PRAISE FOR DIANE FANNING
“Very few writers have the insight and gift to take a true story and make it one hell of a page-turner. In my opinion, Diane Fanning does just that in A Poisoned Passion.”
—Susan Murphy Milano, domestic violence victims’ advocate
“Author Diane Fanning tirelessly recounts the young woman’s lying ways, theorizes how Anthony might have disposed of her daughter, and concludes that Anthony is ‘an individual whose self-absorption and insensitivity to others is a destructive force.’”
—Orlando Sentinel on Mommy’s Little Girl
“Unbelievable stuff!”
—Mike DeForest, WKMG-TV, on Mommy’s Little Girl
“I couldn’t put it down until I had finished it . . . [A] story that’s enjoyable to read and accurate to detail.”
—Herb Betz on Through the Window
“I was astonished by how good this book was—insightful, well written, and fascinating.”
—Hugh Aynesworth, four-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, on Out There
Berkley titles by Diane Fanning
UNDER COVER OF THE NIGHT
BITTER REMAINS
An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
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BITTER REMAINS
A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with the author
Copyright © 2016 by Diane Fanning.
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eBook ISBN: 978-0-698-18398-8
PUBLISHING HISTORY
Berkley premium edition / January 2016
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Dedicated to
the memory of Laura Jean Ackerson with the hope that Sha, little Grant, Gentle and Lily find the healing and strength to build happy and fulfilling lives
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I extend a very special thank-you to Sha Elmer for sharing so much with me, and to Tremayne Ward at the Wake County Courthouse. And thanks to Joseph Hardin and Mark Gierth, and to many others who chose to remain anonymous.
I also want to express deep appreciation to Detective Jerry Faulk and Assistant District Attorneys Boz Zellinger and Becky Holt for jobs well done.
To Jane Dystel, the intrepid warrior, who has been by my side throughout my writer’s journey through fourteen true crime books and nine novels: I can never repay my debt to you or to all the staff in your office.
To my editor, Shannon Jamieson Vazquez, who helped me beat my last two true crime manuscripts into submission: thanks for shaping these books into the best they could be.
And, finally, I wish every woman could have a partner who is as compassionate, entertaining and supportive as my guy. Thank you, Wayne Fanning, for all you are and all you do every day.
CONTENTS
Praise for Diane Fanning
Berkley titles by Diane Fanning
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Notable People
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Afterword
Photographs
NOTABLE PEOPLE
THE VICTIM
LAURA JEAN ACKERSON—Twenty-seven-year old entrepreneur, graphic artist and mother of two, aka Laura Hayes
THE ACCUSED
GRANT HAYES III—Musician, artist and father of Grant, Gentle and Lily Hayes. Husband of Amanda Hayes, aka Grant Haze
AMANDA HAYES—Actress, artist, mother of Sha Elmer and Lily Hayes and wife of Grant Hayes, aka Amanda Tucker, Amanda Smith, Amanda Haze
FRIENDS AND FAMILY
RETHA FAYE RYAN ABERNATHY—Mother of Amanda Hayes
JASON ACKERSON—Older half brother of Laura Jean Ackerson
PATRICIA BARAKAT—Inmate in the Wake County facility who befriended Amanda Hayes when she was incarcerated awaiting trial
DALTON BERRY—Son of Karen Berry and nephew of Amanda Hayes
KAREN BERRY—Older half sister of Amanda Hayes, lives in Texas
SHELTON BERRY—Son of Karen Berry and nephew of Amanda Hayes
SHA ELMER—Daughter of Amanda Hayes and Scott Elmer, aka Sha Guddat
GENTLE HAYES—Youngest son of Grant Hayes III and Laura Ackerson
GRANT HAYES II—Father of Grant and Grantina Hayes, husband of Patsy Hayes
GRANT HAYES IV—Oldest son of Grant Hayes III and Laura Ackerson, aka little Grant
GRANTINA HAYES—Sister of Grant Hayes III, aka Tina
LILLIAN ANN LOVE HAYES—Daughter of Grant Hayes III and Amanda Hayes, aka Lily
PATSY HAYES—Mother of Grant Hayes III, wife of Grant Hayes II
LAUREN HARRIS—Friend of Grant Hayes III and manager of the Monkey Joe’s in Raleigh, North Carolina
JOSEPH “JOSE” HARDIN—Music promoter on St. John and friend of Grant Hayes III
MATT GUDDAT—Boyfriend and later husband of Sha Elmer
MARK GIE
RTH—A friend of Grant Hayes on St. John
CHEVON MATHES—Laura Ackerson’s friend and business partner
BARBARA PATTY—Church friend and mentor of Laura Ackerson
KANDICE ROWLAND—Daughter of Karen Berry and niece of Amanda Hayes
OKSANA SAMARSKY—Artist and friend of Laura Ackerson
HEIDI SCHUMACHER—Laura Ackerson’s closest friend
NICKY SMITH—Third husband of Amanda Hayes
PABLO TRINIDAD—Confidant of Grant Hayes III in Wake County jail
OFFICIALS
DR. GINGER CALLOWAY—Court-appointed psychologist who provided the psychological evaluation report about Laura Ackerson and Grant Hayes III in their custody fight
OFFICER KEVIN CROCKER—Policeman with the Raleigh Police Department in Raleigh, North Carolina
WILL DURHAM—One of two attorneys representing Grant Hayes III at trial
DETECTIVE JERRY FAULK—Raleigh Police Department’s lead investigator in the Laura Ackerson case
AGENT MICHAEL GALLOWAY—Forensic investigator with the Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification
JOHNNY GASKINS—Amanda Hayes’s lead attorney
DETECTIVE DEXTER GILL—Investigator with the Raleigh Police Department
DETECTIVE JAMES GWARTNEY—Kinston, North Carolina, police department investigator who was the first to respond to Chevon Mathes’s report of Laura Ackerson’s disappearance
SERGEANT BRIAN HALL—Investigator with the Raleigh Police Department
BECKY HOLT—Assistant district attorney in Wake County, North Carolina
COURTNEY LAST—Computer forensics analyst with the Raleigh Police Department
DETECTIVE SERGEANT ROBERT LATOUR—Raleigh, North Carolina, homicide detective
DR. NOBBY MAMBO—Deputy chief medical examiner with the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office in Galveston, Texas
DETECTIVE DAVID MOORE—Investigator with the Raleigh Police Department
DETECTIVE ZEKE MORSE—Investigator with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Bend, Texas
KIM ORESKOVICH—Crime scene investigator with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office in Fort Bend, Texas
DETECTIVE THOMAS OUELLETTE—Investigator with the Raleigh Police Department
MEL PALMER—Investigator working for attorney Johnny Gaskins
DETECTIVE STEVE PREVITALI—Raleigh, North Carolina, homicide detective
DETECTIVE MARK QUAGLIARELLO—Investigator with the Raleigh Police Department
AGENT SHANNON QUICK—Senior agent with the Raleigh/Wake City-County Bureau of Identification
DR. DEBORAH RADISCH—Chief medical examiner for the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner
JENNIFER REMY—Hair and fiber analyst for the North Carolina State Crime Lab
DETECTIVE AMANDA SALMON—Investigator with the Raleigh Police Department
JOHN SARGEANT—Laura Ackerson’s custody attorney
JUDGE DONALD STEPHENS—Presided over both Grant Hayes’s and Amanda Hayes’s trials in the superior court of Wake County, North Carolina
DR. PAUL STIMSON—Forensic odontologist in Houston, Texas
SERGEANT DANA SUGGS—Assisted with logistics of the investigation for Raleigh Police Department
AGENT TIMOTHY SUGGS—Forensic chemist with the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation
DETECTIVE BRAD WICHARD—Investigator with the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office
BOZ ZELLINGER—Assistant district attorney in Wake County, North Carolina
CHAPTER ONE
OYSTER Creek leaped to the earth’s surface in Fort Bend County, Texas, just north of the historic town of Richmond, about a half hour southwest of downtown Houston. Paralleling the Brazos River, it meandered through lush, semitropical countryside on its way to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the 4300 block of Skinner Lane, unruly brush and tall grasses crowded around as if trying to hide the creek from strangers’ eyes. At one spot, a football field–size patch of lily pads consumed its whole width. Oyster shells littered its banks, hobby fishermen harvested its bounty and alligators patrolled its length for prey.
In July 2011, in the Pecan Grove community, another deadly creature desecrated its waters.
On Sunday afternoon, July 24, 2011, detectives searching for a missing North Carolina woman made a gruesome discovery tangled up in the weeds growing by the edge of the creek: a piece of armless female torso, severed at the neck and just above the hip area. By four o’clock, they’d found the rest of the torso. They strongly suspected that they’d found the body of the woman whom they were seeking, but without a head or hands, identification would depend on the slow, methodical process of DNA testing.
The next morning, just after nine, dive experts from the Richmond Fire Department and the Houston Police Department arrived at the scene. The near-100-degree sun beat down on their heads and stabbed into their backs with the single-minded intensity of a carrion crow. Humidity soared over 90 percent, adding to the oppressive atmosphere. Even the temperature of the water was 89 degrees. The smell of decomposition filled their lungs as they stood on the bank assessing the situation to help them define their target area.
Two divers, Brian Davis and Mark Thorsen of the Houston Police Department, plunged into the hot, dark, murky creek. They started their search at the boat secured to the bank. The tender stood still, holding a line connected to a diver, who traveled out in 180-degree arcs. Each time the man in the water completed a run, the man on the bank fed out more line, which slightly extended the distance from the bank and allowed the diver to traverse a wider semicircle. When searching for something large—like a car—the line feeds out fast; but today, as they were hunting for body parts, the process was far more deliberate, methodical and slow. Visibility was nonexistent, forcing the divers to feel blindly with their hands in the black water and to depend as much on luck as on skill in their search for more body parts.
Since the detectives were aware that the missing woman had a tattoo on her foot, they focused first on finding that, since it could be an easy and quick identifier. Since the foot has less muscular tissue than other body parts, it would not float to the surface readily, so they performed an underwater scuba search for one hundred feet in every direction. Sinking to the bottom, the divers made snow angels in the mud, seeking foreign objects on the riverbed—all to no avail.
The lily pads were a major nuisance, covering 50 to 60 percent of the surface of the designated search area. It was impossible to take a boat through them, and every time the divers pushed them out of the way, the current pushed them back. It was a constant struggle.
Noticing a spot of sheen on the surface of the water, an indicator of decomposition, divers Davis and Thorsen scooped up a sample and returned to shore. Cadaver-dog handlers presented it to their canines, who hit on the scent, indicating the presence of human remains and sending the divers back to that spot to continue their task. Near the area of the sheen, the smell of decomposition was strong. Searching on the surface, Davis spotted a suspicious object tangled among the roots of the lily pads. Pulling it upward, he saw a smooth, hairless bone in the middle of a dark mass. At first he thought he’d found a femur bone, and he called Thorsen over to help with the recovery. However, when they rolled it over, a face was revealed, and Davis realized what he had seen was actually the back of a skull. The water had held the skin and muscle in place, but when they pulled the head to the surface, it started sliding off the bone.
The two men placed a ribbon on the surface where they found the skull and made measurements of its location from two stationary objects. After shooting photos of the area of their find, they wrapped the head in a sheet and carried it to the bank.
The smell of decomposition was still strong at the spot of sheen, prompting the two divers to return to the water and continue searching. Fifteen to twenty feet d
eeper into the mass of lilies, they found a portion of a leg. Both of the parts they located that day were on the outer edges of the hot zone. Altogether, over two days, 60 percent of a body had been recovered and delivered to the Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office.
On Tuesday, the dive team returned, expanding the target area farther but finding nothing more. Nonetheless, they had all that was needed to make identification. The detectives had found the missing woman from Kinston, North Carolina, nearly thirteen hundred miles away, in Oyster Creek in Texas: twenty-seven-year-old businesswoman and mother of two Laura Jean Ackerson.
CHAPTER TWO
LAURA Jean Ackerson was born on April 30, 1984, to Rodger and Brenda Ackerson in Hastings, Michigan, the only city in rural Barry County in the southwest corner of the state. There were six other children in the family, including her father’s son, Jason, who was three years older than Laura.
When Laura was a toddler, Rodger and Brenda separated. The battle of unsubstantiated allegations and contentious finger-pointing that lead to the divorce inflicted emotional scars on everyone, fracturing family relationships and leaving the children with conflicting loyalties. In Laura, the long-term emotional damage was apparent even after she reached adulthood.
In 1996, Laura and her mother moved to Iowa. Laura attended Lynnville-Sully High School in the tiny town of Sully and graduated in 2003 (a year later than she should have, due to the many disruptions in her home life).
Her half brother, Jason, left Michigan for North Carolina when he turned twenty-two, though he and Laura continued to keep in touch by phone a couple of times a month. Not long after Jason got a place in Youngsville, a half-hour drive northeast of Raleigh, Laura headed south to join him. Dead-end jobs, worse relationship choices, and frustrations with her home life had left Laura yearning for a new start. Although Youngsville was located in the prosperous and thriving Research Triangle area of North Carolina, it was still a small, rural town with a population under twelve hundred. It certainly wasn’t a hotbed of employment opportunities, nor was it full of the entertainments and activities a twenty-year-old woman would crave. Laura lived there with her brother for six months before setting out for the brighter life of the far more cosmopolitan city of Raleigh to find a job and a place of her own.
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