WEBMAZE Community
City Life => New York City => Topic started by: Chris Meloni on April 11, 2006, 10:08:47 AM
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April 11, 2006
It was 6:00 am Tuesday morning when I was awakened by that call from Joe Friday. He'd responded to a homicide call in the Columbia University dorms to find a 20 year old female named April Storm apparently raped and murdered.
I hurried to join him at the crime scene before they removed the body. Cases like this are turned over to our Special Victims Unit (SVU) and he wanted me to have a good first hand look at the murder scene. Jeff Mallard was already there collecting DNA, hair samples, and fingerprints. Our Medical Examiner, Dr. Garret Macy, had finished up with his preliminary investigation and declared the victim dead from strangulation.
What they wanted me to see were the teeth marks in the victims throat. It was as if the killer wanted it to look like a vampire attack. Garret said he would know more after the autopsy, but he didn't believe much blood was really taken. It was more just a symbol.
After I examined the body, they bagged her and took her to the 5th Precinct morgue. Jeff Mallard said there were lots of fingerprints and hair samples, but since so many students shared rooms there, it might take a while to sort things out.
I left a copy of the preliminary findings on my partner's desk, Detective Olivia Benson. My instincts told me this wasn't going to be a simple case.
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April 14, 2006
Garret Macy finally issued a complete autopsy report on April Storm. There were a lot of surprises there. First, she's 8 weeks pregnant! Second, it appears that the sex was not only consensual, she actually reached a climax. There was plenty of semen there, but none that matched any known rapists in the New York City area.
She officially died of strangulation as Garret expected. The bite in her throat didn't cause her death and no serious amount of blood was taken. It might have actually been part of one of those fantasy games some couples enjoy.
The question is, why did he then kill her? The CSI lab is running DNA tests to find out if the man that had sex with her is the father of the potential baby. Did she tell him she was pregnant right after they had sex?
Jeff Mallard said that most of those fingerprints found appear to match those found in other dorm rooms in the same building. In other words, it appears that she knew her assailant pretty well. None of the fingerprints matched up with the files on known rapists.
Olivia Benson and I have a real case on our hands here. We will need to do some real research with other students in that dorm and the male dorm across the street, hoping somebody can identify who April was dating and who was last seen entering her room.
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April 21, 2006
Lt. Joe Friday suggested that I pick up his daughter Janette at Columbia University and hear what she had to say regarding the April Storm murder. I picked her up out front of the main building and we drove to a nearby park where we could park and talk in private.
Jan plays on Columbia's varsity volleyball team and said that as soon as she heard on the news that April was pregnant, she had serious suspicions that their coach, Victor Watters, might be involved.
She said that Victor was a "hands on" coach and they had an open controversy, on at least one occasion, when he patted her ass inappropriately. She was embarrassed and he was pissed when she challenged him in front of everybody.
She was sure that Victor might be the father of April's unborn child. Although she had no proof, Jan was certain that he was secretly dating April and possibly a few other teammates. Jan said that Victor has unlimited access to the woman's dorm because he coaches the women's vollyball team.
I pressed her for names and she gave me Amy Bilson and Tiffany Farina. I was a bit shocked at both names. Bilson had helped us crack open a drug situation at one of the fraternities just a year ago. Tiffany was Diego Farina's daughter and I knew he would be pissed if we dragged her into the lime light in a case like this.
I have Amy Bilson's cell phone number still in my note pad and about 30 minutes after dropping Jan off I had Amy in my Ford at that same quiet park. She was hesitant at first, embarrassed by her involvement with her coach, but pretty soon it all came pouring out.
Amy was scared because she feared Victor might be responsible for April's death as soon as she heard that the autopsy report showed that April was pregnant. Turned out that Victor had walked in on April and Amy in April's dorm room one night a few weeks before the murder and found them both high on marijuana and wine.
He talked the girls into a menage a trios where Amy said she only participated in the foreplay. Amy sounded hesitant and I pressed her further. She finally admitted that Vic talked her into intentionally setting up a second threesome a week later where she did have intercourse with him. She said she had demanded a condom, but that Vic used no protection when he also screwed April.
Amy said that April wasn't happy when Victor had intercourse with Amy the second time. There's a distinct possibility that April told Victor she was pregnant the night of the murder.
After dropping off Amy at Carnegie Hill, I went back to the 5th Precinct and obtained an arrest and search warrant for Victor Watters' apartment.
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April 23, 2006
After the arrest and arraignment of Victor Watters on Saturday, I'm still looking for additional evidence to lock up a conviction on Wednesday afternoon. Judge Gamble left Watters out on bail in spite of my serious requests that he be remanded until the trial. I do hope the man doesn't flee.