“Shit, Matt is my liaison with the Yavapai Department. He knows almost everything I know about the case. As for last night, we probably found the large storage pot taken from the Beaver Fort ruin. It was much too heavy for one man to carry. We’ve taken it to our evidence room for further examination. I hope to find at least three sets of prints on it. We also took Mr. Aryan’s truck to our impound lot. Our crime scene tech got a lot of prints that we haven’t had time to match.”
“That sounds encouraging.”
“The best news is that we also found a prayer stick that was probably taken from the Kinnickinick homicide site. Jimmy Hendrix is using the DNA expert at the Museum of Northern Arizona to try and prove its connection since the Quantico lab seemed unlikely to help us. Dr. Whittier received a grant that has allowed her to lease extremely high quality DNA analysis equipment to conduct her research into the ancestors of the Hopi. If she can match the DNA from the ancient burial to the prayer stick, we would have enough for an arrest but maybe not enough for a conviction. We’ve already have found Mr. Aryan’s fingerprints on the prayer stick.”
“Sounds fairly solid,” she said.
“Frankly, unless someone talks, Mr. Aryan’s prints on an object from the homicide site are the only tie we have to the actual murder. We found a shotgun that might be the murder weapon, but we have no way to prove that. Frankly, we have nothing on the other men who were present. I doubt if my boss will do anything about Matt Waldrop without more evidence. It would probably put him in a feud with his counterpart in Yavapai County. If we can’t even produce a connection through the phone information because your agency won’t release it, we’ve got nothing on Waldrop, but thanks for the heads up. It might be critically important.”
“Mike, I know how much you hate politics being involved in your cases. I doubt that you even vote. Be careful. There are connections that are quite political in this case. Within days, the FBI may close its investigation completely as a dead end. The surveillance of this militia group began under President Obama. There’s already pressure from someone extremely close to President Trump to leave these ‘patriot’ groups alone and focus our attention on Islamic radicals.”
“Margaret and I actually do always vote, but it is certainly true I don’t pay much attention to the details of politics. I’m at a loss as to why the White House would be discouraging the investigation of a homicide. The looting of an ancient burial site and homicide also occurred on federal land,” Mike said.
“As for the crime of looting ancient artifacts, there are senior people at the FBI who don’t even consider it a crime worth our efforts to investigate. They would leave it to the Forest Service. To some senior people, it’s no more of a serious crime than harvesting a Christmas tree from the National Forest. The Hopi tribe still has supporters in congress like Senator McCain, but the new management at the Interior Department is not willing to do much to encourage enforcement of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act. They’ll let the Hopi tribe collect the bones, but the artifacts aren’t considered significant or important. It was only at the Hopi’s request that the FBI even decided to help with your case, and now, the Deputy Director has cut off that support. I understand that yesterday the lab at Quantico mailed your beads and other evidence back without comment or official report. No one from the lab will testify to the match between the beads and the burial.”
“The hell you say. Why not?”
“Mike do you even use the Internet?”
“I have email, and I use Google regularly. What else is there?”
“Search Google for the Alt-Right. Goodbye.” Linda hung up in frustration.
Mike smiled. Of course he knew about the Alt-Right and exactly who at the White House would have been involved in quashing the investigation of a group that called itself the Verde Valley Pure Bloods. He walked over to Sheriff Taylor’s office to update him on his secret call from Linda. He did not mention the wiretap information regarding Deputy Matt Waldrop since Linda had asked him to keep it secret, but he would make certain that Jimmy Hendrix checked to see if his fingerprints were in Donald Aryan’s truck.
Chapter 19
That afternoon, Sheriff Greg Taylor, Captain Mike Damson, and Deputy Sean Mark were waiting in a conference room for a presentation by the crime scene tech, Jimmy Hendrix. All of them were exhausted from the overnight stakeout. The presentation was scheduled to have begun ten minutes earlier, but Jimmy was not there even though the projector was set up with his laptop ready for his presentation. That proved that he’d been in the conference room and left abruptly before they arrived.
The three waiting men were drinking coffee to keep awake and talking about their fantasy baseball teams. Sheriff Taylor had attended a number of the preseason Cactus League games down in the Phoenix area. He was confident that direct observation had given him the upper hand in his team selection. He didn’t know that Mike’s next-door neighbor in Sedona was a scout for the Giants who had helped Mike with his team’s picks. Sean, who was much younger than his two superiors, thought he had the winning team because he had been all state in baseball twelve years earlier while he was in high school, and he subscribed to the sports package with the local cable TV provider.
All three men were groggy since they had been up all night, but they had at least been home to shave, shower and change clothes since their morning raid that had failed to apprehend Donald Aryan. When Jimmy came charging through the door, it was obvious he still wore the soiled clothing he had worn when he retrieved the suspect’s laptop and cell phone from Beaver Creek.
“Sorry, I had some second thoughts about my presentation and decided that I had no choice but to check something. It took a little longer than I expected. I was afraid I might be dealing with contamination that occurred at the crime scene, but that was not the case.”
Sheriff Taylor smiled and commented, “That’s fine Jimmy. I’d rather you be correct than punctual with bad data. What have you discovered?”
“I found only Donald Aryan’s prints on the prayer staff shaped like a human hand, but it’s pretty strong evidence connecting him to the scene of the murder if we receive DNA proof that this specific artifact is from the shaman’s burial site at Kinnickinick. I took the prayer stick to Amber Whittier at the museum to test this morning. I took along two deputies to stay with the evidence to protect the chain of custody. Dr. Whittier promised to run the DNA as fast as she could. She would have a definitive DNA answer later this afternoon. She seemed certain it was a Kinnickinick artifact from her comparison of the actual object to the mold I made at the crime scene.”
Mike said, “That’s enough to hold him for trial, but not a really strong case. Jurors might be skeptical of eight-hundred-year-old DNA evidence. I couldn’t find any similar cases in my brief search, but June in the Research Department is still looking for examples. The real problem is the rapid advance of the DNA equipment and techniques. This comparison would not have been possible two years ago.”
Sheriff Taylor nodded. “Let’s issue a homicide warrant and bring him in. It’s enough for me to act while we continue to investigate. From your expression, Jimmy, there is more to the story.”
“Yes sir. The wooden crate that held the huge grain storage jar had the fingerprints of three men. Their hands were in positions that indicated that they had carried the crate. One was Donald Aryan, AKA Harold White. The fingerprints indicated that the same man was known originally as Jefferson Davis Fischer from Fredericksburg, Texas. He became a leader of the Aryan Nation while he served a five-year term at the prison in Huntsville for destruction of state property. He ran his truck through the front of a Texas Ranger Hall of Fame Museum in Waco, Texas because he’d received a drunk driving ticket that same morning.”
Sheriff Taylor nodded for Jimmy to continue. He went to his computer presentation and ran quickly through slides of the hand shaped prayer staff, and a mug photo of their suspect from the time he was known as JD Fischer until he got to
photos of the giant clay jar. Jimmy pointed out where he had discovered the three men’s handprints. “These prints were probably made when the crate was carried from the truck into Aryan’s storage area, but I can’t say that for certain. I only know that they handled it at some point. I also found trace indications that one or more people wearing leather gloves had handled the crate at some other time. You can see from my illustration that Donald Aryan held it by one corner while the other two men held it along the opposite flat sides. Aryan was taking half of the total weight himself as the other two divided the other half of it. Aryan was carrying about two hundred pounds. You can see the size of his arms in this prison photo that Aryan was one of those convicts that spent his jail time lifting weights.”
He pointed to a spot on the screen. “I recovered bits of leather from these areas of rough wood along the crate’s bottom so there might have been more than three people involved in moving it at some point, or it might have been moved more than once.”
Mike said, “Jimmy, I suspect that you found prints on the crate belonging to Deputy Matt Waldrop of the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department. You were late for our meeting because you wanted to double check your findings.”
Jimmy’s jaw dropped. “So much for my big reveal! Shit Mike, if you knew that already, you could have saved me a lot of anxiety and an hour of double-checking.”
Sheriff Taylor frowned. “If you suspected him, why didn’t you say something before the raid where our suspect got away?”
“I didn’t have a clue he was dirty until I got a call from a friend with confidential information about half an hour ago. Someone called our suspect yesterday evening at 5:45 with the message ‘the red coats are coming’ on a burner phone. My source traced the purchase of the phone to Matt late this morning. Of course after that, I knew he’d tipped off Aryan. Jimmy, I just made a guess that he was involved in the clay storage pot from your presentation and caution about double-checking. Do you have the identity of the third man?”
“I have an excellent set of prints but no identity to go with them. He’s not a convicted felon or former military man.”
“I should call Sheriff Smith in Prescott and let him know he has a rotten apple on his team.” Greg Taylor asked in his John Wayne tone.
“I’m sorry boss, but my source would lose her job if her superiors knew she discussed this with me. We need to keep that information very close for now.”
Sheriff Taylor paused before saying; “I guess I didn’t handle myself well on a recent conversation with an extremely high ranking Washington official.”
Jimmy looked puzzled at the exchange between Mike and the sheriff, and Sean just looked furious at betrayal by a fellow law enforcement officer that had allowed a homicide suspect to escape.
Jimmy said, “There is more to the fingerprint story. The reason I was late was that I had some deputies help me uncrate that giant pot. I found Matt Waldrop’s prints on the bottom. He helped carry it from the ruin to the place it was crated without gloves. The other men at Beaver Fort must have worn gloves because Matt couldn’t have carried it without help and his were the only prints on the bottom. Deputy Matthew Waldrop participated in the looting at Beaver Fort.”
The sheriff said, “A looting that occurred in Yavapai County outside our jurisdiction. Do we have anything that ties this Waldrop scum to our murder?”
Jimmy shook his head with a sad expression. “His fingerprints were not on the prayer staff, only those of the man that uses the name Donald Aryan.”
Mike said, “The only prints on the beads we recovered were from the store owner, Robert Dohi. I suspect Dohi was a regular buyer of their looted artifacts. I also think he gave me a false description of the man who sold him the beads. Dohi is at least seventy, and he probably would not have been on the actual looting trips. I can’t picture him with a shovel out in the wilderness digging for artifacts. However, I’d like to interview him again.”
Sheriff Taylor looked furious, but his voice didn’t convey irritation at Jimmy. “Anything else Jimmy?”
“I’m still working on the fingerprints from the truck. Our unknown handler of the crate has also been in the truck. Matt’s prints were in there too, but it’s a jumble of many different prints. I have those from two additional Yavapai County Deputies and at least four others who I’ve not yet identified. I’ll email all of you with the details.”
The sheriff looked both tired and mad as hell at the betrayal by a brother in law enforcement. He said, “Thank you Jimmy. We’re all tired at this point, but you’ve done good work. Now I need a word with Mike alone.”
Sean and Jimmy left quietly and closed the door.
“Mike, I don’t see how I can avoid an immediate call to Sheriff Smith in Prescott. I can keep your source for the wiretap information out of my story, but our own crime scene tech found Matt Waldrop’s prints on the actual looted pot. There are two other Yavapai County deputies who had some kind of relationship with our suspect. He needs to know that his department may be involved with looting artifacts, especially in the case of Waldrop where we have prints on the actual object before it was crated proving he was at the looting site. Even more important, his deputy might have been involved in a homicide in Coconino County.”
“I can’t argue against your contacting him; he has a right to know, but I have no idea how deep the Verde Valley Pure Bloods organization is within his department. A man I interviewed at the vineyard told me that the jail in Camp Verde is their main point of recruitment and that some of the guards and many of the white inmates belong to the group. The inmates join because the militia can keep them safe from the other gangs.”
Sheriff Taylor said, “All the more reason to discuss this with my counterpart in Yavapai County. Can we expect any support from the FBI?”
We’re on our own in dealing with these white supremacists because Linda told me currently the FBI is only focusing on the Radical Islamic Terrorist threats. I think Donald Aryan had help in getting approved for SNAP and disability benefits because he claimed to have six dependents. It would have been a deputy from Yavapai County who verified his false claim.”
Mike continued, “Boss, we really have no idea of the full extent of this white supremacist group. Today, the FBI officially closed their investigation in Camp Verde and moved its staff back to their Phoenix office.”
It was an hour later when Sheriff Taylor came to Mike’s office. “Mike, here is the deal I made. Any crimes associated with Yavapai deputies will be announced solely by Sheriff Smith as part of his internal investigation of his department. The Coconino County Sheriff’s Department will not be mentioned. We will have no comment, and we’ll refer all press inquiries to Sheriff Smith in Prescott.”
Mike nodded thinking that was reasonable.
Sheriff Taylor continued, “Tomorrow, you will schedule a case meeting here in Flagstaff to review the raid on Aryan’s property. Deputy Mat Waldrop will attend except that he will actually be escorted to the interrogation room with cameras running. I will read him his rights and inform him that he is being charged with homicide with premeditation since the looters certainly knew that gut shooting a man in that remote spot would lead to his death even if the actual death occurred hours later. We’ll see where things go from there. My guess is that he will just ask for a lawyer. If we get no new information, he will eventually be turned over to the law enforcement officers of the Forest Service for prosecution in federal court under the Antiquities Act. Unless we can tie him to the actual murder at Kinnickinick Pueblo, he might get off with a fine and probation on the lesser charge. Sheriff Smith will immediately issue a homicide APB for Donald Aryan; also known by the names Harold White and Jefferson Davis Fischer. By the way, Jimmy also discovered that Fischer is wanted for a parole violation in Texas. Apparently he didn’t do his required community service on an assault charge from six years ago.”
Chapter 20
Mike was relieved to drive into his garage that evening. He had forced him
self to stay alert on his drive home on Highway 89A, a winding two lane road through a steep canyon that ran beside Oak Creek for most of the way. A loss of concentration could have been deadly. Margaret had prepared shrimp scampi under the assumption that the starch in the pasta would help him fall asleep quickly. She assured him she could wait until morning to get an update on his homicide case.
Margaret kissed him after dinner and ushered him into the bedroom. “My sweet, you’re no longer a young cop in his twenties doing a stakeout. You need your sleep to keep your mind working at its best.” The kiss led to other things that delayed Mike’s sleep, but they both fell into a sound sleep about half an hour later.
Since neither of them was used to going to sleep at 8:30, they both woke very early. Over coffee, Mike updated Margaret on the raid, the betrayal by Matt Waldrop, the phone call from Linda Surrett, and the meeting to discuss the case where Jimmy Hendrix displayed his evidence against Donald Aryan and Matt Waldrop.
“You don’t actually think Matt will rat out his fellow looters do you. He’s a trained law enforcement officer and will know he needs to lawyer up immediately.”
“Of course, we assume that, but once he has a lawyer, the negotiations between the county prosecutor and his lawyer can begin. I assume that it was Aryan that did the actual shooting because of the shotgun that we found on his property.”
“Sweetheart, you may scare him, but I’m fairly sure that the Verde Valley Pure Bloods and the Aryan Nation in the state prison will scare him even more. He wouldn’t live a month at the prison in Florence if they decide he was a traitor to the white race.”
“Of course, as usual you’ve nailed it. This is a scheme that Sheriff Taylor agreed to so that Sheriff Smith in Prescott could take credit for discovering the Yavapai County deputy who looted ancient artifacts and who helped a homicide suspect, Donald Aryan, escape. Both events occurred in Yavapai County. I doubt there will ever be a larger investigation of the militia’s influence at the jail in Camp Verde. A big scandal discovered by another department would be bad for Smith’s reelection. This way it will look like he dealt decisively with a problem as soon as he discovered it. The arrest will occur in Flagstaff because neither of them wants Matt in the Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde. Matt Waldrop being murdered in a jail run by Sheriff Smith would also be bad news for his reelection. How did your day go at the bank?”
The Mauling at Kinnickinick Pueblo Page 14
