by Robert Scott
Colonel Roger Maher, who ran the U.S. Air Force ROTC program on the Brigham Young University campus, was next on the stand. Maher said that Gabe was “bright, positive, optimistic and personable.” Maher even spoke of the dinner he and his wife had over at Gabe’s house with Jessica, and that it had been a very pleasant evening. On direct, Maher said that Gabe gave as a reason for leaving the ROTC program: “‘I have to protect my mother.’ Out of respect for Gabriel, I didn’t pursue that.”
On cross-examination, Colonel Maher agreed that Gabe got some money for being in the ROTC program. DA Frasier wanted to know what happened if a person who was in the U.S. Air Force ROTC program dropped out of it before completing the program. Maher replied, “They are obligated to repay the money.” Asked if Gabe had repaid the money, Maher said he didn’t know.
Frasier then asked about when could a person in the ROTC expect to be assigned a slot in the air force. Maher said it was after the second year. That was a year that Gabe did not attend in ROTC.
So Frasier asked, “Was he ever given an assignment such as going to pilot school?”
Maher replied, “We had a pretty good record at BYU for those who wanted to go to pilot school. Probably about a ninety-eight percent placement ratio. So if he had the desire and was physically qualified, and academically qualified, he would have had about a ninety-eight percent chance of going there.”
“If he told other people that he was a pilot, was he telling the truth?”
“No, sir.”
“Did he ever tell you why he had to protect his mother?”
“It was not part of the conversation.”
“If he told other people he wanted out of the program because he didn’t want Jessica to be a military wife, that would be different that what he told you?”
“Yes, sir.”
“When was the last time you had any contact with the defendant?”
“Some years after Gabriel left the program at BYU, I received a phone call at home. He was in Idaho, looking for a letter of reference. He had applied for a position with the police force.”
Maher added that he was pleased to recommend Gabe for the sheriff’s deputy position. Maher was sure that Gabe would do well there in his duties.
Gabe’s grandmother Lynn Walsh was very emotional during direct testimony by Fahy. She started with Gabe’s early life and the trauma of the divorce between Gabe’s father and mother, and Gabe’s being taken by Danny Morris. She also told of what she thought was very disturbing behavior on Danny’s part in regard to his son.
Lynn was even more emotional when questioned by DA Frasier during cross-examination, often crying as she answered his questions. Frasier began by asking, “You’re very concerned for your grandson, aren’t you?”
She said that she was; so he next asked, “In fact, you came to see me in my office about what to do about this, didn’t you?” She replied that she had.
Frasier continued by referencing how Lynn had said that at the time Gabe joined the ROTC in Utah, he was an honest person. Then Frasier asked if she had heard personally from Gabe that he’d actually obtained a pilot’s position in the air force. She responded that she hadn’t, but Jessica often called her during that period to say what was happening with Gabe.
Frasier next asked her about what she knew of Gabe’s time as a police officer in Idaho. Lynn answered, “He called me when he was accepted. I told him I was concerned about it, but he told me not to worry. He told me he thought he could help people there and that was his objective.”
“Did he tell you why he left the sheriff’s office?”
Lynn said that he had not.
“Were you aware of Gabriel and Jessica separating?”
“Yes.”
“Did Gabriel tell you why?”
“I didn’t talk to him during that period.”
“Why not?”
“Because he didn’t contact me, and I didn’t know where he was.”
Moving on to when Gabriel came to see her weeks before the shootings, Frasier wanted to know if he’d actually gone there with his wife and child.
Lynn said that he had, and that Gabe, Jessica and Kalea had spent five days at her house. She added that she was upset about the state Gabe was in. “I cried and prayed and I worried.”
Frasier asked if she thought that Gabe might hurt someone. She replied that she didn’t think that.
“Did you attempt to get ahold of a police officer to express your concern?”
“No.”
“Did you try to get ahold of a mental-health counselor?”
“No.”
Frasier wondered what Gabe had said about his supposed “final mission” that he had to complete overseas.
Lynn said that Gabe insisted he was going to China to finish some kind of secret mission. “He had to go there to get some information on people that other people needed to know about.”
Frasier looked at a report from when Lynn had been questioned by an investigator. Frasier then said, “I’m looking at the defense investigator’s report, and you told her, ‘He said he was in investigative work. He said I wouldn’t understand it, but it went way, way back.’”
Lynn responded, “I told her what Gabe told me.”
Frasier asked, “What would you like to see happen to Gabriel Morris?”
Lynn replied, “I would like to see Gabriel restored to good health, to be the person he really is.”
“What do you think should happen to him, if, in fact, he killed your daughter?”
That possibility was so overwhelming that Lynn responded, “I can’t believe he killed my daughter. Gabriel Morris would not kill my daughter.”
Frasier could have continued on this track, since all the evidence and Gabe’s alleged confession pointed to him having killed his mother, Lynn’s daughter. Perhaps, though, Frasier could see how emotional Lynn already was, and moved on.
Instead, he asked, “You’ve been corresponding with the defendant ever since he was incarcerated, right?” She said that was so.
“In his letters that he writes to you, can you describe, please, the tone he uses with you?”
Lynn replied, “Gabriel and I have a loving, trusting, grandmother/grandson relationship.”
“In the letters that you have received from the defendant, do you see any difference [in] what he says now than what you remember Gabriel being and saying several years ago?”
“Yes, I would say that Gabriel’s letters do reflect a different mentality.”
Frasier wanted to know in what way, so she said, “Some of it . . .” Then there was a long pause before she stated, “I don’t know how to answer that.”
“Does he seem to love you?”
Lynn answered yes.
“Does he express concern for others?”
Lynn said he did.
“Does he say the same type of things he said to you before this incident occurred?”
Lynn agreed that was correct.
“Well, what’s the difference?”
There was another long pause before Lynn replied, “Probably, it’s like a lapse. There’s been a lapse in his life that he’s not even aware of.”
“Isn’t it true you see the same old Gabe in the letters?”
Lynn responded, “I’ve seen progress in that way.”
Redirect brought Fahy out to say, “Counsel asked you if you thought about calling the police. Previously, had you seen any violent behavior by Gabe?”
Lynn answered that she hadn’t.
“Did you have any reason to believe he would hurt anybody, though he was acting irrationally?”
Lynn said that she didn’t.
So Fahy asked if she did have concerns in that area, would she have contacted authorities?
Lynn replied, “Of course.”
Fahy brought up the fact that she had told a defense investigator at some point that she had seen “Gabe start to crack.”
Lynn added in testimony, “When he was in the sheriff’s office a
nd insurance business, it was inconsistent with his personality. That’s when he stopped communicating with me.”
Fahy then asked, “And you said that he started to become the old Gabe after a year and a half of a stable environment in jail. Is that correct?”
Lynn said that was so.
“When you say you don’t believe Gabe Morris killed your daughter, do you believe he would not be capable of doing that?”
His grandmother responded, “I do not believe he would be capable of doing that.”
CHAPTER 40
On the stand, Jesse McCoy was very emotional and could barely hold back his tears. It was quite evident how much he still loved his little brother, even though he knew without a doubt that Gabe had killed their mom.
Fahy had Jesse go back through his life with Gabe, all the way from Gabe’s birth through his early years and into adulthood. The testimony went clear up to Gabe being arrested in Virginia.
Then Fahy asked, “You’re in a double bind here, Mr. McCoy. Did you love your mother very much?”
Jesse could hardly get the words out through his crying. He finally managed to say, “Yes.”
“Do you still love Gabe?”
“Yes.”
“What would you like to see happen to your brother?”
“I would want Gabriel to receive help. I want to see him get through this.”
DA Frasier had a difficult task ahead of him. He had to elicit vital information from Gabe’s half brother without antagonizing him or seeming to be badgering him. And the first question was particularly sensitive.
Frasier said, “Mr. McCoy, in some of the psychiatric reports we received on this case, I’m going to ask you about some allegations. Gabriel accused you of sexually abusing him. Is that true?”
Jesse said that it was not true.
Frasier continued with this thread. “Yesterday we listened to a recording of your brother, where he claimed he was forced by you to have sex when he was six years old with a black girl. Is that true?”
Jesse replied, “A six year old can’t have sex. There might have been fondling involved, but Gabriel took it to an extreme. I can understand him saying that.”
“Did you force him to have sex?”
“As much as a young person can force another to have sex.” (Author’s note: Jesse was only twelve years old at the time of the incident.) “I guess I might have provoked him to do that.”
Frasier wanted to know if Jesse had denied this allegation to other people, and Jesse responded that he didn’t think so.
Frasier continued, “Well, on September 9, 2010, you were interviewed by an investigator. She specifically related, ‘I asked McCoy if he forced Gabriel to have sex with a female in the neighborhood.’ And you denied this and asked if Gabriel gave any other details. He alleged that you forced him to have sex with a black female while you watched.”
Jesse responded to this by saying, “In the way she explained it to me, I didn’t recall the incident happening. But the situation was seen differently by the two of us [Gabe and Jesse] and I explained that to her.”
Moving on, Frasier wanted to know about what Gabe had told Jesse about supposedly being left in the ocean by his parents to drown. Jesse retold the story about the ocean that Gabe had claimed. He added, “I do not believe my mother would have ever let that happen.”
The next issue concerned Gabe’s drug use as a teenager, and Jesse said that he knew Gabe smoked marijuana in high school, but not to extremes. And Gabe did not drink alcohol or do hard drugs.
Frasier countered this by saying that Jesse told one investigator that he thought Gabe had tried LSD. Jesse agreed he had told the investigator that, but he had heard it secondhand, and had never witnessed Gabe actually doing that.
Frasier moved on to the time that Jesse and his wife, and Gabe and his wife, shared a house in Provo, Utah. Frasier asked what Gabe was doing in terms of marijuana use at that time. Jesse replied, “Nothing until the very, very end. It was about the time he felt anguish about going into the air force. There was some marijuana use, but nothing like in 2009 and 2010.”
Frasier referred back to a report where Jesse had told an investigator that Gabe would take an occasional drink in Provo, but “was using marijuana constantly.”
Jesse replied, “I recall saying that toward the end there in that house, he would do that. And he would have a beer or two with me.”
Frasier next wanted to know if Jessica Morris knew about any of this at the time, or if Gabe was hiding it from her. Jesse said that Gabe was hiding it from her. Frasier then asked how Gabe felt about doing that, and Jesse said, “He felt bad about it.”
Following that line, Frasier looked into a report where Jesse had said to an investigator, “He justified it as, it would be better not to tell her and for her not to know.” Jesse said he didn’t recall those exact words, but he had said something along that line.
Frasier then said, “You knew that drinking and smoking marijuana was against the Mormon religion. Did you ask your brother why he was doing this?”
Jesse answered that he had not, and it was Jesse who asked Gabe to have a beer with him on occasion.
Once again, Frasier looked into an investigator’s report. Jesse had told the investigator that he had asked Gabe how he could justify smoking marijuana with his Mormon faith.
Jesse replied that now he did not recall being asked that question. Jesse added that he [Jesse] never did care whether Gabe drank alcohol or smoked some marijuana because he [Jesse] did not believe in the tenets of the Mormon faith.
Frasier then wanted to know if Gabe ever told Jesse why he was smoking marijuana. Jesse said that he did, and Gabe’s reason was “It makes me relax.”
Frasier next got to a point where Jesse had told the investigator that Gabe was actually a huge proponent of marijuana use.
Jesse said that was so and added, “He believed that if everyone in the world smoked it, the world would be a better place.”
Frasier went on with the report that Jesse had told the same investigator that Gabe would use marijuana to “self-medicate” and had done so for years. Jesse said that was incorrect, that Gabe had not smoked marijuana in the Provo house until the very end of the time he lived there.
In another part of the interview, Frasier noted that Jesse had told the investigator that Gabe claimed that he’d been offered a pilot’s position in the air force, along with a good friend named Joshua. Gabe had also told Jesse that he turned the slot down because “God told me not to take it.”
Jesse agreed that was basically true and Gabe had turned it down because he “didn’t want to be a killer of human beings.”
Frasier replied, “You tried to talk him into taking the slot, didn’t you?”
Jesse agreed that he had and added, “I thought it was a good opportunity for him, and he was making a mistake by letting it go.”
“That he could have had other positions other than a combat pilot?”
“Sure.”
“Did he ever tell you that he was leaving the ROTC program because he didn’t want Jessica to be a military wife?”
Jesse said that he did not recall any conversation like that.
Frasier then asked, “Do you feel you have to be his guardian?”
“I felt that way my whole life. But at this moment, I feel that ‘guardian’ is the wrong word. I feel hurt for him.”
“Do you feel that it’s your duty to help him?”
“I feel that my mother would have wanted me to help him.”
Frasier wanted to know if Gabe had issues about his mother abandoning him when she left Danny Morris.
Jesse said, “In the very, very last phone call I got from him, yes, he talked about abandonment. He couldn’t believe that Mom and I left him with Danny. He was very emotional on the phone call. This was just days before the shooting.”
Frasier next asked about the way Gabe felt about Robert Kennelly and the living arrangement of his mother with Kennelly. Jesse
said he didn’t know how Gabe felt about it.
“Did the defendant ever express any concerns for the safety of your mother, because she was living with Mr. Kennelly?”
Jesse replied that he didn’t, but he knew that Gabe did not like Kennelly.
“Did he ever tell you that he thought Mr. Kennelly was poisoning him?”
Jesse said that he didn’t hear about this until Gabe spoke on the phone to him from Virginia. This was right after Gabe’s arrest.
“Did he tell you that he thought Mr. Kennelly was going to sexually abuse Kalea?”
Jesse didn’t remember any conversation like that.
Frasier wanted to know what Gabe had told him on the phone call just before the murders.
Jesse responded, “It was about what he was doing. He said things were okay and he had a big job coming up. Someone was going to fly out from overseas and he was going to meet this person in a hotel. There was going to be some good money in it, and things were looking good. He went on and on, just rambling. He also brought up how angry he was at the fact that Mom had abandoned him. I didn’t even have a chance to talk about that because he went on to something else.”
“Did you at any time see anything that the defendant’s mental state posed a danger to Mr. Kennelly or your mother?”
Jesse said that he did not.
Fahy knew Jesse McCoy was a key witness, and he spent a long time on redirect. Fahy started out by asking, “On this whole issue of being sexually abused as kids, did you ever have any kind of sexual contact with Gabe?”
Jesse said that he did not.
“The first time you heard the story about his parents trying to drown him, that was when he started to go south in his mental state?”
Jesse agreed that was so.