Brian Freeman - Immoral

"In the course of your search, did you subsequently find any other evidence of a sexual nature?"

"We did. In a rear drawer of a filing cabinet, also in his office, we found several pornographic magazines. The magazines included titles like Candy Girls, Jail Bait, and Lolly-pop Pussy."

Still studying the jurors' faces, not looking at Stride, Dan asked, "What kind of magazines are these?"

"They include explicit photos of models made up to look like teenage girls."

Dan returned to the prosecution table, carrying the photo of Rachel. He and Stride had talked about whether to leave the photograph on display on an easel for the jury throughout the rest of his testimony, but both men concluded that the image would be too distracting for the men on the jury, and perhaps even for the women.

Dan brought out copies of the magazines discovered at Graeme's house and handed them one by one to the jurors. They flipped through them. Their faces twisted in disgust. Dan let them spend several minutes reviewing the highly explicit photographs, long enough to get a flavor for their perverted nature, but not long enough to become desensitized. He collected the magazines, then extracted another page from his stack of exhibits.

He handed it to Stride. "Can you tell us what this is?"

"It's a printout of phone calls from the Stoner household."

"What does it show?"

"There are regular calls to a number of phone sex services. They average two or three times a month for more than a year. The calls are all to services that emphasize teenage sexuality. Essentially, they allow callers to fantasize that they are having sex with young girls."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Let's go back to your search of the Stoner household, shall we? Did your search include a minivan owned by Mr. Stoner?"

"Yes. The minivan was parked in the detached garage on the side of the house. The van was in the same location during each of our visits to the Stoner house."

"When you searched it, was the van locked?"

"Yes, Mr. Stoner provided us with a key."

"What did you discover in searching the van?"

"We analyzed the carpet carefully in the rear of the van. We found several small stains that appeared to be blood. We also found white fibers that were consistent with the fabric of Rachel's turtleneck. All of this material was sent to the BCA."

Dr. Yee would soon make the next connection for the jury: The fibers matched the brand of turtleneck Rachel was wearing on the night she disappeared, as well as the fabric found at the barn. The stains in the van and on the knife were also matched to Rachel's blood.

"You found the bloodstains and fiber evidence in the rear of Graeme Stoner's locked van?" Dan repeated.

"That's right," Stride said.

"Did you find anything else in the van?"

Stride nodded. "In a toolbox, we found a six-inch hunting knife."

Dan returned to the table and, when he turned back to Stride, brandished the knife in a menacing manner. "Is this the knife you found?"

"Yes."

Dan brought the knife closer to the jury, twisting and turning it in his hands, letting the overhead lights glint on the blade. "Did you find any evidence on the knife itself?" he asked.

"We found traces of blood on the blade of the knife. We also found two fingerprints on the knife that we matched to Rachel's thumb and middle finger."

"Were these fingerprints on the handle?"

"No, they were on the blade."

Dan looked back, seemingly confused. "On the blade?"

"Yes. Rachel's fingerprints were on the blade of the knife, facing upward, indicating a defensive posture."

"Objection," Gale snapped.

"Sustained," Judge Kassel ruled.

"Well, can you show us how the fingerprints and blood were laid out on the knife, Lieutenant?" Dan asked. He approached the witness stand and handed the knife to Stride. Carefully, the lieutenant turned the knife around so that the blade was facing his palm. He then curled his fingers onto the knife.

"Like this," Stride said.

He handed the knife back to Dan.

"I see," Dan said. "So let's say I came at you like this."

In an instant, Dan leaned over the witness box, flashing the knife in Stride's face. Immediately, Stride reacted, trying to block the knife with his hand. His palm and fingers ended up in the same position he had demonstrated for the jury.

Gale stood up angrily. "This is rehearsed stagecraft, Your Honor. Rachel could just as easily have picked up the knife when it dropped on the ground. Mr. Erickson's little drama is misleading and irrelevant."

Judge Kassel nodded and gave Dan a severe glance. "Sustained. I'm instructing the jury to disregard this show by the prosecutor and the witness. And Mr. Erickson, no more of this kind of nonsense in my courtroom, is that clear?"

"Of course," Dan said.

But the message had been sent to the jury.

"All right, Lieutenant, one more thing. Did you find any other fingerprints on the knife?"

"Yes, we found fingerprints matching the defendant on the handle of the knife."

"And no other fingerprints?"

"None," Stride said.

"Thank you, Lieutenant. No more questions."

"Hello, Lieutenant," Gale began.

He pushed himself to his feet, standing behind the defense table. The lawyer studied Stride with sad eyes.

"I don't believe our paths have crossed since your wife passed away. I'm very sorry."

Stride said nothing at all. Gale had no shame. Hidden in a sympathetic comment was a message to the jury. Maybe the lieutenant's judgment was clouded by grief. Maybe he overlooked things.

"Rachel isn't the first teenage girl to disappear in this area, is she?" Gale asked.

"No," Stride said.

The defense lawyer took off his glasses and idly slid the frame between his lips. He squinted at Stride.

"Another teenager, a girl named Kerry McGrath, disappeared a little more than one year earlier than Rachel, is that right?"

"That's right," Stride said.

"She was the same age as Rachel," Gale said.

"Yes."

"Went to the same school?"

"Yes."

"She lived within a couple miles of Rachel?"

"Yes."

Gale shook his head. "That's remarkable, isn't it, Lieutenant? Do you call that a coincidence?"

He glanced at the jury in consternation as if to say, Can you believe this guy? Is he blind?

"We found no evidence that the two cases are related," Stride said.

"And yet you considered the cases similar enough that you tried to find evidence that might implicate Mr. Stoner in Kerry's disappearance. Isn't that true?"

Stride shrugged. "We typed all physical evidence we found against both Kerry and Rachel. It's standard procedure."

"And the fact is, you found absolutely no evidence whatsoever that might point to my client's involvement in Kerry's disappearance."

"That's right," Stride acknowledged.

Gale nodded. "No blood?"

"No."

"No fibers?"

"No."

"In fact, Kerry McGrath's disappearance is still unsolved, isn't it?" Gale asked.

"Yes."

Gale spread his arms wide, his glasses dangling between the fingers of his left hand. "So here we have two teenage girls missing in very similar circumstances. Isn't it just as likely, Lieutenant, that some deranged maniac, some stranger, one of the dozens of convicted sex offenders living in northern Minnesota, abducted both Kerry McGrath and Rachel Deese? That both these girls were the victim of a serial killer? Isn't that an equally plausible theory?"

Stride shook his head. "No. That's not what the evidence tells us."

"Ah, the evidence," Gale said, smiling at the jury. "Yes, we'll get to that in a moment. But let's look at this from a different angle, Lieutenant. You don't know for sure that Kerry McGrath is dead, do you?"