Mike went home for the weekend with an uncomfortable feeling that he had failed to find a single lead on who drove the vehicle that drug poor Jarod until he died. That was a murderer that he very much wanted to identify, but even if they caught Donald Aryan, there was almost no chance he would give them the name of the driver. Mike put the list of members of the Verde Valley Pure Bloods in his pocket as he left. He thought the driver was on that list.
Chapter 30
Mike didn’t enjoy shopping, but it was part of his duty as a loving husband and grandfather to wander around Nordstrom’s looking for dresses for their twin granddaughters. They settled on Easter dresses in a color called periwinkle, which Mike thought of as light blue. Mike admitted that they would look cute, and he hoped his son would email a photo of the family at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan where they regularly attended mass. Margaret had Nordstrom’s ship the dresses directly to their East Side apartment so they would be there in time for Easter. At Neiman Marcus, Margaret purchased a spring dress for Easter mass in Sedona in a color called buttermilk. They found a tie for Mike in the same color, which Mike thought of as tan. After four hours of shopping, they went to Pars Persian Cuisine for a late lunch. Scottsdale was nearly a hundred degrees even though it was early April, and both Mike and Margaret were pleased that they lived in Sedona where it was usually ten to fifteen degrees cooler.
Both Mike and Margaret enjoyed the musical in Tempe and had a good laugh at the antics of the missionaries. They ate a late supper at a brewery-pub style restaurant on Mill Avenue near the Arizona Sate University campus. It was rocking with college students on a Saturday night, and they both enjoyed the noise and excitement of happy young people partying. They got to their hotel at 11:00 and enjoyed some time alone together.
The following morning they were up in time to attend the 9:00 Palm Sunday mass at Saint Mary’s Basilica in downtown Phoenix. It was when they were leaving the church to watch the procession of children carrying their blessed palm fronds that Mike’s phone vibrated. He took a glance at the screen and decided he needed to take the call. If the Scottsdale Police Department called him at 10:15 on a Sunday morning, it was certainly about his homicide cases.
Mike moved farther away from the crowd to answer.
“Captain Damson, this is Sergeant Dale Greco. I was the leader of the team that served the search warrant on Robert Dohi’s business.”
Mike had a sinking feeling that he already knew the purpose of the call. “Of course I remember you Sergeant. Are you calling about Robert Dohi?”
“Yes sir. We recovered Mr. Dohi’s body in the desert in extreme northern part of Scottsdale near Pinnacle Peak. We think he was abducted from the back of his business in downtown Scottsdale last night at 8:00. We found his keys on the ground next to his vehicle. Another merchant from a nearby store called us because he heard the sounds of a struggle in the employee parking area behind that row of businesses. He heard a commotion, a sound like someone being hit, and a trunk being slammed before a car drove away. A hiker found his remains early this morning. He’d been towed behind a vehicle by a chain around his ankles. It certainly seems connected to your cases. You warned us last week that Mr. Dohi might be in danger because of the search warrant notice in the Arizona Republic.”
“I’m here in Phoenix. Are you at the station near downtown?”
“Yes sir. The same location where we met to serve the warrant.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
Margaret gave him a look that said after thirty years with a husband in law enforcement she understood that their fun weekend was over. “Is Robert Dohi dead?”
“Yes, Dohi was killed by being towed behind a vehicle along a gravel road. His remains were found in far northern Scottsdale.”
“Well, you can drop me off at Scottsdale Fashion Mall while you go to the police station. Call me when you’re finished, and I’ll meet you near the south mall exit by the Neiman Marcus store.”
At the station, Sergeant Greco explained some of the details. “Most of the clothing had been shredded, but we found Mr. Dohi’s wallet in the remains of his pants about two hundred feet from where his body was dumped. There was a trail of blood about half a mile long, so we assume he was alive as he was towed along the gravel road. He bled out sometime after the killer unhooked the chain and drove away. There was evidence he was burned, possibly with a blowtorch in the hours before death. The whole thing seems too similar to the death of Jarod Baldwin to be a coincidence.”
“You’re correct. We also found evidence of torture,” Mike explained. “The remains of Jarod Baldwin had been towed along a gravel and cinder road for a much longer distance, three or four miles. It was difficult to determine the extent of the torture, but he had also been burned. It was a campfire rather than with a blowtorch, but I don’t believe in coincidences.”
“I agree that it’s not a coincidence. We’re actively looking for Donald Aryan, and the department has a team of fifteen officers canvassing the houses in that rural area to see if anyone saw or heard something. There must have been screams; if someone saw or heard something, we’ll find them.”
Mike agreed that it was almost certainly another homicide committed by Donald Aryan. “We have an eyewitness who saw Jarod Baldwin being dumped. He worked with our sketch artist and produced a drawing that is undoubtedly Donald Aryan. Since Aryan is still a fugitive, he certainly could have been involved with the Dohi homicide. The other two suspects in the death of Paul McFarlane are in the Coconino County Jail. At this point we have financial records that indicated that Dohi was the fence for the looting operation up in the Verde Valley and at Kinnickinick Pueblo. Our research team has been building a case from the financial records, but we were not quite ready for an indictment of Dohi. If Mr. Dohi had plead out and testified against the three killers, it would certainly have strengthened our homicide cases.”
“Our police chief will make a statement to the press this afternoon at 3:00. We’ll have a poster size drawing of Aryan without a beard and the photo from his driver’s license on display while the chief makes the statement. If he is in the Phoenix area, having his face on the news again might help us find him. How strong is your case against Aryan. Our chief will want to try him here in Scottsdale.”
“It’s quite strong, but I’m happy to let the prosecutors decide where he stands trial.”
Sergeant Greco showed Mike the photos from the crime scene. It was a different type of chain with much smaller links, but it had been left wrapped around the victim’s ankles just like Jarod Baldwin. Much less of the skin had been lost in the dragging over the shorter distance, and the signs of the burns on the upper body were more visible. There were sections of skin that seemed to have been removed with a knife and not merely from the friction with the gravel road. One photo showed that most of his teeth had been pulled.
“Sergeant, I’m disgusted with it, but I understand the torture in the case of Jarod Baldwin. Aryan was sending a message to anyone who was inclined to speak with law enforcement. He was also making the danger of turning on him clear to the only two men who actually saw him shoot the first victim. In this case, why the torture? It would have been easier to slit his throat at the scene of the abduction and leave the body there.”
“I leave that to the psychologists. The guy is clearly a sadistic serial killer.”
Mike nodded. Aryan was certainly a sadist, but something about this third murder didn’t seem right. A serial sadistic killer would probably choose his victims at random, and if Aryan was a serial killer, he would have a long history of similar murders by the time he reached forty. What was purpose behind Dohi’s torture? Maybe he had hidden valuable artifacts or stacks of cash someplace outside of his business and condo. If Aryan were trying to flee the country, he would need funds to live on in Mexico. It was also, but possible that Dohi was the driver of the van that drug Jarod Baldwin, and Aryan was eliminating the other witness to that homicide. Mike decided he wou
ld need to determine if Robert Dohi had an alibi for the day Jarod was abducted and killed.
“Sergeant, I suggest that your department look for any storage units or safe deposit boxes rented by Robert Dohi. Of course, you’re probably already looking for purchases of a chain and a blowtorch. Clearly, buying the torture implement shows premeditation. It might be Dohi was tortured to find a hidden cache of money or valuable artifacts. If Aryan wants to live for years undetected in Mexico, he would need money. We froze all of Aryan’s bank accounts when the arrest warrant was issued. You should do the same for the accounts of Robert Dohi so that no one can use his ATM card or cash his checks. From the records we impounded, we know Dohi banked at JP Morgan Chase, and they have an 800 number that would be staffed even on Sunday. You should freeze his accounts.”
Mike continued, “In addition, it is possible that Dohi was involved directly in the second homicide in Coconino County and that Aryan was killing the only person he though could incriminate him. If that’s the case, the torture might have not been central to his motive.” Mike explained the timeframe for the Baldwin murder and asked Sergeant Greco to try and determine if Dohi had been at work during that two-day period.
Sergeant Greco sent an officer to call the bank to freeze the Dohi business and personal accounts. After Mike had reviewed the evidence and discussed the case for an hour, he called Margaret and told her he was on the way to pick her up. They discussed the case on the way back to Sedona.
Margaret seemed skeptical about the Dohi murder. “With his picture on the local and national news, I’m surprised that Donald Aryan would stay around Phoenix. Do you think he’s done something to disguise himself?”
“Well his most visible identification marks were those tattoos now that he’s cut his hair and shaved his beard. He could cover the tattoos with a long sleeved shirt, but it’s nearly a hundred degrees here in Scottsdale. He would stand out if dressed that way. Aryan might have friends or supporters of the Verde Valley Pure Bloods that are hiding him here in the Phoenix area. The abduction happened after dark, so he would not have been recognized if he drove through town with the body in the trunk. There seem to be white supremacist groups all over the southwest that might help him. We never have been able to get into his computer files, but it’s safe to assume he was in contact with other likeminded racist jerks all over the country.”
Margaret suggested, “He could wear some kind of uniform like a security guard’s. People might not be surprised at the long sleeves on any kind of uniform. In any case, it’s not your job to find who killed Robert Dohi. I’m sure the Scottsdale police are very competent. Aryan probably won’t show his face around the Verde Valley or Flagstaff again. With the coverage the murders have received, almost everyone would recognize him.”
Mike agreed. “There were hundreds of people at Jarod’s funeral. He had a lot of close friends in Cottonwood. I actually don’t think Aryan will stay in Arizona at all, especially because he’ll get another round of local TV coverage from the Dohi murder. We have enough evidence for homicide convictions for all three men. If Aryan is as shrewd as I think, he will be long gone now that Dohi is dead.”
Mike glance over at Margaret as he drove north on I-17 past the discount mall at Anthem. Her expression indicated that she needed some reassurance about Aryan. A suspect in a previous case had tried to kill Mike one evening when Margaret and he were out to dinner.
Mike believed there was really no special personal risk from Donald Aryan. He was a coward who gut-shot an unarmed witness to his looting. He abducted an unarmed man with the help of a second person and horribly and brutally murdered that helpless man because he had fingered Aryan as the leader of the VVPB militia. During the past twenty-four hours, he had probably ambushed a seventy-year-old man in a back alley and tortured and killed him in a remote area. There was certainly no evidence the cowardly militia leader would come after local law enforcement.
“Margaret, I think Donald Aryan is long gone. Keep your pistol close if you’re worried, but I think there is very little reason to fear him. This man is not a true serial killer like Jason McKinney was. Aryan is murdering people to cover his crimes and to discourage people from testifying against him. Jason McKinney, on the other hand, had killed people, mostly strangers, for two decades both here and in Australia.”
Margaret had a playful grin. “I don’t think my new employer would mind a small pistol in my purse. My old bank had that sign up about forbidding all firearms in the branch. My new bank doesn’t have a sign.”
Mike didn’t think she was serious, but he replied, “Especially if you don’t mention it to your manager. Sweetie, you’re well enough trained for me not to worry about your carrying a pistol. You shot expert at the range the last time we went for practice together, and your safety knowledge is perfect. Nonetheless, I’m certain, you have nothing to fear from Donald Aryan or the VVPB militia.”
They chatted as they drove through the low desert, which showed a riot of color from the wildflowers brought out by the heavier than normal winter rains. Sedona was spectacular as always in spite of the heavy traffic. They reached home long before dark, and Margaret had time to prepare Veau Prince Orloff, which she served with Haricots Verts á la Crème. There was still no dessert because lent had another week to be endured. Mike was tempted to raid the freezer for ice cream, but he refrained.
Chapter 31
At 10:00 on Monday morning, Mike called a case meeting to review all they knew about the McFarlane and Baldwin homicides. Mike, Sean Mark, Jimmy Hendrix, June Rosetta from the research department, and Sue McAlester, representing the county prosecutor, were present.
Mike had received a call from Sergeant Greco that morning, and he began the discussion by updating the team with his new information.
“The Scottsdale Police Department determined that Robert Dohi called in sick during the two days during which Jarod Baldwin was abducted, tortured, and murdered. One of his neighbors thought he was out of town because he didn’t pick up his newspapers on the morning Baldwin’s body was discovered. Robert Dohi had the opportunity to have participated in the homicide. In addition, the Scottsdale police discovered a storage unit listed in his late wife’s name. She died of cancer six years ago, yet he kept the storage unit under her name and accessed it several times a week. They will serve a search warrant this afternoon at 3:30. Sean, I’d like you and if she’s available, Dr. Whittier to be present to see if this unit contains looted Sinagua artifacts. The police froze Mr. Dohi’s accounts, but there was no evidence that Aryan tried to take money at an ATM or with forged checks. They suspect the crime was not financially motivated. Not even his wallet was taken.”
Sean said, “I’m sure Amber will want to go if there is a chance to observe and test Sinagua artifacts. I received some additional information this morning. Advertising car wraps are normally either white or transparent. Although many local printers have the technology to add the actual advertising, one Canadian company makes seventy-five percent of the basic white cutouts sold in North America. The wraps are cut for specific types of vehicles using a computer driven laser cutter to create a perfect fit. The Canadian manufacturer confirmed this morning that they shipped by UPS for overnight delivery a white wrap for a Ford Transit van to Robert Dohi in Scottsdale, Arizona. UPS shipped it for overnight delivery two days before the abduction of Jarod Baldwin. Since that Ford van is among the most common, I assume it is among the easiest to find and steal.”
Sue McAlester asked, “Is there anyway to identify a specific wrap. If we could connect the one in our evidence room to Dohi’s order, it would be convincing evidence of his connection to the second murder.”
Sean grinned. “It just so happens that there is a serial number that only appears using an ultra violet light. The one in our evidence room is the same white wrap shipped to Dohi. I think there is little doubt that he was the driver of that van.”
Jimmy Hendrix commented, “I processed the stolen van and didn’t find a
single fingerprint, but the Cottonwood police report indicated that it was stolen from a Walgreens parking lot across the street from a local Chase Bank branch. They have requested the video from the outside ATM’s camera. The Cottonwood police will send us a duplicate of that video, probably tomorrow or Wednesday. We released the van to its owner on Friday. There was nothing else I could learn from the van, but we may have additional evidence of who took it very soon. We have also requested the video from the outside ATMs at Chase and Bank of America branches in downtown Flagstaff. They might show the van driving nearby before it was abandoned in the underground lot. That’s only if we get lucky and have a view of the street behind the customer. Those ATMs only record when someone is in front of the cameras doing an actual transaction.”
Mike explained, “I received a call from the Quantico FBI lab this morning. They confirmed our DNA evidence and promised that they will send an expert to defend the scientific use of ancient DNA comparisons. The FBI has provided a list of all of the members of the Verde Valley Pure Bloods, but since we have nothing that indicates that any of them were also involved in the looting or murders, I’ll leave it up to Sheriff Taylor to decide if he wants to share the information with Sheriff Smith in Prescott. If we’re convinced Dohi was the van’s driver, we’ll put any further investigation of the militia in the hands of the Yavapai authorities. The FBI has closed its investigation.”
They spent another twenty minutes discussing the evidence. Mike ended the meeting by stating, “Our investigation is nearing an end. We have strong evidence that Donald Aryan, Matt Waldrop, and Andy Biggs were looting an ancient grave at Kinnickinick Pueblo when either Aryan or Waldrop shot a hiker who discovered them. The blood evidence proves that Biggs could not have been the shooter. We also have very strong evidence that Aryan murdered Jarod Baldwin, and somewhat less definitive evidence that Robert Dohi assisted him by driving the vehicle. At least we know that Dohi arranged for the stolen blue vehicle to be disguised as a white one, which indicates prior planning for the van’s theft and the homicide. Because each wrap is made for a specific type of vehicle, and Dohi didn’t own a Ford van, it is clearly premeditation. This case will not be closed until Aryan in also in jail, but most of our work is done. Good work team.”
The Mauling at Kinnickinick Pueblo Page 22
