Fatal Vision (30 page)
Recognizing Segal from his picture in the newspapers—and aware of the fact that Freddy and Mildred Kassab had offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killers—Posey told Segal about
a
former neighbor of his, whom he knew only by her first name, Helena.
In February, Posey said, he had been living on Clark Street, next to Helena. He knew her to be a drug addict, drug dealer, and member of a witchcraft cult. She was, according to Posey, approximately seventeen years old, and she frequently wore high boots, a blond wig, and a floppy hat.
At approximately 4 o'clock on the morning of February 17, Posey said, he had got up to go to the bathroom. Looking out his bathroom window he had seen a car pull "real fast" into the driveway that separated the house in which his apartment was located from that in which Helena and two female roommates resided.
There had been at least two, possibly three males in the car. They were making a lot of noise, Posey said: laughing and giggling. Then he had seen Helena emerge and walk "faster than she usually walks" into her house, as the car had pulled out of the driveway and had sped away down the street.
Posey had not seen Helena again until the day of the MacDonald funerals. On that day, he said, she had dressed in black and had hung funeral wreaths from the porch of her apartment. Acting as if she were in mourning, she had refused to speak to him when he approached. Subsequent to February 17, Posey said, Helena had ceased to wear her boots, blond wig, and floppy hat.
About two weeks later, Posey said, she had mentioned to him in a casual conversation that she was going to have to leave Fayetteville because the police had been "hassling" her about her possible involvement in the murders. Her problem, she said, was that she had been so stoned on LSD and mescaline that she was unable to remember where she had been, or whom she had been with, throughout that night.
She had left Fayetteville shortly thereafter and Posey had not seen her again until August. At that time, with the Article 32 hearing receiving front-page coverage in the Fayetteville papers, Posey had asked her whether she thought she'd been involved in the murders.
She had told him, he said, "I don't remember what I did that night." But she had also said when he'd asked her how she and her boyfriend were getting along, "Well, we can't get married until we go out and kill some more people."
Following Posey's startling testimony at the hearing, William Ivory located Helena and questioned her. Her full name, he said, was Helena Stoeckley. She was the daughter of a retired lieutenant colonel who had been stationed at Fort Bragg, and she was well known to the Fayetteville police, for whom she had worked as a drug informant. She had, in fact, been questioned about the killings in February, as had many dozens of other Fayetteville hippies.
Stoeckley could provide no useful information whatsoever, Ivory testified. She remembered only that she had been out for a ride that night, alone in a car, but she did not remember where she'd been or what she'd done.
It was obvious, from Ivory's sullen, unresponsive answers to Bernie Segal's questions, that he considered the entire matter of Helena Stoeckley a waste of time at best, and, at worst, a false trail that had the potential of diluting the strength of the case against Jeffrey MacDonald.
No less obvious was the contempt which Bernie Segal had for William Ivory. He considered Helena Stoeckley the key to his case. Here at last, he felt, was undeniable corroboration of the story his client had told; a drug addict who dabbled in witchcraft and who wore clothing that matched the description MacDonald had given and who had been observed in the presence of male companions shortly after the murders, and who could not account for her whereabouts during the time the murders had been committed, and
who had dressed in black on the day of the funerals and had hung funeral wreaths outside her apartment,
and who had then disappeared from Fayetteville because she feared the police suspected her involvement and
who had spoken of the need to kill again!
And what had the CID done with her? They had sent Ivory down to chat with her—after Posey's testimony had made such a. step a necessity—and the agent had returned to say only that she could not shed any light on the matter.
Never before had Bernie Segal cross-examined with such a striking combination of sarcasm and incredulity.
"Mr. Ivory," he said, "I'm not sure I understand. When she said she was alone in this car, did she indicate to you that she was the person who drove it?"
"Yes, she did say that."
"I see. And who did she tell you was the owner of this car?" "She knew the owner by first name only. She did not know the last name. It was an acquaintance of hers." "And what was the first name?" "Bruce."
"Bruce?" Segal paused. Then he asked, "Did you make notes of your interview with Miss Stoeckley?" "No, I did not."
"Is there any reason
why
you didn't make notes?" "No particular reason, no."
"Isn't it standard operating procedure when you are conducting an interview that's related to an inquiry into a triple homicide to make notes of interviews?"
Ivory remained silent.
"Mr. Ivory, why were no notes taken of the interview with Miss Stoeckley?"
"I did have a notebook with me," Ivory said, "and I started to take notes but she got very nervous so I put my pen and notebook away."
"Did you make any notes at all in your notebook?"
"I believe I wrote her name down at the top of the page."
"And what did she do or say to indicate that she was objecting to your making notes of what she was saying?"
"She said something to the effect of, 'What are you doing? What are you writing?' "
"And what did you say?"
"I said, 'Nothing. I'm not writing anything,' and I just put it down."
"Did you ask her whether she objected to your making notes of the interview?" "No, I did not." "Why not?"
"I was concerned with getting over with the interview, rather than making her so nervous that she would not answer me at all."
"What was so terrible about making her nervous about asking her about her whereabouts on the morning of the 17th of February?"
"I don't know. That's why I put the notebook away. So I could find out."
"Did you find out where she was between the hours of 2 and 4
a.m
. on February 17th?"
"No, I did not."
"Did you ask her where she was?" "I did."
"What, if anything, did she say?"
"She said she could not recall, she could not remember."
"Did she indicate any reason why she was unable to recall?"
"Yes sir, she did."
"And what was the reason?"
"She said that she had been out on marijuana."
"On marijuana?"
"Yes, sir."
"Are those her words—that she was
'out on marijuana'?"
"That's correct."
"Mr. Ivory, you—was she telling you that she couldn't remember where she was because she'd been using
marijuana?"
"That's correct."
"Mr. Ivory, you've had occasion to investigate cases in which
cannabis saliva
has been used, haven't you?"
‘‘
Yes, I have."
"To your knowledge, is that a medically recognized result of smoking marijuana—to lose memory?" "Not to my knowledge."
"Not to your knowledge. Were you told by anyone that Mr. Posey had previously said that Miss Stoeckley said that she had been taking—one time she said LSD, another time she said mescaline. No one ever told you that?"
"She told me in the interview she was taking marijuana."
"Well, I want to know, were you armed with the information—"
"No, I was not."
"Now, did you ask Miss Stoeckley why she was not able to recall where she was, since marijuana is not known to have the effect of impairing one's memory?"
"Yes, I did."
‘
‘
And she said what?"
"She said she didn't know. She just couldn't remember." "Did you ask her about a blond wig?" "Yes, I did."
‘
‘
And did she admit to having owned a blond wig up until about February 17th?"
‘‘
She said she had worn one occasionally, but it was not hers—that it belonged to a girlfriend and that she did not have it."
‘
‘
And did she say when she returned or disposed of that blond wig?"
"No, she did not."
‘
‘
Did anybody ask her whether it had been shortly after February 17th, 1970?"
"It was subsequent to that date, but the exact date she couldn't recall."
‘
‘
And did she give you the name of the girl?"
‘‘
No, she did not."
‘
'Did you ask for the name?"
‘‘
Yes, I did."
"Did she refuse to give you that name?" "No, she said she just couldn't recall which of the girls it belonged to."
‘
‘
Did she tell you where it was that she had effected the return of the wig? The street or the apartment where the other girl lived?"
"No, she did not."
"Did you ask her?"
"No, I did not."
"Did you ask her whether she'd ever owned a large floppy hat?"
"Yes, I did."
"What, if anything, did she say about that?"
"She said yes, she did."
"Did she indicate where that hat is now?"
"She indicated she gave it to someone, but she could not recall the name of the person she gave it to."
"And did she indicate whether that episode of giving the hat away took place shortly after,
February 17, 1970?"
"She did not indicate the day, nor did I ask."
"Was there any reason why you didn't ask her when she stopped wearing, or got rid of, the hat?"
"No particular reason."
"Did you ask her whether she owned boots of any sort?"
"Yes, I did."
"And what did she say?"
"She said yes, she did."
"Did she indicate that she had given away or disposed of any pair of boots about the middle of February 1970?" "Yes, she did."
"And what did she say in that regard?"
"She said she threw them away."
"And did she know where she threw them away?"
"Yes, she threw—she indicated that the heel was worn or broken and she discarded them in a trash can."
"Now, did you ask Miss Stoeckley whether she would be willing to come here to this inquiry and tell us what she knows about her whereabouts on February 17, 1970?"
"Yes, I did."
"And what, if anything, did she say?"
"She said no, she would not come."
"Did you ask her why she could not come?"
"She indicated that she didn't want to become involved."
Because it was classified as an investigative proceeding, the preliminary hearing—unlike a court-martial—did not confer the power to subpoena unwilling witnesses.
"Did she give you the name of the other young ladies with whom she lived in the building next door to Mr. Posey?" Segal asked.
"No, she did not. She said she did not remember the girls' names."
"Did you ask Miss Stoeckley anything about who her male associates were?" Segal continued. "Yes, I did."
"Were the answers as vague as all the other answers? First names?"
"First names, yes, sir."
"Did she tell you what is the last thing she can remember doing prior to 4
a.m
. on February 17th?"