Along came the spider

Chapter 59

PARADE of medical experts now began to testify at the Soneji/Murphy trial. Assistant medical examAiners took the stand, some of them strangely quirky and flamboyant for scientists. Experts came from Walter Reed, from Lorton Prison, from the army, from the FBI.

Photos and four-by-sixfoot schematic drawings were displayed and overexplained; cnme-scene locations were visited and revisited on the eerie charts that dom.inated the trial’s first week.

Eight different psychiatrists and psychologists were brought to the stand to build the case that Gary Soneji/ Murphy was in control of his actions; that he was a deviate sociopath; that he was rational, cold-blooded, and very sane.

He was described as a “criminal genius,,, without any conscience or remorse; as a brilliant actor, “worthy of Hollywood,” which was how he’d manipulated and fooled so many people along the way.

But Gary Soneji/Murphy had consciously and deliber: ly kidnapped two children; he had killed one or both of them; he had killed others-at least five, and possibly more. He was the human monster we all have nightmares about…. So said all the prosecution experts.

The chief of psychiatry from Walter Reed was on the stand for most of one afternoon. She had interviewed Gary Murphy on a dozen occasions. After a long description of a disturbed childhood in Princeton, New Jersey, and teenage years marked by violent outhursts against both human beings and animals, Dr. Maria Ruocco was asked to give her psychiatric evaluation of Gary Murphy.

“I see someone who is an extremely dangerous sociopath. I believe Gary Murphy is fully aware of all his actions. I absolutely do not believe he is a multiple personality. “



So it was that Mary Warner artfully laid out her case every day. I admired her thoroughness, and her understanding of the psychiatric process. She was assembling a terribly complex jigsaw puzzle for the judge and jury. I’d met with her several times and she was good.

When she was finished, the jurors would have an exquisitely detailed picture in their minds… of the mind of Gary Soneji/Murphy.

Each, day of the trial she would concentrate on one new puzzle piece. She would show them the piece. She would explain it thoroughly. She would then insert the piece into the puzzle.

She showed the jury exactly how the new piece related to everything else that had gone before. Once or twice, spectators in the courtroom audience were moved to applaud the soft-spoken prosecutor and her impressive performance.

She accomplished all of this while Anthony Nathan was objecting to virtually’every point she attempted to make.

Nathan’s defense was simple enough, and he never wavered from it: Gary Murphy was innocent because he had committed no crime.

Gary Soneji had.

Anthony Nathan paced the front of the courtroom with his usual swagger. He wore a fifteen-hundred-dollar tailored suit, but didn’t look at all comfortable in it. The suit was cut well, but Nathan’s posture was i ‘ ble-it was like trying to dress a jungle gym. mpossi “I am not a nice person.” Anthony Nathan stood before the jury of seven women and five men on the Monday of the second week. “At least not in the courtroom. People say that I have a perpetual sneer. That I’m a pompous man. That I’m an insufferable egomaniac. That I’m impossible to be around for more than sixty seconds. It’s all true,” Nathan said to his captive audience. “It’s all true.

“And that’s what gets me into trouble sometimes. I do tell the truth. I’m obsessed with telling the truth. I have no patience, none at all, with half truths. And I have never taken a case where I cannot tell The Truth.

“My defense of Gary Murphy is simple, perhaps the least complex and controversial I’ve ever delivered to any jury. It is about Truth. It is all black and white, ladies and gentlemen. Please, listen to me.

7 “Ms. Warner and her team understand how stron g the defense is, and that’s precisely why she has just laid before you more facts than the Warren Commission used to prove exactly the same thing-ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. If you could cross-examine Ms. Warner, and she would answer honestly, she would tell you that Then we could all go home. Wouldn’t that be nice? Yes, that would be very nice.”



There were snickers from around the courtroom. At the same time, some members of the jury were leaning in closer to listen and watch. Each time that Nathan passed by, he got a half step closer to them.



“Someone, several someones, asked me why I took this case. I told them, as simply as I’ll tell you now, that the evidence makes this a certain winner for the defense. The Truth is overwhelming for the defense. I know you don’t believe that now. You will. You will.



“Here’s a stunning statement offact. Ms. Warner did not want to bring this trial to jury at this time. Her boss, the secretary of the treasury, forced this case to trial. He forced the trial to take place in record time. Never have the wheels of Justice moved so fast. Those same wheels never would have moved this fast for you or your family. That is the truth.



“But in this particular instance, because of the suffering of Mr. Goldberg and his family, the wheels have moved very fast. And because of Katherine Rose Dunne and her family, who are famous and rich and very powerful,. and who also want their suffering to end. Who can blame them for that? I certainly don’t.



“But NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE LIFE OF



AN INNOCENT MAN! This man, Gary Murphy, does not deserve to suffer as they have suffered.



Nathan now walked over to where Gary sat. Blond, athletic-looking Gary Murphy, who looked like a grown-up Boy Scout. “This man is as good a man as you will find anywhere in this courtroom. I’ll prove it to you, too.



“Gary Murphy is a good man. Remember that. There’s another fact for you.



“It is one of two facts, just two, that I want you to remember. The other fact is that Gary Soneji is insane.



“Now, I must tell you, I am a little insane, too. Just a little. You’ve seen that already. Ms - Warner has drawn your attention to it. Well, Gary Soneii IS A HUNDRED TIMES MORE INSANE THAN I AM. Gary So@ji is the most insane person I’ve ever met. And I’ve met Soneji. You will, too.



“I promise you this. You will all meet Soneji, and once you have, you will not be able to convict Gary MurPhy. You will end up liking Gary Murphy, and rooting for him in his personal battle with Soneji. Gary Murphy cannot be convicted of murders and a kidnapping… that were committed by Gary Soneji….



Anthony Nathan now proceeded to call character witness after character witness. Surprisingly, they included staff members at Washington Day, as well as some students. They included neighbors of the Murphys from Delaware.

Nathan was always gentle with the witnesses, always articulate. They seemed to like Nathan and to trust him. “Would you please state your name for everyone?” “Dr. Nancy Temkin.” “And your occupation, please.” “I teach art at Washington Day School.” “You knew Gary Soneji at the Day School?”



“Yes I did.” “Was Mr. Soneji a good teacher during his time at Washington Day School? Did you ever observe anything that would make you think he wasn’t a good teacher?”



“No, I did not. He was a very good teacher.” “Why would you say that, Dr. Temkin?” “Because he had a passion both for his subject matter and for communicating it to the



students. He was a favorite teacher at school. His nickname was ‘Chips,’ as in ‘Mr.



Chips.’ ” “You’ve heard some medical experts say that he is insane, a severe split personality? How does that strike you?”



“Frankly, it is the only way I can comprehend what happened.”



“Dr. Temkin, I know this is a hard question under the circumstances, but was the defendant a friend of yours?” “Yes. He was a friend of mine.” “Is he still a friend of yours?” “I want to see Gary get the help he needs.” “And so do 1, ” said Nathan. “So do 1. “



Anthony Nathan fired his first real salvo late on Friday of the trial’s second week. It was as dramatic as it was unexpected. It started with a side-bench conference Nathan and Mary Warner had with Judge Kaplan.

During the conference, Mary Warner raised her voice for one of the few times during the trial.

I object! I must object to this.. “Your Honor,

-stunt. This is a stunt!” The courtroom was already buzzing. The press, in front-row seats, was alert. Judge Kaplan had apparently ruled in favor of the defense. Mary Warner returned to her seat, but she had lost some of her composure. “Why



weren’t we informed of this beforehand?” she called out. “Why wasn’t this revealed in



pretrial?” Nathan held up his hands and actually quieted the room. He gave everyone the news. “I call Dr. Alex Cross as a defense witness. I am calling him as a hostile and uncooperative witness, but a witness for the defense nonetheless. “



I was the “stunt.,, T’ Part Four remember Maggie Rose i I a