Something Happened to Grandma

by Engstrom, Elizabeth

  Finally, on February 7, they moved everything out of the motel room and back into the red truck that Jessica’s dad had loaned them, and headed back to Oregon. Gabe said it was time to confront Bob about the rat poison and the way they were being treated. It just wasn’t right.

  Jessica went along with whatever Gabriel said. He was her husband, the father of her child and the head of their household. If he wanted to smoke a little dope, well, that was okay because he had a medical marijuana card. It was medicinal.

  They drove all night, pulling into Bandon at daybreak and creeping up the long driveway. Bob and Robin generally stayed up until 2 AM and slept in until noon.

  Gabe was adamant that he have the upper hand when he confronted them, so they parked behind the garage. For six hours, Jessica sat in the truck and tried to occupy her 4-year-old while Gabe went into the woods to keep surveillance on the house until his mother and her boyfriend got up and left.

  Eventually they did, and that was the last time they left the house alive.

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  Chapter 4—On the Run

  Gabriel took his terrified, disoriented family on a wild ride that February night after the shootings. The truck slid down the steep driveway, banging into the embankment, until Jessica thought the truck would tumble off the side of the road and roll down into the river. When she asked why he’d shot his mother and Bob, Gabe replied, “Because it had to be done.” That was explanation enough for her.

  Gabe drove directly to the Eschler’s neighborhood in Coquille and parked a few houses down the street. Gabe knew that Fred Eschler had guns. He also knew that the Eschlers thought of him as a son, and that they were good-hearted people who would likely do anything for him in his hour of need.

  He said to Jessica, “Follow along. Do what I say.” And she did.

  Fred and Laura Eschler were in the kitchen about 9 PM when the doorbell rang. Laura opened the door. Moments later, Gabe was in the kitchen, talking with rational urgency to them—no mystical, magical, manic weirdness. He said that he’d been working undercover for a secret Air Force agency and that terrorists had killed his mother and Bob. He claimed he had shot one of them at the scene before he and his family escaped. A handgun fell out of his clothing as he talked, and he asked for .40-caliber ammunition for Kennelly’s gun and a ride to an Air Force base in California, where he could check in with his agency and find safety for his family.

  Fred had no reason to disbelieve Gabe. He was very aware and very much in control. Both Fred and his wife had to work in the morning, so he couldn’t give them a ride, but they could take his car. He gave Gabe a Beretta 9mm pistol and a shoulder holster, and together they loaded three magazines, while Laura cleaned some personal items out of their silver Ford Taurus and fixed them some food for their trip. They didn’t have any shoes for Kalea, but Laura gave Jessica some thick socks for the girl and warm clothes for everyone, as well as the cash they had on hand—about $80. Jessica asked if they had a car seat, but Gabe said they wouldn’t need one. He’d be down in the back seat with Kalea. Those who were after him would be looking for the white truck with three people. A silver Taurus with a lone woman driving would not be suspicious. When Fred asked more probing questions, Gabe countered with, “It’s better for you not to know.”

  As they were leaving, Kalea looked up and said, “Something happened to Grandma.”

  “Let’s not talk about Grandma,” Gabe said, and hustled his family out the door and into a car they knew nobody would be looking for. He and Kalea got down in the back seat and Jessica drove through the night toward San Diego.

  Again, the conversation revolved around where they were going to go to make a fresh start.

  Because they had suddenly left the Kennelly residence, Jessica was without her purse, and Gabe had left without his wallet. They had no identification with them at all, so they drove straight through to the motel they’d stayed in the week before in San Diego, and Jessica was able to secure them a room for one night, without identification, because the desk clerk remembered her. Gabe disassembled Bob’s gun and threw it out the window, where it was recovered and turned over to the San Diego police department. The police had custody of the gun before the bodies were discovered in Oregon. At one point, Jessica asked Gabe to drive past the Mormon temple in San Diego so she could show Kalea, but Gabe refused. “It’s just another building,” he said. Instead, he pulled into a hospital parking lot and stole a California license plate from a similar Ford Taurus, but never got around to putting it on the Eschler’s car.

  Short on cash, Gabe robbed a business while Jessica and Kalea waited in the car, and then they headed east. In Yuma, they used the two Wal-Mart gift cards totaling $170 from Bob Kennelly’s wallet for provisions because they’d left with nothing. Kalea got some clothes and a car seat, and they bought toothpaste, soap, hair products and such. Gabe threw the rest of Bob’s wallet out the window.

  In Arizona, he robbed another business, and after that, they panhandled at truck stops. Jessica did most of the begging. “She’s very humble,” Gabe said. Big-hearted truckers were willing to give her money for gas.

  In Mesa, they spent the night with some of Jessica’s LDS friends. Gabe lied to them about being in the Air Force, and said they were on their way to California, relocating from the East Coast to the West Coast. The next morning, they continued their odyssey around the country, restlessly looking for a place to land. He convinced Jessica that they could change identities and live normal lives. Their past was behind them now, and they had a good future. She believed him. She didn’t need to leave; she didn’t need to call the police. He’d take care of his family, as the head of the household was supposed to do.

  Occasionally they would stop at a public library to use a computer, trying to connect with people they’d met online playing the fantasy game Perfect World. While they connected here and there, nothing panned out.

  They didn’t find a place to stay until they reached Michigan. Then Gabe sweet-talked fellow gamer Kelly Love and her husband, Scott Snyder, and convinced them to meet him and Jessica in Washington, D.C.

  Gabe had met Kelly in Perfect World and they talked and flirted via Skype. He told her he worked for the Air Force and he helped her with some ideas for graphics for her new website. When he called and said he was traveling around, meeting some of his gamer friends, she wasn’t surprised.

  The Morris family arrived in Washington on February 14 with $10 to their names and found Kelly and Scott in the bar of a pizza place. Kelly and Scott bought them dinner, and then, at Gabe’s persistent and persuasive urging, reluctantly agreed to let the family stay with them for a night. Kelly and Scott were living at the home of Scott’s mother in Dumfries, Virginia.

  Gabe told Jessica that he thought very highly of Kelly. He said that in the online gaming world, she had stuck up for him, and he hoped they would be able to give them a car and some money. Jessica didn’t know that Gabe and Kelly had been engaging in an online flirtation, but that attraction blossomed when they got together in person. When they got to Kelly and Scott’s place, Gabe discovered that Kelly had been quite ill for some time with an intestinal ailment that made it difficult for her to eat.

  Gabe offered to heal her.

  This wasn’t news to Jessica, as Gabe had healed her and Kalea many times before. “He’s blessed in the ability to heal people. He’s a priesthood holder in the church,” she said.

  Kelly wasn’t sure about all of this, so she talked it over with her husband. Already she could sense that Gabe had a strong hold over Jessica, and that frightened her, as she felt herself becoming ensnared as well. She suspected that if Gabe really could heal her, he would have a powerful hold on her, too.

  Gabe told Scott that he had been poisoned—that he deliberately ate an amount that would have killed an ordinary person—but because of his extraordinary powers granted by God, he was able to heal himself. Scott told Kelly said that receiving a blessing from Gabe couldn’t hurt, and in
fact, it might help. Kelly was tired of being in pain.

  So Gabe prayed over her and convinced her that he had the power to heal. Immediately, she felt better.

  She began sleeping in their bed. Kelly, Gabe, Kalea and Jessica.

  Soon, it was just Gabe and Kelly in the bed. They had sex during the day while Scott worked and Jessica and Kalea were elsewhere in the house. If Jessica happened to get near the room where Gabe and Kelly were having private time, he became furious, accusing his meek wife of spying on him.

  To earn their keep, Jessica cooked for the family. When more people came over and she hadn’t prepared enough to feed everyone, she wouldn’t eat.

  Once, Kelly found Jessica sitting by an open window, and she took the opportunity to ask her if she ever doubted Gabe’s actions or the things he said. Jessica said no, that she trusted him, and when her trust faltered, it was a slip of her faith. Gabe told Jessica that her parents were evil, and she believed him. Later, Kelly said that she thought Jessica loved Gabe and wanted something he wouldn’t give her, which was his love.

  After a week, Gabe sensed that it was time to move on. He wanted to go to Florida, where his brother Jesse lived with his family. He began to pressure Kelly and Scott to join them on the road. Kelly and Scott had money and a fresh car, and Gabe convinced Jessica that if they all traveled together, Jessica wouldn’t have to beg for gas money anymore. Kelly and Scott were going to help them.

  Scott said no, and Kelly resisted. Gabe was insistent. He wanted Kelly to go with them. He began to do what had always worked for him in the past: Amping up his fast-talking line. Saying he worked in a secret agency for the Air Force had motivated people to help him in the past; surely it would work again. Kelly was skeptical. If they were so important to the Air Force, why were they so broke with no place to stay?

  To try to convince her, Gabe confessed that he’d had to go so far as to kill his mother and her boyfriend, and Jessica confirmed it. He also said that his mother was a prostitute and never raised him. He told her that he grew up on the streets and never knew his father. He tried to help his mother by letting her move into his house in Bandon, and she tried to poison him in return. She tried to kill him for $100,000, so he had his mother and her boyfriend kneel before him and he shot them both.

  Scott’s mother worked for the police department. When Gabe told Kelly that he had killed his mother, it didn’t take long for this information to get to Scott’s mom. She looked him up on the Internet and found him on the “America’s Most Wanted” television show website.

  Unbeknownst to Gabe, Kelly looked through the bag he had stashed in the closet and found Fred Eschler’s 9mm Berretta. Clearly, she telegraphed her fear to Gabe, because after that, Gabe was with her at all times. Kelly never had the opportunity to be alone with her husband, her brother, or anyone else, because Gabe was always within earshot.

  Gabe and Jessica had been with them for about a week. Gabe could feel the net closing in on him and he began to talk hard and fast to Kelly, who had no idea what to do. She had no idea what he was capable of. A week ago, she was helping out a friend and his family, and now she felt like a hostage. As Gabe got more and more agitated, life for Kelly turned dark and very, very frightening.

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  Chapter 5—The Manhunt

  Fred Escher called the police after Gabe and his family left his home, but because no homicides were outstanding, he was referred to the FBI. Terrorism was under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, not Coos County.

  Two days after the murders, on February 10, the Coquille police received a complaint that a white Dodge truck was illegally parked. A patrol officer was dispatched to look into the matter and when he traced the license plate, he drove to Robert Kennelly’s house, where he could see the open French doors and a woman lying motionless on the deck. Upon closer examination, he also saw Bob Kennelly’s body.

  He called for reinforcements.

  Detective Daniel Looney responded with the Coos County Major Crime Team. With the help of the Oregon State Police Crime Laboratory, they carefully searched the house for evidence. The Heckler & Koch handgun case, along with the receipt for the gun’s purchase, was found in the safe in the Morrises’ bedroom. Its serial number matched a gun found in a grass strip alongside a street in San Diego. A nationwide manhunt was initiated to locate the main suspect, Gabriel Morris. He was considered armed and extremely dangerous. Jessica Morris was wanted as a material witness. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children began looking for Kalea Morris and sent flyers around the country. The television show “America’s Most Wanted” became interested in the case and aired an episode on the Morris family on February 20.

  Heckler & Koch .40 cal Pistol

  Image by C. E. Bardsley

  Bob Kennelly was found face-up on the floor of the living room, with wounds to his lower leg and the back of his neck that indicated the trajectory of the bullets came from the balcony. The fatal wound cut through his liver and into his lung. The shot was fired as he lay on the ground. The shell casing fell onto his clothing.

  Robin Anstey was found face-up on the deck, just outside the open French doors with wounds through her upper arm, her left leg and her buttocks. The fatal wound was to her head.

  The Oregon State Major Crime Team used dowels with lasers on their ends to gauge the trajectory of all the bullets found in the furniture, walls and flooring. All in all, 13 .40-caliber shell casings were found. There were bullet holes in the leaves of the umbrella plant that Gabe stood behind when he began firing. Then he apparently leaned over the balcony, presumably for greater accuracy. Shell casings bounced off the wall and around the kitchen as he moved across the balcony and down the stairs. Bullet fragments were found in a candle bowl on the kitchen countertop and in a Christmas tree stand on the deck. Marijuana and smoking paraphernalia was found in the castle room, and 26 12-inch-tall juvenile marijuana plants were found in the grow room in the garage where Bob kept a pristine 1951 DeSoto.

  Jessica’s purse was found in the Pope’s red truck, and Gabe’s passport was in the castle room. Deep tire marks were grooved into a grassy area where they drove Bob Kennelly’s truck recklessly down the steep driveway to escape the crime scene.

  Getaway Tire Tracks, Kennelly Home

  Police Evidence Photo

  The murder of one’s parent is not an uncommon event. “Parricide” is the term used when a child kills a parent. “Matricide” is the murder of a mother; “patricide” is the killing of a father. In Why Kids Kill Parents by Kathleen M. Heide, PhD, the author states that on average, about five parents are killed by their biological children in the US every week. Of the approximately 250 parents killed by their children each year, about 100 of these victims are mothers, most mothers who are slain by their offspring are killed by sons, and most matricides involve adult offenders.

  Heide states: “In parricide cases, I have seen good parents overindulge their children with fatal results… [the child] has no frustration tolerance, meaning that he does not know how to deal with disappointment, and gets angry. Sometimes the anger is so intense that it erupts into deadly rage.”

  All evidence found at the Bandon house crime scene pointed to the eruption of smoldering rage. While Gabe seems to have carefully groomed those who would eventually testify in his behalf of his craziness, once the deed was committed, he seemed to have no particular plan, except to get out of the house and get to the Eschlers for the help he knew they’d provide. After that, he knew he was running on borrowed time.

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  Chapter 6—The Capture

  Gabe convinced a terrified Kelly to go, but Scott wasn’t having any of it. On the morning of February 22, Scott left for work. Kelly called her brother while Gabe told Jessica to start packing up the Eschlers’ car because they were leaving. Kelly’s brother brought over his Ford Explorer. Gabe packed up Kelly’s belongings without her help or permission and began loading them into it, along with
a shotgun that was kept mounted on the wall.

  The police had a surveillance team at the house. As soon as they determined that the Eschlers’ car was parked out front, a SWAT team was called in and the neighborhood sealed off.

  Afraid for her daughter-in-law, Scott Snyder’s mother called Kelly’s cell phone. Knowing that Gabe was probably listening, she told Kelly that her mother was in the hospital and she needed Kelly to meet her there right away. Kelly knew that her mother-in-law was trying to tell her to get out of the house, and Kelly got the message, but getting away from Gabe wasn’t that easy.

  An extremely agitated Gabe recognized the police surveillance and got the show on the road. Later, he said that he thought it would be better to be apprehended in a public place during a traffic stop than to have police storm the house.

  When they were stopped by the police, Jessica was driving the Eschlers’ silver Ford Taurus with Kalea. Gabe and Kelly were in her brother’s car with a shotgun in the back. They surrendered without incident. Gabe had Scott Snyder’s wallet.

  Dumfries, VA Neighborhood Where Gabe and Jessica Arrested

  Photo by C. E. Bardsley

  In a long, rambling videotaped interview, Gabriel Morris confessed to the murders, describing in detail how he ambushed his mother and Bob Kennelly, shooting from the balcony, and firing the fatal shots as he stood over them. He never said precisely why his mother had to die (rage can be like that), although he said that Kennelly had to die first because he was poisoning his family, and nothing was more important to Gabe than his family. He’d do anything for them. Secondly, he had evidence that Kennelly was thinking about sexually abusing Kalea, and nobody had ever loved a child as much as Gabe loved Kalea.

  He told the story about being dropped into the ocean at age 4 and God granting him the power to breathe underwater. He denied robbing anyone to fund their cross-country adventure.