Page 37 of The Woods

“Do you agree with Mom?” he asks. “That if I had stayed at that sleepover then the accident never would have happened? Do you blame me for it?”

Polly’s eyes close briefly like it’s too painful to even consider. “I don’t blame anyone,” she answers before opening them. “I don’t even let my mind go there. It won’t do anyone any good. And a lot of things happened that night. Not just you wanting to come home. Things Mom doesn’t even know.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Polly’s voice is firm, and he knows to back off. Sometimes he forgets that she was in the accident too. They’re always so focused on the fact that Lucy died that he doesn’t think he’s ever even heard Polly’s side of things. But he knows that tonight is not the night for that talk.

“Okay. We’ll distract ourselves with the Gordon murders,” he jokes. Happy to get a small chuckle out of her, he finds the podcast on his phone and hits Play on the next episode. Polly shoots him a wary look, but he ignores her and turns it up.

Cleo: Welcome back to another episode of Killing Their Own. We’re continuing with our deep dive into the Justine Gordon case, the mother who murdered her husband and two sons over the course of three days, blaming the woods that surrounded their house as the reason for her heinous crime. On this show we like to speak to people who knew the perpetrator and people who knew the victims, to get a well-rounded picture. On the last episode we spoke to Justine Gordon’s close friend Michelle, so this week we’re getting a different perspective and talking to John Gordon’s sister, Cindy, whose brother Justine murdered with a fireplace poker.

Cleo: Thank you, Cindy, for joining us today. First off, we’d like to offer our deepest condolences for the tragic loss of your brother and nephews.

Cindy: Thank you.

Cleo: Of course. Now, can you give us a little snapshot of how things were for the Gordons before the murders? How did they appear to you? Did you see this coming in any way at all?

Cindy: [clears throat] Well, my brother and his family had been living overseas in Scotland before moving into the house in Merrymont. My sister-in-law was a professor, and she’d been invited to the University of Edinburgh to do a research project for three years. I didn’t see them much while they were there, but my brother called me every few weeks. That’s how I found out about the affair. John was sleeping with one of Justine’s colleagues. Apparently, it only happened a few times, not that the amount matters. I was shocked that he’d done something like that. Up till that point, John had always been such a good husband—loyal, loving, responsible. I think maybe it was because he wasn’t working as much while the family was over there in Scotland and Justine was totally caught up in what she was doing. You know, maybe he felt less-than or something. Men can get like that.

Cleo: Emasculated?

Cindy: Yeah, that’s the word for it. Anyways, they didn’t want to split up or anything, for the sake of the boys, so they decided to come back home for a fresh start. Justine was the one who found the new house. She bought it without John or the boys ever even seeing it.

Cleo: And when you saw Justine for the first time, back from Scotland, how did she seem to you?

Cindy: She talked openly about John’s affair. Said she just wanted to move past it and keep the family together. She thought the new house would be the fresh start that they all needed. You know, with the beautiful forest and a town where nobody knew about the affair. She said they all just needed to heal from what happened and move on.

Cleo: And did it work? Were the Gordons happy in their new home and back on track?

Cindy: At first it seemed like they were [takes sip of water]. I visited them a few weeks after they moved in, which would have been about mid-July. The boys were real excited about the pool, and my brother loved the new kitchen; he was a really good cook. They all said they were happy to be away from the dreary weather of Scotland. Justine and John had even gone to a couples-therapy weekend retreat, and they said it really helped.

Cleo: So when did you notice a change?

Cindy: Well, my husband and daughter and I went there for Christmas that year. My sister-in-law seemed okay for the most part, a bit out of it at times and on edge, but I just figured she was tired from the move and work and the holidays. My brother made a fantastic Christmas dinner. The boys were also in good spirits, real helpful to their mom. I remember that specifically. I was, you know, impressed that two teenage boys were so polite and considerate. You don’t always see that these days. They were lovely boys. [long pause] The only one who was off that visit was Justine.

Cleo: Can you give us more details about that, Cindy?

Cindy: I caught her staring at John and the boys in a weird way, as if suspicious. And she kept taking photos, but not of the whole family—just candid shots of my brother and the boys, when they weren’t expecting it, like she was going to catch them doing something underhanded. And then, my daughter and I were putting our coats and hats on to go for a walk in the woods and Justine stood in front of the door and told us we weren’t allowed to go. She said she forbade it. I actually laughed in her face, thinking she was joking. Then she leaned right into me and said, “There are bad things in those woods, and I will not let you go.” It really freaked my daughter out, so we just took our coats off and didn’t say another word about it. When I told my brother about it a few weeks later, he just laughed and said that Justine could be silly about the woods, that there was nothing in there that would hurt anyone.

Cleo: Did you see your brother again, Cindy?

Cindy: [cries for several seconds] They were supposed to come see us at Easter, but my sister-in-law canceled last-minute. She said she wasn’t feeling up to it. I suggested my brother come on his own with the boys, to give her time on her own to rest, but found out later that she didn’t give him the option.

Cleo: Had Justine ever been controlling that like that before?

Cindy: No, never. John used to come visit me with the boys all the time. Justine wasn’t the controlling type, at least not before that.

Cleo: Did you speak to your brother again, after Easter?

Cindy: He called me every few weeks, and he sounded good for the most part. Said work was going well and they all loved the house. He talked a lot about the woods, saying he’d go for long walks in there every day after work. He seemed happy and settled. That’s why when Justine called me, I didn’t think much of it. I thought it was just her being weird again. I mostly thought it was, you know, hormonal because she’d mentioned something about perimenopause. Some of us go a bit crazy because of it.

Cleo: Tell us about that phone call, Cindy.

Cleo: It was the second week of May. Right before the murders. She called me up late one night. I thought something had happened to my brother or the boys, so right away I said, “What’s wrong? Is everyone okay?” She whispered, “Nobody is okay. They’re not who they say they are.” I said, “Who’s not?” But she ignored my question. She asked me if I could tell when I talked to my brother that something wasn’t right about him. I said, no, that I had talked to him only a few days before and he seemed fine. She said, “It’s tricking us all.” I asked who, and she said the woods. I asked her to put my brother on the phone, but she refused. Then I asked if she needed me to come there to help her and she said no. She said, “I’ll take care of it myself.” Then she started crying and said, “Forgive me, please forgive me.” I thought she was asking me to forgive her for calling so late, but I know now it was forgiveness for what she was going to do.

Cleo: I know this must be so hard for you, Cindy, and I’m really grateful that you’re here today to tell us about your brother and nephews. We want to understand this heinous crime as much as you do. Did you contact your brother the next day and tell him about the strange phone call from Justine?

Cindy: [takes sip of water] I was busy the next day. We left for my daughter’s gymnastics competition, so I didn’t call. I texted him that I’d gotten a weird phone call from Justine the night before. That I was worried about her. A couple days later, when he hadn’t responded, I realized that I’d forgotten to hit Send. [sobs] When I realized this, I called him and left a message, but by then, it was too late. I called him back many times over the next few days. Finally, I tried calling Justine, but she didn’t answer either. Then I got the phone call from the police.