Murder at the President's House

by J. R. Johnson

  There has been a rash of troubling security failures by the Secret Service in the two weeks leading up to President Reid’s White House meeting with Chinese Prime Minister Vincent Dinh.

  Another hostile power possibly foreign has infiltrated and compromised the integrity of the U.S Secret Service Uniformed Division. The lone assassin posing as a member of the Secret Service to gain full access to the White House enter the premises undetected by physical security and stealth mode to the electronic security systems.

  The killer proceeds swiftly to the office of the White House Counsel, briskly running up the steps to the second floor of the West Wing where the office of White House Counsel Richard Royster was located. He slips on a pair of latex examination gloves before opening Royster’s office door. He rushes in the door, squeezing the trigger of his gun, firing the fatal shot striking Richard Royster in his head, killing him dead. The gunshots was unheard by staff working at the time within the building, due to the use of a silencer on the gunman’s. 38 caliber revolver.

  Several hours after he was last seen now Richard Royster, White House Counsel is dead. The first witness to arrive on the newly minted crime scene in Royster’s office is Anna Chavez, a White House housekeeper.

  .

  Chavez discovers the dead body of Richard Royster slumped over at his desk in a pool of fresh blood of his office located on the second floor of the West Wing of the White House at 6:00 .pm. She screams at the top of her lungs at the sight of Royster’s dead body. Chavez makes a mad dash out of the office to the nearest telephone in an empty office down the hallway, to make her distressing call, She immediately calls her supervisor who in turn called Richard Spriggs, Secret Service agent. Agent Spriggs ordered all White House entrances and exits be sealed off and locked down until further notice. Several Secret Service agents rushed to secure various White House sectors that is on security cameras throughout the building. It is just after 6:30 p.m. when the call comes into the 911 operator of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department by Spriggs.

  911 Operator: “How may I help you?

  Spriggs: “ I am Secret Service agent Spriggs calling to report a murder at the White House”

  911 Operator: The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is that correct address?

  Spriggs: Affirmative

  911 Operator I will send our officers and homicide detectives over promptly.

  Spriggs: Thank you.

  The 911 operator cautions him to not touch anything, and to close the office door and wait outside for the police to arrive on the scene. A note is handled off to the dispatcher, who then sends two patrol cars and an ambulance to the scene. While they are en route, the dispatcher calls the detective’s office and advises the Duty Sergeant of the call.

  She notices that there is a forensic unit already on the intersection of 4200 Connecticut Avenue NW, which had just cleared photographing an accident scene. The forensic people was taking a coffee break. She raises them on the radio and advises them of the homicide call, so they can come back to the station to pick up any equipment they may need at the scene.

  The first D.C. Metropolitan Police patrol car arrives at the White House at 7:06 p.m. with the ambulance right behind it on its tail end. The two patrol officers have escorted the housekeeper to sit in their car while they enter the crime scene in the White House West Wing, guns drawn, to endure that the killer is not still present in the residences, and to confirm whether the victim is still alive or not.

  The second patrol car reaches the scene, to find one of the first officers on the scene interviewing the housekeeper, while inside of the White House building the other officer who has taken the job of controlling access to the scene speaks to the paramedics.

  This officer has already led one of the paramedics into the scene, to assure him that the victim is beyond medical help. There are obvious gunshots wounds, including one to the head, so there is little question of the victim’s status.

  The paramedics are there to render medical assistance, and there is little hope for the victim. The police have the same attitude, but if the victim is beyond hope then they are expected to protect the crime scene from contamination. The officer controlling access keeps detailed careful records of exactly who was in the scene and when.

  He shows the notes to each person who enters and leaves, and asks them to sign to confirm its accuracy. He knows that few people should be allowed onto the crime scene, and should all use the same route while walking to avoid destroying any evidence unnecessarily. While this is going on the dispatcher has called the Chief Medical Examiner Jim A. Bayes to attend the scene.

  Nothing can done with the body or the scene until the Medical Examiner or assistants has viewed it and declared the person to be deceased. In this case the Chief Medical Examiner Bayes checks Richard Royster for a pulse, checks the scene, and speaks briefly to the paramedics. He then tell the officer guarding the scene that he is pronouncing Royster to be deceased at 8:48 p.m., which the officer makes a note. He also advises the officer he is officially turning the death investigation over to the police as a homicide.

  Meanwhile, the Duty Sergeant from the Detective’s office has found that all of the General Assignment detectives he has are either busy in the city. or are already involved in important interviews which really shouldn’t be interrupted. It has been a busy week, and he has no choice but to call in a detective from the day shift who was just about to go to bed. He tells him to come into the station and grab a car, and that he’ll meet him at the scene.

  The Duty Sergeant feels that he should personally visit the scene as soon as possible., since the presence of a detective with experience in major high profile crimes may prevent mistakes from being made by inexperienced patrol officers. He checks his computer screen before he leaves, to see who is at the scene. Nothing that one of the patrol contains two older experienced officers, his mind was put at ease.

  The detective he has called in has major crime experience,so the Duty Sergeant's involvement will be minimal, and the next day another detective will be assigned to work with the Primary Investigator. He quickly calls the Staff Sergeant in charge of the Detective’s Office at home to advise him of the situation at the White House.

  The Duty Sergeant arrives at the crime scene to find the Chief Medical Examiner Jim Bayes and the paramedics just leaving. The Forensic Identification crew is standing by for permission to start photographing the scene. They have been to the station to picked cases of evidence collection equipment and supplies. Some things are already stored in their van, but some items( like for example extra film, and blood preservative test tubes) are temperature sensitive and can’t be stored in a vehicle on a hot summer day.

  He chats with the Chief Medical Examiner Bayes for a minute(they have met at crime scenes many times over a course of years), and then goes to speak to the officer guarding Richard Royster’s office door. Taking a quick look at the body and the office, he then clears the Forensic officer to start photographing, but not to collect any evidence or disturb anything until the Primary Investigator for the case arrives on the scene.

  He then goes outside and tells the second patrol crew that they won’t be needed any more, and they can go back to patrol, but not until they’ve gone on a coffee run at Dunkin Donuts. It’s going to be a long night, and rest of the people involved won’t be going home at midnight like they had expected.

  The Forensic team had followed him out, and has put on disposable “bunny suits”, biohazard coveralls to prevent them from inadvertently coming in contact with blood or bodily fluids. Once they start collecting evidence, they put on latex gloves.

  The Duty Sergeant then talks to the officer who was interviewing the housekeeper. He had a taken a detailed statement from her. The Staff Sergeant reads the officer’s notes, and then briefly speaks to the woman, ascertaining that she has someone (her husband) at home. He advises her about assistance available from the Victim Crisis Assistance bureau and gives her his card, as well as one from t
he crisis bureau. He tells the officer to give her a ride home. When the second patrol car gets back a few minutes later with the coffee.

  The Primary Detective, Michael Cradle has now arrived. Cradle had trouble reaching the front gate of the White House because of the number of vehicles parked outside the house. There was mobile vans from local television stations, automobiles belonging to a variety of reporters, and two D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) squad cars,their uniformed occupants seated glumly inside them.

  He flashed his MPD Detective badge at the Secret Service officer who left his guard post at the White House gate with German Shepherd in tow on a lease. The Secret Service officer flags him inside as the White House gate on North Portico side is opened. As he drives up in front of the White House, he noticed that the video surveillance camera was in place on the north portico.

  He drives his car and parks it in the semi circular driveway. A large group of tourists assembled along the White House fence snapping pictures of each other with the White House as the perfect background. Also, a CNN reporter along with his cameraman is setting up shop in front of the Secret Service guard post to began late breaking cable television news. News has been leaked out from source inside of the White House about the murder of White House Counsel Richard Royster.

  Michael Cradle is 31, 5’9, 165lbs, African-American man, who joined the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) in 1986 and began investigating homicides as a MPD Detective in 1991. He has a B.A in Criminal Justice from Howard University. He’d had a clean record of seven years, a drawerful of citations of merit, letters from appreciative citizens and local politicians, no hint of being on the take, a good cop.

  He actively lectures at local area colleges and universities in conjunction with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the District of Columbia as well as local high school youth leadership conferences.

  He has been highly active in community service, leadership and mentoring African American youth since he was a teenage in the early 1980’s. A proud alumni of Cardozo Senior High School Class of 1981. Currently, he remains a Homicide Detective and investigates high profile murders in his current assignment with the Major Case/Cold Case Squad.

  Cradle get outs of his car, walks up to the White House, flashes his MPD detective badge to the two Marines dressed in Marine Dress Blues on each sides of the White House entrance door. He began viewing the crime scene carefully,he makes quick sketches of the locations of the major items in and around the body, while being extremely careful not to walk around too much or disturb anything unnecessarily. He obtains all of the pertinent information from the officer guarding the crime scene as to the victim’s identity, age, height, weight, race etc., Then, he tells the Forensic crew to do their stuff.

  They have already taken their general crime scene photos, so now one of them starts collecting evidence around the body, and placing it in bags, while the one acts as a scribe, and takes any additional photos that are necessary. This prevents all contamination of the team’s cameras or notebooks from exposure to blood or other bodily fluids. Swabs of blood stains are taken.

  Blood that is spattered on the wall is photographed with adhesive measuring tapes near it, for possible future “Blood Spatter Interpretation” by a forensic scientist. Samples of various fibers and materials from Richard Royster’s office are taken and carefully labeled. The walls, desk and office furniture are carefully examined with a flashlight to check for bullet slugs that may have exited the body.

  None are found, but if the autopsy shows a missing bullet, Royster’s office will be torn apart to locate it. Anything that could conceivably be considered evidence is carefully bagged and labeled for future examination.

  During this long and technical process, Michael Cradle and the Duty Sergeant have left the scene and goes back to the station The Forensic team telephones Cradle to ask if it is okay to remove the body from the crime scene.

  Cradle says, “It is okay to remove the body, but to please photograph the back of Royster before placing him in the body bag.”

  Leaving instructions that the crime scene at the White House to be put under guard overnight with police tape across the door in the shape of an “X”. They make their notes and go home as well.

  The Forensic crew arrives back at the station, and placed the evidence in a biological storage room, carefully laying out any blood stained items on drying sheets. They make a few notes, put their film in the box for processing tomorrow, and call it a night. It is 4:10 a.m. As they are leaving, the Patrol Staff Sergeant tells them that the Chief Medical Examiner Bayes called to let them both and the detectives know that he had scheduled the autopsy for the next day at 1:00 p.m.

  It’s 9:00 a.m., and the Forensic crew meets with Cradle and his newly assigned partner for this investigation, in the Detective’s office. The Staff Sergeant in charge of Detectives sits in on the meeting in the conference room, along with the Patrol Staff Sergeant, more out of curiosity than anything.

  Cradle details the case so far, including the cooperative nature of the housekeeper. He reads out the history of Richard Royster, the victim. The Forensic crew reports that a generic test of the victim’s clothes show stains that the stains are in fact blood.

  The meeting is wrapped up for now. Cradle and his partner go out to have some lunch, before heading to the George Washington University Hospital(GWUH) for the autopsy.

  In the GWUH morgue, they with the Chief Pathologist and his assistant, who are ready to start the post-mortem examination. The Forensic crew is already there, and have already photographed the body and seized Richard Royster’s clothes as evidence. Overnight the body had been locked in a special freezer using a lock supplied by the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department, which is stored in the Detective’s Office, to preserve evidence continuity.

  The autopsy proceeds slowly, and every step is carefully documented by the Chief Pathologist John C. Beaird and his assistant. The Chief Pathologist Beaird takes his own photos in addition to the Forensic crew’s and asks them to send him a copy of theirs as soon as they have them printed.

  One of the Forensic officer’s asks if the pathologist feels that the wounds should be excised(cut out) for further examination by the crime lab if necessary, and the pathologist agrees that this is a good idea. The Chief Medical Examiner Bayes drops in to check on the progress of the investigation, asks the Pathologist when he would be willing to release the body to the family of Richard Royster. This matter being settled, he then leaves the room again.

  Halfway through the autopsy a phone call comes for Michael Cradle that a car has been found. He tells the dispatcher that he would like another Forensic crew member to examine and photograph where it was found, and then tow it to the station evidence impound lot garage for further analysis.

  The autopsy completed, the Chief Pathologist. Beaird states that the cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head, and that a total of three shots were fired, from a small caliber possibly a .38 pistol. All three slugs remain in the body, and the detectives and Forensic officers look at them closely. Although they are somewhat deformed, they all agree that they appear to be .38 slugs.

  Leaving the autopsy at GWUH, the entire group of police personnel return to the station, where they are met by the other Forensic crew members. All law enforcement personnel have their work cut out for them at this point, doing literally reams of paperwork to complete the case.

  Reports, court briefs, evidence lists, lab submission reports and crime scene logs all have to be completed by the Attorney General’s Office. Dried evidence has to be properly labeled and stored, and evidence going to the crime laboratory has to be packaged and delivered, ensuring the continuity is never broken. Some evidence is examined in house before being stored.

  The abandoned car is held for examination for two more days, and later is returned to the rightful owner. The car was impounded, but nothing significant to the investigation was found. The presence in the car of beer cans, an empty pack of cigaret
tes, wine bottle, and a corkscrew was the result of a trip to the beach by owner determined by the police investigation. Royster’s wallet was in his Brooks Brother suit jacket and contained $4.98, credit cards, and miscellaneous papers, including the list of three psychiatrist provided by Deborah Hughes four days earlier.

  Indeed, in the fury of activity surrounding the death of Richard Royster, Ashley Reid orders armed guards at Royster’s office in a frantic attempt to remove the incriminating binders.

  In addition to taking charge of the office, Ashley also made a call to the CIA around 10:40 p.m. EST, a strange call to make for a case involving the White House Counsel, reported Wilson, was an emergency number not be used for routine telephone calls.

  The White House did not comply with D.C. Metropolitan Police Department requests that Richard Royster’s office be immediately sealed off following his death. No ingress and egress by anyone other than the primary detective and his assistants was allowed at the crime scene at the White House.