So Weeps the Willow - 22. Discovery - Chapter 12

Discovery 12

Hennepin County Medical Examiner

Autopsy Report

Assistant ME Jennifer Doyle, ME, MD

Consultant: Forensic Research Anthropology Facility – Dr. Miles Canter

DOD: 10/2/2017

DOE: 10/10/2017

Subject: Steven J. Wylie

Weight: 17.26 kg.

Height: 172.72 cm.

… decedent has experienced advanced decay with most of the soft tissue removed by insect life. There are no signs of traumatic avian dissection, which considering the site of the body, is surprising. Initial reports were apparently confused as to the state of the corpse. The victim’s skin had been inflated as can occur in special cases due to trapped gases. Those have dissipated during transport. The bullet casing found wasn’t involved with the body.

Determining the date of death is difficult given the probable relocation of the body. Forensic specialists took samples of the soil collected under the body in the bridge cavity. This material was comprised mainly of sand, with little organic material or other human remnants. Consultation with the body farm expert suggest, there should be rich organic debris under and around a decaying body. None was found.

… the advanced state of decomposition would indicate a significant period of time that the body was kept someplace that had insect activity but without sun or wind. The decedent has no signs of mummification present with sunlight and dry conditions. Instead, Dr. Canter believes from the samples sent and the photos and x-rays shared, the body had been held in a place, probably sheltered, that was significantly cooler that the ambient temperatures in the area for the past month.

According to lab analysis of the decedent’s clothes, they were without any signs of decayed material left on them. There were large amounts of blood which tested as negative for human but positive as bovine. There is no evidence the decedent died wearing any of the apparel found with the body. What little DNA was found on the clothing was from desiccated cells after the corpus had decayed.

… in conclusion, the decedent’s date of death is approximately one month before the body was found. The body itself had been held elsewhere and moved to the bridge. It was dressed in clothing that was clean and free of any signs of the subject’s putrefaction process. The state of decomposition shows the body was probably in a cool, dry place without much air flow, but open to insect life which wholly consumed the soft tissues leaving skin, connective tissues, and skeletal remains.

Cause of Death: Strangulation, evidenced by a fractured hyoid bone.

...

***

“So what do we do next?” Ben asked, looking up from his laptop at Rush. The detective was staring at some pages, and biting his upper lip.

“Rush?” Ben said, trying to get his attention.

Finally, the man looked up, his steely blue eyes fiery and a bit annoyed. “We are back at the beginning I guess.” He shook the pages at Ben. “I’m reading the autopsy report for Jake. I’ve read the fire report and the police inventory. I’m digging into the witness statements. But, still, I have nothing new. This case is driving me crazy.”

Ben nodded in agreement. “Let’s try something different,” he began, standing up and stretching. “Doesn’t Clay have some poster board somewhere?”

“In the hall closet,” Rush said, looking back down at the medical examiner’s words. He read it again, and the facts didn’t change.

He was startled from his woolgathering as Ben bustled into the room, a large, white sheet of poster board in his hands. He propped it up on the sideboard of the tiny dining room, and grabbed a large pink highlighter. The paralegal began by writing ‘Jacob Ogden’ at the top.

“What do we have?”

Rush set down the report, tapped his fingers and began talking. “He was found dead from carbon monoxide poisoning on September 17^th last year. He died in the early morning hours.

Ben scribbled ‘early am, 9/17’ and below it added, ‘found by BFF Natalie’.

Rush cleared his throat and said. “Add ex-boyfriend visited on the sixteenth.”

Ben scrawled Eddie’s name and the date in the cramped space above the date of death.

“Didn’t he have an argument with his mother before the visit with his ex?”

Ben considered the space and then flipped the poster board around. “Let’s start with Jake’s death at the bottom of the list.”

“Near the bottom. I want some room for additional facts that happened after his death.”

“Okay,” Ben said. “If we want a complete timeline of the events, maybe we should look over his blog entries again.”

Rush perked up. “That’s right. We have his blog entries as well. I almost forgot about them.”

The detective dug around in his bag, but came up empty.

“I have a copy printed here,” Ben said, picking up a folder with a small bundle of papers in it.

“Let’s have a look,” he said.

“If we start with his last entry, we can work our way up,” Ben suggested, waving the marker at his partner. “I recall the last entry had kind of a timeline in it.”

Rush thumbed to the last couple of pages and read them quickly. “You’re right. Jake and his mother had an argument. Natalie and Jake weren’t on good terms. Eddie and Jake were supposed to meet. It’s unclear whether they did or not.”

“What do you want me to write?” Ben asked.

Rush’s face had changed from concentrated to awed. He slowly looked up at Ben.

“What’s going on? What did you notice?”

Rush said quietly. “At the top of the sheet, put this question. ‘Where’s the bucket?’”

“Huh?” Ben asked, as he quickly wrote that under Jake’s name. “What does that mean?”

“Have you ever heard of a bucket that simply vanished?” Rush asked.

Ben looked at the detective, puzzled.

***

Twyla picked up her tablet and went to her Words with Buddies app. She saw her friend from work, Andrea, had played ‘hang’ and her ‘g’ was on a triple letter score. Three letters jumped out at her, and with a wry smile, she added, m-a-n to the word, landing on a triple word score and getting a crapload of points.

Hangman.

What a morbid word. All around her, morbid things seemed to take shape in her life. First, the call from their attorney a little while ago. The attorney sounded so depressed and apologetic. Actually, Twyla was relieved. The case was awful to think about, period.

Sure, it wasn’t like she had to do much about it. But, she was the person in the family responsible for finding Jake some justice. Now, it looked like that avenue was being closed down.

Not that it mattered. Not really.

Hangman.

Twyla thought about her husband leaving for the day. He gave her a kiss as he departed. She’d been sitting at the table in the same place, watching him grab his briefcase and his jacket. The morning was a little chilly.

He got to the door, and he’d stopped and turned.

She got up and went to him. He opened his arms and she stepped between them. Steve hugged her tight and she noticed something alarming. She realized something about her husband that had changed. Sure, it was his smell and his warmth, but she shivered as it came to her.

He was so thin. Steve was never a fat man. He was pretty averaged-sized and kept in shape. Now, however, he felt thin and bony in her embrace. She was shocked because she hadn’t noticed it before. She looked up at his face, and it was gaunt, his cheeks hollow and his color pallid and sickly.

Hangman.

Steve was leaving for the day, his last day at work. He could no longer handle the hours and so he was going on leave. Indefinite. Leave.

Steve could now concentrate on his treatments and rest between appointments. The tight schedules with the kids and school and her work and the case would all become more manageable. Steve would be home, so no daycare was needed. They’d decided on this without even really talking about it. The choice was made for them.

He wasn’t in sales anymore. Now he was just a husband and father.

Hangman.

Twyla put down the tablet and looked at her phone, checking the time of the last call. It had been half an hour ago.

Their attorney, Laura, called and told her the court case was now suspended, for the moment, something technical. Twyla hadn’t asked many questions and she didn’t remember much of what Ms. Hardinger had told her. All she could think about was how this freed her from the worry. Maybe it was another thing taken from her. She was finding it hard to breathe now. The air caught in her chest and throat.

Twyla picked up her phone and the business card next to it. This was what she was avoiding. She found this card in Steve’s shirt pocket. There was a name and number on it. She was scared of what it would be. The name was ambiguous, sounding like a treatment center, and yet not.

Her cellphone held to her ear, she listened to the recording.

“Thank you for calling St. Olaf’s Advanced Care Center. St. Olaf’s is proud to be on the forefront of palliative care in the Twin Cities. Please leave your name and number and a counselor will be in contact with you about our services and your care options.”

Hangman.

Twyla began to cry. When Steve got home tonight, they needed to talk about this. They needed to talk about a lot of things. Jake’s case becoming temporarily inactive came at just the right time. Steve needed her and now she could be there for him.

***

Rush read the scanned notes on his computer. Hammond’s abbreviations and hand-written notes were difficult to decipher. A few things were rather clear. The case was far more complex than it first appeared.

Steve Wylie was found in a park on top of a cement pillar which was part of a highway bridge. That was strange to begin with, but the way he was found was also bizarre. A handkerchief encrusted in blood was found by some park visitors a few yards from where the body had been placed.

“Placed” was the right word too. According to Hammond, the desiccated body had been put there long after the person had been killed. The man’s remains were practically skeletal and dressed in clothes that suggested a couple of things. First, that the guy was gay and second that he was into the leather and kink scene.

The clothes had been doused in cattle blood and that had been recent. It was damp and viscous from dew, yet not old or degraded. This evidence that screamed a body was near.

Why the hell, would someone desecrate human remains like that? Dress them in a costume of sorts, and then advertise it by displaying it in a park with blood as a kind of calling card to draw attention to it. Who does something like that?

Rush scanned through the policeman’s notes and saw at the end, he’d written up a kind of report or narrative. This was much easier to read.

Jerry Wylie

Decedent’s father. Age 58. Last saw his son August 4^th, 2017 at a picnic at their house. Steve came by alone as usual and ate burgers. He’d got a promotion at work. Steve told his father he was seeing a woman, but it wasn’t serious. They’d known each other for some time, but it was casual. Wylie believed his son was a bit of a ‘player’ on the dating scene. It was a different woman every time they’d talk. His son hadn’t really considered settling down yet. He worked at a Jiffy Lube as a technician and lived paycheck to paycheck. His apartment was a small one-bedroom in a rather dilapidated building in a sketchy neighborhood, but it was in Bloomington, so not really unsafe.

Wylie became worried at the end of August after his son stopped answering his phone. He went by the apartment and didn’t see anything amiss. Wylie’s wife thought her stepson was probably just on another bender. When Steve’s mother called to let them know she’d filed a missing person’s report, Wylie contacted his son’s work. Steve hadn’t been there for almost a month.

Both the father and stepmother were surprised by the sexuality questions.

Lottie Logan

Steve Wylie’s mother recalled seeing her son at the end of July. They weren’t close since she’d left his father when he was young. In the middle of August, Logan went to her son’s apartment and saw the mailbox was full. She contacted the Jiffy Lube and they told her he hadn’t shown up to work for a couple of weeks.

She then contacted her ex-husband who confirmed their son wasn’t around. That’s when she called and made a missing person’s report. Another phone call to the father confirms Logan did call him first before she made the report. He mentioned his wife wasn’t too keen on Logan calling him, and that’s why he didn’t mention it.

Logan stated her son seemed to have a healthy interest in women and had never shown signs of being gay. She thought it unlikely he was bisexual or curious, because of his ‘dating history’. Logan was rather defensive about the entire line of questioning about sexuality.

Jason Kennedy

Steven Wylie’s boss checked his records and the last time he’d punched in was August 5^th a Saturday. His ordinary schedule had Sundays and Tuesdays off, but he hadn’t come in on the following Monday.

Wylie was an average worker who he described as ‘showed up for the paycheck’. They didn’t know each other outside work, although he’d had a beer with the man a couple of times at his regular bar, Gallivants.

Kennedy didn’t know much about him except he wasn’t dating anyone exclusively and he lived alone. He had no reason to believe Wylie was gay or into leather because he’d never seen anything that suggested that. He also quickly said he wouldn’t know one way or another.

While at the shop, I questioned a couple of his coworkers who laughed at the idea Wylie could have been gay or bisexual. He left the impression he was a ladies’ man and was quite vocal about it.

Rush thought about the line of questioning Hammond had pursued. It wasn’t very helpful. Had Steve Wylie questioned his sexuality, he’d hardly have discussed it with his estranged mother or his father. He wouldn’t have talked about it at work either.

What did that leather guy at the coffeehouse say? “Embracing the leather community is like a second coming out. It’s not something a person can do without really being ready and most people never are.”

Rush read through the narrative again. It did establish a timeline of sorts. Given the state of Steve Wylie’s body, it would appear he was killed around the weekend of August fifth or sixth. That meant he was murdered and his body concealed somewhere for a month.

Why?

Hammond was convinced the Wylie case and the Ogden case were connected. The sole piece of evidence connecting the two was the bar, Gallivants. Otherwise, there was nothing else to connect the two guys. One was an openly gay waiter with an alcohol problem who was going back to college. The other was a straight mechanic who was a pussy hound and had few ambitions in life.

Rush shook his head and sighed. At least this wasn’t his problem. This was Hammond’s problem, a police problem. At this point, he was no longer involved.

The case against his client was on hold. The state was investigating.

It was time for him to put this to bed.

***

Dual Murder Investigations Stymie Heater Case

By Nigella Flecks

The high-profile civil case against a heater component manufacturer, Bailey Safety, has ended, for now. Police are investigating the death of Jacob Ogden as a possible murder.

Following the discovery of another gay man in Minnehaha Park, officials have been trying to find a link between the two cases of homosexual homicide. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department, which is coordinating the investigations, refused to comment.

Laura Hardinger, the plaintiff’s attorney for the family of Jacob Ogden had this to say about the situation: “While we appreciate the thoroughness of the police inquiry, it is our belief the two cases are exclusive. The family of Jacob Ogden knows this tragic accident was the result of negligent manufacturers and not a criminal act. When law enforcement has finished their review of the two events, we are confident our civil case will move forward. It’s important the guilty pay for their careless and shoddy products.”

An anonymous source at the defense law firm representing Bailey Safety Systems has said, “Mr. Ogden was the victim of a crime, not an accident victim. The police and the district attorney’s office will find the perpetrator and bring them to justice.”

The Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson, Lydia Contras, reported there is reason to believe the heater wasn’t faulty and someone tampered with the machine, which in turn poisoned Ogden in his sleep. Initially, the medical examiner and the Minneapolis Fire Department found the heater had malfunctioned. The case has since been reopened.

Steven Wylie, another gay man found murdered, reportedly has ties to Jacob Ogden. They were patrons at a local bar, Gallivants. Gallivants manager and owner both refuse to comment, though they admit to being questioned by the police.

However, an anonymous source who works at the establishment has said that Jake Ogden and Steve Wylie were occasional sex partners, though not dating. Neither Ogden or Wylie had significant others, according to this source, so it could possibly be a hate crime. Killing someone because they’re gay certainly falls within that classification.

Authorities have requested the civil case be removed from the docket until their investigations are complete. “Justice may be delayed, but it won’t be denied,” Hardinger added.