We Thought We Knew You

by M. William Phelps

  Please note: this phytochemical and/or its byproducts are not tested on humans or animals. We do not do resale. We do not intend for any research or development to be used therapeutically or diagnostically.

  Rosa responded two hours later. She explained that ArtChemicals needed a signature to proceed. In addition, the letter of intent could not be pasted inside the body of an e-mail. It needed to be on company letterhead, and, as she’d explained once already, signed by a physician and faxed separately.

  Two days later, the letter arrived at ArtChemicals on Chiro Family Care letterhead with Dr. William Yoder and Dr. Mary Yoder’s names at the top of the letter next to the company logo, which was identical to the Chiropractic Family Care logo. A note at the top indicated that the fax was “intended for ArtChemicals (Attn: Rosa) and if the receiver obtained the fax in error, destroy this copy and contact office above . . .”

  The letter faxed to Rosa included two signatures: Adam Yoder, Accounts Receivable Manager, with the Mr. Adam Yoder 1990 Gmail next to the name; and then Dr. Mary Yoder. The tax ID and business ID were included, along with a W-9 for the business, Chiro Family Care. Mary’s signature was dated January 14, 2014. The business ID and W-9 numbers were identical to Chiropractic Family Care.

  From ArtChemicals’ end, it appeared Mary Yoder had signed off on ordering the colchicine. It was now ready to be shipped to Chiro Family Care.

  Mary Yoder had, purportedly, signed for a toxin that would soon be used to kill her.

  42

  MARY YODER’S DEATH INVESTIGATION was not a complicated mass of erroneous facts and confusing details. It was not burdened by dead ends or rabbit holes. Once a competent investigator dug in and looked closely into how Mary died, paying close attention to the digital paper trail, answers presented themselves.

  Detective Mark VanNamee was not even supposed to be involved. A colleague and good friend who sat near VanNamee in the squad room should have taken the call from Sharon Mills. But that investigator’s shift ended at 4:30 p.m., so when Sharon’s call came in at about four-fifteen, VanNamee and his colleague looked at each other. With a competitive, friendly sigh, VanNamee agreed to take the call.

  “Sometimes a call comes in and you’re on the phone for ten seconds,” VanNamee recalled. “Other times, it’s an hour. Sometimes you take the call, sometimes your colleague does.”

  Lieutenant Nelson was locked on one key element of the case: How did someone get hold of the colchicine, if Mary had not been poisoned accidentally? Colchicine is a prescription medication. It’s carefully and closely managed, the OCSO learned. It is a controlled substance.

  “We knew that colchicine could come from the autumn crocus flower,” VanNamee said. That plant, with its beautiful and intoxicating purple-and-white six-petaled flowers, produced the toxin. “So you have to be certain it’s not an accidental death.”

  Just as VanNamee started working the case, the ME and OCSO received a letter that changed everything. In late November 2015, someone was injecting himself/herself into the investigation, pointing the OCSO directly to Mary Yoder’s killer.

  “That changed everything,” VanNamee said later.

  The anonymous letter began by encouraging investigators looking into Mary Yoder’s death to forward the letter to any acting investigators working on the case. The second paragraph said all there was to say about its intent:

  If the toxin found in her was colchicine, Adam Yoder, her son, is responsible. He told me he did it and moreover he told me how and where he put the rest of the toxin.

  The next paragraph explained that the writer thought it was “odd” that Adam had driven back from Long Island on the day of Mary’s death, arriving in town at 6:30 a.m.

  [It was] weird he’d drive down to Long Island and then go back North in the middle of the night, especially since he’d been so standoffish and mean to [Mary]. [Adam] functioned better by not seeing or talking to her . . . He felt she was unfair and he resented her, she should have helped him more.

  The writer had seen Adam “a few days” before sending the letter and he had appeared “agitated and said he was the reason for her death.” Adam wished he “could take it back.”

  The letter then outlined how Adam ordered the toxin online and put it in one of his mother’s “vitamins when he was over” at his parents’ house.

  Several paragraphs laid out a case for why Adam Yoder was his mother’s killer. He wanted more attention from Mary and felt he deserved it. He was visibly irritated that people “kept talking about his mom.” He expected to be rewarded financially after her death, but had not been. When he realized he was not going to receive any money, he “regretted” what he had done and “became hysterical.”

  According to the letter, Adam told the writer that the bottle of colchicine was under the front passenger seat of his Jeep. He was going to keep it there until he figured out where to dispose of its leftover content. The writer described it as a “small glass bottle.”

  The person wished to remain anonymous out of fear. Being so close to Adam, the writer felt he was “capable of repeating this type of act.”

  Ending the letter, the writer related facts regarding the timeline of Mary’s illness and how long she had been sick before passing away, before listing several of her symptoms. The writer once again drove home the financial implications:

  Adam’s monetary concerns are suspect because he is struggling financially and supported somewhat by his parents’ assistance.

  The letter concluded by pointing out that colchicine is a “very specific name” and the toxin that was “found in Mary Yoder was not released.”

  VanNamee finished reading the letter and put it down on his desk. He sat back, took a deep breath, and stared at his computer. It was time to call Adam and ask him to come into the OCSO for an interview.

  43

  A PERSON OF INTEREST, contrary to how derogatory the law enforcement phrase has become in the world of true crime, is a rather unassuming, precise euphemism for a witness and/or suspect. Internally, it is used by investigators to describe a person closely linked to the victim, or someone who may be connected closely to the victim by work, an intimate relationship, family, friend, spouse, and so on. “Person of interest” (POI) doesn’t necessarily mean the individual is suspected of a crime. It may at some point, but in the initial stages of any death/murder investigation, POI could just as well mean “person we need to speak to.”

  As VanNamee later explained, Bill Yoder would be classified as a POI because he was married to the victim. After that anonymous letter arrived, however, the main person that the OCSO needed to speak to was Bill and Mary’s son, Adam.

  The anonymous letter pointed directly to Adam as his mother’s killer, forcing the case into a new direction. After the letter arrived, VanNamee made a few calls. He decided to have Adam come into the OCSO for questioning. Before that, the detective requested a subpoena from the judge for E-ZPass records related to Mary, Bill, and Adam near the time of Mary’s death.

  E-ZPass is a white plastic apparatus about the size and shape of a deck of cards stuck to a vehicle’s windshield near the rearview mirror, allowing subscribers to drive through toll lanes and across bridges without having to stop and pay. Yet, for an investigator, it can be akin to a GPS tracking device. With a look at those records, VanNamee could subpoena CCTV video from the toll booths/ bridges that his witnesses used, in order to see if anything stood out. Additionally, the videos/records would provide insight into the comings and goings of POIs and their vehicles, not to mention dates and times.

  VanNamee was now specifically interested in Adam Yoder’s 1991 Jeep Wrangler, which the letter writer described in detail. As VanNamee waited on the calling end of a ringing phone, he wrote down Katie’s name as someone he needed to also speak with. As a POI herself, she had been with Mary, working, on the day Mary became ill. She had also dated Adam, VanNamee found out, on and off for years. By far, the main reason for talking to Katie was for the OCSO to gathe
r intel into Adam Yoder’s life.

  “Hello?”

  “Adam Yoder?” VanNamee said.

  “Yes?”

  “Investigator Mark VanNamee, Oneida County Sheriff’s Office investigator. Do you have a minute to talk?”

  “Of course. Sure. What can I do for you?”

  “We’re investigating your mother’s death and we’re hoping you could come in and speak with us.”

  “Absolutely,” Adam said.

  After hanging up, VanNamee thought about the call. Adam was eager and responsive. He was not unfriendly or alarmed by the call at all. What’s more, he agreed to come into the OCSO—without delay.

  The investigation into Mary’s death was driven by leads. Currently VanNamee didn’t have a manner of death signed off by the medical examiner. Was it homicide? Accidental? Suicide? Any of those could be a possibility. Experienced detectives like VanNamee, who have seen nearly everything, focus on leads and data. Each piece—however significant—dictates where the investigation goes next, along with the folks that investigators speak to. There’s no endgame in mind; it is a delicate, open-ended process. A good cop needs to be mindful and accepting of wherever the evidence leads.

  The time frame surrounding when Mary ingested the colchicine was crucial. According to the US National Library of Medicine, National Institutes of Health (USNLMNIH), colchicine poisoning is difficult to detect by patient examination alone, if the examiners don’t know what they are looking for. Regarding how long it takes for death to occur after a lethal dose is ingested, the available data are a bit vague.

  There are three sequential, and usually overlapping, phases in colchicine poisoning: 1) Ten to twenty-four hours after ingestion, it presents as a “gastrointestinal phase mimicking gastroenteritis”; 2) Twenty-four hours to a week after ingestion, it includes “multi-organ dysfunction.”

  “Death results from rapidly progressive multi-organ failure and sepsis,” the USNLMNIH research continues. “Delayed presentation, pre-existing renal or liver impairment are associated with poor prognosis.”

  The third phase explains how a patient can bounce back after being poisoned: Within a few weeks of ingestion, there is generally “a complete recovery barring complications of the acute illness.”

  A high fatality rate in this same study was reported “after acute ingestions exceeding 0.5 milligrams.” The conclusion researchers came to, in what was a forty-four-year review, between 1966 and 2010, was how imperative it was “to recognize its features as it is associated with a high mortality rate when missed.”4

  Lack of knowledge (no fault of the doctors) and lack of proper treatment, based on not having enough research available, were contributing factors to Mary’s death. Though it was clear by then that with the amount of colchicine she had ingested, Mary Yoder was dead on arrival. However, it was only through the work of a skilled, observant, and attentive medical examiner’s office and Poison Control Center doctor that Mary’s cause of death was even discovered.

  44

  BY JANUARY 15, 2015, the colchicine had not been delivered to Chiro/Chiropractic Family Care. So Mr. Adam Yoder 1990 Gmail sent out a terse note: “Is the order all set?”

  Rosa answered an hour later that the order was all set and would ship shortly. She said she’d e-mail a tracking number.

  Katie and Adam started communicating fairly regularly during this time. Their texts were amiable, but marked with a consistent sarcasm from Adam.

  “Tea?” Katie texted on January 17, at 1:01 p.m.

  “Why?” Adam asked. He was now guarded and suspicious where Katie’s friendly gestures were concerned.

  “Because. You’re my friend. I like to hear you talk and have some tea and learn about games and math. Once a week or every other.” Katie said it made her feel better. She was able “to breathe and relax and think and talk.”

  “I’m a friend with a complex [past] and relationship.”

  “Yeah. That’s fine. It happens.”

  “You have other friends you can game with now,” Adam said. “Which is also fine and happens.”

  They left it there.

  On January 28, 2015, Rosa Vargas sent a tracking number and link to trace the shipment of colchicine to “Adam Yoder.” The toxin was on its way to Chiro/Chiropractic Family Care.

  Into early February 2015, Adam was feeling the past creep up on his emotions. He’d gone back inside his head to reanalyze the relationship. He was unable to let go of her sleeping with his friend. He couldn’t get beyond it. She’d betrayed him in the most hurtful, spiteful way. On February 2, Adam texted how much it still hurt to even think about that betrayal.

  “Do you regret it, Katie?” he asked, before adding, “I’ve always been the type of person that wants to know the truth no matter how much it hurts.”

  Katie’s response didn’t address the topic. She answered that Adam was “a constant in my life—you were everything. I don’t think you know how much you meant and you’re still important.”

  “You chose [my friend] and I’ll never understand why. I’m not going to get angry or yell. I’m just asking.”

  Katie shot back a text suggesting the word “chose” had stirred something within her. She’d chosen Adam. “I loved you every day. I watched you fall apart and I was helpless . . . I’m sorry.”

  “That’s not what I asked you.”

  “I think about it. I think about you. If life would’ve gone differently. I already know my regrets.” She paused briefly. Then: “Where we would be?” She concluded her thought with four additional texts, all of which explained how Adam could call anytime and she would be there for him. “If you feel alone.”

  “I won’t. Thanks. I asked you one question. That’s all I needed . . . However, if you need me, I’m still here, just as I’ve always been.”

  “Thank you, Adam.”

  Later, near 8:00 p.m., Katie sent Adam a text saying she felt depressed. She was thinking about the relationship, their earlier conversation, and how great they had been together at times.

  “Minus the days you were too busy fucking [my friend], of course,” Adam replied. “I do not want to hear it.”

  “I told you I’d love you . . . Just know I love you, okay? You’re loved and fine and okay.”

  Adam sensed a different motive for the text. Maybe Katie was going to harm herself? She’d done this before: texted feelings of despair and threats of self-harm before going silent. It was pure manipulation. She knew which of Adam’s buttons to push and, more important, when. Hinting she might commit suicide would unquestionably produce a reaction from him.

  “Katie. Please don’t do this. Please don’t disappear and scare me. Please. Katie?”

  She did not respond.

  “Please. If you love me, then don’t do this to me again. You hurting yourself will not make me feel better. I don’t know if that’s what’s going on, but please keep talking to me. Can you tell me you’ll be okay?”

  Katie replied with a request: “You want to just relax and take it easy tonight? Maybe just read or watch neat videos . . .”

  Katie texted a few more times. She was unable to ensnare Adam, as she had in the past. It was clear to her that Adam had definitely changed. He was no longer a piece of clay she could shape with manipulation.

  45

  CLINICAL TOXICOLOGIST JEANNA MARRAFFA had been employed with Upstate Medical University, Upstate New York Poison Center, since 2001. She had worked her way up to assistant director. Marraffa specialized in pharmacology. She’d earned a doctorate before going into clinical toxicology, with her focus on poisons.

  After viewing slides from Mary’s autopsy, knowing all the tests for poisons had come back negative, Dr. Marraffa made the recommendation that changed the entire course of the OCSO’s investigation. Speaking to Dr. Clark and the ME’s office, Marraffa realized there was a colchicine level in Mary’s system.

  What tipped it off for Marraffa was the “chemotherapy evidence on autopsy.” Mary had not been
taking chemotherapy treatment. Yet, all the symptoms of poisoning were clear, Marraffa realized. It was only a matter of figuring out which poison had killed her.

  Colchicine poisoning works in a rather simple manner, Marraffa explained—specifically, if you know what you’re actually looking for. Cells in the body have a natural process of replication within the DNA. Too much colchicine cuts into that biological process (evolution) and interferes with the body’s normal process of functioning and rebuilding. Colchicine stops white blood cells causing inflammation from getting to the areas in the body those cells need to—the reason doctors prescribe the toxin for gout. As much as it can help gout sufferers, however, there’s a danger zone when taking colchicine as a treatment. It’s one of those tricky medications, with a narrow therapeutic index, a short range between effectiveness and toxicity.

  Another major symptom of colchicine poisoning is cardiac toxin, leading to unexplained cardiac arrest—i.e., a colchicine overdose.

  Like in Mary’s case.

  Dr. Marraffa’s findings were vital within the OCSO’s investigation. Looking at the reports Dr. Marraffa had filed, it was clear to VanNamee that Mary had actually rebounded after a period in the ER. She was feeling better. Talking. Asking for things. Getting up. Walking. Then, the following morning, after a fall the previous night, Mary’s condition radically declined.

  This led to a new question: Had Mary’s killer been able to feed her more colchicine while she was at the hospital? It was something to look into. But also, considering someone was accusing Adam Yoder of poisoning his mother, what happened on the day Mary became so violently ill and then died a day later?

  VanNamee needed to construct a timeline of the events and see what, if anything, stood out.