“May I speak with you?” Winslow said to Ben after taking the photos. This time, Ben accompanied him to the interview room, while Jeannie waited with Denise.
“She’s been through a lot,” Winslow began.
“I know,” “Ben said.”
“Do you know who this Pernell Jefferson is?”
“He’s this black guy who’s been tormenting Jeannie for months. Used to live in Virginia Beach. I guess he lives up at Richmond now,” Ben answered. “Denise, the girl with us, can probably tell you more about him than I can.”
“Well, your daughter says he took her out to the Hilton at the airport and checked into a room. She said he beat her pretty bad and tried to choke her and that he raped her, but she won’t press charges. Unless she’s willing to swear out a warrant, there’s not much we can do.”
“Let me talk to her,” Ben said. This was the first time the possibility that Jeannie had been raped had come up, and he was upset that Jeannie would not press charges.
He took Jeannie aside, and being as gentle as he knew how to be, pushed her to swear out warrants for Pernell.
“I can’t, Daddy,” she said.
“Why can’t you?” Ben asked.
“I just can’t.”
“But why?” Ben was growing exasperated.
“Let’s just drop it,” Jeannie said. “If I do anything, it’ll just make him madder.”
“I’m not worried about how it would make him feel,” Ben said, bristling. “I just think it’s time we did something about this.”
“Daddy, I really can’t,” she persisted.
“You can, Jeannie,” Denise said, though she was keenly aware of the reason Jeannie was hesitating.
“No,” Jeannie said.
Ben finally gave up. Together, the three walked back to their car and pulled out of the parking lot. For a time, there was silence in the car.
“Jeannie, I’ve got something to say to you,” Ben finally said as they drove along darkened streets. “I’m going to take care of this thing myself.”
Jeannie turned and looked at her father. “What are you going to do?”
“No matter how long it takes me, I’m going to find Pernell Jefferson and I’ll kill him.”
“Daddy, you can’t do that. You can’t do that to me and you can’t do that to Mother. You have to promise me you won’t do something like that.”
But Ben drove on in silence.
“Promise me,” she insisted.
“Whatever you say, Sweetheart,” he said.
Jeannie spent a fitful night in her old room at her parents’ house. The next day brought more pressures, first from her father, then from a Chesapeake detective, Michael Slezak, to press charges against Pernell.
Slezak had conferred with Winslow the night before, but had not played a direct role until the following day when he called Jeannie and attempted to persuade her to file charges. He talked with her several times, but Jeannie remained adamant, declining even to give her reasons, and by sundown, Slezak had given up. He filed his summary as an addition to Winslow’s report and at the end of it he typed in capital letters: EXCEPTIONALLY CLOSED.
“If you’re with some guy and you don’t mind that he’s breaking your nose, what am I going to do?” Slezak asked years later, as he recalled the frustration of trying to persuade Jeannie to take legal action. He said Jeannie’s reluctance was typical of domestic abuse cases. “When a victim’s a hostile witness, we have a terrible time prosecuting someone. She made it very clear to me and others that she didn’t want to prosecute.”
Jeannie returned to work the following day and later told Denise that she got a call from Pernell.
“Just calling to find out if you were dumb enough to call the police,” he told her.
“You can forget the police. They’re not involved,” she answered, and hung up the phone.
“I couldn’t take the responsibility for taking somebody’s life away and putting them behind bars,” Jeannie later told Denise’s mother, Arlene Bratten, whom she had known all her life. “I’m just not that kind of person.” But Denise knew that the real reason was Jeannie’s fear that Pernell might do something to Dawn.
Pernell knew that his threats had achieved the result he wanted. As long as Jeannie thought other people were in danger if she did not do Pernell’s bidding, he held her in his spell.
Now the calls to Jeannie’s new number at Denise’s house came more frequently, and more threateningly, and at all hours of the day and night. He left five and six messages a day on the answering machine. In one, he said he had Tony’s telephone number in Pennsylvania and was thinking about calling him about Jeannie’s behavior. In another, he informed Jeannie that he had taken some of her panties and a favorite negligee when he had left the apartment the day she returned from Pennsylvania, and he was considering placing them in the mail to Tony. Several times, he taunted Jeannie about her April 27 court date in Richmond.
During this period, the only bright spots in Jeannie’s life were the regular calls from Tony, who knew nothing about her troubles. He called to talk about plans for their wedding, called with travel details for their honeymoon in Mexico. Jeannie tried to sound cheerful for Tony, although she was becoming more and more depressed. When Tony sensed it and asked about her mood, she dismissed it by saying that the court calendar was crowded and she was tired.
Then, just two weeks after he abducted Jeannie, Pernell turned her life upside down with a single call. To Tony. He said that Jeannie was his woman and warned him to leave her alone. After two hours of troubled thinking, Tony called Jeannie.
“I just got a call from somebody named Pernell,” he told her, and Denise would later recall that the words took Jeannie’s breath away. Her greatest fear had come true. Pernell clearly was intent on ruining her life.
Later, Jeannie would tell Denise that Tony had simply said that he couldn’t handle this situation and thought it best that they suspend their relationship. After hanging up, Denise would recall, Jeannie stood for a long time looking at the phone, as if dazed. Then she replaced the receiver, ran to her room and buried her face in the pillow, weeping deeply. Denise tried to comfort her but only could caress the back of her head as Jeannie gave in to crushing emotion.
Jeannie’s depression deepened drastically in coming days. “When Tony called and broke off their plans, that call just took the life out of her,” Denise said.
From that point, according to Carrie, Jeannie began telling her parents that she feared Pernell was going to kill her. She rarely slept. She wept often. Her hands trembled. At her parents’ house, she occasionally sat with her father’s .22 pistol in her lap. At home, she kept a big knife between her mattress and box springs near the head of her bed within easy reach.
“She had gotten to the point that she felt she had no control over her life at all,” Denise said. “She just didn’t care what happened any more. She didn’t smile. She almost didn’t eat. I know that she felt that she might be better off dead. When Pernell made that call to Tony, it’s like he took away her only reason to live. That was devastating.
“But Jeannie would not have killed herself. When I was going through my divorce and was so depressed, there were times I thought I was suicidal. I thought about killing myself. Jeannie knew that was happening to me and she’d always tell me that that wouldn’t solve anything.
“Jeannie was under more stress than most of us ever have to face, but I don’t think those beliefs changed for her. I mean, this was a deep-seated belief she had. When I talked that way, Jeannie would say to me, ‘Denise, you’ll go to hell if you kill yourself. God doesn’t save those who kill themselves.’”
Few people other than Denise fully understood what Jeannie was going through. Jeannie’s co-worker, Christine White, knew that Jeannie was having difficulty, although she had no idea of its extent, and she offered to loan Jeannie her dog for protection, but Jeannie declined.
Jeannie had talked with her brother in Richmond about he
r problems with Pernell, and he tried to help, as well. Twice Sam phoned Pernell at work to tell him that Jeannie no longer wanted to see him. Each time, Pernell had been cordial and accommodating and Sam felt he had reached an understanding with him.
Even after her abduction, Jeannie kept some things from her family, not wanting to worry them more. She didn’t tell them about the warrant that Pernell had sworn out for her, and she explained her trip to Richmond by saying she had to attend a seminar. She drove to Richmond on April 26 and stayed the night at her brother’s apartment so that she could be in court at nine the next morning.
Pernell failed to appear at the hearing, and the charges were dismissed. Only later did Jeannie admit to her mother the real reason for her trip. She told her that she had been charged with threatening Pernell’s life and acknowledged that the threat was serious. Given the chance, she said, she would have killed him for all that he had done to her.
After the trip to Richmond, Jeannie became even more paranoid about Pernell, always making sure the knife was within easy reach when she went to bed.
“She even practiced grabbing it in a hurry,” Denise recalled. “She’d lie on her bed and by placing the knife in various places try to decide what was quicker. She’d put it under her pillow just to see how long it’d take her to get it into her hands. Then she’d put it in the nightstand beside her bed, pretend to be sleeping, then suddenly she’d roll over and reach for the knife.”
“The joy had gone out of her life,” her mother said years later. “Jeannie had been someone full of life, fun to be around. But after she was kidnapped there was an emptiness about her, a kind of hollowness in her eyes.”
Remembering how Jeannie had forced her back into life after her divorce, at one point taking her favorite party dress from the closet and ordering her to put it on, telling her she was going out whether she wanted to or not, Denise now attempted to do the same thing for Jeannie. Nothing seemed to work, however, and Denise despaired that Jeannie had lost all interest in living.
Early in May, Mike Reardon called. He had introduced Jeannie to Pernell, and after Jeannie had started dating him, she had quit seeing Mike and he knew nothing about her troubles with his former football teammate. Now he asked her out again. Reluctant at first, Jeannie accepted at Denise’s urging, and Denise helped her select the outfit she would wear. Denise felt like a mother when she sent Jeannie off to meet Mike that evening.
“You look nice, Jeannie,” she said. “Now just have a good time and don’t worry about anything.”
The evening went well. Jeannie seemed to have a good time, and Mike asked her out again for Friday night, May 5.
At work Friday, Jeannie began to feel achy. She had started sniffling and sneezing two days earlier, the first signs that she was catching her annual spring cold. She had worried that it might spoil her weekend. For the first time in perhaps a month, Jeannie had told Denise that she was actually looking forward to having Saturday lunch with her mother and touring the shopping malls with the $30 she had held out of her weekly check after making her first-of-the-month payments.
Scheduled to work only half a day on Friday, Jeannie left work at noon and went to her parents’ home, where she fell asleep on the couch. Her mother later followed her home and remained until Denise arrived home. Both roommates planned to go out later. Jeannie had a date with Mike. Denise had for months been attending weekly ballroom dancing lessons and the last class was scheduled for that night, to be followed by a party.
When Denise arrived at home near 5:30, Carrie said her good-byes and headed back across town to prepare dinner for Ben. Denise felt sleepy. She set her clock for eight and fell asleep in the recliner in the living room. Jeannie, feeling the effects of her cold, curled up on her bed and also fell asleep.
Both awoke with a start when Denise’s alarm sounded. Denise took a quick shower and began to dress in a ballroom outfit. Jeannie slipped into jeans and a favorite blouse and fretted over her hair.
“See you later,” Jeannie said as she started out the door.
“I’ll probably be home before you are,” Denise called. “If you decide to be out all night, just call and leave a message so I’ll know.”
“I will,” said Jeannie.
“Be careful,” Denise said as she watched Jeannie climb into the 300 ZX that she so loved so much.
“I always said to her to be careful,” Denise said years later. “It was just a habit, just something I always felt I had to say. I knew she was going to be with Mike and she’d be safe with Mike.”
Jeannie tooted her horn as she drove away.
At 9:30, Denise excused herself from her dancing lessons and called home to make certain that something hadn’t gone wrong with Jeannie’s date and that she hadn’t returned to the house alone. She was reassured when she got no answer.
She called a couple more times later, each time with the same result.
But at 10:45, Jeannie’s mother called the house as a safety check and was surprised when Jeannie answered.
“Why are you home so early?” Carrie asked.
“With this cold, I wasn’t very good company,” Jeannie answered and Carrie could hear the stuffiness over the phone.
“Are you by yourself?” Carrie asked.
“Yes,” Jeannie said.
“Are you afraid?”
“Not really.”
“Do you want me to come over?”
“No, that’s all right.”
“We’re still on for lunch tomorrow, aren’t we?”
“Sure are,” Jeannie replied. “See you about noon.”
Some time after one in the morning, Denise returned home, parked her Jeep in the back drive and entered the house through the back door. She walked through the den and kitchen and turned right down the hall to the bedrooms. She looked quickly into Jeannie’s room as she passed. Jeannie wasn’t there.
“Atta girl, Jeannie,” Denise said to herself, as she climbed into bed. “She and Mike must be having a good time.”
20.
A Mother Knows
DENISE AWAKENED WITH A START on Saturday morning, May 6. She looked at the glowing numbers on the alarm clock beside her bed. It was almost 8:30. She had to work this Saturday, and she was going to be late.
She hurried to get ready and rushed toward the back door, calling out “Jeannie, I’m going,” as she passed her friend’s bedroom. Jeannie’s door was open, but she wasn’t there. Her unmade bed was empty. Denise figured she’d already gotten up and left. She knew Jeannie had a big day planned with her mother. Their housemate, Jerome, was away for the weekend and wouldn’t be back until Monday night. As she did most weekends, Denise’s daughter Dawn was staying with Denise’s mother, Arlene Bratten.
As Denise sped off to work, Jeannie’s mother was beginning a leisurely morning. Just before noon, she set out for the beauty shop to meet Jeannie. She arrived on time but Jeannie wasn’t there.
“Jackie, has Jeannie already left?” Carrie asked her daughter’s favorite hairdresser, who was her own as well.
“I haven’t seen her yet,” Jackie responded.
“Must be running late today,” Carrie guessed out loud. “When she comes in, tell her I came by and when she gets through she can come on out to the house.”
By one, Carrie had begun to wonder where Jeannie might be. She called her house and left a message on the answering machine. An hour later, when Jeannie still hadn’t showed up or called, she called again.
“It’s me again,” she cheerfully told the answering machine.
Twice more she called that afternoon. Still no answer. But longtime family friend Nora Casey had invited Ben, Carrie and Jeannie to dinner that Saturday night and Carrie had that to look forward to. Jeannie would tell her then, Carrie reasoned, why her day had not gone as planned.
At 4:15 Denise arrived home from work. As usual, she entered the house from the back, where she parked. She went directly to her room, changed into jeans, a knit shirt and sneakers, then
peeked into Jeannie’s room to see if Jeannie had returned. Still with her mother, Denise thought. Leaving the back door open, Denise searched out a few gardening tools and began attending to some yard work along the back sidewalk leading to the garage.
At five, Denise heard the phone ringing and hurried inside.
It was Carrie. “Denise, let me speak to Jeannie.”
“She’s not with you?” Denise said.
“I haven’t seen her,” Carrie said. “When she comes in, have her call me.”
Now Denise was worried. She returned once more to Jeannie’s bedroom, stood in the doorway and looked for something that would tell her where her housemate was. She found nothing. And Jeannie had left no message on the memo device on the telephone answering machine in Denise’s room.
For the first time since she had left for her dancing lessons the night before, Denise now walked toward the front of the house. The moment she saw the splintered front door leaning against the wall, Denise felt suddenly ill. Her trembling hands pressed against her cheeks as she stood in stunned horror, unable to move.
Despite her fear, she forced herself to the phone, and, fighting the panic that was welling inside her, she dialed the Pricketts’ number. Carrie answered.
“Carrie, I’m scared,” Denise said, breaking into tears. “Something’s happened.”
“What? What’s happened?”
“I don’t know. The front door’s been kicked in.”
Just as they had done two months earlier, Carrie and Ben rushed from their house. This time as they sped across town, Ben tried to think of ways to find Pernell. This time, he said to himself, Jeannie wouldn’t talk him out of doing what he should have done earlier.
Back in the living room awaiting the arrival of the Pricketts, Denise stared in disbelief at the splintered door and wondered what had taken place there, and when. A deep feeling of foreboding swept over her. “It was the worst feeling in the world,” she remembered years later. “I had a feeling that Jeannie was dead.”
Deadly Goals Page 16
