Mammoth Highway's Big Pine Murder

by Larry Johnston

  Cook then replied,” Hold on a minute, I see a lot of ATV parts over here. I’m seeing wheels with tires, seats, fenders and other parts. You better come on around the end of the row and walk back up toward me. I’ll make contact with two guys selling all this stuff.”

  Horn quickened his pace and turned to go up the next row. About fifty feet up the row, he saw Cook talking to a couple of grubby looking guys. They looked like they were on their last dime with no hope for anything better in their future. They were high desert riff-raff who would make you want to watch your valuables closely if you see them heading your way.

  Cook asked for prices on some of the many motorcycle and ATV parts laying on the ground. Horn heard one of the sellers tell Cook, “Man, we just got to sell all this stuff so we can eat and pay our rent. Times are hard and we are really making deals so let us know what you want; we’ll make a package price for all of it.”

  Cook asked the guy. “Where did you get all these wheels, tires, seats and other stuff; you sure it’s not stolen?” One seller quickly responded, “Nah man, we got it from a friend who wrecked the ATV’s and motorcycles and he just wants to part ‘em out. We’re selling the stuff for him.”

  Detective Horn looked inside the open back doorway of a box trailer that was hitched to the beat-up truck. There he saw a clearly visible, stripped down, motorcycle frame leaning against the trailer’s side wall. The frame had not been put out on the ground to be sold. He quickly used his phone to take a picture of the frame’s neck serial number while Cook distracted the two sellers. Horn then took pictures the truck and trailer’s license plates. Afterward he walked away in the opposite direction and from a distance he motioned for Cook to join him.

  Cook departed after telling the two sellers, “I’ll be back, just set two of the front wheels and tires aside and hold them.” He had no intention of buying them, he just wanted to make the guys think he would be back. He then moved on to catch up with Detective Horn.

  Cook and Horn went to the building used as a snack bar. There Horn called the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department to see if there was a deputy nearby. Within twenty minutes a deputy met the guys. After a short discussion, the deputy ran the motorcycle frame serial number to see if it was stolen. After running the number, the deputy stated it belonged to a stolen Honda motorcycle. The motorcycle had been reported as stolen the previous month from the town of Apple Creek.

  Horn told the San Bernardino Deputy where the frame was located and described the two guys selling parts. Another deputy was called and when that deputy arrived, the four men headed to the sales space to confront the two sellers.

  The San Bernardino Deputies located the frame, confirmed its stolen status and made two arrests. A call was made for a county truck to come to the Swap Meet and load all of the parts. The two deputies congratulated Horn and Cook on finding stolen parts, and the two suspects, while in San Bernardino County. Not being needed any further, Horn and Cook gave their contact information to the San Bernardino deputies and they departed.

  The guys went to exchange the tractor tires at the Farm Supply store nearby. Cook said to Horn, “Well, old buddy, your idea was good but not for stolen property from our county’s cases. Maybe next time.”

  Horn agreed, “We made a run at it and luckily we did find some stolen property. I suspect the two guys were the thieves and all the items they were selling could be stolen. We helped another agency so I feel good about it. Now, are you going to buy me a Chinese Buffet Lunch since I did the driving?”

  Cook replied, “Yeah, I’ll spring for lunch as your hunch deserves being rewarded, but only for one free lunch.” The two men each consumed a big lunch. They felt good about their day of work, even though they were not officially working and were not in Inyo County. In California it made no difference because peace officers have authority anywhere in the state, not just in the county or city where they are employed.

  Now after a big lunch and heading the truck back toward Independence, the guys discussed the day’s events. Cook told Horn,” I guess the deputies in Victor Valley will now make checks at the Swap Meet looking for stolen property. We got lucky the first time we looked and found criminal activity right under their noses.”

  Horn smiled and added,” Yeah, we just got lucky I guess but it will make them take notice. It isn’t every day that two old high-country deputies sniff out crime occurring in another county.”

  The trip home went well. The guys parted company in town where Cook left his truck that morning. When Horn started north to his house, he drove past the big Sequoia tree where the old unsolved murder case began.

  He thought to himself, “I really need to find time to look that old case over again. Maybe when I close some of these current cases I will have some spare time.”

  On Monday, back at the office, Deputy Cook had already told others about the Saturday trip to Victor Valley. He told how he and Detective Horn located stolen property and helped with two arrests while in San Bernardino County.

  Dispatcher Eva tapped on the squad room window glass and motioned Detective Horn away from the group. Eva then told Horn, “You have a message from the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department; you need to call a Detective Sam Rudd.”

  Horn made the call and Detective Rudd told him, “These two guys who were arrested for selling stolen parts at the Swap Meet are a wealth of information on crimes here and also in other counties.”

  He then said, “Both these guys are squealing like little pigs caught under a gate; you guys hit the jackpot when you ran across these two knuckle-heads.”

  During the discussion, Detective Rudd gave Horn the names of three Bishop area residents the two arrestees identified as their source for stolen motorcycles and parts. Both suspects independently named the same three guys as their suppliers of stolen goods coming out of Inyo County.

  Rudd said, “These two guys are not the sharpest knives in the drawer. They are telling us everything they know about anything.”

  Horn’s ears perked up because he now had some names to follow up on for possible suspects in his open cases. Detective Rudd thanked Horn and he then said, “Both you and Cook will be receiving a letter of commendation from the Sheriff of San Bernardino County. He liked your approach to crime solving. He wants your boss, Inyo County Sheriff Baker, to know his deputy’s work was appreciated, even when performed in another jurisdiction.”

  Rudd further stated, “The Sheriff will be addressing our deputies about their doing some foot patrol at the Swap Meet for future crime solving.”

  Numerous cases in the two counties could likely be solved from the information the two enterprising used-parts salesmen were now sharing. They both wanted to shorten their sentences and were cooperating with the investigators for sentence consideration from the District Attorney.

  Horn was pleased that he and Cook would be receiving what is often referred to as an “Atta Boy” letter. But, he also made note that one needs to be careful as one little screw up somewhere along the way that results in an …. “Aw Shit,” …. can always wipe out a good “Atta Boy.”

  The next few days would be spent tracking down the three names the Victor Valley guys provided for stealing things in Inyo County. Detective Horn located the names in arrest record files and sure enough, they were all Bishop area residents with criminal backgrounds, mostly for petty theft. All three guys still lived in the outlying countryside so finding them would not be difficult.

  One of the named suspects, an adult, was on probation so a visit to the County Probation Department was in order. The assigned Probation Officer was most helpful and he agreed to take a trip with Horn and Cook to visit the suspect at his home. There, the suspect named Charlie Stout, was contacted. After a short search of the property, numerous items were located and determined to be stolen. Charlie was then arrested for possession of stolen property, a felony, which would land him a stay at the grey bar hotel, also known as the county jail.

  Charlie was, as they say,
caught with the goods, his goose was cooked, so he spilled the beans on his two younger friends. Two young boys named, Bob and Tim Benson, living on the opposite side of town, were Charlie’s partners in crime. Because the boys were still juveniles, Charlie became the brains of the outfit, mainly because he had a truck and box trailer. In reality, there probably was not one real functioning brain shared among all three of the guys.

  Charlie copped out to more than a dozen burglaries and thefts with his two young friends before the day was over. These three guys were not smart criminals; they had just been somewhat lucky, until the Swap Meet sellers started talking.

  Detective Horn and Deputy Cook took Charlie to jail. Then they went to arrest the Benson juveniles who were later booked into the County Juvenile Hall. Within a couple days the suspects all admitted their guilt and a dozen cases were cleared by making the three arrests.

  The county could now revert to being a relatively safe place since the thieves were off the streets. Horn and Cook felt better even though less than half the stolen property was ever recovered. There was no way to find out who bought the stolen items at the Swap Meet in the past few months.

  Charlie’s place was the storage location for all stolen property before it would be sold or traded to the Victor Valley guys. The juveniles could not hide stolen things at their house because their parents would ask too many questions. The three guys had disposed of many parts from stolen motorcycles and ATV’s taken from Inyo, San Bernardino and Kern County for a period of several months.

  CHAPTER VI

  RECENTLY FOUND REVOLVER

  A few days later, the property report regarding the revolver landed on Detective Mike Horn’s desk. He knew very little about the ten-year-old unsolved murder of Randy Morris. The case had been discussed on occasion around the department; but he had not done an in-depth review of the file. Due to the location where the revolver was found and Mr. Morris’ body having been found in close proximity, Detective Horn decided to pull the old murder file. He wanted to see if a connection might be made.

  The file contained minimal evidence and no writer’s notes or pictures on the victim’s camera memory card were included per the CSI. He thought this was somewhat strange for a writer doing research. The file had been in storage for the past ten years because it had been determined to be unsolvable.

  Horn contacted the State Crime Lab in Sacramento and made arrangements to ship the found revolver there for possible serial number identification. A couple weeks later, the revolver was returned from the lab with a report stating the serial numbers were too deeply ground away to be recovered. Only three out of possibly seven numbers or letters were identifiable; and they were at best, questionable. Further attempts to recover the numbers would be futile.

  Detective Horn decided to call Mrs. Morris to see if she might be of any help on the case. He called to tell her he was looking at the matter again because a gun had recently been found. He didn’t know if it was in any way related to the case. He didn’t mention that the gun was a revolver since Investigator’s generally do not release all the information they have available on a case.

  Detective Horn asked Mrs. Morris. “Did Randy ever own any hand guns?” She replied, “He did years ago, a twenty-two, …. or maybe some other numbers, I think. But, he told me he sold or traded the gun to an old navy buddy. I never saw Randy’s gun and I didn’t know any more about it as I didn’t like having guns around the house.”

  Mrs. Morris disclosed that around six months after Randy’s death she found four hundred dollars in cash and three of Randy’s credit cards. It was all in one of her shoe boxes. Of all places, the box was on the floor in the back corner of the bedroom closet.

  Randy carried a Visa Card, Master Card, Navy Credit Union Card and an American Express Card. He never possessed any other credit cards. She wondered why he had not taken his other credit cards and the money with him on the trip.

  She destroyed the three found credit cards as they had been cancelled. She already had new cards issued in her name only. The old Visa card had been returned with Randy’s property when she got the truck returned shortly after his death. Mrs. Morris destroyed the Visa card too because it had been cancelled and a new one had been issued in her name alone.

  In the shoe box she also found a receipt from the local home supply store for some things Randy purchased prior to going on his trip north to the mountains. He purchased three bungee cords, a can of dark green spray paint and a long fruit picker’s pole used to pull fruit off trees.

  She stated, “Since there is a tall avocado tree in our back yard, Randy might have intended to use the fruit pole grabber thing to remove the avocados.”

  She thought he may have had some home repairs in mind and didn’t tell her about them. Since there was a small drooping tree in the side yard by the fence, she thought it could have been tied to the fence with the bungee cords. The old drain down-pipe from the roof gutter could use a new coat of green paint to match the house trim. She didn’t know anything more about Randy’s purchases.

  Mrs. Morris said, “I did not find any of the items Randy had purchased or I could have returned them for a refund. He received his employee discount; but I still could have used the money, …. if I found the items listed on the receipt.”

  Other than that, she had no additional information. Detective Horn made notes of their discussion for the file. He decided to review the old unsolved case in more detail later. It was late in the day and time to go home. Other burglary cases kept coming in and the detective had to devote more time to those matters. Weeks passed, and Horn forgot about the old Morris murder case file.

  One morning Detective Horn was having breakfast at the local downtown restaurant. He was discussing the old Randy Morris murder case with the restaurant owner, Ms. Edna Hook, and the topic of the big tennis shoe prints came up.

  Detective Horn told Edna, “The photographs of the shoe prints, tire prints and the plaster castings were all still in the case file. Since nothing had ever been found to use for comparison with the shoe prints or tire castings, that was a dead end.”

  Also, in the restaurant, at the time were Alvin and Bill Johnson, the County road crew brothers. The big tennis shoe prints, being commented on by Detective Horn, caught Alvin’s attention.

  Alvin told Horn, “I found some big shoes kind of like those you’re talking ‘bout, many years ago and I gave ‘em to Bill. On that same day we found the man’s body, the tennis shoes were just setting on a picnic table along Highway 168, a few miles east of Big Pine.

  Bill said, “No one was seen in the whole area. Later on, that same day I give them tennis shoes to my oldest boy.” Alvin remarked. “I think the shoes were a size ten or twelve, they really looked like new. The shoes were black and white; he thought the brand name on the side was Ball. They were high top, older style basketball shoes.”

  Bill stated, “I’d never seen tennis shoes that big afore. My oldest boy shore worn ‘em out years ago. Old Alvin’s finding ‘em saved me a few bucks that fall.”

  Detective Horn later checked at the Mountain Supply store. It had been casually mentioned by the motel owner, Ms. Edie Nutt, during the initial investigation.

  Deputy Short retired to live in Idaho. He left no notes in the file indicating he contacted anyone at the supply store during his investigation years ago. Horn thought Deputy Short may have dropped the ball and he figured the small comment by Ms. Nutt didn’t warrant any follow-up investigation.

  Horn spoke with the Mountain Supply store owner, Ralph Peck who, to his surprise, remembered selling a pair of big tennis shoes to a guy years ago.

  Ralph said, “I no longer keep sales records that far back.” I thought it was a bit strange since the slight built customer had at best a size eight to nine foot, much smaller than the tennis shoes he bought.”

  Ralph stated, “I never sold a pair of that size shoes before and I never ordered any that big again.” Ralph went on to say, “Those black and white shoes ha
d been laying around the store for years and I didn’t think I would ever sell them, before the rubber soles dried out. The stranger who bought the shoes was specific. He wanted the largest pair of tennis shoes in the store because his son had big feet.”

  Ralph then added, “I sold him the big shoes and I never did see him again. One year, at the beginning of basketball season, my employee Sally Burns, ordered men’s Ball brand tennis shoes, size six to size twelve to sell to local school kids. A slicktalking salesman from down south had her on the phone; and he talked her into placing an order before I knew about it. I later paid the bill, but I wasn’t happy.”

  Ralph continued saying, “Nobody on a local team ever bought that last size twelve pair of shoes. Most of the kids in this county have smaller feet; I should know as I have been selling them shoes for years now. There’s no other shoe store in this town.”

  Ralph went on, “My employee, Sally is a good girl and she’s been with me for years now, since her high school days, maybe a dozen years ago. She lives with her mom in an apartment just one street over from the back side of the store. Yeah, she might be just a little slow with some things now and then.”

  “One time a local boy said back in Sally’s high school days the guys teased and laughed at her a lot. They would say, ‘Sally is so dumb…. she still thinks peter’s a rabbit…… if you catch their meaning.”

  Ralph put his right hand up to cover his mouth. He chuckled a bit, after he repeated the kid’s crude remark. Then he whispered, “Also, I never let Sally order any shoes again after that time. I can’t tie up money in inventory that just lays around for years. That isn’t good for business.”

  Detective Horn showed Ralph a copy of Mr. Morris’ driver’s license and asked, “Is this possibly the guy who bought the tennis shoes?”

  Ralph studied the photo a few seconds and then said, “I can’t rightly say if it was or not. I remember the guy had a baseball cap pulled down. It almost covered half his upper face like he didn’t want me to see him clearly. Because he was short and I am six feet two inches tall, I never really got a full-on view of his face. I really can’t say for sure if this was the guy as it was a long time ago too.”