A Matter of Trust

Chapter 26





Today I’m going to bring you two cases,” Mia told the grand jurors, who were seated at three long tables set up in a U-shape. As she spoke, she caught sight of a spot on her navy blue skirt. “The first is that of a fourteen-year-old boy named Darin Dane who committed suicide last Thursday. We want to find out if cyberstalking, harassment, and/or a violation of his civil rights contributed to his death. The second is the murder of a King County prosecutor, Colleen Miller. She was shot to death at her home on Monday night.”

Tomorrow the grand jurors might hear about a burglary ring or domestic violence. Their purpose was solely to indict—or decline to indict—suspects. Because they weren’t asked to determine guilt or innocence, their standards were looser than those of a trial jury. Their decision didn’t even need to be unanimous.

When she said Colleen’s name, Mia saw a few nods of recognition. Grand jurors weren’t banned from watching the media in general, which meant they often had a passing familiarity with any headline cases. But now that they knew they would be considering Colleen’s case, they would have to stay away from any fresh news. And no matter how high-profile the case, they were sworn to keep secret what went on inside the grand jury room.

“First, I’d like to present King County homicide detective Charlie Carlson.”

While the bailiff brought Charlie in from the anteroom and swore him in, Mia took a quick second look at the stain on her skirt. It was a long flaky trail just above her knee. And then she realized what it was. Snot. This morning Brooke had hugged her knees good-bye while Mia was leaving her at daycare. Only she hadn’t been hugging or even clinging. She had been wiping.

Mia wondered how many people had noticed it today. If so, she hoped none of them had identified it. She tried to brush it off while she asked Charlie to explain to the grand jurors who Darin was and how he had taken his own life.

While not allowed in a trial jury, hearsay was permitted before a grand jury, so Charlie could talk about what he had learned through their interviews. Once more Mia was amazed at Charlie’s ability to remember conversations almost verbatim.

Last night she issued target letters to Brandon Shiller and Reece Jones, ordering them to appear next week in front of the grand jury as hostile witnesses. While they had no choice but to appear, they could still refuse to answer any question if the answer might tend to incriminate them. The boys could also bring lawyers with them and even leave the grand jury room to consult them, but in this room it would only be Mia, the jurors, the court reporter, and the witness.

Mia said, “What might have tipped Darin over the edge was when his Facebook account was hacked.” She asked Charlie to read some of the printouts aloud. While he did, she watched the jurors’ faces, not his. She saw revulsion, embarrassment, and pity.

When he finished, she asked, “So do you have any questions for Detective Carlson?” She liked to hear what regular people were thinking. The grand jurors’ questions could help shape her approach to any future trial. And sometimes jurors even thought of angles she had missed.

“What about the school?” a plump woman in a red cardigan asked. “Did they know about what was happening?”

“Some of the harassment occurred at Darin’s middle school,” Charlie said. “Some continued over the summer. And some seems to have taken place at his new high school. While the middle school knew there was an issue and tried to intervene, the high school was unaware of the problem until it was too late.”

“What’s the dividing line between cruel behavior and criminal behavior?” asked a middle-aged man in a pin-striped suit.

“Sometimes that can be difficult. Cruel behavior can be despicable without being criminal. However, in Darin’s case, we are talking about more than simple cruelty. I told you that Jeremy Donaldson saw Darin on his hands and knees with a bloody face and with Mr. Shiller and Mr. Jones standing over him. All of Darin’s friends and his father reported seeing bruises that appeared to be the result of physical contact. In other words, assaults.” When Charlie took a breath, there was a slight hitch to it. He added, “And the hacking into Darin’s Facebook account is clearly covered by Washington’s cyberstalking law.”

Something seemed to have shifted in Charlie as they interviewed Darin’s friends. Mia had found herself wondering just what memories had been stirred up.

A frail-looking man with white hair said, “Can we really hold a teenager criminally liable for the suicide of another teenager?” Each word was pronounced with precision. “These kids didn’t put the scarf around his neck, after all. They were nowhere near when it happened.”

Mia said, “That’s why we’re here in front of you. We need your help in deciding whether the cruelty rises to the level of criminal behavior.” She waited a moment, but no one else spoke. She took a deep breath. “Okay, if there are no other questions, I’m going to turn to the death of my colleague, Colleen Miller. And again I’m going to ask Detective Carlson to go through some of the facts we’ve already learned about her death. I’m also going to have him tell you about the death of Stan Slavich, another King County prosecutor who was also shot at home over four years ago, and whose killer has not yet been found.”

After summarizing the basic facts of Colleen’s and Stan’s deaths, Charlie said, “We don’t know if their deaths are linked, but we can’t overlook the similarities. You may already be familiar with this idea, but when we investigate a murder, we try to figure out who had the motive, means, and opportunity. One problem with Ms. Miller’s death is that we have not been able to ascertain the motive. If the motive was her work as a prosecutor, then it may be no coincidence that she was killed in the same manner as her co-worker. However, just because they were both shot to death may not prove anything. After all, guns are involved in nearly thirteen thousand homicides in America each year. However, one thing Ms. Miller and Mr. Slavich did have in common was they were both active in Safe Seattle.” Charlie summarized their efforts to find True Patriot and their visit to Second Amendment Seattle, including Gary Teller’s contention that a pro–gun control vigilante might have tried to make martyrs of Colleen and Stan.

“Do you believe that last theory is possible?” Mia asked.

“Possible?” Charlie echoed. “Anything’s possible. Likely? No. There’s a saying: when you hear hoofbeats, don’t look for zebras. With Ms. Miller’s death, I think we need to consider some of the more common reasons for murder. Normally those are jealousy, revenge, profit, or to conceal another crime.”

“Can you tell the jury about Ms. Miller’s romantic relationships?” Mia asked.

“As far as we know, there was only one recent one. Ms. Miller had an online relationship with a man named Vincent. We’re getting his contact information.”

“What about the profit motive? Was there anyone who would have benefited financially from Ms. Miller’s death?”

Charlie nodded. “I also interviewed Ms. Miller’s ex-husband, Martin Miller. He admitted arguing with Colleen about paying for their daughter’s college tuition. He also has a .22 caliber handgun, which is the same caliber as the bullet that killed both Ms. Miller and Mr. Slavich. His alibi is that he was with his current wife. We have submitted a warrant to his phone carrier for his cell site location information.”

Mia said, “Can you explain what that is?”

“Sure,” Charlie said. “Even when someone isn’t making or receiving a call, their cell phone still automatically registers with the nearest cell tower. And it continues to reregister as they move around. In a city like Seattle, that means we can pin down a user’s location within a few blocks.”

When Charlie was finished, they broke for lunch. Mia scraped off the worst of the stain, and then instead of going back to her office she went out to the Suburban. The Suburban that she had listed on a site for people who wanted to take over someone else’s lease payment. The car was the only place she could be alone, without anyone overhearing her. And at least during lunch she wasn’t driving and talking, the way she had been this morning.

Mia knew that hands-free wasn’t really safe. She’d seen the studies. Their office had even prosecuted egregious cases of distracted driving. And those studies had probably been of people having normal conversations. Not trying to work out repayment plans for thousands and thousands of dollars.

She picked up the next bill in the pile. It was for a Visa card. Squinting at the tiny print, she called the number for customer service. “My husband died and left me with some large credit card bills that I was unaware of. I need to work out a repayment plan that I can afford.”

Mia spent the next half hour being transferred, explaining her situation, and laying out the hard numbers that still shocked her. At the end of her lunch break, she had achieved a reduced interest rate and gotten the late fees and penalties waived.

Three down. Nine to go.