that
one to make it worth anyone’s while to break into our house and take them.
But, then, we reminded ourselves, there had not been a break-in. The thief had apparently
had a key.
“Dung and his friends sometimes used Kait’s car,” Don said. “Our house key was on
her key ring. It would have been easy for one of them to make a copy, and Dung knew
where we kept the family videos. He used to watch them with Kait.”
But what had been on those videos that made them worth stealing? We couldn’t think
of a thing.
In the spring, I was asked to serve as replacement for the dinner speaker at a convention
of fraud investigators in Austin, Texas. Don suggested that I make a stopover in New
Mexico to meet with the State Attorney General and make him aware of the problems
we were having with the police investigation.
Pat set up the appointment and put together a packet of information. She also obtained
tapes of all the interviews conducted by Miguel Garcia’s defense attorneys and invited
our new investigator friend, Roy Nolan, to meet with us to discuss them.
“It’s no wonder Schwartz wasn’t willing to prosecute,” Pat told us. “The case against
the Hispanics was non-existent. Even if the witnesses had been credible, which they
weren’t, the case would have been thrown out because of fabricated evidence. The police
re-transcribed a tape to reverse its meaning. They couldn’t have expected to get away
with something that obvious. It’s almost as if they wanted the Hispanic suspects to
get off.”
“Maybe they did,” Nolan speculated. “All it took to shut down the investigation was
an arrest. There didn’t have to be a conviction.”
“You think they may have arrested the Hispanics even though they knew they weren’t
guilty!” I exclaimed.
“That happens quite often,” Nolan said. “A lot of times it’s with the cooperation
of the suspects. Most narcs have a stable of snitches who do whatever they’re told
to in exchange for protection from arrest for more serious crimes. People like that
can earn money and favors by cooling their heels in jail for a while, knowing they’ll
never be convicted.”
“But Miguel sat in jail for fifteen months!” I protested. “That’s an awfully long
time for a nineteen-year-old kid to ‘cool his heels’.”
“He was due to serve that much time anyway for an unrelated burglary,” Pat pointed
out. “Schwartz dropped the burglary charges without explanation at the same time he
dropped the homicide charges, so Miguel just traded one stint of jail time for another.
And Juve didn’t serve any time at all.”
“Marty Martinez didn’t serve time either,” I said. “Police didn’t even take a statement
when he called and confessed. If the arrest of the Hispanics was just for show, and
the police didn’t want them to be prosecuted—”
“That would explain Marty’s statement when he was questioned by the assistant DA,”
Pat said. “He said, ‘The whole thing was a hoax, you know.’”
“Marty’s confession would have wrecked the game plan,” Nolan said. “Marty’s a loose
cannon. He may have been so drunk that night that he didn’t remember afterward exactly
what they’d been hired to do— intimidate Kait or kill her. All he knew was that he
got paid a hundred dollars. The bottom line is, APD didn’t want Marty confessing to
murder for hire. They wanted him to shut up and go away.”
“My question is, who controlled the investigation?” Pat said. “Who had the power to
make the determination that the case was ‘over’ when the DA told police to investigate the Vietnamese?”
“What about the Vietnamese consultant whose son was Dung’s friend?” I asked. “Would
he have had that kind of influence?” 6
“That ‘consultant’ is in business with some very sleazy characters,” Nolan told me.
“One of them is under federal investigation for trading gold for
one to make it worth anyone’s while to break into our house and take them.
But, then, we reminded ourselves, there had not been a break-in. The thief had apparently
had a key.
“Dung and his friends sometimes used Kait’s car,” Don said. “Our house key was on
her key ring. It would have been easy for one of them to make a copy, and Dung knew
where we kept the family videos. He used to watch them with Kait.”
But what had been on those videos that made them worth stealing? We couldn’t think
of a thing.
In the spring, I was asked to serve as replacement for the dinner speaker at a convention
of fraud investigators in Austin, Texas. Don suggested that I make a stopover in New
Mexico to meet with the State Attorney General and make him aware of the problems
we were having with the police investigation.
Pat set up the appointment and put together a packet of information. She also obtained
tapes of all the interviews conducted by Miguel Garcia’s defense attorneys and invited
our new investigator friend, Roy Nolan, to meet with us to discuss them.
“It’s no wonder Schwartz wasn’t willing to prosecute,” Pat told us. “The case against
the Hispanics was non-existent. Even if the witnesses had been credible, which they
weren’t, the case would have been thrown out because of fabricated evidence. The police
re-transcribed a tape to reverse its meaning. They couldn’t have expected to get away
with something that obvious. It’s almost as if they wanted the Hispanic suspects to
get off.”
“Maybe they did,” Nolan speculated. “All it took to shut down the investigation was
an arrest. There didn’t have to be a conviction.”
“You think they may have arrested the Hispanics even though they knew they weren’t
guilty!” I exclaimed.
“That happens quite often,” Nolan said. “A lot of times it’s with the cooperation
of the suspects. Most narcs have a stable of snitches who do whatever they’re told
to in exchange for protection from arrest for more serious crimes. People like that
can earn money and favors by cooling their heels in jail for a while, knowing they’ll
never be convicted.”
“But Miguel sat in jail for fifteen months!” I protested. “That’s an awfully long
time for a nineteen-year-old kid to ‘cool his heels’.”
“He was due to serve that much time anyway for an unrelated burglary,” Pat pointed
out. “Schwartz dropped the burglary charges without explanation at the same time he
dropped the homicide charges, so Miguel just traded one stint of jail time for another.
And Juve didn’t serve any time at all.”
“Marty Martinez didn’t serve time either,” I said. “Police didn’t even take a statement
when he called and confessed. If the arrest of the Hispanics was just for show, and
the police didn’t want them to be prosecuted—”
“That would explain Marty’s statement when he was questioned by the assistant DA,”
Pat said. “He said, ‘The whole thing was a hoax, you know.’”
“Marty’s confession would have wrecked the game plan,” Nolan said. “Marty’s a loose
cannon. He may have been so drunk that night that he didn’t remember afterward exactly
what they’d been hired to do— intimidate Kait or kill her. All he knew was that he
got paid a hundred dollars. The bottom line is, APD didn’t want Marty confessing to
murder for hire. They wanted him to shut up and go away.”
“My question is, who controlled the investigation?” Pat said. “Who had the power to
make the determination that the case was ‘over’ when the DA told police to investigate the Vietnamese?”
“What about the Vietnamese consultant whose son was Dung’s friend?” I asked. “Would
he have had that kind of influence?” 6
“That ‘consultant’ is in business with some very sleazy characters,” Nolan told me.
“One of them is under federal investigation for trading gold for
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