James Ellroy - Silent Terror

PROGRESS REPORT:

Rape/Murder — Pasquale, Kristine Michelle, D.O.D. 4-18-79.

Note: This report updates previously filed Crime Scene reports, M.E.’s reports, Canvassing and Interview reports, Sex Offender reports, Property reports and Detective’s log sheets. (See case file # 116-79 under those designations.) This is my first summary report, filed as the catching officer.

Gentlemen:

Updating # 116-79, now ten days old. The victim was raped, the victim’s throat was slashed while the perpetrator held a pillow over her head. He cut off her arms and legs with a different instrument than the knife the throat wound was made with (see Cr. Sc. Rpt. # 116-79 for det.). No weapons found at scene or n surrounding area. We are looking for: 1 — Sharp-bladed hunting knife, blade 7" long, possibly “Buck” brand (all knives of this type confiscated from arrestees or found on male suspects during field interrogations should be given chemical tests to determine presence of blood, & detain all suspects). 2 — Hacksaw, with teeth approx. 1/32", also sharp. Force of incisions indicates strong man. Recent sales of above being checked out. Also on suspect — he may have O+ blood (I say may because semen found in victim’s vagina secretor O+ and abrasions indicate forced entry. However — victim was known prostitute & given killer’s caution in other matters, he may have had smarts to wear a condom). (Note: Victim’s pimp-lover said deceased was on pill, but sometimes asked tricks to use condom. No other semen found in vag. vault, so this may not be conclusive.)

Known associates — nothing so far (see # 116-79 Interviews, # 116-79 Log Sheets).

Canvassing — ditto — see # 116-79 Canvassing.

Property — inventory with boyfriend indicates nothing stolen, narcotic substances (cocaine, hashish) confiscated.

Physical evidence — interesting, pointing to smart killer. Prints eliminated by cross checks with K.A.’s — none unexplained. No blood tracks leading down to street floor, no prints on buzzer killer probably used to gain entrance to apt: Lack of above point out my personal reconstruction:

The victim, with nine prev. arrests for prostitution and known to be very cautious, would have buzzed up only three types of men — policemen, pimps & boyfriends or customers. Eliminating the first two (pimp & old boyfriends cleared — see # 116-79 Interviews), that leaves customers. I reconstruct the killing as being perpetrated by a former John harboring a long-term grudge, who carried a spare set of clothes up to the apartment, wearing gloves. Since most Louisville-area deviates have been or are now being questioned, and there are no similar killings on the books, I am directing my efforts toward questioning local prostitutes and men convicted of and arrested for soliciting indecent acts. Patrol & other officers with knowledge of possible suspects should contact me at H.Q. Div. Ext. 409.

Let’s get him!

From the Evanston, Illinois , Eagle, May 8, 1979:

A group of rubbish dumpers made a ghastly discovery this morning when they hauled their trash over to an empty stretch of the city dump site on Kingsbury Road. It was a dead man, spread-eagled on the ground. Congealed blood was staining the dirt by his head. Mrs. Katherine Daniel, the only woman in the group, fainted, and her husband, Mr. Daniel Daniel, of Muirfield Road in Evanston, revived her while their neighbor, Mr. Jason Granger, ran to summon police.

They arrived soon after, and determined that the dead man had been shot in the head. His pockets had been turned out, and at this early point in their investigation they think robbery may be the motive for the killing.

But right now their most pressing problem is identifying the deceased. The man is described as Caucasian, approximately thirty years old, six feet two and one hundred and ninety pounds, dark brown hair and hazel eyes. Anyone having information on missing men who match that description should contact the Evanston Police Department.

Memorandum submitted on 5/11/79 by Captain William Silbersack, Chief of Detectives of the Evanston Police Department, to Thomas Thyssen, Chief of Police.

Memo:

Sir—

Here’s the update on the Kingsbury Road homicide you requested. First, we got an ID on the decedent. He’s Robert Willard Borgie, W.M., D.O.B. 6/30/51, 6'2", 193, brown & hazel. Address: The board and care home at 814 Kingsbury. (Four blocks from the dump.)

Borgie was mentally retarded. He’d go anywhere with anybody, and he used to wander off for days at a time, which accounts for the delay in making the ID (the supervisor at the home came forward when she saw a T.V. spot on the homicide). She told Sgts. Lane and Vecchio that Borgie used to hook up with homosexuals, and had oral sex with them for money. He would allegedly trust anyone.

As per the coroner’s report: Borgie was shot in the mouth with a .38. The one shot caused his death. We got a break on the spent shell the M.E. took out of his skull — the striations were extreme, and the shot could only have been fired by a .38 snub-nose with a badly aligned barrel and cylinder housing. Naturally, I’ll run a Ballistics Bulletin statewide.

On motive — robbery seems farfetched, although Borgie’s pockets were turned out. Subterfuge? Possibly, because Borgie never had more than a few dollars. It’s the shot in the mouth that bothers me. Borgie was shot at the dump (two sets of footprints leading to, one returning from the place where the body was found indicate the killer was a man wearing a size 11½ work boot), and the killer obviously ordered him to open his mouth before he stuck the gun in. All these factors (Borgie’s low intelligence, trusting nature, history of homosexual trafficking), and the obviously perverse nature of the shooting, point to a homosexual killer.

So far, Sgts. Lane and Vecchio have conducted their investigation along standard lines (see case file # 79-008-H for details). There have been no leads, and I am now instructing the officers to strongly follow up on the homosexual angle.

Respectfully, Bill Silbersack.

From the Des Moines, Iowa, Register, October 2, 1979:

A teenaged girl was found raped and brutally knife-hacked in an abandoned grain-storage bin outside Des Moines last night.

The victim was discovered by two teenage boys who broke in to vandalize the bin. Realizing their civic duty, the boys called police and confessed their own crime while reporting the grisly scene. Des Moines police arrived, and forgot about misdemeanor Breaking and Entering the very second they saw the remains of Wilma Grace Thurmann, 19, of Brewster Street in Des Moines.

“The girl’s throat was slashed from ear to ear, and her arms and legs were amputated and strewn about the floor of the bin,” Officer John Belton told the press, “An ID was easy, because I knew Wilma myself, not personally, but by sight.”

When pressed as to how he knew the late Miss Thurmann, Officer Belton refused to comment. Later our reporters learned that the deceased was a “hustler” who used to solicit truck drivers at the diner two miles south of the bin. She was known to have a key to the abandoned structure, and known also to take her “tricks” there.

“The victim’s occupation might make for a difficult investigation,” an unnamed police spokesman wrote in a general press handout distributed this morning. “But rest assured that Miss Thurmann’s killer will be pursued with vigor.”

Summary Homicide Investigation Fact Sheet, distributed to all personnel points within the Des Moines Police Department on 10/4/79.