“Yes. And as it has been already stated, it turned out he was not a match for the blood, but a biological family member definitely was.”
If Gabriel’s counterpunch landed, Kaplan didn’t show it. Like a boxer, she smiled and prepared for her next combination.
“So to recap. Wayne Fiske. No alibi. Strong motive. Not cooperating. Fingerprints at the scene.”
Even though there was no question pending, Gabriel said, “All is equally true of his son, except we also believe we have his blood.”
“We’ll get to Owen Fiske in a minute, Lieutenant. But I’m still not done going through all the other suspects with motive, who lack an alibi, and who refused to provide DNA. In fact, this is a good time to talk about Haley Sommers, who is James Sommers’s ex-wife. You mentioned that James and Jessica Sommers had an anniversary party. Something really strange happened at that party, isn’t that right?”
“Haley Sommers crashed the party. She interrupted the toasts that were being made.”
“You’re underselling it, Lieutenant,” Kaplan said.
Salvesen could have objected to the characterization but remained firmly in his seat. That was just as well. Gabriel could handle it.
“I’m not selling, counselor. She crashed the party. She interrupted the toasts. If you want more detail, all you have to do is ask.”
“Counselors,” Judge Martin said. “Let’s remember everybody’s job here, shall we? Ms. Kaplan, you ask questions. Lieutenant Velasquez, you answer questions. I tell everyone what they should or shouldn’t do. Proceed, Ms. Kaplan.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Kaplan said, quickly regaining control of the examination. “My apologies, Lieutenant. You’re exactly right. I should have been more specific. Let me ask you this: How would you characterize Haley Sommers’s relationship with her ex-husband?”
Another open-ended question chosen by Kaplan because there was no good way to answer it. No matter what Gabriel said, Kaplan would say it was worse than that.
“There was evidence that she was still angry with her ex-husband,” he said, deciding that less was more.
“What brought you to the conclusion that Haley Sommers was—in your words—angry at her ex-husband? Was it the restraining order that James Sommers took out that required Haley Sommers to stay away from him and his family? Or was it the fact that she repeatedly violated that order? Or was it because Haley Sommers threatened to murder James Sommers a week before he was, in fact, murdered?”
Once again, Salvesen should have objected. Compound questions were always impermissible because they required multiple responses. Kaplan had just asked four different questions, but the ADA looked on with a bored expression, not making a peep.
“All of the above,” Gabriel said.
“So you knew that Haley Sommers violated the protective order by calling Mr. Sommers and his wife and threatening them with bodily harm?”
“I am aware that she made such threats.”
“Isn’t it the case that just a few days before the murder, on the day of James and Jessica’s first wedding anniversary, in fact, Haley Sommers called James Sommers and left a voice mail in which she said, and here I am quoting: ‘James, you miserable fuck. I hope you and that skank bitch of a wife of yours both die. But don’t worry, after you’re dead, I’ll be sure to dance on your graves.’”
“Yes. I heard that voice mail. I can’t be sure you said it verbatim, but I have no reason to doubt it if you make that representation.”
“Oh, I make that representation, Lieutenant. That’s what she said. Can we agree that was only the latest of many threatening statements Haley Sommers had made toward James Sommers prior to his death?”
“Yes.”
“And I suspect that a man with your experience on the NYPD takes that type of threatening language very seriously.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. So, with respect to Haley Sommers, she checks off a lot of boxes, right?”
Gabriel knew exactly what Kaplan meant but said the opposite. “I don’t think about suspects as checking off boxes.”
“The terminology hardly matters. Let’s just talk facts. Haley Sommers had motive, right?”
“Yes.”
“She refused to provide DNA too, right?”
“That is correct.”
“In your experience, Lieutenant, do innocent people usually refuse to provide DNA?”
This, of all things, caused Salvesen to come to his feet. “Objection.”
Judge Martin shrugged. “Overruled. Lieutenant, you can answer.”
“Not usually, no,” Gabriel said.
“What about an alibi? When you first spoke to Haley Sommers, what did she tell you regarding her whereabouts at the time of this crime?”
Clever question. In fact, for Kaplan it was better than that. It was a twofer. The answer would prove that Haley Sommers had no alibi and that she had lied to the police.
“She initially provided an alibi that she was with a friend during the time in question.”
“As a police lieutenant with more than two decades on the job, did you believe that alibi?”
“I was skeptical.”
“Did you later learn that Ms. Haley Sommers had lied to you? That, in point of fact, she wasn’t with a friend when this murder occurred, but at the scene of the crime?”
“We can verify that Ms. Sommers was in a restaurant next door to Mr. Sommers’s place of business during the window in which he died inside that place of business.”
Gabriel watched Kaplan replay the last question and answer in her head. Apparently, she had gotten enough, because she went on to a different subject.
“So we have three suspects so far,” Kaplan said. “Each with motive. Each refusing to provide DNA. Each with no alibi. Anyone else? Maybe a business partner who was afraid of going to jail if Mr. Sommers cooperated against him. Does that ring a bell, Lieutenant?”
“Reid Warwick was working with James Sommers to sell stolen art. Mr. Sommers had been caught in an FBI sting. So, anticipating your next question, Ms. Kaplan, that told us that Mr. Warwick also had a motive. But he did ultimately provide a DNA sample, and it wasn’t a match for the blood at the crime scene. And he did end up giving us an alibi, which checked out. Reid Warwick
