CSI Benson then took photographs of the scene, the deceased, the wallet, truck contents and the shoe print’s path. Multiple castings were made of some nearby tire tread prints and the large tennis shoe prints. The shoe prints led eastward, from the east edge of Highway 395, to the Sequoia tree near the body. Then the shoe prints went back westerly to the edge of the highway where they stopped.
There was no way to tell if a vehicle had been parked along the highway. It was a possibility the person wearing the big shoes got out of a vehicle and then back into the same vehicle, maybe parked alongside the grassy edge of the road. The highway was about thirty feet from where the body was found.
The scene was remarkedly clean of trash due to the light wind blowing from the south on this morning. Several other deputies continued their ground search in the local area. A deputy impounded the deceased man’s truck for further investigation.
Hours later back in the small town of Bishop the County Medical Examiner, Old Doctor Otto Mitcham, examined the body. He determined the deceased man had been dead for approximately four to eight hours while in the outside environment. Because it was late October, winter was starting to come to the high mountains; it was now turning cold at the four-thousand-foot elevation. The temperature had been in the mid-forties the night before the body was found. Due to the cold weather, the exact time of death was difficult to establish.
The gunshot wound appeared to be of a close contact nature. Doc’s report stated the bullet entered the left side of the victim’s head and exited the right side. It had gone completely through the victim’s head and was never located. The bullet had evidently continued traveling somewhere into the surrounding wilderness area.
The body was checked for gunshot residue on either hand and showed negative results. Later an autopsy indicated the victim’s lungs showed advanced stages of lung disease.
Doc told Deputy Short, “Mr. Morris was living on borrowed time, as-they-say, when one is more likely than not, going to die from a known serious affliction in the very near future.”
In the deceased man’s pant pocket was a motel room key, tagged number eight, for the High Mountain Motel in Independence. Deputy Short contacted the motel owner, Ms. Edie Nutt.
He asked her, “Who is the occupant with the number eight room key I found on the body at the Big Pine Park.” Ms. Nutt said.” A Mr. Randy Morris had checked into the motel the previous Friday afternoon. I gave him the key to room number eight and he paid for a three day stay with a Visa credit card at the time.”
She then said, “Mr. Morris had asked about a sporting goods store or shoe store; if there was one in town as he might need some tennis shoes for his son. I told him about the Mountain Outdoor Supply store a few blocks away.”
Deputy Short went into the rented room and checked it out but found nothing of significance to help in the investigation. The room contained an older flip phone, a rather beat up Dell lap top computer, some maps, and blank note pads. The computer had a label-maker type plastic strip on the top with the name of R. Morris. Those few items located were taken back to the Sheriff’s Department.
Deputy Short returned to the Independence office with no new additional information. Weeks went by with nothing for deputies to follow up on. The Toyota truck contained no additional evidence, fingerprints or clues. Deputies found no one to interview and minimal evidence of any kind. There was no gun, no cartridges and no bullet located around the scene or in the deceased man’s head.
Contact with the victim’s family was made by an Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy in Dana Point. At the address Short provided, the deputy contacted a Mrs. Betty Morris. The deputy informed her that a Mr. Randy Morris had been found dead from a bullet wound; and it appeared to be a robbery. After a short time to compose herself she confirmed that Randy was her husband. She had the deputy call her sister, who lived nearby, to come over and stay with her.
Mrs. Morris told the Orange County Deputy, “Randy, was an outdoorsman; a freelance writer and he liked to go hiking in the High Sierras. He had left the previous Friday for a trip to the Bristlecone Pine Forest. He left with four hundred dollars in cash, his credit cards, food and clothing for the cold weather. He planned to stay in a motel on this trip. I have no idea who could have killed Randy and I don’t know about his other plans on his trip.”
Mrs. Morris stated, “Randy planned to leave on Thursday but was delayed as new twin bed mattresses were being delivered to the house. I thought he had ordered two mattresses, but only one was delivered. He had stayed home on Thursday to meet the delivery man. Before he left on his trip Friday morning, the delivery man and Randy unwrapped and set up the new mattress for my bed. Randy was very frugal and he always paid attention to small details, probably as a result of his Navy career days as a storekeeper.”
Mrs. Morris then said, “I spend a lot of time in a wheel chair due to aggravated back problems from a car accident. Randy makes trips alone to the High Sierras for research, taking photographs and to do site inspections for travel articles he occasionally writes for submission to travel magazines.”
The Orange County Deputy asked Mrs. Morris,” Was Randy right-handed or left-handed?”
Mrs. Morris replied, “He’s always been right-handed, and he walks with a cane because he has a weak right leg.” Mrs. Morris went on to say, “Randy was a part-time employee at the local Home Supply store, one of a big home improvement chain. He worked in the hardware section selling bolts, nuts, screws, ropes, chain, cables and all types of tie down materials. He also operated the key cutting machine. He had retired after twenty-four years of service in the U. S. Navy as a Chief Storekeeper. We had traveled a lot with Randy’s Navy assignments.”
The Orange County Deputy made notes and faxed all the information he received from Mrs. Morris to Inyo County Deputy Short. Mr. Morris body was later released by the Medical Examiner, to be transferred to Orange County. Mrs. Morris would later send her nephew to Independence to get Mr. Morris Toyota truck and personal belongings.
Around six months after the crime was discovered, Deputy Short made a follow-up call to Mrs. Morris in Dana Point. He wanted to see if she had any additional information the Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy may have missed. From his discussion with Mrs. Morris, he learned Randy Morris, a veteran, had been buried in the Riverside National Cemetery. His Navy life insurance had totaled two hundred thousand dollars. His wife had received a pay-out in that amount for Randy’s untimely death.
Mrs. Morris told Short,” I received fifty thousand dollars through the California State Victims of Crimes Fund.” Deputy Short learned Mrs. Morris had paid off the mortgage balance on their small duplex. She now lived on income from Social Security, Randy’s Navy survivor’s pension and a tenant’s rent from the second small unit in the duplex. She had no children, just one sister who lived nearby.
Mrs. Morris had stated, “I’m unable to work anywhere outside my home due to my frequent back pain issues.” Deputy Short made notes in the file of the additional information he obtained from Mrs. Morris. The body of Mr. Morris was found by the road crew workers just before noon on a Sunday in October. No one was observed in the area. No evidence other than some very large size tennis shoe footprints and a few tire tread prints were at the scene. Mr. Morris’ wife shed no additional information on her husband having any health issues, that she knew about. She said he had no problems at work or at home and that she knew of no one wanting to take his life.
Deputy Short reviewed the evidence and found little to go on. It appeared to be a robbery with minimal evidence available to do any follow-up work. The medical examiner said the gunshot wound was most likely from a nine-millimeter or a thirty-eight-caliber weapon. No shell casing or bullet was located to confirm the size of the weapon.
Deputies frequently checked around the area for the next few weeks but could not locate anyone who knew anything about the crime. The Randy Morris murder case went cold for weeks, then months and sadly for many years.
Now Deputy Short, the initial investigating deputy, went on to perform other assignments including patrol duty. Keeping the peace around Inyo County was a relatively simple job. The real work came in tracking down the frequent culprits that were hell-bent on stealing things not locked down, from the many cabins in the area. Deputy Short had to sort through a pile of reports concerning burglaries or just plain old everyday thefts of items from properties in the back country.
The next few years just flew by and Deputy Short decided to retire and move away. Just prior to his retirement he was promoted to Detective, which increased his status and his pay a little. The new position for the department had recently been authorized by the County Supervisors. Sheriff Baker promoted Deputy Short to the newly created position, just weeks before Short retired.
Deputy Short had worked many cases in the county; but the only case he still often thought about was the unsolved Randy Morris murder. He regretted he had not been able to solve the case before retiring. The murder case had been discussed with other deputies on numerous occasions. The case cried out to be solved, but no such luck; it would lay in the file cabinet for years.
CHAPTER III
A CASE GOES COLD
This case went on to become the longest unsolved murder case in Inyo County history. It had been unsolved for ten years as no one ever came forward with additional information about the murder, or the victim, Mr. Randy Morris.
One early fall morning Vern and Kathy Adams were on a trip along the Eastern Sierra Mountains south of Mammoth Lake, the well-known ski resort area. The couple lived closer to the coast in the town of Gilroy, the Garlic Capital of California. Both worked in the garlic processing industry; Vern as a plant supervisor and Kathy was an office secretary.
They made frequent trips in their Jeep to explore the Eastern Sierra Mountains. Vern and Kathy liked the stark multi-colored appearance of the area coupled with the history of the early inhabitants. It was like stepping back in time when visiting the small towns in the Owens Valley.
On this week-long vacation a day was spent visiting and taking lots of photographs in Bodie. It is an old Ghost Town State Park located in Mono County, south of Bridgeport.
Later on, north of Bishop, the town famous for Mule Days on Memorial Day weekend, the couple stopped to visit the Law’s Railroad Museum. They would spend the night in Bishop after visiting the well-known local Schat’s Bakery for dinner.
The next morning Vern and Kathy went east from Big Pine on Highway 168 to visit the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. After the forest they would visit the Eastern Sierra Historical Museum in Independence and spend the night in town. The next day farther south along Highway 395, their plan was to visit Camp Manzanar, the Japanese WW II Internment Camp.
Vern wanted to spend the night in the town of Lone Pine. He planned to see the rugged Alabama Hills, where numerous old western cowboy movies had been filmed in past years. From there they would go east into Death Valley National Park before driving back home to Gilroy through California’s central valley.
After driving back from the Bristlecone Pine Forest Vern stopped their Jeep along Highway 395 at the intersection with Highway 168. In a small campground and picnic area near the Sequoia tree, Vern set out a folding chair beside the tree branches. He then placed their camp stove on the picnic table.
After taking pictures and having lunch, they planned to go into Independence and visit the small County Museum. Kathy walked around and began picking up some pine cones. Someone had left a small pile of them near a trash can and she planned to use them later for holiday decorations.
Vern told Kathy, “You need to pack those cones in plastic bags or the Jeep will smell like pine cones for the remainder of our trip.”
Kathy replied,” I’m already ahead of you and I did place them in plastic bags.” The small campground at the highway’s intersection was vacant because the weather was becoming colder. Most vacationers were already back at work. Vern and Kathy had worked through the annual garlic harvest in Gilroy and normally took their vacation late in the fall. With no children, school schedules were not an issue for them.
Vern placed a clean pot to warm the chili on the propane camp stove he had placed on the table, for Kathy to prepare lunch.
Kathy said,” Oh good, now I can open the can of chili and pour it into the pot to be warmed with two hot dogs.” Vern quickly told her,” You better throw a third hot dog in the pot and make that two for me. I’m a bit hungry.” Kathy got out two plates and eating utensils for their meal and she placed them on the table. They had purchased chili, potato chips, hot dogs, buns, grated cheese and salsa in Bishop. Their lunch today would be chili dogs, potato chips, and green tea. Dessert would be a few cookies. The chili and hot dogs were left in the pot, with the lid on, to be warmed a bit later.
Kathy walked a few feet away to look at the mountains to the west and take pictures of the Sequoia tree they had parked near. They both decided to walk to the restroom building over in the small campground. They stayed there for a few minutes looking about after using the facility.
Both Vern and Kathy walked back to the picnic table where they washed their hands with water from a water jug in the Jeep. Vern took a seat on the folding chair he had previously placed near the table. He then opened a bag of potato chips and took two cold tea drinks from their cooler.
Kathy told Vern, “I will start the stove to warm our chili and hot dogs.”
Vern looked at the chili pot on the stove. He saw the lid was now off the pot and upside down on the table.
He asked Kathy,” Have you been in the chili pot, the lid is off and it’s on the table?” Vern then noticed something dark sticking up in the pot. He lifted the object out and realized it was the butt-end of a black and dark green color steel hand gun.
Vern said,” Well now, …. will you take a look at this?” In his hand he held a gun. He then placed it on a paper towel and opened the cylinder. He saw a brass bullet casing in one chamber; the other four chambers were empty. Vern then wiped the chili away from the revolver and placed it in a plastic bag. They both looked at each other and the revolver in amazement.
Kathy asked, “Vern, …. what is that and why was it in our chili pot?” Vern told Kathy,” It’s a gun. Did someone drive by on the road and stop to dump this thing into our chili pot; where the hell did it come from?”
Both Vern and Kathy were away from the table for a few minutes at the restroom and cars could be heard driving by on the highway. Maybe someone had stopped at the site but they couldn’t be certain.
Now their lunch would be just potato chips, cookies, and iced tea. They could get something more to eat in Independence as that would be their next stop. The chili and hot dogs were placed in a trash can. Both Vern and Kathy still wondered what was going on and where the gun had come from. After their short lunch all the items were put away.
Vern drove the Jeep to Independence where they went to the Inyo County Sheriff’s Office. He turned the revolver over to a deputy working the front counter. Vern explained the story of how the gun came into their possession. The couple left the gun and their personal contact information with the deputy. Their next stop was to get a sandwich of some type and later visit the Museum in town.
As the couple were eating lunch in town Kathy told Vern, “We can continue as we planned to go see Manzanar before dark. Then we can spend the night in Lone Pine and head to Death Valley tomorrow.”
Vern replied, “Good, …. I’m glad we can see some of Death Valley before we start back home to Gilroy later in the week. I have been wanting to go there for a long time. We could spend a week there alone as the valley is so big it is hard to see much of it in a few days. No sense cutting this trip short, just because we found an old gun. One morning, not long ago, a fellow in the donut shop in Hollister told me a lot about Death Valley.”
Vern then started telling Kathy a story on what he had learned from the guy in the donut shop. He said, “The guy told me there is an annual
, week long, Encampment held in the valley every November. It is put on by a group called The Death Valley ‘49ers. It all got started in 1949 to commemorate a group of people who got stranded, and then later rescued, while crossing through the valley in 1849. They were part of a wagon-train that broke away from the main group, heading to the gold fields farther west. They all thought they had found a short-cut but it didn’t work out that way.”
Kathy pointed at Vern’s face and said, “Take a break from your story and wipe that small bit of tuna off your moustache.” Vern wiped his handle-bar moustache and continued, “We should plan to attend the shindig and see what it’s all about. There is a big art show, gold panning, dancing, and lots of singing and other campfire entertainment all week. Sounds like it could be fun. We could take the R V and stay there in the campground at Furnace Creek.”
“In past years they have had a demonstration of a 20 Mule Team pulling a set of the three original big blue Borax wagons. A guy from the Bishop area drives the long team. The big oversized wagons were specifically built for the U.S. Borax Company; two for hauling Borax and one for water. They hauled Borax about one hundred and sixty miles, from Death Valley to the railroad connection in Mojave. The slow trip took about ten days each way.”
Vern continued, “I remember seeing the old TV show called Death Valley Days and the wagons were displayed at the beginning of the show. One set of the three original wagons is now on display in Furnace Creek and one at the Borax Museum in Boron.”
Kathy then said, “You sure know a lot about those Borax wagons, and you have never seen them? Guess we will have to take the R V and go there in November. When we get home, I will look up the Death Valley ‘49ers on the computer and see what it is all about.”
Mammoth Highway's Big Pine Murder Page 2