Читать книгу Hometown Killer - Carol J. Rothgeb - Страница 19

9

Now that it’s all over . . . they were actually pretty smart. . . . They were street-smart.

—Sergeant Barry Eggers

On Saturday afternoon, March 27, 1993, John Balser and David Marciszewski, accompanied by Joe Jackson, went to police headquarters and stated that they had more information on the homicides of Phree Morrow and Martha Leach. Barry Eggers and Al Graeber questioned John Balser again, in the presence of Jackson, after reading him his rights.

Balser didn’t seem to understand the seriousness of the situation.

John: I want to get this behind me. I want to go back to work Monday.

Graeber: Who all was with you?

John: Me, Dave, and Jamie and Lloyd.

Graeber: What about the other guy (Alex Boone) we already arrested?

John: I couldn’t see him. He stayed up in behind all that woods. I remember, when I turn around, someone did run. Lloyd stayed after that. Me, Jamie, and Dave all left together.

Essentially, it was the same interview they had had a few days earlier. John insisted that Lloyd was there and admitted that he didn’t like Lloyd. And this time he implicated David Marciszewski. But, as in the earlier interview, the “who, when, what, where, and how” kept changing.

John also insisted throughout the questioning that he tried to help Phree. Even though in the earlier interview he said he didn’t know the girls’ names, he now knew which one was which.

“I tried help Phree to live. Me and Jamie tried. I grabbed Lloyd and pulled Lloyd back off of Phree,” Balser revealed.

He claimed that Phree told him to go find her dad: “I said, ‘Phree, hang with me. . . . Tell me what you can. Tell me where your dad live at.’ I couldn’t get no address—nothing. I did hit her. I didn’t have sex with her. I tried. . . . I didn’t mean to hit Phree. I tried to hit Lloyd, get Lloyd off of her. Instead, Lloyd moved and I hit Phree. That made me mad. I said, ‘Damn it, I didn’t want to hit you, Phree. I wish you moved so I would hit him instead of you.’ I hit Phree with a two-by-four. I didn’t rape those.”

Graeber: Who did?

John: Lloyd Tyler.

Graeber: Who had sex with the girls, John? Serious. Now the truth—no bullshit—the truth. Who had sex with the girls?

John: Boone.

Eggers: Either you or Dave had sex with those girls. John: It wasn’t me.

Eggers: So it was Dave?

John: Yeah, it wasn’t me. I’m telling you the truth.

Eggers (unwavering): We’re telling you when the blood comes back, we’re going to know.

The detectives moved John to Lieutenant Schrader’s office so they could bring David into the interrogation room. Barry Eggers was joined by Steve Moody to interview Marciszewski, and David’s rights were read to him.

Moody: Before when I asked you about getting blood from you, you told me we could have it. Is that still . . . ?

David: Yeah.

Moody: We can still get your blood?

David: Yeah, you sure can.

(According to David’s statement, he, John, and Jamie walked to the bakery that evening. John and David went into the bakery, and when they came out, Jamie was gone.)

David: John and I was starting to walk home from the bakery. We heard screams, about three or four times. And we went back there . . . and that’s when we seen Alex. We seen Alex there and we seen Lloyd there. Jamie was there too. They was raping the girls and beating them with the board. John tried to grab the board and, uh, Lloyd came back and tried to swing at John. And I hit Lloyd. Either Alex or Lloyd—one of them . . . and, uh, we was trying to help the girls. I’m not lying to you. I’m telling you the truth. Lloyd had the board in his hand. They was—all three of them was raping them.

Moody: We know that only one person had sex with those girls.

David: I didn’t touch them.

Moody (very firmly): Who did? You know because you were there and you watched it. And you helped destroy the evidence. Didn’t you? You may not have killed them, but you’ve got problems. You know you’re going to be in trouble for destroying evidence, don’t you? Yes or no?

David (softly): Yes—I didn’t touch the panties.

Moody: You know who had sex with them and you watched it. So why don’t you tell us. As soon as the blood comes back, we’re going to know for sure who it was. Then we’re going to know you lied to us. Who had sex with them, David?

David: John. I don’t know about both, but I know he had the one. I think it was the dark-haired girl. She was trying to fight.

Moody: What’s the other girl doing?

David (barely audible): Trying to help her friend.

Moody: You grabbed ahold of her, didn’t you?