the examiner’s questions about Rozanne’s shooting without registering any deception on the machine because she, in fact, did not know any of the details. That meant that Carol might be right, that Joy had arranged for the shooting much as Larry once had handed out contracts to subcontractors.
According to Carol, Joy turned the job over to a man named Bill Garland. And this was where Carol’s story really got confused. Bill Garland was Carol’s estranged husband. She had met him while working as the contact between him and Joy. She had fallen in love with him, or thought she had, and married him on October 4, 1986, three years to the day after the attack on Rozanne and less than two months after Joy and Larry were divorced. Her new husband had ordered Carol not to tell anyone in her family, especially Joy, about the marriage. But now, it seemed, Carol and her husband were on the verge of a falling out. She had, in fact, filed assault charges against him, charges that were later dismissed. As a result, she was scared and angry, not only at her husband but at Joy, who she blamed for getting her into the position in which she now found herself. Also, several years before, her father, Henry Davis, had had a stroke, so he was largely incapacitated. Ever since he had become ill, his generous subsidy to her had evaporated. Now she was broke and the $25,000 reward was very appealing.
Carol had mentioned no one other than Garland as a participant in the plots, but McGowan considered that to be a lack of knowledge on her part. If the scenario was as complicated as Carol had given him reason to believe, the detective felt certain that others had to be involved. But he did not know how many or how. The long interview with Carol, the detective knew, had only cracked open a door.
Although McGowan, even today, is unable to go into details about his conversations with Carol for a number of legal reasons, Carol touched on the subject in an interview with Glenna Whitley, a writer for Dallas’s D magazine, in 1991, three years after the initial meeting with McGowan.
Carol told Whitley that Joy began calling her in January 1986. She had been surprised to hear from her because she and Joy had not been on the best of terms for a long time. Plus, for reasons she would make clear later, she doubted that Joy would want to talk to her. The reason for Joy’s call was to find out what Carol knew about Larry.
Carol told her, then asked her why she sounded so desperate to know.
Because, Joy allegedly said, she wanted to have Larry killed.
Despite her sister’s shocking revelation, Carol’s reaction was relatively mild. Rather than professing amazement, Carol, who had never liked Larry, asked only one question: Why?
Joy hesitated. It was, she said reluctantly, because she had just discovered that Larry was having an affair with their younger sister, Elizabeth, who was then twenty-six, a situation apparently going back several years. That, Joy said, helped explain Larry’s strange reaction to the news in 1985 that Elizabeth was getting married.
“No kidding,” Carol had replied sarcastically when Joy explained about Larry and Elizabeth. “I thought you knew that. Elizabeth and Larry were always together,” Carol said. “They acted more like a married couple than you and Larry did.”
After the murder attempt on Larry failed, Carol told Whitley, her husband involved her in an elaborate plan to blackmail Joy, a scheme that was successful to the tune of $12,500. It was in connection with that scheme, Carol said, that Joy began receiving threatening telephone calls and a packaged fish head.
As Carol came to the end of her story, McGowan’s brain was ticking furiously. Slow down, he cautioned himself. Do this one step at a time. Start with Joy and see what develops. But first do some basic checking on what Carol has said so far. He was as skeptical of the source as he was of the information. How did he know that she was not just a
According to Carol, Joy turned the job over to a man named Bill Garland. And this was where Carol’s story really got confused. Bill Garland was Carol’s estranged husband. She had met him while working as the contact between him and Joy. She had fallen in love with him, or thought she had, and married him on October 4, 1986, three years to the day after the attack on Rozanne and less than two months after Joy and Larry were divorced. Her new husband had ordered Carol not to tell anyone in her family, especially Joy, about the marriage. But now, it seemed, Carol and her husband were on the verge of a falling out. She had, in fact, filed assault charges against him, charges that were later dismissed. As a result, she was scared and angry, not only at her husband but at Joy, who she blamed for getting her into the position in which she now found herself. Also, several years before, her father, Henry Davis, had had a stroke, so he was largely incapacitated. Ever since he had become ill, his generous subsidy to her had evaporated. Now she was broke and the $25,000 reward was very appealing.
Carol had mentioned no one other than Garland as a participant in the plots, but McGowan considered that to be a lack of knowledge on her part. If the scenario was as complicated as Carol had given him reason to believe, the detective felt certain that others had to be involved. But he did not know how many or how. The long interview with Carol, the detective knew, had only cracked open a door.
Although McGowan, even today, is unable to go into details about his conversations with Carol for a number of legal reasons, Carol touched on the subject in an interview with Glenna Whitley, a writer for Dallas’s D magazine, in 1991, three years after the initial meeting with McGowan.
Carol told Whitley that Joy began calling her in January 1986. She had been surprised to hear from her because she and Joy had not been on the best of terms for a long time. Plus, for reasons she would make clear later, she doubted that Joy would want to talk to her. The reason for Joy’s call was to find out what Carol knew about Larry.
Carol told her, then asked her why she sounded so desperate to know.
Because, Joy allegedly said, she wanted to have Larry killed.
Despite her sister’s shocking revelation, Carol’s reaction was relatively mild. Rather than professing amazement, Carol, who had never liked Larry, asked only one question: Why?
Joy hesitated. It was, she said reluctantly, because she had just discovered that Larry was having an affair with their younger sister, Elizabeth, who was then twenty-six, a situation apparently going back several years. That, Joy said, helped explain Larry’s strange reaction to the news in 1985 that Elizabeth was getting married.
“No kidding,” Carol had replied sarcastically when Joy explained about Larry and Elizabeth. “I thought you knew that. Elizabeth and Larry were always together,” Carol said. “They acted more like a married couple than you and Larry did.”
After the murder attempt on Larry failed, Carol told Whitley, her husband involved her in an elaborate plan to blackmail Joy, a scheme that was successful to the tune of $12,500. It was in connection with that scheme, Carol said, that Joy began receiving threatening telephone calls and a packaged fish head.
As Carol came to the end of her story, McGowan’s brain was ticking furiously. Slow down, he cautioned himself. Do this one step at a time. Start with Joy and see what develops. But first do some basic checking on what Carol has said so far. He was as skeptical of the source as he was of the information. How did he know that she was not just a
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