We agreed that there was no reason to negotiate a plea bargain with either Trevor or Amanda. They would be charged with homicide with special circumstances and the DA would go for the death penalty.
EPILOGUE
It’s been three months since Graham was shot, and he is now in a rehab center in Cottonwood. He may be back at work in the Sedona office within two weeks. The winter has replaced the colorful autumn leaves with snow in the upper section of Oak Creek Canyon, and the somber look fits with my mood.
The charges against Trevor and Amanda appear foolproof, but I’ve been in law enforcement too long to take anything for granted. Changes of venue motions have relocated the trials to Phoenix. The Coconino County DA didn’t fight the moves because the big city is better able to handle the separate high-profile trails of Amanda and Trevor at the same time. I suspect neither will get the death penalty, but they’ll also be quite old before they get out of prison.
The DEA and IRS have confiscated Amanda’s cash. Although she can still afford a good attorney, she can’t put an OJ defense team together. Grant recently mentioned that the publicity of the trial has quadrupled the revenue from her porn site to nearly forty thousand a month, but the IRS has a lien on a portion of those funds for back taxes.
In a pre-trial motion last month, the judged refused to bar the videotape of John and Amanda discussing the crimes from the proceedings. However, he ordered most of the other tapes found at Amanda’s house destroyed. Amanda has repeatedly tried to get a deal by ratting on Trevor, but we have no reason to negotiate with her. The prosecution team in Phoenix has four experienced litigators who have successfully prosecuted other capital cases.
The military justice system is handling the trials of the soldiers who’ve been charged as part of the heroin ring. Those trials are already underway.
Trevor has still not said a word about Amanda or anything else during his interrogations, and he remains completely silent when he is with his new attorney. For a while, I was afraid that his silence was an attempt to fake a brain injury from my blow to the back of his head. However, he seems willing enough to talk to the men in nearby cells and to guards at the Maricopa County Jail, so his silence with his attorney is voluntary. The court will not let anyone plead guilty to a capital charge, so there will be a trial even without his assisting in his own defense. I’m uncertain of the legal implication of that.
A plea bargain got Joe Banning ninety days in the county jail, which he is currently serving. Sean told me Joe’s log cabin is for sale. I think Joe plans to move to Juneau when he gets out.
The Arizona Game and Fish Department has sent a registered notification to Thane Naresk of Hartford, Connecticut informing him that he is permanently barred from hunting or fishing in the State of Arizona. According to Joe’s testimony, Mr. Naresk probably harvested the largest elk bull of the year in their hunt south of Flagstaff.
Last week, county commissioners approved a pay raise. It especially helps deputies in their first two years of service and closes most of the pay gap between our deputies and Flagstaff and Sedona cops. I’ve enjoyed my new role in training the recruits.
Margaret and I have gone to see Graham twice a week since he entered the rehab hospital in Cottonwood. We both admire his fighting spirit, but he may have a permanent speech problem. He is now walking normally and seems anxious to get back to work fulltime.
Margaret and I are going on a three-week vacation to Paris tomorrow. It will be good to get away from town, but I’ll be back in plenty of time to testify.
THE END
Books by Charles Williamson on Kindle https://www.amazon.com/author/c.d.williamson
Mysteries:
The Dead Priest of Sedona: Book One of the Mike Damson Mysteries The Dead Chef of Santa Fe: Book Two of the Mike Damson Mysteries The Murders at El Tovar: Book Three of the Mike Damson Mysteries The Victim at Vultee Arch: Book Four of the Mike Damson Mysteries The Arson at Happy Jack: Book Five of the Mike Damson Mysteries The Dead Man at Doyle Saddle: Book Six of the Mike Damson Mysteries Time Travel:
Temporal Foam: A Novel of Accidental Time Travel
The Argonauts of Phoenix: The Second Adventure in the Temporal Foam Science Fiction:
Black Dot: Jack Dunn, Cyber-Detective Volume One
Green Glow: Jack Dunn, Cyber-Detective Volume Two Fantasy:
The Pogrom of Mages: The Healers of Glastamear, Volume One
Coming in the winter of 2015 and the spring of 2016:
Oil Town: Book One of the Howard McAlester Mysteries
Blue Haze: Jack Dunn, Cyber-Detective Volume Three The Winter of Death: The Healers of Glastamear, Volume Two The Mauling at Kinnickinick Pueblo: Book Seven of the Mike Damson Mysteries
The Dead Man at Doyle Saddle Page 22
