disconnected.”
All of this information, as disjointed as it seemed, fit into the matrix of a conspiracy to kill Gail orchestrated by Donna Trapani, and it was certainly a theory that the OCSD had been kicking around over the past week.
“I am doing some background checks on all of them,” Ashley said. “I’ll get back to you when I’m done.”
When Ashley called later that same day, he provided a few stunning details to the OCSD. For one, April and Roger were not married, after all, which could or could not mean something to the investigation. Second, Sybil owned a 1993 Dodge Dynasty, white in color—def initely not the car in the library’s grainy videotape. Sybil was what someone in law enforcement later described as a “thirty-six-year-old, unmarried loser . . . failing at most aspects of her life.” At five feet eleven inches, 165 pounds, Sybil Padgett was no diminutive woman, by stature—and yet, looking at Sybil’s existence, she was often at the painful end of her boyfriend’s iron fist and had not been known to be all that smart about the choices she made in life. Sybil’s boyfriend became of great interest to the OCSD, at least initially. He was not only violent and a convicted woman beater, but he had a record that, in its totality, lent itself to a guy who would be a good candidate to take on a paid hit. According to what Larry Ashley dug up, Sybil’s live-in boyfriend had been convicted of heroin possession and was known to be, at a minimum, a “heroin dealer.” Ashley could not locate a vehicle registered in the boyfriend’s name. The OCSD was hoping to find a Malibu registered to someone connected to the case, which would fit with the video surveillance from the library on the night Gail was murdered. One school of thought was: Find that Malibu with the cracked taillight and its owner would have some answers to the case.
Meanwhile, back in Michigan, George Fulton finally broke down and decided to give his full cooperation. George had hired a lawyer, David Binkley, who contacted John Pietrofesa, the assistant prosecuting attorney (APA) for the County of Oakland, along with prosecuting attorney David Gorcyca, whose office was going to eventually prosecute this case. The drafted agreement between the two parties stipulated that George would submit to interviews and, essentially, “interrogations” by the OCSD, so the agency could clear his name from the case. Until a person could be entirely eliminated, he or she would remain a person of interest. George was saying, in not so many words, that he had nothing to hide and would help as much as he could. On top of that, George finally had agreed to a polygraph examination if the OCSD thought it necessary to eliminate him in that manner.
No sooner had George signed this agreement with the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office did the results come in from a forensic lab test that the state police had completed on several specimens taken from Gail’s body. There had been “no apparent foreign hairs . . . in the head or pubic hair combings” found on Gail. However, chemical tests found that there was blood present on the door frame of Gail’s van. Whose blood this was would be a guess at this point.
19
S OME PEOPLE WILL do whatever possible—regardless of the ramifications or pain it causes others—to fulfill their unquenchable needs and selfishness. Martha Gail Fulton knew those types of people, but Gail herself was not a self-centered egotist, driven to stomp her way through life and take whatever she wanted. Quite to the contrary, Gail was the one to give up whatever she had so others could feel content. Before, perhaps, anything else, Gail believed passionately in sacrifice. Gail felt sacrifice was a gift from God, and all people could choose to ignore or embrace its full potential. Gail understood that having a family meant giving up parts of her life (her private self) and freedoms to meet the needs of her children and husband.
All of this information, as disjointed as it seemed, fit into the matrix of a conspiracy to kill Gail orchestrated by Donna Trapani, and it was certainly a theory that the OCSD had been kicking around over the past week.
“I am doing some background checks on all of them,” Ashley said. “I’ll get back to you when I’m done.”
When Ashley called later that same day, he provided a few stunning details to the OCSD. For one, April and Roger were not married, after all, which could or could not mean something to the investigation. Second, Sybil owned a 1993 Dodge Dynasty, white in color—def initely not the car in the library’s grainy videotape. Sybil was what someone in law enforcement later described as a “thirty-six-year-old, unmarried loser . . . failing at most aspects of her life.” At five feet eleven inches, 165 pounds, Sybil Padgett was no diminutive woman, by stature—and yet, looking at Sybil’s existence, she was often at the painful end of her boyfriend’s iron fist and had not been known to be all that smart about the choices she made in life. Sybil’s boyfriend became of great interest to the OCSD, at least initially. He was not only violent and a convicted woman beater, but he had a record that, in its totality, lent itself to a guy who would be a good candidate to take on a paid hit. According to what Larry Ashley dug up, Sybil’s live-in boyfriend had been convicted of heroin possession and was known to be, at a minimum, a “heroin dealer.” Ashley could not locate a vehicle registered in the boyfriend’s name. The OCSD was hoping to find a Malibu registered to someone connected to the case, which would fit with the video surveillance from the library on the night Gail was murdered. One school of thought was: Find that Malibu with the cracked taillight and its owner would have some answers to the case.
Meanwhile, back in Michigan, George Fulton finally broke down and decided to give his full cooperation. George had hired a lawyer, David Binkley, who contacted John Pietrofesa, the assistant prosecuting attorney (APA) for the County of Oakland, along with prosecuting attorney David Gorcyca, whose office was going to eventually prosecute this case. The drafted agreement between the two parties stipulated that George would submit to interviews and, essentially, “interrogations” by the OCSD, so the agency could clear his name from the case. Until a person could be entirely eliminated, he or she would remain a person of interest. George was saying, in not so many words, that he had nothing to hide and would help as much as he could. On top of that, George finally had agreed to a polygraph examination if the OCSD thought it necessary to eliminate him in that manner.
No sooner had George signed this agreement with the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office did the results come in from a forensic lab test that the state police had completed on several specimens taken from Gail’s body. There had been “no apparent foreign hairs . . . in the head or pubic hair combings” found on Gail. However, chemical tests found that there was blood present on the door frame of Gail’s van. Whose blood this was would be a guess at this point.
19
S OME PEOPLE WILL do whatever possible—regardless of the ramifications or pain it causes others—to fulfill their unquenchable needs and selfishness. Martha Gail Fulton knew those types of people, but Gail herself was not a self-centered egotist, driven to stomp her way through life and take whatever she wanted. Quite to the contrary, Gail was the one to give up whatever she had so others could feel content. Before, perhaps, anything else, Gail believed passionately in sacrifice. Gail felt sacrifice was a gift from God, and all people could choose to ignore or embrace its full potential. Gail understood that having a family meant giving up parts of her life (her private self) and freedoms to meet the needs of her children and husband.
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