We Keep the Dead Close

by Becky Cooper

  1 The press conference, Don tells me: Section from a series of phone calls with Don Mitchell in 2018.

  2 I call Boyd back as soon as I can: Phone call with Boyd in 2018.

  August 16, 2018: Late

  1 An echo of the worst of Boston: For a thorough examination of racism in Boston, see the Boston Globe’s series “Boston. Racism. Image. Reality,” Dec. 10, 2017.

  2 And it masks the truth: According to the FBI’s “Uniform Crime Reports,” homicide was least likely to be committed by a stranger (only 18 percent of cases): Arthur Kellerman and James Mercy, “Men, Women, and Murder: Gender-Specific Differences in Rates of Fatal Violence and Victimization,” Journal of Trauma 33, no. 1 (July 1992): 1–5.

  3 nearly half of all murdered women: 44 percent of female murder victims killed by intimate family; 9.6 percent by a stranger. Table 3 of Emma Fridel and James Fox, “Gender Differences in Patterns and Trends in U.S. Homicide, 1976–2017,” Violence and Gender 6, no. 1 (2019): 32.

  4 2010 piece in the Boston Globe: “DNA Links Convict to ’72 Killing of Woman,” Boston Globe, Feb. 18, 2010.

  5 She was from St. Paul, Minnesota: Details from “Family of Former St. Paul Woman Killed in Boston in 1972 Finally Has Some Answers,” Pioneer Press, Feb. 18, 2010. All facts cross-checked with Ellen’s sister Cori.

  6 found her lying on her back on the living room floor: Interview with Sgt. William Doogan in 2020.

  7 On December 12, 1973, Mary McClain: “DNA Links Dead Man to Second Cold-Case Murder,” Press Release from DA Daniel F. Conley of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Oct. 18, 2012. All details cross-checked with Mary’s sister Kathy. The news reports at the time call her Mary Lee McClain; this is an error. Her middle name, according to her sister, was Lea, but she just went by Mary.

  8 They heard her whimpering in her room: Interview with Sgt. William Doogan in 2018.

  9 In 2005, Ellen Rutchick’s siblings: “Family of Former St. Paul Woman,” Pioneer Press.

  10 “It’s not a case of how much is it going to cost if we do it”: Interview with William Doogan in 2018. Four months after Jane’s case was solved, the Middlesex DA announced the formation of a cold case unit. In October, the MSP and Suffolk County followed suit.

  11 but in the 1970s, evidence was affixed to the lab slides: “Family of Former St. Paul Woman,” Pioneer Press.

  12 It took four years, but in September 2009: “Family of Former St. Paul Woman.”

  13 BPD, in conjunction with Suffolk County prosecutors, announced: “Suspect, Now Deceased, Identified in ’72 Murder,” Press Release from DA Daniel F. Conley of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Feb. 17, 2010.

  14 Sumpter had been dead for almost nine years: Michael Sumpter Death Certificate, transmitted June 2, 2005 (MSP file).

  15 a heart attack and prostate cancer: Michael Sumpter Death Certificate. Sumpter at the time was in hospice care, on parole.

  16 serving time for a 1975 rape: “Family of Former St. Paul Woman,” Pioneer Press, which tracks with Sumpter’s incarceration records.

  17 “It’s been 40 years”: “DA: 1973 Rape, Murder Solved,” Boston Herald, Oct. 19, 2012.

  18 DA Daniel Conley made the news public: “DNA Links Dead Man to Second Cold-Case Murder,” Press Release from DA Daniel F. Conley of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, Oct. 18, 2012.

  19 escaped from the first furlough: Michael Sumpter DOC file 3 of 4, p. 25. (All four files are from the MDAO.)

  20 Sumpter escaped…on the lam for a year and a half: Sumpter DOC 2, p. 72.

  21 discovered he had raped a woman in Back Bay: “Family of Former St. Paul Woman,” Pioneer Press.

  22 “Do you think that’s all he’s ever done?”: “DA: 1973 Rape, Murder Solved,” Boston Herald, Oct. 19, 2012.

  Reckonings

  1 Just a few days after I’d talked with Alice: My interview with Alice Kehoe was on Oct. 4, 2017. The New York Times published Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s “Harvey Weinstein Paid Off Sexual Harassment Accusers for Decades,” on Oct. 5, 2017. The New Yorker published Ronan Farrow’s “From Aggressive Overtures to Sexual Assault: Harvey Weinstein’s Accusers Tell Their Stories,” on Oct. 10, 2017.

  2 The Chronicle of Higher Education published: “She Left Harvard. He Got to Stay,” Chronicle of Higher Education, Feb. 27, 2018. Details cross-checked with Terry Karl.

  3 stalked her and made her feel physically threatened: Here through “she had no choice,” from Terry Karl, 2020 response to checking memo.

  4 knew that she wasn’t alone: Paragraph from “Harvard Cannot Investigate Itself,” Harvard Crimson, Apr. 9, 2018.

  5 Karl was given three semesters of paid leave: “She Left Harvard,” Chronicle.

  6 the Crimson and the Boston Globe: “Harvard Disciplines Professor for Sexual Harassment,” Harvard Crimson, Sept. 28, 1983; “Harvard Faculty Council Hears Report on Sexual Harassment,” Boston Globe, Oct. 27, 1983.

  7 “There are a lot of us who feel”: “Harvard Disciplines Professor for Sexual Harassment,” Harvard Crimson, Sept. 28, 1983.

  8 university was not taking the matter seriously enough: “She Left Harvard,” Chronicle.

  9 no clear grievance procedure for faculty members: “She Left Harvard,” Chronicle. While there were some formal procedures being instituted for students to report harassment by faculty, there were none for faculty members being harassed by faculty members.

  10 “It was specifically not our intention”: “She Left Harvard,” Chronicle.

  11 “pits a person against an institution”: “Why Women Stick Around,” Boston Globe, Oct. 12, 1991.

  12 tenure from Stanford: Terry Karl curriculum vitae.

  13 to keep this period of sexual harassment from defining her: When she settled with the university in 1985, Professor Karl prioritized two outcomes: She wanted to be a professor when it was done, and she wanted Harvard to adopt grievance procedures for victims of sexual harassment and an ombudsperson’s office to handle complaints. As part of the settlement, Harvard agreed to distribute a definition of sexual harassment to all employees and students for five years (“Sexual Harassment: A Victim Advises Others on How to Win,” Stanford University News Service, Oct. 25, 1991).

  14 Domínguez kept getting promoted at Harvard: “She Left Harvard,” Chronicle; Domínguez’s personal website.

  15 Professor Karl got a call: “She Left Harvard,” Chronicle.

  16 Eventually fifteen other women: “Harvard Prof. Dominguez Stripped of Emeritus Status Following Conclusion of Title IX Investigation,” Harvard Crimson, May 9, 2019.

  17 Alan Garber…emailed: Email from Alan Garber to members of the Harvard community, Mar. 2, 2018, 4:34 p.m.

  18 Harvard president Faust also reaffirmed: Drew Faust, Remarks at FAS Faculty Meeting, Mar. 6, 2018.

  19 conclusion of the Title IX investigation: “Harvard Prof. Dominguez Stripped of Emeritus Status Following Conclusion of Title IX Investigation,” Harvard Crimson, May 9, 2019.

  20 banned him from campus: “Harvard Bans Former Scholar, Citing ‘Unwelcome Sexual Conduct’ over Decades,” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 9, 2019.

  21 she does not see this moment as a reckoning: Terry Karl, 2020 response to checking memo.

  August 17, 2018: Tell No Man

  1 I check in with the Boston Globe’s Todd Wallack: Email to Todd Wallack, Aug. 18, 2018, 10:28 a.m.

  2 when Wallack tries his own luck: Email from Todd Wallack, August 18, 2018, 4:42 p.m.

  3 I tell Boyd that I can’t get a straight answer: Phone call with Boyd in 2018.

  September, October 2018:

  Waiting and Waiting and Waiting

  1 Don, who was diagnosed: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2018.

  2 Richard Conti, who had served as foreman: “Richard Conti, 1940–2018,” Boston Globe, Sept. 27, 2018.

  3 Elisabeth gets in touch with me: Facebook Messenger, Sept. 8, 2018, 9:18 a.m.

  4 she would have accepted: The re
st of this chapter is from an interview with Elisabeth Handler in 2018.

  5 Ryan’s reelection campaign: “Middlesex DA Ryan Re-Elected in Close Race,” Lowell Sun, Sept. 4, 2018.

  Kimberly Theidon

  1 a Crimson story caught my eye: “Court Dismisses Gender Discrimination Lawsuit against Harvard,” Harvard Crimson, Mar. 26, 2018.

  2 complained about the disparate treatment: Most of the details in this chapter are drawn from two documents, the “2018 ruling” (Theidon v. Harvard University and the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Redacted Order on Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment, Civ. A. No. 15-cv-10809-LTS, Feb. 28, 2018) and the “2020 ruling” (Theidon v. Harvard University and the President and Fellows of Harvard College, Appeal from the US District Court for the District of Massachusetts, No. 18-1279, Redacted Opinion, Jan. 31, 2020). Unless otherwise noted, the details I used are from the sections of the documents described as the “undisputed facts” (2018 ruling) or the “Factual Bearings” (2020 ruling). This detail is from the 2018 ruling, pp. 6–7.

  3 when she started at Harvard, there was only one tenured woman: 2018 ruling, p. 4; 2020 ruling, p. 8.

  4 She blogged and tweeted…allowed a student to distribute leaflets: 2018 ruling, p. 10.

  5 group dedicated to “dismantling the rape culture on campus”: “Our Harvard Can Do Better” website.

  6 “There was never a moment when”: “Professor Files Charge Alleging University Violated Title IX in Denying Her Tenure,” Harvard Crimson, Apr. 18, 2014.

  7 promoted to associate professor: 2018 ruling, p. 5.

  8 an “honor richly deserved”: 2020 ruling, p. 7.

  9 Anthropology department voted in favor: 2018 ruling, p. 13.

  10 Crimson published an article: “Sexual Assault at Harvard,” Harvard Crimson, Mar. 7, 2013.

  11 Harvard’s lagging sexual assault policy: Per this article, Harvard lags behind peer institutions in its hesitance to adopt an affirmative consent policy and its adjudication of cases on a “sufficiently persuaded” standard vs. “preponderance of evidence” basis, which Princeton and Harvard are alone among the Ivies for insisting on.

  12 Theidon knew that “Julie” had read the comments: “Professor Files Charge Alleging University Violated Title IX in Denying Her Tenure,” Harvard Crimson, Apr. 18, 2014.

  13 former graduate student: 2020 ruling, p. 33.

  14 who now worked for the department: 2018 ruling, p. 16.

  15 inappropriate behavior: 2018 ruling, p. 16.

  16 by a senior male Anthropology professor: Here through “I can take care of this,” from 2020 ruling, p. 33.

  17 Harvard convened Theidon’s ad hoc committee: 2020 ruling, p. 27. Details of who was on her committee from 2018 ruling, pp. 18–19.

  18 Harvard’s elaborate eight-step process: 2018 ruling pp. 2–3; 2020 ruling, starting on p. 10.

  19 behind closed doors: 2018 ruling, p. 3 notes that the ad hoc committee discussion is “strictly confidential.”

  20 “is an invitation to abuse”: “Tenured Women Battle to Make It Less Lonely at the Top,” Science, n.s., 286, no. 5443 (Nov. 12, 1999): 1272–1278.

  21 Singer did take notes: 2020 ruling, p. 27.

  22 “unenthusiastic tenor”: 2020 ruling, p. 27.

  23 letters solicited from external reviewers: For more detail on this, see 2018 ruling, pp. 2–3.

  24 Even the most positive of these letters came with commentary: Per 2020 ruling, p. 17, “External scholars described Theidon as a ‘first-rate, brilliant and original scholar,’ ‘whose name came to the top of the list of young scholars who will soon be shaping the field.’ Notwithstanding the encomium, even the most positive reviews came with commentary on Theidon’s productivity.”

  25 not been sent copies of Theidon’s articles about Colombia: The 2020 ruling notes that though physical copies of the Colombia articles were not included in the material distributed to external scholars, Theidon’s website did contain links to PDFs of three of them (p. 17).

  26 A Harvard dean, who had read previous drafts of the statement…“major mistake”: 2020 ruling, pp. 23–25. Dean Marsden felt that the “reservations about Theidon’s scholarly productivity would have been reduced or eliminated if [the external scholars] had received copies of Theidon’s Colombia related research article.

  27 simply the result of “miscommunication”: 2020 ruling, p. 24 n. 22.

  28 some reason, still unknown: 2018 ruling, p. 18.

  29 less favorable penultimate draft: While this is true, it should be noted that the penultimate draft did include text responsive to Marsden’s concerns (2018 ruling, p. 15).

  30 ad hoc committee recommended against: 2020 ruling, p. 29.

  31 President Drew Faust agreed with that recommendation: 2018 ruling, p. 21.

  32 Theidon set up a meeting with Judith Singer: Note: this paragraph is not taken from the “Factual Bearings” section of the 2020 court ruling. It is in the section assessing Theidon’s retaliation claims: p. 66 n. 41.

  33 “This is about silencing a problem”: “Professor Files Charge Alleging University Violated Title IX in Denying Her Tenure,” Harvard Crimson, Apr. 18, 2014.

  34 “The University would never”: “Professor Files Charge.”

  35 granted tenure at Tufts in 2015: “Former Professor Suing University Granted Tenure at Tufts,” Harvard Crimson, Apr. 3, 2015.

  36 Theidon had lost her suit: In both the 2018 and 2020 rulings, the courts considered evidence of general discrimination against women in the Anthropology department, but concluded that such evidence, even if indicative of general bias, was insufficient to prove discriminatory intent in Theidon’s specific case. The distribution of the wrong draft of her case statement and the omission of her Colombia articles was, at most, an “administrative error” (2020 ruling, p. 46). In terms of retaliation, while a member of Theidon’s tenure review committee had been alerted about Theidon’s Crimson comments (2018 ruling, p. 16), there was no evidence that her “activities” were discussed during the ad hoc committee (2018 ruling, p. 37), or that President Faust was aware of them when she made the final decision (2020 ruling, p. 55). Temporal proximity, they ruled, was not enough to establish motive (2018 ruling, p. 37).

  37 When I tried to reach Professor Theidon for comment: Email to Kimberly Theidon, Mar. 26, 2018, 1:32 p.m.

  38 On college campuses nation-wide: “Statement: Update on My Title IX Lawsuit,” Kimberly Theidon’s website, Jan. 31, 2020.

  39 in May 2020, the Crimson published: “Protected by Decades-Old Power Structures, Three Renowned Harvard Anthropologists Face Allegations of Sexual Harassment,” Harvard Crimson, May 29, 2020.

  September 9, 2018: The Tree

  1 Don tells me that he’s decided: This chapter is from phone call with Don Mitchell in 2018.

  2 prominently in Hawaiian mythology: “The Cultural Significance of ‘Ōhi‘a Lehua,” Hawai’i Magazine, Apr. 11, 2016.

  3 sends the video to me: Email from Don Mitchell, Sept. 10, 2018, 10:36 p.m.

  4 [Photo]: Photograph by Don Mitchell.

  October 28, 2018: He Escapes Who Is Not Pursued

  1 In February 2018, for the first time in months: Phone call with Fulkerson, Feb. 13, 2018.

  2 he calls me back: Phone call with Fulkerson, Oct. 24, 2018.

  3 We meet at a café: The rest of this chapter is from this 2018 interview with Fulkerson unless otherwise noted.

  4 [Photo]: Photograph by Becky Cooper.

  5 The crime scene had seemed staged: This tracks with Deputy O’Connor, “Cold Case” Homicides, Nov. 4, 1996 (CPD file): “There were several aspects of the crime scene that appeared to be staged.”

  6 Fred Centrella, who hadn’t wanted to speak: Interview with Fidele Centrella in 2018.

  7 when I spoke to the younger Giacoppo: Interview with Michael D. Giacoppo in 2018.

  8 I email the son for advice: Email to Michael D. Giacoppo, Oct. 30, 2018, 3:52 p.m.

  9 Mike replies the ne
xt day: Email from Michael D. Giacoppo, Oct. 31, 2018, 9:26 a.m.

  10 I send Mike four questions: Email to Michael D. Giacoppo, Oct. 31, 2018, 10:17 a.m.

  November 2018: Shifts

  1 an email from the DA’s communications director: Email from Meghan Kelly, Nov. 15, 2018, 6:33 p.m.

  2 bother feigning surprise when we speak: Phone call with Meghan Kelly in 2018.

  Reactions

  1 All phone calls in 2018, unless otherwise noted.

  2 He writes a gentle email to Alice: Email from Stephen Loring to Alice Abraham, Nov. 19, 2018, 12:33 p.m.

  3 Alice writes instantly to Patricia: Interview with Alice Abraham in 2020.

  4 I also get an email from Mary McCutcheon: Email from Mary McCutcheon, Nov. 19, 2018, 6:01 p.m.

  5 “The overactive pattern-recognition part”: Email from Mary McCutcheon, Feb. 26, 2020, 9:12 p.m.

  6 Ted Abraham, Anne’s brother, writes: Email from Ted Abraham, Nov. 20, 2018, 7:31 p.m.

  November 20, 2018: Press Conference

  1 statement’s already been released: “Statement from Boyd Britton, Released by Request on His Behalf by the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office,” posted on MDAO website Nov. 20, 2018.

  2 [Photo]: Jane Britton police file.

  3 attended first grade in the area: Per Sumpter DOC 4, p. 113, he also attended kindergarten in the area.

  4 He had run-ins with the Cambridge cops as a juvenile: Michael Sumpter CORI, p. 6 (MDAO file).

  5 girlfriend in the late ’60s lived in the neighborhood: I have not been able to find a document that corroborates this. In a November 2019 interview, ADA Lynch added that it was the same woman whose name he had tattooed on his arm (“Regina” and “R.M.,” per Sumpter DOC 4, p. 250). While “Regina” did live in Cambridge, I believe he was dating a different woman at the time (Sumpter DOC 3, p. 108).