AllFreeNovel
Share Us
41
Milo and I typed away separately.
Nogilmorereferences paired withcopeland, fakahatchee,ornaples fla.
The usual approach when searching is to keep narrowing focus. I did the opposite, broadening togilmore case florida.
And there it was.
—
Twenty-four-year-old piece in archives ofThe Fort Myers News-Press.The resort town was nearly a hundred miles from Copeland but legal proceedings had shifted there due to a change-of-venue motion entered by a defense attorney named Meryl Rittenhouse.
Murder-Suicide in Ochopee Tied to Upcoming Abuse Trial
Samson Rodriguez, Staff Writer
Copeland police report that two bodies found in an Ochopee mobile home are those of the defendant in an upcoming child abuse trial and his common-law wife. Davis Gilmore, 44, released on bail after being charged with sexually abusing his 17-year-old daughter, reportedly fatally shot thevictim’s mother and his longtime companion, Sally Rooney, 39, then himself.
Gilmore, a maintenance worker at the Fakahatchee Preserve with a history of drunk and disorderly misdemeanor arrests, was accused by his daughter of sexual abuse that stretched back over a decade. The charges, police say, were supported by physical evidence and resulted in Gilmore’s arrest. Gilmore’s trial, which could’ve landed the defendant a substantial prison term, was slated to begin in a week. Prosecutor John Bolt had protested the decision by Judge Razzie Clark to grant Gilmore an “inappropriately light” bail of $1,000, with a 10% cash outlay and the remainder guaranteed by a bondsman.
Judge Clark, agreeing with Defense Attorney Meryl Rittenhouse that the absence of violence in Gilmore’s past and community ties to the rural Ochopee community made him an unlikely flight risk, had stood fast by his decision. Clark had received the case after Rittenhouse successfully filed for a change of venue, citing undue prejudice in Naples.
Immediately prior to Davis Gilmore’s release, the complainant along with two younger brothers, ages 15 and 9, were secreted in an unnamed county facility.
“Lucky for them,” said Copeland police chief Oliver Banks. “This guy might not of had much of a record but he was known to have a temper and he was clearly out for blood.”
CHAPTER
42
I sat as close to Milo’s screen as the stingy space permitted and watched as he hunted. Beginning with obituary shopping, because twenty-four years had passed.
Reporter Samson Rodriguez’s name pulled up nothing until Milo found him listed as a correspondent for a wire service, now stationed in Bangkok. No personal email listed. Milo sent a message to the service’s Asian headquarters, got an automatic away message, and moved on.
Copeland police chief Oliver Banks had passed on eight years ago, age seventy-seven. Predeceased by his wife and two of his eight children. Big church funeral.
Former defense attorney Meryl Rittenhouse had been working as a real estate agent at the time of her death twelve years ago. Age fifty-six, leaving behind a second husband and two children. In lieu of flowers, contributions to the American Cancer Society.
Judge Erasmus “Razzie” Clark’s demise was three years prior to Rittenhouse’s. Age sixty-four, no survivors listed.
Clark’s name also pulled up a twenty-year-old news story in the same Fort Myers paper. He’d been tossed off the bench after beingimplicated in “multiple illicit affairs leading to charges of favoritism,” his sexual partners three attorneys who’d appeared in his court.
Suzanne Volga, Pamela Barker, Meryl Rittenhouse. No mention of the lawyers’ fates but Rittenhouse’s career shift suggested disbarment.
Keywordingprosecutor john boltfailed to reveal evidence he was no longer breathing. Nor did it indicate he’d remained an officer of the court in Florida. Pairing his name withdistrict attorney, magistrate,orjudgefailed to produce a single word.
But again, spreading the net worked, andattorney john boltpulled up three hits. A bankruptcy specialist in Toms River, New Jersey, a criminal appeals lawyer in Boston, and a man working “of counsel” to a midsized New York firm.
Milo said, “Criminal appeals sounds like a good bet,” and called the number. A massive robot-voiced voicemail menu with options for Spanish and Chinese finally connected him to Boston John Bolt’s extension. He was midway through his message when a young voice broke in.
“This is John. You’re probably looking for my dad.”
“Thanks for picking up, Mr. Bolt.”
“I wasn’t going to answer but it sounded like something Dad would get a kick out of. He’s in Manhattan, of counsel to a white-shoe firm. You know what that means?”
“Working there but not a partner.”
