NOVEMBER 1989
MINDEN, LA
Dave Cooley: Good morning everyone. Thank you for coming in before your shifts. As you are all aware, there has been a string of consistent homicides not just occurring in this town, but in other neighboring states. I have come to the theory that the murders must be connected.
[Minden Police Department groans]
Dave Cooley: Would you all just listen for a minute?! You just got here, too, damn it.
Fred Gonzalez: You’re not seriously going to try to draw a line between the body found in Hooper Park, are you? For heaven’s sake.
Officer 1: What would you make you even think that they’re committed by the same person? We’re running around in circles. I think you should let us go now. This meeting is nothing but a waste of our time.
Fred Gonzalez: And how the hell are we going to explain this to the FBI? If we don’t have actual forensic evidence, we don’t have shit. Do we even have any witnesses?
Dave Cooley: I’m working on it. I’m knocking on the door of every house in town.
Frank Gonzalez [scoffs]: You’re working on it.
Dave Cooley: As of now, we only have the testimonies of the victims’ family members. [Points to the large bulletin board with photos and notes.] But if you all actually take the time to notice from the police reports, that each of the victims has a history themselves of abusing others. Whether that is is an assault or battery charge, they’ve nearly been in trouble with the law at some point, give or take. From felonies to misdemeanors.
Frank Gonzalez: We still ain’t got nothing for the FBI.
Dave Cooley: The victims have been documented in past court records, such as restraining orders, domestic battery, the list goes on. Every single one. Their families have confirmed this. All of them.
Fred Gonzalez [rolls eyes]: And?
Dave Cooley: Look. Through the interviews I’ve conducted with the victims’ kin, whether that be a family member, friend, or co-worker—their lives are taken away in a similar pattern—through strangulation, getting shot, stabbed, etc. Maybe these crimes could have been committed by multiple people or occur at random occurrences. I don’t know. But for those victims that have ever neglected or put a child in direct danger—they have been subject to a far more slow, painful death by this person. A brutal method of torture. And once again, these kinds of death correlated exactly with those victims who has ever inflicted pain on a child. Specifically those victims.
[Silence]
Dave Cooley: One word, ladies and gentlemen. Vigilantism.
Fred Gonzalez: But how are these connected?
Dave Cooley: Don’t you see the pattern?
Officer 2: Again, Dave, this is all just speculation. You only have interviews. No actual physical evidence. DNA. That is what the FBI is looking for. This can’t possibly be just one person.
Dave Cooley: I know that we’re just a small town—that we ain’t the type to deal with this sort of thing. But this has been going on for a long time. People are scared to leave their houses, go out in public. This pattern—this has to be a vigilante serial killer we’re dealing with here. Someone who is seeking justice; who has an undeniable rage and hatred towards these people. You’ve seen it yourselves of the extent of how their victims were mutilated.
Frank Gonzalez: C’mon, Dave.
Dave Cooley: And what kind of victims were these people? The ones who were dismembered? Those who deliberately put a child in harm’s way—and had gotten into trouble with the law previously because of it. Out of all the seventy four victims’ families, only thirty agreed to come forward to speak to me. The majority of the victims’ families—hard it is to say; did not seem too shaken up over their relative’s death. They’ve only talked about the hell that person had inflicted upon their lives; and expressed little to no remorse upon their deaths. So that leads me to believe another thing.
Fred Gonzalez: We’re wasting valuable resources. We’re wasting time. Time. These cases have been cold for decades, Dave. No one’s talking. And as far as we know, there are no witnesses. Besides, you cannot assume that the murder of every single abusive spouse or neglectful parent is directly correlated to one person. There’s too many coincidences at play. It’s not rational.
[Silence]
Dave Cooley: There is a distinguishing factor. In every single one of the photos taken at each crime scene—there are footprints in the ground. Not shoes. But the exact same footprint of someone’s bare feet. We’ve drawn the several outlines—all a match. All the same person. They obviously don’t want the tread of their shoes to be identified. So they commit the deeds without them. [Points at a picture]. If you can see, the big toes themselves are turned in an unnatural position. They were likely born with a foot deformity. Clubbed foot. Also known as talipes equinovarus.
Officer 2: What the hell? So this is a barefooted serial killer.
Dave Cooley: This person was most likely severely abused as a child, who never wants anyone to experience what they went through. So what they do? They target those who they know will do such a thing. They seek them. It’s a form of them protecting someone that they believe that their victim will harm—that they themselves take deliberate responsibility. [Clears throat.] But it could mean something else; that the perpetrator is going through a superiority crisis and can act on a warped sense of justice. Either way; there it is. The drive to defend. But this person doesn’t attack randomly. They do it with accuracy, precision, timing. [slams folder on the table]. And this how we are so far behind for nearly twenty years.
Officer 1: And with the victims’ families unwilling to speak up, even if they have had or seen something, may only confirm just how abusive or dangerous their targeted relative is.
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Dave Cooley: Correct. We’ve been seeing more similar murders occur right here in Minden for the past nine years alone. We’ve been looking around in Georgia, Mississippi, Alabama—why not start over in this town? Minden. They must be in Minden. We’ll do another search of this area before exploring out of state options.
Frank Gonzalez: Even if there is only one person doing this, why the hell would they choose to live so close to a police station? Let alone the place where they’ve committed the murders? Wouldn’t they get as far away from here as possible?
Dave Cooley: Why turn away from what you already know? This isn’t your typical serial killer. This is someone intelligent, who has decades of experience upon covering their tracks. They’ve lived here all their life—or at least, are very familiar with this area. They’ve had the time to master their technique. They study us. They are watching us.
Frank Gonzalez: Or maybe they simply exist in your head. Because you cannot tie this down to one person without evidence! You oughta to take off that badge of yours right now.
Officer 1 [takes a sip of coffee]: Here we go again.
Dave Cooley: Okay, so you want to talk about our credentials? Fine. We’ll talk about our fucking credentials.
Frank Gonzalez: Now hold on—
Dave Cooley: The badge, the uniform, the squad cars. Do any of you even know how bad this makes us look? Or have we just been comfortable in only dealing with petty crime? They should’ve failed your asses during police academy. Shame on you. And shame on me, for just trying to put this into your radar now. They fired the last guy, and put me in his position, because I actually give a damn. From now on, this is how things are going to be run. If you got a problem, there is the door. Go ahead. But I will not come up in here and allow you to disrespect the men and women who risk their lives each day to serve our community. I will not.
[Silence]
Dave Cooley: Now, pay attention. On average last year, there was a murder in Minden happening at least once a month. Now it’s occurring every two to three weeks. Don’t you guys get it? People are terrified—-there’s over seventy five victims! Seventy five. It’s something that we can no longer ignore, or make little safety PSAs, or tell the community to lock their doors. It’s like throwing a Band-Aid over a gaping wound. We’re not addressing the root of the problem. Soon, no one will live here, and this person will choose their next area of interest. We need to do our job, and this time, the right way. No more short cuts. No more excuses. We are on the verge of being defunded if we do not come up with a solid lead now.
Police Officer 1: Persons.
Dave Cooley: No. A person.
Fred Gonzalez: So THIS what we’re going to tell the FBI? That our ONE suspect is a barefooted freak who just goes on killing people who they see as..as abusive? That makes no sense.
Dave Cooley: It’s what we got at the moment.
Police Officer #1: Waste of time, I say.
Fred Gonzalez [stands up]: We’ve tried that since ‘74. There is no progress.
Dave Cooley: Well we’ll try again, darn it. That’s what we’ll tell the community—that we’ll never stop trying. And I’ve done some deep digging. Minden’s mostly been a peaceful town, but there was a reported case back in ‘61. The police was called to the home of a woman who’ve been badly beaten by her husband. He was found dead in the hallway. In the crime scene photos it was shown that he had been shot below range. The woman was already unconscious when paramedics arrived on the scene, so she was ruled out as a primary suspect. The man’s death is unsolved. No one is sure who called the police.
Officer 1: What are you saying?
Fred Gonzalez: Alright Dave, now you’re just reaching out of the blue. This ain’t relevant. I think you should let the feds take it up from here.
Dave Cooley: Trust me. You know how long I’ve been burying myself in the archives? Just for something to make sense with my theory so we can identify our lead. At least, location wise.
Officer 2: I’m not so sure about this. You’re telling me this is the only article that had the only egregious thing occur in ‘61?
David Cooley [rubs forehead]: Just bear with me, alright? There are two versions of the news article. The first one is lost and the second one has been partially restored. I’ve tried to get into contact with the newspaper that originally made that story, but they’ve closed down since. The gun. [claps hands]. They said in the article that the gun must have been fired from a much lower angle. Which makes me assume that this…this is from a short person. [Glares at the Minden Police Department]. Or a child. A very small child.
Fred Gonzalez: What are you saying?
Dave Cooley: We need to look more into this article. I’ve been pestering the FBI for months about it. There wasn’t mention of a child living in that residence; but it specifically said the name of the victim. I did find some more information about this guy.
Fred Gonzalez: And?
Dave Cooley: He ran away from home at sixteen to enlist in 1939. He was a World War II veteran—a bomber pilot. Although he worked as an airplane mechanic in the early fifties, he got fired multiple times on the job for picking fights with his coworkers. He had a massive drinking problem. I don’t know what his wife’s name was; but their domestic dispute was so bad the police was called to their place of residence over fifteen times. There were complaints by other neighbors, because his wife was screaming so loud they could hear her across the street.
Officer 1: And this was from several eyewitness accounts?
Dave Cooley: Yes.
Frank Gonzalez: So? Do you even know if this couple even had a child themselves?
Dave Cooley: I’m not sure.
Frank Gonzalez: This is incredibly out of context. We have no evidence that there was ever a child living in that household. And why does this even case matter? Domestic violence disputes happen every day—it’s just that in the 60s it was far less likely to be talked about, let alone published in a newspaper, for crying out loud.
Dave Cooley: Which is my point. The only reason why it was a labeled as a domestic violence case was because the person who called confirmed it that it was. Records show that the call came from the home’s landline. Which means, there was someone else living in that house at the time the husband was shot. The suspect we’re dealing with may have come from a background very similar to this.
Frank Gonzalez: Then why not look at other domestic violence cases? And maybe not from one so long ago.
Dave Cooley: I have. And I will continue to. Like I just said, domestic abuse is underreported. And given that this is a small town, it just falls on my radar. Don’t you guys even see where I’m going with this?
Frank Gonzalez: So we’ve reached a dead end. Again.
Dave Cooley: Maybe you’re forgetting another thing. I’ve looked up his surname in the state’s database, as well as the location of the house he lived and was killed in. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find the address. But the man’s name. It’s not a common last name, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to distinguish. But it’s the first thing I’ve seen in months. And we need to start over directly from there. We’ve had this sitting under our noses for decades. So given that our person of interest may have pulled that trigger as a child, they may as well be in their late twenties to mid thirties as of now.
Frank Gonzalez: Are you for real?
Dave Cooley: That is an adult shaped foot in those photos. So yes, they clearly aren’t a child anymore.
Frank Gonzalez: This is bullshit, Dave.
Dave Cooley: But we have something to present to the FBI. Do you have any other ideas? Like trying to look in another state even though the majority of the victims lived here ? Because I’d love to hear yours.
Frank Gonzalez [sighs] : What was the veteran’s name in the article?
Dave Cooley: Winston Dolivor, Jr.