The Walter Hobson Matter

I told Webber Junior about the $10 million double indemnity policy. Still, I needed to dig deeper into the facts before I could tell the insurance company to award the beneficiary or beneficiaries. I also indicated that because of the complicated nature of the case, e.g., the step-sister issue, the probate court would decide the distribution of funds. I gave Webber Junior my business card and told him to be prepared for depositions regarding his relationship with his bio-father and step-sister. I urged Webber Junior to be patient and that I was confident that things would work out in the end for everyone involved.

Chapter 5: Learning About His Past

James Carson Webber, Junior or JW as his parents and friends called him, grew up in a loving family. Even though JW was adopted, his parents loved their child as if he was their biological offspring. JW was taught that everything that mattered in life and was worth having required a certain amount of sacrifice. When JW wanted a skateboard for his 10th birthday, his father let JW become the family gardener. At first, it was mowing and edging the front and rear lawns of their suburban tract home in Southern California. As JW matured, the senior Webber taught JW how to repair the gasoline-powered lawnmower and edger. The mower, an older Sears model, had lost its compression from years and years of use. JW learned how to disassemble the mower to remove the engine from the mower's chassis, break down the engine to its simplest form, and measure the cylinder diameter with precision measuring tools his father owned. JW's dad was an aerospace engineer who began his career in a machine shop as a precision inspector. Replacement parts were purchased and installed. It gave JW a grand feeling when he first pulled the starter rope, and the newly rebuilt engine roared to life.

As a typical teen, JW became enamored with first-person shooting video games. He became quite the weapons expert, and the lust for real combat was born. JW couldn't wait for his high school years to end so he could join the Marines. Fortunately for JW, his father recognized the signs early on and guided JW toward ROTC as a chance to fulfill his desire and have a college education at the same time. Shortly after JW turned 18, his parents asked him to have a heart-to-heart talk.

Sylvia said, "Honey, there is something we need to tell you, and we fear it may change your perspective of us."

JW's eyes widened, fearing he was about to hear the dreaded "D" word from his parents. He had seen a few of his friends' lives crumble with their parents' divorces.

James Senior continued, "Son, there is no easy way to say this, but you have a right to know now that you are legally an adult. JW, we adopted you on the day you were born."

Sylvia held her husband's hand with a death grip. Her fingernails dug deeply into his hand, fearing a negative outburst of anger from JW. She tried to soften the blow with words of love, but JW interrupted his mother.

"You thought I didn't already know?" JW said.

Sylvia gasped in shock.

"Mom," JW said, " do you remember when I had that science fair project in the 8th grade? No? I did it on blood typing. Remember how excited I was to show you how I determined my blood type in school, and I asked which type of blood you and Dad had? It was then I learned I was adopted. There is no biological way a type A father with a type B mother can produce type O offspring. It's scientifically impossible. Do you remember that I spent Spring Break that year with Grandma at her ranch in Poway? Grandma sensed I was unhappy, and when I told her what I had learned in school, she spent the week helping me understand the love and commitment you and Dad made to adopt me."

Sylvia was sobbing in relief, and JW Senior was proudly smiling at his son.

"There is more you should know, son," JW Senior said. "Your biological mother is still alive, but she's unfortunately institutionalized."

"What happened to her?" JW asked.

Senior went on to tell JW how his mother had snapped and tried to kill his biological father. JW learned of his bio-father's infidelity and subsequent disappearance. When JW asked if his parents knew the whereabouts of his bio-father, they denied any knowledge as they did not know his name or other familiar circumstances. They explained that the court records were sealed upon his bio-mother's mental illness. As with adoptees, JW wanted to know more about his birth parents but put it aside to focus on finishing high school and entering the Marine Corps ROTC Program.

JW was accepted into the Marine Corps ROTC program at SDSU and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. After completing his degree, JW trained as a SEAL and was sent to trouble spots around the world. When his military commitment ended, JW was recruited by a dark company that did things the US Government was not allowed to do legally but otherwise still needed to be done. Once JW realized there was more profit as a business owner than an employee, JW branched out as an independent contractor and started Webber Systems Consulting in Reno, Nevada. With no State income tax, Reno was perfect for JW's company headquarters.

With his new company and access to government computer databases, JW learned more about his past than was previously known by his parents. JW learned that his bio-father was still alive and was living a duplicitous life in Northern California. The more he thought about it, the more he was angered at what his bio-father had done to his bio-mother. JW learned some disturbing things about his bio-father's lifestyle. Walter Hobson was a sadist and enjoyed sexually torturing his women, which was the primary reason Jennifer Hobson tried to kill her husband.

Jennifer Jensen and Walter Hobson were high school sweethearts. Jennifer was a wild child and loved to smoke marijuana. She took her first toke at age 12 and smoked regularly every day after school. The New York psychiatrist who determined Jennifer's insanity based the insanity diagnosis on Jennifer's malformed brain. The human brain continues to develop and grow until age 25. Chemical abuse, like weed, caused malformation of these growing brain cells in Jennifer Jensen. Thus, Jennifer's addiction to weed contributed to her illicit behavior and sexual deviance.

Walter Hobson had sadomasochistic tendencies. As a kid, Walter was the kind of evil who would torture small animals and bully the younger children of the neighborhood. Walter had his share of run-ins with the Juvenile Courts but eventually matured and stayed out of trouble.

As I said before, Jennifer had experimented with drugs as a teen and sought new forms of sexual pleasure as an adult. Walter happened to be the sexual stimulus Jennifer needed. Throughout their adult romance, Jennifer and Walter would experiment with various forms of BDSM. Walter was definitely the dominant, and Jennifer was the submissive. Their sexual deviance would sometimes last for the entire weekend, which often resulted in periods of recovery for Jennifer. Walter would sometimes carry his masochism too far and would seriously injure Jennifer. Walter would often use Ecstasy to enhance Jennifer's sexual arousal, which she gladly agreed to. As their relationship continued, the Ecstasy became less useful, and Walter introduced Jennifer to Cocaine and, finally, Heroin. It didn't take very long for Jennifer to become addicted to Coke and Heroin. Despite their drug-induced lifestyle, Jennifer was in love with Walter and agreed to marry him.

For their honeymoon, the Hobsons went to a secret BDSM club on a remote island in the Bahamas chain. Each night, Walter and the other dominants would torture Jennifer. Their sexual proclivities on the island made 50 Shades look like a G-rated movie. At first, she reveled in the sexual pain but would often use her "safe word" when Walter went too far. During the third night of their honeymoon, Jennifer was so doped up that she agreed to let Walter hot-iron brand her butt with his initials.

Even though the honeymoon produced the best sex of their lives, Walter became bored with Jennifer and realized after their drug-filled honeymoon that he should never have married her. Their only compatibility was the bedroom. Jennifer was as likely to have fits of rage often as she was to be submissive to Walter's dominance. Walter realized his mistake, and soon after they returned stateside, he hooked up with another submissive. He was cheating on Jennifer when she caught him in flagrante delecto in their marital bed. Jennifer snapped and tried to kill Walter. JW also learned that after the incident with Jennifer, Walter still had BDSM tendencies but had scaled back to the point of a near-vanilla lifestyle. Both of his current wives were eager participants in the lifestyle, and neither had suspected the other existed.

JW was furious that a man could do such evil things to a woman and vowed payback to Walter Hobson. The one thing that JW learned from his father was to worship women and protect them from harm. JW's father exemplified that one time when JW witnessed his father disarm a robber at a convenience store the family had stopped at on the way to Disneyland for a weekend vacation. JW and his mother were shopping in the convenience store while JW Senior used the restroom. The robber had the store clerk at gunpoint demanding money. Sylvia naturally hid the young JW behind her, watching the robbery unfold. The robber never saw JW Senior sneak up behind him and then bumrush the robber, tackling him to the ground.

JW Senior had played football in high school and hit the robber with a full-body tackle. When they hit the ground, Senior was on top of the robber's back and began to pound the robber's head into the concrete floor. The robber was knocked out cold when his face smashed into the floor. The robber's broken nose flooded the floor with blood while JW Senior disarmed the bandit and held both the robber's hands behind his back in arm locks while Senior sat on the robber's back until the police arrived. Sylvia was scared and excited at the same time, watching her husband protect herself, her son, and the store clerk. Their vacation may have been interrupted, but Senior had a holiday at home with his wife after JW was asleep that night.

*****

JW's skills were honed during his time with the Navy SEALs. Overseas, JW learned many despicable and nefarious things to do to an enemy combatant to extract intelligence information. He already had Walter's information. JW knew where Walter lived, worked, and played. Walter's love of four-wheeling would be the key to his downfall.

JW made contact with Walter Hobson at a family-style restaurant after tracking him for several hours. JW used Walter's Jeep Cherokee as the reason for the contact. He asked Walter a ton of questions about the Jeep that engendered Walter to JW. They talked and talked until Walter had forgotten about his need to see his next client that day. JW asked Walter if he would give him a ride in his modified Cherokee so JW could compare the ride difference between the Ford Bronco he had rented and Walter's Cherokee. Walter offered JW to drive the Jeep, but he declined and opted to ride in the passenger seat. JW asked if there was a trail nearby they could test the Jeep's suspension on. Walter knew of a place not far from where they were and drove there straightaway.

Once they were on the trail, Walter again offered to let JW drive the Jeep. When the two men exited the Jeep and passed one another in front of the vehicle, JW spun rapidly and used his Taser to incapacitate Walter. With the zip ties from his pocket, JW secured Walter to the bull bar on the front of his Jeep. When Walter regained consciousness, JW began to torture Walter slowly. JW asked Walter about his mother, Jennifer Jensen. He made Walter confess his sins to the women he had seduced over the years and describe how he had exploited them. JW kicked, punched, and beat Walter to unconsciousness and then reanimated his prey for more torture. Walther Hobson was near death when JW struck Walter on the back of his head with the butt of his gun. JW picked up Walter's body, stuffed him into the back of the Cherokee, and headed further up the trail. Walter was dead when JW reached the point where he would dispose of Walter's body.

JW's daily workout regimen made the 10-mile jog back to the restaurant uneventful. He drove back to Reno with no guilt or sin. Life was now complete for James Carson Webber, Junior. A US Forestry Service helicopter, conducting its annual survey of the fire breaks in the area, spotted Hobson's Cherokee at the bottom of the ravine and notified the local authorities to investigate. They found Hobson on the hillside and notified his wife of her husband's death.

Chapter 6: Epilogue

After leaving Webber Junior's office, I telephoned Simmons and filled him in on my meeting with Webber Junior. I told Simmons that even though the evidence was circumstantial at best, I was convinced Webber Junior put a hit on his bio-father unless he did the hit himself. I ended my call with Simmons and drove straight to the Reno police department and met with an officer who then escorted me to the Homicide department to meet with a detective. Since the murder occurred in California, my meeting with the detective was informative so they would be prepared to interrogate Webber Junior and, if necessary, extradite him to California.

My conversation with the Weed police department Homicide detective went nowhere. The guy I met with was two weeks from retirement and suggested that I contact the California Bureau of Investigation to handle the case, as he was the only detective on the police force, and no replacement had been selected yet. When I contacted the CBI, they sent an agent to me the next day in Weed. I presented my case and included copies of my files for their perusal. The CBI agent agreed to present the case to the Siskiyou County Grand Jury for indictment.

Webber Junior was found guilty of murdering his bio-father and was sentenced to life in prison without parole. California is a state where capital punishment is a legal penalty, but it is not allowed to be carried out. The Governor had signed an executive order prohibiting carrying out a death sentence in California Prisons. Webber Junior was remanded to San Quinten Penitentiary for incarceration.

Webber Junior, through his company, had an unsavory past with various gangs in California and Nevada and was eventually killed in a prison shower attack. As for the beneficiaries, the probate court awarded Jennifer Hobson $ 13.3 million, or two-thirds of the policy, and Marcia Hobson received $6.6 million as Hobson's biological daughter. Mr. and Mrs. Jensen, Jennifer's parents, were awarded management and control of the inheritance. The Probate Court established that under California's Criminal Profiteering Law, Webber Junior's estate would not receive any earnings from the insurance policy due to the felonious act of murder.