I can’t not mention this thing Strycker does: In the middle of his opening speech, he’d pause and take a drink from a water bottle he keeps with him at all times. The bottle has a black plastic nipple. While he’s sucking it, his eyes roll, or focus, inward. The nipple squeals slightly.
Strycker began: “The evidence in this case will tell the story of familial resentment and the violent end of an American dream.” He said Mr. and Mrs. Chao “worked inhuman hours to build their American dream” of owning a restaurant, all while raising their sons.
He defined “the young William ‘Dagou’ Chao” as a “creative type” who didn’t make it in New York City and came home to live off of the family business.
Next, he spent a lot of time setting the scene of the alleged murder and describing the party. He said that:
Dagou had shoveled the snow into piles so high you couldn’t see into the restaurant from the street.
The restaurant was lavishly and expensively decorated.
There was an unusual amount of free food and alcohol at the party.
He said Big Chao and Dagou fought afterwards. Big Chao said the party was too extravagant. He accused Dagou of stealing money and Dagou didn’t deny it. Then Big Chao threatened to call the police.
Near midnight, Mr. Strycker said, when the last employee left the premises, the father and son were still arguing. The next morning, Big Chao’s body was found locked in the restaurant freezer room.
Posted April 24, 6 p.m.
In contrast to Strycker, the defense attorney, Jerry Stern, is a round, frumpy guy. He nodded at jury members like he knows them. Maybe he does. Maybe he’s stood in line with each of them at the Red Owl. It’s the difference between Haven and a bigger city.
Jerry spoke simply, making a few main points:
That the prosecution’s claims cannot be taken as the truth until he can show evidence to back them up.
That “precisely how Leo Chao became locked in the freezer room is not known.”
That there are no witnesses to his death and nothing was captured on camera.
That much of the evidence is circumstantial.
He said, “It’s the prosecution’s theory Leo Chao was killed intentionally. Intention is not a given in this case.” He reminded everyone that Dagou is innocent until proven guilty.
Jerry’s partner, the assistant defense attorney, is a dark-haired woman named Sara Stojkovic. I haven’t heard her speak yet. She’s polite, organized, and neatly dressed: Jerry’s polar opposite. I’m relieved he has someone like this.
Posted April 27, 9:30 a.m.
It’s Monday morning, and court is almost in session. I’m in the bathroom, typing in a stall. I need to be alone.
Here’s what happened: When I got to the courthouse an hour ago, there was a line of women in the hall, waiting for this bathroom. I got in line behind a woman with a frosted-blond ponytail. When it was her turn to enter, she glowered at me, opened the door, and slammed it in my face. She wore a JUSTICE FOR ALF pendant on a ribbon around her neck.
Posted April 27, 12:20 p.m.
Starbucks, again. This morning we saw Strycker try to build his “wall of evidence” and Jerry punching holes in it.
The prosecution’s first witness turned out to be a woman we all recognized from the Christmas party: the unexpected guest. Her name is Cecilia Chang.
Cecilia’s a social worker who’s fascinated by her heritage. During the party, she told my parents how she met her grandfather during a semester abroad. She took four years of Mandarin in college, and has been writing to him in Chinese (!) for twelve years.
The Bible readers loved her: my parents, the Fans, Ma Wa, and the others. But it turns out she’d come to the party searching for her grandfather’s money and personal effects. They disappeared when he died at Union Station.
She testified that:
Two days before the party, one of the Chao family—it would be James—most likely took her late grandfather’s luggage containing $50,000 from the Chicago train station.
At the party, people talked about how Dagou couldn’t afford such a lavish spread. Jerry Stern made an objection (hearsay) that was sustained. Cecilia was probably telling the truth, but it is hearsay.
Strycker backed this up with a police security video of her grandfather, walking through the train station, carrying a bag. She was somewhat discredited in the cross-examination, when Jerry got her to admit she had no written proof that there was money in the bag.
But clearly there was something. Some connection the prosecution was going to make between the disappearance of the money and Big Chao’s death.
Strycker then brought in his second witness, Yvonne Winters, a night nurse from Memorial Hospital. She was this gaunt, serious white woman. She says she heard Dagou yell he wanted to kill his dad.
She was professional and persuasive. But Jerry asked a bunch of questions that made it clear she couldn’t tell a Chao family member from another visitor. She literally thinks we all look alike. She has what Fang would call cross-racial identification issues.
I also made these notes: “Stanley Pardlo, owner and manager of Haven Fine Wines and Spirits. Morning of December 24 at 9:25 a.m., rang up purchases by William Chao of
2 6-bottle cases of Stolichnaya
2 cases of Jack Daniel’s whiskey
1 case of bourbon
1 case of white wine
1 case of red wine
1 case of rosé
4 cases of Tsingtao beer
1 case Korbel champagne
There was also a package of decorative umbrellas.
The total purchase amount was over $2,000, paid in cash. Exhibit No. 27, identified by the witness, shows the receipt recording this. Pardlo remembers because it was unprecedented for William Chao to pay in cash and because the bill was so unusually extravagant.
This is off topic, but I can’t imagine James stealing anyone’s money. Can’t imagine Dagou using stolen money to fund the Christmas party liquor. Strycker has created a James, and a Dagou, nothing like the people I know.
Posted April 27, 7:30 p.m.
I’m at home in my room, still mulling over the prosecution’s evidence. Where did Dagou get the cash to buy so much liquor when just the night before, according to a clerk from the 7-Eleven, he was unable to produce enough cash to buy some lottery tickets?
I am also thinking about the woman with the ponytail who slammed the door in my face. This dog-eating story is a lightning rod. It has nothing to do with the Chao family, or with my parents’ friends. Or me.