by Gary C. King
Because of the manner in which Kathy had been stricken, the first medical conditions that doctors would rule out would be heart attack or cardiac arrest, stroke, and pulmonary embolism, which they, in their professional opinions, had done. After each condition being examined had turned out negative, the next thing that would normally be looked at in a case like Kathy’s is the possibility of a drug overdose of some kind. In Kathy’s case, however, much of the toxicological testing had been done posthumously.
At one point in his investigation, Detective Jenkins spoke with Jennifer Dado, a registered nurse who worked in the emergency room at South Meadows Hospital since May 2004. She had worked with Chaz Higgs, Jenkins learned, for approximately 1½ years, until he had left for South Carolina and Virginia after Kathy died. She had worked with Higgs somewhat regularly, and, she said, there had been an ongoing joke of sorts that had involved him. According to Dado, anytime the nurses were caught up with their own work, particularly during the slower moments in the ER, they would occasionally ask each other, “Is there anything I can do to help you with any of your patients?” When Dado or another nurse would pose the question to Higgs, his reply would sometimes be “You can get rid of my wife for me.” Everyone would just laugh it off and then get on with their work, because it had seemed like it was all in jest, a little dark—or gallows—humor that is so common among those who deal with emergencies on an everyday basis. It’s a mechanism that is often used to help offset the high-stress levels that go with the job.
According to Dado, sometimes it would seem like Higgs had made the comments because he was unhappy in his relationship. She and the others realized, of course, that Higgs hadn’t meant for any of them to literally get rid of his wife for him, but the implication in their minds was that Higgs simply wasn’t happy and didn’t want to be with Kathy anymore. Dado said that she once advised Higgs that if he and his wife were that unhappy, they should try marital counseling, or that it might be best to just cut their ties with each other and move on. After all, it wasn’t as if Kathy or Higgs were inexperienced in severing spousal relationships. Higgs had responded that he was “working on moving out,” but that the timing wasn’t good at that point.
On the other hand, when Kathy had been going through the impeachment proceedings, Higgs had seemed very supportive of his wife during that time frame, but as time went on, something had begun to change, according to Dado. He became less supportive of Kathy, and had started making the joke about getting rid of her. However, even when Higgs had been supportive of Kathy, Dado said, she had never heard him refer to his wife in an affectionate manner.
Nonetheless, Jenkins asked Dado when she had last heard Higgs make the “get rid of my wife” remark. She said it had been approximately six months prior to July 8, 2006.
According to Dado, on one occasion when Higgs had the day off, the ER was short-staffed and she had called his home to ask if he was available to come in to fill a shift. Kathy had answered the phone, and hadn’t seemed too happy about the call.
“Chaz, are you interested in working a shift or part of a shift?” Dado said, recalling her brief conversation with Higgs that day when he got on the phone.
“You know, I can’t,” he said.
Dado explained that she had sensed that Kathy and Higgs were both a little upset that day, and she said that she had expressed that feeling to Higgs on the day that he had returned to work. She said that she was concerned that she might have caused an argument between them.
“No. She’s just a bitch,” Higgs had replied, according to Dado.
Dado had also heard rumors that Kathy Augustine had attempted to use her influence to get a couple of nurses at South Meadows Hospital fired, but she was unable to relate anything more specific to help validate or refute the rumors.
Jenkins knew, of course, that just because Higgs had purportedly used derogatory language in describing Kathy, and making dark humor jokes about having someone get rid of her, that didn’t mean he had killed her. After all, couples frequently call each other names or make derogatory remarks about one another without ever committing an act of violence against the person. Such could easily be the case in Higgs’s situation. But the detective equally knew that such dimly lit glimpses into the frame of mind of an intensely frustrated person could also mean the opposite.
Chapter 14
As the investigation into Kathy Augustine’s death continued, Detective Jenkins spoke to Michelle Ene, Kathy Augustine’s executive assistant. Michelle explained that she began working for Kathy as a state employee in June 2003. Her duties in that capacity consisted of the coordination of Kathy’s events, booking and confirming travel, travel expense reimbursement, and so forth. She did just about anything that Kathy asked her to do in the course of her day-to-day job. As an executive assistant, one tends to become close to the boss, in part because so much time is spent with each other. It’s just the nature of the beast. In Kathy and Michelle’s situation, the two spoke to each other nearly every day, even when Kathy was out of town or away on business, and the two women eventually became friends. Michelle was working for Kathy when Kathy had married Chaz Higgs, and, as friends, the two women naturally talked to each other about their love interests.
According to Michelle, it seemed clear that Kathy had wanted to be with Higgs, at least at first. They scheduled trips with each other, had gone on cruises together, and Kathy would often take him on her political trips and events because she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. Despite problems that had arisen barely ten weeks into their marriage, Kathy had wanted her matrimonial union with Higgs to work. Kathy had really loved Higgs, Michelle said, and had tried to make him happy. For example, she had bought Higgs a Volkswagen Beetle, or Bug, to restore because she had known that he had wanted one. If he wanted something, she would either give him the money to buy it or she would purchase it for him, as long as it was something that she could afford.
Michelle explained that she had been working for Kathy in 2004 when the impeachment investigation and subsequent trial proceedings had occurred. It had been a tough year for Kathy and for everyone concerned, particularly those who had been working on her behalf. But they had all managed to struggle through it, and when it was all over, much of the turmoil, at least as far as Kathy’s political career was concerned, seemed to just go away.
During the three years that Michelle had worked for Kathy, she seemed to thrive on the stress and excitement of being in the political limelight, particularly after the impeachment proceedings ended and she was allowed to finish out her term in office as state controller. Kathy was rarely sick, and Michelle could only recall five or six times that Kathy had been ill during the three years that she had worked for her. She had never complained to Michelle about any health issues.
Kathy had seemed particularly happy in May 2006, which was when she had filed as a candidate for the state treasurer race. Michelle had been with her in the office when she brought out the check for the filing fee. After the filing had been completed, Kathy took Michelle, Acting Chief Deputy Controller Bill Rhinehart, Assistant Controller Mark Taylor, and Chaz Higgs to Adele’s Restaurant, in Carson City, for lunch to celebrate her new candidacy for political office.
During their lunch, Michelle had formed the distinct impression that Higgs was being supportive of her new candidacy. Besides talking about his own new position at Carson-Tahoe Medical Center, Higgs had actually seemed happy regarding Kathy’s new venture and not upset over it, like others had characterized him. And in Michelle’s opinion, Kathy was not stressed-out about the impending campaign. Because politics was her life and her passion, Kathy thrived on all the running around, coordinating events, and attending political meetings and fundraising. According to Michelle, Kathy was looking forward to showing the people of Nevada, after the impeachment, just what she was made of.
At one point, Michelle’s details turned to her boss’s last few days alive, specifically to Friday, July 7, 2006. They had both been
working that day, and Kathy had left the office sometime between 4:00 and 4:30 P.M., about two minutes before Michelle. Michelle hadn’t gone home immediately that day after work and, in fact, didn’t get home until 10:10 P.M. As soon as she walked in the door, a family member told her that Kathy had been trying to reach her by telephone that evening and had called for her three or four times. Michelle called her back immediately, within two minutes or so of arriving at home.
Kathy was awake and answered the phone. She was very upset with Chaz after she had discovered that he had opened a separate bank account. She was also upset with him because, she had told Michelle, he had told Kathy that he was going to leave her. Michelle said that Higgs was there with Kathy while she and Kathy were speaking on the phone, and Kathy had asked Chaz if he wanted to speak to Michelle’s husband about some car jacks that Chaz had wanted to borrow. Chaz, however, declined. After saying good night to Kathy that evening, the two never spoke to each other again.
Michelle told Jenkins the next time she heard anything about Kathy Augustine had been on Sunday, July 9, 2006, when Chaz Higgs had called Michelle’s home to speak with her. She wasn’t home at the time, but Michelle’s husband called her and told her that she needed to call Chaz right away, which she did.
Chaz, she said, told her that Kathy was in the hospital, and that she’d had a heart attack.
“Is she okay? What’s going on?” Michelle said she had asked Chaz.
Chaz calmly explained to her that he didn’t really know what was wrong with Kathy, but said that she was in bad shape.
Later that day, at about 8:00 P.M., Michelle, along with her husband and daughter, drove to the hospital to visit Kathy. It was difficult for her to see Kathy laid out in a bed in the hospital’s intensive care unit, and it wasn’t long before she began crying and the crying turned to near-hysteria. Chaz Higgs was in the room, and he sat down with Michelle and began a conversation with her while Michelle’s husband and daughter stood off to the side. As Michelle held Kathy’s hand and cried, Chaz began telling her what had happened early on Saturday morning.
Chaz purportedly told Michelle that he had arisen early on Saturday, July 8, and had gone outside to “tinker” on his Volkswagen Bug. That had been at approximately 5:30 A.M. He went back inside the house about half an hour later and had “crawled” back in bed next to Kathy. It was when he tried to snuggle with her that he realized that she was not breathing and began performing CPR while calling 911.
Michelle said that she asked Chaz how much time had passed with Kathy not breathing, and he had purportedly told her “about an hour.” She said that they then talked about the effect that not breathing has on the brain, and how, Michelle explained, Chaz had gotten somewhat technical in explaining how, after six minutes or so, the lack of oxygen adversely affects brain activity.
Their hospital room discussion eventually turned to the subject of the argument between Kathy and Chaz, two nights earlier, over Chaz opening a separate bank account and wanting to leave Kathy. According to Michelle’s account of the conversation, Chaz had said that he and Kathy had worked things out and had made an agreement with each other. He also allegedly said that it was too bad “that this had happened,” a reference to Kathy and what had happened to her.
Michelle, however, said that she hadn’t believed “for one minute” that they had worked things out. She said that she knew Kathy too well, that what had happened on Friday evening had been a big deal in Kathy’s eyes and she would never have just let it go. Michelle said that she had become suspicious of Chaz, and began to think that he may have had something to do with what had happened to Kathy. After all, she said, they had been arguing on Friday night, and the next morning she was rushed to the hospital, not breathing—at least not on her own. She said she knew that Kathy and Chaz had “an explosive relationship,” and she believed that Chaz might have decided after the argument to take matters into his own hands. She was nearly sure of it after the four of them left the ICU room and walked down the hospital hallway together, when Chaz stopped and made a comment to Michelle’s husband.
“You know, I’ll have to get those car jacks another day,” Michelle said, quoting Chaz.
Michelle said that she thought Chaz’s comment about the car jacks was bizarre, and wondered how he could even be the least bit concerned about car jacks at a time when his wife was on life support and no one knew whether she would survive her horrible ordeal or not. Michelle said that her husband and daughter shared her feelings about the comment.
In the three years that Michelle had worked for Kathy Augustine, she had gotten to know her boss well enough that she could tell what kind of frame of mind Kathy was in the moment she walked through the door each morning.
“I knew Kathy . . . ,” Michelle said. “I knew if something was wrong. I knew what she wanted before she asked me to do it.”
Michelle said that Chaz had once told her that Kathy had on one occasion said to him: “I wish you knew what I wanted and were more like Michelle.”
When the subject of Kathy’s general personality characteristics came up again, Michelle said she knew that Kathy could be confrontational. There were times when Kathy had supposedly had confrontations with nurses at the hospitals where Chaz worked, and there had been talk of people either getting fired or being threatened that they would be fired, but Michelle had not witnessed this. And Kathy, she said, had never talked to her about such things. The only confrontational situation that Kathy had ever talked about with Michelle had been over one or more e-mails between Chaz and another hospital employee. Kathy hadn’t gone into specifics of the situation beyond saying that the female employee had been fired from Washoe Medical Center and Chaz had been reprimanded because of the e-mails.
Chapter 15
In his diligence of leaving no stone unturned in uncovering the facts of the case, Detective Jenkins soon learned the identity of the female employee who had been fired from her job at Washoe Medical Center at South Meadows over an exchange of e-mails between herself and Chaz Higgs. The woman’s name was Linda Ramirez, and she had been employed at the South Meadows campus as an admissions clerk since February 2004. Her duties had her routinely checking in patients, ordering lab work and X-rays, some telephone work, and various other administrative responsibilities. She had been working there a little more than four months when she first met Chaz Higgs in July 2004.
Ramirez had, of course, seen Chaz at various times around the hospital, but they hadn’t actually met in a formal sense. The circumstances of their first meeting, she said, when they exchanged introductions, had centered on her birthday when Chaz showed up at her workstation and gave her a rose. The rose had been accompanied by a simple note that read: Linda, happy birthday. At the time, Linda had thought that it was a “sweet” gesture on Chaz’s part, but it soon seemed like each of them wanted to get to know each other better. As time went on, they developed a more personal relationship at work, and it eventually became nothing more than a “flirtatious relationship,” as Linda described it.
As time allowed, she said, the two of them would spend time talking together at work, often at Linda’s desk. Linda explained, in response to questions, that Chaz would sometimes talk about his wife. He complained that Kathy was controlling and manipulating, and referred to her as a “bitch.” He never spoke about Kathy, she said, in a loving fashion.
“I hate my wife,” Linda quoted Chaz as having said. “She’s a controlling, manipulative bitch. Vindictive.”
Linda explained that she began writing e-mails that were deemed personal and flirtatious to Chaz on January 14, 2005, and ended on January 23, 2005. She wrote them while at work, using the hospital’s computer and e-mail system, and sent them to Chaz at his work e-mail account, as well as his personal e-mail account. She also confirmed that she had e-mailed Chaz from her personal e-mail account. Linda said she believed that Kathy had found out about the e-mails, which had ultimately resulted in Linda being fired from her job in February 2005.
>
Linda said that she’d had no contact with Chaz Higgs after being terminated from Washoe Medical Center at South Meadows until November 2005, when the two began exchanging e-mails again, and continued until August 28, 2006. The circumstances that led up to the new round of e-mail exchanges came about when a coworker had mentioned to Linda that Chaz had been talking about her. As a result, Linda said, she contacted him at his personal account and he had responded. For reasons that weren’t entirely clear, Linda had printed out the e-mails and had filed the hard copies away, a practice that she said she commonly followed. Fortunately, she had found the hard copies that she had kept and turned them over to the state, which Jenkins and others, including the district attorney’s office, found to be very interesting.
Chaz asked her to e-mail him at his “secret” address. “Kumustakana,” Linda explained, means “how are you?” in Tagalog, the primary language that is spoken in the Philippines. She said that she and Chaz would occasionally speak to each other in Tagalog, because they knew the language “a little bit.” He used that Tagalog greeting in his private e-mail address.
In his first e-mail of their cyberspace reunion, dated November 4, 2005, Chaz Higgs wrote to Linda: Thank you for writing. I have to tell you that I have missed you every day since I last saw you.
Chaz explained to her that he wanted her to understand that what he was dealing with in his personal life was a nightmare. He said that each day he planned on leaving Kathy, and that he was seeking out a place in which to live: I did what I did with us to protect you from her. I did not want to. I had to.... Miss you.
