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"To read the Prologues from Danger Zone, Murder at the Front Door, or Murder Outside the Back Door click on one of the above links, for Murder By the Bathhouse Door, scroll Down
Danger Zone by John Tommasi on Amazon
Hi all, one good thing about the quarantine is I finished the great American novel. It is an action- adventure, detective mystery that is loosely based on my tenure working for the state of NH as an undercover operative. The action goes from NH to Florida and Jamaica to the Bolivian jungles; Enjoy! It is also available on paperback. If you click the link above, titled Danger Zone, I've posted the Prologue and Chapter 1.
ps you can download it to a pc or phone with the kindle app from Amazon, it is free for Prime members.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=danger+zone+tommasi&ref=nb_sb_noss
MURDER AT THE FRONT DOOR on Amazon
The true and bizarre story of the murder of Robert Cushing Sr. by off duty Hampton Police Officer Robert McLaughlin on June 1, 1989 is now available on Kindle and Paperback at Amazon
Murder Outside the Back Door: The true story of the murder of a popular Salem, NH school teacher by her husband. The murder was labeled as a Charles Stuart copycat .
Murder by the Bathhouse Door
The following is the prologue and Chapter 1 from my upcoming book that should be available in early fall. It is about the murder of two Salem NH girls in 1997 by three boys who wanted to see what it was like to kill someone.
|
Hi All, Murder by the Bathhouse Door is now available on Amazon and can be obtained by clicking the link below: https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Bathhouse-Door-murder-teenage-ebook/dp/B0C4BCTHRB/ref=sr_1_1?crid=PTIKOVXSIGDT&keywords=murder+by+the+bathhouse+door&qid=1683466946&sprefix=%2Caps%2C91&sr=8-1 The Prologue and Chapter 1 are available below |
Prologue
From the Movie Scream/1996
Billy Loomis looked at his girlfriend. “Now Sid, don’t you blame the movies. Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative.”
“We all go a little mad sometimes.”
********
September, 1997
Detectives Beaudet and Sambataro were interviewing Eric Jeleniewski at the Salem, NH Police Department. Jeleniewski was recounting the murder of 18 year old Kimberly Farrah at Hedgehog Park.
“I loved the feeling of her warm blood flowing through my fingers,” Jeleniewski said.
Sambataro’s shoulder and back muscles involuntarily contracted. He had a daughter Kimberly’s age. Sambataro got up and shut off the video camera. He then turned toward Beaudet, “Roger, go get a cup of coffee.”
********
Murder on the Orient Express
Hercule Poirot, the world renowned detective, was traveling on the elegant Orient Express and accompanied by his friend M. Bouc. The train was unusually crowded for this time of year and a large winter storm was brewing.
While on the train, Poirot is approached by the mysterious millionaire, Mr. Ratchett. Ratchett wants Poirot’s protection while on the train and is willing to pay him handsomely from the death threats he has been receiving. Poirot refuses since he sees Ratchett as a man of questionable character and repute. That evening, the train is stopped and stranded by a large snowdrift. Over dinner, Poirot notices some strange occurrences amongst the passengers on the train
As he is sleeping, Poirot is awakened by a cry in the night. When the conductor checks the room of M. Ratchett, a voice from the room states, "Ce n'est rien. Je me suis trompé,"(It’s nothing. I was mistaken). The conductor assumes this is the voice of Ratchett.
The following day, while the train is still stranded, Bouc informs Poirot that Ratchett has been murdered and the murderer is still aboard having no way to escape in the snow. As there are no police onboard, Poirot takes up the case. With the help of Dr. Constantine, one of the train’s passengers, Poirot examines the body of Ratchett after his locked stateroom is opened by the conductor.
The Doctor is troubled. There are inconsistencies in the stab wounds, twelve of them. Some are severe and any one of them could have been the cause of death. Some of the stab wounds are superficial, and barely puncture the skin.
Some of the wounds did not bleed, signifying that they were delivered post-mortem, after Ratchett died.
And finally, at least one of the wounds was delivered by a person that was left-handed.
Poirot wonders, did the murder, (murderers?), leave the room and then return to make sure the deed was complete?
“What other explanation can there be?” Dr. Constantine asks.
In Poirot’s words to Dr. Constantine:
“That is what I am asking myself. Some of these blows point to a weakness, a lack of strength or determination. Some are feeble glancing blows. But this one here, and this one, well great strength was needed for those blows.”
“Ah! C’est rigolo, tout ca!” (Ah! It’s all funny).
********
Fall Semester 1985
John Tommasi had just been promoted to Sergeant at the Salem, NH Police Department and he was in his third year of teaching at Northern Essex Community College on a part-time basis. He had previously earned his MBA degree from the University of New Hampshire. After teaching financial accounting and management courses for 2 years, he was asked to transfer to the Criminal Justice department because of a shortage of Lecturers. He was teaching Intro to Criminal Justice and todays lecture was going to be on serial killers. After, taking attendance, he started.
“A person becomes a serial killer when he commits three or more murders. They are either a psychopath or sociopath. Whereas all serial killers are either, not all psychopaths and sociopaths are serial killers.”
Dave DeBurro, a student, asked a question, “Aren’t they the same thing?”
“They’re similar Dave, but different. The main difference is that a psychopath has no conscience and that’s what makes him more dangerous. A lack of conscience makes an individual more cold blooded and calculating. A sociopath does have a conscience but it is a weak one. Both will manipulate people for personal gain and feel little if no remorse. When it matters, psychopaths tend to be both charming and manipulative, and they are usually intelligent. A sociopath recognizes what they are doing but rationalizes it away and his or her social skills may not be as good as a psychopath. The psychopath doesn’t care or fear the consequences of his actions, as long as it is a means to an end. Probably, the best example I can give you is Ted Bundy.
“Bundy killed 36 different women over a 10 year period and is suspected in possibly another 50 to 100 killings before he was finally caught in 1978. He could be very charismatic and was studying for his law degree. The question brought to mind is it nature or nurture. In other words, are people born killers or do life experiences shape them? I suspect that will be a question for years to come. It is believed that Bundy’s grandfather was also his father, and until he was about 10 years old, he thought that his mother was his sister. I recently read an article that stated scientists want to examine Bundy’s brain after his death to see if there is anything out of the ordinary.”
He also gave examples of other psychopath serial killers such as David Berkowitz who was known as the Son of Sam and John Wayne Gacy.
“Professor,” Dave DeBurro asked again, “Do you have any other training besides police work in this area?”
“Some Dave, my undergraduate major was behavioral psychology at UNH. Whereas that in no means makes me an expert, my knowledge is a bit more than rudimentary; and keep in mind, psychology is far from an exact science.
In the years to come, Tommasi would be surprised at the number of psychopaths that he would encounter as a police officer, one as young as fifteen years old.
********
Spring 1997
Eric Jeleniewski was in his fourth week of boot camp for the army reserves when the accident happened. One of the recruits in the company, Tim Campbell, was climbing the high bars when he slipped and fell twenty feet to the ground. He landed on his head and died instantly from a broken neck.
It was the first time Jeleniewski saw someone die and it didn’t upset him. He kind of liked it and wondered how it would be to take someone’s life.
Authors note: the musing of Eric Jeleniewski were suppositions by the author gained as a result of interviews with detectives involved in the murder investigation in the following pages.
********
August 1997
There were six people living in the small motel 6 room in Leominster Ma. There were the three friends, Eric Jeleniewski, James “Opie” Grant and Chris Doucette. There was also Eric Jeleniewski’s friend, Jacob Romero and two girls that came and went. They were living off of $500 that James Grant had stolen from a business from which he had been previously fired. They supplemented that by stealing food and 30 packs of beer.
Eric Jeleniewski watched the same movie over and over again in those 10 days. The movie was Scream and it was a comedic horror movie that was inspired by the real-life case of the Gainesville Ripper. Jeleniewski seemed to be obsessed with killing people and he would also brag to his friends about his sexual exploits when he went “parking” with his girlfriends in cemeteries.
He occasionally took a break from watching Scream and watched Scarface, starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, but his favorite was Scream and he would often portray the slashers as he watched the movie.
There were some particular scenes from Scream that he loved. He loved the part about the rules of horror movies:
"There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. For instance, number one: you can never have sex. Drugs and alcohol are also a problem and no one should say "I'll be right back." When Stu, one of the movie’s characters, repeated the line, Randy said, "See, you push the laws and you end up dead. Okay, I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife."
He also liked the scene where one of the murderers licked the blood from a stab room, and maybe there would be a reporter like Gale Winters who would cover his story.
He loved the movie and wanted to be part of it.
********
After ten days in the motel, they ran out of money and the three boys went one way, and Jacob Romero another.
It was estimated that Jeleniewski watched Scream10-20 times while at the motel.
From the Movie Scream/1996
Billy Loomis looked at his girlfriend. “Now Sid, don’t you blame the movies. Movies don’t create psychos, movies make psychos more creative.”
“We all go a little mad sometimes.”
********
September, 1997
Detectives Beaudet and Sambataro were interviewing Eric Jeleniewski at the Salem, NH Police Department. Jeleniewski was recounting the murder of 18 year old Kimberly Farrah at Hedgehog Park.
“I loved the feeling of her warm blood flowing through my fingers,” Jeleniewski said.
Sambataro’s shoulder and back muscles involuntarily contracted. He had a daughter Kimberly’s age. Sambataro got up and shut off the video camera. He then turned toward Beaudet, “Roger, go get a cup of coffee.”
********
Murder on the Orient Express
Hercule Poirot, the world renowned detective, was traveling on the elegant Orient Express and accompanied by his friend M. Bouc. The train was unusually crowded for this time of year and a large winter storm was brewing.
While on the train, Poirot is approached by the mysterious millionaire, Mr. Ratchett. Ratchett wants Poirot’s protection while on the train and is willing to pay him handsomely from the death threats he has been receiving. Poirot refuses since he sees Ratchett as a man of questionable character and repute. That evening, the train is stopped and stranded by a large snowdrift. Over dinner, Poirot notices some strange occurrences amongst the passengers on the train
As he is sleeping, Poirot is awakened by a cry in the night. When the conductor checks the room of M. Ratchett, a voice from the room states, "Ce n'est rien. Je me suis trompé,"(It’s nothing. I was mistaken). The conductor assumes this is the voice of Ratchett.
The following day, while the train is still stranded, Bouc informs Poirot that Ratchett has been murdered and the murderer is still aboard having no way to escape in the snow. As there are no police onboard, Poirot takes up the case. With the help of Dr. Constantine, one of the train’s passengers, Poirot examines the body of Ratchett after his locked stateroom is opened by the conductor.
The Doctor is troubled. There are inconsistencies in the stab wounds, twelve of them. Some are severe and any one of them could have been the cause of death. Some of the stab wounds are superficial, and barely puncture the skin.
Some of the wounds did not bleed, signifying that they were delivered post-mortem, after Ratchett died.
And finally, at least one of the wounds was delivered by a person that was left-handed.
Poirot wonders, did the murder, (murderers?), leave the room and then return to make sure the deed was complete?
“What other explanation can there be?” Dr. Constantine asks.
In Poirot’s words to Dr. Constantine:
“That is what I am asking myself. Some of these blows point to a weakness, a lack of strength or determination. Some are feeble glancing blows. But this one here, and this one, well great strength was needed for those blows.”
“Ah! C’est rigolo, tout ca!” (Ah! It’s all funny).
********
Fall Semester 1985
John Tommasi had just been promoted to Sergeant at the Salem, NH Police Department and he was in his third year of teaching at Northern Essex Community College on a part-time basis. He had previously earned his MBA degree from the University of New Hampshire. After teaching financial accounting and management courses for 2 years, he was asked to transfer to the Criminal Justice department because of a shortage of Lecturers. He was teaching Intro to Criminal Justice and todays lecture was going to be on serial killers. After, taking attendance, he started.
“A person becomes a serial killer when he commits three or more murders. They are either a psychopath or sociopath. Whereas all serial killers are either, not all psychopaths and sociopaths are serial killers.”
Dave DeBurro, a student, asked a question, “Aren’t they the same thing?”
“They’re similar Dave, but different. The main difference is that a psychopath has no conscience and that’s what makes him more dangerous. A lack of conscience makes an individual more cold blooded and calculating. A sociopath does have a conscience but it is a weak one. Both will manipulate people for personal gain and feel little if no remorse. When it matters, psychopaths tend to be both charming and manipulative, and they are usually intelligent. A sociopath recognizes what they are doing but rationalizes it away and his or her social skills may not be as good as a psychopath. The psychopath doesn’t care or fear the consequences of his actions, as long as it is a means to an end. Probably, the best example I can give you is Ted Bundy.
“Bundy killed 36 different women over a 10 year period and is suspected in possibly another 50 to 100 killings before he was finally caught in 1978. He could be very charismatic and was studying for his law degree. The question brought to mind is it nature or nurture. In other words, are people born killers or do life experiences shape them? I suspect that will be a question for years to come. It is believed that Bundy’s grandfather was also his father, and until he was about 10 years old, he thought that his mother was his sister. I recently read an article that stated scientists want to examine Bundy’s brain after his death to see if there is anything out of the ordinary.”
He also gave examples of other psychopath serial killers such as David Berkowitz who was known as the Son of Sam and John Wayne Gacy.
“Professor,” Dave DeBurro asked again, “Do you have any other training besides police work in this area?”
“Some Dave, my undergraduate major was behavioral psychology at UNH. Whereas that in no means makes me an expert, my knowledge is a bit more than rudimentary; and keep in mind, psychology is far from an exact science.
In the years to come, Tommasi would be surprised at the number of psychopaths that he would encounter as a police officer, one as young as fifteen years old.
********
Spring 1997
Eric Jeleniewski was in his fourth week of boot camp for the army reserves when the accident happened. One of the recruits in the company, Tim Campbell, was climbing the high bars when he slipped and fell twenty feet to the ground. He landed on his head and died instantly from a broken neck.
It was the first time Jeleniewski saw someone die and it didn’t upset him. He kind of liked it and wondered how it would be to take someone’s life.
Authors note: the musing of Eric Jeleniewski were suppositions by the author gained as a result of interviews with detectives involved in the murder investigation in the following pages.
********
August 1997
There were six people living in the small motel 6 room in Leominster Ma. There were the three friends, Eric Jeleniewski, James “Opie” Grant and Chris Doucette. There was also Eric Jeleniewski’s friend, Jacob Romero and two girls that came and went. They were living off of $500 that James Grant had stolen from a business from which he had been previously fired. They supplemented that by stealing food and 30 packs of beer.
Eric Jeleniewski watched the same movie over and over again in those 10 days. The movie was Scream and it was a comedic horror movie that was inspired by the real-life case of the Gainesville Ripper. Jeleniewski seemed to be obsessed with killing people and he would also brag to his friends about his sexual exploits when he went “parking” with his girlfriends in cemeteries.
He occasionally took a break from watching Scream and watched Scarface, starring Al Pacino as Tony Montana, but his favorite was Scream and he would often portray the slashers as he watched the movie.
There were some particular scenes from Scream that he loved. He loved the part about the rules of horror movies:
"There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a horror movie. For instance, number one: you can never have sex. Drugs and alcohol are also a problem and no one should say "I'll be right back." When Stu, one of the movie’s characters, repeated the line, Randy said, "See, you push the laws and you end up dead. Okay, I'll see you in the kitchen with a knife."
He also liked the scene where one of the murderers licked the blood from a stab room, and maybe there would be a reporter like Gale Winters who would cover his story.
He loved the movie and wanted to be part of it.
********
After ten days in the motel, they ran out of money and the three boys went one way, and Jacob Romero another.
It was estimated that Jeleniewski watched Scream10-20 times while at the motel.
Chapter 1
The Murders
Saturday, September 13
It was an unusually cold and damp September morning as Dorothy Myers was walking her German Shepard past Hedgehog Park on Route 38 in Salem. It was a little past 6:30 AM and traffic was light when she noticed what looked like a girl lying on the ground about 40 feet from the road. The girl was on the northern edge of the pond that was in the park, and when Dorothy walked closer, she noticed that the girl’s pants were pulled down slightly and her bra and shirt were pulled up around her neck.
She ran across the street to Klem’s Variety and spoke to the clerk, Thomas Mathews.
“There’s a young girl across the street by the pond lying on her back. She’s not moving and her legs look deformed. I think we should call the police.”
Thomas Mathews dialed 911.
After receiving the call, Peggy Mickles, the police dispatcher, made sure that the fire department was sending an ambulance and then called the sector car.
“Salem 72, respond to the area of Hedgehog Pond by the northern edge of the Pond. We have a report of a woman down. Be advised, an ambulance is also responding.”
Steve “Bucky” Malisos was in his fifth year as a patrolman. He was hoping that it would just be a passed out drunk, but something nagged at him. It didn’t have the feel. He felt that this may be a serious call and he responded with his emergency lights on. Fortunately, traffic was still light.
“Ten-five,” he acknowledged the call.
“Seventy-five headquarters, I’ll back him,” radioed John Lozowski, who was in his fourth year as a patrolman.
When Malisos arrived on the scene, Dorothy Myers and Tom Mathews were in the parking lot of Klem’s variety where they pointed out the location of the girl’s body across the street.
Malisos exited his cruiser and approached the girl, he noticed that something was wrong. The young girl had no shirt or bra on and seemed in an unnatural position. He heard the ambulance’s siren in the background.
“Salem, tell the ambulance to step on it. This girl appears injured.”
As he got closer to the girl, he noticed that she was more than injured. He had a crime scene, and possibly a murder crime scene.
Steve noticed that her shirt was pulled up around her neck, and her neck was saturated in blood. She was cold to the touch. He also noticed that lividity was beginning to set in.
The Fire department ambulance arrived and paramedics confirmed that she was dead. One paramedic offered that the time of death was probably in the previous 5-10 hours.
By then John Lozowski arrived on the scene and both he and Malisos began stringing Police tape around the entrance to Hedgehog Park while Malisos called the station.
“Seventy-two to Salem, we have a 10-54, you need to contact State Police, the AG and Medical Examiner. I also need a Supervisor and detectives.” A 10-54 was police code for a homicide.
“Roger that.”
Lieutenant Bob Tine was the station supervisor. “Okay Peggy, I’ll help you make the calls. You call everyone from state, and I’ll call the Chief and detectives.”
“Thanks Lieutenant.”
Within the hour, Salem Police Detectives arrived on the scene along with the Senior Assistant Attorney General, Pat Donovan, who lived in the Salem area.
Within two hours, Detective Captain Gould and Chief MacKinnon arrived, along with the state police Crime scene van and State Medical Examiner Thomas Andrew, who was just recently appointed to the position.
Once Malisos and Lozowski secured the scene, Lozowski stayed with the body while Malisos went across the street to interview Tom Mathews and Dorothy Meyers. He learned little else than what was initially reported to dispatch.
Authors note: Lividity refers to the discoloration of some skin after death. It is a common sign associated with rigor mortis. Since the heart is not pumping blood through the body, gravity pulls the blood to the lowest part of the body giving it a bluish-purple tinge.
********
Paul Marchand, the senior detective, arrived at the same time as Kevin Swift and they were joined shortly by Roger Beaudet. All were experienced detectives with each having been on the force for twenty years. All were highly decorated with Marchand twice receiving the coveted officer of the year award, something no other officer had achieved at the time. Malisos showed them the body and stayed on the periphery.
Marchand then said, “Why don’t we do this, Roger stay with the body and take some pictures. It already looks like the immediate scene has been contaminated by the paramedics. Kevin why don’t you walk east around the pond and I’ll walk west. I want to check out the bathhouse.” The bathhouse was on the western side of the pond about 70-80 yards from the body. It had restrooms, a fireplace and a small picnic area.
As Marchand walked into the bathhouse he noticed blood on the cement by the hearth and on the hearth. As he turned the corner, he noticed another young girl’s body. He got on the radio on the private detectives channel.
“Kevin, Roger, I have another body. It’s just outside the bathhouse door. Roger when you’re done, come over with the camera.”
“Okay,” Beaudet answered. “I’ll call the station and let them know too.”
Once Peggy Mickles received the news of the second body, it was relayed to state police.
When Beaudet arrived at the bathhouse, he noticed a driver’s license on a shelf above the fireplace. He pointed it out to Marchand who had latex gloves on. He looked at the NH license and then at the dead girl’s body. Her pants were pulled down and off one leg.
“Well, we know who this is; it’s Kimberly Farrah and she lives on Barron Ave. Probably goes to Salem High, she’s 18.”
“Shit,” was all Beaudet said as he looked at Kimberly’s lifeless body.
“Hey Paul look,” as he pointed to Kimberly’s thigh.
“Is that a palm print in the blood?”
“Certainly looks like it Rog, we’ll let the crime lab guys know when they get here.”
All three detectives continued the search but found nothing else.
********
Patrick Donovan was the first state official to arrive at the scene. Donovan had graduated from Dartmouth in 1986 and received his Juris Doctor from Boston College. He then worked for two years as the prosecutor for Salem, NH before going on to clerk for NH Supreme Court Justice, Stephen Thayer III. He then worked for the Boston Law firm of Goodwin, Proctor and Hoar. He accepted his appointment to the NH Department of Justice in 1994 as an Assistant Attorney General.
To no surprise, he worked exceptionally well with Salem PD and he would be in charge of the overall investigation and subsequent prosecution. After detectives brought him up to speed and showed him the two bodies, he stood back to wait for the ME and State Crime Scene Van.
********
Thomas Andrew, the Medical Examiner, arrived shortly before the crime scene van along with Chief MacKinnon and Captain Gould. Marchand brought Andrew over to the bathhouse to see Kimberly Farrah’s body and then they walked back to a staging area that was in the parking lot just west of the bathhouse.
When Andrew got back he said to Donovan, “I’ll hold off on my initial examination until the crime scene guys are done. I don’t want to contaminate the scenes any more than they already are.”
Donovan noticed that Andrew had a troubled look as he observed Leeann Millius’ body.
“What’s the matter Tom?” Donovan asked.
After a few seconds, Andrew said, “I won’t know until I examine her, but it looks like three different types of stab wounds.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there’s probably more than one killer.”
Everyone just looked at each other.
********
It was a little after eight AM when Sergeant Mark Pearson arrived at Hedgehog. The state crime scene unit was already there and working. He was the day shift street supervisor and was given the unpleasant task of notifying Kimberly’s parents of her murder. Before he did, he stationed two patrolman to stop traffic on Route 38 (also known as Lowell road in Salem) eastbound and westbound to ask motorists if they had seen anything unusual during the past 12 hours. This yielded no results.
Once the crime scene investigators were finished, Tom Andrew had done a preliminary examination and pegged the time of death between midnight and 2 AM. He was also quite confident there were three different types of stab wounds. He would know with certainty after the autopsy. The crime scene troopers were able to identify Leeann by her driver’s license which was found in her pants pocket.
Before he went to the Farrah house, Pearson took another patrolman with him. It wasn’t his first death notification nor would it be his last.
Kimberly’s father, Bill Farrah, was living on Budron Ave in Salem. He was recently divorced from Kimberly’s mother. To Pearson, there are no words to describe the grief of a parent who’s been told that a child has died.
Pearson learned from Bill Farrah that Kim’s mother, Carol Horton, lived in Hampton, NH. Kim had recently dropped out of school from Winnacunnet high in Hampton where she was a cheerleader and while she was living with her father, she was not attending Salem High. Bill Farrah said he would contact Kim’s mother and he also asked about Kimberly’s car, a 1990 blue Chevy Cavalier. Pearson radioed this to dispatch and it was entered into NCIC. She was immediately notified by police that the car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a retail store, North Carpet Mills, in Oxford, Mass.
Roger Beaudet and another detective, Phil Smith Sr., went to Leeann’s home on Pelham Road to deliver the death notification to her divorced mother, Mary Wallace. Bill Farrah and Mary knew each other and would eventually enter into a relationship.
While at the house, Mary informed the detectives that Leeann and Kimberly were with three boys last night. She identified the boys as James Grant who had the nickname “Opie”, Eric Jeleniewski and Christopher Doucette
“Leeann had been dating Grant over the summer and she told me that he was really jealous of other boys she was seeing. When the boys were here, she looked like Leeann was more interested in the Doucette boy. Before they went out, they had pizza and I think they got the pies from the Salem House of Pizza around 8:30 PM. When they went out, they had both Kim’s car and Jeleniewski’s, an older red Honda Prelude.”
“How did Leann meet Grant?” Beaudet asked.
“She has a friend in Fitchburg, Jessica Phillips, who introduced them.”
“Would you have her number?”
“Yes I do,” and she wrote down for Beaudet.
“Thank you Mrs. Wallace. I know how hard this is and if there is anything we can do, please call,” Phil Smith said.
As they were leaving, Beaudet noticed three pizza boxes in the garbage and he turned to Smith.
“Hey Phil, we should grab those for fingerprints.”
“Yea good idea.”
The boxes were fingerprinted and were found to have the fingerprints of all three boys.
Police now had suspects.
********
Twenty year old Bob Abbot got to work at seven in the morning. He had been working at the Mobil station on the River road exit off of route 93 in Andover for two months. One of his first chores was to clean the men’s room. He really hated that job but his boss always checked and he was a stickler for a clean restroom.
As Abbot walked into the restroom, the light was on and he was greeted with a sight he had never seen before. The walls, floor and the sink in the restroom were covered in blood. It looked as if somebody had committed a murder. He locked the door and ran back into the station to call the police.
After an Andover cruiser arrived on the scene, Mass State Police were contacted and two crime scene investigators arrived at the gas station by 9 AM. They finished processing the restroom by noontime, and by that time, they were aware of the double homicide that occurred in Salem.
They notified Salem who sent Detective Rheault down. He got copies of their pictures and reports.
After an analysis was performed the following week, the blood was found to be that of Leeann Millius and Kimberly Farrah.
********
By 11 AM, Detectives Paul Marchand and Roger Beaudet were on their way to North Carpet Mills in Oxford Ma, to meet with the local police and Mass State Police. Marchand informed Oxford Police of the double homicide and who the suspects were. At this point they weren’t sure where the boys may be and a Mass State Police K9 unit was at the carpet retailer’s parking lot when Marchand and Beaudet arrived.
A quick look at the car showed that someone had attempted to torch it. The gas cap was removed and there was a partially burnt rag protruding from it. Later analysis showed that the rag had been soaked with lighter fluid.
Roger Beaudet began to search the car.
“Hey Paul, you’re not going to believe this. There’s a wallet on the floor of the back seat.”
“Get the fuck out,”
“Really.”
As Marchand walked over to Beaudet, Beaudet was searching the wallet and found a driver’s license belonging to Christopher Doucette along with a probation ID card from Michigan.
“I’m going to call the station and have them run this guy,” Marchand said. “If he’s on probation, he’s probably in NCIC.”
Beaudet nodded his head.
The subsequent check revealed that Doucette had been previously arrested for burglary and he had lived with his mother, Deborah Brachel, in Manton, Michigan, a small municipality of 1300 people. The Michigan State Police were also able to send the Salem Detectives a picture of Doucette.
The state trooper then put his German Shepard K9 into Kimberly’s car to get a scent and the dog started on a track into the woods behind the carpet retailer. Marchand had been a K9 officer in the 1980s for seven years and was familiar with a K9’s actions. Suddenly, the Shepard stopped and stood on his rear paws with his front paws on a tree. The trooper began to pull at him to continue the track.
“Wait a second,” Marchand said. “He’s onto something.” The trooper gave him a skeptical look and Marchand then began to climb the tree.
About fifteen feet up, he leaned against a branch, put on a pair of latex gloves and took an evidence bag out of his pocket.
“What do ya got?” yelled Beaudet.
“I got a set of keys that was stuck in a little notch in the tree. It looks like there’s some blood on it and maybe a fingerprint.”
The keys were to Kimberly’s car, and it was found to be Leeann’s blood. The fingerprint was smudged, but James Grant’s fingerprints were later discovered in the car.
********
After delivering the death notification to Bill Farrah, Mark Pearson returned to Hedgehog Park and noticed that beer cans were being collected as evidence.
Pearson had just completed the 13 week course at the FBI academy and went over to talk to the state tech.
“Do you know how to interpret the code at the bottom of beer cans?”
“No, what does it tell you.”
Pearson gloved up and turned one of the cans over. He then explained to the tech that the code on the bottom of the can will tell you where it was brewed, bottled and what store it was shipped too.
“Thanks, we’ll make sure to do that.”
Pearson noticed that there were two news helicopters circling the scene. He then went over to talk to Captain Gould and asked if the State Police helicopter was available.
“Why?” Gould asked.
“Well, the leaves are falling early this year and we might be able to see something from the air that we haven’t found by walking the area. That and we can take some aerial pictures of the area.”
“Good idea.”
Pearson then called the FAA Control Tower at Lawrence, Ma. Airport and received clearance to do this. The tower contacted the channel 7 news helicopter that was circling Hedgehog Pond.
Channel 7 said they would be happy to assist, especially since it would look good on the evening news. They landed in a nearby parking lot and Detective Mark Sambataro, who recently arrived at the crime site, went up in the helicopter and took pictures. Nothing new was discovered.
********
At the time of the murder, the Detective Sergeant position at Salem was vacant. Gould got approval from Chief MacKinnon to temporarily put patrol Sergeant Mark Cavanaugh in that position.
Mark became an officer in Salem in 1975 and went onto detectives by 1980. He then left for 3 years to become a NCIS special agent in 1983. He then returned to Salem in 1986 and was soon promoted to Sergeant.
Once the boy’s names were revealed, he did background checks on them and learned that Eric Jeleniewski had recently completed basic training and was scheduled for advanced infantry school later in the fall. He also learned that his mother worked as a civilian administrator for the army at Fort Devins in Shirley, Ma.
She was divorced from Eric’s father and her name was now Misty Maciejewski. He was able to contact her while she was at work.
“How do I know that I’m talking to a real Detective Sergeant?” she asked.
“Ma’am, if you have caller ID, you can verify that I’m calling from the Salem, NH police station.”
After she did that, she asked, “Why are you calling me?”
“Were trying to locate your son Eric, Ms. Maciejewski, he may be involved in a crime.”
“Well, I’m not sure,” she said hesitantly.
Cavanaugh thought she knew where her son was.
“Ma’am, this is extremely important. He may be involved in a murder with two other boys.”
Misty only hesitated for a moment.
“He may be on his way to Michigan with his two friends, Chris Doucette and James Grant. They may be going to Doucette’s mother’s house. I think she lives somewhere in upstate Michigan.”
“Thank you. Would you be able to email me a picture of your son?”
“Yes I can. I have a picture of him in uniform on my desk.”
“Thanks very much Ms. Maciejewski.”
“One other thing detective, Eric’s a real good boy, but he doesn’t seem to have any conscience.”
********
After the phone call, Cavanaugh walked into the patrol supervisor’s office. John Tommasi was the four to midnight sergeant but had been called in early because of the murder. Cavanaugh, Marchand and Tommasi were roommates prior to each of them getting married and were best friends since they got on the police department in the mid-seventies. They gave their usual greeting to each other:
“Hey worthless and weak, what’s up?” Tommasi said.
“Not much ugly and stupid, I take it you’re aware of what’s happening.”
“Yea, Pearson told me everything, including the three suspects we have and the bloody restroom in Andover and the stolen car in Oxford.”
“Well, I just spoke to the mother of one of the suspects, Eric Jeleniewski. She said something interesting.”
“What pray-tell.”
“She said that he’s a good kid, but has no conscience.”
Tommasi contemplated this for a moment. “That’s part of the classic definition for a psychopath Mark. This guy could not only be very dangerous but also a very good liar. Psychopaths could be lying through their teeth and pass a polygraph without a problem.”
“Why thank you Sigmund Freud.”
“Anytime.”
As Cavanaugh was walking out, Tommasi yelled to him.
“Hey Mark, did you hear about the psychologist whose receptionist told him that there’s a patient in the waiting room who thinks he’s invisible?”
“No.”
“The psychologist replied, ‘I can’t see him right now.’”
Cavanaugh hesitated for a minute and just shook his head as he walked out.
********
Roger Beaudet had told Mark about Leeann’s friend Jessica Phillips and before talking to Jeleniewski’s mother, Cavanaugh had called Jessica Phillips, told her about Leeann’s death and asked her to come to the station to which she agreed. She walked in just as he was walking out of the Patrol Supervisor’s office.
During the interview, she confirmed that she had introduced not only Grant to Leeann, but also Jeleniewski, who didn’t seem that interested. Jessica had told the Sergeant that some of her friends had dated Jeleniewski and felt that he was really weird and creepy. Two of Jessica’s friend had accompanied her to the Salem Police Station to offer support and comfort.
Cavanaugh was satisfied with the interview but felt she was holding something back.
********
On their way back from Oxford, Beaudet and Marchand stopped at Doucette’s house in Lunenburg where they spoke to his father. Doucette’s father told the detectives that his son was probably on his way to Manton, Michigan to stay with his mother, Debra Brachel, and gave Marchand her phone number. He also knew that his son was with Jeleniewski and Grant.
“Why are you looking for them?” Doucette’s father asked.
Marchand didn’t mince words. “They are suspects in a murder investigation.”
Doucette’s father just shook his head. He didn’t seem surprised to the detectives.
********
At 5 PM all detectives met at the station and compared what they had and what they were going to do.
The murder weapon had not been found and Cavanaugh was going to organize a skirmish line on Sunday to search the woods in the hope of finding it.
Two Cruisers were stationed at Hedgehog to keep people out and preserve the area.
Swift and Marchand were going to Manton Michigan and they had to make arrangements.
Everyone started writing their reports.
********
After finding out who had jurisdiction in Manton, Michigan, Marchand called the Wexford County Sheriff’s office which was the county Manton located and spoke to Dan O’Riley. He was the Detective Sergeant and was made aware of the murder suspects that were headed his way. Swift and Marchand were going to fly to Michigan the next day and O’Riley told them the closest airport was in Traverse City, Mi., about fifty miles north of Cadillac where the County Sheriff’s office is situated and 15 miles north of Manton. O’Riley said he would also inform Michigan State Police and the police in Manton which was a part-time department.
“Hey Paul,” O’Riley said, “American flies into Traverse City. When you find out your flight info, let me know. I’ll pick you up at the airport and make hotel arrangements for you.”
“Thanks Dan it’s much appreciated, and we have pictures of two of the boys, and a description of the third, we’ll send them to you.”
The Murders
Saturday, September 13
It was an unusually cold and damp September morning as Dorothy Myers was walking her German Shepard past Hedgehog Park on Route 38 in Salem. It was a little past 6:30 AM and traffic was light when she noticed what looked like a girl lying on the ground about 40 feet from the road. The girl was on the northern edge of the pond that was in the park, and when Dorothy walked closer, she noticed that the girl’s pants were pulled down slightly and her bra and shirt were pulled up around her neck.
She ran across the street to Klem’s Variety and spoke to the clerk, Thomas Mathews.
“There’s a young girl across the street by the pond lying on her back. She’s not moving and her legs look deformed. I think we should call the police.”
Thomas Mathews dialed 911.
After receiving the call, Peggy Mickles, the police dispatcher, made sure that the fire department was sending an ambulance and then called the sector car.
“Salem 72, respond to the area of Hedgehog Pond by the northern edge of the Pond. We have a report of a woman down. Be advised, an ambulance is also responding.”
Steve “Bucky” Malisos was in his fifth year as a patrolman. He was hoping that it would just be a passed out drunk, but something nagged at him. It didn’t have the feel. He felt that this may be a serious call and he responded with his emergency lights on. Fortunately, traffic was still light.
“Ten-five,” he acknowledged the call.
“Seventy-five headquarters, I’ll back him,” radioed John Lozowski, who was in his fourth year as a patrolman.
When Malisos arrived on the scene, Dorothy Myers and Tom Mathews were in the parking lot of Klem’s variety where they pointed out the location of the girl’s body across the street.
Malisos exited his cruiser and approached the girl, he noticed that something was wrong. The young girl had no shirt or bra on and seemed in an unnatural position. He heard the ambulance’s siren in the background.
“Salem, tell the ambulance to step on it. This girl appears injured.”
As he got closer to the girl, he noticed that she was more than injured. He had a crime scene, and possibly a murder crime scene.
Steve noticed that her shirt was pulled up around her neck, and her neck was saturated in blood. She was cold to the touch. He also noticed that lividity was beginning to set in.
The Fire department ambulance arrived and paramedics confirmed that she was dead. One paramedic offered that the time of death was probably in the previous 5-10 hours.
By then John Lozowski arrived on the scene and both he and Malisos began stringing Police tape around the entrance to Hedgehog Park while Malisos called the station.
“Seventy-two to Salem, we have a 10-54, you need to contact State Police, the AG and Medical Examiner. I also need a Supervisor and detectives.” A 10-54 was police code for a homicide.
“Roger that.”
Lieutenant Bob Tine was the station supervisor. “Okay Peggy, I’ll help you make the calls. You call everyone from state, and I’ll call the Chief and detectives.”
“Thanks Lieutenant.”
Within the hour, Salem Police Detectives arrived on the scene along with the Senior Assistant Attorney General, Pat Donovan, who lived in the Salem area.
Within two hours, Detective Captain Gould and Chief MacKinnon arrived, along with the state police Crime scene van and State Medical Examiner Thomas Andrew, who was just recently appointed to the position.
Once Malisos and Lozowski secured the scene, Lozowski stayed with the body while Malisos went across the street to interview Tom Mathews and Dorothy Meyers. He learned little else than what was initially reported to dispatch.
Authors note: Lividity refers to the discoloration of some skin after death. It is a common sign associated with rigor mortis. Since the heart is not pumping blood through the body, gravity pulls the blood to the lowest part of the body giving it a bluish-purple tinge.
********
Paul Marchand, the senior detective, arrived at the same time as Kevin Swift and they were joined shortly by Roger Beaudet. All were experienced detectives with each having been on the force for twenty years. All were highly decorated with Marchand twice receiving the coveted officer of the year award, something no other officer had achieved at the time. Malisos showed them the body and stayed on the periphery.
Marchand then said, “Why don’t we do this, Roger stay with the body and take some pictures. It already looks like the immediate scene has been contaminated by the paramedics. Kevin why don’t you walk east around the pond and I’ll walk west. I want to check out the bathhouse.” The bathhouse was on the western side of the pond about 70-80 yards from the body. It had restrooms, a fireplace and a small picnic area.
As Marchand walked into the bathhouse he noticed blood on the cement by the hearth and on the hearth. As he turned the corner, he noticed another young girl’s body. He got on the radio on the private detectives channel.
“Kevin, Roger, I have another body. It’s just outside the bathhouse door. Roger when you’re done, come over with the camera.”
“Okay,” Beaudet answered. “I’ll call the station and let them know too.”
Once Peggy Mickles received the news of the second body, it was relayed to state police.
When Beaudet arrived at the bathhouse, he noticed a driver’s license on a shelf above the fireplace. He pointed it out to Marchand who had latex gloves on. He looked at the NH license and then at the dead girl’s body. Her pants were pulled down and off one leg.
“Well, we know who this is; it’s Kimberly Farrah and she lives on Barron Ave. Probably goes to Salem High, she’s 18.”
“Shit,” was all Beaudet said as he looked at Kimberly’s lifeless body.
“Hey Paul look,” as he pointed to Kimberly’s thigh.
“Is that a palm print in the blood?”
“Certainly looks like it Rog, we’ll let the crime lab guys know when they get here.”
All three detectives continued the search but found nothing else.
********
Patrick Donovan was the first state official to arrive at the scene. Donovan had graduated from Dartmouth in 1986 and received his Juris Doctor from Boston College. He then worked for two years as the prosecutor for Salem, NH before going on to clerk for NH Supreme Court Justice, Stephen Thayer III. He then worked for the Boston Law firm of Goodwin, Proctor and Hoar. He accepted his appointment to the NH Department of Justice in 1994 as an Assistant Attorney General.
To no surprise, he worked exceptionally well with Salem PD and he would be in charge of the overall investigation and subsequent prosecution. After detectives brought him up to speed and showed him the two bodies, he stood back to wait for the ME and State Crime Scene Van.
********
Thomas Andrew, the Medical Examiner, arrived shortly before the crime scene van along with Chief MacKinnon and Captain Gould. Marchand brought Andrew over to the bathhouse to see Kimberly Farrah’s body and then they walked back to a staging area that was in the parking lot just west of the bathhouse.
When Andrew got back he said to Donovan, “I’ll hold off on my initial examination until the crime scene guys are done. I don’t want to contaminate the scenes any more than they already are.”
Donovan noticed that Andrew had a troubled look as he observed Leeann Millius’ body.
“What’s the matter Tom?” Donovan asked.
After a few seconds, Andrew said, “I won’t know until I examine her, but it looks like three different types of stab wounds.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there’s probably more than one killer.”
Everyone just looked at each other.
********
It was a little after eight AM when Sergeant Mark Pearson arrived at Hedgehog. The state crime scene unit was already there and working. He was the day shift street supervisor and was given the unpleasant task of notifying Kimberly’s parents of her murder. Before he did, he stationed two patrolman to stop traffic on Route 38 (also known as Lowell road in Salem) eastbound and westbound to ask motorists if they had seen anything unusual during the past 12 hours. This yielded no results.
Once the crime scene investigators were finished, Tom Andrew had done a preliminary examination and pegged the time of death between midnight and 2 AM. He was also quite confident there were three different types of stab wounds. He would know with certainty after the autopsy. The crime scene troopers were able to identify Leeann by her driver’s license which was found in her pants pocket.
Before he went to the Farrah house, Pearson took another patrolman with him. It wasn’t his first death notification nor would it be his last.
Kimberly’s father, Bill Farrah, was living on Budron Ave in Salem. He was recently divorced from Kimberly’s mother. To Pearson, there are no words to describe the grief of a parent who’s been told that a child has died.
Pearson learned from Bill Farrah that Kim’s mother, Carol Horton, lived in Hampton, NH. Kim had recently dropped out of school from Winnacunnet high in Hampton where she was a cheerleader and while she was living with her father, she was not attending Salem High. Bill Farrah said he would contact Kim’s mother and he also asked about Kimberly’s car, a 1990 blue Chevy Cavalier. Pearson radioed this to dispatch and it was entered into NCIC. She was immediately notified by police that the car was found abandoned in the parking lot of a retail store, North Carpet Mills, in Oxford, Mass.
Roger Beaudet and another detective, Phil Smith Sr., went to Leeann’s home on Pelham Road to deliver the death notification to her divorced mother, Mary Wallace. Bill Farrah and Mary knew each other and would eventually enter into a relationship.
While at the house, Mary informed the detectives that Leeann and Kimberly were with three boys last night. She identified the boys as James Grant who had the nickname “Opie”, Eric Jeleniewski and Christopher Doucette
“Leeann had been dating Grant over the summer and she told me that he was really jealous of other boys she was seeing. When the boys were here, she looked like Leeann was more interested in the Doucette boy. Before they went out, they had pizza and I think they got the pies from the Salem House of Pizza around 8:30 PM. When they went out, they had both Kim’s car and Jeleniewski’s, an older red Honda Prelude.”
“How did Leann meet Grant?” Beaudet asked.
“She has a friend in Fitchburg, Jessica Phillips, who introduced them.”
“Would you have her number?”
“Yes I do,” and she wrote down for Beaudet.
“Thank you Mrs. Wallace. I know how hard this is and if there is anything we can do, please call,” Phil Smith said.
As they were leaving, Beaudet noticed three pizza boxes in the garbage and he turned to Smith.
“Hey Phil, we should grab those for fingerprints.”
“Yea good idea.”
The boxes were fingerprinted and were found to have the fingerprints of all three boys.
Police now had suspects.
********
Twenty year old Bob Abbot got to work at seven in the morning. He had been working at the Mobil station on the River road exit off of route 93 in Andover for two months. One of his first chores was to clean the men’s room. He really hated that job but his boss always checked and he was a stickler for a clean restroom.
As Abbot walked into the restroom, the light was on and he was greeted with a sight he had never seen before. The walls, floor and the sink in the restroom were covered in blood. It looked as if somebody had committed a murder. He locked the door and ran back into the station to call the police.
After an Andover cruiser arrived on the scene, Mass State Police were contacted and two crime scene investigators arrived at the gas station by 9 AM. They finished processing the restroom by noontime, and by that time, they were aware of the double homicide that occurred in Salem.
They notified Salem who sent Detective Rheault down. He got copies of their pictures and reports.
After an analysis was performed the following week, the blood was found to be that of Leeann Millius and Kimberly Farrah.
********
By 11 AM, Detectives Paul Marchand and Roger Beaudet were on their way to North Carpet Mills in Oxford Ma, to meet with the local police and Mass State Police. Marchand informed Oxford Police of the double homicide and who the suspects were. At this point they weren’t sure where the boys may be and a Mass State Police K9 unit was at the carpet retailer’s parking lot when Marchand and Beaudet arrived.
A quick look at the car showed that someone had attempted to torch it. The gas cap was removed and there was a partially burnt rag protruding from it. Later analysis showed that the rag had been soaked with lighter fluid.
Roger Beaudet began to search the car.
“Hey Paul, you’re not going to believe this. There’s a wallet on the floor of the back seat.”
“Get the fuck out,”
“Really.”
As Marchand walked over to Beaudet, Beaudet was searching the wallet and found a driver’s license belonging to Christopher Doucette along with a probation ID card from Michigan.
“I’m going to call the station and have them run this guy,” Marchand said. “If he’s on probation, he’s probably in NCIC.”
Beaudet nodded his head.
The subsequent check revealed that Doucette had been previously arrested for burglary and he had lived with his mother, Deborah Brachel, in Manton, Michigan, a small municipality of 1300 people. The Michigan State Police were also able to send the Salem Detectives a picture of Doucette.
The state trooper then put his German Shepard K9 into Kimberly’s car to get a scent and the dog started on a track into the woods behind the carpet retailer. Marchand had been a K9 officer in the 1980s for seven years and was familiar with a K9’s actions. Suddenly, the Shepard stopped and stood on his rear paws with his front paws on a tree. The trooper began to pull at him to continue the track.
“Wait a second,” Marchand said. “He’s onto something.” The trooper gave him a skeptical look and Marchand then began to climb the tree.
About fifteen feet up, he leaned against a branch, put on a pair of latex gloves and took an evidence bag out of his pocket.
“What do ya got?” yelled Beaudet.
“I got a set of keys that was stuck in a little notch in the tree. It looks like there’s some blood on it and maybe a fingerprint.”
The keys were to Kimberly’s car, and it was found to be Leeann’s blood. The fingerprint was smudged, but James Grant’s fingerprints were later discovered in the car.
********
After delivering the death notification to Bill Farrah, Mark Pearson returned to Hedgehog Park and noticed that beer cans were being collected as evidence.
Pearson had just completed the 13 week course at the FBI academy and went over to talk to the state tech.
“Do you know how to interpret the code at the bottom of beer cans?”
“No, what does it tell you.”
Pearson gloved up and turned one of the cans over. He then explained to the tech that the code on the bottom of the can will tell you where it was brewed, bottled and what store it was shipped too.
“Thanks, we’ll make sure to do that.”
Pearson noticed that there were two news helicopters circling the scene. He then went over to talk to Captain Gould and asked if the State Police helicopter was available.
“Why?” Gould asked.
“Well, the leaves are falling early this year and we might be able to see something from the air that we haven’t found by walking the area. That and we can take some aerial pictures of the area.”
“Good idea.”
Pearson then called the FAA Control Tower at Lawrence, Ma. Airport and received clearance to do this. The tower contacted the channel 7 news helicopter that was circling Hedgehog Pond.
Channel 7 said they would be happy to assist, especially since it would look good on the evening news. They landed in a nearby parking lot and Detective Mark Sambataro, who recently arrived at the crime site, went up in the helicopter and took pictures. Nothing new was discovered.
********
At the time of the murder, the Detective Sergeant position at Salem was vacant. Gould got approval from Chief MacKinnon to temporarily put patrol Sergeant Mark Cavanaugh in that position.
Mark became an officer in Salem in 1975 and went onto detectives by 1980. He then left for 3 years to become a NCIS special agent in 1983. He then returned to Salem in 1986 and was soon promoted to Sergeant.
Once the boy’s names were revealed, he did background checks on them and learned that Eric Jeleniewski had recently completed basic training and was scheduled for advanced infantry school later in the fall. He also learned that his mother worked as a civilian administrator for the army at Fort Devins in Shirley, Ma.
She was divorced from Eric’s father and her name was now Misty Maciejewski. He was able to contact her while she was at work.
“How do I know that I’m talking to a real Detective Sergeant?” she asked.
“Ma’am, if you have caller ID, you can verify that I’m calling from the Salem, NH police station.”
After she did that, she asked, “Why are you calling me?”
“Were trying to locate your son Eric, Ms. Maciejewski, he may be involved in a crime.”
“Well, I’m not sure,” she said hesitantly.
Cavanaugh thought she knew where her son was.
“Ma’am, this is extremely important. He may be involved in a murder with two other boys.”
Misty only hesitated for a moment.
“He may be on his way to Michigan with his two friends, Chris Doucette and James Grant. They may be going to Doucette’s mother’s house. I think she lives somewhere in upstate Michigan.”
“Thank you. Would you be able to email me a picture of your son?”
“Yes I can. I have a picture of him in uniform on my desk.”
“Thanks very much Ms. Maciejewski.”
“One other thing detective, Eric’s a real good boy, but he doesn’t seem to have any conscience.”
********
After the phone call, Cavanaugh walked into the patrol supervisor’s office. John Tommasi was the four to midnight sergeant but had been called in early because of the murder. Cavanaugh, Marchand and Tommasi were roommates prior to each of them getting married and were best friends since they got on the police department in the mid-seventies. They gave their usual greeting to each other:
“Hey worthless and weak, what’s up?” Tommasi said.
“Not much ugly and stupid, I take it you’re aware of what’s happening.”
“Yea, Pearson told me everything, including the three suspects we have and the bloody restroom in Andover and the stolen car in Oxford.”
“Well, I just spoke to the mother of one of the suspects, Eric Jeleniewski. She said something interesting.”
“What pray-tell.”
“She said that he’s a good kid, but has no conscience.”
Tommasi contemplated this for a moment. “That’s part of the classic definition for a psychopath Mark. This guy could not only be very dangerous but also a very good liar. Psychopaths could be lying through their teeth and pass a polygraph without a problem.”
“Why thank you Sigmund Freud.”
“Anytime.”
As Cavanaugh was walking out, Tommasi yelled to him.
“Hey Mark, did you hear about the psychologist whose receptionist told him that there’s a patient in the waiting room who thinks he’s invisible?”
“No.”
“The psychologist replied, ‘I can’t see him right now.’”
Cavanaugh hesitated for a minute and just shook his head as he walked out.
********
Roger Beaudet had told Mark about Leeann’s friend Jessica Phillips and before talking to Jeleniewski’s mother, Cavanaugh had called Jessica Phillips, told her about Leeann’s death and asked her to come to the station to which she agreed. She walked in just as he was walking out of the Patrol Supervisor’s office.
During the interview, she confirmed that she had introduced not only Grant to Leeann, but also Jeleniewski, who didn’t seem that interested. Jessica had told the Sergeant that some of her friends had dated Jeleniewski and felt that he was really weird and creepy. Two of Jessica’s friend had accompanied her to the Salem Police Station to offer support and comfort.
Cavanaugh was satisfied with the interview but felt she was holding something back.
********
On their way back from Oxford, Beaudet and Marchand stopped at Doucette’s house in Lunenburg where they spoke to his father. Doucette’s father told the detectives that his son was probably on his way to Manton, Michigan to stay with his mother, Debra Brachel, and gave Marchand her phone number. He also knew that his son was with Jeleniewski and Grant.
“Why are you looking for them?” Doucette’s father asked.
Marchand didn’t mince words. “They are suspects in a murder investigation.”
Doucette’s father just shook his head. He didn’t seem surprised to the detectives.
********
At 5 PM all detectives met at the station and compared what they had and what they were going to do.
The murder weapon had not been found and Cavanaugh was going to organize a skirmish line on Sunday to search the woods in the hope of finding it.
Two Cruisers were stationed at Hedgehog to keep people out and preserve the area.
Swift and Marchand were going to Manton Michigan and they had to make arrangements.
Everyone started writing their reports.
********
After finding out who had jurisdiction in Manton, Michigan, Marchand called the Wexford County Sheriff’s office which was the county Manton located and spoke to Dan O’Riley. He was the Detective Sergeant and was made aware of the murder suspects that were headed his way. Swift and Marchand were going to fly to Michigan the next day and O’Riley told them the closest airport was in Traverse City, Mi., about fifty miles north of Cadillac where the County Sheriff’s office is situated and 15 miles north of Manton. O’Riley said he would also inform Michigan State Police and the police in Manton which was a part-time department.
“Hey Paul,” O’Riley said, “American flies into Traverse City. When you find out your flight info, let me know. I’ll pick you up at the airport and make hotel arrangements for you.”
“Thanks Dan it’s much appreciated, and we have pictures of two of the boys, and a description of the third, we’ll send them to you.”
Blog Topics 2020
January An Impeachment Primer
February The Coronavirus and the Market.
March/April Balanced Budget and Term limits
May The Cost of the Quarantine and Recovery
February The Coronavirus and the Market.
March/April Balanced Budget and Term limits
May The Cost of the Quarantine and Recovery
Blog Topics 2019
March The Burgeoning US Debt
May China, Trade and Tariffs
June Income taxes: Obama v Trump
July/Aug The China Threat
Sept/Oct The High Cost of College: Part 1
Blog Topics 2018
January What Kills Bull Markets
May Are Cheap Oil Prices here to Stay
July California and Mandatory Solar Panels
August Tariffs and Trade
September Is a Recession coming?
November Increasing Healthcare Costs
December The Oracle of Omaha
Blog Topics 2017
January Trumponomics Part 2
February The Keystone Pipeline Revisited
March Border Adjustment Tax
April Are Liberal Prof's.....
May Moral Hazard Through a Libertarian's Lens (guest blog from a student)
July What's causing the Opioid Crisis
September The minimum Wage re-visited
November Everything You Want to Know about 401K
December How The New Tax Bill Affects you (spoiler alert: the middle class makes out great)
blog topics for 2013 - 2016 are at page bottom
Minimum Wage Commentary
In the new Covid Relief Bill there is a provision for a required $15 minimum wage nation wide. Minimum wage should be left to the individual states. A Federally mandated minimum wage for all states is stupidity personified given the following:
The attached map shows cost of living by state for a market basket of goods that on the average, nationwide, cost $100. The interpretation is a follows: That market basket of goods would cost $139.10 in New York, and $151.70 in Calif. As you can see, the cost of living is 51,7% higher in Calif, the most expensive state, than the national average; however In Mississippi, it would only cost $86.10. If you do the math, the cost of living is 76.2% high in California than Mississippi Even if you compare Calif and NH, the cost of living in Calif is 38.2% higher than NH
As a result, I feel that a one-size-fits-all federally mandated minimum wage is ludicrous and it should be left up to the individual states.
The attached map shows cost of living by state for a market basket of goods that on the average, nationwide, cost $100. The interpretation is a follows: That market basket of goods would cost $139.10 in New York, and $151.70 in Calif. As you can see, the cost of living is 51,7% higher in Calif, the most expensive state, than the national average; however In Mississippi, it would only cost $86.10. If you do the math, the cost of living is 76.2% high in California than Mississippi Even if you compare Calif and NH, the cost of living in Calif is 38.2% higher than NH
As a result, I feel that a one-size-fits-all federally mandated minimum wage is ludicrous and it should be left up to the individual states.
Economy and the Dow
Click to Enlarge
As you can see from the attached charts, the stock market mirrors the American Economy, and granted, there are bumps in the road but both ALWAYS recover. Stop checking your retirement accounts and do nothing. You, and believe or not, even me (yes I am making fun of myself), cannot time the market, but it will recover.
Today the Dow dropped 10%, 2352 points, which is the worst point drop ever and the largest point drop since Black Monday in 1987 where it dropped over 23%; and this drop occurred in spite of the FED announcing that it would inject up to $1 trillion into the economy. Once again, there are no rational expectations in the market, just hysteria and the hysteria will eventually diminish.
The wealth effect is an increase in consumption (and accompanying decrease in savings) as a result of an individuals assets (usually a portfolio or land/home) increasing in value. A negative wealth effect is just the opposite, and since most indexes declined more than 10% and tested bear market territory, this appears to be the case. Conversely, the market recovered in January and all losses and more were covered.
FICO SCORES
Fair Isaac Company reports that it's FICO scores (FICO being an acronym for Fair Isaac Co) reports that the average FICO score in the US has reached an all time high of 700 nationwide amongst adults. The share of consumers who are viewed as the riskiest from a credit perspective (these are sub-prime and have a score lower than 640) reached a new low of about 40 million — or 20 percent of adults in the U.S. that have FICO scores. according to the Wall St Journal. A lot of you may be asking what is a FICO score, how is it calculated and how it affects me. Fair Isaac uses use information provided by one of the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian or Trans-Union. From this, they have a formula to get a credit score which can be as high as 850. The biggest part is your payment history, followed by how much you owe, credit history, credit mix and new credit (see chart). Next, how do you interpret your FICO Score: anything > 800 is excellent (and gets you low interest rates on loans and credit cards), 740-799 is very good, 670-739 is good, and anything less than 670 is considered not good and sub-prime (chart). Lastly, as no surprise, the older you are, the better your score (chart)
Fair Isaac Company reports that it's FICO scores (FICO being an acronym for Fair Isaac Co) reports that the average FICO score in the US has reached an all time high of 700 nationwide amongst adults. The share of consumers who are viewed as the riskiest from a credit perspective (these are sub-prime and have a score lower than 640) reached a new low of about 40 million — or 20 percent of adults in the U.S. that have FICO scores. according to the Wall St Journal. A lot of you may be asking what is a FICO score, how is it calculated and how it affects me. Fair Isaac uses use information provided by one of the three major credit reporting agencies – Equifax, Experian or Trans-Union. From this, they have a formula to get a credit score which can be as high as 850. The biggest part is your payment history, followed by how much you owe, credit history, credit mix and new credit (see chart). Next, how do you interpret your FICO Score: anything > 800 is excellent (and gets you low interest rates on loans and credit cards), 740-799 is very good, 670-739 is good, and anything less than 670 is considered not good and sub-prime (chart). Lastly, as no surprise, the older you are, the better your score (chart)
Strangulation by Regulation:
The tax code is 77,000 pages, under Obama there were 4000 new EPA regulations (info from CBS) Dodd-Frank imposed somewhere between 310-500 new requirements on banks(various analysts CNBC) and Obamacare has over 20,000 pages of regulations (Washington Post); and people are complaining because Trump is trying to streamline government. He has signed the "2 for 1" executive order that mandates all agencies to do away with 2 regulations for every one they pass. I can run my life and spend my money, much better than the government and I applaud Trump's efforts in doing away with economically ruinous legislation.
UNH Study Results 5-31-2016
In other News:
First, a little history. In 1800, 90% of the adult population were farmers (lots of factory child labor), by 1900, 25% of the population and currently, about 2% as a result of technology garnering greater yield/acre. As a result much farmland from the 19th century is no longer. In a recent study out of UNH, it was found that 75% of the farmland from the mid 19th century is now covered by trees and this is contributing to warmer winters. Trees causing higher temperatures you say; how is this possible? It is very simple physics. In the winter in NH (and most other states), farm pastures are covered with snow, and this reflects sunlight, and heat, into space. Now that 75% of these pastures are covered with trees, the dark trees absorb the heat and it permeates into the atmosphere causing a general warming and milder winters. If you've ever wondered what a stone wall was doing in the middle of the woods, those woods were once pastures and delineated borders that contained live stock.
Just as a reminder from my blog of October 2013, Carbon dioxide composes only .0387% of our atmosphere (in decimal form that’s .000387), and of all the CO2 currently being produced on the earth, man only accounts for 3.4% (.034 in decimals). Therefore, if you want to calculate the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere caused by man, you would multiply .034 x .000387 to get .0000131 or .00131%.
The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulafft, at Bergen, Norway.
Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.
Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds.
I apologize, I neglected to mention that this report was from November 2, 1922. As reported by the AP and published in The Washington Post — 96 years ago!
The text in the above example is a genuine transcription of a 1922 newspaper article, an Associated Press account which appeared on page 2 of the Washington Post on 2 November of that year
The Arctic ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulafft, at Bergen, Norway.
Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.
Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds.
I apologize, I neglected to mention that this report was from November 2, 1922. As reported by the AP and published in The Washington Post — 96 years ago!
The text in the above example is a genuine transcription of a 1922 newspaper article, an Associated Press account which appeared on page 2 of the Washington Post on 2 November of that year
Commentary on Minimum Wage
The main argument concerning minimum wage is that it will help to alleviate poverty. That is clearly not the case. As you can see from the chart at the left, the poverty rate dropped dramatically in the 1960's. This was a function of great society legislation; specifically, increase in Social Security benefits in addition to the inception and implementation of Medicare and Medicaid. Since then, the poverty rate has fluctuated between 9-15% and is highly correlated with the unemployment rate. The vertical grey area's in the graph represent periods of recessions in the US. As can be expected, unemployment rises during recessions and peaks at the end (unemployment is said to be a lagging indicator). As you can also see from the chart, so too does the poverty rate. There is no indication whatsoever that the poverty rate is affected by increases in the minimum wage. Generally, this is quite the contrary. As can be evidenced from the below left chart, increases in minimum wage can contribute to unemployment and as we can infer from the above chart, as unemployment increases so to does poverty. If you look at NH, they have the lowest state poverty rate in the nation and it generally parallels the national unemployment rate. By raising the minimum wage, you increase business costs. As a result; businesses either pass these costs onto the consumer (in which case inflation nullifies any wage increase), substitute capital for labor, or simply go out of business. If you look at the chart below right, UAW (United Auto Workers) membership has decreased in the late 1970's from 1.5 million to 350,000 in 2009. The reason for this is simple. Detroit isn't making fewer cars, they are making more, but they have made their assembly lines more robotic and have substituted capital for labor, which became cheaper in the long run. This can also happen to those fast food workers who want a $15 minimum wage. There is currently a machine on the market that can make 300 burgers/hour. In other words, capital can be substituted for labor. Someone please e-mail me and explain how someone is better off unemployed at $10-15/hour as opposed to being gainfully employed at $7.25/hour
You cannot legislate equality. If you want to decrease poverty, implement policies to insure that higher levels of education is available to all.
You cannot legislate equality. If you want to decrease poverty, implement policies to insure that higher levels of education is available to all.
BLOG Topics 2013
January Do Protected Seals lead to Depleted Fish Stocks
February Prohibition: Profits to Cartels & Increased Violence for Americans
March Increased Minimum Wage & Extended benefits lead to Higher Unemployment
April Ethanol from corn & Agflation
May Cash for Clunkers lead to Higher Used Car Prices & Wasted Tax Dollars
June The Affordable Care Act; Anything but Affordable Part 1
July The Affordable Care Act; The poster Child for False Advertising
August Detroit: Higher Taxes + Liberal Benefits = Bankruptcy
September No Keystone Pipeline leads to more pollution
October Global Warming! Or is it Global Cooling!
November Poverty & Benefits
December Does Affirmative Action lead to Reverse Discrimination?
February Prohibition: Profits to Cartels & Increased Violence for Americans
March Increased Minimum Wage & Extended benefits lead to Higher Unemployment
April Ethanol from corn & Agflation
May Cash for Clunkers lead to Higher Used Car Prices & Wasted Tax Dollars
June The Affordable Care Act; Anything but Affordable Part 1
July The Affordable Care Act; The poster Child for False Advertising
August Detroit: Higher Taxes + Liberal Benefits = Bankruptcy
September No Keystone Pipeline leads to more pollution
October Global Warming! Or is it Global Cooling!
November Poverty & Benefits
December Does Affirmative Action lead to Reverse Discrimination?
Blog Topics 2014
January Will Lake Meade become another Aral Sea
February Does Taxing the rich hurt the economy
March The Cause of the Great Depression
April Temporary Agricultural Subsidies lead to wealthy Farmers and Higher Prices
May The Presidents Stance on Gun Control leads to Increased Gun Ownership
June Is there really a Gender Pay Gap
July Did the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade lower the crime rate
August Department of Education and wasted Money
October The Financial Follies of the EPA
November Social Security and Portfolio Diversification
December The White House and Terrorism
February Does Taxing the rich hurt the economy
March The Cause of the Great Depression
April Temporary Agricultural Subsidies lead to wealthy Farmers and Higher Prices
May The Presidents Stance on Gun Control leads to Increased Gun Ownership
June Is there really a Gender Pay Gap
July Did the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade lower the crime rate
August Department of Education and wasted Money
October The Financial Follies of the EPA
November Social Security and Portfolio Diversification
December The White House and Terrorism
Blog Topics 2015
January Does Implementation of the Death Penalty lead to higher costs
February Less Competition and Higher Hospital Costs
March Millionaires Who Get Subsidies from the Affordable Care Act
April The Unintended Obama Legacy
May The NY Times and $15 Minimum Wage
June Are Disability Payments Bankrupting Social Security
August Seattle's $15 minimum wage and it's Surprising Consequence
October The Great Stagnation: The Obama Legacy
November Poverty in the United States
December Should Insider Trading be Legalized: Part one by Olivia Marchioni
February Less Competition and Higher Hospital Costs
March Millionaires Who Get Subsidies from the Affordable Care Act
April The Unintended Obama Legacy
May The NY Times and $15 Minimum Wage
June Are Disability Payments Bankrupting Social Security
August Seattle's $15 minimum wage and it's Surprising Consequence
October The Great Stagnation: The Obama Legacy
November Poverty in the United States
December Should Insider Trading be Legalized: Part one by Olivia Marchioni
Blog Topics 2016
January Should Insider Trading be Legalized: Part 2
February The Presidential Election & the Economy
March Does Narcan Increase Heroin Use
April Is NOAA destroying the American Fisherman
June Will California Style Power Outages Happen in New England
July Textbooks, Inflation & the FTC
Sept Economic strangulation by Regulation
Oct Is this the Best we have?
Nov The High Cost of Prescription Drugs
Dec Trump, the Economy & Animal Spirits
February The Presidential Election & the Economy
March Does Narcan Increase Heroin Use
April Is NOAA destroying the American Fisherman
June Will California Style Power Outages Happen in New England
July Textbooks, Inflation & the FTC
Sept Economic strangulation by Regulation
Oct Is this the Best we have?
Nov The High Cost of Prescription Drugs
Dec Trump, the Economy & Animal Spirits
iOMe Challenge 2012
The United States has amongst the lowest savings rate for all technological nations. The iOMe challenge is a nationwide competition between Colleges where teams submit a 10,000 page essay on how Americans can improve their savings rates. In addition, teams must produce an approximate 60 second video which complements the essay. If you click on the iOMe logo above, it will take you to Bentley University's 2012 video submission. The faculty adviser for the challenge is John Tommasi and is offered during his Fall EC 351 course, Contemporary Issues in Economics.
I'm pleased to announce that on February 15, Bentley was declared the winner of the iOMe video portion of the contest. Congrats to the team members and great job! |
EC 3900 Energy Economics
EC 3900, Energy Economics and International Markets, is a 3 credit, Short Term Program, that is offered during Spring semester. After 7 weeks of lecture, the class takes a 10 day educational/cultural tour to France where 80% of their electricity is produced by nuclear power. During the 10 day trip, students travel to, and tour various nuclear facilities Last year's class visited; Marsailles, Aix en Provance, Lyons, Brest and 4 days in Paris.
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Unintended Consequences
If there were ever words that can strike fear into the hearts of any man women or child, it's: "I'm from the Government and I'm here to help". On a monthly basis my blog, from an economic standpoint, will explore government laws, decisions and actions, which while well intentioned, had inadvertent results that were either disastrous, or made a bad situation worse. It wouldn't surprise me if you reached the conclusion that congress does two things well, nothing and overreact; and you may ask yourself, do Congressional members vote for what is best for the economy, or what will get them re-elected.
iOMe Challenge 2012 - Video |
iOMe Challenge 2011 - Video |
