The officer who had led her through the coroner’s examination room and to the body of her dead husband held her arms tight as she became weak in the knees from the sight. He pulled her close to him and then moved her over to a chair near the wall, where he helped her sit down. She wept for a while and then began mumbling uncontrollably under her breath. No one in the room said a word until she had gathered her senses and composure again.
When Mrs. Carmine had finally stopped crying so hard, she asked Linda what had happened. Linda walked over close to her and knelt down. “He was in an explosion when he was working. That is all we know at this point.”
“What was it that exploded?”
“A shipping container in east Dallas. He was one of the first men at the container, and when they opened the door, it exploded because of a booby trap that had been rigged up. Two other men were killed as well as your husband.”
“Who would set off an explosion and kill police officers? What kind of person does that?”
“I don’t have an answer for you, Mrs. Carmine. All that we know is that they were killed when the door opened on the container,” Linda said as she placed her hand on Mrs. Carmine’s knee to comfort her. She could imagine what the new widow was feeling and wanted to offer her a better answer, but there wasn’t one yet. Mrs. Carmine stood up and thanked her before leaving the examination room and her husband’s body behind. Linda had her techs prepare the body for the mortuary and had Martin’s body placed in the morgue for the family to come and claim it later before closing up for the night.
Chapter 29
Rick and T-Bone turned onto the long dirt road from the highway and made their way to the main gate of the Beaumont federal correctional facility. They both showed identification and allowed the guards to search the car before proceeding into the parking lot. They found a spot to park and went to the guard shack, where they were searched again and asked to relinquish their firearms.
They did as they were asked, logged in as visitors, and were led to the gate. They were let through and told to check in with the guard inside the main lobby of the prison. They were placed into a waiting area while Young was retrieved from his cell and escorted to a visitation room. After about forty minutes had passed, they were notified that it wouldn’t be much longer. Young was placed into a chair facing the entrance. He sat at a steel table that was bolted to the floor in the middle of the room. His chains were removed, but his cuffs and leg irons were left on for the interview.
After a total of an hour of waiting, the two detectives were led into the room and told to not touch him or get close to him. A guard was instructed to stand just inside the door in the event that he was needed. Rick and T-Bone looked at Young, smiled, and then took their seats. Rick placed a recorder and the envelope on the table but left the envelope sealed. The effect of Young wondering what was in the envelope was more important to Rick than anything he could have in it.
Young smiled cockily and placed his cuffed hands onto the table, and then looked at both detectives and said, “Miss me yet, detectives?”
Rick looked at T-Bone and gave a little smile before saying, “Young, we have a few questions we’d like to ask and were hoping you’d answer and maybe even … clarify a few things for us.”
“Oh … I thought you’d just come to see if I was happy in my new vacation home. Why would I answer any of your questions, Detective Wise?”
“I guess you don’t have to, Mr. Young. But when you go to trial, you’re going to be the one who’s surprised by how much we already know.”
“Oh really … What does this super detective brain of yours know that I could possibly be surprised about, Detective Wise?” Young said with a hateful and narcissistic tone.
Rick looked at T-Bone, and then reached for the envelope. He pulled the metal tab to release it, and although Young watched his every move, he never uttered a sound. Rick noticed him observing and decided to use that to his advantage. He stopped, closed the tab back, and then placed it back on the table. Young watched again as he looked at Rick with definite spite.
Rick was playing a game with Young, and he’d decided that not opening the envelope would make him more curious than a few highlighter marks on a phone record. “Young, I’m not going to show you what I have in the envelope because you already know, don’t you? I believe that you felt as if you had covered your tracks well enough. And I believe that you didn’t think it would come out. But we know how you were able to know so much about the Bennigan family … their routines and habits, stuff like that. That made it easy to plan and then kill them.”
“And you believe that you know what, Detective Wise? I didn’t kill anyone, Detective. You’ve got the wrong guy.”
“Young … we know you and the girl had more of a connection than you admitted to previously. It was evident in the way that you killed her.”
“I didn’t kill anyone, Detective,” Young said as he looked at the mirrored glass. He knew that in this setting any recordings would be admissible in court. A warrant wouldn’t be needed because Young was already a prisoner and the detectives were conducting a critical investigation about the murder case. They believed that there was more information that pertained to the case, and had been sent there to obtain it.
“Young, you’ve already admitted everything on tape. And you speak very clearly on those tapes that you admitted to the murders and how you committed them. I am simply letting you know that your game of cat and mouse is over and we know about the girl.”
“You really don’t know, do you, Detective?”
“Know what, Mr. Young?”
“My attorney came and briefed me on our status … These so-called tapes that you say that you have aren’t admissible in court, Detective. You know it and I know it.”
“I would have to say that you’re wrong about that, Mr. Young. I heard you tell the story. I watched as you placed my own gun into my face, and then I listened to how you planned on killing me. Those tapes will be admissible.”
“I am afraid you have made up a horrible story to try to frame me, Detective. My attorney told me that the federal judge didn’t sign a warrant before the so-called tapes were even recorded,” Young boasted, and gathered another cocky smile on his face.
“You’re right, Young, the federal judge didn’t sign a warrant for the tapes that the FBI recorded that day.”
“So why would you play a stupid game with me, Detective Wise? You know I am smarter than that. I’ve been in the investigation business for quite some time now,” Young boasted again.
Rick smiled and then said, “The federal judge’s signature wasn’t the only option Mr. Young. The district judge signed a warrant for the tapes that were recorded from the wire I was wearing. So the tapes are admissible in court,” Rick countered and then smiled as well.
“You’re full of shit! My attorney told me the warrant wasn’t signed for the tapes and they aren’t admissible in court.”
“Your attorney can fly a kite. I watched the district judge sign them myself.” Rick opened his briefcase, and pulled a copy of the signed warrant out, moved it in front of Young’s face.
“So you think you can get a jury to listen to those tapes and convict me for those murders?” Young said with a solemn look now.
“I know that I can, Young. The only question is how you wooed that young girl and persuaded her to let you in the house. Also how you were able to persuade her to help kill her family. She must have loved you, to give up her family that way.”
“I want to know what’s in the envelope, Wise,” Young snapped.
“Just some proof that you and the girl had an affair and you persuaded her to help you.”
“What kind of proof?”
“Young … just tell me how you were able to get the girl to help you kill her family,” Rick said accusingly. T-Bone said nothing, but his faci
al expressions were proof that he too was now enthralled by his partner’s ability to make a statement.
Young squirmed in the hard plastic chair for a moment and then said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Detective Wise. I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t know that girl. It was a tragedy that those people were killed, but if you’d just arrest the right man for the murders, it would all go away.”
“Yeah? And who would that be, Mr. Young?”
“Leonard Marcell.”
“Young, we all know that you committed those murders. I don’t know why you have such a hard-on for this guy Marcell. But you are the guilty one here.”
“I did not kill anyone, Detective. I’m afraid you are wasting your time.”
“Well, I guess we’re done then,” Rick said, and then he stood up. He gathered his things, turned off the recorder, and walked away. T-Bone followed suit and the two made their way toward the door.
“Wait … I think there is something we can work out, Wise,” Young shouted before the two reached the door. Rick continued to the door and looked at the guard. He tapped on the glass a couple of times to let the guard outside the door know they were done. “You had your chance, Young. Now rot in hell!” he shouted without turning around.
“I need to tell you something, Detective! There is so much more for you to know. If you think the judge will take it easy on me, I’ll let you know everything.”
The door was quickly opened and the detectives paused and then exited the room. The door was closed and then Rick faced the guard. “I’m just letting him think that we’re leaving, so don’t take him out of the room, please,” he whispered to the attendant.
The two detectives made their way over to the mirrored glass and looked into the room where Young sat all alone. Wise wanted to watch Young squirm and worry for a few minutes. T-Bone looked through the glass at Young and then back at Rick. “What are you doing, man? He said he’d tell us what he knew.”
“I’m making him think I have enough on him that I don’t need him to tell me anything. He’ll get frustrated in a few minutes, and then you’ll see what he’ll do.”
“But why waste time? He’s gonna tell ya what you want to know, right?”
“Do you honestly believe he’ll tell the truth? He still tells lies, even now that he thinks the tapes are going to be admissible in court. Just watch him, and if I’m right, he’ll break.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing, Bubba. You may piss him off and then he won’t say anything.” T-Bone watched Young begin to move his bony frame in the seat. Young looked at the door … then at the mirrored glass … and then back at the door. He was getting antsy and it was beginning to get to him.
Before much longer, Young looked at the mirrored glass again and shouted, “Okay, dammit! I’ll tell you what you want to know.”
“Told ya, Bubba … He wasn’t going to, but now he will,” Rick boasted.
Rick and T-Bone made their way back into the room and sat in their seats. Rick took out the recorder and placed it back on the table. He pressed the “record” button again and said, “This is a recording with Gary Young at the Beaumont federal correctional facility, on September twenty-third, two thousand and ten, at thirteen hundred and twenty-three hours. Gary Young, are you aware that this conversation is being recorded and that this interview could be used against you in your prosecution?”
“I am aware of that,” Young said firmly.
“Mr. Young, do you remember what happened on September thirteenth, two thousand and ten?”
“Yes.”
“Were you at the Bennigan residence on that day?”
“Yes, I was.”
“Can you tell me what happened on that day?”
“I’ll tell you what happened, but before I do, I want a couple of things promised to me.”
“What things do you want promised to you?”
“I want to be transferred to another prison. I want to be treated like any other prisoner, and I want to eat regular food and take regular showers. I want writing material and something to read. I’d like to have a television in my cell and to be allowed to go outside for recreation, instead of to an abandoned gym and sit for my recreation time.”
“Those sound like reasonable requests, except the part about being transferred to another prison. I don’t have any say as to where they keep you. But I’ll certainly see what I can do; you have my word on that.”
“Fair enough. I am giving you this information because I need for you to understand that I am not crazy.”
Rick raised an eyebrow and closed his eyes for a second. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“I was at the Bennigans’ residence that day to kill the Bennigan family and frame a killer who was acquitted a year earlier.”
“Could you be more specific?”
“I went there to kill Mr. Bennigan, Mrs. Bennigan, and their two children.”
“But there were five people killed at the Bennigan residence that day, Mr. Young. Can you explain that to us?”
Young put his head down slowly and paused before saying, “I wasn’t going to kill the girl. I was only going to kill the family and then plant evidence that would be found by you guys and prove that Marcell was there and that would show that he was a suspect. Just having a solid suspect in a case this big … He would have been convicted.”
“What would his motive be for killing the Bennigan family?”
“Marcell works for the Gamboni family. He’s a hit man, and Bennigan was the attorney who represented him during his murder trial last year.”
“But Marcell was acquitted, right?”
“That’s right.”
“So why would Marcell kill the attorney who helped him prove his innocence?”
“I would prove that he killed him to conceal his identity and keep his business a secret.”
“How would you prove that?”
“I have an informant who works for the same guy Marcell does. He is Mr. Gamboni’s bodyguard, and he has been gathering information for me on Marcell and Gamboni for several months now.”
“Okay, so why would this bodyguard help you?”
“Because he wants out of the business, and he knows that if Colt and Gamboni were out of the picture, he’d be able to leave the mob and be a better man.”
“Who is Colt?” Rick asked, confused now.
“Marcell is known in the business as Colt.”
“So this guy Marcell is Colt?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, I’m following you,” Rick said and then leaned back into his seat. T-Bone watched Young as he acted like a schoolgirl telling about her first date. He knew the man was a sick murderer, but in this setting, he almost seemed human.
Young cleared his throat and leaned back as well. “I have this guy Albert, and he will prove that Marcell is a killer. He has been getting information for us for quite a while now. I asked him to get pictures and every other piece of evidence that I could use against him.”
Rick leaned up and asked, “So if you were having this guy Albert gather all of this proof for you, why kill the Bennigan family and pin it on this Marcell guy? Wouldn’t your informant have enough to put Marcell away?”
“That was my plan though. I would have all the information together and after I killed the Bennigan family, I was supposed to meet my informant to get the proof and then I’d bust the case wide open and Marcell would go away and eventually be put to death.”
“You had plenty of time to get the evidence after you killed them. It was more than a week before we caught you, remember?”
“Yeah … because when I went to my informant to get the proof, he had changed the plan. He wanted to stay in the business and run it for himself. I told him I’d take Colt out and then he could do whatever he wanted t
o do with Gamboni.”
“So why wouldn’t he give it to you?”
“He wouldn’t give me the information until he had taken Gamboni out. He wanted me to help him kill Gamboni.”
“But you wouldn’t help him?”
“I would have helped him. Hell, I would have done it on my own, but I couldn’t get rid of you long enough to do it.”
“So you had planned on framing this guy Marcell and then killing Gamboni. Then you had planned to let this informant run a Mafia family business afterward? Weren’t there other people in line to run the family?”
“Yes! And I had to tell this fucking idiot that I’d make sure that he’d be the one in charge after the deal was done. I even told him I’d take a cut of the profits, just to make him believe me.”
“What would you have done if he had given you the information you wanted?”
“I would have proved that Marcell was a killer and caused a reasonable suspicion and shown proof of motive for him to kill the Bennigan family. Then the jury would have seen that he was a horrible murderer and he would get the death penalty.”
“But he wasn’t a horrible murderer, Young … You are. What about the informant? What would you have done about him?”
“I would have acted like I had never met him and then I would have told Gamboni about his bodyguard’s plan to kill him. I don’t believe after hearing it from me that I would have ever heard from Albert again.”
“So what about after you were locked up? Would he know that the deal was off? Or that he was now on his own?”
“Nope. You and that fucking idiot Archer tricked me the day I was supposed to meet him again. He knew I was going to meet him and discuss the terms.”
“Speaking of Archer, why did he turn on you if he knew what you were up to, but never mention it to anyone else?”
“I don’t know … That’s been the hardest thing for me to figure out. Archer knew everything, from the murder to the informant and what the plan was after I was involved with Gamboni.”
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