Kill the Ones You Love

by Robert Scott

  Coady said there were two sides to every coin. He wanted to hear what Gabe had to say about all of this. “We’re not gonna get a dome light out or beat you with rubber hoses. That’s not what we do.”

  Troutner added, “You’re in custody. We gotta take care of some business first.” So then Coady read Gabe his Miranda rights, and Gabe said he understood them and wanted to keep talking, anyway.

  Coady then said, “What it sounds to us is you’ve had a bad time of it. You’ve had some pretty strange things happen in your life recently.”

  Gabe stated, “Yeah, for sure. It’s been a strange life altogether, to be honest with you. But what can you do?”

  Troutner added, “I know that Judy has a lot of respect for you, ’cause she really feels that you helped her out [with her medical condition]. And Doug said they don’t really understand how. All she knows is that she physically feels better.”

  Gabe responded, “She will always be that way. She’ll never go back to the way she was before.”

  Troutner said, “Yeah, I think she believes that too. I was talking to Doug and he said, ‘You know, I don’t understand it. I don’t, but it worked.’ It meant a lot to Judy too, because she’d been in chronic pain for so long. And then just to have it go poof—that’s pretty amazing.”

  Gabe replied it would be nice if everything could be that way.

  So Troutner added, “It has been a long trip, hasn’t it?” He might have meant from Oregon to Virginia. But Gabe took him to mean about his life. Gabe said, “It’s thirty-three years so far.”

  Coady said, “I think probably the last three weeks have probably been the hardest, though, wouldn’t they?”

  Gabe’s answer completely surprised them. He said, “No.”

  Coady replied, “No?”

  Gabe continued, “No. I mean, you know, you live every day and you’re grateful for each one. And the experiences you have at each point and each turn teach you something new about yourself, and the people around you, and the world you live in. Sometimes it rains and sometimes it’s sunny.”

  Coady said, “More often than not, there’s a reason for a man’s actions.”

  Gabe agreed that was true, and added, “I can tell you anything you want to know. I’m not gonna lie to you.”

  Troutner spoke up and said, “We heard secondhand that you were concerned about getting sick and—”

  Gabe broke in with, “We all get sick. I mean, people freak out and say, ‘I don’t wanna get sick from this. I don’t wanna get sick from that.’ We’re all going to die from getting sick from something. But, I mean, shit, you can be sick and then be fine the next day and—”

  Troutner jumped in and said, “Your family was getting sick.”

  Gabe saw where he was going with this. He replied, “Oh, the poison.” And then he added something very odd: “Well, I’m not worried about that sickness, because we don’t have it anymore.”

  Troutner was surprised by this comment as well, because the supposed motive for the killings was because Bob Kennelly and possibly even Robin were poisoning Gabe’s family. At least, that is what Gabe had been telling Jessica.

  Troutner said, “Um, you did what you had to do to protect your family. You got ’em out of the situation. You got ’em away from what was making them sick. Like any father would be expected to do.”

  Coady added, “You’re gonna do whatever you have to do to protect your kids, right?”

  Gabe responded, “I’ll tell you what I did. Where to start? You tell me.”

  Troutner replied, “We understand you had a rough childhood. I’m just telling you what your friends told us.”

  Gabe said, “Okay, my dad took me out in the ocean when I was about four years old. He dropped me into it and came back to the beach. I was aware that he had done that. And I passed out and blacked out and woke up in the water. So either I’m nuts or I remember that happening. But I don’t really feel like I’m crazy. I mean, I’ve been to psychiatrists and they say I’m a little intelligent. Dad dropped me off in the ocean and I walked back to shore, and Mom and Dad looked shocked that I came out, and I’m happy.”

  And then Gabe accused his half brother of beating him and sexually abusing him as a child—the same Jesse who had always taken his side and tried to protect him.

  Gabe said, “I remember when I was, like, six, he got the local black girl and forced me to have sex with her. Him and all his little friends. And, like, Mom, she says she loves me, but beats me with the wooden spoon and stuff. And I mean I’m not angry or bitter. I love them. I mean, when I describe my mother, she’s, like, the only reason I made it through my childhood somewhat decent. Though, I suppose, in these circumstances, that’s somewhat questionable.”

  And then Gabe went on a rant, without hardly drawing a breath. “Even as a young child, I learned to close my eyes and ask for help, and that’s why I’m alive.” Gabe seemed to be indicating that he asked for help from God. “That’s how I continue, and that’s how I grow. That’s how I learn things and can bless the people around me.

  “I know that Mom made more than just an attempt, and then she took off. And I think he’s dead (his father), and a sister I had never met called me and said she had his ashes and wanted me to be involved with that. But I told her no. I don’t want anything to do with it. I’ve never loved him, never knew him. It’s hard to talk about it.

  “When I was nineteen, I looked up and I realized I was making decisions with my life based on weaknesses versus faith. At nineteen, I decided I was done with weaknesses and fears. But I did love everybody. I didn’t want to hate anyone. And so, quite honestly, I turned to God and I asked him if this whole Jesus story and spirituality was true. And I got a resounding yes.

  “So it wasn’t, like, ‘You’re holy. You need to save the world.’ It was, like, ‘I love you, man. Come to me.’ Very humbly. And then I tried to forgive my dad. I made contact with him. He said, ‘Why don’t you come out to Oregon and spend some time with me?’” (Apparently, Danny Morris lived in Oregon at that point.) “You know, he hadn’t changed a lot. It’s hard to try and forgive someone who’s done stuff to you. And I let him go out of my life. He ain’t gonna change. I even invited him to my (Author’s note: Gabe mentioned some kind of event), and my mother had a reception at her place.

  “I know some special things. I went over to Australia on a mission. I learned some special things over there from beautiful people. Polynesians, Samoans, Aborigines.”

  Then his mind quickly went back to his mom. “She ended up being in a relationship with an individual named James Anstey. And she had a heinous relationship with him.” This was an odd comment. Gabe had spoken previously of James as the good father he never had. But now he seemed to be lashing out at everyone who had been close to him.

  Gabe went on to accuse James of all sorts of illegal activities, which were not true, and talked about the divorce. Then Gabe ranted about his mom supposedly giving children medications from a hospital, and it wasn’t clear if he was talking about himself and Jesse as children. This quickly changed into the subject of Bob Kennelly.

  Gabe said, “Boy, the hell that guy gave to her life. She didn’t have a clue. I’m pretty clued in. I try to pay real close attention. And we (Gabe, Jessica and Kalea) go over there and try to make a life with him. We try to make Mom happy. We try to bring energies and the knowledge that we have and healing, and love, consideration, prayers and music.

  “They got medical marijuana up there in Oregon, and they got a future and can just relax. Get off those crazy meds that are making you crazy. Mom is goin’ nuts. And I start overhearing conversations about how they want to hurt us, because I don’t sleep very much. I stay up. And I felt that something was wrong and I had to pay attention to what people were saying. And I caught Robert putting rat poison in food that night. So I purposefully drank in this food because I wanted him to see it wasn’t gonna affect us, because I was pretty certain Jessica and Kalea had gotten some.

 
“So I shared it with them, slept close to them, prayed for them and took it (the poison) out of them. I experienced it myself for me to die. I mean, he made a solid threat on our life. And it was a situation where I had an advantage and took it. And I have been a police officer before.

  “I have seen rape cases. I’ve seen beating cases. And I heard him (Bob) talking about a building with a nice little room for himself, which my mom never knew. I can put that on the table. Okay, I have to spend the rest of my life in prison so that my daughter can believe in her father. She saw me do these things. And I know she’s got a memory, because I had a memory from the age of four. And that’s what the world wants to do to individuals who can do these types of things.

  “I’m happy, okay. I mean, have I had a hard day? No. The world’s having a hard day. And when I’m sitting next to a cellmate and I talk to him and I discuss with him his life, I will love him just as much as I’ve loved my daughter, as I love my mom, as I love anyone else in the world. And we’ll see what happens because He’s the reason I’m here. So are you two. So I mean, there ain’t no complications. I ain’t gonna tell you a different story.”

  CHAPTER 23

  Gabe continued, “If you go through my past and you talk to people I’ve known, you go to Sydney, Australia, and talk to a number of families over there, they’re gonna tell you the same thing. But we don’t make paper out of it. You know what I’m saying? I don’t put a medal on my chest. I mean, that’s not what it’s about.

  “Like Michael Jackson, you know, doing crazy things. So, man, that’s it! That’s all there is to it. My motive? Protection of my family, because I’m not gonna wait for a judge to put some guy . . .” His mind went off on another angle. “Some guy, I believe in Bingham County, Idaho, raped his pregnant stepdaughter and been sent to some other county.” Gabe seemed to indicate that the person who raped her got off without any conviction.

  Troutner said those kinds of things were frustrating to a police officer.

  Gabe alleged that Bob Kennelly was about to rape Kalea. And then he said, “I’m not gonna let Kalea ever believe that at one point her dad would ever let anything like that happen to her. So if I have to die, if I have to go to jail, and have to spend the rest of my life in prison, I will do that for her, because she’s the most important thing I’ve ever had in my life. No matter who takes care of her, she’ll always know that she was loved.”

  Troutner said, “Well, she’s a beautiful, happy little girl.”

  Gabe continued, “She’ll always be. She’ll probably teach the individuals that get to take care of her a whole hell of a lot more than they’ll ever teach her.” Then he laughed.

  Troutner said, “Yeah, some souls just shine and affect people around them for their whole life. I can certainly understand why you made such a positive impression on Doug and Judy. I mean, you’re very well spoken. You’re obviously very intelligent. You have a sort of calm demeanor that just sorta brings my blood pressure down and—”

  Gabe did not let him finish. Instead, he said, “He’s an amazing Creator, gentlemen, and that’s the way He is. He is no angry individual who hates us all. You feel confident. You feel like everything is going to be just fine, and you feel like you wish that your kids would feel that way when they sit next to you. That everything is going to be all right.”

  Coady interrupted Gabe and said, “I think Detective Troutner and I, we’re not adversarial kinda guys. We’re more into conversations. We’re not here to be the bad guys.”

  Gabe agreed and replied, “I didn’t even believe that for a second. I truly believe you guys are here working to provide something for yourselves, for your own ambitions, for family. I mean, you’re doing a good job. There’s a lot of people out there, when I first started my career in law enforcement—I had a heart for seeing injustices. Shit, I’ve seen ’em my whole life. I think I poked my first dead body when I was seven. Oh, my gosh, it’s horrible! I didn’t even know what it was. I mean, you see that stuff and you realize we need the business of preventing it. We’re in the business of cleaning up after fucking addicts. Sorry for my language.”

  Troutner expounded on this code of conduct. “Um, you’re called to do this, because you want to help. He thinks you can help, so He calls you to this protection like a preacher or something. You do this service at your own peril, because you have to see these things. You do have to interact with that part of society. I mean, you put yourself at risk. . . .”

  Gabe interjected, “I think every man should be one. I think they should reach a certain age and they should realize that they’re the only ones that have the ability to use their strengths and their manipulations to take advantage of anybody.” Then Gabe’s following line of reasoning didn’t make a whole lot of sense. “And there should be a community where people, if they want to do that, they’re invited to leave. And if they voice it and they speak it and they show interest, then they’re told to leave. And if they act on it, they’re punished and not welcome back.”

  Gabe went on, “Because, I mean, shit, you touch my little girl, you’re probably gonna touch someone else’s little girl, and, shit, man, I read psychological books. I’ve sat down with psychiatrists for, like, twenty million hours talking to them. They’re the ones who go down to the state prisons and talk to people and ask, ‘Why did you do this and why did you do that?’”

  Troutner said, “That’s the thing, you know, especially the ones that touch kids—they don’t ever stop.”

  Gabe agreed and added, “I am not God’s sword here on Earth to save the universe. I’m someone who pays attention to what He wants, and He says, ‘I’m not going to let anything happen to [your] girl.’” Apparently, God was talking to Gabe by saying, “‘So get to work, son.’”

  Once again, Gabe quickly changed gears. “If someone around me is sick, and they do believe me, it will work. If someone wants to hurt anybody that I’m called to protect, I’m going to invite them not to do it. I’m going to say, ‘You best not do it.’ I’m going to scheme against someone. ‘Hey, man, I feel your heart. I see what you want. Is that what you want? You like little girls? You like women? Show me what you got in your head.’”

  Then as if he was talking to that person, Gabe said, “‘Let’s have a couple of drinks here. Let’s have ten. Because I don’t mind ten shots of gin. I can make it through that, no problem.’”

  Coady wanted to know if Gabe had confronted Bob Kennelly about something in this regard. Gabe said, “Yeah. He said, ‘I like porn.’ And when he got really, really drunk, and when he got really, really high, he talked about it. He mentioned how he did like looking at smaller women. He talked about how over in Russia, they know their place. And, you know, he’s sitting out there and bouncing around like all’s good. He had a wife that mysteriously died. Come on, now, she had cancer from what?”

  Troutner pushed Gabe on this. “So he’s confirming what you’re suspecting?”

  Gabe said, “Yes, but who do I tell? Not someone who’s going to give me eight months.”

  Troutner added, “So you weren’t going to wait for it to happen.”

  Gabe replied, “No, it’s not that. I’m not going to act until he makes a move, until I caught him putting poison in the food, until I catch him being physically active toward me.”

  And then as if talking to Bob, Gabe said, “‘Okay, you’re with my mother. I love her. You’re a king, man. You’re obviously a tough fella.’” And then that abruptly stopped, and Gabe said, “Okay, so here goes. Because the biggest charge against me is probably going to be homicide. Maybe two.”

  Coady jumped in and said, “So, how’d that night happen?”

  All Gabe did was sigh.

  Troutner took his turn. “You said he [Bob] made a move. But you had a position, an advantage?”

  Gabe responded,“Yes, I wanted to record his admission. And I didn’t have a recording device. But I had the ability for Jessie to hear it. So she could overhear it and be a solid witness. And usually he
kept a firearm with him. He had a concealed-weapons permit. He showed me more than one firearm he had in his home. And I knew that he thought that I was a threat, because I had showed him physically that he was not a threat to me. So oftentimes when men’s egos get checked . . .” Gabe’s thought ran out.

  “I had overheard both my mom and him talking about taking advantage of us. They discussed it, and considering I have a four-year-old girl, I was going to talk to him and make him admit it. I had Jessie sleeping with Kalea in bed, and then one of them would be asleep. And so I approached him and told them to take me very seriously. I said, ‘Please understand I’m here.’ He reached. He didn’t have a gun, but he reached. He reached back. I think he reached for what wasn’t there. But if you gentlemen, who are in a law enforcement position, and you’re talking to someone who thinks they’re gonna get you, and they reach, you’ve been trained to respond. And I did.”

  Coady asked, “So you had a gun with you at the time?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Troutner wondered, “Was it your gun or one of his guns?”

  “It was one of his guns. It was the HK. So, I mean, the rounds that were there were the rounds that were used. He made a move after I asked him not to.”

  Troutner asked, “Were you standing in front of him?”

  Gabe said, “No, I was not. I was on the balcony. If you had the drawing, it would make sense.”

  Coady said he would grab a piece of paper for Gabe to draw on. Meanwhile, Gabe told Troutner, “You’ve got an upstairs and there’s downstairs a little plaza.”

  Coady gave Gabe some paper and possibly a pencil. Then he asked Gabe, “You’re not gonna give us any trouble, are you?”

  Gabe responded, “Oh, gosh, hell no. I mean you know that.”

  “Okay, give me your handcuffs.”

  The handcuffs were removed and Gabe began drawing. “The house—there’s, like, a doorway right here. You’ve got a stairway that starts up here. You’ve got the hallway, and you’ve got a bedroom here, and you’ve got a bedroom there. Kitchen here. Doorway there.”