Chapter 18
“Detective,” I started. “You believe you did a thorough job investigating Tom Loomis’s murder, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t necessarily think in those terms. I believed then, and still believe, that I had probable cause to arrest Katy Loomis for the murder of her husband.”
“I just want to be absolutely clear on the investigative steps you took,” I said.
“You arrived on scene. You assessed the scene. Looked for signs of forced entry. Called for the ME and the crime scene analysts. You spoke with Jenna Rodney and a couple of the neighbors. You spoke with Joe Leary, Katy’s ex-husband. ”
“And your brother,” she interjected.
“I haven’t asked you a question yet,” I said.
“Your Honor,” Addison rose. “I believe defense counsel just admitted she’s making speeches. That’s inappropriate at this stage.”
“All I am doing, which is within my rights and duty, is establishing the scope of the detective’s investigation. If I could be allowed to finish my question, I would very much appreciate it.”
“Please get to it,” Judge Castor said.
“You reviewed the scene, you spoke to three neighbors, Joe Leary, Jenna Rodney, and Tom Loomis’s lawyer, correct?”
“As stated in my report, yes,” she said.
“Okay. I just wanted to make sure. There was no one you left out of your report? No other witnesses you interviewed?”
“Are you accusing me of doctoring my own report?” she snapped. Her reaction surprised me. A second later, I could see it surprised Sharon DePaul as well. It was a misstep a seasoned detective like her shouldn’t have made.
“I’m doing no such thing,” I said. “Let me frame my question another way. You didn’t speak to anyone from Tom Loomis’s work, did you? You didn’t interview his news director, his coworkers, right?”
“There was no need,” she said. “There was no evidence suggesting anyone else was involved.”
“Got it,” I said. “So you never asked to see Tom Loomis’s personnel file at WLAN or WDTN where he worked before coming to Delphi?”
“No.”
“You’re aware that Mr. Loomis was a public figure though. That he was a local, on-air celebrity, right?”
“I suppose that’s one way to put it.”
“I see,” I said. “Did it ever occur to you that Mr. Loomis might have an obsessive fan or two?”
“That wasn’t relevant to my investigation,” she said.
“But you searched Tom’s phone and computer. The digital forensics report is in your file, correct?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“Of course,” I said. “So you’re aware that Mr. Loomis received no less than a dozen disturbing emails from fans, correct?”
“Objection as to Ms. Leary’s characterization of any emails.”
“Sustained,” Judge Castor said.
“Detective,” I said. “I’d like to direct your attention to State’s Exhibit 7. Can you tell me what it is?”
I put the front page of her own report on screen.
“It’s my full report on this case.”
“Including appendix D?”
“Of course.”
“What is appendix D?”
“It is the digital forensics report on Mr. Loomis’s home computer.”
“He logged into his station emails from home, isn’t that right?”
“Yes. He had access to work emails on his home computer.”
“And you read them, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t personally read all of them, no.”
“Did you read an email he received in October of last year from a woman identifying herself as Sugar Bear?”
“I don’t have an independent recall of what emails were received and when.”
“Fine,” I said. “So let me try to refresh your recollection.” I pulled up the email in question.
“Detective, will you read this email into the record? It is referenced in the forensics report already.”
“Sure,” she said, sliding on her readers.
“Please note the date and the sender and recipient, if you would.”
“It’s from Sugar Bear addressed to Tom Loomis’s email at WLAN.
Dated October 27th as you described. It says, Dear Tom, I like the way you cut your hair.
But you looked better when Mr. Davis on Woodward Avenue was your barber.
I’m so proud of you for finally getting the recognition you deserve at WLAN.
They appreciate your talent. They’re going to see how you’re the most valuable on-air talent they have.
I miss you though. I miss being able to drive by your house on Briar.
I left flowers on the porch for you even though I know you don’t live there anymore.
But I’ll see you soon. I promise. Love, Sugar Bear. ”
“Thank you,” I said. “You didn’t make any attempt to locate or identify Sugar Bear, did you?”
“There was no evidence that this person or any other than Katy Loomis was involved in Tom Loomis’s murder.”
“And you didn’t look for any,” I said.
“I didn’t say that.”
“Okay,” I said. “So where is your witness statement from Sugar Bear?”
She sighed with exasperation. “There isn’t one. I don’t even know who this person is or if it’s a real person at all.”
“You never spoke to Tom’s employers or coworkers at WDTN either, did you?”
“No.”
“So it would surprise you if you learned that the station manager at WTDN filed a police report regarding disturbing behavior from this obsessed fan toward their on-air talent?”
I had a copy of the police report in my hand.
“It doesn’t surprise me, no,” she said. “And it wouldn’t surprise me if no action was ever taken on it. Am I right?”
“But that isn’t the point, is it? The point is, you never once asked the question, did you?”
“No,” she said. “I did not pursue every single crackpot that might have sent a creepy email to an on-air personality. No.”
“You didn’t pursue even one, did you?”
“No,” she said.
“So you felt you could overlook it, right?”
“Objection,” Addison said, his voice weary.
“I think this is a legitimate line of inquiry, Mr. Quick,” Judge Castor said.
“Well?” I said to Detective DePaul.
“I overlooked nothing. But this wasn’t a viable lead. It wasn’t reasonable to suspect anyone other than Katy Loomis was involved in what happened to her husband. I had overwhelming physical evidence against her as well as an eyewitness.”
“Let’s talk about that physical evidence for a second,” I said. “You testified Katy had Tom’s blood on her. That the knife had Tom’s blood and Katy’s touch DNA on it. Plus her fingerprints.”
“Yes.”
“And you concluded that meant Katy stabbed Tom, isn’t that right?”
“Of course.”
“Of course,” I said. “But touch DNA and fingerprints doesn’t mean she stabbed him. In fact, anyone who picked up that knife could have left their DNA on it, isn’t that right?”
“Oh, that’s right. Except they didn’t. There were no other prints or DNA on it.”
“You wouldn’t expect that if someone had been holding that knife wearing a glove though, would you?”
“No.”
“I mean, you held that knife yourself, didn’t you? While wearing latex gloves?”
“Yes.”
“And your DNA and fingerprints weren’t on the knife either, were they?”
“No,” she said, becoming increasingly irritated.
“Your so-called eyewitness. Let’s talk about what Jenna Rodney saw. She told you she saw Mrs. Loomis standing over her husband, right?”
“That’s right.”
“What is your understanding of Mr. Loomis’s actual time of death?”
“The ME is better able to testify as to those facts,” she said.
“But you relied on the ME’s conclusions to form probable cause, right?”
“I did. Yes. In part.”
“In part. You stated in your report that you believe Mr. Loomis died between three and five a.m. Correct?”
“That’s an approximation,” she said.
“He was already dead at 5:52 a.m. when Jenna Rodney arrived though, right?”
“Yes.”
“And she said Katy Loomis was standing over him, right?”
“Yes!”
“But he likely died at least an hour before that, didn’t he? Because when he was initially examined at seven a.m. the ME concluded he’d been dead at least two hours already, if not more.”
“What is your point?”
I smiled. “So based on Jenna Rodney’s testimony, Katy Loomis would have had to be standing over her husband’s body for almost an hour before Jenna Rodney arrived.”
“That’s ridiculous,” she said. “Katy could have done anything within that time frame. We’ll never know. She was alone with him until Jenna Rodney arrived.”
“Could have done anything,” I said. “You testified that Mr. Loomis’s blood was everywhere, correct? On the bed, spilled down to the carpet on his side of the bed.”
“Yes.”
“But there were no bloody footprints anywhere in the room? No evidence that Katy Loomis walked around after Tom died.”
“There were no bloody footprints found. That’s correct. But that doesn’t mean she wasn’t walking around. Just because she doesn’t appear to have stepped in her husband’s blood doesn’t mean she never moved after she stabbed him. No one could know that unless they actually saw her.”
“Actually saw her,” I said. “No one actually saw her do anything, isn’t that right?”
“Ms. Rodney did. She saw her standing over her husband’s body with a knife.”
“She didn’t see her stab him, correct?”
“That’s correct.”
“In fact,” I said. “Nothing Jenna Rodney saw in itself amounted to a crime, did it?”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Please answer the question,” I said.
“No. I suppose standing over the body of the man you just murdered isn’t a crime by itself. You got me there.”
I walked into that one. But Sharon DePaul’s flippant attitude wouldn’t do her any favors with the jury either.
“Just to clarify, you have no eyewitness to the actual murder of Tom Loomis, do you? You’ve been describing Jenna as an eyewitness. But she’s not. She saw the aftermath of something, nothing more, isn’t that right?”
Sharon crossed her arms in front of her and glowered at me. “I believe I’ve already answered that.”
“You’ve been describing her as an eyewitness,” I said. “But she’s not an eyewitness to murder, is she?”
“No,” Detective DePaul finally said.
It was entirely possible all I’d done was irritate the jury as well as Sharon DePaul. But she’d at least said the most important thing I needed her to say.
“I have no further questions,” I said, then turned my back on her.