Deadly Defiance, page 32
“And since you had to make sure someone else was convicted for Rodney Thompson’s murder, who better than an estranged wife who had already been charged for allegedly murdering her first husband. Have I gotten it right so far?”
Mellon gave Paula an icy stare. “I take the Fifth.”
“Is it true you had someone use an ice pick to kill Rodney Thompson so it would appear Maureen Thompson was the killer?”
“I take the Fifth.”
“Is it also true that you were also responsible for other murders, including the murder of Maureen Thompson’s first husband, Randy Rhymes?”
“I take the Fifth.”
“Objection, Your Honor. This is ridiculous! The next thing Ms. Waters is going to say is that Doc Mellon is responsible for the Kennedy assassinations!”
“Withdraw the question. This is my last question, Mr. Mellon. You can probably go ahead and answer it. It’s a simple question and I can bring in another witness to establish it if need be. But since you’re already on the stand I’m going to ask you: Is Simon Smith one of your employees?”
Mellon looked over at his attorney who nodded.
“Yes. He works for one of my companies.”
“Great. I’m done with this witness, Your Honor.”
“All right. Mr. Rawlins, your witness.”
“No questions, Your Honor.”
“Ms. Waters. Call your next witness,” the judge said.
“The defense calls Roy Wells.”
A tall, thin man in a dress shirt and tie walked up to the witness box. The judge swore him in.
“Mr. Wells. How are you employed?”
“I’m a clerk at the Dallas Health Department.”
“And what is your job there?”
“Vital statistics—birth and death certificates.”
“And did someone from my office visit you yesterday in conjunction with Rodney Thompson’s death certificate?”
“Yes. He wanted to know who had ordered and received copies of the death certificate.”
“So, it is your job to keep a record of every death certificate issued in Dallas?”
“Yes. We have to account for the fees charged so we always give out a receipt.”
“And who has obtained Mr. Thompson’s death certificate since his death?”
“Ms. Thompson, Eternal Rest Funeral Home, and Simon Smith.”
There was a buzz of excitement in the courtroom. The bailiff stood up and glared out at the crowd and the noise subsided.
“Simon Smith? Mr. Mellon’s employee?”
“Apparently.”
“So, why would Simon Smith want Mr. Thompson’s death certificate?”
Wells shrugged. “The only reason I can think of is he wanted to file a death claim against an insurance policy.”
The gallery erupted in excited chatter. This time the bailiff’s glare didn’t faze the crowd. The judge banged his gavel. “I’ll have order in the courtroom.”
The room went quiet.
“Thank you, Mr. Wells. Pass the witness.”
Rawlins looked at the witness and started to say something but stopped.
“Mr. Rawlins. Do you have any questions for this witness?”
“Ah . . . Well . . . I guess not, Your Honor.”
“All right. The witness may stand down. Call your next witness, Ms. Waters.”
“The defense would recall Tony Bartos.”
The judge looked at the bailiff. “Find Mr. Bartos and get him back in here.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” the bailiff replied.
A few minutes later Mr. Bartos took the stand and Paula began questioning him.
“Mr. Bartos. Do you know of any other life insurance policy on the life of Rodney Thompson other than the one they took out with State Farm?”
“No. I don’t. If there is one it must have been taken out after the State Farm Policy because the application requires the disclosures of all policies in force on an insured.”
“Now you testified that in order to file a death claim it was necessary to procure a death certificate, is that correct?”
“Yes. The insurance company wants to be sure the insured is dead and looks to the cause of death on the certificate to determine how much to pay or if payment should be made at all.”
“I see. Now you said that to file a claim it was necessary to surrender the original policy or sign a lost policy affidavit, is that correct?”
“That’s right.”
“So, do you know if Maureen Thompson had the original policy?”
“No. She didn’t. Apparently she’d lost it.”
“More likely Rodney lost it or gave it to someone, right?”
“Objection,” Rawlins said. “Calls for speculation.”
“Sustained,” the judge ruled.
“You don’t know where the original policy is, do you?”
“No.”
“If someone were to assign the policy as collateral on a loan, how would that be documented?”
“There’s a form that would have to be filled out and it would be sent to the insurance company along with the original policy.”
“So, let’s say Doc Mellon insisted he have the policy as collateral for his investment in Thompson Construction. To accomplish that Rodney would fill out the collateral assignment form and give it to him along with the original policy?”
“That’s correct.”
“So, that would explain why Ms. Thompson couldn’t find the policy?”
“Objection!” Rawlins said. “This is all speculation, Your Honor.”
“Your Honor. It’s not speculation. It’s a plausible theory particularly in light of the fact that we know Doc Mellon obtained a death certificate.”
“I’ll allow it,” the judge said.
“Speaking of the death certificate. Can you think of any reason why Doc Mellon would need Rodney Thompson’s death certificate other than to file a death claim?”
“No,” Bartos replied. “I really can’t.”
“Thank you. Pass the witness.”
“Mr. Rawlins. Your witness.”
“Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Bartos. You don’t have a death claim from Mr. Mellon, do you?”
“No. We don’t.”
“So, if Doc Mellon had taken the policy as collateral, don’t you think you would have at least received the collateral assignment by now so it could be reported to the company?”
“That would be the expected procedure.”
“No further questions.”
“Ms. Waters, redirect?” the judge asked.
“Yes, your honor. Mr. Bartos. If Doc Mellon had processed a collateral assignment then it would have been obvious that Maureen Thompson lacked a financial motive for killing her husband.”
“Yes. Whatever had been owed to Doc Mellon would have had to be paid out first, so she would have only collected the difference, if any.”
“Is there any requirement that a collateral assignment be processed with the insurance company within a certain period of time?”
“No. As long as it is filed before a claim is paid on the policy it would still be effective.”
“So, if Doc Mellon wanted Maureen Thompson to take the fall for her husband’s murder, he could simply hold onto the policy and the assignment until after she was convicted.”
“Objection! Your, honor,” Rawlins exclaimed. “Calls for speculation.”
“Withdrawn,” Paula said. “Plaintiff rests.”
The judge looked at Rawlins. “Mr. Rawlins. Do you have any further questions of this witness?”
“No, your honor.”
“Any rebuttal witnesses?”
“No. The prosecution closes,” Rawlins advised.
“Ms. Waters?”
“The defense closes, Your Honor.”
“Very well, we’ll take a twenty-minute recess and then you can give closing arguments.”
After the judge left, several reporters approached Paula for a statement. Being pressed for time, she declined any comment and went into the attorney’s conference room where she’d have privacy while she worked on her closing argument. She felt good about how everything had gone. Somehow Stan had come through with the critical pieces of the puzzle despite the distraction of Rebekah’s hospitalization.
She read through the closing statement she had written earlier and made a few changes based on the evidence that had just been produced. Then she read it over several times so it would come out natural when she delivered it. She felt confident when the case reconvened.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. I want to thank you for your attentiveness throughout this trial. I know a trial like this can be quite tedious at times. If you will remember at the beginning of the trial I told you that according to the law Maureen Thompson was presumed to be innocent. In order to overcome that presumption, Mr. Rawlins would have to prove beyond any reasonable doubt that Maureen Thompson caused the death of her husband by stabbing him repeatedly with an ice pick.
“As you know, Mr. Rawlins did not produce anyone who saw Maureen Thompson murder her husband. All he established was a possible motive and a fifteen-minute window of opportunity. This clearly isn’t sufficient to establish beyond all reasonable doubt that Maureen Thompson killed her husband. Do you really think Maureen Thompson put on her Rollerblades and skated over to her husband’s apartment and killed him? We know she didn’t take a cab, walk, or hop on a bus. None of those means of transportation would have gotten her there in time. It’s true she might have gotten a ride or rented a car, but the prosecution introduced no evidence of this.
“On the other hand we introduced evidence of a $250,000 loan from Doc Mellon to the decedent, Rodney Thompson. Not a conventional loan but one that had to be disguised as an equity purchase so that Mellon could get the 100 percent interest rate that he insisted on having.
“You heard about the collapse of the real estate market that put Rodney Thompson in dire straits causing him to default on many of his obligations and effectively shut down his business. I asked Doc Mellon if it was his practice to use violence and intimidation to collect his delinquent accounts and he took the Fifth Amendment because he is currently under indictment for that very thing. You can bet he was livid when he realized he’d have to write off the loan to Rodney Thompson. Then he got a great idea. Since the loan was in default he had a right to ask for more security, so he told Rodney he wanted his insurance policy as additional collateral. Since Doc Mellon refused to testify we couldn’t ask him to confirm this, but we know this is true since the policy is missing and he took the trouble to obtain a copy of Rodney’s death certificate.
“So, where is the insurance policy now? Well, obviously Doc Mellon couldn’t file a death claim until after Maureen Thompson’s trial was over. If he’d have filed it before the trial he would have become a suspect, but after Maureen Thompson had been convicted the insurance company would have had to honor the assignment of the policy to him and pay the death claim.
“It was a brilliant plan but fortunately my law partner used to be a life insurance agent and figured out what had happened. So, I think, at the very least, you all will agree we have proven there is reasonable doubt as to whether the defendant, Maureen Thompson, had anything to do with her husband’s death. In fact, I think you may well agree that the prosecution has put the wrong person on trial.
“Thank you again for your service as jurors. I know it is a very difficult job, but I am confident you will do the right thing and find Maureen Thompson not guilty.”
Paula smiled then returned to her seat. The judge looked at Rawlins.
“Mr. Rawlins. You can make your closing statement.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Rawlins said and then turned to the jury and shook his head. “Well, I’ve got to give Ms. Waters credit, she’s spins a good yarn. Unfortunately for her, it’s all speculation and guesswork. A missing insurance policy and a death certificate is supposed to prove that Doc Mellon killed Rodney Thompson. I don’t think so. You heard the judge. You can’t assume anything by the fact that Doc Mellon elected to exercise his right under the Constitution not to testify. I know Ms. Waters tried to make it appear that Doc Mellon was responsible for the Second World War, but the fact is that whole line of questioning was just theatrics. It meant nothing.
“We all know what happened here. It’s a fairly common scenario. Rodney Thompson fell on bad times which created unbearable stress on the marriage. Eventually it got so bad he left his wife. Maureen Thompson was understandably upset and felt abandoned. She told Rodney to his face that he was more valuable to her dead than alive. Of course, we’ll never know what was the final trigger that made her take matters into her own hands, but that’s clearly what happened. Whether she Rollerbladed over or asked a friend to give her a ride, she somehow got to Rodney’s apartment, found the ice pick she’d used the week before, and got her revenge.
“You heard the testimony of the medical examiner. This was a crime of passion, perpetrated by someone who was filled with anger and rage. This was the act of an abandoned wife who had been betrayed by the man she thought loved her. Whether this was a murder for profit, revenge, or simply out of anger, it makes no difference. Maureen Thompson intentionally caused the death of her husband and you must do your duty and find her guilty of murder.
“Thank you.”
The judge sat up and looked out over the jury. “All right. This concludes the evidentiary phase of the trial. Now after I give you some instructions, you will withdraw to the jury room to deliberate and come up with a verdict.”
The judge gave the jury its instructions and then directed the bailiff to escort them to the jury room. When they were gone he recessed the trial until they had completed their deliberations.
“How long do you think it will take the jury to make a decision?” Maureen asked.
“I don’t know. It could be a while. I’m sure it won’t be today. Stay close to home, though. The bailiff will call me when the jury has completed its deliberation and we’ll be expected to return within an hour or so.”
“Okay. I’ll be at Elena’s place. I don’t want to be alone.”
“That’s probably wise,” Paula agreed. “I know this is a scary time for you.”
“Actually, I feel better than I expected. You did a good job of pointing the finger at Doc Mellon.”
“Well, the son of a bitch deserved it. He’s a damn loan shark for godsakes.”
“What will happen if I lose?” Maureen asked.
Paula sighed. “Well, they’ll take you into custody right away. Then down the road a few days they’ll have a sentencing hearing.”
“Oh, God. I can’t go to jail, Paula. I didn’t kill Rodney.”
“I know. Just keep your chin up. I’m sure it will all work out.”
Elena came and took Maureen away. Then Bart arrived. “Nice job. I heard the closing arguments. You convinced me.”
“Yeah. Well, you’re prejudiced.”
“True. But aside from that I’m serious. You were very convincing.”
“Thank you.”
“I see Stan came through for you,” Bart said.
“Yeah. Just in the nick of time. We should go visit Rebekah now that we’ve got a break in the action.”
“Okay, we can go pay her and Stan a visit and then go out to dinner.”
Paula nodded and then began packing up her briefcase. As she was working a reporter came over.
“Ms. Waters. How did you think the trial went?”
Paula smiled. “You tell me. It’s hard to get a good perspective when you’re in the thick of battle.”
“You did a good job. I think it’s going to be a tough call for the jury. You definitely made Doc Mellon look bad but I’m not sure the jury will understand the insurance angle. It was pretty complicated.”
The reporter’s comments worried Paula. She wondered if he was right and they wouldn’t understand the implications of Doc Mellon requiring a collateral assignment on his insurance policy. It seemed fairly obvious to her, but maybe it wouldn’t be so obvious to a jury. A sick feeling came over her. Had she failed to provide an adequate explanation to the jury? Had her theory gone right over their heads?
Chapter 35
Diagnosis
After Stan had returned from his trip to the health department where he discovered the critical evidence proving that Doc Mellon had obtained Rodney Thompson’s death certificate, he was aghast to find Rebekah’s room empty. He rushed up to the nurses’ station.
“Where’s my wife?”
The startled charge nurse looked up. “Oh. Ah. They took her for a test.”
“What test?”
“They think she has hyperparathyroidism.”
“What’s that?”
“Ah. Well. Let me read you the description in one of my textbooks. After they took her away for the test I was curious, so I looked it up.” She opened a big brown book. “
‘Hyperparathyroidism is an excess of parathyroid hormone in the bloodstream due to overactivity of one or more of the body's four parathyroid glands. These oval, grain-of-rice-size glands are located in the neck. The parathyroid glands produce parathyroid hormone, which helps maintain an appropriate balance of calcium in the bloodstream and in tissues that depend on calcium for proper functioning.’ The doctor said if the test was positive they’d need to do surgery.”
“Surgery?”
“Yes. Often it’s caused by a tumor. If so, it will have to be removed.”
“Can she live without the parathyroid glands?”
“I asked the doctor that and he said that usually only one or two will be affected. As long as at least one remains functional, she’ll be all right.”
“So, when will she be back?” Stan asked.
“Probably a half hour or so.”
“All right. I’ll just wait in her room.”
“That will be fine.”
Stan went into Rebekah’s room and stretched out on the bench seat in front of the window. He was tired and fought off an urge to go to sleep. Finally, the door opened and an orderly rolled Rebekah back into the room.
Stan got up and went over to her. “So, how did the test come out?” Stan noticed Rebekah’s eyes were red. He took her hand and squeezed it. “What’s wrong?”
