewster is still living, but retired. He’s about 80 years old.”
“Maybe he wants to clear his conscience.”
“Do you want us to approach him, Chief?”
“Not yet, Karla. We may do something from this end. What have you been working on, Mary?”
“This is really strange, Chief. I’ve reviewed all the reports and read the part which said Margaret Butelli was unaware of her husband making prior funeral arrangements. I went by the funeral home and talked with the funeral director. He says the morning they received Forrest Butelli’s body, Margaret Butelli came in and asked for the body to be immediately cremated and paid for everything in cash.”
“That’s very odd. I’m certain she was surprised by the cremation unless I read her wrong. Did she have to sign anything?”
“Yes, she did, and I’ve got copies of the documents. I want to question her about this and then get some handwriting exemplars.”
“This is an interesting development and unless I’m losing my touch, I’m certain Margaret Butelli wasn’t lying to us about not being aware of Forrest’s funeral arrangements. If they still have the original documents, we may want to see if we can recover any fingerprints or DNA. I know it’s a long shot.”
Sergeant George McBain offered a suggestion. “I’ll work with Mary on this one, Chief. We might get lucky if we’re very careful about collecting the documents. If someone was pulling a scam, they were likely nervous and probably sweated DNA all over the documents.”
“Thanks, George. I’ll let you and Mary work that out.”
“That’s a good idea. After over 12 years, did the funeral director remember what she looked like?”
“Not at all. He was reading from his notes in the file.”
“I appreciate it, Mary. Have we talked to the original detective, Jerry McAllister, yet?”
“Yes sir, Chief. Mike and I talked to him this morning. Do you want to give the Chief the rundown, Mike?”
“Sure, Mary.”
Mike O’Neil was in his mid-30’s, but could pass for 25. He wore his brown hair short and well-trimmed. He was full of energy and was well-known as a good homicide detective and a computer geek on the side.
“We met Jerry McAllister this morning over a cup of coffee. He really didn’t add much. I guess you would call it an excuse, but Jerry says after 9/11 there was so much going on and so many people were pulled in to work Ground Zero , he just didn’t do much with the Butelli case. The ME ruled it a suicide and moved on to other cases, Chief.”
“Was he aware of Margaret Butelli’s concerns?”
“Yes, and he told her to contact Captain Beck. He says Beck told him to move on, because he had other cases to work. He also admitted not seeing any blood in the car, but once the suicide note was found, he just assumed it was a suicide and didn’t think much of it.”
“I don’t like excuses for not doing a thorough job even in extraordinary times, Mike. There should’ve been red flags all over this case.”
“I agree, Chief. I think his captain helped him shut it down.”
“No doubt.” Pat said shaking his head.
Bryan posed a question to the Chief. “How do we handle Margaret Butelli’s phone, Chief?”
“Once the tech guys give us a run down,
“Wow. I wonder how he’s supporting himself.”
“I have no clue, Chief. Our Financial Surveillance Group with the Marshal’s Service is working him as an active fugitive on the old warrants, but it looks like he fell off of the face of the earth.”
“Are there any family members?”
“Only a sister in Queens. We have a court order for her phones, but there are no unusual calls.”
“Thanks, Karla. We may approach his former partners in the law firm.”
“That would be one partner. Arnold Kemp died of a heart attack a few years ago, but I think Roland Brewster is still living, but retired. He’s about 80 years old.”
“Maybe he wants to clear his conscience.”
“Do you want us to approach him, Chief?”
“Not yet, Karla. We may do something from this end. What have you been working on, Mary?”
“This is really strange, Chief. I’ve reviewed all the reports and read the part which said Margaret Butelli was unaware of her husband making prior funeral arrangements. I went by the funeral home and talked with the funeral director. He says the morning they received Forrest Butelli’s body, Margaret Butelli came in and asked for the body to be immediately cremated and paid for everything in cash.”
“That’s very odd. I’m certain she was surprised by the cremation unless I read her wrong. Did she have to sign anything?”
“Yes, she did, and I’ve got copies of the documents. I want to question her about this and then get some handwriting exemplars.”
“This is an interesting development and unless I’m losing my touch, I’m certain Margaret Butelli wasn’t lying to us about not being aware of Forrest’s funeral arrangements. If they still have the original documents, we may want to see if we can recover any fingerprints or DNA. I know it’s a long shot.”
Sergeant George McBain offered a suggestion. “I’ll work with Mary on this one, Chief. We might get lucky if we’re very careful about collecting the documents. If someone was pulling a scam, they were likely nervous and probably sweated DNA all over the documents.”
“Thanks, George. I’ll let you and Mary work that out.”
“That’s a good idea. After over 12 years, did the funeral director remember what she looked like?”
“Not at all. He was reading from his notes in the file.”
“I appreciate it, Mary. Have we talked to the original detective, Jerry McAllister, yet?”
“Yes sir, Chief. Mike and I talked to him this morning. Do you want to give the Chief the rundown, Mike?”
“Sure, Mary.”
Mike O’Neil was in his mid-30’s, but could pass for 25. He wore his brown hair short and well-trimmed. He was full of energy and was well-known as a good homicide detective and a computer geek on the side.
“We met Jerry McAllister this morning over a cup of coffee. He really didn’t add much. I guess you would call it an excuse, but Jerry says after 9/11 there was so much going on and so many people were pulled in to work Ground Zero , he just didn’t do much with the Butelli case. The ME ruled it a suicide and moved on to other cases, Chief.”
“Was he aware of Margaret Butelli’s concerns?”
“Yes, and he told her to contact Captain Beck. He says Beck told him to move on, because he had other cases to work. He also admitted not seeing any blood in the car, but once the suicide note was found, he just assumed it was a suicide and didn’t think much of it.”
“I don’t like excuses for not doing a thorough job even in extraordinary times, Mike. There should’ve been red flags all over this case.”
“I agree, Chief. I think his captain helped him shut it down.”
“No doubt.” Pat said shaking his head.
Bryan posed a question to the Chief. “How do we handle Margaret Butelli’s phone, Chief?”
“Once the tech guys give us a run down,
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