Secrets and Lies

by Rachel Sinclair

  “So, that is one piece of evidence that’s going to refute what the prosecutor says. You will hear my client testify to the fact that they had an open relationship, therefore, if Mrs. Porter was going to be seeing another man while he was in Europe, he would not be angry enough to kill her.”

  “Now what about the restraining orders? Well, those restraining orders were levied against my client five years ago. You will hear testimony that the reason why the restraining orders were put against him was the fact that he was going through a very dark time in his life. A very dark time in his life, but he sought help for it. He will admit that he did threaten Ava’s safety two times during their marriage. Their fights got physical twice. Again, this was five years ago, and he has sought help for his issues since then. There have been no incidents since.”

  I knew that the restraining orders were going to be a problem for me. However, the fact that they were so long ago worked in our favor. I hoped that the jury bought the story that my client was a changed man. I knew that he really wasn’t – once you are diagnosed with a personality disorder, such as narcissistic personality disorder, it’s very tough to overcome that. Personality disorders were not something that are amenable to drugs, or even to therapy, a lot of times. They were pretty much intractable. But, since I knew that the jury was not going to be allowed to hear evidence about his personality disorder, I knew that the prosecution was also probably going to be at a disadvantage in proving that my client and Ava had an abusive relationship.

  I continued on. “You will also hear evidence that the person who died in that dungeon was not Ava Porter at all, but was, rather, her identical twin sister, Emma Jackson.” I was going to be walking on dangerous ground. I was hoping I would be able to prove what I needed to prove, but I wasn’t sure at all. Therefore I figured that it was best to just leave the opening statement at that.

  The only way that I would be able to prove my theory was by breaking down the parents, David, and the person who was posing as Emma Jackson – who was actually Ava Porter. However, I was not at all sure that my questioning was going to have the desired effect.

  I looked at the jury’s faces, and they were looking very skeptical. “Yes, the victim in this case, Ava Porter, had an identical twin. Her name was Emma Jackson. You’ll hear evidence that Emma Jackson took Ava Porter’s place, and that she was the one who died. You will also hear evidence that the person who died in that dungeon was not killed by the fire. Granted, the fire that swept through the dungeon was swift and hot because it was set by an accelerant. However, Emma Jackson, the person who actually died in that house, was dead before the fire swept in. She was dead because she was poisoned. You will hear evidence from the medical examiner that traces of the barbiturate Secobarbital were found in the tissues of Emma Jackson.”

  “When I present my evidence, you as a jury will have no choice but to find my client not guilty of the murder of his wife, Ava Porter. Thank you very much for your time and attention, and I ask you in advance to find my client not guilty of murder.”

  I sat down, and glanced at the jury. They were curious, that was for sure. I got their attention.

  Was I going to be able to prove any of this?

  That was the question of the day.

  Chapter 23

  After we did our opening statements, the jury took a short break. I sat down and then looked over at Harper. “What do you think? Do you think that I convinced the jury?”

  Harper smiled, and shook her head. “You have your work cut out for you, I’ll tell you that. I mean, you’re going to have to convince a jury that the victim in this case isn’t really dead, but is going to be taking the stand, posing as her identical twin. If anybody can convince a jury of something like that, it would be you. But I wish you luck.”

  I sighed. I was excited, however, for the medical examiner to testify. I knew that Ally had her expert who had looked over the dental records that the medical examiner had looked at. An independent expert. The medical examiner herself was not entirely certain that the dental records were not a match. She, too, made the point that Ava had not seen a dentist in 10 years. Therefore the slight changes between the dental records that were taken from the corpse and the dental records that were shown by Ava’s last visit to the dentist, were slightly different, but it could be because they were taken with such a long time apart.

  It was just my luck that Ava Porter was not somebody who kept up with yearly dental appointments. Granted, a lot of people were like that. Nobody likes dentists. I, myself, was way overdue for my own dental appointment. But I had been to the dentist within the past five years. It surprised me that Ava was the kind of person who would not go see a dentist on a regular basis. She was so focused on her physical appearance and her body that I imagined that she would be more diligent about the dentist thing, but she apparently wasn’t.

  The irony was, apparently Emma was the kind of person who saw dentists on a regular basis. I managed to get her dental records from Anna. Of course, since Anna obtained them illegally, there was no way that I could possibly use them in court. But I did see that Emma’s dental records matched the dental records of the corpse almost perfectly. Unfortunately, there was no way that I could get these records into evidence.

  In fact, the medical examiner was going to be the second witness who Ally was going to call. Her first witness was the officer on the scene. While I really had a lot of questions for him, I was most interested in what the medical examiner had to say, mainly because she was going to testify about the poison. Ally never mentioned the fact that there was a poison found in the victim’s system.

  However, there were also a few questions that I wanted to ask the officer on the scene who cordoned off the dungeon. I wanted to make sure that the jury knew that the state of the house was such that you couldn’t really tell what it was. Therefore, it was possible that the house was, in fact, a dungeon, and not a guesthouse. That was important to me, because I had to show the jury that the kind of relationship that Ava had with Silas was such that there was consensual sex play. That was the only way that I could explain how it was that Ava had bruises on her arms. My client was going to testify to this fact as well, but it was going to be more helpful if I could show that Ava and Silas actually did have a dungeon on their property.

  The officer on the scene, Officer King, was sworn in, and Ally asked him a series of questions about how it was that he came to the scene. “I was called to the scene because the next-door neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. Porter contacted the fire department when she saw the flames in the back of the Porter’s house. I was the first responder, along with the fire marshal, Craig Sutton, and his crew.”

  “And what did you find when you went to the scene?” Ally asked.

  “I found a structure that had been burned completely to the ground. There was one thing left of the structure, and that was a brick wall, with two handcuffs attached to it. In those handcuffs were the remains of a woman, the deceased, who I identified as a female who was probably between the ages of 25 and 35. She had been very badly burned, to the extent that there was very little left of her, except for the hands that were still in those handcuffs, some bones, and very little tissue. Most of it was burned.”

  At this, Ally presented to the jury her blown-up pictures of the charred remains of the victim. “Can you please identify these pictures?”

  He nodded his head. “These are the pictures I took of the crime scene.” He pointed at the victim whose hands were still in the handcuffs. “This is an accurate representation of the body that I found in that structure. It was a body that was later identified by Mr. Porter as being that of his wife.”

  I sighed as Ally dramatically took the blown-up pictures over to the jury and showed them what “Ava” looked like at that time. One thing was certain – these pictures were extremely gruesome. The way that Ally told it, Ava died in the worst way possible. I saw members of the jury visibly shutter, as Ally stood there for several minutes showing them the pic
tures of the charred victim.

  “Did you question Mr. Porter at the scene?”

  “Yes I did.”

  “And what did he tell you about what happened that night?”

  “He explained that he and his wife, Mrs. Porter, were engaged in sex games in what he called his dungeon. Apparently, he called the structure that was in the back of the house his dungeon. He said that he had chained his wife to the wall, because she enjoyed that kind of bondage. He said that he was being intimate with his wife, when she suddenly gasped for air and said that she couldn’t breathe, and then she died. Right after she died, the fire swept through that structure, a wildfire he said that he barely escaped himself. That was what he told me.”

  Ally nodded her head. “I have nothing further for this witness.”

  She sat down, and I approached the officer. “Officer King, you stated on direct examination that the only thing that was left of the structure behind the pool was a brick wall and a pair of handcuffs that were attached to the wall. Is that right?”

  “Yes, that’s correct.”

  “So, is it fair to say that the structure could very well have been a dungeon, and not a guesthouse?”

  “Yes. It would be fair to say that. There was very little left of the structure by the time I got there. Everything had burned.”

  I showed him a picture that I had taken of the crime scene. It was a picture of the structure that had burned to the ground. It was nothing but pile of rubble, a burned pile of rubble and the wall that was sturdy enough to stand. “I’m going to show you a picture of a structure that was behind the Porter’s house. Is this a fair and accurate representation of the structure that you came upon when you were called to the scene?”

  He took a careful look at the picture. He handed it back to me. “Yes. That is a very accurate representation of the structure that I came upon when I was called to the scene.”

  “And do you see in this picture that nothing was left of the structure except for this brick wall?”

  “Yes. That’s what I indicated on the direct examination as well. Apparently the fire had burned hot enough to burn everything to the ground.”

  “So then is it fair to say that it is impossible to tell what the structure had been before it burned. Is that correct?”

  “Yes. That is correct.”

  “Now, you stated on direct that my client had said that his wife was dead before the fire swept in, and that the reason why she was attached to the wall was because they were participating in sex games, and his wife enjoyed being bound. Is that right?”

  “Yes. That’s what he said.”

  “I have nothing further for this witness.”

  “Ms. Hughes,” Judge Pruitt said to Ally. “Please call your next witness.”

  “The state calls Dr. Prorock.”

  Dr. Prorock, the medical examiner, approached the bench. She was the person who I really wanted to question, the person who I was excited about questioning. Well, him and Ava’s parents, David, and the person who was posing as Emma, but I knew was really Ava. I was looking forward to questioning all of these people, but I had to start with the medical examiner, who was going to cast doubt on the dental records matching between Ava and the deceased victim. While I knew that Ally was going to be able to rehabilitate Dr. Prorock after I cross-examined her, I also knew that she, if I did things right, was going to put doubt into the jury’s mind as to who it was that was in that dungeon when the fire swept in.

  Dr. Prorock was sworn in, and Ally got right to work. “Dr. Prorock, you were the medical examiner in this case, is that correct?”

  “Yes. I was.”

  “And did you have occasion to examine the remains of the victim in this case, Ava Porter?”

  “Yes I did.”

  “And what was the condition of the body when you examined it?”

  “The body was extremely burned. The fire that swept through the structure where she was trapped was apparently so hot that there was very little left of the victim by the time I was able to examine her. The lungs and most of her vital organs were little more than ash. In fact, the only intact part of her was her hands. They were attached to the wall, and apparently that was the reason why they were intact and the rest of her was not.”

  “Were you able to determine the cause of death, then?”

  “No. I was not.”

  “And why were you not able to ascertain the cause of death?”

  “Because of the condition of the lungs, which were so severely burned that I could not examine them, as they were the consistency of ash by the time the victim was brought to me, I was not able to ascertain if the deceased was alive at the time that the fire had swept into the structure. Ordinarily, the condition of the lungs would be what I would examine in ascertaining if the person was alive at the time of a fire. The lungs and the throat. Typically, in a burning death, if the person was alive when he or she encountered the fire, I would be able to see if the person had inhaled smoke. The throat would be severely burned, and the lungs would show a great deal of smoke inhalation. Unfortunately, that was impossible to ascertain in this case. Because of the fact that the victim was so badly burned, I could not do my usual examination on her.”

  Ally nodded her head. It wasn’t what she wanted to hear – I knew that. The medical examiner could no more do an autopsy on “Ava’s” remains then she would be able to do an autopsy on somebody who had been cremated. That was how badly burned body “Ava” was. I knew that was by design – according to my theory, Ava never wanted anybody to know who really was killed in that house. She wanted the body to be so badly burned that she could not be identified. Unfortunately for her, there were a few things that survived on the body. The teeth, the hands, and enough tissue that the medical examiner could tell that there was poison found in her system.

  “I have nothing further for this witness.”

  Ally sat down, and I stood up. “Now, Dr. Prorock, you testified on direct that it was impossible to tell if the victim was alive at the time that the fire swept in. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, that is correct.”

  “However, is it true that you found traces of a powerful barbiturate called Secobarbital in some of the tissues that you were able to test?”

  “Yes, that is true. While most of the vital organs and lungs in the throat were charred beyond recognition, I was able to test some of the tissues in the hands. In those tissues I discovered trace amounts of a barbiturate called Secobarbital.”

  “So it’s possible that the deceased had expired before the fire swept in, and perhaps died of the poisoning?”

  “Yes. That is possible.”

  “What do you know about the barbiturate called Secobarbital?”

  “It’s a barbiturate, which means that it slows the heart rate down. It also slows breathing and lowers the blood pressure, and tends to relax the muscles.”

  “But you couldn’t tell how much the deceased had taken of this drug before she died, isn’t that correct?”

  “Yes. I wasn’t able to examine her liver, which is where the drug is processed. I was only able to test a very limited amount of tissue from the deceased’s fingertips, so I was not able to determine if the deceased took a fatal amount.”

  “But if the deceased was in the end stages of pancreatic cancer, is it fair to say that the Secobarbital could be fatal in a small dose?”

  “Yes, that is fair to say.”

  “And you were able to also obtain a dental record from the deceased, isn’t that true?”

  “Yes. Her bones were, by and large, intact. And that would include her teeth.”

  “Now, I provided you with a copy of Ava Porter’s dental records, is that correct?”

  “Yes, you did provide those to me.”

  “And did the dental impression of the deceased match the dental records I provided you that were of Ava Porter?”

  “Actually, there were some differences between the two. For instance, the teeth of the deceased had
a slightly different wear pattern than the dental records I examined. However, the differences were extremely slight.”

  “But you’re telling the jury that the dental records that were obtained for the deceased were different from the records I provided for you that were identified as that of Ava Porter. Isn’t that right?”

  “Yes. That is right.”

  “I have nothing further to this witness.”

  At that, Ally approached the witness. She was going to have to redirect her. She cleared her throat. “Dr. Prorock, you stated on direct that the dental impressions of the deceased did not match the dental records that you were provided, which were the dental records of Ava Porter. Isn’t that right?”

  “Yes. That is correct.”

  “However, the dental records that you were provided for Mrs. Porter were 10 years old. Is that not also correct?”

  “Yes. That is correct.”

  “It would be in fact unusual if these dental impressions would closely match dental records that were taken so long ago, wouldn’t it?”

  “Yes. Everybody’s teeth moves over the years, and teeth also wear down over time. Gums recede. So yes, it would be highly unusual to match up dental records taken from 10 years ago, and match them up perfectly to dental impressions taken today. That said, the differences were slight.”

  “Can you say with 100% authority that the dental records that you examined from the deceased were not those of Ava Porter?”

  She shook her head. “No. I cannot say that with 100% certainty.”

  “I have nothing further.”

  I had to concede that it looked bad that Dr. Prorock was unable to establish with certainty that the person in that dungeon was not Ava Porter. However, I hoped that the medical examiner at least put a doubt in the jury’s mind that it wasn’t her. She couldn’t say that the dental records didn’t match, but she also couldn’t say that they did. That left it open.

  I was still in the game. That’s all that mattered.