Anatomy of a Crime

Today was the day of my freedom. It was only twelve years ago I was convicted of the double homicide of killing both my wife and her mother. I still maintain my innocence but a jury of six men and six women thought otherwise. I really did not do it, but I was free and clear of her and her nagging mother forever.

It all started twenty years ago in my home town of Houston, Texas. I was convicted of a third-degree felony of double homicide of my wife and mother-in-law. It is ironic that I am getting out on my former wife's birthday. We were a happy go lucky couple at first. We had married young. We continually dated each other even after we had repeated our vows to one another. We always had a reason to "go out" for something or another. Then, about three years into the marriage thing, something happened. I do not know what, but something happened. She started complaining about this, or that, or something else. Shortly afterward even her mother started complaining about the same things that she was. After a year, maybe it was two, I honestly do not remember, but it was getting really old. I did not earn enough money, her car was broke down again, she wanted to go on vacation but we did not have the money. Something this, something that, ALWAYS SOMETHING...

My name is of no importance, but if you must attach a moniker to me, my name is Alfred. I am now forty-five years old. I am somewhat bald with thinning hair. Where once there was a jungle of hair, it now looks like a sparse forest up there. Now I am definitely under weight but not by much. I am average looking, average height and your everyday average Joe. Nothing spectacular and definitely nothing to write home about. I guess the only enticing thing about me was the six-figure salary I had been earning. I guess money can make a man look good. It must have worked because she really was pretty.

My wife, or former wife that is, died in a questionable automobile accident along with her mother. I never did believe any one person should die alone, they merely verified that for me. The brakes failed and they ran off the road. The area in question was a very steep ditch about thirty feet deep at a sharp angle and no side of the road pull off. It did have a guard rail but that was not strong enough to stop a vehicle traveling sixty plus miles per hour in a twenty mile per hour speed zone. It did not help that the accelerator pedal got stuck too, at least that was what the sheriff's office had said. Damn the bad luck, for those two anyway.

As I already said, it began about three years into our marriage. She had been getting harder and harder to please. I could not do anything right, at least not in her eyes. Then her mother started in on me. I had started working overtime just to keep from going home. While I did not get paid to work overtime, I did receive comp time. My comp time was building up, I now had six years accumulated. At this rate I figured I could retire ten years earlier than most and have the time built up for a long vacation and then some.

"Alfred" she nearly screams, "why are you working all this overtime? You are always working. You never have time for me. You do not pay attention to me anymore."

My response was "I thought you and your mom wanted to go on vacation." It was a good lie. I just wanted them to leave me alone. I figured they would if I were not around to be harassed.

I firmly believe they were trying to do me in though. I later found out that someone raised the amount on my life insurance policy payout without me knowing. Someone had raised the Accidental Death and Dismemberment amount on another insurance policy too. I had become a very wealthy benefactor to them.

After all this began, she and her mother would wind up dead just short of two years later. I was accused, convicted and remanded into the custody of the Harris County Sheriff's Office to begin a twelve year sentence. To me, it was damn near like receiving a reprieve from the both of them.

Facts discovered and revealed during the trial was damaging to me. It disclosed that their car brakes had been tampered with shortly before the accident. Well since I was an engineer, I was the logical person set to gain on my wife's demise. Even though I could prove I was working overtime for numerous days before and the day of the crash. When the Sheriff's office called to meet with me, I had been in the plant working on a project which had been consuming my time. But that did not matter to them, the cops. I had become an immediate suspect. The doors leading to the outside of the building had twenty-four-hour security on them. Cameras do not lie.

It seems as if the brake fluid had been drained out of the reservoir under the hood. Some of the other issues with the car were insufficient maintenance, the power steering had a leak, which I knew nothing about, one of the engine's belts was starting to wear out causing it to slip and four or five other things, all of which were minor and all of which I claimed I knew absolutely nothing about.

As it turned out, my attorney got to look at the evidence while I looked on. During the disclosure part of the trial it was discovered that my wife's mother had tried to hire someone to do me in. She wanted me dead! Now that was news to me. My wife was supposedly innocent in this matter but I had my doubts. It seems they hired a hit man to get me out of the picture only a few days before she had her accident. Her and her mother told the hit man that I was in their way and they wanted me removed however and whatever it took. Apparently, I was worth more dead than alive. The so-called hit man was an undercover cop specially trained for these types of things. He was listed under personal services in the newspaper and he was supposedly known by a third-party friend. Long story short, she and her mother were to pay almost one hundred thousand dollars for the hit.

There were not any fresh marks on the brake lines, the master cylinder and reservoir, nor anything else pertaining to the brakes. They only surmised there was hanky-panky, but no real evidence. Me being an engineer made it plausible that I did the deed in question. While other information became available about the incident, the district attorney's office pushed hard in making the jury believe it was my fault. They did a real good job too. Twelve years proved it. They went after a third-degree felony because there was no real evidence, at least in my opinion, of me doing anything.

The district attorney's office claimed I did everything by happenstance. No real proof. The disclosure also showed that the accidental death and dismemberment part if my insurance policy was increased by me. However, the insurance company would not or could not increase the payout on me without increasing the payout on her too. I could only speculate that my wife forged my signature. My pay check always went to the house via mail and I never saw it. She would sign my name to it and deposit it. That is why they believed it was my signature and not hers.

The district attorney commented that I had gotten wind of the hit and I killed them instead of me getting killed. Now that was a stretch of the imagination. I never heard of it and I am standing firmly by that. The police were going to contact me the day of the accident to inform me about all the details of the reckless two the same day that the accident occurred. So, if you can put two and two together, this does not add up. My defense attorney surmised that I could not have known about it before hand because the police had not informed me as of yet.

OK, here comes the great part. During the discovery part of the trial the prosecutor had also learned that my wife was having an affair. That is the motive they had argued while I still did not, in reality, have opportunity. So still they had no opportunity that proved my guilt. They only surmised that I had doctored the brake system, either by neglect or by purpose. This is something they had absolutely no knowledge of nor could they prove it either way. There was no DNA of mine near any of the brake cylinders, brake lines nor the master brake cylinder. There were no marks indicating a wrench had been near any of the brake components either.

OK, back to the illicit affair the former wife was having. Apparently, the guy she was seeing was married also. His now ex-wife had hired a private detective. This guy followed the two around and had quite a bit of video of their unholy rendezvous. Having knowledge of the affair could make me culpable, but besides her, her boyfriend, the private dick and his now ex-wife, no one else knew of the rendezvous going on. Well, maybe the motel desk clerks.

Now add the so-called knowledge of the affair and knowledge of the increased payout would give me motive. All I needed was opportunity. Since I did put in long hours at work and there were security cameras on all door entrances and exits and they all showed that I spent the five days prior to the wreck at the office sleeping when I was not working. I really did not have opportunity. The police thought I doctored the tapes somehow all because I am an engineer. All circumstantial evidence at most. I knew I was not guilty, my lawyer knew I was not guilty, but my lawyer could not convince the jury of twelve I was not guilty. So, I did spend the next twelve years in lock-up as guest of the Great State of Texas.

During the trial the District Attorney brought forth the knowledge of the increased insurance on her and of course, me. He also brought out the fact of the sordid affair she and her lover had. But the only thing he could not prove was opportunity. There was simply not enough of a time frame involved. I could not have done it without an opportunity. However, there were many theories as to how I could have done it. I could have sneaked out and doctored her car. I could have had someone else do it for me but that would have involved a third party and if that sort of thing had happened, then the other party would not be able to keep their mouth shut, so that did not happen.

As to the affair, I received an envelope in the mail early in the day just one day prior to the accident. That was the only time I had received any knowledge of the affair, but I still had not opened the letter in question. It was placed on my desk and somewhat buried under other communications I had not had time to open. There goes the police department's theory about me knowing about the affair.

With all of the above information my attorney was still not able to acquit me in the murder of my now former wife and her mother. In reality, I looked at the approaching time visiting with the State of Texas as a mini vacation of twelve years. That is a fresh start on everything. Besides, I may have lied about the whole thing.