Murder in the First Degree

A call came in, and Detective Jaya Reese answered it. Detective Reese is the lead homicide

detective for the Hillsford Police Department (HPD).

“Is this the Hillsford Police Department?”

“Yes. Do you have a crime to report?” Reese asked.

“Yes. I did my early morning jog this morning and ran through the park. I thought I was having a nightmare. As I passed a park bench, a gentleman was sitting there, and I said good morning to him.”

“Did he respond?”

“No, but I figured out why. Something told me to stop my run and turn around. I did and realized the man on the park bench was headless.”

“Headless?”

“Yes. Someone cut his head off. I never thought I would see something like this in Hillsford.”

“Can I get your name for our records?”

“My name is Jane Carr.”

“Thank you, Jane. HPD will send someone out to investigate.”

Detective Gino Verga is Detective Reese’s partner on the day shift. Detectives Alma Rossi and Bill Cooke work the night shift. All are homicide detectives.

“Verga. Do you know if Rossi and Cooke have returned to the station yet?” Reese asked.

“Yes. Rossi is in the break room. What’s up?” Vega asked.

“The call I took said a headless man is sitting on a park bench in the park.”

“Yikes. Should we go to the crime scene?”

“Not yet. The woman discovered the body before 6:00 a.m., so this case belongs to them.”

Detective Rossi walked over to Reese’s desk.

“I overheard your last comment. Do we have a case from overnight we weren’t notified about?” Rossi asked.

“A headless man is sitting on a park bench, and a jogger discovered him well before 6:00 a.m. Your shift, your case.”

“Can we make this a shared case between the day and night shifts? I have never seen such a violent murder in Hillsford since I joined the HPD.”

“Sure. The day shift will work it and put all our notes into the system before your night owls start their shift. I agree. This is the first murder I have seen here. I would call it noisy.”

“Noisy?”

“Left in a public place to be found in the daylight hours. Head missing. Not our normal, quiet murder.”

“OK. See you at the shift change tonight.”

“Thanks, Rossi. Get some sleep.”

♦♦♦

“Reese. Ready to go to the crime scene?” Verga asked.

“Yes, let’s go.”

Hillsford features two significant parks. The one referred to as the park is vast and in the city center. On any weekend, thousands of Hillsford residents visit it. They refer to the other one as the dog park. It is the only park in the city where dogs can play off-leash. Both parks have lots of trees and plenty of grass to play on.

Reese and Verga pulled up to find patrol officers Nolan and Shi interviewing people in the park.

“Nolan. Meet anyone interesting?” Reese asked.

“Hi, Detective Reese. We found some characters, but no one was here in the wee hours of the morning. Most just wanted to view the headless body.”

“This is a first for me,” Verga said.

“I think this is the first for all of us. Hillsford isn’t the murder capital of the murder world,” Reese said.

“Shi, when will the medical examiner be here?” Verga asked.

“I called her when we first arrived. She should be here soon.”

Reese got a call from Lieutenant Owen, nicknamed LT.

“Hi LT. What’s up?”

“The missing head was located. Someone put it on a post for the iron fence around the high school. The medical examiner is picking it up before she comes to the crime scene.”

“Who found it?”

“One teacher who arrived well before classes started.”

“It is a long way to travel with a head. The park is many miles from the high school.”

“The killer may have showed off. If someone found the head, they would wonder about the body. If someone found the body, they would wonder about the head. This is the conversation going on all day today. Now we have both pieces, and my detectives can work on this.”

“Thanks for the call, LT.”

“Bye, Reese.”

“What’s up with LT, Reese?” Verga said.

“They found the head on a post on the iron fence around the high school. The medical examiner

is picking it up before she comes here.”

“WTF. Was the killer showing off?”

“They don’t know yet. That’s our job to determine. Why take the head across the city? Was the killer warning someone at the high school? Did he create symbolism by posting the head on the iron fence?”

“Too many questions. I am happy we are sharing this one with Rossi and Cooke. I think we solve it faster with four detectives than the two of us can.”

“Agreed. The night shift might find something different than the day shift. One thing we know is the murder took place on the night shift.”

The medical examiner pulled up in her van. She brought out a cooler from the truck.

“Hello, everyone. Sorry for the delay. I had to pick this up.” Zaccaro said as she opened the cooler.

“Do you need to match it up to our headless horseman?” Nolan asked.

“Yes.”

Zaccaro held the head up on top of the corpse’s neck, and it was a perfect match.

“We have the correct head for this body. Let me load up the van and return it to the morgue.”

“Nolan and Shi. Are you done with interviews?” Reese asked.

“Yes, Detective Reese. We are heading back to the station.”

“Is the Forensic team done?”

“Yes, they left a few minutes ago.”

“Verga, let’s head back too. Zaccaro, let us know when you have autopsy information available.”

♦♦♦

The detectives and patrol officers returned to the station. The morgue is in the basement. The first floor was divided into three areas. Detectives are on the east side of the building, patrol officers are in the middle section, and commanding officers are on the west side of the building.

The first floor is split 50% between patrol officers, 35% between detectives, and 15% between commanding officers. This makes sense when you consider the numbers for each group.

Now they had a face and fingerprints, Reese and Verga could figure out who the victim was. Verga entered the information into the system and got a name back.

“Reese, the victim’s name is David O’Shea. He co-owns an Irish bar in Hillsford. His wife, Julie O’Shea, is the co-owner. Both graduated from Hillsford High School 20 years ago. There is no record of either attending college. He worked as a bricklayer before they bought the pub eight years ago. She worked as a legal aid until then,” Verga said.

“The pub opens at 1:00 p.m. It’s a 30-minute drive. Let’s go now. If we are early, we can monitor who opens the pub and anyone else coming in for their shift.”

♦♦♦

Reese and Verga parked on the other side of the street, a few cars away from the bar. This gave them a strong vantage point without making it obvious that two cops were watching the bar. They arrived in 20 minutes, which gave them time to watch.

At 12:55 p.m., an SUV parked in front of the bar. A woman stepped out of the SUV, and the detectives discovered it was Julie O’Shea. Julie entered the bar. At 1:00 p.m., a Ford F-150 parked behind the SUV, and a giant man stepped out.

“I think we met someone the same size as you,” Reese said.

“He is a few inches shorter than me, but his girth is much bigger than mine,” Vega said.

“Let’s go in. This will be hard because I am sure Julie isn’t expecting us.”

The two detectives entered the pub.

“Can I help you?” Julie said.

“You are Julie O’Shea, correct?” Reese said.

“Yes, and who are you people?”

Reese and Verga held up their HPD badges.

“We are HPD homicide detectives,” Reese said.

“Homicide detectives? Who died?”

“I am sorry to tell you this, but we found your husband David dead on a park bench in the park. We believe someone murdered him early this morning.”

“No! Not my David. He is all I have. What was he doing in the park in the middle of the night?” Julie said.

The giant man came over to comfort Julie, who was choking on her sobs.

“Who are you?” Verga asked.

“My name is Doug Ryan, and I work a weekday day shift and bounce on the weekends. Do you have any idea who did this?”

“Not yet. Our investigation is just getting started,” Reese said. “Julie, do you know if your husband had any enemies?”

“None I know of. He was a tradesperson with lots of friends. Since we bought the pub, I think his number of friends doubled. Do I need to visit the morgue to identify him?”

“Yes. I need to warn you before you visit the morgue. We found him this morning, but his head was missing. Later this morning, a patrol officer found the head.” Reese said.

“Oh, my God. He must have had an enemy I didn’t know about. This is terrible news. Can you take me to the morgue? I don’t trust myself to drive with the bucket of tears above my eyes.”

“Yes. You can ride with us.”

“Thank you. Doug, can you manage the pub?”

“Yes. I will keep it open while you are away.”

♦♦♦

Reese and Julie went down to the morgue, which is in the basement. Reese called Zaccaro, the medical examiner, ahead of time to let her know the wife was coming in to identify the body. Arriving at the morgue, there is only one body out with a sheet covering it.

“Mrs. O’Shea. Are you ready to do this?”

Reese wondered if Zaccaro attached the head to the body so the separation wasn’t visible.

“Yes, I am ready.”

Zaccaro pulled the sheet back, and Reese relaxed. Zaccaro positioned the head at such an angle the separation wasn’t visible.

“That’s my David. Thank you for making him look so well,” Julie said.

“My pleasure, Mrs. O’Shea. Do you have burial plans for David?” Zaccaro asked.

“Yes. I spoke with the funeral director today. He said he will contact you to pick up the body.”

Reese walked Julie to the first floor, where the patrol officers work. She looked around for Nolan and Shi. Officer Shi was talking to Sergeant Walsh, so she approached them.

“Detective Reese, what can we do for you today?” Walsh said.

“I need someone to drive Julie O’Shea back to her pub. She finished identifying her husband’s body.”

“Nolan and I are going out again. We can drop her off first,” Shi said.

“Thank you,” Reese said.

Reese and Shi walked over to Julie.

“Mrs. O’Shea. This is Officer Shi. She and her partner, Officer Nolan, will take you back to your pub.”

“Thank you, detective. It is a pleasure to meet you, Officer Shi.”

By this time, Nolan walked up to them.

“Mrs. O’Shea, this is my partner, Officer Nolan,” Shi said.

“It is a pleasure to meet you too, Officer Nolan.”

“Let’s go,” Nolan said.

♦♦♦

Reese and Verga were at their desks, figuring out the next steps.

“The victim’s name is known. His wife verified it was her husband. Our patrol officers interviewed people around the crime scene.” Reese said.

“We haven’t watched any video from the park or the high school. We didn’t visit the high school, either.” Verga said.

“Let’s analyze the videos we have. We should have enough time to make it through before Rossi and Cooke start their shift.”

Watching the first video, they found the killer. David O’Shea was sitting on the park bench, waiting for someone. The killer, dressed in black pants, a black hoodie, black sneakers, and a scream mask, approached from behind. He must have been quiet because David never turned around. The killer walked up to him and, in one motion, cut the head off with a machete. He put the head in a bag and walked away.

They judged the killer’s height to be 5’8” to 5’10”. The killer also looked chubby in his all-black clothes.

The second video shows the killer driving up and parking outside the high school iron fence that protects the property. The killer was still wearing a scream mask. He took a step stool out of his trunk and put it in front of the closest iron pole. Next, he took the head out of his car, got up on the step stool, and pushed the head onto the iron pole. He shook his head twice. He seemed satisfied and put the step stool back in his trunk and drove off. They also noted that the car had no license plates.

Reese and Verga put all this information into the computer system HPD uses to document crimes. Rossi and Cooke would have it at the start of their shift. It was now 5:53 p.m. and Reese and Verga’s shift ends at 6:00 p.m. They do a shift from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Rossi and Cooke do another twelve-hour shift. The two teams do these four days in a row and then have two days off and rinse and repeat. HPD is still trying to figure out what to do on the other three days. They pull the teams back in if something happens. Otherwise, they come back to lots of work after their days off.

♦♦♦

Reese and Verga walked out of the building at 6:03 p.m. and did not see Rossi or Cooke yet. When they got to the parking lot, Rossi was chatting with Sofia Calderon, also known as LT2. She is the night shift lieutenant.

“Reese, did you two put your notes into the system?” Rossi said.

“Yes. We analyzed the videos provided, and the killer acts like a pro. He wears a scream mask to hide his face. He still had the mask on at the high school. Worse, he took the license plates off the vehicle he was driving,” Reese said.

“OK. We will try to find the car another way. Cooke and I will return the favor in the morning. We can all be efficient if the notes are in the system.”

“Thanks. Rossi. Have a wonderful shift.”

♦♦♦

When Rossi got to her desk, Cooke was already at his desk.

“I thought you might be late when I didn’t find you in the parking lot.”

“My car is in the shop. I took an Uber here and got here when Reese and Verga left the building. I came in on the other side because the driver dropped me off on the street.”

“Makes sense. Are you looking at their notes?”

“Yes, I have been going through the videos to try to identify the killer. So far, I am as frustrated as the day shift. This guy uses a mask to hide his face.”

“We need to track the car without having the license plates. There are no identifying scratches or bumps on the car we can use.”

“I have an idea. Can our technology group reverse the trip and find the video going backwards from the park parking spot?”

“Sounds difficult. Ask them.”

Cooke walked over to the technology group area, which was in the commanding officers’ section.

“Detective Cooke, what’s up?” Cynthia said.

“Can you piece a video together to follow a car back to where it started if I show you, it’s current parking spot?”

“Wow. Sounds like a hard problem. It depends on how many cameras the city placed in the area. It only takes one street without cameras to end it.”

“I would appreciate anything you can do. We might get lucky and trace it back to a convenience store with cameras.”

“My engineering lead starts work at midnight. He is a genius. I will pass this information to him, and he might have an answer by the morning. His name is Jerry.”

“Thanks, Cynthia.”

“Detective Cooke, stay safe tonight.”

Cooke went back to his desk. Rossi wasn’t back yet, so he thought about what he could do next. The height and build are regular, so it won’t help us.

“What did the technology group say?”

“Hi Rossi. I met the youngest member of the team. She told me it depends on how many cameras the city put on the drive. If the driver used roads with no cameras, it would end the search. She said her lead engineer starts his shift at midnight. We might have an answer by morning.”

“We need a different approach tonight.”

“I already checked height and build, and this guy is a regular size.”

“Let’s grab some coffee and think about it.”

The two detectives walked into the breakroom and found an empty coffee pot. Rossi brewed a new pot, which took 10 minutes. The two of them sat staring at each other. They walked back to their desks with fresh cups of coffee. On the night shift, some of them drink two or three pots of coffee on their own.

“Let’s take a drive,” Cooke said.

“To where?” Rossi said.

“The high school neighborhood. Our patrol officers interviewed many people around the park. The only person who went to the high school was the medical examiner.”

“This will be like our patrol days. Knocking on doors.”

“Yep. Let’s go.”

♦♦♦

Rossi and Cooke parked near the same spot as the killer. It gave them angles to determine which houses could have seen him. They picked five houses with a vantage point. They numbered the houses one to five.

“I will take houses one to three and you take four and five?” Rossi said.

“Works for me, partner.”

Rossi struck out in houses one and two. Cooke struck out on both of his. They walked up together to house three. A woman answered the door.

“Good evening, Ma’am. Last night, a criminal stopped in this neighborhood to leave a man’s head on the high school fence. Did you or your family see anything? This would have been about 5:00 a.m.”

“My daughter was coming back from a run then.”

“Can we speak with your daughter?”

“Suzanne, please come to the front door.”

“What’s up, mom?”

“The police want to talk to you about what you found on your run this morning.”

Suzanne came to the door.

“May I ask how old you are, Suzanne?” Rossi said.

“I just turned 17. I am a senior at the high school.”

“Do you always run in the early morning?”

“Yes. I like to do it before I start school. I have been doing it since my sophomore year.”

“What happened this morning?”

“A weird guy with a mask on took a step stool out of his trunk and placed it near the iron fence.”

“Did you notice anything else?”

“Yes. I didn’t like the look of the man, so I sprinted to my house, before he noticed me.”

“Why did you call him weird?” Cooke asked.

“While he was doing this, he was humming a song I didn’t recognize. He was like a one-man band. Singing and making distinct noises for instruments. I could hear a trumpet, clarinet, and drums. He was doing it loud enough so I could hear him when I was 150 yards from my house.”

“Did it sound like he was enjoying his work?” Rossi said.

“Yes. It was a cheerful tune.”

“Thank you, Suzanne. We appreciate your help. “

♦♦♦

Rossi and Cooke drove back to the station. Now they had something to talk about.

“Why would a murderer be singing a cheerful tune while putting a head on an iron fence pole?” Cooke asked.

“It tells me we are dealing with a psychopath or a sociopath.”

“What a scary proposition in a mid-sized town like ours.”

“Yes. We need to catch this guy soon.”

♦♦♦

It was after 1:00 a.m. when the technology department called.

“Detective Rossi. How can I help you?”

“Can you come down to the technology department? We have something to show you,” Jerry said.

“We are on our way.”

“Cooke. Let’s go. Technology wants to show us something to.”

Rossi and Cooke hurried over to the technology department. Jerry’s desk was the one with three monitors.

“Hi Jerry. I am Detective Rossi, and my partner is Detective Cooke,” Rossie said.

“I could trace the car back to five miles from the park. It wasn’t enough to follow the person home.”

“Doesn’t sound promising to me,” Cooke said.

“Let me show you the last place we found the car.”

Jerry rewound the video to a church parking lot.

“This is where we got lucky. Look at the man getting out of the Hyundai Ionic 5,” Jerry said.

On the video. A man got out of the Ionic 5 and grabbed our killer. The killer spun around with his mask on. Both hugged and then spent seven minutes in conversation.

“We don’t have audio for the conversation,” Rossi said.

“You don’t need it, “Jerry said.

“Do you know who owns the Ionic 5?” Cooke said.

“Yes. We have a video of this license plate and his face. I found out who he is and where he lives.”

“Perfect!” Rossi said.

“I will text you his name and address. I also will send you the video clip in case he tries to claim it wasn’t him. For a long conversation, they must know each other well.”

“Thanks, Jerry,” Rossie said.

“Thank you, Detective.”

Rossi and Cooke walked back to their desks. They agreed to do a bio break and then head to the address they received.

♦♦♦

“How can we force this guy to tell us who the killer is?” Cooke said.

“We don’t know if we need to yet. He may be an amicable guy who gives us everything because we are police.”

They parked the vehicle across from the house they planned to visit.

Cooke banged on the door.

“HPD police. Please open,” Rossi said.

A man answered the door.

“Are you Tim?” Rossi said.

“Yes. What is this about?” Tim said.

“Can we come inside?” Cooke said.

“Yes. Please follow me to the kitchen.”

The three of them walked to the kitchen. The kitchen featured a round table with four chairs. Once Tim sat down, Rossi and Cooke took seats across from him.

“Why are you here?” Tim said.

“Let me play you a video,” Rossi said.

Rossi played the seven-minute video.

“Am I in trouble because I talked to an old friend?” Tim said.

“No, sir. We want to know who your friend is. We have video of him killing someone in the park last night and we need to catch him,” Rossi said.

“You think he cut the head off the man on the park bench?”

“We know he cut the head off. He likes to dress in all black. It makes him stand out in videos. We also have video of him posting the head on the iron fence.” Rossi said.

“I am disappointed in my friend. It is not right. He was always religious. He must have fallen far to become a murderer.”

“Will you give us his name and address?” Rossi said.

“Yes. Let me write it down for you.”

Tim handed detective Rossi a paper with the name and address of the killer.

“Cooke. Phone this in. Call LT2 and tell her we would like to have Sergeant Wolf and Patrol Officers Mitchell and Arroyo meet us there. We will wait for them before we approach the house.”

Rossi and Cooke got to the house first and parked across the street from it. They waited for 10 minutes before two patrol vehicles showed up. Sergeant Wolf was in the first one and the patrol officers were in the second one. The five of them met by the patrol officer’s vehicle.

“Sergeant Wolf will break the door down and go in first. Cooke and I will follow. Mitchell and Arroyo, come in from the back of the house. When ready, let us know. We will hold until you are ready,” Rossi said.

Mitchell and Arroyo took off and went towards the back of the house. Sergeant Wolf grabbed a basher from his vehicle and walked up to the front door with Rossi and Cooke.

“We are in position in the back,” Mitchell said.

“Roger. On my count of three. One, two, three,” Wolf said as he used the basher to open the front door.”

“HPD! We have a warrant for the arrest of Craig Jensen.”

“Sergeant and Detectives, we have Jensen in the back room.” Arroyo said.

As they walked towards the back room, an older woman jumped in front of Sergeant Wolf with a baseball bat in her hands.

“GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!”

“Move or I will arrest you,” Wolf said.

As they got closer, the woman got to a position like she was a baseball player waiting to swing. Wolf went into a full sprint and tackled the woman before she could swing. He rolled her over, pulled her hands back, and used zip ties to tighten her hands together.

When they got to the back room, Rossi and Cooke already put zip ties on Jensen.

“Craig Jensen. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you. Do you understand the rights I have just read to you? With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me?”, Rossi said.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Jensen said.

Wolf said the Miranda Rights to the woman he tackled.

Mitchell and Arroyo walked Jensen to the patrol car. Wolf walked the woman to the other side of the patrol car.

“I suspect the woman is Jensen’s wife, but she is refusing to talk. Make sure you charge her with assault of a police officer,” Wolf said.

The patrol car took off to go back to the station. Wolf headed to another crime site scene, so he took off. The detectives chatted for a couple of minutes before they took off.

♦♦♦

When Mitchell and Arroyo got back to the station, they dropped the two prisoners off. They went back to their desks to do the paperwork. The prosecutor would file formal charges against them in the initial hearing on the case.

Rossi and Cooke went back to their desks too because there was paperwork to do. They also needed to put their notes in the system, so the day shift knew what happened overnight. It was 3:18 a.m. so Cooke started another coffee pot going.

The detectives got everything done about 5:58 a.m. Everything was now in the system. The initial hearing might be today or tomorrow. They walked out of the building just as Reese and Verga arrived.

“Good morning, night owls. How is the case?” Reese said.

“We made two arrests,” Rossi said.

“Two arrests?”

“We think the second arrest is the wife. She tried to hit Wolf with a baseball bat.”

“Why are you unsure of her?”

“She hasn’t spoken a word since we arrested her. They placed the two of them in the back seat of the patrol car and they never spoke a word.”

“Congratulations on making an arrest in less than 24 hours.”

“Thanks. Cooke presented an idea, and the technology team got it done in a few hours. It’s all in notes in the system.”

“Outstanding job, Cooke.”

“Stay safe,” Rossi said.

♦♦♦

They scheduled the initial appearance. Assistant District Attorney (ADA) Nabi Ahn is handling the case. ADA Ahn came over to the station to meet with detectives Reese and Verga.

“Good morning, detectives. I would like to talk about the charges against Craig Jensen. His initial appearance is happening this afternoon. He is the bigger fish. We are still trying to decide the charges for the woman who won’t tell us who she is. If we fingerprint her, we may find her in the system,” Ahn said.

“It was a violent murder and then going across town to post the head on a fence pole is egregious,” Reese said.

“Agreed. We plan to charge him with first-degree murder because he bought a machete to commit the murder, and he did the murder in the early hours. We also know the killer texted the victim to lure him to the park at the hour. It shows planning. It is all we can charge today. If he cut the head off after killing the victim, I could have charged him with the mutilation of a corpse.”

“How many years for a first-degree murder sentence?” Verga asked.

“We are attaching a 25-year sentence to the charges.”

“Perfect. The last thing we need are murders who are more violent than our normal ones. Every one of those will rock this city,” Reese said.

“OK. The hearing is at 9:00 a.m. I plan to present the first-degree murder charge and ask for remand.”

♦♦♦

The Hillsford court building is one of the oldest buildings in the city. It contains 12 courtrooms, of which two are sized for high-profile trials and the others are small to medium. The courtroom used for initial appearances, courtroom 3, was a small one.

“The case of Hillsford vs Jensen is next. Please come up to the lecterns,” the sentencing judge said.

Ahn took the lectern on the left, and Jensen and his attorney took the one on the right.

“Mr. Jensen, You already have an attorney. I want to remind you can remain silent during this appearance. How do you plead?”

“Not guilty, your Honor,” Jensen’s attorney said.

“ADA Ahn, what are the charges from the prosecution team?”

“Your honor, we are charging Mr. Jensen with first-degree murder.”

“Does defense have a bail amount in mind?”

“Yes, your honor. We don’t believe Mr. Jensen is a flight risk, so we would like bail under $500,000,” Jensen’s attorney said.

“ADA Ahn, do you accept?”

“No, your honor. We are asking for a remand because this is a first-degree murder case. This was an egregious crime, and we think the city would sleep better if Jensen stayed in prison while awaiting trial.”

“Remand it is. Next case.”

♦♦♦

ADA Ahn stopped by to revisit the detectives.

“Look who is back, and she is smiling. The first appearance went our way?” Reese asked.

“First-degree murder with remand. This guy will be in prison until his trial, and I hope for 25 more years.”

“Do you know when the trial will happen?”

“Detective Verga. They overloaded the courts with cases. I expect it will happen four to six months from now.”

“We will forget about this case by then,” Reese said.

“I will remind you a few weeks before the trial starts.”

(This story is a work of fiction. Some of these characters will appear in my next novel – The Chameleon Killer.)