A Death in Canaan

by Barthel, Joan;

  P:

  Right.

  K:

  OK. You may stop answering questions at any time, if you wish to talk to an attorney you may have him with you during any further questioning. Understand that?

  P:

  Mm-hm.

  K:

  OK. Now read it to yourself again, Pete, put your initials down the side and sign it at the bottom. If there’s anything there you don’t understand, just speak up and I’ll explain it to you, OK?

  P:

  After I leave here will I be able to go and try to make the arrangements for myself?

  K:

  Oh sure.

  P:

  Because I’ve been all tied up and haven’t had a chance to speak to anyone about what I’m going to do.

  K:

  What time did you leave the house yesterday?

  P:

  When I finally went out for the evening?

  K:

  Yeah, what time was it?

  P:

  Approximately twenty after seven. And I got to Canaan around …

  K:

  Not too fast, now. We’re going to go over this whole thing. I want your mind completely clear.

  P:

  Well, this is the most calm I’ve been.

  K:

  You and I are going to talk here, man to man. I want no yelling, no screaming, OK?

  P:

  OK.

  K:

  When you were leaving, how was your mother dressed? Do you recall?

  P:

  I think she had a white T-shirt on with a blue shirt over it, unbuttoned. A pair of jeans and sandals. She was sitting at the living-room table, eating a TV dinner. She was watching the news on TV, seven to seven-thirty, the national news. I left at seven-twenty. Geoff Madow was with me. We’re good friends.

  K:

  Was Geoff in the house? Did he meet your mother?

  P:

  Yes. He already gave a statement.

  K:

  You left in your Corvette, right?

  P:

  I was in my Corvette. Geoff drove his car because he didn’t have enough gas to drive me home and then go home.

  K:

  Is there anything wrong with your car, or is it in pretty good shape?

  P:

  It’s in fairly decent shape. The transmission is a little rattly.

  K:

  My brother-in-law has a Corvette, but for me it’s too small a car. Every time I get in and out of it, I crack my head.

  P:

  There’s a lot of leg room, though.

  K:

  Oh yeah. Well, how are the lights and the rest of the equipment?

  P:

  Well, everything is fine except one headlight. You have to get out and jiggle it while the car’s running. There’s something messed up in the vacuum. Plus I have oversized tires, and it weaves a little bit, it gets away from you, so I don’t drive that fast.

  K:

  OK. So, you went to their meeting. Now tell me what happened.

  P:

  Around nine-thirty, nine-thirty-five, I decided to leave, and this kid, John Sochocki, asked me for a ride home. So I dropped him off at his house, and then I went straight home.

  K:

  Now tell me exactly what happened.

  P:

  I pulled in the yard. I had to find a level spot to park because my emergency brake wasn’t working. I got out and jiggled the light down, then I got back in, shut it off, put it in gear, and locked it up. I walked in the front door. The screen door was open, on the catch, and also the inside door wasn’t quite closed. I walked in and I yelled, “Mom, I’m home!” There was no answer, so I figured she probably fell asleep. I looked in the bedroom, up at her bed. We were very limited on space, so we had bunk beds. When I wasn’t home, she always slept in the top bunk.

  K:

  Oh, I see.

  P:

  I looked up, and I didn’t see her. I turned, like I’d seen her, because I’m so used to it, and I turned around again, and found she wasn’t there, and I looked down, and there she was on the bedroom floor.

  K:

  Now, tell me exactly how she was.

  P:

  She had a T-shirt on, and it was kind of pushed up to here. Nothing else on. I think she might have had that blue shirt on, but I don’t remember. There was blood all over the place, around the chin and the throat and on the carpet around her. She was breathing, and she was having trouble breathing, but she was breathing, and she was unconscious, her eyes were closed, and she didn’t respond to me when I yelled to her. She didn’t seem to be bleeding anymore, but there was blood all over the place.

  K:

  All right.

  P:

  Ah, what’s his name, the lieutenant?

  K:

  Shay.

  P:

  Shay. He told me that my first reaction should have been to go directly to her to see how she was. But my first reaction was to hit the phone. He said there might have been something a little wrong, but I was afraid to touch her for some reason. Mysterious reason. So I called the Madows. They’re on the VFW ambulance squad. Mrs. Madow said they’d be right down. Then she told me to call my family doctor. So I hung up and dialed information, one-four-one-one, and then I called and I got the number for Dr. Bornemann, and then I called there. His wife told me Dr. Bornemann was on vacation. She said call the Sharon Hospital emergency room. So I hung up and dialed information again and got Sharon Hospital. I dialed there, and they connected me with the emergency room. They asked me whether she was still breathing, and I went in and looked, and at that point she’d almost stopped breathing. I came back and told them, and they asked if I knew anything about artificial respiration. I told them I didn’t. They said they’d contact the state police. I said I already contacted an ambulance.

  K:

  What did you do then?

  P:

  I walked out the door. I ran. There was a hibachi by the door. I threw it out of the way so it wouldn’t be in the way of the ambulance. Then I got in the car and pulled it around to the side of the house. I shut off the car, then I went to put the headlights on, and I thought no, it would kill the battery. So I left the emergency flashers on, and I stood in the front yard. Then I saw this little car coming out of nowhere, a Toyota, and Geoff was driving it, going like a bat out of hell. He pulled in the yard, and we both went in the house and looked at her.

  K:

  What did Geoff say?

  P:

  He said it looked like somebody raped her. Maybe I said it. But I think he said it.

  K:

  I was just wondering what his reaction was when he saw all the blood.

  P:

  He just turned pale. I was already like a ghost. We went back out and stood in the front yard. By the time Geoff got there it had been seven or eight minutes, I think. Maybe five. Then, a couple minutes later, the cruiser pulled in, and the ambulance was right behind it.

  K:

  Well, what do you think happened there?

  P:

  I honestly don’t know. My mom used to get very depressed. She told me that sometimes she felt suicidal, but that she didn’t have the guts to go through with it.

  K:

  Do you think your mother committed suicide?

  P:

  I don’t know. I don’t know the facts on what actually happened to her.

  K:

  Do you recall her being all wet?

  P:

  No. But the police officer showed me the pair of pants and asked me if they were mine or hers. He told me they were wet. I saw they weren’t bell-bottoms, so I knew they were hers, plus she had the cuffs rolled up.

  K:

  And they were soaking wet. And her shirt was wet.

  P:

  I didn’t notice that her shirt was wet.

  K:

  Yeah, it was when they examined her. Any idea how she got all wet?

  P:

>   I can’t understand it. Did they check the bathtub or anything? I don’t know what they did down there.

  K:

  Do you have any suspicions as to who would hurt your mother like that?

  P:

  I told them about [name deleted], who’s an alcoholic. I don’t suspect him, but as far as I know, an alcoholic will do anything.

  K:

  Or somebody that has a mental problem. A person might have a mental problem and do something that they’re sorry for, afterwards. They’ve taken a life, but they can’t help themselves.

  P:

  Right.

  K:

  Things just snap, and suddenly, a few hours later, they’re back to normal again.

  P:

  Like a split personality.

  K:

  Right. When was the last time you saw [the alcoholic]?

  P:

  Last time I saw him was, at least two years ago.

  K:

  Has your mother heard from him recently?

  P:

  We had phone calls last week. Tuesday or Wednesday. Then on Thursday and Friday last week I had to drive her to Sharon Hospital for tests. My mom was the lousiest driver there was.

  K:

  Most women are.

  P:

  But she wouldn’t admit it. Besides, the way the car moved, she wasn’t that strong in her arms. If the car weaved, she might not have been able to pull out of it.

  K:

  Other than [the alcoholic], you have no other suspicions?

  P:

  Well, I gave the name of [name deleted] but he left this area five years ago. He went to California.

  K:

  So you have no real strong suspicions?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  And you never touched your mother?

  P:

  I never touched her. I know it was kind of odd that I didn’t, but I know I didn’t.

  K:

  I understand there was a lot of blood.

  P:

  There was, and that’s what scared me.

  K:

  Where was that coming from? Could you tell?

  P:

  I couldn’t tell.

  K:

  If I ask you this question on the polygraph: Do you know for sure who hurt your mother? What would you answer?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Pete, I’m not trying to trick you.

  P:

  Even if you are, it’s for the better.

  K:

  Well, I’m not, in no way, trying to trick you.

  P:

  Right. I understand that.

  K:

  That’s why we’ll talk these questions over to make sure that you understand. If you don’t, we’ll change them. Now, the next question: Last night, do you know for sure who hurt your mother?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Last night, did you hurt your mother?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  Now, they had to take her into the hospital and examine her.

  P:

  They performed an autopsy, right?

  K:

  Right. She had two broken legs.

  P:

  She did? I didn’t know her legs were broken.

  K:

  Just above the knees. So it looks like she had to be hit with something. I broke my leg playing football, but that’s a different situation. I’m sure your mother doesn’t play football.

  P:

  Could she have fallen out of the top bunk? But I still don’t think she’d break both legs. I’ve fallen out, and I never got hurt except bruises.

  K:

  If I ask you on the polygraph: Do you know how your mother’s legs were broken?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  The only way you would know would be if you were there and saw this happen.

  P:

  Right.

  K:

  You said before, Pete, that you didn’t talk to your mother other than the yell as you came in. If I ask you on the polygraph: Last night, did you talk to your mother when you came home? Carry on a conversation?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  If I ask you on the polygraph: Do you know how your mother’s clothes got wet?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  You gave a statement to the police last night. Is the statement you made the truth?

  P:

  Yes.

  K:

  Now, whoever did this, there’s no doubt, deliberately hurt your mother. You say she talked about suicide. She certainly couldn’t …

  P:

  Break both legs, then commit suicide.

  K:

  Right. Right. So, if I ask you this question on the polygraph: Did you ever deliberately hurt someone in your life?

  P:

  No.

  K:

  From what the fellows say, you got along fairly well with your mother, right?

  P:

  We had arguments. We’d swear up and down at one another.

  K:

  This is a normal thing. I argue with my wife. Everybody gets into arguments. But I don’t know if you’re involved in what happened there last night or not. That’s why you’re here. If I could read your brain, I’d be a millionaire, and I wouldn’t be sitting here. That’s why I have this. It reads your brain for me.

  P:

  Does that actually read my brain?

  K:

  Definitely. Definitely. And if you’ve told me the truth, this is what your brain is going to tell me.

  P:

  Will this stand up to protect me?

  K:

  Right. Right.

  P:

  Good. That’s the reason I came to take it. For protection.

  K:

  Last year I talked to a colored boy here, twenty-one years old, who four other colored people accused of committing a murder. They said they seen him come down the street, pull a gun out of his belt, and popped this other colored guy. These people picked him out of a lineup. Individually they said, that’s him. They gave sworn statements. He sat right where you’re sitting now, and when I finished testing him, I got the New Haven police, and I said, you got the wrong guy. Two months later I talked to the actual man who committed the crime. He sat right where you’re sitting now. That’s how the polygraph works. If you’re honest with me, that’s all we need, OK?

  P:

  Let’s go.

  K:

  We don’t rush here, Pete. We take our time. We have no place to go. Now, to get back to the questions. If you committed this thing last night, if you hurt your mother, it would be a rather shameful thing, right?

  P:

  Right.

  K:

  You’ve never done anything that you’re really ashamed of, have you?

  P:

  Can you guarantee this won’t go out of this room?

  K:

  Absolutely. Right here. You and I.

  P:

  I got involved with a homosexual. I was afraid of the guy, because he was a brown belt in Judo.

  K:

  Did he commit an act on you, or did he make you commit an act on him?

  P:

  Neither, really. Nothing really happened. But he tried.

  K:

  You’re afraid someone’s going to say you’re a homosexual?

  P:

  Right. And if you check my background, if you saw the girls I go out with, it’s ridiculous.

  K:

  No problem. I think everybody is approached at least once by a homosexual. That’s not shameful.

  P:

  Well, it’s something I was really ashamed of.

  K:

  All right. All right. Let me put it this way: Besides what we have just talked about, have you done anything else you’re really ashamed of?
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  P:

  I don’t know whether I told you that I smoked pot. Not all the time. Every three months, something like that. I’m not ashamed of that, except the shamefulness that I lied to my mom, saying I didn’t.

  K:

  What I’m interested in is if you’re lying to me about last night, that would be shameful, wouldn’t it?

  P:

  Yeah. But it would be ridiculous for me to come down and volunteer for this test if I was lying.

  K:

  Let me say something, Pete. I’ve had people here who have committed serious things. As serious as this. They needed help. It wasn’t a vicious thing they did. They just couldn’t help themselves. I’ve had people actually come in here and take this test because they knew they were guilty but they didn’t know how to tell somebody. They were looking for help. Maybe you’re looking for somebody to help you.