by Robert Scott
Even more damaging to Miriam Helmick was CBI agent Carol Crowe, who testified that even though no GSR was found on Miriam’s hands, body, or clothes, GSR showed up elsewhere. A few particles were found on the clogs that Miriam had worn that day and also on the steering wheel of the car she had been driving around the area while doing errands. Crowe explained that Miriam could have gotten rid of GSR from her hands by washing them, and from her body by showering. And she could have simply gotten rid of the clothes she had been wearing, if she had shot Alan to death.
On cross-examination, Crowe did say that it could not be determined how long GSR particles had been on the steering wheel or on Miriam’s clogs. Miriam could have been around a gun that was fired on June 9, when Alan was still alive.
Investigator Lissah Norcross testified about Alan not receiving his voice mail messages. The prosecution contended that he never got those messages because Miriam Helmick was hiding his cell phone. And the reason in their estimation was because Miriam was forging checks and didn’t want Alan to know about it. Norcross spoke of all of Alan’s daughters saying that it was very hard for them to contact their father in the spring of 2008. They all believed that Miriam was hiding their dad’s cell phone from him.
Steve Colvin, however, got Investigator Norcross to admit that she couldn’t say why Miriam was keeping Alan’s cell phone. It could have been for any number of reasons, and not just because she was cashing his checks.
On the other hand, Norcross was good for the prosecution, on redirect, stating that in the months before Alan’s murder, Miriam had only left four voice mail messages on his cell phone. Then on the morning of June 10, 2008, she left four messages all within a few hours. The reasoning was, according to law enforcement, for Miriam to set up an alibi of where she was traveling that morning. They contended that she had already shot him to death, and was only pretending to leave messages for a man she already knew was dead.
Investigator Michael Piechota told the jurors about all the searches on Miriam’s Gateway computer about overdoses from medicine and horse euthanasia as well. These included articles about various people dying from prescription drug overdoses.
The defense did have Piechota admit that it couldn’t be proven who had searched those Web sites. It could have been Alan, using Miriam’s computer. But unlike Miriam’s contention that Alan’s laptop was not working well with the Internet, Piechota said he found no problems with it. Piechota would not budge from his assessment that Alan’s computer worked just fine.
Piechota added one more damaging thing. He said that when he went back to the Helmick residence on June 19, Alan’s blood on the kitchen floor had not been cleaned up. All that had been done was that Miriam had thrown a couple of beach towels over the bloodstains. This was amazing to Piechota in light of the fact that Miriam had said that Alan Helmick was the love of her life.
The next day, Kirsten Turcotte, the longtime house sitter for the Helmicks, testified that she had received a series of phone calls from Miriam about someone prowling around through her house when she wasn’t there. On June 23, 2008, Miriam said things had been moved around. On June 24, Miriam stated that doors she knew she had locked were now unlocked. On June 25, a door leading to the balcony was found open. On June 26, she returned home to find lights on in the master bedroom.
Kirsten also testified that Miriam told her that she had placed objects around the house to see if they had been moved. Miriam said that she had put powder down on the floor to see if anyone left footprints there.
Kirsten also had some damaging things to say about Miriam’s demeanor after Alan was dead. On one occasion, she and Miriam had been in the Helmicks’ garage. Miriam laughed, saying she was worried that the carrots in the back of the Oldsmobile that she had been driving would spoil, since law enforcement still had that car in their possession. She did not seem very upset about Alan’s murder.
Even worse, she said that Miriam told her, “They (law enforcement) are not going to want to go up against me.”
Merredith Von Burg, Alan’s sister, testified that Miriam had stayed with her for three days after Alan’s death. During that time, Miriam had supposedly told Merredith that one of her rings, one of Alan’s rings, and one of Alan’s watches were missing from the Helmick home. The point was, how could Miriam know this if she hadn’t gone any farther than the spot where Alan lay in the kitchen? Miriam told investigators she had not been in any other part of the house. And she had not been back in the house when she made those comments to Von Burg.
Merredith also testified that while Miriam was staying with her, Miriam shared some very disturbing news. Merredith stated, “She said she could have done it at Lake Powell two weeks earlier and that Alan was not a great swimmer. She had to rescue him once before.” This declaration on Miriam’s part did not allay Merredith’s growing suspicions about her, but rather only increased them.
On direct testimony, Portia Vigil said that weeks after her father had been murdered, she found a folded-up piece of paper tucked away in a desk drawer at the Helmick home in Whitewater. It turned out to be the prenuptial agreement, which Miriam had been talking about. However, Portia said the paper did not mention what should happen for the distribution of items after Alan’s death. Miriam had been contending that she was allowed to take all property that had been accumulated after she and Alan got married. According to Portia, none of these items were mentioned in the prenuptial agreement.
Portia also spoke about how hard it was when her mother, Sharon, had suddenly died of a heart attack. And she admitted it was hard for her to accept Miriam into the household. Portia did agree it would have been hard to accept anyone, and not just Miriam, under the circumstances. Asked if she treated Miriam badly, Portia said, “No.” And she also said that Wendy and Kristy had treated Miriam well.
As far as not being able to contact her father throughout much of the spring of 2008, Portia testified, “The phone calls went straight to his voice mail or to Miriam.”
There was one other big bit of news that same day. Tammy Eret, who was so much a part of the prosecution team, let it be known that she was leaving the DA’s office. Part of her reasoning was “My kids don’t get to do things, such as sleepovers, just because of the things I’ve seen and my position. You have to be very guarded.”
In fact, over the last few years with the DA’s office, Eret had been a big part of the prosecution team on major homicide cases, sexual assaults, and other felony crimes. All of that took its toll on the mother of four.
After Miriam Helmick’s trial was over, Eret would be moving on to be in private practice. She admitted that some of the cases she’d worked on had been “haunting.” She added that the change would be good for her and her family. Alan Helmick’s case certainly fell into the “haunting” category for Eret.
CHAPTER 34
“A LOVER AND A PLAYMATE”
Miriam’s son, Chris Giles, was not comfortable being a witness in his mother’s trial, but nonetheless, he was a witness for the prosecution. Tammy Eret had Chris speak about when he had first met Alan Helmick, and that had been when Miriam and Alan got married. Chris had been on a church mission in Ecuador when Alan was murdered. Then in early July 2008, Chris flew out to Colorado and spent a few days with his mother.
About that period of time, Chris testified, “I didn’t stay at a hotel. I stayed at the residence (in Whitewater). We went to visit one of Alan’s family, just to kind of get out, on the evening of July fourth.”
Eret wanted to know if Miriam had told Chris what had happened to Alan Helmick. Chris replied, “She basically told me that Alan had been shot, and it was a home invasion. That was the gist of it. I was just kinda there to listen and help her out.”
Eret asked who had brought up the fact that Miriam might move to Florida. Chris answered, “I had discussed it with her. I said that once everything got wrapped up, she could come down and work some things out [about] what her next step would be. But I advised her that she needed
to remain in Colorado and make sure everything was taken care of here f irst.”
Asked if Miriam had spoken about not having any identification, Chris responded, “She referred to everything being confiscated in the house. Her ID card and all that was taken. And she proceeded to tell me that she had copies of Sharon Helmick’s ID. I advised her that wasn’t a good course to do. It’s not right, and it’s not legal.”
Jody McGuirk was worried about this line of questioning and asked to approach the judge. The request was granted. McGuirk said to Judge Robison, “This is the point where we would like to ask for a limiting instruction in regard to the use of Sharon Helmick’s ID. It’s so that can’t be used as proof to a prior crime.”
Tammy Eret responded, “I’m not sure. I think it was okayed by you.”
All of this was because Charles Kirkpatrick was going to be called as the next witness concerning Sharon Helmick’s ID, as well as other things. Judge Robison agreed with McGuirk, and said to the jurors, “Ladies and gentlemen, certain evidence may be admitted for a particular purpose only, and for no other. You’re about to hear evidence relating to the alleged use of Sharon Helmick’s identity by Miriam Helmick. This evidence is offered for the purpose of showing motive, plan, and intent as to the charge of first-degree murder only, and you should consider it as evidence for no other purpose.”
Chris next spoke about Miriam supposedly going to somewhere around Denver to see a family friend, and the next thing he knew she was in the Southeast, possibly Savannah, Georgia, and wanted to come stay with him in Florida. According to Chris, this occurred about two weeks after he returned home from Colorado, making it mid to late July 2008.
Chris was concerned about this request by his mother, and he wanted to make sure that Miriam had cleared up all things in Colorado with the investigators concerning the death of Alan Helmick. Chris testified that Miriam told him that the investigators knew that she was going to Florida. That, in fact, was not the case.
Chris added that sometime in August or September, he received a phone call from Jim Hebenstreit. Hebenstreit asked if Chris knew where Miriam was, and Chris told Hebenstreit that she was staying with him.
Tammy Eret asked, “Did you indicate to your mother that you told Investigator Hebenstreit where she was?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And how did she appear to react to that?”
“She wasn’t very happy.”
“Did you know at the time that she was residing with you that she was actually using the name of Sharon Helmick?”
“I did not.”
“Did she indicate to you what she thought she would get from Alan’s estate?”
“She indicated to me, under Colorado law, that she was entitled to half of everything after they got married.”
Surprisingly, the defense had only one question to ask Chris. Jody McGuirk said, “Your mom, Miriam—she seemed happy when she was with Alan?”
Chris replied, “Yes, ma’am.”
McGuirk responded, “That’s it. No further questions.”
Charles Kirkpatrick reiterated to the prosecution what he had already told investigators about Miriam Helmick, a woman he had known as “Sharon.” He spoke of being on a singles Web site called MillionaireMatch.com. He also spoke of having a 1,800-square-foot luxury apartment in Orlando, Florida, and owning several automobiles, including a 1985 neo-classic Zimmer Golden Spirit.
As Kirkpatrick kept listing all the expensive items he owned, Jody McGuirk objected. In a sidebar, she said to Judge Robison, “I don’t see what the relevance of this testimony is. He’s already spoken about income. You’re (Tuttle) just randomly asking him how expensive some items are.”
Richard Tuttle shot back, “It’s certainly relevant to what we’re offering. It goes to show Miriam’s plan in the wake of murdering her husband, to hook up with another person with assets. And the whole relationship again belies her true love and motivation toward Alan Helmick. We’ll be laying a foundation that she actually met Kirkpatrick in his Mercedes. And they went back to his apartment, which is very nicely appointed.”
Steve Colvin chimed in, “You’re also gonna elicit that she spent time in the Golden Spirit, when she was actually in the Mercedes? How’s the value of this relevant to anything?”
Judge Robison sustained the objection, and the questioning by Tuttle moved to another area. This question concerned Miriam’s posting about herself on MillionaireMatch.com: Saw your profile and I loved it. I can dance any dance and I’m pretty good at it, too.... Your profile requirements described me completely.
Charles testified about Miriam meeting him at a T.G.I. Friday’s, where she mentioned about her former husband being deceased. Charles said, “She told me she was a widow. He had died about six to twelve months before from some type of brain disease or something, that he had been sick for three to four years prior to that.”
Tuttle asked, “Did she talk about having time over those three to four years to prepare for his death?”
The witness responded, “Yeah. She said that it wasn’t like it was a sudden thing.”
Jody McGuirk asked Kirkpatrick what his posting had been on MillionaireMatch.com. Charles answered, “It specifically read that I was looking for a lover and a playmate.”
“You were concerned that she mentioned she’d like to relocate to Orlando?”
“Yes. She mentioned it a lot of times.”
“Her asking . . . This was kind of a needy type of behavior that was a turnoff to you?”
“Yes, it was.”
“You mentioned that you lied to [Miriam] and told her that you were going to visit your grandchildren or something?”
“Yes. She had asked to stay over another day.”
“So this woman that you found needy, that you slept with . . . you then lied to her to get rid of her?”
“No, it wasn’t to get rid of her. It was because I didn’t feel comfortable with the way she approached me about staying.”
CHAPTER 35
“I HEAR WEDDING BELLS.”
There was nothing much new in Penny Lyons’s testimony that differed from everything she had already told investigators earlier. The only real contentious part of her testimony was an objection from Steve Colvin about why Penny or Miriam did not phone the police after discovering the envelope under the front porch’s doormat.
Colvin told the judge in a sidebar, “I’m trying to object before the evidence is elicited. She’s going to talk about the fact that she did not wind up calling law enforcement because Ms. Helmick said she wanted to talk to a lawyer. I’m objecting preemptively to that evidence coming in because it’s a comment on Miriam Helmick’s Sixth and Fifth Amendment right to counsel. The evidence is being offered to show guilty knowledge because Ms. Helmick wants to talk to a lawyer. It’s our position that it’s improper to assume guilty knowledge simply from contacting an attorney.”
Tammy Eret responded, “Miriam Helmick was not in custody. This has nothing to do with law enforcement. This is a statement that she made to a third party. It does show guilty knowledge. None of her rights are in play—because law enforcement is not involved.”
Judge Robison overruled the objection, and Eret asked Penny Lyons, “Did you call 911?”
Penny responded, “I started to call, and Miriam asked me not to.”
“Did she tell you why?”
“She said, ‘Penny, please don’t second-guess me now. Please call my attorney.’ So I called her attorney.”
Later in the questioning, Eret asked, “You were a good friend of hers?”
Penny replied, “I felt that I was, yes.”
On cross-examination, Steve Colvin got to this subject of friendship. He asked Penny, “Fair to say that you feel as to the card that you found, and Ms. Helmick’s behavior when the card was found and afterward, that you feel like your friendship was taken advantage of ?”
Penny answered, “That would be true, yes.”
Colvin continued, “Assuming
that she took advantage of your friendship as to the card, that doesn’t mean that she took advantage of your friendship as to her not having any money. Is that fair?”
“I never had an issue with giving her the money.”
“And she really didn’t have any financial resources at that point. Is that correct?”
“No, she did not.”
“It really did appear that she lost everything when Alan was murdered?”
“That was my perception, yes.”
Not unlike Penny Lyons, the tougher questions for Laegan McGee came during cross-examination. Steve Colvin asked her if she saw Miriam sitting and holding hands at one point with Alan Helmick. The witness said that she did. Then Colvin asked, “You thought she made an apology wave to you?” Laegan said that was correct.
So Colvin wanted to know if the witness thought Miriam at Boomers had something to apologize about. She answered, “She looked embarrassed.”
Colvin continued, “You made a point of mentioning she’d had someone who’d been a boyfriend previously four weeks before. You made a point of mentioning that you thought this was pretty fast. Sound like you don’t think it was appropriate that she held hands with Mr. Helmick.”
“No, I felt that Miriam felt embarrassed, and that was how she felt. But I don’t know what was in her head.”
“And she said on that day, ‘I hear wedding bells,’ in a singsongy voice. So she clearly thought this relationship was leading somewhere serious?”
“Yes.”
The testimony of Jeri Yarbrough, who had sold horses to Miriam Helmick and then bought the same horses back, basically followed the things that she had told investigators. One section of Jeri’s testimony did bring an objection from Jody McGuirk.
