Homicide Investigation Progress Report

DR#S 04-592 346-56

VICTIMS:

BRAND, MICHAELA ALLY

GAIDELAS, ANDREW WILLIAM

GAIDELAS, CATHERINE ANTONIA

GIACOMO, VICTORIA MARY

MESERVE, DYLAN ROGER

PEATY, REYNOLD MILLARD

WHITE FEMALE JANE DOE #1

WHITE FEMALE JANE DOE #2

WHITE FEMALE JANE DOE #3

WHITE FEMALE JANE DOE #4

LAS VEGAS, NV VICTIM

DUTCHEY, JULIET LEE

SECTION VIII: EVIDENCE

I. FROM STORAGE BUILDING OWNED BY BNB PROPERTIES, 942½ WEST WOODBURY ROAD, ALTADENA, CA, 91001:

1. 3 CARDBOARD CARTONS CONTAINING CLOTHING, SOME IDENTIFIED AS BELONGING TO VICTIMS BRAND, M, GAIDELAS, A, GAIDELAS, C, MESERVE, D, GIACOMO, V. VARIOUS FEMALE ATTIRE, IDENTIFICATION UNKNOWN.

2. 2 “MADE IN MEXICO ” ONYX BOXES CONTAINING VARIOUS GOLD, SILVER, AND COSTUME JEWELRY, 3 PRS. EYEGLASSES, 1 BELONGING TO VICTIM GIACOMO, V, 2 UNATTRIBUTED, 1 SET SOFT CONTACT LENSES BELONGING TO VICTIM BRAND, M, 1 PARTIAL DENTAL BRIDGE BELONGING TO VICTIM GAIDELAS, A.

3. 3 POLYETHYLENE GARBAGE BAGS CONTAINING 53 BLEACHED HUMAN BONES, IDENTIFICATION IN PROGRESS PER THE CORONER’S OFFICE. (REF: PROFESSOR JESSICA SAMPLE, FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGIST.)

4. 1 CARDBOARD CARTON MARKED SEARS-KENMORE CONTAINING 10 JUMBO ZIPLOC SANDWICH BAGS EACH CONTAINING A CLUMP OF HUMAN HAIR BOUND BY TWO RUBBER BANDS. (REF: PROF. J. SAMPLE.)

II. FROM TRUNK OF 1989 LINCOLN TOWN CAR VIN 33893566, REGISTERED TO BRADLEY MILLARD DOWD, GARAGED BE HIND STORAGE BUILDING AT 942½ WEST WOODBURY ROAD:

1. 1 SONY DIGITAL CAMERA MODEL DSC 588.

2. 1 EXCISED SECTION OF BLACK CARPETING FROM LTC.

3. FRONT AND REAR BLACK LEATHER SEATS FROM LTC.

III. FROM TRIPLEX SUBTERRANEAN BOMB SHELTERS, 43885 LATIGO CANYON ROAD, MALIBU, CA, 90265:

FROM UNIT “A” (NORTHERNMOST, SEE DIAGRAM):

1. CLOTHING, COSMETICS, PERSONAL EFFECTS BELONGING TO SUSPECT DOWD, N.

2. COLLAPSIBLE TWIN BED AND BEDDING.

3. PHOTOGRAPHS OF SUSPECTS DOWD, B, AND DOWD, N.

4. 5 TEETH BELONGING TO VICTIM MESERVE, D. PIERCED AND STRUNG ON A SILVER CHAIN.

5. 1 TAXIDERMICALLY PRESERVED HUMAN HEAD BELONGING TO VICTIM MESERVE, D.

6. 2 SIMILAR PRESERVATIONS, VICTIMS GAIDELAS, A, GAIDE LAS, C.

7. 1 COMPACT DISK CONTAINING DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHIC IMAGES, MARKED “PARTY-TIME” CONTAINING PORNO GRAPHIC IMAGES OF:

A. SUSPECT DOWD, B, HAVING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH V’S BRAND, M, GIACOMO, V, GAIDELAS, C, GAIDELAS, A, JANE DOES 1, 2, 3, 4. LAS VEGAS VICTIM, DUTCHEY, J.

B. SUSPECT DOWD, B, HAVING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH SUSPECT DOWD, N.

C. SUSPECT DOWD, N, HAVING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH VICTIM MESERVE, D.

D. SUSPECT DOWD, B, HAVING SEXUAL INTERCOURSE WITH VICTIM MESERVE, D.

8. 4 DIGITAL VIDEO DISKS CONTAINING MOTION PICTURES, CONTENT SIMILAR TO 3.

FROM UNITS “B” AND “C”:

1. 2 250 MB COMPUTER ZIP DISKS MARKED “PT CLIMAX,” CONTENTS SCRAMBLED, POSSIBLY DAMAGED. (REF: LAPD TECHNICAL DIVISION, SGT. S. FUJIKAWA.)

2. 1 IBM CLONE PERSONAL COMPUTER, 1 APC BATTERY BACKUP, 1 MICROTEK 19" MONITOR, 1 HEWLETT-PACKARD LASERJET 4050 PRINTER.

3. 1 42" SONY FLAT-SCREEN TELEVISION.

4. 1 BRASS COAT HOOK.

5. 1 213 SQ. FT. EXCISED SECTION, BEIGE NYLON CARPETING. 1 215.5 SQ. FT. EXCISED SECTION, BEIGE NYLON CARPETING.

6. 12 BOXES OF DISASSEMBLED ACOUSTICAL CEILING TILES.

7. 2 SETS SMITH & WESSON DOUBLE LOCK POLICE-ISSUE HANDCUFFS AND KEYS.

8. 1 SET ANTIQUE “E.D. BEAN” LEG IRON RESTRAINTS, C. 1885. (REF: PROFESSOR ANDRE WASHINGTON, HISTORIAN.)

9. 3 WOODEN BOXES CONTAINING VARIOUS SURGICAL KNIVES, NEEDLES, SAWS, SCRAPERS, SHEARS, CANNULAS, FUNNELS.

10. 1 “TI-DEE” HEAVY-DUTY SUCTION PUMP, MODEL A- 334C.

11. 1 KINGSLEY SECRETION ASPIRATOR, MODEL CSI-PG005.

12. 4 SPOOLS MEDIBOND NYLON MONOFILAMENT SURGICAL SUTURE MATERIAL, TWO 20 MM, TWO 24 MM.

13. 2 UNMARKED CARDBOARD CARTONS CONTAINING SEALED CLEAR PLASTIC BAGS OF COTTON STUFFING.

14. 4 PLASTIC GALLON CONTAINERS, HYDROGEN PEROXIDE.

15. 1 BOX “PLEASURE-RIB” LATEX CONDOMS.

16. 1 5-GAL. PLASTIC CONTAINER, FORMIC ACID PICKLING SOLUTION.

17. 5 SETS “SNUG-FIT” LATEX GLOVES.

18. 1 EPOXY “TAXI-FORM SCULPTING KIT.”

19. 1 QUART BOTTLE EATON SKIN DEGREASER AND PRESERVATIVE.

20. 1 5-LB. BAG “READI-TAN” DRY PRESERVATIVE.

21. 1 OAKES G- 235C “MINOR SURGICAL PROCEDURE” TABLE WITH HEADREST AND DETACHABLE DRAIN…

Milo returned to his office and took the murder book from me.

“I wasn’t finished.”

He dropped the file in a drawer. “Michaela’s Honda finally showed up. Parking garage of a BNB building in Sierra Madre, towed to the motor lab as we speak.”

“Congratulations. As I was saying- ”

“How’s my prose?”

“Eloquent,” I said. “Please don’t tell me you want to have lunch.”

“It’s way past lunchtime, have your people call my people and we’ll do dinner.”

He sank down hard enough to make the desk chair groan. “Enough with the glib macho posturing. I’m thrashed and not ashamed to admit it.”

“Get any sleep?”

“Around five hours,” he said. “Over five days.”

“Time for a break,” I said.

“It ain’t the workload that’s keeping me up, boy-o, it’s the reality. As long as you’ve perused, care to add any insights?”

“The PlayHouse was a talent pool in a much worse way than we imagined. For Nora, it served double duty. She got to feel omnipotent and she and Brad both enjoyed selecting victims.”

“Cold bitch,” he said. “Arrogant, too. That time we came to her house, she didn’t even pretend to care about Tori or Michaela.”

“I’m not sure she’s capable of pretending.”

“No acting chops? How’d she get so many people to believe in her?”

“By attracting a hungry crowd who thought they were getting a bargain. Emotionally needy people will swallow poisoned Kool-Aid.”

He sighed. “All those pretty folk auditioning, having no idea what the part really was.”

“Any luck identifying the other girls?”

“Not yet. No other male bodies show up yet, but I’m not counting on this being the end of it. There’s still a dozen BNB properties we haven’t looked at and the backhoes have only dug up a corner of the property. How do you see the hoax figuring in?”

“Theater of the cruel. Nora and Brad hatched it up for fun, convinced Dylan Meserve he was a coconspirator. But he was a human chess piece.”

“Think he knew what was in store for Michaela?”

“Have you found any indication that he was aware of the other victims?”

“Not so far,” he said. “But the way he had Michaela pretend to choke him, that coulda been foreshadowing her fate, right?”

“Or he had his own kinks,” I said. “We’ll probably never find out unless some kind of diary shows up. Or Brad or Nora start talking.”

“So far, they’re both dummying up,” he said. “I got Brad on suicide watch, like you suggested. Jail guard said Brad thought that was funny.”

“Maintaining the facade,” I said. “Once it crumbles, he’ll have nothing left.”

“You’re the shrink…back to the hoax. Nora wink-winks at Meserve, pretends to be outraged and kicks Michaela out of class. Why?”

“My bet’s still on setting Michaela up for Brad’s ‘rescue.’ She was broke, unemployed, hungry for attention, frustrated career-wise. If Brad just happened to drive by in one of his shiny cars and struck up a conversation, it could’ve seemed like providence. She already knew his face from the PlayHouse so there wouldn’t be any stranger anxiety. And Brad’s connection to Nora would’ve made Michaela eager to hook up with him.”

“Trying to get back in Nora’s good graces.”

“Or he might’ve told her he had his own connections, could help her career. Same for Tori. Same for all of them.”

“Seduction instead of abduction,” he said. “Nice dinner, good wine, come up and enjoy the sunset at my Malibu place. Wonder how Michaela felt when she saw he was taking her back to Latigo Canyon.”