Chapter 25 #2
“Time went on. I didn’t know Jamie and Erin were getting close. I thought it was kind of a brother/sister thing. But I’d say a little over a year after Ellie went missing, it was clear Erin was smitten with Jamie. They were inseparable. Erin didn’t make a move without Jamie.”
“How did you feel about that?”
“I don’t know. I was still so numb. Erin seemed happy.
I … God. This is hard to admit. But when you lose a child.
It blows up your world. Your heart. Sometimes it seems better not to feel at all.
I don’t want to say I didn’t care. But I just didn’t have the mental strength to think anything of it.
Erin was over eighteen. I thought Jamie was a little old for her.
But Claudia thought it seemed natural. They were both grieving Ellie.
So it was easy to think their love grew from that. But … things started to happen.”
“What things?”
“Erin was a different person. She’d always been my wild child.
My troublemaker. After Ellie, she got quiet.
Withdrawn. Jamie became dominant over her.
He had opinions about everything. What she wore.
Her haircut. Erin was going to go to college but then she never did.
Before we knew it, she found out she was pregnant and Jamie married her. ”
“How did you feel about that?”
“By then, I had nothing to say about it. Erin was almost twenty. Jamie had a good job and could provide for her. And on we went. Whatever Jamie says goes. Every time I’ve tried to speak up when I saw something I didn’t like, Erin would get so upset.”
“What things didn’t you like?”
“Erin is … her world is small. I never thought that would happen to her. I thought it was because of what happened to Ellie. Erin became agoraphobic. Didn’t want to leave the house.
And it’s like her personality changed. She’s meek.
Afraid. Looks to Jamie for everything. God.
I should have said something. I should have gotten her into counseling or something.
And then when I started seeing bruises … ”
“Objection!”
“Approach the bench,” Judge Saul said.
“We’re right back here,” Cutler said. “Ms. Brent is trying to do through George Luke what this court wouldn’t allow her to do with Deena Landon. If she’s trying to paint some picture that my client is a domestic abuser, it’s impermissible as a prior bad act.”
“I’m inclined to agree,” Judge Saul said.
“Your Honor, this witness can establish a pattern of abuse going back decades. His obsession and control over this family is at the heart of this case.”
“And like I told Mr. Cutler, you’re free to argue that in closing.”
“There is no record of any abuse,” Cutler said.
“My witness is competent to testify about what he saw,” I said.
“He can say he saw bruises on his daughter,” Judge Saul said. “But she’s not the one who was murdered, Ms. Brent. Let’s not forget that. The objection is sustained. Wrap it up.”
She hadn’t ruled that George Luke’s testimony be stricken. The jury had just heard he’d seen bruises on Erin Luke. Would it be enough?
I went back to the table. I brought up two photographs that had been previously entered into evidence. One was Erin Luke, the other her lookalike sister, Ellie.
“Mr. Luke,” I said. “Can you tell me who these photographs depict?”
“Those are my girls,” he said. “That’s Ellie on the left. Erin on the right. Everyone used to think they were twins.”
“The resemblance is remarkable,” I said. “Mr. Luke, are you aware of what your granddaughter, Hayden, found in your son-in-law’s basement?”
“Yes,” George said through gritted teeth.
“Did you speak to Hayden about it?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“He told us … Jamie swore to us we shouldn’t believe it.”
“You shouldn’t believe your own granddaughter?”
“Yes. He said she was disturbed. He said … God. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. But this is what he does. He makes you think he has all the answers. Makes you doubt yourself. Preys on your vulnerabilities. God. Did he do that to Ellie? Did she trust him too?”
“Mr. Luke, did your son-in-law tell you not to talk to the police after he was arrested?”
“Yes. He said this was all made up. He said you and Sheriff Cruz were telling Hayden what to say.”
“Did he tell you not to talk to me?”
“He didn’t say don’t talk to you. He said not to trust you. He said this was all Dane Fischer. And that’s what we’d believed for so many years. But now … now that I know what he had. After I saw it with my own eyes. I can’t go along with this. I can’t. I just can’t.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I have no further questions.”
George shifted in his chair as Cutler stepped forward. The tips of Cutler’s ears turned purple, but I could sense no other outward sign of his mood.
“Mr. Luke,” Cutler said. “I want to be clear about something. You said Ellie was living with you at the time she went missing.”
“Yes.”
“She had her own bedroom?”
“Yes.”
“Her clothes, her jewelry, she kept them in the bedroom at your home?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Okay. After Ellie went missing, did you go into her bedroom?”
“What? I don’t know. I’m sure I did. Passed by it at least.”
“Did you remove Ellie’s things from the house after she went missing?”
“No. God. No. It was her room. We held out hope that she’d come back.”
“Did you remove Ellie’s things from her room after you found out she was dead?”
George looked down. “Not for a long time, no.”
“So you left Ellie’s room, which contained her clothing, her underwear, her jewelry, her hairbrushes, all of it remained undisturbed for how long after she died?”
“I don’t know. A while.”
“More than a year?”
“I think so.”
“More than two years?”
“Maybe two years. Finally, Jamie convinced us it was time to clean everything out.”
“Jamie convinced you. Did Jamie help you and your wife clean out Ellie’s room?”
“I don’t know. He might have. But I think it was mostly Claudia. She wanted to do it.”
“The police went through Ellie’s room after she went missing, didn’t they?”
“Yes. We let them.”
“And you had other people in that house in those two years, didn’t you? In fact, you held a wake at the house after Ellie’s funeral, didn’t you?”
“We did, yes.”
“How many people were in the house that day?”
“Objection,” I said. “Relevance.”
“Your Honor, the prosecution’s entire case rests on a box of what is alleged to be Ellie Luke’s belongings. I think it’s highly relevant to establish who might have had access to them over the years.”
“Sustained,” the judge said.
“How many people were in the house for Ellie’s wake?” Cutler repeated.
“I don’t know. I … I went to my room that day.”
“You didn’t come out,” Cutler said.
“No.”
“It was dozens and dozens of people, wasn’t it?”
“It might have been.”
“And they traipsed through your home and you can’t even say where they went in the home because you didn’t come out of bed, isn’t that right?”
“I don’t know if I’d say traipsed. But we had people in the house, yes.”
“Okay. Mr. Luke, you’ve hit your daughters, haven’t you?”
“Objection!”
“Your Honor, Ms. Brent was allowed to make the salacious implication that Erin Luke had bruises on her. I’m allowed to inquire whether this witness ever hit her.”
“Overruled,” Judge Saul said.
“Did you hit your daughters, Mr. Luke?”
“I resent your implication, sir. Sure. I spanked my girls when they were little. Not often. But if you’re suggesting I hurt them, well, then you can go to hell.”
“You have a temper, don’t you, Mr. Luke?”
George Luke turned white. He rose from his chair. “You son of a bitch. You killed her. You lied to us for twenty years. You killed her. You beat her until she was dead because she knew what a creep you are. You had the rest of us snowed, but not Ellie. Ellie knew exactly who you are!”
“Your Honor!” Cutler shouted.
I rose from my chair. Judge Saul banged her gavel.
Something came over George Luke’s face. His entire body shook with rage.
He started to move. Then, he vaulted over the side of the witness box and lunged for Jamie Simmons.
Simmons remained stoic, almost smirking in his seat.
Two bailiffs wrestled George Luke to the ground.
“He killed her!” George shouted, spit flying from his mouth. “He killed her! He killed my little girl!”
“Your Honor,” Cutler practically screamed. “I demand an immediate mistrial!”
The deputies hauled George out of the courtroom. Judge Saul buried her face in her hands. Adrenaline shot through me. I couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“Please escort the jury from the courtroom,” Judge Saul instructed her bailiff.
The deputies made it halfway up the aisle with George before the man passed out.