by Joe Conlan
Shem had never been to the state of Kentucky, so after he checked out of his hotel in Asheville, North Carolina, he headed north on US19 toward I26. The interstate would take him in the direction of the southeastern part of Kentucky. When he studied the map, he decided that Hazard sounded like a good name for a city to find some poor unsuspecting bitch and bury her alive. After contemplating several different methods to torture his next victim, he decided the thought of interring a living, breathing person could have lasting effects. He might even be able to enjoy it for hours or maybe days later.
Hazard was a small, rustic town covering seven square miles with a total population of two thousand residents. According to Mapquest.com, it would take him approximately three and a half hours to arrive at his destination. Since he had plenty of time, he decided to take the scenic route. He drove his Ford F-150 he purchased when he arrived in Memphis through the mountainous terrain of Southeastern Kentucky. Once he exited the interstate on KY-15 west, the scenery was so awe-inspiring, he pulled off at several vistas to enjoy the view. Though he enjoyed geographical beauty just as much as the next person, he also had the ulterior motive to search for a secluded area that could serve as an appropriate burial ground. It would have to be sufficiently isolated from any populated areas so his victim’s screams could not be heard. He wasn’t planning on gagging her. It would dull the experience. He wanted an unabridged opportunity to delight in her terror. Once underground, he was sure any sound she made would be muffled and inaudible.
Five hours after his departure from Asheville, he pulled into the parking lot of the Hazard Hampton Inn. He checked in at the registration office then immediately went to work. As soon as he entered the corner room he requested, he removed his laptop computer from its briefcase and took a few minutes to seek out instructions for building a coffin. He jotted some notes on the hotel’s stationary and made a list of the equipment he would need to get the job done. Conveniently, Hazard actually had a Lowe’s. Surfing their website, he determined that the only wood sturdy enough to support a body underground was available in five inch thick panels of pine that were eighty four inches in length. It might not make for the most elegant burial, but he was sure it would serve its purpose.
It was late evening when all the details were finally sorted out. This wasn’t a city where strangers could wander about without being noticed. The risk of being remembered was too great. Not wanting to linger in this pint-size town longer than necessary, he grabbed his keys from his jacket pocket, walked out the door, hopped into his truck and set out on both the paved and dirt roads of Hazard to hunt for a victim. At 10:00 in the evening, the city was a ghost town. Most businesses had long since closed their doors for the night. The only activity he was able to find was at a local bar where there were a total of five cars in the parking lot. The sounds of Garth Brooks playing on the juke box could be heard from the shoulder of the road across the street where he had parked his vehicle.
After about an hour of observation, a pickup truck approached from the north advancing at a high rate of speed. The driver swerved into the gravel parking lot littering the street with a spray of stones and mulch. He came to a screeching halt in front of the entrance to the bar. The truck had barely come to a complete stop when he hopped out, rushed toward the door and entered the bar. It was apparent to Shem the guy was in a high state of agitation.
Three minutes later, he was dragging a blond woman by her collar out into the parking lot. The woman, who Shem could only describe as white trash, was struggling to liberate herself from the man’s grip. He was trying to open the passenger door of his truck with one hand and hold the girl with the other. As he opened the door, she succeeded in stripping herself free and ran back toward the bar. A loud and animated argument ensued then the woman started to pummel the redneck’s chest with both fists. Finally, he got sick of dealing with her, got in his truck, started it, pulled out of the parking space and crashed his front grill into the front driver’s side of a white Chevy Camaro parked two spaces over. He disappeared at the same speed at which he arrived.
The girl was left in the middle of the parking lot crying hysterically. Shem started his engine, drove into the lot beside her and rolled down his window. “Excuse me, Ma’am, can I help you?”
“That fucker of an ex-husband of mine just smashed my car. He’s always so fuck’n jealous. I hate that bastard.”
“I don’t think your car is drivable.”
“I think maybe I should call the police. But shit, I just got into an accident last month and already my premiums are through the roof.”
“Well why don’t you just leave the car here tonight and think about it? You’ve been through a lot. You shouldn’t make any important decisions. I don’t mind driving you home.”
“The car is a piece-a-shit anyway. It’s probably not worth fixing. I should probably try to see if it starts, though. Maybe I can drive it home. Are you from around here? I’ve never seen you before.”
“I just bought a cabin a few miles from here. I’ll be moving up this way in a couple of months. Are you sure it’ll be safe to drive the car in that condition?”
“It’s worth a try. I don’t want to leave it here in Billy Bob’s parking lot. Besides, I don’t live very far from here.”
The woman unlocked the door and slipped in behind the wheel. She placed the key in the ignition and turned it to the right to no avail. The engine cranked but wouldn’t turn over. After exiting the vehicle, she walked up to the passenger’s side of Shem’s truck and asked, “You ain’t no rapist or anything like that, are you?”
“Now, do I look like a bad guy to you?”
“You sure are a handsome man. I guess it wouldn’t hurt if I let you take me home. My whole night turned to shit because of that bastard anyway.”
“Hop in. I’m Ted. What’s your name?”
“Patty, pleased to meet you. It’s awfully nice o’ you to do this for me. My apartment is just a few miles from here. Everything’s close in Hazard. Head up to the light at the next intersection up yonder and turn right.”
Patty opened the passenger door and lifted herself up into the truck. The instant she sat in the passenger’s seat, he stuck the syringe he was hiding under his right hand into her left arm and injected fifteen milligrams of liquid morphine. Within seconds, she passed out. As they were leaving the parking lot, her upper body slowly fell over toward him, her head neatly coming to a rest on his shoulder. After he was back on the street and able to straighten the wheel, he violently shoved her back to her side of the vehicle, the right side of her head and ear smashing into the lower frame of the open window. Careful to heed all traffic rules, signs and signals, he drove the two miles back to the hotel taking the parking space directly in front of his room. Before getting out, he scanned the area to be sure no one was around. There was one other car in the parking lot, but it was empty. He quickly jumped out of the vehicle and unlocked the hotel room door. Once it was secure in the open position, he made an about face, returned to the passenger side of the truck and opened its door. He lifted the woman out of the seat, kicked the door closed, carried her into the room, threw her on the king-size bed then shut, locked and chained the hotel room door.
The room smelled of wet carpet and mildew. The faucet in the vanity area was leaking incessantly making a rhythmic and obnoxious plunking noise. Normally, these irritants would affect his ability to concentrate. Excited to embark on a new adventure, he was able to ignore the outside distractions with relative ease. He went about his work unzipping his suitcase and pulling out a roll of twine and a bandana he would use as a gag. He then tied the woman from just below the neck all the way down to her knees, binding her arms tightly to her sides. When he was satisfied she wouldn’t be going anywhere, he extracted a pink, rubber handball from his bag, placed it in the woman’s mouth and tied the bandana securely around her face and head leaving her eyes exposed. Unwilling to sleep in the same bed with her, he picked her up, carried her into the ba
throom and dumped her in the bathtub face down. He closed the door behind him, undressed, and hopped into the bed. Impervious to the maddening sound of the leaky faucet, he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.
Lowes was scheduled to open at 7:00am. At 6:55 the following morning, Shem parked his pickup truck in a space near the store entrance and waited. Once the doors were unlocked, he purchased the lumber and supplies and loaded them into the truck. He was planning to spend the day in the hotel room until well after sunset, preferring to drive to the burial site under the cover of darkness. He wasn’t concerned about leaving the woman in the bathtub since he placed his do not disturb sign on the door. It was doubtful a housekeeper would enter the room unless he or she was a thief or wanted to get fired. That wasn’t likely to happen in this town. Besides, housekeeping usually didn’t get started until well after 9:00am. He was pretty sure no one else would discover her presence. The woman was making bizarre noises all night long that definitely weren’t loud enough to be heard outside the room. As an extra precaution, he injected her with the additional 10mg of morphine he had left. It wouldn’t knock her out, but she’d be pretty much out of commission.
When he returned to the hotel and stored the lumber inside his room, he found the woman making a vain and pathetic attempt to call out for help. Although the sounds she made weren’t that loud, he knew this would get on his nerves very quickly. He went to his suitcase and pulled out a butcher’s knife, opened the door to the bathroom and waved the knife in her face. His threat to cut her tongue out if she made any more noise served its purpose. He availed himself of the silence to take a decent nap as he expected to be up most of the night.
Shem was able to get a long, restful sleep, waking up well into the afternoon. He spent the remainder of the day relaxing and watching T.V. Every so often, he would go into the bathroom to let the woman know he was still there keeping an eye on her. Seeing her horror-stricken face motivated him to visit a few extra times. Finally, just after nine o’clock, he was ready to get started. The first order of business was to check the parking lot for signs of activity. Seeing no one, he took advantage of express check-out via the television then reloaded the lumber and supplies into the bed of the truck. After placing his suitcase in the cab behind the passenger’s seat, he left the door ajar. He re-entered the room, headed straight for the bathroom, lifted the woman out of the tub, carried her to the door and checked a final time for onlookers. Assured the parking lot was still vacant, he lugged her to the passenger’s side of the truck and stuffed her on the floor in the space underneath the glove box. When he looked into her eyes, it appeared they were going to bulge out of their sockets. As it had already done several times that day, the terrified look on her face caused him to slightly stir between the legs. It gave him hope this night would bring him the fulfillment he was seeking. The drive to the location he selected would take approximately thirty minutes. That would give him a full eight hours before sunrise to build the coffin and dig a hole while she watched the preparations for her ultimate demise with that wild, horror-stricken expression.
As he pulled out of the hotel parking lot and made his way back east on State Road 15, he warned the woman not to attempt to alert anyone on the road. He placed his butcher’s knife on the seat beside him for insurance. Twenty minutes later, he was turning northeast on US-119, a two lane winding mountain pass. He drove another seven miles climbing higher into the black wilderness then turned right onto US-421 which led to a series of wildlife and birding paths. Recognizing his landmark, a street sign with the name Pine Mountain Trails, he continued another two-hundred feet then pulled into a dirt parking lot. The area was not normally visited by humans. It was no different that night.
Before he exited the truck, he reiterated his warning to the woman to be silent at the risk of losing a body part. Next, he hopped out of the vehicle and began unloading the lumber from the truck bed. For the better part of an hour, he carried the pine and other tools he purchased at Lowes to the location he had previously chosen to perform his work. He also found an ideal spot to place the woman giving her a front row seat while he built her coffin.
When he returned to the truck, he found her trying to escape though her attempts were pitifully futile. It took him an additional thirty minutes to carry her to the burial site as she struggled to free herself from his grip every step of the way. He wanted to smash her face against the tree he selected as her observation point, but was concerned he might damage one or both of her eyes. Instead, he smacked the side of her head with the back of his hand and forcefully pushed her down into a seated position. The blow caused a severe gash inches over her left ear. The impact with the ground sent a sharp pain from her coccyx that ran all the way up her spine to the base of her brainstem. Instantly, the laceration began to spout copious amounts of blood. Dazed to the edge of losing consciousness, she was tied in a position where she had no choice other than to watch him work. He checked the wound then applied pressure to it with a towel from his equipment bag. When the flow of the blood slowed and she appeared to regain her composure, he turned to the task of assembling her final resting place.
It took him approximately an hour and a half to erect a crude pine box. He overcompensated by using several packages of nails to be sure the coffin didn’t break apart once he started pouring dirt into the hole. He wanted the experience to last for her. It would dull his pleasure to know the box could possibly fail and she would die quickly of asphyxiation. Every few minutes he looked over at the woman to use her terrified expression to renew his efforts. Her screams for help amused him knowing there wasn’t a soul anywhere within miles. Her pleas for her life only managed to incite him further to continue the work.
When he grabbed a shovel from behind a tree to dig the hole, he wondered whether the stupid bitch just realized for the first time what was going to happen to her. She began to writhe frantically in an attempt to free herself from the tree. Her labors became so violent the twine around her arms tore into her sweater and cut through her skin leaving streaks of bloodstains up and down the sleeves. She screamed as loud as her damaged vocal chords would allow. Shem was beginning to worry she was going to shriek herself into unconsciousness. Nevertheless, he found her actions to be very arousing and let her continue.
It took him several hours to dig the hole to a sufficient depth. Every time her silence gave him the impression she may have passed out, he would approach to examine her. Like the flipping of an electrical switch, she would instantly resume her fitful outburst. By the time he finished the job, she had completely lost her voice. Her features and mouth were contorted like that of a person screaming bloody murder though all she produced was a rush of silent air. The sleeves of the sweater were soaked red and the friction of the twine against the front of the garment had painfully torn the skin of her breasts and stomach. He reached underneath her sleeves with his right hand, but was dissatisfied to find an inadequate amount of his favorite erotic substance. To resolve the problem, he snatched his shovel from the side of the tree and used the tip to reopen the gash on her head. His semi-state of arousal bloomed into a massive erection. To the horrified disbelief of his victim, he reached down his pants and used her blood to masturbate collecting more of the red lubricant as necessary.
After he attained his first orgasm, he advanced toward the woman to let her know he was going to untie her from the tree. Again, his threats to not struggle fell on deaf ears. She fought with all the strength she had remaining to either get away from the monster or anger him enough to do her in with one swift stroke of his hammer. The more she battled for her life, the more he became sexually stimulated. During the struggle, he spontaneously orgasmed for a second time. It took him several minutes thereafter to compose himself then restrain her sufficiently to throw her into the pine box positioned at the bottom of the hole. Although she was free from the tree, her arms were still tightly bound. Once she was settled inside the coffin, he focused on her eyes as he placed the lid on top.
The pure and unadulterated panic they expressed sent a bolt of rapture directly to his loins. The adrenaline running through his body wasn’t quite as intense as for a decapitation, but it was a close second. It replenished him with the energy necessary to fill the hole.
Forty five minutes later, the grave was complete. If she was making any noise, it was inaudible. Shem removed the garden gloves and tossed them, the shovel, and remainder of his tools into the thick underbrush. As he strolled back to his truck, he thought about how happy he was going to be in his new mountain chalet.
Chapter 22
The murmur of the capacity crowd came to a sudden halt as if the volume in the courtroom could be manipulated by a remote control turned to mute. The silence was broken by the clicking of cameras as Daniel Falcone was escorted to the defense table in handcuffs by two United States Deputy Marshalls. The court deputy warned the row of photographers that picture taking was forbidden when court was in session. Anyone caught snapping a photograph after the judge entered the courtroom would be held in contempt of court. The announcement provoked a doubling of their efforts wanting to get as many shots before the proceedings commenced.
Jury selection went a little bit faster than anticipated. It took a total of five and a half weeks to seat the panel of twelve jurors and three alternates. Once the jury was chosen, Judge Jackson adjourned for a period of one week to give the attorneys and court personnel time to prepare for the evidentiary portion of the trial. The television networks took the opportunity to install the state of the art equipment necessary to transmit the broadcast around the world. The trial would be televised in over one hundred and fifty countries. The networks would need every precious second of the week to set up their machinery. Cameras were positioned in every nook and cranny of the courtroom so that all angles were covered. Any visual aids employed by the attorneys would be captured by two special projectors strategically placed on the witness stand and judge’s bench allowing the home viewer to examine the item along with the jury.