Perfect Murder, Perfect Town - Lawrence Schiller [253]
One week from today, he’ll assume command of the department’s beleaguered detective bureau with eyes on the ultimate prize—one day becoming chief of police.
—Matt Sebastian
Daily Camera, February 23, 1998
On Monday, February 23, a detective on the Ramsey case returned a phone call from a writer covering the story. The writer wasn’t in, so the detective left the following message:
TELEPHONE ANSWERING MACHINE MESSAGE SAVED AT 6:09 P.M.
I am sorry it has taken me so long to return your call. I just got back in town. I am simply not in a position to talk to you right now. The reason is twofold. One, I think that the defense would try and make an issue should I talk to you, however benign or innocent it may be. And secondly, the department would make the same issue with Koby’s blanket gag order.
But I can tell you there are things that I have witnessed in this case that you simply would not believe. Things, in my opinion, have been unconscionable. I know this case from the inside, I guess, as well as anyone. And there are things that probably should be known at some time.
Let’s just see where this is at in a couple of months. This case, this victim, which has consumed my life in every waking moment, is just too important to me to jeopardize.
By the first of March, some members of Hunter’s staff thought that Lou Smit and Trip DeMuth had become fixated on the intruder theory, almost to the point of ignoring evidence that ran against it—much the same way they had accused the police of obsessively focusing on the Ramseys as the guilty parties. Hofstrom was noncommittal; he said he would only give his opinion after reviewing the entire case file. For his part, Hunter had said for months that he wanted to see convincing evidence before anyone was charged. He claimed that so far only 40 percent of the evidence he had seen pointed to the Ramseys. Since the case would soon be coming his way and his team was sure to expand, he renewed the lease on the war room for the rest of the year. They would need a secure place to work.
On March 3, Beckner met with Hofstrom and said he wanted to put about a dozen witnesses before a grand jury: Fleet and Priscilla White; John, Patsy, and Burke Ramsey; friends of the Ramseys; and various Access Graphics employees. Hofstrom explained that the commander couldn’t use the grand jury as an extension of his authority. The jury didn’t work for the police, and it wasn’t an investigative arm or an extension of the district attorney’s mandate.* Hofstrom repeated what he was sure Beckner knew: that the purpose of the grand jury was to indict if there was a question about probable cause or if the DA’s office didn’t want to reveal its evidence at a preliminary hearing before a judge.** Hofstrom acknowledged, however, that as part of the grand jury process, evidence could be preserved until a trial took place.
The current grand jury’s term was to expire on May 30, and by that date a new jury would have to be seated. Colorado law required that the selection process and the names and addresses of jurors be made public. Though Denver DA Bill Ritter had occasionally petitioned the court for secret selection of a grand jury and had been granted his request, Hunter saw a public relations value in doing things according to the letter of the law in the Ramsey case. He welcomed the public scrutiny and an open selection process. It would help rebuild his credibility, he thought.
In early March, chief district judge Joseph Bellipanni picked April 22 as the date the selection process would begin for a new grand jury. A panel of about 150 Boulder residents would be summoned, selected from motor vehicle and voter registration records. Twelve jurors and five alternates would be selected by the judge in consultation with the DA.
At about this time, Trip DeMuth told Pete Hofstrom that the DA’s office still didn’t have all the police department’s files. For example, he was missing the detectives’ handwritten notes, and typed