Funny, Funny Stories From my days at Eden, P.D.
By Michael D. Martin, E.C.P.D. Retired
About the author...Michael Martin (pictured front row, far right in the 1981 photo) is a retired veteran of 25 years on the Eden City Police Department, and has penned a number of anecdotal writings recalling his experiences.
LIII. The Killing on Bethel Street
I guess this was '86..I was working late shift when we got a call of a shooting on Bethel Street and we responded wide open to find a man on the front porch, holding the body of a beautiful young woman and crying and screaming; she had been shot in the head and was evidently dead.Patrol division had cornered every witness and put tape around the crime scene. As I approached the scene, a hand reached out to me and grabbed my sleeve.....he killed her, a voice said and that man in that car there brought him here to kill her.....
I looked around to see a shadow slipping away. I walked to the porch where the victim lay, she was a beautiful black girl, even in death. She had a small round hole over one of her eyes and she lay still. I told the patrol officers to keep a very close eye on the man who was crying so loudly and not let him leave under any circumstances. I walked to the car that had been pointed out to me and I opened the door and got in......You can be a witness!! and tell me the truth son.....or you can be a defendant and go to jail for accessory to first degree murder....which is it going to be son?? its up to you!!
I learned that this was a really nice young black kid who had no idea what was afoot, he just gave the killer a ride and when the killing was over, he was scared not to comply, and took the shooter to an apartment at Georgia Avenue to hide the gun, he carried me to the apartment of the shooter's sister and I told her she could tell me where the gun was, or be arrested for complicity in first degree murder...she stepped back and pointed to a kitchen cabinet, where I recovered an old six shot .38 pistol.
We returned to the scene where Lieutenant Ronnie Brown had a close eye on the shooter. I arrested him for murder and he knew not to offer a problem. I interviewed the girl's boyfriend who said that the shooter showed up and threatened them and chased him off before he shot the woman, then chased him around the house twice with a gun..........she had kept a diary....and in it....she had made notes of a night of horror.......when he did not kill her.
