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A cold tendril of unease crept into Hez’s heart at the mention of Savannah’s discovery of both bodies. He’d thought she was in the clear. Had he been wrong?
Richards nodded. “Yes, but I probably would have handled that case in any event because of the strong similarities between the crimes.”
Hope turned to the next page of her notes. “Please elaborate on those similarities.”
“There are a number. Both victims were killed by deep stab wounds to the back, which appear to have come from the same knife. Neither was robbed. Neither crime scene showed signs of a struggle, which may indicate that the victims knew their killers and were caught by surprise. And both knew Jessica Legare.”
“Thank you.” Hope glanced at her notes. “Was there anything else that caused you to suspect Ms. Legare?”
“Yes. On October seventh, the day after the Cardin murder, the police department received an anonymous tip through our website. It stated that Jessica Legare had been embezzling funds from the university and making blackmail payments to both Abernathy and Cardin. The tip was accompanied by a picture of Ms. Legare passing what appeared to be a large amount of cash to Cardin.”
“What did you do next?”
“I obtained permission from the Abernathy and Cardin families to check the victims’ financial records. These showed a series of unexplained payments ranging from one thousand to ten thousand dollars.”
“When you say the payments were ‘unexplained,’ what do you mean?”
“They didn’t correspond to salary payments, investment income, gifts, or any other known source. And when we asked the victims’ families about the money, they had no idea where it came from.”
“Did you also obtain financial records from Ms. Legare and the university?”
Hope’s question was leading, but Hez didn’t object. The rules of evidence didn’t apply in preliminary hearings. She could lead, put on hearsay testimony, and basically do whatever she wanted—and the judge would let her do it at this stage. Things would be different during trial.
“Yes. TGU’s records showed a number of transfers that were not accompanied by invoices or other documentation. University administrators confirmed that those transfers were not authorized. The transfers went into accounts controlled by Ms. Legare, who made large cash withdrawals from them. Those withdrawals usually occurred a day or two before the payments to Abernathy and Cardin.”
“What happened next?”
“We received another anonymous tip. The tipster stated that Ms. Legare kept records regarding the embezzlement and bribery at her home. Also, the tipster claimed to have observed Ms. Legare burying something at night in the woods behind her house. We obtained a warrant and searched Ms. Legare’s home.”
“What did you find behind the house?”
“We located an area of disturbed earth among the trees at the back of her yard. We excavated and found a women’s fleece jacket confirmed to have belonged to Ms. Legare. It had a large bloodstain. A double-edged knife with a six-inch blade was buried with the fleece.”
“Did you send those items out for forensic testing?”
Detective Richards nodded. “Yes. We sent both items to the Department of Forensic Sciences lab in Mobile. DNA testing showed that the blood on the fleece came from Ellison Abernathy. The knife held traces of blood from both victims.”
“Did you also find relevant financial records?”
“Yes. We located a laptop that contained an encrypted Excel spreadsheet, which we were eventually able to decrypt. The spreadsheet recorded payments made to Rat 1 and Rat 2. The dates and amounts of the payments matched the payments to Abernathy and Cardin. We also located books in her library with titles matching notes found on the bodies.”
“What were those titles?”
“Something Wicked This Way Comes and Death Is a Lonely Business, both by Ray Bradbury.”
Hope turned to the judge. “One moment, Your Honor. I think I’m almost done.” She flipped through her notes, then looked up. “One final question, Detective Richards: Do you believe there is probable cause to support each and every element of each offense alleged in this complaint?”
“Yes.”
“Pass the witness.”
Hez stepped up to the lectern as Hope sat down. Richards didn’t move, but her brown eyes became more alert. “Good morning, Detective Richards. I’d like to start with the search of the woods behind Ms. Legare’s home. Did your team search the entire area?”
“We searched until we located the buried items. I believe the search ended at that point.”
“So no one from your team could have left footprints along the stream that runs near the side of the wooded area farthest from the house?”
Detective Richards leaned forward a few inches. “I believe that’s correct.”
