Brenda said, "He's coming, Gary."
She had a flash. "Gary, what was the house number, 67 or 69?"
Gary said, "No, it was 76."
"Uh-oh," said Brenda, "I gave him the wrong one."
"Will you get it right this time?" he snapped.
"Okay, Gary," she said meekly. "Johnny's got the CB in the truck, and I have one here. I'll plug him into the right address. Just hang tight." She took a breath, "If you feel kind of faint," she said, "or kind of badly from the wound, why don't you go out on the porch where the air is cool and take some deep breaths. Turn the light on so Johnny can find you."
"How stupid," said Gary, "do you think I am?"
Brenda said, "Excuse me, stay inside."
"All right," he said. He still must trust her.
Soon as she hung up, she began to bawl again. It seemed so wrong to do it this way. But she called the police department, and told them, "He's getting very impatient."
To Gary, who soon called again, she said, "Listen, I know you're in pain. Hang loose. Just stay put."
Brenda was now patched in with the Provo, the Orem, and the Pleasant Grove Police Chiefs, and she could tell from what the dispatchers were saying that the houses around Craig Taylor's were being quietly evacuated. The police were moving into position. One of the Police Chiefs wanted to know which room Gary was in and she told them, she thought he was in the living room. Was the light on? he wanted to know. She said she didn't think so.
Just then Gary called back again. "If John ain't here in five minutes I'm splitting."
"My God, Gary," she said, "are you on the run or something?"
Gary said, "I'm leaving in five minutes."
She said, "Be careful, Gary. I love you."
He said, "Yeah." Hung up.
To the police, she said, "He's coming out. I know he's got a gun, but for God's sake, try not to kill him." Brenda added, "I mean it. Don't fire. He doesn't know you're there. See if you can surround him." She didn't know if she was reaching anybody.
After the last call, Craig just talked to Gary through the screen in the window, until finally Gary said, "Stick your head out through the screen and let me see your face."
Now, Gary shook hands with Craig and said, "Well, they're never coming, so I'm leaving." They shook hands, thumbs up, pretty good handshake, Gary still looking Craig in the eye. Then he went out to his truck. Craig turned the porch light off and watched him go down the road.
For a while, Brenda got the play-by-play over the special channel on the CB a voice said, "Gilmore's leaving. I can see the truck. He's pulling out now. He has the lights on." Then she heard he was heading down to the first roadblock. She didn't know what happened next. He seemed to have driven around that first roadblock. He was out. He was loose in Pleasant Grove.
She heard somebody from the police say, "I've got to cut you off now." Cut her off, they did. For an hour and a half. It was all of that before she knew what had happened.
Craig called Spence McGrath and said Gary was in trouble and might try to get over to his place. Craig thought the police were after him. Spencer said, "Wow, that's kind of wild," and got out his deer rifle, and had it lying right next to the door.
Lights shone through the window, and the cops were shouting at Craig Taylor, "Come out with your hands up." They searched the house. Julie appeared in her bathrobe, but the cops weren't all that courteous. They found Gary's clothes, told Craig to drive down to Provo and give a statement. He was up all night.
8.
A SWAT team from Provo, five officers from Orem, and three from Pleasant Grove, a couple of County Sheriffs and some Highway Patrol had all met at the Pleasant Grove High School where an impromptu command post was established. Since there was every chance of a shootout, they had started cleaning out the area around Craig Taylor's house. It meant tiptoeing from door to door, waking people up, leading them out of the neighborhood-it took time. In the meanwhile, they set up roadblocks, When the word came down that somebody was driving away from Craig Taylor's in a white truck, everybody expected a vehicle to come barreling through. What fooled them was that the white truck drove at a moderate rate of speed, slowed down, and went right around. It hadn't been that heavy a roadblock. Just a barrier across one-half of the two-lane, with a police car parked to the side.
When the guy in the white truck had gone past, it was reported that he had a goatee. Then it registered. That was him. Two of their vehicles took off.
A couple of the cops stayed right where they were. They were thinking this fellow might have been a decoy passing the in hopes everybody would chase him. Then Gilmore could walk right on out.
One trouble with a roadblock is that it could start a lot of firing. So Lieutenant Peacock, who was running the operation at the command post at the Pleasant Grove High School, had told people that if there was any doubt, they were to let a white vehicle through. Next thing, he got the news. The driver in the white did fit Gilmore's description. Then Peacock could actually see the truck, just a few hundred yards away from the high school, headed east toward the mountains on a street called Battle Creek. Going along at no great speed, in fact. Maybe five or ten miles over the speed limit, which was only 25 miles an hour there.
He radioed for a car to follow the truck, but when he heard that vehicles in the vicinity were tied up, he got into his unmarked car, a plain four-door '76 Chevelle, and proceeded after it. Within a few blocks he got near enough to see the truck again.
While he had been radioing in his position, another car driven by cops fell in behind.
The white truck made a right-hand turn and started going down an empty country road at the edge of Pleasant Grove.
There were just a few houses on either side, but he was heading back toward population. At that point, still another patrol car had gotten in line, and Peacock decided he now had sufficient assistance to make a stop on the truck. While the road they were on was not real wide, it would still be broad enough for three cars to get abreast. So, at that point, he radioed for the other two to come up on his left-hand side, and soon as they did, all three turned on their spotlights at once and their overhead revolving red lights.
On the PA system, Peacock cried out: "DRIVER IN THE WHITE TRUCK, STOP YOUR VEHICLE, STOP YOUR VEHICLE." He could see the truck waver, slow down, come to a halt.
Peacock opened his door. He had a Remington 12-gauge shotgun in the front seat, but, instinctively, he came out with his service weapon.
The white truck had stopped in the center of the road. Peacock stood behind the protection of his open door. He could hear Ron Allen commanding Gilmore to put his hands up. Right there in the driver's seat he was to put his hands up. Lift them so he could be seen through the rear window. The man hesitated. Allen had to give the order a third time before he finally raised his hands. Next Allen told him to put those hands outside the driver's window. The driver hesitated again. Then he finally obeyed. Now he was told to open the door by the outside latch, Once that door was open, he was told to get out of the truck.
By now, Peacock had walked around in back of his Chevelle, and was standing behind the headlights, on the right-hand side of the road where it was dark. He had his weapon ready. He knew the suspect couldn't see him. The man's eyes would be blinded by the lights of the car, In turn, the other officers were standing back of the open doors of their patrol cars.
On command, the man took two steps away from his vehicle. He hesitated. They told him to lie down on the read. He hesitated again.
At that moment, his pickup truck started to roll away. He kept hesitating. He didn't know whether to run after the truck and set the emergency brake or to lie down. At this point, Peacock hollered, "LET THE TRUCK GO. LAY DOWN IMMEDIATELY. LET THE TRUCK GO." The man finally did as he was told and the white truck rolled farther and farther away from him and picked up speed going down that road which sloped all the way into town.
Slowly, gently, almost thoughtfully, it coasted off the shoulder, broke through a fence, ran through a pasture, and came to rest in the field.
Now all three officers, weapons out, moved forward along the blacktop. Peacock and the next officer were holding Service weapons. The third had a shotgun.
When they reached the man, Peacock put his gun away, frisked him right there on the ground. Simultaneously, Officer Allen began to read off the Miranda.
"You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions. Do you understand?" asked Allen. There was a nod. The man didn't speak.
"Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. Do you understand?" asked Allen. A nod.
"You have the right to consult an attorney before speaking to police and to have an attorney present during any questions now and in the future. Do you understand?" asked Allen. A nod.
"If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you without cost. Do you understand?" asked Allen.
The man nodded.
"If you do not have an attorney available, you have the right remain silent until you have an opportunity to consult one. Do understand?" asked Allen.
The man nodded.
"Now that l have advised you of your rights, are you willing to answer the questions without an attorney present?" asked Allen. All the while, Lieutenant Peacock was putting handcuffs on the man. "Be careful of that hand. It's been hurt," said the man.
Peacock fastened the restraints, turned him over, and began to go through his pockets. The fellow had upwards of $200 in large and small bills in various shirt pockets and pants pockets, and certainly had a wild look in his eye. "What am I going to do now?" said his expression. "What's my next move?"
Peacock had the feeling that the prisoner did not make any move without looking for the possibility of escape. Even though he had him handcuffed, Peacock remained on guard. It was as if he was still capturing the fellow. There was such resistance in the way this man hesitated whenever a command was given. He looked like a wildcat in a bag. Temporarily quiet.
A number of people had begun to come out of nearby houses and they stood in a circle staring at the captive. Lieutenant Nielsen arrived then in another police car and at that point, the prisoner spoke up suddenly. "Hey," he said, pointing at Gerald Nielsen, "I'm not going to talk to anybody but him."
They put him in the back seat of Peacock's car and Nielsen got in and said, "What's going on, Gary?" Gilmore said, "I'm hurting, you know? Can you give me one of those pills?" He pointed to the plastic bag where they had everything they took from his pockets. Nielsen said, "Well, we'll take you down, get you taken care of." They drove off.
For hours before this capture, Kathryne was spending a fearful evening. April had taken off again, and the weather had been hot beyond belief all day. They left the doors open, and the windows, and kept waiting for April to come back. Watched television. The tension in the house got so great they couldn't even go to sleep. Nicole had come over with the kids and bedded down with them on the floor of their room because it was cooler, but Kathy and Kathryne were too keyed-up and just sat around talking, scared to death.
Then all of a sudden, a floodlight went right across the windows.
My God, they didn't know what was happening. A huge loudspeaker boomed in, a huge loudspeaker. "YOU IN THE WHITE PICKUP," it shouted. Two words, "Crazy Gary," jumped instantly into Kathryne's mind. "Oh, my God, it's that crazy Gary." Then they heard the loud speaker say, "AT THE COUNT OF TWO, PUT UP YOUR HANDS, PUT UP YOUR HANDS." A quieter voice said, "Get ready to open up, if he doesn't obey."
At those words, Kathy and Kathryne hit the floor. They might have been soldiers, they did it so instinctively. The bedroom filled with light. A police beacon was turning in a circle. When they began to raise their heads they could see three policemen walking up road carrying guns. Then someone yelled, "They got him."
Nicole woke up out of a crazy dream, and started screaming.
Kathryne was holding onto her, shouting, "Sissy, don't go out there. You can't go out," which was all Nicole needed to break loose. Then she was out and in the crowd that was standing on the road around Gary on the ground. With all those lights on him, he didn't know what was going on.
The police wouldn't let Nicole up close. She stood a distance away looking at him, and one of the cops began to question Kathryn who had just come out and asked, "Do you know him?" When Kathryne said, "Yeah," then the cop said, "Well, he was right about up to your driveway when we got him. You were lucky." Then another cop said, "We think he killed the fellow last night too." That's when panic hit Kathryne. They still hadn't found April.
Nicole didn't know whether she wanted to go up to him or not. She just stood there, watching them point those rifles. There was nothing in her.
Back inside the house, however, she was shaking and screaming and crying. She took Gary's photograph and threw it in the garbage. "That crazy son of a bitch," she shouted, "I should have killed him when I had the chance!
Later that night, she went through all kinds of changes. She lay there and words went through her mind like a broken record. Things they had said, over and over.
Toby Bath called Brenda. "We've got him," he told her. "Is he okay?" asked Brenda. "Yes," said Toby, "he's fine." "Anybody else get hurt?" asked Brenda. "Nope, nobody got hurt. Did a good clean job. "Thank God," said Brenda. She had never been in a more shattered state. She couldn't even cry. "Oh," she said, "Gary's going to hate me. He's not too happy with me anyways. But now he's going to hate me." She was more worried about that than anything.
10.
Chris Caffee couldn't sleep at all and Debbie kept saying, "I can't believe Ben's dead. I can't believe it."
They were all feeling pretty paranoid. Chris got up once to take a shower but started shaking when she realized there was a window in the bathroom and the killer could come through it. While the water was running she wouldn't hear a sound. It was like the movie Psycho.
Then she got back in the living room, and almost gave a yip. Some big person with a flashlight was walking in the front yard. But it was only a policeman. He had noticed their car door was open, and a cat had taken up abode in the back seat. They invited the man in, and that was how they learned a suspect had been caught. They didn't know if it was really the killer, but at least the police had somebody.
Debbie kept saying things you couldn't answer any more than you could talk back to your TV set. "When I was a kid," she announced, "I used to play touch football with the boys. I liked to swing off the roof on ropes." She said that, sitting in the rocking chair, holding Benjamin. "Yeah, that's great," said Chris from the studio bed.
"Ben took a lot of classes in bookkeeping and business administration, but his main interest was working with people," Debbie said, "and advising them."
"That's true," said Chris.
Debbie said, "We never had any time to play tennis or water ski because there was no recreation time. We were working all the way."
Holding Benjamin and rocking in the chair, she looked straight ahead. She had dark green eyes but they looked flat and black now.
"It was Ben," she said, "who wanted to have the baby by natural childbirth. I went along because we always had the same idea about things."
"Yes," Debbie said, "Benjamin weighed seven pounds when he was born. The delivery presented no problem at all. Ben was with me at the hospital. He had a doctor's white outfit on. I could feel," she said, "his presence all the time. That was a nice time." She paused. "I wonder if I am pregnant now. Yesterday, I told Ben I thought I was. I think he's happy about it."
Debbie was in the rocking chair all night and Benjamin was in her arms. She kept trying to get the new thing together, but there had been too many breaks. Seeing the strange man in the motel office was a break in her understanding, Then the instant when she saw Ben's head bleeding. That was an awfully large break. Ben dead. She never went back to the motel.
Next afternoon, Debbie's mom came, and people from the Ward, and the Bishop. Things never stopped moving. Debbie stayed with Chris and David for three days before she went back to Pasadena. It was the first time she traveled on an airplane in her life.
Chapter 17.
CAPTURED.
After the arrest, on the drive to the hospital, Gary said to Gerald Nielsen, "When we get alone, I want to tell you about it." Nielsen said okay. It alerted him to look for a confession. Most of the time they were silent, but Gilmore did say again, "I want to talk to you about it, you know."
At the hospital, Gerald Nielsen stayed close while they doctored him. The Provo police had already called to say they wanted a metal detection test on his hand, but Gilmore refused. He said, "I want to talk to an attorney first." Gerald said, "Well, we'll get you an attorney, but he can't help you there. That's legal evidence."
Gilmore said, "Do I have a legal right to refuse it?" "Yeah," Gerald said, "you can. And we always have the legal right to do it by force." "Well," said Gilmore, "you're going to have to force me." He swore a couple of times and cussed and hollered and said he wasn't going to do it, and a couple of times Nielsen thought it might end up in a brawl, but finally he consented. The tests revealed he had held metal in his hand. Gilmore replied, "Yes, I had to do some filing today at work." It must have been four in the morning before they got to the Provo City Jail.
While the doctors were setting plaster of paris on Gilmore's hand, Nielsen decided to take a gamble and said, "Put a ring in it, will you, so we can get the handcuffs on." Gary said, "God, you have a polluted sense of humor." Nielsen felt it got them started.
2.
Noall Wootton, the prosecutor for Utah County, was a small guy with light hair, a high forehead, and a large nose that looked like it had been flattened. He was usually a bundle of energy. When he got stoked up, he was like a tugboat chug-chug-chugging at any big job assigned to him.
In Noall Wooton's opinion the best lawyer he ever met was his father. Maybe for that reason he could never go into a courtroom without a stomach tied in knots. He won cases and still felt badly because they hadn't been up to what they should have been. For that reason he was more than careful to observe all the legal amenities on the night they brought Gilmore to the Provo City Police Station.
Tuesday night, or, rather, Wednesday 1:00 A.M. when the call came in to Wooton's home that the police had a man in custody for the motel murder in Provo, Noall sent a deputy to the hospital, and himself proceeded to the murder scene at the City Center Motel where he spent an hour and a half directing the search for a gun. Having talked to Martin Ontiveros, and learned that Gilmore had come in bleeding, he backtracked up the street from the gas station following the trail of blood to its source near a bush on the street. They looked into the twigs and found a Browning Automatic .22.