Mammoth Highway's Big Pine Murder Read online

  MAMMOTH HIGHWAY’S BIG PINE MURDER

  A

  fresh

  look at an

  old cold case.

  The Story of one

  old unsolved murder

  and the body was found

  alongside Highway 395 in

  Inyo Co. Follow Detective,

  Mike Horn, as he reviews all the Facts. Horn soon arrives at new, unexpected conclusions about the old case. See if you will agree with him and where he’s headed on this case.

  BY

  ------------------II-------------------

  BY

  LARRY G. JOHNSTON

  i

  ii iii

  This story is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person (s), living or dead is purely coincidental. The names of the people, some locations, and most of the incidents, are fictional. They are the product of the author’s imagination and experience.

  First Edition

  Copyright © 2018 - by Larry G. Johnston ISBN 13: 978-1984278760 10: 1984278762

  Author’s e-mail [email protected]

  v

  Prologue The Sequoia, or Big Pine tree, in this story is located in Inyo County California, at the intersection of Highways 395 and 168. The tree is a short distance north of the small town of Big Pine.

  State Highway 395 runs north and south along the Eastern Sierra Mountains. It goes through the Owens River Valley and the Mammoth Lakes Ski areas located farther north in Mono County. State Highway 168 begins in Inyo County, just north of Big Pine, and continues in an easterly direction into Nevada.

  A man’s body is found near the base of the big Sequoia tree at Big Pine Park. This murder case will remain unsolved for years. A revolver, recently found at the scene prompts Inyo County Sheriff’s Detective Mike Horn to take a new look at this cold case murder file.

  Join him as he digs into the case and the facts. Unlike other deputies, Horn develops insight from the small things which may not have been thoroughly explored previously.

  His persistence and somewhat dogged determination will bring him to a new conclusion on this case. But, …. has this Detective really solved this old murder case?

  vii viii

  Chapters Page 1 - Chapter One - A Body is Found

  Page 11 - Chapter Two - Deputy Short Investigates Page 21 - Chapter Three - A Case Goes Cold Page 29 - Chapter Four - Solving Assigned Crimes Page 39 - Chapter Five - The Swap Meet

  Page 49 - Chapter Six - Recently Found Revolver Page 57 - Chapter Seven - Detective Horn Investigates Page 67 - Chapter Eight - Sheriff Makes a Decision

  ix x

  CHAPTER I

  A BODY IS FOUND

  Two brothers, Alvin and Bill Johnson , Inyo County road crew workers, were picking up bags of trash. Today they were working in the northeast section of the county, along Highway 168. It was mid-morning, on a Sunday in late October of 2007; there was a chill in the wind indicating winter was on the way.

  Some of the Eastern Sierra Mountain tops had their snow caps visible in the distance. The Owens River Valley, nestled between the Sierra Nevada, Inyo, and White mountains, is a beautiful but sparsely settled place. The valley is home to a small number of full-time residents. One can also find many birds including turkey vultures. There are frequent jack rabbits, and many other wild animals in the valley’s large expanse of sage brush, scrub oak and numerous other trees.

  Inyo County has a few quaint and historical small towns along Highway 395. The area from Lone Pine to Bridgeport, which is farther north in Mono County, is a haven for hikers, hunters, historians, and mountain bikers. Also, those who enjoy solitude while fishing in the abundant, remote small mountain lakes and streams.

  The old state protected Ghost Town named Bodie, founded in 1861 in Mono County, is southeast of Bridgeport and northeast of Mono Lake. Some wild burros and big horn sheep can occasionally be seen foraging in the higher elevations and along the back-country jeep trails around Bodie.

  Independence, with a population of approximately one thousand inhabitants is the Inyo County Seat. Nearby Bishop has around four thousand full-time inhabitants. Located in the county’s southern area is the Death Valley National Park; a remote and desolate place. The park is popular with California tourists as well as people from all over the world who visit there year-round.

  The Bishop Beautification Group had walked along Highway 168 to pick up, and bag trash on a Saturday. This Sunday all of the orange trash bags, left along the road side, were ready to be picked up and hauled to the county dump. Alvin and Bill had that job today and they received time and a half pay for working on Sunday.

  The guys had a key to the county dump gates where they often scrounged around the rubble piles for any saleable items. They both collected scrap metals for added income.

  They were the self-proclaimed, “Kings of the County Dump.” Alvin and Bill, had been employed by the county for almost twelve years. The guys had just completed picking up trash bags along Highway 168, the road east from Highway 395 to Nevada and the Bristlecone Pine Forest. They were now a few miles east of Highway 395 and just north of the small town of Big Pine.

  Both men were hunters and fishermen and they knew almost everyone living in the county. They had been raised in the high Sierras and were now in their mid-forties. The two guys were strong, healthy and dedicated county workers, …. as long as the boss was watching them.

  The two men had held numerous menial jobs before being hired for the road crew and neither had finished high school. They were somewhat akin to those one could refer to as good ole boys. These two had found their niche in life and just tried to enjoy every day, no matter what came along. Both men married local girls and only Bill had fathered children; two boys just the spitting image of good old dad.

  Neither one cared too much for their crew boss, old Charlie Hacker. He watched them close and made sure they put in a full day’s work, for a day’s pay. On occasions he would ream their back-side out when he found them goofing off somewhere; Charlie expected them to be on time and to just do their jobs. After being late one recent morning, they had received an unwelcomed ass-chewing from Charlie.

  Alvin later jokingly said to Bill, “Ya know, if old Charlie had a wooden leg, …. ya could say he was shit on a stick.” Both guys had a big laugh over Alvin’s crass remark. Neither one would say anything bad to Charlie’s face because they valued their job too much. Charlie did cut them some slack because they were willing to perform the less desirable, and often dirty, jobs other guys on the crew avoided.

  Now working along Highway 168, Alvin parked off the road and got out of the battered older white Chevy pick-up truck. There he picked up three bags of trash near a cut-out road side area that had a steel picnic table close by. Alvin threw the bags into the truck bed.

  On the picnic table was a new looking pair of men’s large high top black and white Ball-brand tennis shoes. Since no one was around the area, Alvin pitched the abandoned shoes into the truck cab to Bill.

  Alvin said, “Here, these shoes are big and might fit one of your boys. Maybe ya can save some money for more beer to feed that big ole beer gut you’re pushing around.”

  Bill replied, “Thanks ole brother, I shore do appreciate ya’ll worrying ‘bout my big old beer gut; I’ll just take ‘em shoes home and maybe one of my big foot boys can wear ‘em.”

  These two guys always seemed to have a wise crack for each other about most things and at times, …. about other people. The guy’s dad used to tell them, “If bull shit was music, …. you two guys would be a band!” Here in the high country it was common knowledge that things found alongside the road were up for grabs. Personal property picked up along the hig
hways rarely got turned over to the Sheriff’s Department. Lots of things that fell off from vehicles or bicycles traveling along the roads became finderskeepers. So, now, Bill had some new shoes to take home for one of his two boys. He looked inside one shoe and noted it was stamped size twelve.

  Alvin got back into the truck and drove to the giant Sequoia tree, by the Big Pine Park, located a short distance farther west. Here at the intersection of Highway’s 395 and 168 they planned to stop and take their lunch break at the small county park campground.

  The Sequoia, a local landmark, was about thirty feet away from the intersection of the two highways. The tree almost resembled a huge clump of deep green color broccoli due to the closely grouped and rounded edges of the numerous limbs. It was very healthy. The tree was very photographic with the stark jagged snow-capped mountain backdrop and desert scrub brush all around the location. The Sequoia tree was close to fifty feet tall and maybe twenty feet wide at its base. It appeared to be out of place here in the stark and darker color surroundings of other things growing in the Owen’s Valley.

  The tree was one tourists liked to include in their photographs as it was the only tree of its type, and size in the valley. A prominent sign regarding the tree had been placed at the local landmark’s base. The sign stated the tree had been planted in 1913 and named in honor of U. S. President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt.

  The tree planting occasion commemorated the opening of the eastbound Highway 168, through the Westgard Pass. The new highway allowed for automobile traffic to reach the Bristlecone Pines and it continued eastbound into Nevada.

  Since no people were observed to be camping at the small campground Alvin parked the truck at the east side, near a picnic table and the rest rooms. After having their sack-lunch and sneaking in an unauthorized cold beer from their cooler, they went back to work.

  Alvin washed out the two cement restrooms with high pressure water from the truck bed water tank. Bill then sprayed both interiors with a disinfectant and cleaning solution. New paper products were installed. The two partially full trash bags, from cans outside the building, were added to the load already in the truck bed.

  Charlie, the old road crew boss, always checked the trash cans outside the restrooms to see if Alvin and Bill were doing their job. He never walked about the campground to check the area’s other trash cans, so sometimes they were not emptied on pick up day.

  Bill collected a three-foot by four-foot heavy plastic piece, which had been caught on a nearby barbed wire fence. The plastic was now flapping around in the wind. He wadded-up the plastic piece and placed it under the trash bags in the truck’s bed. Bill thought it resembled a piece of a heavy plastic bag, similar to those bags used for new mattress shipping covers. He wondered if it had blown off a mattress being hauled in an open truck bed on one of the two nearby highways. Bill thought to himself, had the newer plastic piece been a bit larger he could have used it back home as a cover for his old riding lawn mower.

  The day was cloudy and overcast with a light wind gusting occasionally from the south. Alvin started the truck and he then drove out of the campground toward Highway 168. As he drove past the base of the Sequoia tree to their left, they both saw a body on the ground, near a blue Toyota pick-up truck.

  Alvin quickly stopped the truck and said, “Oh shit, Bill, … it looks like a body laying over yonder!”

  He and Bill got out of the old truck to investigate. They were about fifteen feet away from the body.

  Alvin yelled, “Hey buddy, are you okay over there?” There was no movement or response from the person on the ground. The body appeared to be a small man’s torso; and they both decided he was most likely dead. The guys could see a clearly visible wound on the right side of the man’s head.

  Bill told Alvin,” Ya better call the Sheriff’; I think we just found a dead body.” Alvin then quickly called the Sheriff’s Department in Independence and told the dispatcher about their finding a body at the Big Pine Park.

  Both guys continued to look around but they stayed away from the body while waiting for the Sheriff’s Deputy. Soon Deputy Bob Miller arrived, and he determined the man was in fact dead. Deputy Miller called for the Coroner to respond to the scene.

  Miller asked Alvin and Bill,” Have either of you guys walked around over here near the body?” Bill quickly replied, “No sir, …. both of us stayed over here ‘bout a dozen feet away with this here truck between us and the body. We didn’t even want to get close and we didn’t touch nothing around there. We had just cleaned the restrooms over in the campground.”

  Alvin then said. “We just emptied them trash cans over yonder by the restrooms and Bill picked up a big plastic bag piece hanging on the old barbed wire fence. We were just leaving when we saw the guy’s body all spread out over yonder on the ground.”

  Deputy Miller checked the blue Toyota pick-up truck. Inside the cab on the passenger seat he saw a digital camera, note pad, maps, food snacks and other paper items. On the passenger side floorboard area was a small wire basket about five inches square. There was also a cheap pair of size-eight house slippers in a plastic bag and a brown back pack. In the back-pack Miller found four white socks, a pair of brown gloves, a brown hat, a light blue jacket, maps of the general area, a small roll of masking tape and a compass.

  Hanging behind the passenger seat were two long sleeve flannel shirts and a single pair of jeans. Located in the glove box was the vehicle’s registration information in the name of Randy Morris, and some other miscellaneous papers. Deputy Miller also found a twenty-dollar bill wrapped around a Visa Card. The card had the name Randy Morris on the front side.

  A check on the license plate number with the dispatcher indicated the vehicle was a Toyota registered to a Randy Morris. The person lived about four hundred miles south in Orange County California, in the town of Dana Point. No identification or wallet had been found on or near the body.

  Located in the truck’s bed was a four-foot long black bungee cord and three newer-looking round aluminum poles, each one about five-foot long. The poles were one and one-half inches in diameter and appeared to possibly clip or join together; but their exact purpose was unknown.

  After Alvin and Bill had found the body, they both gave their statements to Deputy Miller. They continued on with their scheduled trash pick-up duties. The guys could be contacted later as both men were well known to all the local Sheriff’s Deputies.

  Alvin and Bill were a bit shaken by the incident. They had never found a human body before. The two guys didn’t mind dealing with a dead deer or numerous other smaller animal’s bodies frequently found along the road. Finding a human body was a new experience that neither of them ever wanted to deal with again.

  CHAPTER II

  DEPUTY SHORT INVESTIGATES

  It appeared to Deputy Miller that the victim may have been robbed and shot in the head with his body being left at the base of the Sequoia tree. He noted the deceased man wore warm clothes which included a red nylon down jacket and hiking style tennis shoes.

  A senior Deputy, Dave Short, was called out to the scene to continue with the investigation. Dave had been a deputy farther south in Imperial County, along the Mexico border. During his dozen years there he had assisted in the investigation of some murder cases. He was divorced and had moved to the Eastern Sierra because he liked to hunt and fish. He also wanted to live in the high country. He had been with the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department for five years, and this was his first local murder case. Here in Inyo County he handled mostly cabin burglary cases, vehicle thefts, property crimes, or less-than-lethal crimes against people.

  Deputy Short examined the crime scene for clues and any other evidence. He assigned two deputies to drive a mile or two, to the north, south, and east of the two highways intersection. They were told to make contact with any local residents and campers they could find. The two deputies were told to look for possible evidence and to ask any area residents if anyone had seen or heard anything about t
he crime. Because it was a Sunday afternoon, traffic was very light along the two highways. Most traffic had already headed south toward Los Angeles, from the popular ski area of Mammoth Lakes, farther north.

  About a quarter mile south of the scene, on Highway 395, a deputy found a man’s wallet on the west side of the road. If it had it been thrown from a moving vehicle, there was no way to determine the direction the vehicle may have been traveling. The wallet was picked up using a rubber glove and placed in a paper bag. In the wallet was identification of a Randy Morris. The wallet was preserved for possible print dusting by the Crime Scene Investigator. Another deputy checked the two highways north and east of the crime scene for a mile each direction and saw nothing of significance.

  No credit cards or money were found in the wallet so those items could have been removed. That could indicate robbery as a motive. The victim’s Navy Identification, driver’s license and miscellaneous papers were still in the wallet. Miller decided the deceased man was most likely Mr. Randy Morris as the dead man’s face matched the driver’s license photograph and the Navy Retirement card.

  Mr. Morris was determined to be a fifty-eight-year-old Caucasian man, five feet seven inches tall, and weighing one hundred and fifty pounds. A pair of prescription glasses, a baseball cap and wooden cane were found near his body; he was wearing size eight shoes. The initial investigation concluded he had died as a result of a possible single gunshot wound to his left temple.

  Deputy Short saw some vehicle tire prints and some very large tennis shoe footprints around the vicinity. CSI responded to the scene and performed their evidence collection process. The found wallet was dusted for fingerprints and none were located, just a couple of smudges. The blue Toyota truck was dusted for prints and very few were located. Those prints lifted would later be compared to the victim’s prints.

  Short noted at some time the wood picnic table had been pulled or dragged over closer to the Sequoia tree. The marks on the ground indicated the table was pulled back about six feet away from the outer edges of the tree branches. May not be important Short thought, but he had Crime Scene Investigator, Earl Benson, take photographs of the picnic table and the drag marks on the ground.