PART II Chapter Thirty-one
Kate slept well that night. The day had been long and the rest was needed. Kate was getting ready for work when Cindy called.
Cindy said, “The lab processed the weapons found in the car John and Marry Webber was driving. We have the murder weapon for the William Duncan murder. John Webber’s fingerprints were all over it. If you add that to the DNA evidence and GSR found on that band aid it looks like we found our killer.”
Kate had suspects everywhere now and things were coming together. She suspected if she had a long interview with John and Mary Webber they would tell her the truth since they would be faced with such large amounts of physical evidence. That was Kate’s first order of business. She wanted to wrap that murder up and then work on the kidnapping case.
When Kate arrived at the station, Cindy had their suspects in two separate interview rooms. They didn’t want them to hear what the other was saying. Kate was going to use the threat of charging Mary to coerce John to confess. Given the age of John and Mary, almost any sentence would be a life sentence.
John was seated when Kate walked into the room. Kate said, “Hello John, it seems you may have more information about William Duncan’s murder than you originally told us. Let me ask you some questions and I will see if the answers match up to the physical evidence we now have. Were you ever in William Duncan’s apartment?”
John replied, "No I haven't ever been there. My wife had been there on several occasions but I was never there."
Kate asked, "We’re you ever in contact with Mr. Duncan in any way?"
John answered, "No, never."
Kate said, "I guess you can understand my confusion when I find a Band-Aid in your trash with your DNA on the pad side and Mr. Duncan's blood DNA and gunshot residue in the front side. That tends to require close proximity."
John's face showed shock, it was a deer in the headlights look. He knew that Kate knew the truth and little fibs wouldn't work. Kate didn't let up and began to let John know how much they did know.
Kate told John that they had the murder weapon that was found in their car. It had John's fingerprints on it. She told John that she knew he had been partners with William Duncan and they had a falling out. She knew about the court battles and John's anger over the separation of the company. After the case was laid out for John he said he wanted to confess.
Kate sat across the table from John and he began to relate the story. John said that when Mary first started seeing William, It didn’t click who he was. They had lost touch after the company had been dissolved and went their separate ways. John explained that Mary had not been around William that much and didn’t recognize his name or face. John added, “It had been forty years since I had seen him.”
John said, “Mary hadn’t really told me his name. At that point I just knew him as an elderly gentleman that lived in the same building as we did. When she came and told me they were going out for steak, she said she had a date with William Duncan.”
Kate asked, “That was when you recognized the name?”
John replied, “Yes, immediately and I asked her to repeat it to verify. When they left that night, I positioned myself to where I could see him when they walked out of the building. I knew it was him, even after forty years I could tell. All of the memories came back to me like a stampede of horses and flooded my brain.”
Kate asked, “Did your anger return as well?”
John said, “I sat alone in my apartment that night thinking about all of those issues we had when we were partners and then I thought about what Mary was doing with him and it made me madder. Why did it have to be him of all people.”
Kate said, “You were enraged from all of the memories you had and you decided you wanted revenge.”
John said, “Yes, so I started planning what I was going to do. I knew Mary would stop back by the apartment before she went to John’s, to freshen up and get some clothes to take with her. While they were out eating steak I got my pistol and loaded it. I wore a coat so I had a pocket to hide the pistol. I went to the apartment manager and told him I locked myself out. I knew he always gave us his passkey to get into the apartment.”
Kate nodded and said, “That was very resourceful, so now I know how you got in.”
John said, “I unlocked William’s apartment with the key and then unlocked everything from the inside. I left a note in our apartment for Mary telling her I was playing cards with a friend of ours and to have a good time. I then went inside William’s apartment and found a place to hide inside his pantry in the kitchen. I had a clear view of his couch from that spot. I sat and waited for them.”
Kate asked, “Was it a long wait?”
John replied, “By the time I got into his apartment and got ready it wasn’t a long wait. He came back alone just as I knew he would so Mary could get her clothes. Then she came in a few minutes later. They had some drinks and then went to the bedroom. I had to sit and listen to that for a while and then Mary left to go back to our apartment. William had a seat on his couch. He looked so relaxed.”
Kate said, “It sounds like a perfect opportunity then, he was just sitting there.”
John said, “I stepped out of the pantry with my pistol pointed at him. I told him who I was. I wanted him to know who it was that was snuffing him out, I even gave him a few minutes to think about everything he had done. I didn’t waste any more time. I shot directly into him as he sat there staring at me. I used a pillow to muffle the sound of the shot.”
Kate asked, “What did you do after that?”
John said, “I took the pistol and slid it back in my coat pocket and went back to the apartment and found Mary sitting there. She knew something was up. She looked up in my eyes and asked me what I had done. I told her, I didn’t hold anything back. I told her who William was and I told her I waited in the apartment for them. She asked me if I heard them and I told her yes. She was more concerned with that than she was the shooting it seemed.”
Kate asked, “What was her response after you told her you shot him?”
John replied, “She said that she would tell people she did it. She thought it would be easier on her. I told her I wouldn’t let her take the rap. When you guys started coming around I knew you would eventually figure it out. We made the decision to flee the area and try to hide out as far away as possible.”
Kate said, “Technically Mary is guilty of obstruction and a cover-up, but since you voluntarily confessed and gave your full account I am not going to pursue charges against Mary.”
John replied, “Thank you, I do appreciate that. She wasn’t aware of anything until after it was all over. I was afraid she would try to talk me out of it.”
Kate asked, “I thought you were too weak to fire the pistol?”
John responded, “I am pretty weak but I can manage to do things for a short time and I knew I only needed one shot to do him in. The trigger is pretty easy to pull actually. That was why I chose that gun, I wanted something I could actually use.”
Kate said, “Wait here and I will be back in a few minutes with information on what happens next.”
Kate went into another interview room where they had Mary waiting. She wanted to tell Mary everything that John had told her but she wanted to know what Mary’s story would be. She took a seat across the table from Mary and Cindy came in to sit beside her.
Kate said, “We know what happened, we found enough physical evidence to tie it all together. I am trying to figure out what your part was. John told us, you didn’t know until after he shot William. Is that true, were you aware in any way what John had planned?”
Mary replied, “At our age it doesn’t matter much. John won’t survive prison. I didn’t know who William was. I had no idea, I just knew him as a kind man I had met and John had given me permission to see. I saw no harm. I didn’t remember much about the business dealings. I stayed out of those things. I don’t think I had seen William over twice and that was over forty years ago.”
Kate said, “That was what John told us and I told John, in exchange for his confession I would not bring any charges against you. We will tell the court about his cooperation and as far as I am concerned, you are free to go. John will be placed in custody. I will let you step next door and say your goodbyes and he will be placed under arrest.”
Mary did what was suggested. She went next door to say goodbye to the man she had spent most of her life with. The officers showed up after Mary had given John a hug and they escorted him back to his cell pending arraignment.