Bringing Adam Home - Les Standiford [27]
Courtesy Hollywood Historical Society
John and Revé Walsh, on their way to Good Morning America, on August 10, two weeks after Adam’s disappearance.
Courtesy Hollywood Historical Society
The grieving Walshes at Adam’s memorial service, August 15, 1981.
Courtesy Hollywood Historical Society
Ottis Toole, gap-toothed and with a wandering eye, shortly after he gave his first confession to police.
Hollywood Police Department evidence file
Clown drawing signed by Ottis Toole and given to niece Sarah Patterson during a prison visit in December 1995.
Courtesy Joe Matthews
Detail of extortion letter sent to John Walsh by Ottis Toole, October 4, 1988 (see text on page 152).
Hollywood Police Department evidence file
Canal beside the Florida Turnpike near Vero Beach where Adam’s severed head was found.
Hollywood Police Department evidence file
Ottis Toole’s Cadillac (with dented rear bumper) used in the abduction of Adam Walsh.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement evidence file
Aerial view of the turnpike service road west of Vero Beach where Ottis Toole admitted dismembering Adam Walsh.
Hollywood Police Department evidence file
Machete believed to have been used in the dismemberment of Adam Walsh’s body.
Hollywood Police Department evidence file
Luminol enhanced photograph of machete handle indicating presence of blood.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement evidence file
Driver’s-side floorboards of Ottis Toole’s Cadillac.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement evidence file
Luminol enhanced photograph of driver’s floorboards indicating bloody footprints.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement evidence file
Luminol enhanced photograph of Cadillac’s rear floorboard carpeting with imprint of bloodied face. Inset showing outline of face in luminol.
Florida Department of Law Enforcement evidence file
Chapter Four
Through the Boneyard
Q: I know it’s been four years . . .
A: Yeah, sometimes I can’t keep it all straight in my mind.
Q: If I show you some pictures, maybe it’ll help you remember.
A: Maybe.
Q: How about this one looking down into the culvert where we found the body. Do you remember stopping and throwing her down into the culvert?
A: Not really.
Q: How about this one? It’s a little closer. You can see she’s wearing only orange socks.
A: Yeah, I remember, now.
Q: But you don’t remember what you did with the rest of her clothes?
A: Lots of times I’d just take the clothes and drive a piece and throw them down on the road a little ways from the body. Other times I’d leave them right there. I just don’t remember about this one.
—Ottis Toole to detectives, Jacksonville County Jail, December 28, 1983
Hollywood, Florida—August 13, 1981
The day after the news of Adam’s death broke, Hollywood detectives received a report from Dr. Mark Reisner, a psychologist sometimes employed by the Los Angeles Police Department, who offered an unsolicited profile of the type of individual “capable of abducting, murdering and decapitating Adam Walsh.” According to Reisner, who based his report on a match of the known details of the case against data compiled on known psychopathic behavior, Adam’s killer was almost certainly male, somewhere between nineteen and thirty-five, though most probably in his early twenties.
Because such behavior is not generally interracial in nature, Reisner theorized that the perpetrator was either Caucasian or Latin. The nature of the crime also indicated the possession of a “borderline” psychopathic/psychotic personality with a powerful homosexual conflict ultimately expressed in rage and violence. Although the person was very likely a loner, liked by few, he would nonetheless be motivated to brag about the actions he had taken in order to validate his sense of self-worth. However, Reisner said, it was unlikely that he would exhibit any sense of remorse or guilt, or offer