Murder at the President's House

by J. R. Johnson

  White House inconsistencies in the handling the aftermath of Royster’s death further fueled frenzy rumors of his misconduct.

  The handling of the boxed up files in Royster’s office set off an early feeding frenzy by the press with accusations of a cover-up and obstruction of justice of an outgoing investigation of his murder.

  Yet it was not until certain members of the press--notably Lawrence Ross at the New York Post--began to hypothesize openly that Royster was murdered by pro Israeli terrorists and spies operating in the United States. Ross’s reporting earned him the respect of the former FBI director fired by Reid, who wrote the Post reporter a letter detailing how Royster had been heavily involved with a power struggle between the Justice Department and the FBI. Because of this direct conflict the FBI was not allowed to investigate Royster’s death.

  Carnegie Andrew Miller’s newspaper, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review hired Lawrence Ross after he left the New York Post. The efforts to cast Royster’s death as more just a murder coincided with Miller’s funding of the “Tennessee Project,” a $2.8 million program funded at the conservative magazine The American Spectator to unearth damaging information on the Reid’s according to the New York Times.

  The billionaire also contributed large sums of money over the years to conservative media organizations like the Western Journalism Center, Accuracy in Media and the National Taxpayers Union, all of which drove home highly negative coverage in the Royster case.

  As the story gathered speed and critical mass, papers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post began their own forays into the questions of why Royster was murdered. If nothing else, there was money to made by the media organizations spinning nefarious to kill Richard Royster even more.

  A major fault in Ross and other investigations, though, are the lack of any plausible alternative scenario as to how Royster met his end.

  The “profilers” almost all though the killer of Richard Royster was angry white man driving a black truck, acting alone,a clever and shrewd killer who knew the D.C. area so well he must live here. None of this, it seems, was true. The killer did not really know the area. He was not white. He did not own a black Chevrolet Suburban. Far from being a clever individual, he was dumb as a rock or a fence post. How did the media get it all wrong?

  The profilers which was used on MSNBC consisted of ex-FBI Special Agents or police profilers or private investigators who had spent their entire careers working on similar cases.

  Their conclusions were not only reasonable, they were identical to those of the profilers for the “task force.” In these big task forces,there is going to be a lot of disagreement about what gets out and what gets released to the public. The reason being is there is a lot of egos involved in it.

  Moreover, it was the task force, based on witness testimony, that out the one word out on the black Suburban truck and “box trucks” that mislead the media and caused police to maybe let a killer slip through their Dragnet and roadblocks.

  Several announcements was repeatedly broadcasted on his police car radio: Twelve (12) black Chevrolet Suburban trucks has been stopped in and around the D.C. Metropolitan Area in the past several days.

  The last black truck identified was reportedly stopped on Constitution Avenue between U.S. Botanical Gardens and the U.S. Capitol. A U.S. Capitol Hill Police Sergeant stopped the black Chevy Suburban driving along Constitution Avenue NW and searched the truck when the driver did not provide proof of insurance such as an insurance card. .

  The search turned up what appeared to be a mobile sniper’s nest, complete with a loaded .22 caliber rifle and scope, silencer, guns ports and wooden kitchen chairs mounted in the cargo area.

  The driver told the Sergeant, he had purchased the truck for fifteen hundred dollars cash money ($1,500.00) on yesterday from a lady he met along with his partner at Starbucks in Arlington, Virginia.

  Both him and and his partner did not take the time to simply look into the back of truck, prior to picking up the vehicle from the lady’s garage. This seemed like an interesting story to tell police when any reasonable person would check out both the interior and exterior of a vehicle before purchase whether or not it was used or new.

  The driver and his partner was arrested by the U.S. Capitol Hill Police and the black Suburban truck was impounded. D.C. Metropolitan Police Department picked two men up and took them for lock-up at the Sixth Distinct Precinct after U.S. Capitol Hill Police called them for transport.

  These two men are unrelated to the search for the killer and will be arraigned and sentenced for the possession of a firearm and driving an uninsured vehicle.

  The saga of the search for the black Chevrolet Suburban was over now since none of them was the one that took the killer of Richard Royster away not to be seen again in the city of Washington, DC and the surrounding areas of Maryland and Virginia which is regularly referred to as the DMV. People who live outside of the DMV think us locals are talking about the Department of Motor Vehicle.

  It seems like one black Chevrolet Suburban would be easy to find but No, it is like a needle in a haystack. Cradle has hit these brickwalls before in his illustrious career as D.C. Homicide Detective. He knows how to best deal with the situation by driving across town to see some promising young people.

  He retreated over to the Boys & Girls Club on Capitol Hill to check in on his mentees there. Working with young people is Cradle’s way of dealing with and managing the pressure and stress of his job in a professional and dignified manner. This time he was not giving an usual lecture to them on staying in school and making good grades but to share with them his love of writing movies scripts and making movies. Cradle’s face lights up when he talks about his passion of writing, directing and producing movies like a proud parent, whose wife just had a baby. The children feels like they have met a real movie star in Cradle but he tells them, “ I am a lousy actor but a better director and producer of film.” The kids burst out in laughter when Cradle shares this fact with them.

  On July 7, Cradle arrives back into his office where he receives the White House surveillance video tape. He opens the official White House milan legal size envelope containing a handwritten note from Secret Service Richard Spriggs on Secret Service stationery which reads:

  July 6, 1993

  Detective Cradle:

  As per your request on July 6 for a copy of the White House surveillance video tape from Friday, June 21, 1993.

  Enclosed is a tape for “your eyes only.”

  Sincerely,

  Agent Spriggs

  U.S. Secret Service

  P.S. If you need anything else, please feel free to call me (202) 456-7000

  Cradle places the tape in his video recorder and player connected to the television in his office, turns off the light and begins viewing the tape. First, he sees White House staff going about their merry way in the hallways, butlers and maids on duty, Secret Service agents patrolling the perimeter, Marines on their posts and the President and First Lady walking hand in hand together. Nothing could be found strange or out of place on the tape. So he had to fast forward the tape to the time frame that the murder of Richard Royster took place.

  The video reveals a man dressed in a Secret Service uniform walking into the door of the White House past another Service Service and proceeds down the long hallway towards the West Wing, swiftly passes the Oval Office to the office up the steps to the second floor to the office suite occupied by Richard Royster. Before entering the office, the killer slips on a black mask to cover his face from sight and pair of black leather gloves so no fingerprints could be found on the door knob.

  Now the killer proceeds into Royster’s office shoot him at 6:00p.m in which the clock on the tape reflects and rushes out of the office and runs down the long hallway, removing ski mask and gloves and places his gun back into it holster along the way. Immediately he gets to the front door where two Marines are posted and escapes out of the door. The killer is on the run. Cradle stops the vi
deo tape at this point. He walks out of his office and down the hall to a vacant office, enters the office which is pitch black and does not bother to turn on the light. He wants to be in complete darkness to think, reflect and visualize in his mind what he saw on the video.

  He stays in the dark, vacant office for thirty minutes and walks out and back to his office. He decides to take the video tape to the forensic crime downstairs for evaluation by the forensic specialist. forensic specialist pops the video in his , video player. Cradle instructs him to go to the segment of the tape when the killer the premises of the White House, shoots Royster and exits out of the door of the White House.

  It has been persistently reported that the video tapes that would have recorded Richard Royster leaving the White House and his return on the day of his death have vanished from the secure vault they are normally stored in. Also, a surveillance camera records whoever enters and leaves this vault as well. The video tapes that would have recorded who took the tapes from the vault have also reportedly vanished. The White House and the FBI have never denied this. If the story is false, it could be finally laid to rest by simply producing the video surveillance tapes in question. Why have the FBI and the White House failed to do so?

  Now, Cradle tells him to slow down the tape to hopefully made out the face of the killer, forensic specialist scrolls into the tape to discover a blurry pale white of a man with Hispanic features. Now, Cradle has something to go on and work with so to speak, a likeness of the killer. He tells the forensic specialist to stop the tape and return it. Next, he goes down to the third floor where a police artist is located.

  He gives the police artist the physical description of the man shown on the tape: 5’9 175 lbs, dark-skinned “ Hispanic looking man” to interpret the data into the criminal identification system. After fishing through hundreds, thousands and possibly hundred thousands of criminals in the NCIC system, a picture comes up of man with dark skin, long and black hair, ,with Hispanic features along with a mustache and goatee. Cradle would later describe the man to a sketch artist for the Washington Post. The sketch was published in the Washington Post as well as the Washington Times newspapers.

  Also, the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department created a flyer, which was printed up in up several hundreds of his pictures to passed out by patrol officers throughout the city of Washington. Also, these officers posted a copies of the flyers on street lamp posts, community centers, Metro buses and trains as well.

  The next day which was July 8 , detectives and patrol officers

  began receiving the flyers with the killer’s picture on it. The object of this manhunt is the man who picture is displayed on the flyer they now are displaying to the general public.

  The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria-DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. becomes the target search area , wider and larger than life. The real result is the local communities being on the cutting edge across scores of miles.

  Cradle was riding along in his car on the southwest waterfront which is called “The Wharf” when he received a call patched through by police dispatcher at Metropolitan Police Department from anonymous caller who saw the telephone number posted on a flyer in a tree in Vienna, Virginia.

  Caller: “ I was out walking my Doberman Pinscher near the Wolf Trap Filene Center when I discovered a black duffle lying near a couple of trees, I open the bag and found a badly soiled Secret Service all uniform balled up and stuffed in the bag.

  Cradle: “Where do you live?”

  Caller: “I live on 419 Mill Street SE Vienna, Virginia.”

  Cradle: “ I will be right over to pick up that duffle bag.”

  Cradle immediately hangs up his cell phone. Then, He makes an U turn to head west from southwest to Constitution Avenue onto the exit to I- 66. Traffic is always heavy heading to the Northern Virginia area but it is after rush hour and it is moving smooth and steady for the next fifteen minutes when it slows due to road construction on the shoulder of the road, Now it is moving again smooth for twenty minutes where Cradle takes the exit for 123 Vienna, he drives past the Metro Station and makes a right turn on Main Street and drive the next 5 minutes until he gets to Mill Street where he makes a right turn. Cradle drives the street about ½ block until he spots the house number 419, he parks his car and walks up to the house and rings the doorbell, the gentleman opens the door as Cradle proceeds to flashes his badge to him.

  “I am Detective Michael Cradle , I spoke to you by phone a few hours ago.”

  “Good afternoon, Detective Cradle, I am Daniel Rush, I spoke to you on the phone this morning about finding the black duffle bag.”

  Cradle: “Nice to meet you Mr. Rush.”

  Rush: “Wait a minute, so I can go get the duffle back for you.”

  Cradle: “Okay Mr. Rush.”

  Rush” Here is the black duffle bag Detective Cradle” as he hands over to him.

  Cradle, says “Thank you Mr. Rush, Have a nice day” Mr. Rush shuts his door to his home. Cradle gets back into his car drives back down Mill Street and makes a left onto Main Street to head back on I-66 east to Washington. The traffic is moving swift and smooth as he head east on I-66 on his way back to D.C.

  Once Cradle arrives back at MPD headquarters about thirty minutes, he turns over the duffle bag to the crew in the forensic lab for evaluation. He hope that some fingerprints will be found on the bag as well as on the clothing of the killer. The forensic lab crew began immediately working on the duffle bag. They performed extensive analyses of the physical evidence of the duffle bag found by Mr. Rush, the man who lives in Vienna, VA, that found it Wolf Trap Filene Center.

  The Wolf Trap Filene Center located at America’s National Park for the Performing Arts, Wolf Trap’s majestic Filene Center provides the Washington, DC metropolitan area with a magical outdoor venue for world class performances of every genre. Operated in partnership with the National Park Service, the Filene Center houses over ninety (90) performances annually from late May to early September..

  Among the tests conducted by the forensic lab: an examination of the bag for fingerprints of the killer; a chemical and physical comparison of gunpowder and lead residue on Royster’s clothing with that of the killer’s discarded Secret Service uniform; an analysis of hair fiber and lint found on the uniform and a fingerprint analysis. The forensic lab has completed their work on the duffle in which the forensic scientist could create his report of his findings to be left on Cradle’s desk on the next morning.

  On July 9, Cradle walks into his office to find the forensic lab report on the black duffle bag on his desk. Four experts in the field of forensic pathology reviewed and analyzed the evidence which was the duffle bag submitted by Detective Cradle. Cradle began to read the forensic lab report:

  The black duffle bag was examined for fingerprints but none was found. The conclusion is the killer wore physical examination gloves carrying and handling the bag.

  The Secret Service uniform is the “real McCoy”, the genuine item worn by the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division consisted of white shirt complete with Secret Service insignia and U.S. flag patch along with black slacks with a gold stripe running along both legs of the pants.

  No other items were found in the black duffle bag by the forensic lab team. The bag did not even contain a name tag identifying the owner of it. How strange is that?

  About half of the day is almost over when Cradle received anonymous tip from a caller at his desk, The caller relays to Cradle that he discover in a luggage storage locker number 402 located at Dulles International Airport a Secret Service officer hat and badge. Cradle says “Thank you to the caller.”

  He hangs up, he walks out of his office, to take elevator downstairs to head out the rear of the building to pick up his car. He drives the street makes a left on fifth street and drives down to the intersection where Pennsylvania Avenue and Constitution Avenues meet And proceeds down Constitution Avenue onto the ramp near State Department to I-66. He runs into some early ru
sh traffic at 2:30 p.m. but no bottlenecks to slow him down.

  Washington Dulles International Airport(ISATA: IAD, ICAO: KIAD) is a public airport located 25 miles (40 km) west of the central business district of Washington, D.C.in Dulles, Virginia. It is located partly in Chantilly and partly in Dulles, west of Herndon and southwest of Sterling. In 1958, the village of Willard was torn down to make room for Dulles,and countless roads, homes, stores and schools were demolished to make room for runaways, concourses and other features. It serves the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.

  He arrives at Dulles at 3:05 p.m.,He enters the main terminal area, before he goes to the locker he puts on a pair of examination gloves. Next, he proceeds to the luggage storage locker and goes to locker number 402 and open it and discovers the Secret Service hat and badge intact in the locker. He pulls out a large evidence bag to place the Secret Service hat and badge into it. He walks back out of the main terminal of Dulles to his car parked out with the placard in it “On Official MPD Police Business” Cradle glances at his watch 3:30 p.m. rush hours is not full and effect on both Beltway. He is back in his car with the large evidence bag on the seat driving along I-66 proceeding east, the traffic is moving not stop and go like most days. Cradle is happy about that he can get back to headquarters at least before 5:00 p.m.