Meanwhile, back in the water, Curlee and another diver, who had joined in on the search, gave up on looking for the second duffel bag. They called it a day.
The following day, CSI Max Hunter picked up the duffel bag and its contents and shuttled them off to Sugar Land. He arrived at the police station and combed his way through the contents of the large canvas bag. The list of items discovered in the bag included:
one Black & Decker DustBuster
one can of KILZ latex primer
one plastic grocery bag
one baseball cap
one Sony Walkman, with headphones
one athletic shoe, size 9½
six latex gloves
one rubber mallet
one roll of clear plastic sheeting
one Mini Maglite
two Motorola Talkabout handheld radios
two Virgin cell phones
one metal chisel
one Smith & Wesson Lockback pocketknife, with a blade on each end
one cigarette pack cellophane wrapper
five rounds of Cor-Bon nine-millimeter ammunition
four Texas license plates
one expandable ASP tactical baton, similar to what police officers use
one Leatherman tool
five additional rounds of loose Cor-Bon ammunition
black nylon cord
one deteriorated shirt
nylon straps with metal buckles
nylon rope
clear plastic sheeting
one clear plastic water bottle
an undetermined amount of United States currency, which was severely deteriorated
The items discovered in the duffel bag were covered in a strange milky white substance that had since dried up. It was later determined that the substance was primer from the primer paint can.
As Hunter sifted through the items, he began to make sense of what was used in the commission of the murders. He assumed the chisel had been used to pry open Kevin Whitaker’s gun lockbox. The lab had already run tests on the lockbox and determined that a flat-head pry tool had been used. He was even able to run transfer paint tests taken from the safe to determine what brand of tool was used—it was a Dasco. When he looked at the tool from the bag, he noted that it was indeed a Dasco pry tool.
One cell phone that had been recovered was a Nokia, the same brand as Bart Whitaker’s, which was not found at the scene of the crime. The cell phone was later submitted to a company called Forensic Telecommunications Services to see if they could actually retrieve any phone call data from the microchip inside, even though it had been submerged in lake water for nearly two years.
The plastic water bottle still contained water inside and was sealed by a plastic twist cap. Hunter determined he would be able to send out the bottle for possible DNA analysis. They might be able to find out who drank from the bottle.
Hunter also made sure to submit the Black & Decker DustBuster hand vacuum to the Texas Department of Public Safety Lab for fiber analysis. The goal would be to locate various carpet fibers, possibly from the crime scene or the killer’s vehicle. Oftentimes murderers will vacuum out their car in hopes of getting rid of any evidence. Usually, trace amounts of fibers will remain. Hunter was also able to directly inspect Steven Champagne’s mother’s Camry, which had been delivered to the Sugar Land PD. Champagne’s mother had been asked to remove any personal items from the vehicle, to which she readily complied.
Hunter also processed the rubber mallet. It was a safe bet that the mallet was used, along with the chisel, to open up Kevin Whitaker’s gun lockbox.
Hunter also submitted the shirt to the lab for testing. Unfortunately, the clothing was too severely deteriorated to be of any use. He also submitted the shoe for DNA analysis, but it, too, had been underwater for too long, and was not useful for tracing any DNA.
Hunter’s focus of the examination centered on the backseat of the car. His belief was that some of the blood from any of the Whitakers might have ended up on the shooter, and subsequently had been transferred to the backseat. The first step in the process was to videotape the backseat by using a camera and an alternate light source, which allowed the investigator to scan visually for any potential clues. According to Hunter, the alternate light source was “a wavelength that allows you to see things that wouldn’t be readily available to the naked eye.” He also used a barrier filter, or colored blue light, to assist in the examination. While searching the backseat with the alternate light source, Hunter also employed a chemical agent known as fluorescein, which allowed him to check for finite and infinite traces of blood. He was able to discover traces of blood in the back of the Camry, on the floor carpet, as well as on the upholstery of the backseat. The samples were bagged and tagged and sent off to the lab for testing.
Hunter also took a control sample from Champagne’s mother’s Camry that consisted of a portion of the floor carpet from the car’s back. He wanted to check the carpet samples with the fiber samples located inside the DustBuster that had been recovered from the bottom of Lake Conroe. He removed carpet from one area where he expected to find evidence and another area where he did not expect to get anything. The samples were bagged and tagged and shipped off to the DPS lab for further inspection. The tests would reap huge rewards, as the DNA from the water bottle matched Chris Brashear’s, and the fiber matched the carpet in Bart’s Yukon, among other findings that would provide enough evidence for the prosecution of Bart Whitaker.
46
Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office
Richmond, Texas
Another behind-the-scenes figure played an important part in helping to shape the case of the Whitaker murders—and he did it with several bloodhounds.
Fort Bend County sheriff’s deputy Keith Pikett and his three scent-smelling bloodhounds—Quincy, Columbo, and Jag—appeared at the Whitaker murder scene that night.
It was apparent that the dogs had hit on a scent. Now, with the confession of Steven Champagne and the arrest of Chris Brashear, Pikett’s dogs would be put to the test to determine if the scent they discovered that night would match either one of the two young men.
In 1989, Pikett began working in the K-9 division with the bloodhounds. His job was to help train them to follow invisible scents not discernible to the human olfactory senses. Pikett’s involvement in dog searches began at home with his own personal pet, Samantha, a bloodhound. As he recalled, he and his wife “were just playing with the dogs. We had no intention of doing anything like looking for lost people or doing police work.” Over time, however, Pikett could discern that Samantha was not your average scent hound. She became so good that Pikett developed “a guilt complex and figured we had to work the dog to find lost kids or Alzheimer’s patients.” Pikett decided to take Samantha to the American Kennel Club (AKC) so she would receive the proper training to become a bloodhound scent dog. According to their website, the American Kennel Club is dedicated to upholding the integrity of its Registry, promoting the sport of purebred dogs and breeding for type and function. Founded in 1884, the AKC and its affiliated organizations advocate for the purebred dog as a family companion, advance canine health and well-being, work to protect the rights of all dog owners and promote responsible dog ownership. The objective of the organization is to “advance the study, breeding, exhibiting, running and maintenance of purebred dogs.”
Pikett entered Samantha in a training competition and she bested the other dogs. After her training was complete, Pikett and his wife decided they needed to volunteer her services to help find lost people.
The Piketts were able to find a group of trainers known as The Old Timers, which specialized in bloodhounds. Apparently, these groups were difficult to locate because bloodhounds are not commonly used in law enforcement. Samantha spent over 175 hours in training to perfect her skills as a search dog. Eventually she became schooled well enough to go out and help locate missing persons. She was the first of many dogs that Pikett had trained. He would eventually go
on to train them himself, as well as teach others how to train dogs. His services were used statewide, and he was also called up by the FBI to help in training their scent dogs.
Pikett is very fond of his bloodhounds. “They have the best nose of any breed of dog,” he has bragged about his canine companions. “Their olfactory sensing mechanism is twenty-six times that of a human.” He added that the bloodhounds are able to follow a scent trail even when no fingerprint evidence or DNA has been located.
Pikett talked about training new bloodhounds to follow a scent trail. “I get them at eight weeks old, and it takes about seven to eight months to train one to start to go out in the street, work real cases, and verify him with another dog that’s already working well.” He offered up an explanation as to how the dog training works. “If we were to trail to a house, with a young, inexperienced dog, I would run the trail again with an experienced dog, just to verify that the new dog is doing things right. I want them to just be trailing scents and nothing else, that way they gain more experience.”
Once a bloodhound is trained on trailing scents, the dog graduates to more complex levels of scent detection, which include scent pad lineups and human being lineups.
Pikett and his pooches’ services have been widely used across Texas, from Colorado County to Liberty County to Montgomery County, to cities such as Austin, San Antonio, Fort Worth, and Dallas, to towns such as Wharton and Denton. His services have also been used as far as North Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Virginia, Kansas, and Montana.
Pikett’s pups have been involved in some of the country’s highest-profile cases including the Texas Railroad Killer, serial murders committed by Angel Maturino Resendiz, aka Rafael Resendez-Ramirez, between 1997 and 1999. They also worked the Atlanta Olympic site bombing, which later was determined to be caused by an abortion-clinic-bombing domestic terrorist, Eric Rudolph. There were several other important cases in which the dogs played a major role in discovering the perpetrators.
The night of the Whitaker massacre, Pikett was called out to the scene. Upon arrival, he sussed out the situation and immediately set his dogs on to any scents they could find. They received a walk-through of the crime scene by one of the deputies. One of the first pieces of evidence Pikett spotted was the Glock 17 pistol, near the back door of the Whitaker house. Pikett halted his dogs, took out a two-by-two-inch sterile gauze pad from his evidence kit, removed it from its individual wrapping, and then placed it on the can. He purposefully did not wipe the gun down with the gauze pad, in case there were any fingerprints on the weapon. Instead, he merely laid the pad on the gun for ten seconds, removed it, and placed it in a plastic Ziploc bag. He then labeled the bag and stowed it away for safekeeping.
Pikett next went into the master bedroom on the first floor, where he proceeded to take samples from the open dresser drawers, closet drawers, and from the pillowcase that lay on the floor. He then made his way over to Kevin’s room, where he took samples from some more open drawers, as well as a gun lockbox.
In addition to the samples Pikett gathered, Max Hunter also secured a gauze swab of the black glove found in the front yard next to Bart’s SUV.
Once the scent samples were collected, Pikett went outside to begin his work with Quincy, Columbo, and Jag. Realistically, only one dog would be necessary at a crime scene. Pikett, however, liked to be extra cautious, so he brought three dogs to have backups. Pikett liked to be “very sure of what my dog is saying. I use another dog as backup to ensure that the first dog is doing what he’s supposed to do.”
The first dog up was Quincy. Pikett had the dog smell the scent pad used for the Glock. The sheriff started off near the back door of the Whitakers’ home, because it was readily apparent that the attacker had fled through the back door and through the backyard. Once Quincy sniffed the scented gauze pad, he immediately went through the back door, turned left, and then made his way over to the driveway. The dog then made a beeline for Bart’s Yukon, which was parked out in the street in front of the home.
Next up was Columbo. This time, Pikett used a scent pad that had been taken from the pillow and pillowcase found in Kent and Tricia Whitaker’s bedroom. Columbo took off on almost the exact same scent trail as Quincy—directly toward Bart’s Yukon.
Pikett later described this type of behavior as very unusual. He also said of his own dogs that they were very “arrogant” and that “the last thing they would do is something the other dog did.” In other words, for both Quincy and Columbo to scent their respective trails back to Bart’s Yukon made it very clear that whoever had touched the Glock and/or the pillow and pillowcase went back to Bart’s vehicle.
The third dog up was Jag. He received the scent pad from the drawers in the master bedroom. Pikett had swabbed the gauze pad on as many as ten open drawers, making sure to wipe the corners and underneath the handles to ensure scents were taken from the person or persons who had opened the drawers. Once Jag got a whiff of the pad, he took off on the trail. Not surprisingly, Jag also ended up at Bart’s Yukon.
Pikett’s immediate conclusion from the dogs was that whoever had touched the various items had been inside the Yukon parked in the street in front of the Whitaker home. At the time, he had no idea who that might be, much less who even owned the vehicle.
Less than one month later, on January 9, 2004, Pikett brought his dogs in for a “scent pad lineup,” which involved the animals getting a scent from a scent pad and then attempting to sniff out the potential perpetrator. Scents are taken from individuals—whether they be suspects or decoys not associated with the crime in any way—and placed on one of six pylons, which are spread out, about twenty feet apart from one another. In this particular case, scent pads were taken from Chris Brashear and Steven Champagne, and were placed on pylons labeled #4 and #5, respectively.
The first dog up was Columbo, who was then given the scent pad from the Glock. After swiftly getting a whiff, the bloodhound took off and headed directly toward pylon #4, which had Chris Brashear’s scent pad on it.
The second lineup involved Quincy, who was given the scent pad from the pillow and pillowcase found in the Whitakers’ master bedroom. Again, Brashear and Champagne’s scents were included in the lineup. As with Columbo on the first lineup, Quincy also hit on pylon #4, which again contained Chris Brashear’s scent pad.
The third lineup involved Quincy, and was from the bedroom drawers. Once again, the dog hit on Chris Brashear’s scent pad. Quincy also handled a fourth scent that covered another drawer and also the gun lockbox. Again, Chris Brashear.
The fifth scent was done by Columbo for the black glove. It also matched Chris Brashear’s scent pad. Another glove scent was tested for Quincy, and he, too, hit on Brashear.
Sum total: five scents, two dogs, all Chris Brashear matches. It would become apparent to Pikett, based on the work of his bloodhounds, that “Chris Brashear touched the items in that house” and that “his scent was on the gun, the drawers, the pillowcase, the lockbox drawers upstairs, and the black glove.”
47
January 30, 2006
Fort Bend County Courthouse
Richmond, Texas
Fort Bend County DA John Healey announced to the press that his office would seek the death penalty for Bart Whitaker for the murders of his mother and brother. “The facts and the circumstances surrounding the murder of two members of the Whitaker family merit the citizenry of Fort Bend County having the opportunity to consider exacting the most severe penalty.” It would be the first death penalty case to pass through the Fort Bend County Courthouse doors since April 2003, when Steve Charles McKinney was convicted of killing three people, including a five-year-old girl. McKinney did not receive a death sentence, however, but rather a life sentence.
First Assistant District Attorney Fred Felcman, a boisterous sort, with a shock of white hair and a corresponding walrus moustache to boot, informed the court of the district attorney’s decision. Felcman would be the lead prosecutor against Bart Whitaker.
>
Kent Whitaker, on the other hand, was mortified by the announcement. He was furious because he and his family had practically begged and pleaded with the prosecution not to sentence Bart to the execution chamber. “A little over two years ago, I lost my wife and my son, and today I found out the state is going to try and take the life of my only other son,” Kent spoke before a throng of reporters outside the courthouse. “Tricia would not want this. Neither would Kevin, and those of us who are closest to them don’t want it, either.” Kent concluded his public statement by saying, “If the state is successful, the last living member of my family will be put to death by the state.”
It was a conundrum for the prosecution: how to get the death penalty for a man whose only surviving victim did not want him to be executed. The prosecution team knew they would be walking a precarious tightrope before a jury potentially sympathetic to the defendant.
Savage Son Page 20