by Robert Scott
17
COVER PLAN
Lane Youmans wanted help in putting together a plan on how to question David Gerard. He once again contacted Bob Gebo, a former Seattle police detective who had been trained at the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit, and now worked for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office in the HITS Unit. Gebo put Lane in touch with Special Agent Faye Greenley, who worked in the BSU, and was assigned to Seattle’s FBI Field Unit. Greenley and Gebo agreed to meet Lane at the attorney general’s office in Seattle and discuss a game plan on how best to approach David Gerard.
On March 30, 2001, Sergeant Dave Pimentel, Detective Tony Catlow and Lane Youmans drove to downtown Seattle and met with Greenley and Gebo. George Fox, who was with HITS, and a few other investigators were also there. Most of these were former Homicide Division detectives, and they had years of experience in the field. Lane unpacked all the case files on Gerard and eight-by-ten crime scene photos, and began describing the various cases possibly connected to Gerard and his background.
After his initial presentation Lane asked the others what would be the best way to approach Gerard, especially on the possible house fire murders of Patricia McDonnell and Patty, Joshua and Matt Rodriguez. He wondered if Gerard should be approached the way Seattle Fire Department (SFD) investigators had done with serial arsonist Paul Kellor. Those investigators had prepared by arranging numerous empty boxes with Kellor’s name written on them, lined up in the interview room. There were also photographic blow-ups of Kellor displayed on the walls of the hallway leading into the interview room. All of it was a ruse to make Kellor think they had piles of documents and evidence already collected against him. In the end it worked. Kellor not only confessed to the arsons they suspected him of committing, but many more that they didn’t even know about.
The case with Gerard would be somewhat different, however. Lane remarked, “Paul Kellor had a great deal of respect for the fire department, and he had wanted to become a fireman himself. David Gerard, on the other hand, hated the police, and had no use for what they represented. After hearing all this, the group was in agreement that a low-key approach with Gerard was best. They said that I needed to somehow gain his confidence, sympathize with him, suggest that the women who died got what they deserved. Just get him talking.”
Lane Youmans was certain of one thing—if David Gerard ever did start talking, he probably wouldn’t stop. Lane believed it would all come pouring out like a tidal wave. However, Lane also believed that Gerard would be clever in all of this. He would talk, and talk, and never confess to anything. Lane said, “He would probably make up some lame story and stick with it. That’s what he always did when cornered. No matter how outrageous the story, he would stick to it, despite how ludicrous it sounded.”
The two-hour meeting did help Lane formulate a plan, where Gerard would be removed from prison and be sent down to the sheriff’s office in Montesano. Lane was somewhat concerned that Undersheriff Rick Scott would be the one who would want to question David Gerard. Scott had questioned several homicide suspects in the past. In fact, he had questioned one man who had gone to his estranged wife’s home late at night and shot the wife’s boyfriend through the bedroom door with a shotgun. The suspect fled in his car down a county road, and his vehicle broke down a quarter mile from the crime scene. The man then hid his shotgun in tall grass near the road, next to his car. He was at a nearby house, trying to get help in fixing his car, when the first deputy arrived. Taken in for questioning, the man broke down and confessed under Rick Scott’s technique. Scott’s style was to start out quietly, becoming more and more animated and frustrated as time went on, then ended up yelling at the suspect. In this case it had worked, and the killer confessed.
Lane, however, said, “I was sure this technique would not work with David Gerard. He would shut down and not say anything. It was imperative that I convince Scott to avoid that technique at all cost. His aggressive nature would end the interview. Even though we had DNA evidence on the Carol Leighton case, prosecutor Steward Menefee wanted a confession as well. While other departments in other areas got convictions with just physical evidence, our prosecutor always wanted more, so as to have an overwhelming case.”
Lane Youmans once again used a cover plan, saying he was doing research on domestic violence, and wanted David Gerard’s take on it. Lane phoned Corydon Whalley, who was an investigator at the Stafford Creek Corrections Center, west of Aberdeen, and told Whalley that he needed to question Gerard at the Clallam Bay state prison. Whalley gave Lane the name of an investigator at Clallam Bay, and a meeting was arranged with Gerard.
On August 9, 2001, Lane drove three hours up to Forks, where he and his band members had played their memorable show so many years before at the Antlers Inn, and then on to the small town of Clallam Bay. When he arrived there, Lane locked all his weapons in his Ford Expedition, then contacted the guards at the main office. He secured his cell phone, pager, belt badge, pocketknife, keys and everything metal in a small locker. He then walked through the metal detector, carrying only his notebook, pen and credentials.
Clallam Bay prison could have hardly been in a more isolated area. On the very northwestern tip of the Olympic Peninsula, Vancouver Island in Canada was right across the straits. The prison was officially known as Clallam Bay Corrections Center and it had opened in 1985. By the time Gerard was housed there, it was a “close-custody” prison. This meant it was a medium-security prison and above by that point.
Escorted to a room in the visiting center, Lane spotted David Gerard sitting on a metal bench down the hall; a quizzical look was on David’s face. Gerard was wearing a white jumpsuit and looking much thinner than the last time Lane had seen him. Lane introduced himself and stuck out his hand. Gerard reluctantly took Lane’s hand in one of his and shook it weakly.
They went into an interview room and sat down on metal chairs on opposite sides of a long metal table. Lane began by telling Gerard about working on domestic violence cases, and wanting to know why these things occurred. Especially why someone would abuse a person whom, he said, he loved. Gerard rarely made any eye contact with Lane, and mostly stared at the table in front of him. When he did look at Lane, it was as if he were looking right through him. Lane tried being friendly, and spoke in a conversational pleasant manner, seeing if he could gain Gerard’s trust.
Lane tried talking to Gerard about the assault on Frankie Cochran. Lane said that he wanted to know what happened, what suddenly made him snap. Lane also said that he wanted to know what Gerard had done with the hammer. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, Gerard perked up and said that he was appealing the sentence on that case. Gerard added that he’d gotten word from another inmate in the prison that he had a good chance of overturning that sentence, because it was too harsh. For that reason Gerard claimed he didn’t want to say anything about the Frankie Cochran case.
Lane was surprised by this statement, since Gerard had initially gone so willingly into the plea deal. Moving in a different direction, Lane began talking about Gerard’s early years and his family. Gerard, in return, gave mostly one-word answers to questions, and would not elaborate. Gerard did say that he left home as a teenager and took care of himself from that point on. He added that his dad had left their home when David was young, and their relationship was strained. Other than that revelation, Gerard offered very little about his past.
After their meeting was over, Lane recalled, “I did accomplish what I had set out to do. I wanted a glimpse of who I was up against. Gerard struck me as someone who was not very bright, but he was streetwise. He seemed kind of happy to be in prison. His was in a single-person cell, he had a job working in the prison mess hall, and he didn’t like to interact with people very much.” In fact, it seemed as if David Gerard had found his niche in life. In prison parlance “three hots and a cot” is what he now had. In other words, three hot meals per day and a place to sleep at night. All of it furnished by the state of Washington.
What wa
s interesting to Lane was what he learned from a prison investigator. He discovered that one of the few people Gerard had any contact with was a man named Gary Davis. Davis was a Grays Harbor man who, in 1999, built a bomb for a meth dealer named Steven Pink. Davis then set the bomb in the carport of Pink’s parole officer, Tom Perrine. The bomb was sitting on the ground next to Perrine’s truck and was covered with trash. When he was on his way to work, Perrine spotted the trash near his vehicle and scooped it up to throw it into a trash can. At that point the bomb detonated, blowing nails and shrapnel into Perrine’s legs, and blowing off Perrine’s index finger. Perrine nearly bled to death before he was rescued.
Steven Pink, Gary Davis and Davis’s girlfriend were later convicted and sent to prison. Lane learned that it was Gary Davis who had convinced Gerard that he could somehow get his sentence overturned. In fact, Davis seemed to be Gerard’s only friend at the state prison. Lane also learned that none of Gerard’s family had tried visiting him in prison, although his sister, Kathy, had tried, but David had turned down her request.
Lane told Gerard that the sheriff’s office still had some of his effects, and that if he wanted, Lane could turn those over to Kathy. Gerard said that it was okay if he did so. This was a good opportunity for Lane to talk to Kathy about David, something he’d been wanting to do for a while.
Lane’s last words to Gerard that day were “I’ll see you later.” Gerard responded, “Okay,” without much enthusiasm, and then was led back down the hallway to his cell without another word.
After the interview was over, Lane gathered up his belongings and went and sat in his vehicle. He recalled, “I sat there, staring out the windshield at the surrounding forest. I had tried very hard to maintain my composure while talking to Gerard. I didn’t want to betray my true feelings. I knew that Gerard was a murderer, but he had no idea at that point that I knew his secret. All he knew was that I was aware of his assaulting Frankie Cochran, and that’s all. Sitting alone in my vehicle, I could now relax. I sat there listening to my breath, my mind racing.”
David Gerard’s comments that he was going to try and overturn his “harsh sentence” were more than just words. In November 2001, he followed through on his words by writing out in several documents an Affidavit of Defendant in Support of Motion to Vacate Judgment and Sentence. It’s possible he had legal help in writing these documents, since the language was very precise and legalistic. In one document Gerard claimed that he was advised by his attorney Brett Ballew to plead guilty to attempted first-degree murder. Gerard stated that he got intense pressure to make the plea. According to David, his lawyer had told him that he could receive the death penalty if he didn’t make a plea deal. This section must have concerned Frankie if she died of her injuries at some point.
Gerard went on to write, I feel that my case was not properly investigated and that my witnesses were not interviewed. I had alibi witnesses and there were no doubt other witnesses who were at the scene of the alleged assault of the victim Ms. Cochran. My attorney failed to interview or consider them as potential witnesses.
Gerard went on to say that he had not been properly informed what his sentence might be for signing the agreement. And he added that he thought the final sentence was far outside the bounds of being reasonable for the crime.
In a second document Gerard noted that he signed the plea agreement with the understanding that he would receive 249 months in prison, but had instead received the exceptional sentence of 420 months. He had appealed this sentence in the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division II, but they had upheld the conviction on May 23, 2000. For that reason he was now withdrawing his guilty plea and wanted the judgment and sentence vacated. Once again in his document Gerard cited, Ineffective assistance of counsel. Gerard wrote that he not only got bad advice, but that he was rushed through the process and pressured to plead guilty. Gerard cited State vs. Jury for lack of preparation by counsel, and State vs. Visistacion in failing to contact witnesses for the defense.
In a third document Gerard stated that since he was incarcerated in Clallam Bay prison, he had restricted use of telephone privileges and could not do investigative work on his own behalf. For that reason he wanted a professional attorney to help him in his motion to overturn his sentence. Gerard also wrote: This litigant lacks an education to enable him to research and understand rules of the courts, state, federal and common law to the degree and effectiveness that would help him handle this case now at the bar.
Taking all of this into account, Judge McCauley appointed James Foley, of Olympia, Washington, to be David Gerard’s new attorney. Gerard’s legal battle in this case would play out over the next few years. Meanwhile, Lane Youmans kept up his efforts to have David Gerard convicted for one or more murders, especially those of Elaine McCollum, Carol Leighton or Patty Rodriguez.
18
SHOWDOWN AT STAFFORD CREEK
Lane Youmans’s case files on David Gerard were growing by the day, and his reports now ran into the hundreds of pages. Because so much had been gathered by this point, and there was the DNA evidence connected to Carol Leighton, Lane Youmans and the other detectives had some alternatives now. One was discussed in a formal GHSO meeting to see if David Gerard would confess and make some kind of plea deal, as he had done in the Frankie Cochran case.
By trying to set up some kind of meeting with Gerard, GHSO could either seek a superior court order to have David Gerard transferred to the Stafford Creek Corrections Center, close to Aberdeen, or they could do it where he would have to come to the sheriff’s office. Speaking with him at Stafford Creek would take less hurdles through the system, but by going the sheriff’s office route, Gerard could stay under sheriff’s office control and not state control.
Eventually it was decided to bring Gerard down to Stafford Creek, but Lane didn’t like the setup. He would have preferred to have Gerard in the sheriff’s lockup, “on their turf. There were just too many variables with having him go to Stafford Creek. It would be the prison system who would set up the conference and how it would go down, not GHSO.”
Another thing that bothered Lane was that he was sure by now they had plenty of physical and circumstantial evidence tying David Gerard to the murders of Elaine McCollum and Carol Leighton. But County Prosecutor Steward Menefee still wanted more. Menefee wanted an outright confession from Gerard, and Lane was sure that was going to be a very difficult task, if not impossible. All past indications were that Gerard just clammed up, even when faced with overwhelming evidence against him. Either that or he made up some outrageous alibi and stuck with it—no matter how ludicrous it was.
Undersheriff Rick Scott contacted Corydon Whalley, the investigator at Stafford Creek, and Gerard was transferred to that facility. Eventually Undersheriff Scott, Sergeant Pimentel and Lane Youmans made their way to Stafford Creek to question Gerard. Once again, their guns, keys and all metal objects were taken before entering the interview room. All they carried with them were some notes, photos of Elaine and Carol, along with some photos of local prostitutes.
Lane, Rick Scott and Sergeant Pimentel met Gerard in the Intensive Unit of the facility, because of the seriousness of his crime. The Intensive Unit was the most secure area at Stafford Creek. Like at Clallam Bay, Lane and Scott and Pimentel escorted Gerard into a room that only had a metal table and metal chairs. Gerard was wearing white coveralls, ankle cuffs, belly chain and handcuffs. The guards walked Gerard over to a metal box in the corner and handcuffed him there, with a chain that ran down to a secure spot on the floor. The guards left, standing just outside in the hallway. Lane, Scott, Pimentel and Whalley stayed in the room with Gerard.
Right from the start, Lane Youmans felt that the whole situation was bad. He wanted another low-key interview with Gerard, one where Gerard would feel more comfortable and not set upon. Lane wondered, “With this setup, how could he feel comfortable with us? How could we read his body language? He was tied up, hand and foot. It was ridiculous. At least Whalley agreed t
o have Gerard’s handcuffs removed so that he could hold the photos we’d brought along. But I was very displeased with the way things were handled. I think the other detectives from GHSO were too. It was stacking the cards against us, right off the bat.”
Undersheriff Scott conducted the interview, and Sergeant Pimentel assisted. Lane turned away from Gerard and took notes. He felt that two pairs of eyes staring at Gerard were more than enough. Gerard did not want to talk to Pimentel or Lane, but things began to change when Rick Scott started talking to Gerard. Scott had grown up on a dairy farm and knew all about the way they operated. In fact, both Scott and Gerard knew many of the same dairy farmers in the east county area. Scott and Gerard got down to mostly small talk about farms and dairies. While this was going on, Gerard was relaxed and seemed to be enjoying the conversation about places he had worked and areas that he knew. As much as any law enforcement officer had ever done, Rick Scott had some rapport with David Gerard.
Then Scott told Gerard why they were there, and Gerard’s mood began to change immediately. Scott told Gerard they were looking into some old homicides concerning women who had hung out around downtown Aberdeen. These women had often gone to taverns in downtown Aberdeen and across the river in south Aberdeen as well. In fact, the women’s bodies had been found on the other side of the river from downtown Aberdeen.
Scott said to David that they knew that Gerard had frequented those taverns as well, and probably knew many of the same people that these women had known. Scott then showed photos of Elaine McCollum and Carol Leighton, along with prostitutes who worked in the downtown area. Then he asked Gerard if he’d ever seen any of these women before.