And Then She Killed Him (21 page)
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HAPTER 33
HAPTER 33
A L
OOK OF
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ATRED
OOK OF
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ATRED
When Alan’s former housekeeper, Patricia “Trish” Erikson, testified, she told of the tension in the Helmick household on June 9, 2008, the day before Alan was murdered. Trish stated, “The atmosphere from the time they walked in the door—I could feel the tension mounting. You could cut through the tension with a knife.”
Tammy Eret asked, “You told a police officer, when you talked about Miriam—you indicated that she had a look that was kind of hard to describe. Is that correct?”
The witness replied, “Very hard to describe.”
Eret continued, “When you were interviewed recently, do you remember talking to Jim (Hebenstreit) and describing it as if she had a look of hate or anger?”
“Yes. I hate using that word, but that’s what it looked like.”
Steve Colvin wasn’t going to let that last remark go unchallenged. He started off his cross-examination by asking Trish Erikson if she had liked Alan Helmick. Trish said that she had. Colvin continued, “And because you believe he was a good man and he treated you well, this was a big event in your life when he was killed?”
The housekeeper stated, “Yes, it was.”
“And you paid attention to all the newspaper stories and all the media that came out about it because it affected you directly. Isn’t that true?”
The witness could see where this was leading. She answered, “But that isn’t why I feel the way I feel!”
Colvin retorted, “That’s not what I asked you, ma’am. I asked you if you paid attention to all the newspaper stories and all the media attention about this.”
Erikson agreed that she had.
So Colvin said that the first time Trish Erikson had spoken with an investigator, it was with Investigator Robin Martin, back in June 2008. And since then, Colvin asked if she had seen a lot more stories about the murder. She agreed to that as well.
Colvin now struck with the point he wanted to make. “You didn’t tell Investigator Martin that Ms. Helmick had a look of anger and hatred on her face, did you?”
Trish replied, “If I didn’t, I should have.”
“Well, Ms. Erikson, we’re talking about a look that you thought was horrible. Even if the police officer didn’t ask you about it, you would have volunteered about that look, right?”
“I don’t know,” she answered.
“When you talked to Investigator Martin, you indicated that you and Ms. Helmick had chatted about a vacuum cleaner and grooming the dogs. But those aren’t the things you told Investigator Hebenstreit just two weeks ago, right?”
“Right.”
“Two weeks ago, what you remembered was a look of hatred and coldness?”
“That’s right.”
“Don’t you think that your memory was probably better seven days after [the death of Alan Helmick] than after watching all the media?”
Trish Erikson replied, “No.”
Colvin looked at her for a while, and then just said, “Okay.”
Tammy Eret questioned Patricia Erikson, once again, on redirect. “When you were interviewed by Investigator Robin Martin on June 16, 2008, do you recall stating that you got the overall feeling that something was not right? Isn’t that what you told Robin Martin?”
“Yes.”
“What you saw going on that day was not right compared to all the other times you had been there?”
“Right.”
“You told law enforcement (in June 2008), you felt that they were having a spat?”
“Something was really wrong.”
“So when you said to Jim (Hebenstreit) that she had a look of hate and anger versus what you said that day, you still get the same overall feeling?”
“I do.”
The next trial day, the 911 tape was played for the jurors, and it showed that Miriam had remained fairly calm during the eighteen-minute tape. She had spelled out the name of Siminoe for the dispatcher, and had given him directions as to how to get to the residence.
The prosecution tried to show this calmness as proof that Miriam was not concerned, because she already knew that Alan was dead. In fact, it was their contention she knew because she had shot him to death.
The defense, on the other hand, told jurors that Miriam spelled out the name of Siminoe and gave directions, because the dispatcher was having such a hard time in locating the Helmick residence. Miriam was relatively calm, because she had to be.
When Barbara Watts was called to the stand, she basically reiterated her contention that Miriam had stolen money from her in Gulfport, Mississippi, and then stole students from her dance studio in Grand Junction, when Miriam opened her own studio. Watts also said that Miriam broke policy rules when she started dating Alan Helmick. And once again, Barbara Watts said that Miriam was “looking for a sugar daddy to take care of her.” She found that sugar daddy in Alan Helmick.
The witness went on to say, “It ended up being a joke around the dance school. She said she wanted to find a rich man, and it didn’t matter if he had one foot in the grave. She just wanted someone to take care of her like she was used to.”
Even more damaging to Miriam Helmick was CBI agent Carol Crowe, who testified that even though no GSR was found on Miriam’s hands, body, or clothes, GSR showed up elsewhere. A few particles were found on the clogs that Miriam had worn that day and also on the steering wheel of the car she had been driving around the area while doing errands. Crowe explained that Miriam could have gotten rid of GSR from her hands by washing them, and from her body by showering. And she could have simply gotten rid of the clothes she had been wearing, if she had shot Alan to death.
On cross-examination, Crowe did say that it could not be determined how long GSR particles had been on the steering wheel or on Miriam’s clogs. Miriam could have been around a gun that was fired on June 9, when Alan was still alive.
Investigator Lissah Norcross testified about Alan not receiving his voice mail messages. The prosecution contended that he never got those messages because Miriam Helmick was hiding his cell phone. And the reason in their estimation was because Miriam was forging checks and didn’t want Alan to know about it. Norcross spoke of all of Alan’s daughters saying that it was very hard for them to contact their father in the spring of 2008. They all believed that Miriam was hiding their dad’s cell phone from him.
Steve Colvin, however, got Investigator Norcross to admit that she couldn’t say why Miriam was keeping Alan’s cell phone. It could have been for any number of reasons, and not just because she was cashing his checks.
On the other hand, Norcross was good for the prosecution, on redirect, stating that in the months before Alan’s murder, Miriam had only left four voice mail messages on his cell phone. Then on the morning of June 10, 2008, she left four messages all within a few hours. The reasoning was, according to law enforcement, for Miriam to set up an alibi of where she was traveling that morning. They contended that she had already shot him to death, and was only pretending to leave messages for a man she already knew was dead.
Investigator Michael Piechota told the jurors about all the searches on Miriam’s Gateway computer about overdoses from medicine and horse euthanasia as well. These included articles about various people dying from prescription drug overdoses.
The defense did have Piechota admit that it couldn’t be proven who had searched those Web sites. It could have been Alan, using Miriam’s computer. But unlike Miriam’s contention that Alan’s laptop was not working well with the Internet, Piechota said he found no problems with it. Piechota would not budge from his assessment that Alan’s computer worked just fine.
Piechota added one more damaging thing. He said that when he went back to the Helmick residence on June 19, Alan’s blood on the kitchen floor had not been cleaned up. All that had been done was that Miriam had thrown a couple of beach towels over the bloodstains. This was amazing to Piechota in light of the fact that Miriam had said that Alan Helmick was the love of her life.
The next day, Kirsten Turcotte, the longtime house sitter for the Helmicks, testified that she had received a series of phone calls from Miriam about someone prowling around through her house when she wasn’t there. On June 23, 2008, Miriam said things had been moved around. On June 24, Miriam stated that doors she knew she had locked were now unlocked. On June 25, a door leading to the balcony was found open. On June 26, she returned home to find lights on in the master bedroom.
Kirsten also testified that Miriam told her that she had placed objects around the house to see if they had been moved. Miriam said that she had put powder down on the floor to see if anyone left footprints there.
Kirsten also had some damaging things to say about Miriam’s demeanor after Alan was dead. On one occasion, she and Miriam had been in the Helmicks’ garage. Miriam laughed, saying she was worried that the carrots in the back of the Oldsmobile that she had been driving would spoil, since law enforcement still had that car in their possession. She did not seem very upset about Alan’s murder.
Even worse, she said that Miriam told her, “They (law enforcement) are not going to want to go up against me.”
Merredith Von Burg, Alan’s sister, testified that Miriam had stayed with her for three days after Alan’s death. During that time, Miriam had supposedly told Merredith that one of her rings, one of Alan’s rings, and one of Alan’s watches were missing from the Helmick home. The point was, how could Miriam know this if she hadn’t gone any farther than the spot where Alan lay in the kitchen? Miriam told investigators she had not been in any other part of the house. And she had not been back in the house when she made those comments to Von Burg.
Merredith also testified that while Miriam was staying with her, Miriam shared some very disturbing news. Merredith stated, “She said she could have done it at Lake Powell two weeks earlier and that Alan was not a great swimmer. She had to rescue him once before.” This declaration on Miriam’s part did not allay Merredith’s growing suspicions about her, but rather only increased them.
On direct testimony, Portia Vigil said that weeks after her father had been murdered, she found a folded-up piece of paper tucked away in a desk drawer at the Helmick home in Whitewater. It turned out to be the prenuptial agreement, which Miriam had been talking about. However, Portia said the paper did not mention what should happen for the distribution of items after Alan’s death. Miriam had been contending that she was allowed to take all property that had been accumulated after she and Alan got married. According to Portia, none of these items were mentioned in the prenuptial agreement.
Portia also spoke about how hard it was when her mother, Sharon, had suddenly died of a heart attack. And she admitted it was hard for her to accept Miriam into the household. Portia did agree it would have been hard to accept anyone, and not just Miriam, under the circumstances. Asked if she treated Miriam badly, Portia said, “No.” And she also said that Wendy and Kristy had treated Miriam well.
As far as not being able to contact her father throughout much of the spring of 2008, Portia testified, “The phone calls went straight to his voice mail or to Miriam.”
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