report.”
“Michael Bush was puzzled by that too,” I said. “Why would he withhold that important
piece of information?”
“Perhaps his superiors wanted to close the case quickly?” Don suggested. “A thorough
investigation would have taken a lot of manpower.”
“The problem with that theory is that a cover-up seems to have started long before
the complexities of the case became evident,” Pat said. “Witnesses who lived a half
block north of the scene reported being wakened by gun shots. They also reported seeing
a VW bug with more than one person in it race up their street, pull into a lot next
door to their house, turn off its lights, and after a short time make a U-turn and
drive slowly back the same way it came. I started to wonder if the killers disposed
of a weapon, so I decided to check to see if there was a Dumpster there. It turns
out there was, but, more important, there’s an auto body shop. 5 Police reports don’t acknowledge the existence of that building. Why didn’t they
interview the owner of that business? They talked to the owners of other businesses
in the area, so why omit that one? So many questions!”
“Michael talked with a P.I. who was investigating an auto repair shop,” I said. “I
wonder if this could be that shop.”
I phoned the investigator, Roy Nolan, identified myself as a friend of Michael’s,
and asked him what, if anything, he knew about the body shop.
“I’m aware of that place,” he responded cautiously. “Why are you interested?”
“We’re hunting for a possible connection to our daughter’s murder,” I told him.
“Like I told Mr. Bush, you’re looking at a crooked body shop where you take a wrecked
car, they give you an exorbitant repair figure, and you give it to the insurance company,”
Nolan said. “From what I’ve observed, they also chop parts from stolen cars. In 1991,
that shop was raided by the FBI, APD, ATF and the Department of Public Safety. They
confiscated guns, and the owners’ son was charged with drug dealing.”
I handed the phone to Pat.
The two investigators talked for half an hour.
“Nolan’s a gold mine of information,” Pat told us after she hung up. “He had that
shop under surveillance for weeks, and he says Vietnamese in expensive cars were always
coming and going. In fact, he’s established a link between the owner of that shop
and a Vietnamese consultant for APD, whose son is a close friend of Dung’s.
“The owner of the body shop also knew Kait. His girlfriend told Nolan they met Kait
at a disco when Kait was there with a woman who fits the description of Susan Smith.
Also, while Nolan was questioning the owner’s girlfriend, he saw a newspaper article
with a picture of Matt Griffin tacked up on the wall. The girlfriend told him the
shop was a hangout for Griffin and other cops who held late night parties there. It’s
a lot to be coincidence — Vietnamese in fancy cars; a Vietnamese consultant for APD,
whose son was one of Dung’s buddies; the Ninja Bandit and his cop friends — all linked
to a chop shop where drugs were sold and the owner knew Susan and Kait. And that’s
where the VW bug went after the shooting? It looks like we may have a tiger by the
tail.”
Since Pat was convinced that our answers lay at the crime scene, we decided that she
should concentrate her main efforts there. We made up a list of people she should
try to interview, including the first two officers at the scene, the medics who transported
Kait to the hospital, and the witnesses who saw the VW bug pull into the parking lot.
She would also try to locate Paul Apodaca, although that was not going to be easy,
since the police had not obtained any identifiers.
We also decided it was time to take assertive action to get back the materials from
Kait’s desk.
The first thing Don and I did after leaving Pat’s office was drive over to look at
the body shop.
“Michael Bush was puzzled by that too,” I said. “Why would he withhold that important
piece of information?”
“Perhaps his superiors wanted to close the case quickly?” Don suggested. “A thorough
investigation would have taken a lot of manpower.”
“The problem with that theory is that a cover-up seems to have started long before
the complexities of the case became evident,” Pat said. “Witnesses who lived a half
block north of the scene reported being wakened by gun shots. They also reported seeing
a VW bug with more than one person in it race up their street, pull into a lot next
door to their house, turn off its lights, and after a short time make a U-turn and
drive slowly back the same way it came. I started to wonder if the killers disposed
of a weapon, so I decided to check to see if there was a Dumpster there. It turns
out there was, but, more important, there’s an auto body shop. 5 Police reports don’t acknowledge the existence of that building. Why didn’t they
interview the owner of that business? They talked to the owners of other businesses
in the area, so why omit that one? So many questions!”
“Michael talked with a P.I. who was investigating an auto repair shop,” I said. “I
wonder if this could be that shop.”
I phoned the investigator, Roy Nolan, identified myself as a friend of Michael’s,
and asked him what, if anything, he knew about the body shop.
“I’m aware of that place,” he responded cautiously. “Why are you interested?”
“We’re hunting for a possible connection to our daughter’s murder,” I told him.
“Like I told Mr. Bush, you’re looking at a crooked body shop where you take a wrecked
car, they give you an exorbitant repair figure, and you give it to the insurance company,”
Nolan said. “From what I’ve observed, they also chop parts from stolen cars. In 1991,
that shop was raided by the FBI, APD, ATF and the Department of Public Safety. They
confiscated guns, and the owners’ son was charged with drug dealing.”
I handed the phone to Pat.
The two investigators talked for half an hour.
“Nolan’s a gold mine of information,” Pat told us after she hung up. “He had that
shop under surveillance for weeks, and he says Vietnamese in expensive cars were always
coming and going. In fact, he’s established a link between the owner of that shop
and a Vietnamese consultant for APD, whose son is a close friend of Dung’s.
“The owner of the body shop also knew Kait. His girlfriend told Nolan they met Kait
at a disco when Kait was there with a woman who fits the description of Susan Smith.
Also, while Nolan was questioning the owner’s girlfriend, he saw a newspaper article
with a picture of Matt Griffin tacked up on the wall. The girlfriend told him the
shop was a hangout for Griffin and other cops who held late night parties there. It’s
a lot to be coincidence — Vietnamese in fancy cars; a Vietnamese consultant for APD,
whose son was one of Dung’s buddies; the Ninja Bandit and his cop friends — all linked
to a chop shop where drugs were sold and the owner knew Susan and Kait. And that’s
where the VW bug went after the shooting? It looks like we may have a tiger by the
tail.”
Since Pat was convinced that our answers lay at the crime scene, we decided that she
should concentrate her main efforts there. We made up a list of people she should
try to interview, including the first two officers at the scene, the medics who transported
Kait to the hospital, and the witnesses who saw the VW bug pull into the parking lot.
She would also try to locate Paul Apodaca, although that was not going to be easy,
since the police had not obtained any identifiers.
We also decided it was time to take assertive action to get back the materials from
Kait’s desk.
The first thing Don and I did after leaving Pat’s office was drive over to look at
the body shop.
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