I studied a stack of ID photos. Betty Jean Scales alive: a prim woman with long hair and granny glasses. I studied the crimescene shots. Betty Jean twenty-seven days dead: a bloated mannequin and insect repository.
I studied the perspective shots. The pits looked like moon craters. I pictured local acidheads grooving on the landscape.
I read the crime-scene and lab reports. I took notes. I found an odd notation:
“Vic’s sweater. Stain 0+–non-secretor.”
Odd:
I thought the line referred to a semen stain. Some men secrete identifiable blood cells in their ejaculate; some men do not. “0+–non-secretor” was a non sequitur.
I read the missing-persons report. I recognized locations.
My mother shopped at Crawford’s Market. We lived two blocks west of Peck Road. Arroyo High flanked Lower Azusa. Betty Jean vanished en route to Five Points.
I read the sex-assault reports. I cleared the laundromat freak. He worked late nights and north El Monte exclusively.
The kid vibed HOT suspect.
He was convicted for one attempt rape. Four other rape/ attempt rape/abduction victims ID ‘d him as their assailant. He assailed his consummated victim in dark seclusion. Betty Jean was last seen at Durfee Drugs. The kid worked at a print shop two blocks away. His last alleged assault occurred at Durfee Drugs on 4/23/73.
I called Bill. He cosigned my assessment and urged me to remain circumspect. We shouldn’t lock in on suspects. We should sift evidence and refrain from prejudicial conclusions.
He reminded me:
This was now an official Sheriff’s/El Monte PD investigation. I was to look, listen, and ask questions judiciously.
Bill said he had calls in to Koury and Meyers. They both retired to Missouri. We had to get their assessments. I mentioned the secretor notation. Bill said we should go by the property vault and retrieve the evidence bags. The victim’s clothing had to be screened for semen stains and conflicting bloodstains. That was the standard pre-DNA procedure.
I filled in the hypothetical blanks.
The kid allegedly ejaculated on his 3/8 victim. He might have done the same thing with Betty. He might have wiped his penis with her sweater, panties, or bra. The coroner’s semen smear turned up “inconclusive.” The victim’s vaginal membranes were badly decomposed. DNA procedures did not exist in 1973. DNAcertified semen stains can be compared to cell scrapings taken from present-day suspects. The crime lab could lift cells off Betty’s clothing. The crime lab could run the kid’s DNA. The lab could determine the presence or absence of DNA with absolute certainty. Fabrics retain DNA cells indefinitely.
I mentioned Bill Scales and vaginal drip from normal intercourse. Bill Stoner said we had to find him and take a blood sample or a mouth scrape. We had to differentiate his fluid cells. He said the stain placements were crucial. Normal leakage would pool at the crotch of the victim’s panties. If the killer wiped himself with the panties, the stains would be wide and diffuse.
I slept poorly that night. I tossed and transposed the file statistics of Betty Jean and my mother. I knew I’d blitz the next day with coffee and pure brain energy.
I did.
Bill and I drove to El Monte. We found our key locations and ran straight routes between them.
2633 Cogswell: small bungalows and dirty kids in diapers. Durfee Drugs: a small corner store with wraparound parking. Crawford’s Market: gone. The bank: gone. Vons Market: a big corner store with a big parking lot.
The gravel pits: a skyscape of scoop cranes and rock piles. Fenced-in access roads and Keep Out signs.
I went through the file and checked addresses.
The kid lived at 14335 Ramona. The 3/13 and 3/14 assaults occurred at 14103 and 13940.
We drove by the locations. The old structures were gone. Shopping centers had replaced them.
The Baldwin Park Post Office: still in its old location. Walking distance to the kid’s apartment. The gravel pits and Vons Market: walking distance for a kid jacked up on fear and adrenaline.
We drove to the El Monte PD. We talked to Chief Wayne Clayton and Assistant Chief Bill Ankeny.
They remembered the Scales case. Ankeny said the husband was their first hot suspect. He didn’t remember the kid or the laundromat freak. Clayton said they popped a rape-o around the same time. A Latin guy sandbagged a girl by some railroad tracks. A witness scared him off as he forced the girl to strip. He was grilled and cleared on the Scales job.