A Death in California

by Barthel, Joan;

  “It had the same emotional qualities of somebody who had done somebody harm and at least was causing the harm to be slightly less severe, by making it clear that there was not suffering accompanying the harm,” Cliff Einstein told the police.

  When the doorbell rang that evening, Van opened the door an inch or two, without taking off the chain. “Special Delivery,” said the young black man on the doorstep, handing Van a large brown envelope through the opening.

  Van laid it on the table and called Ned Nelsen at home.

  “What should I do?” Van asked. “Open it, or what?”

  “Call Gene Tinch,” Ned said.

  “What should I do?” Van asked Gene. “Open it, or what?”

  “Open it,” Gene said. “I’ll hold on.”

  Van used a pair of ice tongs from the bar drawer to pick up the envelope while he cut off the top with a scissors.

  “It’s a cassette tape,” Van told Gene.

  “I’m coming over,” Gene said. Van called Ned, who said he and Tom were coming, too. Thus a sizable audience assembled to hear Taylor’s first tape, which was clearly not what Taylor had had in mind at all.

  I do not want any members of your family listening in. I do not want any of your lawyers to listen in. I just want you to follow the instructions I give you.

  I will stick by you to the bitter end and I will get you out of this mess. I will not leave the country. I will not leave the area until I know all the charges against you have been dropped. I will do everything I can to solve your problems for you, problems that were brought on basically because of some of my actions, but I’m not going to get into that because I don’t know yet whether this tape is going to fall into the wrong hands or not.

  I do want you to know that your telephone has a tap on it. I am talking about your mother’s telephone and I would presume also the telephone at your house; however, I have not used it. To assure anyone that may intercept this, I have not touched the paper nor the envelope this is being mailed in, nor the cassette. They may rest certain that there are no fingerprints or any other means of identification upon the cassette, the outer box, or anything else which could lead to my identity.

  Now then, let’s get to matters.…

  I was at Porterville yesterday, although I didn’t come into the court because that is a very small building and a very small court, and frankly, I wasn’t too sure what you might do if you saw me, although my appearance, my basic appearance, had been changed to the point that I doubt if even you would recognize me. But there was that off-chance that you might recognize me and suddenly shout out, ‘Oh, Taylor, help me!’ or something, so I had to maintain a little bit of distance.

  But I did see you. I saw you close enough through a pair of binoculars to realize that you really looked awful, that you’d been through hell and, you know, there’s nothing going to change that, no magic words I can utter into this microphone and say, ‘Oh, God, I’m sorry.’ Of course I’m sorry—but it’s happened. You’ve been through it. You know what the experience is like.

  Now you’re back home. I had tried to call you earlier today, and your mother told me you were off being questioned by the police. Now, I don’t know what that’s all about, but hopefully before this cassette reaches you I will have talked with you on the telephone and had a few brief words with you about what the situation is. I must forewarn you that I’m not going to hang on the phone and talk to you at great length because, knowing that your phone is tapped, I must also assume that they have a back tracer on it where they are attempting to determine where I’m calling you from, and once they determine where I’m calling you from, they will send authorities to attempt to apprehend me.

  I presume I’m wanted very badly. In fact, if my information can be relied upon, one of the main reasons for letting you out was that they figured you would eventually lead them to me through design or by accident or something of that nature.

  But we’re not going to allow that to happen. They needn’t worry about that, and I don’t think you need worry about that. However, I will attempt to stay close enough that I can protect your best interests. I don’t believe that—while your family means well, your mother and your stepfather and the various people around you, I just don’t believe that they are equipped to handle this situation. The attorney that they’ve hired for you, Ned Nelsen, is not my idea of the best sort of attorney for this type situation. Oh, I know he has a great reputation, but there are other people in California, and if the events take such a turn to the point that the charges against you continue to linger, I am going to suggest that you hire a certain attorney. I know who this attorney is already. I have spoken with this attorney. This attorney knows, shall we say, everything, and would be better equipped to provide you with some sort of assistance.

  Obviously I have more information from my sources and things like that than either your family or attorneys or the authorities persecuting—I’m not going to say prosecuting, because at this point it’s more of a persecution-type thing. But I have more information than all those forces combined could ever hope to develop.

  I’m somewhat tempted to blurt some of it out on this tape. However, I don’t think that’s wise, because I would prefer to use the information I have as bargaining and bartering material to have the charges and harassment against you dropped.

  I have kept track of the kids. I know they’re staying home from school. I talked to Keith the other day on the phone but, as I say, I’m not far away, dear. I’m going to stay close. I’ll see you out of this one. Mr. Fix-it will get you through this one.

  And I found a stunning white dress, size 3. Oh, it’s great. Oh, I know this is not the time to talk about things like that, but nevertheless I found one.

  I must say I’m anxious to find out how you found jail. Was it comfortable? Was it all the things you thought it would be? I’m sure it wasn’t. Oh, come on, smile. You can smile a little bit.

  Well, here we are. You’re there. I’m here. And there’s that whole big army of people between us. I don’t know what to say.…

  I know that you owe me nothing; I owe you nothing. What happened happened, and it would make better sense if I just disappeared into the night, but I think if my disappearance would happen now, and you were left to stand alone, I think that, knowing the forces of justice in the United States, that you would probably be persecuted and prosecuted into prison or a mental institution. It’s hard to say.

  Well, hang in, dear. Know that I care for you and know that I respect your position and remember this: that I didn’t take you out of that ranch house all the way back to Los Angeles to be with those three kids only to have a bunch of police officers in their funny uniforms, with their guns on their hips, drag you away from them. I’m gonna see that you stay there in that house with your three children and that you have a better life than you’ve had thus far. So hang on. I’m going out to try and call you on the phone, and I’ll get back to you a little later. Much love.

  Back again. You were not available. I’m just beginning to think I can’t get through to you. You know, you’re being held up there in the county jail. I called several times and had talked to the fellow there at the jail desk and attempted to seduce him into putting you on the telephone and—let’s see—I’ve also talked to the detective that’s investigating the case, I’ve talked to the court bailiffs over in Porterville, I’ve talked to the District Attorney’s office up there where you were originally being held. I’ve talked to any number of people and in the event that anything would happen to me, and knowing your position, I did have an affidavit drawn up, and I’m going to read it to you now—the normal affidavit form, Los Angeles County, state of California, and then it reads:

  The undersigned is disposed to state under oath the following:

  1. That I am not an American national and under the instructions and orders of my government, I am prohibited from having direct contact with local and/or domestic authorities and thereby allowing my identity and purpose
within these borders to become known.

  2. That by mere accident I have become involved in a situation whereby the laws of the state of California and perhaps the United States have been broken in that, on the twenty-fifth day of February 1973 I did become aware and of the knowledge that the murder of a Caucasian male believed to have been named William T. Ashlock at a ranch house in the Springville, California, area. Said body was on the sofa in the living room of said home, face down in a pool of dried blood, with its legs across the coffee table.

  3. That in the front bedroom I did also discover the person of Hope Masters, Caucasian, female, approximately thirty-one years of age, ninety-five pounds, long blond hair of a blondish hue. Hope Masters was nude and her hands were tied behind her back with a piece of adhesive tape and her feet at the ankles were also so bound that on untying this woman I determined that it would have been impossible for Hope Masters to have bound herself. Thereby I was inclined to believe her story of an intruder and the murder of the man on the sofa in the next room.

  4. That I had no desire then, as I do now, to become involved in a domestic situation. Therefore, I was quite agreeable to the demands and pleadings of one Hope Masters to remove her from the scene of the murder and to a Los Angeles, California, area, and that I could further understand and appreci ate the hysteria of Hope Masters, wanting the body of the man removed from her view prior to her leaving the bed room. That of my own free will and at the request of Hope Masters, I did place a sheet, bedspread, and pad upon the floor, did roll the body up on same and did drag same out of the living room and through the kitchen into a rear bedroom whereupon I did help Hope Masters out to the automobile I was driving.

  5. That I did then return to the inside of the home/house and did pick up and remove anything which I had touched and could possibly lead to my identity through fingerprint identification, i.e., adhesive tape that bound Hope Masters, etc., etc. However, I did not remove anything nor did I move and/or conceal anything that might have been a weapon or instrument of death of the man upon the sofa.

  6. That I did drive Hope Masters to her home in Beverly Hills, California, or Los Angeles, California, and did stay in said home with and offer protection to Hope Masters and her three children until Tuesday, 27 February 1973, at which time Hope and her three children were transferred to the home of Hope’s mother and stepfather.

  7. That the entire time your affiant was in the presence of Hope Masters, she voiced and displayed signs of fear for her life and the lives of her children, and the mother and children did not wish to be in any room in her home other than where I might be present. That said fear apparently was based upon the belief of Hope Masters and the facts of what occurred in the ranch house/home that a husband of Hope Masters had hired someone and/or several persons to murder Hope Masters and two of her children, namely, the older son, Keith, and the daughter, Hope.

  8. That after accompanying Hope Masters and her children to the home of her mother and stepfather I did depart and leave Hope. However, later I did inquire via telephone as to Hope’s safety and plans, whereupon she informed me that her mother insisted the police be notified and I did go to her parents’ home in Beverly Hills, California, engaged in conversation with her parents.

  9. When it was agreed that the authorities should be called, it was this affiant who left the home and first called the Beverly Hills Police Department. However, the two policemen that I spoke with were trying and difficult to convince that a crime had been committed and/or that an unmarked car should be sent to the home. Whereupon I called Hope Masters and told her to have her stepfather call the Beverly Hills police, while I called the sheriff’s department in Porterville, which I did accomplish and did encounter much the same difficulty in convincing the sheriff to undertake an investigation without complete access to this affiant’s identity.

  10. That based upon a telephone conversation with Hope Masters’s mother upon the twenty-eighth day of February 1973, midafternoon, I believe that Hope Masters has been arrested and removed from Los Angeles, California, to the county wherein the ranch house/home is situated. Therefore I am issuing and making this affidavit in support of this affiant’s belief and knowledge that Hope Masters did not kill or cause to be killed one William T. Ashlock in the aforementioned ranch house/home; that Hope Masters did nothing to remove said body from the sofa to the rear bedroom, that I did so as Hope was too frightened to pass through the living room to leave the house and that I did move the body of my own free will; that I did actively encourage and insist that Hope Masters not call the authorities and report the death of William T. Ashlock for reasons of protecting my identity as well as protecting Hope Masters, who was frightened that her husband, one Tom Masters, was intent upon causing harm and/or death to Hope Masters and two of her children, and that this advice was continuing throughout our travels together; that Hope Masters did not know or have ever made my acquaintance until the day at the ranch house/home nor did she know my person in any form; that Hope Masters does not know my true identity, does not know from where I come or what my intent and purposes might be within the United States; that Hope Masters was under your affiant’s control and custody from the time I entered the ranch house/home and returned her to the Los Angeles area and until I accompanied Hope Masters to the home of her mother and stepfather.

  11. That your affiant is willing to answer any and all questions concerning his personal knowledge of Hope Masters and her children and what occurred at the ranch house/home in Springville area and the body of one William T. Ashlock and the actions of the affiant in relation to this incident. However, this must be done outside the United States in jurisdiction of the authorities so desiring to put forth questions or seek drawings or diagrams and perhaps wish to view and test the various items which the affiant carried out of the ranch house/home in order to protect the identity of the affiant. Further your affiant sayeth not.

  And this has been signed.

  Now, I’m not too sure that this is the type of affidavit you want. It’s sketchy. It doesn’t have much detail. I’m sure that in this situation I could easily run it into a thirty- or forty-page affidavit, which I think might be the most useful to your particular situation at this time. I think that the more facts that are known, the better it will be for you. For example, while—I’m gonna give you a few little bits of information which could be very helpful to you.

  The bullet that was in William Ashlock can be matched up to a weapon that ballistically fits another death. There was an unemployed engineer from the Washington-Oregon area who was originally hired with the intentions that he was to kill you and either one or two of your children, and also Ashlock. That he set out and proceeded to follow you and accomplish his task for quite some time; however, he failed in doing so. He had spent a major portion of the money which had been paid to him for this task, and that he was found and eliminated. I know where his car is parked. I know all the basic facts to that situation, which I am sure would more than cover you in that you were elsewhere at the time this other crime occurred.

  My people can also trace back how the weapon traveled to the West Coast. That it was part of a package agreement that someone would come out here and would kill you and your children. And there’s other little things, except that I don’t know where this tape’s gonna go, and I don’t know whether you’re going to be completely trustworthy and not allow anybody else to listen to it; I’m going to hold back on what basic information I have until I know we have some sort of agreement on what we’re going to do.

  It’s not a fact that I distrust you as a person. I know that you’re a very trustworthy person and that your word is good, but I also know that you’re in an impossible situation, that you’re surrounded by family and strangers who are pushing and pulling and questioning and asking, and from the comments that have been passed around, they’re somewhat of the suspicion that you are deeply involved in this, and they’re not too sure that you’re blameless, so you might bear in mind that there’s
a lot of little things going on around you that I’m more aware of perhaps than you’re aware of.

  For example, the other day your father’s—your stepfather’s—secretary thought she was being very cute by having somebody listen in to my conversation. They were using a means of—they had—First they thought they were going to do this and they were going to do that—but she obviously thought she was being cute and that I wouldn’t realize what was going on. But I’m a pretty perceptive person—yes, yes—I’m not new to the situation, so I’m up on most things.

  But we’re not here to talk about me. We’re here to talk about you. Keep your head. Be cool. Don’t get rattled. And for God’s sakes, don’t tell the police any more stories. You should never have made an original statement without an attorney being present, and this is where the mistake is, because the minute they can start tripping you up on this little fact or that little fact, or things like that.

  I think the first thing they grabbed hold of was they couldn’t find the tape that you were bound with. Well, I carried that away because obviously I touched it with my bare hands, and adhesive tape has a way of making fingerprints that—you know, in the sticky portion—and I wasn’t about to leave that around. I have attempted to sow some fingerprints that will lead to the identity of somebody else, but I don’t know how successful that’ll be. I’m involved in many different areas, and one way or the other, we’ll solve this problem for you.

  It’s unfortunate that you know absolutely nothing about what happened. You weren’t prepared for what happened, and you come out being the heavy guy. It is nice that the newspapers recognize that you’re a socialite, and that’s the kind of publicity you want least in life. At least that’s what I would say.

  You’re an awful nice person. Nice girl. You have a lot of redeeming features and qualities. You have some I don’t like. In fact—hang on a minute. I want to get a list of something that I made up when I was trying to call you up there at the jail. I was going to talk to you and tell you that I wasn’t gonna go away, and that I was gonna stay around and help you, but you have to make five promises.