A Circumstantial Case

He told me this story over the course of this afternoon, and once I agreed to type it up for him, and make sure that it got into your hands, it seemed as though the weight of the world had been taken from his shoulders. He is asleep now while I am typing this on my laptop, and my, I mean our, son is on the bed beside him, also asleep.

I think I will have most of the night to get this letter done. I'll still have to go home and create the DVD I'll explain later, and I also have to pick up a few other items before I can send this information to you. I really want to have it ready to be sent by noon tomorrow. The problem of getting it sent from some location that will not let you track it back to us also has to be solved.

The story my husband, and that is what he is to me, told me started almost two years ago. He was happily married to Lisa, and their marriage had almost reached its sixth year. One night, after they had enjoyed making love together, Lisa fell asleep, naked on the bed beside him. He doesn't understand why it caught his eye, but he noticed that there was a small, oval bruise on the side of her right breast.

At first he thought it was just from a bump, something that occurred when she walked into the corner of a piece of furniture at home or at the office where she worked part-time as a secretary. He said that it began to bother him as he lay there, as it looked more like a love bite than a bruise, and he knew he hadn't caused it. Thinking about it kept him awake for most of the night, as his mind imagined more and more erotic scenarios of how that bruise had been created. It was still on his mind the next day, when he went to work.

By the time he got to his office he had decided he was being foolish. After all, he had absolutely no proof of anything untoward happening. He had decided that this whole thing was just a circumstantial case.

Just before lunchtime the manager of the parts delivery division stopped by his office. The man had ordered a tracking device, for trial use, as a means of better coordinating their delivery fleet. He wanted Mark to evaluate it, and give his recommendations. Mark was left with the device, the software and all of the instructions for its use. It didn't take him long to decide on how he would test it.

Three days after he installed it in his wife's car, he was sitting at his desk and decided to check the monitor program to see if it was still tracking his wife's car. She had told him that she was going to do some shopping that afternoon, but the tracking device showed him that she had left home and gone directly to the home of Blake Moore, his best friend.

He checked back an hour later, and her car was still there. He didn't really believe that there was anything going on, so he called her on her cell phone. When she told him that she was out shopping, he knew immediately that something was drastically wrong.

That night he casually asked her about her day, and had to listen to her explanation about the shopping she had done. He told me that he was almost physically sick, but decided that he shouldn't just jump to conclusions. He decided to monitor her for another week, while he was out of town on business.

He was able to follow her car from across three states as she spent from eight o'clock in the evening until two o'clock in the morning at Blake's home. When he spoke to her the next day, she told him that she had been home all of the previous night. The shock of confirming her infidelity was apparently almost too much for him to handle.

When he got back from his trip, he was contemplating murder. He knew his friend Blake was a real ladies man, but never considered that he would go after Lisa. Likewise, his wife's betrayal almost tore the heart right out of him.

That first night that he was home he visited the elderly widow next door, ostensibly to borrow a wrench from her late husband's toolbox. Mark knew that her late husband had long ago hidden a pistol in the bottom of his large toolbox, apparently because his wife had forbidden him to keep guns around their home. He had shown it to Mark one day while the two of them enjoyed a beer together.

Instead of borrowing a pipe wrench, Mark had located and taken the revolver from the toolbox. As he explained it to me, his intention was to use it to kill Mark and Lisa, and then to kill himself. He decided that he would wait until the next time the two of them got together while he was in town. It wouldn't be a problem for him to leave his job and go to Blake's to catch the two of them together, and then deliver his ultimate revenge.

Since he was going to have to track his wife's car for several weeks, he had ordered one of the tracking devices for himself so that he could return the one that he had been given to evaluate. It was fortunate that Lisa and Blake didn't arrange a tryst for almost another week, because if they had, my son and I would never have had the great pleasure of meeting Mark.

During the days that he had to wait for them to get together, he decided on a better plan. He decided to try to frame them for murder, and he described to me how he did it.

It took a full week to come up with a plan, and another week to assemble the things he would need to make it work. When he was ready he made an excuse to be away on a trip over the course of a weekend, quite confident that the two of them would get together while he was out of town. While monitoring his wife's car during the time he was gone, he finally saw her leave their house and drive to Blake's. That was his cue to put his plan into action.

He had been setting up a paper trail that would make it look like he was in the process of divorcing his wife. The last item was an email to his lawyer that would point directly at Lisa and Blake. Apparently he almost forgot to send it, and that could have meant that the whole plan would fall apart.

The last thing that he did before he left his house was to use his neighbors' revolver to fire a bullet into the passenger seat of his car, and another into one of the blocks of wood that he had gathered. The sound of the gunfire was muffled by an old blanket and the fact that he was inside his closed garage. He told me that firing those bullets was a gigantic relief to him, as he knew that he was finally started on the path to his revenge.

You should really do a search for the archived newspaper articles that are available on the Internet. Mark followed the trial daily on the Internet, and he said that the majority of the story of what he did was written up by the court reporters. When he started telling me about what he had done, it seemed to all come out in one long story. I didn't want to interrupt him, so there could be a detail or two that I'll forget to include here. Also, get a copy of the trial transcript. Mark thinks that all of them together should make everything clear.

First he drove his car to a park near Blake's home and found a secluded area where he could work at setting up his death. There was a large gym bag full of everything that he had accumulated for his plan, and he set it all on the picnic table which he had covered with the old blanket.

One of the first things he did was unload the pieces of firewood, some plastic sheeting and his spare tire. He used the plastic, on which he had piled the pieces of firewood and his spare tire, to create an obvious drag mark that led to the paved roadway. After he did that the tire went back into the trunk, the wood was placed around the picnic site, and the plastic was packed away

In order to do all of these things he was using a small Maglight, and when he was finished he sat down quietly at the table for a while to see if anyone came around after seeing the flashes of light that resulted while he was setting things up.

While he was sitting, he inserted a large blood collection needle into his left arm. He was able to pick up the medical supplies he used at a medical supply store when he told them that he was caring for his elderly mother. The blood was being collected in a homemade plastic bag set up, and his only fear was that the blood would clot too much before he could water it down with distilled water and pour it where he needed it.

It took him over an hour to collect what he thinks was almost 2 pints of his own blood, most of which he watered down with a pint of distilled water.

The first thing that he did with the whole blood was fill a small plastic squeeze bottle and use it to squirt blood in a pattern that he hoped would look like arterial spray. Most of the rest of the blood that was mixed with the water was spread around on the car seat and the ground, to make it look like someone had lost a lot of blood. Some more of the whole blood was used to pour into the bullet hole in the firewood, and the hole in the upholstery of the passenger seat.

I hope I'm getting the details right, as I don't really want to have to wake him up so that I can read this to him. He's going to need his rest, as he has been scheduled for surgery tomorrow afternoon. I'm praying that there will be no complications, and that he'll come through the surgery.

Whether or not I have been correct with all the details, there is still the matter of the DVD that I'm going to make for you. Mark took photos, sort of before and after pictures, with his digital camera as he did everything there in the park. He said there are even pictures of him taking his own blood. I haven't seen them, but he's given me the password so that I can access the picture files on our server at work. They've been there since he started working with me, which I never knew. His souvenirs, he called them.

Apparently the pictures are quite good, even though he had to take them by the light of his little flashlight. He was scared that someone would see the flash if he had used his flash setting.

Anyway, when he finished setting up the car and the blood in the park, he packed up everything into his gym bag and walked out of the park. He had an old car that he had purchased for this purpose sitting on a side street, and he told me how he almost didn't make it to the car.

Even though he had been drinking lots of fluids, and had been taking supplements, he was still very lightheaded, from the loss of blood, when he got to the car. He rested in the car until almost six o'clock in the morning, but he knew that he still had to go to Blake's house to finish the job he had started.

Lisa's car was still there, something he hadn't been expecting, and it was unlocked. He decided that it was a real bonus to him, as he was able to squeeze a couple of drops of blood onto her accelerator pedal. When he moved from Lisa's car to Blake's, he realized that there was a dim light on in Blake's bedroom, and he was really scared that one of them had seen him. As soon as he had put some blood on Blake's car, he got out of there in a hurry.

From Blake's house he went to a pay phone on the opposite side of the park. Just after the sun came up he used the pay phone to make a 911 call to report his car in the park. He'd set up a professional model telephone voice changer he'd bought from a 'spy store' in Pittsburgh, and used it so that they would think he was a woman. It worked quite well, as it allowed him to change timbre, tone and pitch.

From there, he went to a dock on the river where he dropped two of Blake's shovels and the revolver into the water.

By the time he had done all that, he told me he was feeling really exhausted. He thinks it was just the rush he was getting, from knowing that nothing had really gone wrong with his plan, that had kept him going to that point.

There was a small motel about a mile away where he'd already rented a room, and he went there to stay out of sight and to rest. He spent two days there, taking supplements and eating energy bars. I'm a little confused about the timing, but at some point he went out with his voice changer and made another call, this time as an old man. That call was used to steer the police to the revolver he had ditched.

That was about everything he told me, I think. I'll read this to him in the morning, and fix up any errors. I'm really hoping that when he sees I've got all of this ready to print he'll be much more relaxed.

The whole reason that he told me this story, and insisted that I send it to you, is that he wants to break the final tie that is holding him to his old life as Mark Evans. Somewhere along the line before he got here, he acquired the identity that he now uses, and that our son and I know him by. He wants to keep this identity, and never have to be Mark Evans again.

Please do everything you can to reverse the convictions of Lisa Evans and Blake Moore. Tomorrow I'm going to be getting a copy of the New York Times and an ink pad. We're going to use a piece of the front page to put all of Mark's fingerprints where they can be been clearly seen.

Then we're going to prick his finger and make a large blood stain on the newspaper as well. When it is compared to the DNA from the park, it will be proof that he is alive. All of this should be enough to get them out of prison.

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That was the end of the computer printed letter, but an additional message was hand printed at the bottom, as follows: --

Mark has come out of the surgery in very good condition. He wants me to fly to Seattle tomorrow to send this package. I hate to leave him, but I know that he'll feel so much better once this has been sent.

I told you earlier that this would affect five of us, but I see that I never explained what I meant. Mark and I are expecting twins in about three months.

Tony Kelly turned over the last page to see if anything had been added on the back of it, but it was blank. He took his feet down from the corner of his desk and turned around so that he could look at the other items that had been in the package.

The DVD was labeled "Photos taken in George Washington Park". On the back of the black plastic envelope was scrawled "Fingerprints and DNA". He took one more look at the printed pages, checking the back of each one for any additional handwriting, and then he called one of the senior lawyers. This was not something he could handle on his own.

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It didn't take very long to confirm that the DNA was really that of Mark Evans, and the fingerprints also confirmed that he was still alive when they were compared to those that had been taken from his car when it was found in the park. Faced with conclusive proof that two people had been convicted of a murder that never occurred, the State's Attorney General and Governor expedited their release.

Within a week they were back in the courtroom where they had been convicted, joined by Basil Smith, Lisa's parents and even District Attorney Jeff Bagdon with some state officials.

The State Attorney General extended the apologies of the judicial system and the State for their unfortunate conviction. He also said that there was no doubt that the blame for the whole unfortunate business could be placed at the feet of Mark Evans. The court system had worked, but had been diverted from justice by the concerted efforts of a determined man.

He then announced that their office would be putting every possible effort into locating Mark Evans and holding him accountable for the significant sum of money he'd caused the city and state to expend. Police, forensics, trial and prison costs were being totaled up, and he intended to see them recouped. Charges would be laid as well. However, when asked by a reporter if they had any idea of where to start looking for Mark Evans, he simply shook his head.

Blake Moore seemed to have undergone a personality change. The cocky and overly self-assured man had been replaced by someone who seemed much more amenable to compromise. He apologized to Lisa for having instigated the chain of events that had resulted in them spending almost a year and a half in prison. Lisa didn't seem to be concerned, one way or the other. She seemed completely cowed, anxious only to get away from the courthouse with her parents.

Before the two of them left, both Basil Smith and the District Attorney added their apologies for what had happened. Both of the lawyers felt that they had been severely taken in by the machinations of Mark Evans. They both felt that they should have been smarter than to be duped by a vengeful husband. Later, both of them thought to themselves that they would have to pay much more attention to the details of future cases.

Although the State Attorney felt that there was no liability to the State, Lisa and Blake were each given a payout of $50,000 after signing away any right for further legal action or compensation. Shortly after the receipt of his check, Blake Moore left town. His business had gone bankrupt, and his home had been sold to pay his legal fees. There was nothing to keep him there any longer.

His only comment to Lisa after they had been handed their checks was, "Mark sure as hell screwed us good, didn't he? This check is only a fraction of what my house and business would have been worth if he hadn't found out about us. I hate to say I told you so, but I knew that he set us up."

Lisa was still only a shadow of her former self. She had lost the house she and Mark owned due to non-payment and foreclosure. Also she had lost weight in prison, but had gained what could be charitably called 'worry lines' that hadn't been there before. She seemed hopelessly lost and accepted her check as though it were nothing more than a scrap of paper.

After she stuck it in her purse she said, "I think maybe we deserved it, Blake. I don't even care about the time in prison. That cost me only 18 months of my life, but I lost Mark forever." She walked away with her parents without even a goodbye.

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Two weeks after the cable news featured the story of the release of Lisa and Blake, a large envelope arrived by courier at the office of attorney Basil Smith. Inside was a short note to the attorney, and a sealed envelope addressed to Lisa Evans. He made an appointment to drop off her letter on his way home.

At 5 p.m. precisely, the attorney knocked at Lisa's apartment. After a short and polite conversation, he left her standing at her door, staring at the envelope with apprehension and just a little hope. Finally, after carrying it into her kitchen and staring at it more long seconds, she opened it. The familiar handwriting on the envelope had told her it was from Mark, and she knew she just had to read what it said.

'Lisa;

I would like to say I'm sorry for having let you spend so long in prison. I've never been vindictive before, but being betrayed by you and Blake practically drove me mad. My new life, and the happiness I've found, finally made me realize that until I set the two of you free I was just as much a prisoner as you were. I know the authorities will search for me for a while, but I'm confident that I'm safe in my new life, with my new family. Good luck and goodbye. M.'

The short letter slipped from her hand and floated to the floor, taking with it the last faint hope she held for reconciliation with Mark.