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....the most likely suspects, if they have any intelligence, are long gone.
By narrowing the focus so early in the investigation to the people who knew
my mother, the probability of identifying other suspects, such as
transients living in the apartments on Sunrise behind her, was lost.
My belief has always been that someone who knew her habits and lived in the
apartments on Sunrise, and often saw her, chose her as a target. She was
an old lady living alone, with no friends, who had a regular routine; that
would make her a tempting target for someone needing money, such as gang
members, drug addicts, the unemployed or transients. Even though there was
no forced entry, that wasn't much of a clue. She locked her doors at
night, but opened them in the morning, and even at night, I believe she
would open the front door to someone claiming to need help.
It boggles my mind that neither of you talked to the next door neighbor
after the slaying, and why fewer than half the people living near her were
interviewed. That leads me to believe that few, if any, people in the
apartments overlooking her house were talked with. Since neither of you
speak Spanish, that makes interviews in that neighborhood difficult, and
time consuming for both you and the residents.
I find talking to anyone at Metro about this case frustrating. You, Sgt.
Thompson, Lt. Roberts, Chief McCurdy, and Elynne Green have refused to tell
me when the finger prints would be processed (it took six months and five
days!), when the DNA would be processed (last week Lt. Roberts told me the
results would be available in two weeks - 10 months!), and why so few
neighbors were talked to. And to top it off, no one will tell me how many
people on Isabelle and Sunrise were interviewed. Furthermore, no one will
tell me why no one will answer those questions. None of those questions
would jeopardize the case, so I just don't understand why I can't get any
answers. However, my friends have suggested two reasons I hadn't thought
of: (1) the answers would embarrass Metro and the Homicide division, and
(2) the answers could be used as evidence in a lawsuit. But how can I sue
Metro for not working hard enough on this case?
If I'd have known earlier how unimportant this case was to the homicide
division -- in other words, that the detectives assigned to the case
wouldn't speak Spanish and wouldn't spend much time talking to neighbors,
and that it would take over 6 months to process fingerprints and DNA -- I
would have hired a private detective and immediately flown back. Two weeks
ago, I called Tom Dillard's office and asked if he would consider taking
the case.
From the beginning, I trusted that everyone involved in the case was doing
the best job they could do, but now I see that my trust was misplaced. My
first warning should have been when I talked with Sgt. Thompson who told me
that this was the most important case the detectives were working on. When
I questioned him further, and asked about the cases that came before, and
the cases that would come after, he said that all the cases were important.
He then told me how he had assigned his two best detectives to the case,
but when I then asked about the other detectives in his squad, he said he
had the best detectives; and then when I asked him about the other
detectives at Metro, he told me, "Metro only hires the best."
It's frustrating to be given answers like that when I'm trying to have a
serious conversation, but it's even more aggravating when I'm expected to
believe those answers. I don't consider myself smart, and I know I have
less common sense than many people, but I know I'm not stupid, and I find
answers like that insulting. But I've gotten those sorts of answers from
all of you.
If you don't want to give me an honest answer, just say, "We can't answer
that question" or don't return my phone calls. Oh, wait...that is what
you're doing.
Let's all hope for a lucky break in this case, because it appears that's
the only way it's going to be solved.
Sincerely,
Keith Sargent