The pair departed for the Cadillac Motel, but to their astonishment arrived upon a crime scene. The room was cordoned off, and an Ogunquit coroner’s van backed up to the room.
Mystery now surrounded their plan. Someone has taken vengeance and somebody was dead! They stared in bewilderment as one body - then another was wheeled from the room. The likelihood that the clerk killed the brothers was a bitter sweet victory for Richmond.
Terror gripped him as he now came to the realization that he could be suddenly implicated as the last person to leave the room.
Gambler recalled a time several years prior when he was eating at a local diner and a coroner’s van pulled into the parking lot when the driver walked in and ordered his meal.
This eye-opener gave Richmond an idea. If they were to follow the van perhaps the driver would repeat the same routine and stop for lunch. It was a risk, but Richmond had to get rid of those bodies. His only hope now was to follow the coroner’s van and in a moment of despair steal the vehicle and the bodies. In the state of Maine as in most states it is a felony to steal a dead body. If he were to destroy the bodies, it may possibly reduce his chances of being directly related.
They would then dash to a roadside pullout several miles away and move the bodies into the trunk of his car. On the side of caution Richmond’s original plan was to dispose of the bodies in Marginal Lake, their intention; to duplicate his earlier dream by wrapping the bodies, weighing them down with cinder blocks, crisscross with chain and slide them into the lake.
They followed the coroner’s van at a safe distance and as if on cue the driver pulled into a gas station fueled up, then pulled over to a parking space and entered the restaurant. What a break! It was not expected to be this way, the two were shocked but thrilled. It could not have come at a better time. Richmond slipped on a pair of rubber gloves looking closely for a set of keys. To his astonishment the door was unlocked and against all odds the keys were in the ignition.
He started the vehicle and quickly drove from the lot with the knowledge that he could be arrested for a variety of charges - unquestionably putting him behind bars for the murder of the bank CEO - and his out of the ordinary rationale for stealing the coroner’s vehicle.
Driving a coroner’s van was a red flag - something people commit to memory! I wonder who it is? Say a prayer for the family! A series of thoughts immediately come to mind! The quicker they pulled over and moved the bodies to the trunk of the car - the closer they would be to disposing of them in Marginal Lake.
Several miles from town they entered a gravel pull off where Richmond drove the truck behind scrub brush and they quickly transferred the corpses to the trunk of their car. They were already zipped in cadaver bags therefore no blood was visible.
The bodies were to remain in the trunk until later that night when they can transport them into Gambler’s boat. Their only concern was the rotting smell if they remained in the trunk too long. Someone thought of ice as an option to prevent further decay but, ice was out of the question! Leaking water from the back of the car in the summer heat would be a sign something was wrong. They could do without the attention.
John Godfreight pronounced (God-free) the coroner’s aide made a total and complete blunder! Leaving 2 corps’ in an unlocked vehicle - particularly when they were the subject of a homicide was unforgivable! The infuriated coroner was not dealing with an assistant who was recently hired. Godfreight was employed by the department for 17 years. This was the second time a body was stolen from right under the nose of the county corner.
If it was a person who died in a nursing home, hospital or auto accident, it would not have achieved the publicity of this one. News crews were on the story within minutes of the driver calling the incident in to his superior. Police and fire departments monitor all calls, and this one made them the butt of all the jokes.
Godfreigh a veteran coroner was indispensable. In the coroner’s line of work with no clue as to a questionable or untimely victim’s demise, he was intensely fierce in his ability to arrive at a conclusion and in due course discovered the method and time of death. John Godfreigh was key to diminishing the department’s work load.
With a spotless record and no previous violations, the coroner placed Godfreigh on administrative leave (with pay) while the incident was investigated. Within two days, the hardship on the office called for Godfreigh’s full duty. Nowhere was it written in the county coroner’s operation manual did it state that the driver could not stop for gas, or lunch. Case closed!
Cops dusted the truck for finger prints and concluded they were dealing with an expert. To erase all trace the duo even raked the tire tracks left behind by the car.
With the disappearance of the bodies Main State Police were embarrassed. They were required to notify the Whitmore family, but before they made the call they would have to look high and low for at least a shred of evidence.
Richmond had to get the bodies out into the lake that night! They drove to the dock and loaded them onto Gambler’s boat - time was not on his side!
Luck, on the other hand was! Without another person or vessel in sight they successfully set out. With the bodies hidden below deck they traveled for about 20 minutes at which time they dropped anchor at the deepest spot confirmed by sonar.
In the boat were 4 concrete cinder blocks (two for each body) and approximately two twenty-five foot sections of chain. Tavis was the first to be prepared.
“Just throw the cement blocks in each bag and wrap them in the heavy chain and let’s get it over with. If we can get this done, I’ll be on the road outa’ town in an hour. By the time cops pursue me I’ll have a new identity and be long gone!”
With the bodies previously placed in zippered cadaver bags, Richmond and Gambler un-zipped and inserted two cement blocks into each, then with crisscross twisting of chain each hoisted over edge of the boat, into the water. Bubbles floated to the surface no doubt from air pockets in the tarp now destined for the endless void at the bottom of Marginal Lake.
No diver could survive the depths and pressure created even if they were of the presumption the bodies were in that part of the lake.
This may not have been the perfect crime, but the bodies vanished. The Coast Guard with its sophisticated technology would have difficulty in finding the corpses.
At the end of the day cops were given no choice but to notify the Whitmore family of the deaths of the two brothers. To their embarrassment the police confessed that the bodies were stolen from the coroner’s van.
Richmond Rand was finally released of the burden of always looking over his shoulder to protect his existence. After a long wait he was at last, a free man with $12,000.000 (million dollars). So he thought!
Gambler piloted the boat as they returned to the marina under darkness. It was late, around 10:00 P.M and from all appearance - not a soul around. The other boat operators were already closed for the night. Richmond Rand walked to his car, opened the trunk and handed Gambler ninety thousand bucks in one hundred dollar bills, the balance of the original one hundred thousand. The plan developed to fruition as in Richmond’s dream. Both men shook hands on a job well done and parted company.
* * *
Richmond Rand was not enticed to spend much money. He the had common sense to lay low and avoid attention. However, with all that money and the probability that his car could possibly be identified as the vehicle in the assaults, his plan was to dispose of it for a brand new, more reliable model avoiding any hint of suspicion.
By now, Ogunquit was inundated with so many used car lots that it didn’t take long to find a hungry salesman.
As he passed one used car lot his attention was drawn to a yellow Mustang convertible with a huge bold sticker in gigantic bright yellow letters plastered across the windshield advertising the car as a current model. Although used, it had less than 3,000 miles on the odometer and, he was in need of upgrading his transportatio
n. This was also a perfect time for Richmond to test his ability to assume a new identity.
The deal was progressing without a glitch until it was time to hand his drivers license to the salesman. It is at this point when two licenses fell from Richmond’s wallet. The salesman was about to question the reason for having two drivers licenses when Richmond removed a 1 inch thick bundle of cash from his back pocket placing 10 crisp 100 bills on the table - his eyes fixed intently into the salesman’s face. Body language and a supply of Ben Franklin’s sealed the deal.
“This is the name I want on the title and registration!” Richmond stipulated!” handing the salesman the license of Richard T. Rand. The pair cooperated with one another and Richard Rand was now a reality.
Disposing of his old car wasn’t a problem. An impoverished family was walking the lot when the salesman made known the people were in all liklihood poor and looking for cheap transportation and were not credit worthy. Richmond proposed a deal with the salesman: give the car to the family and he would compensate the salesman another $1,000. Within minutes it was a done deal even though Richmond remained out of sight until the task was completed.
One more good fortune for Richmond Rand: Sellers or donors were not required to show proof of title in the state of Maine for automobiles manufactured before 1995. With the dealer receiving unreported cash of $2,000, and Richmond’s old car now in the hands of a new family, his thinking was to protect against attention to himself or the dealer.
Richmond Rand - having assumed the identity of his brother was in theory a free man. He was about to embark on new life as a man without money woes, but deep in his soul was the murder of Richard Cooke. The Whitmore brothers were now dead, and he was free of their burden getting in the way of his new life. He was carrying approximately $65,000 dollars in cash, access to millions more, a new identity and on a path to Argentina.
Argentina has always been a safe refuge for criminals whose money was protected and, the country did not allow for extradition. This is where so many of the Nazi high ranking general officers created their new life after World War II. Millions of dollars in stolen Nazi gold was smuggled into Argentina, and it was the home of Josef Mengele and Adolph Eichmann - just two of the hundreds of Nazi’s who fled Germany after the war to avoid prosecution
Everything was now in position for the innocent brother to enter the picture. Richmond was aware that his brother was having a tough time financially. Only two semesters from graduation, Richard had taken a leave of absence from his studies at Gordon College in Wenham, Mass and was living with his parents at the farm in Maine.
Richmond’s relationship with his father was not always pleasurable. Possibly because dad never achieved the status in life that his son received in the Marines. Richmond possessed the self-confidence the old man never realized.
Although he was living in the back barn in Ogunquit, father and son were rarely in agreement. When Richmond returned from the Marines his father severed the bond. Richmond was a changed man. He was an isolated individual. Maybe because of what emerged as a result of the war in Iraq. He was undeniably a different personality. Richard on the other hand was a different situation. He worked with his father since the age of 10 and was quite skillful with the boat.
* * *
It was 8:00 AM when Richard arrived at his brothers room at the nearby Hampton Inn in neighboring York. Richmond made contact with his twin and a request they meet quickly and quietly.
“Brother! I have some shocking news to share to you - you better sit down. I’m the winner of the $17,000,000 (million dollars) jackpot at The Ogunquit MegaComplex Resort Casino!” A puzzled Richard gazed into Richmond’s face trying to believe if this was some kind of joke. His brother was known to carry out pranks as a kid but, there was believability in this disclosure.
After explaining how he won the money the plan was about to come alive. Unaware that his brother was a fugitive - and a murderer, Richard listened attentively as Richmond offered him the bulk of his good fortune.
“Why are you giving me all this money?” Richard asked.
“I’ve done something for which I am not proud. I’ve become involved in a situation that I can’t explain to you at present - but I promise to fill you in. I’m going to Argentina where I’ll have the opportunity to sort out my life.”
“How serious is this Richmond?”
“It’s very serious!” he assured his brother.
“I have already placed the net proceeds which amount to approximately $12,000,000 (million dollars) in your name at the First National Bank of Ogunquit. They would never suspect my having switched our identity. I gave the IRS and the bank your name and social security number. Remember, we carry duplicate licenses and forms of identification. Because of the approaching problem when I won the money I placed the winnings in your name.”
This was a particularly exceptional set of circumstances since they were the only one of three sets of twins in the world who were so identical that medical experts were mystified by their exactness.
“All I am asking is that you take the money, make mom and dad comfortable and take the burden off of yourself. I will arrange for you to send me one million dollars once I arrive in Argentina.” Richmond continued.
“Argentina! That’s where people go when they can’t be extradited! What in hell have you done?” Richard asked dropping his head at the same time running his hands through his hair.
“I’ll tell you in time, but I am off to Argentina!”
“There is going to be news and video coverage of you accepting the money at Ogunquit MegaComplex Resort Casino, and you’ll have to wear this shirt to validate the reason for you to have been there.”
By now Richard was without feeling. Attempting to comprehend going from carrying four bucks in his wallet to becoming a multi-millionaire in a matter of minutes was something he was unable to grasp.
Sensing that it was not a prank, Richard embraced his brother and with pleasure accepted the enormous offer.
“There’s one condition. I know how much you’ve always wanted to live in California. With your money, I am asking that you fulfill your dream and head there as soon as you take care of business here. Promise me you will follow your dream?” it all began to make sense.
“I have a new car waiting for you outside. With the strategy I applied with the casino, bank, IRS and car dealer all you have to do is drive away!”
Richard finally agreed to the conditions specified by Richmond and now all he needed was to break the news to his parents. He would explain to them how he was walking through the casino and while leaving placed a dollar bill in the slot machine producing the $17,000,000 (million dollars) jackpot.
* * *
The sun began its unforgiving burn into the open convertible as Richard Rand traveled the barren landscape across the Midwest to the Southwest and finally into California. The air conditioning and new car scent was a welcomed relief from his parent’s old battered 125,000 mile stale smelling clunker.
Prior to leaving Ogunquit Richard paid off the remaining $87,000 mortgage on his parents farm, another $57,000 on the remaining loan for his dad’s lobster boat, set his mom and dad up with an account of $250,000 - and two new cars!
* * *
San Francisco was not Richard’s lifestyle and after several days continued to the wine country arriving in the town of Pacific Grove. It was ideal with its wide open space quietly located on the Pacific ocean not far from Pebble Beach - the world class golfing community. He contacted a realtor, traveling the area with the agent in search of the ideal location for his dream property.
Following a week of investigating a half dozen locations, he settled on a small estate of 50 acres with a farm house, and barn large enough for several horses and as a bonus, one out building suitable for a guest or farm hand. It was previously owned by an old timer who left it to his daughter, although in need of much repair.
With an asking price of $1,500,000 (million dollars) he counter offered with $800,000. Surprisingly, the daughter accepted and Richard Rand was the proud owner of a small ranch in northern California. The cash transaction put him in a group where residents considered him to be of social class.
It was a swift and well-timed closing. Richard was presented the keys to his new life. In due course however, his brother’s past would draw near and he never knew how involved his brother’s activities would effect his life. There was no problem with him laying down roots into the new community. He played the part of a rancher well. His first purchase was a sparkling new red GMC Sierra pick up truck. He considered naming his ranch and having the symbol painted on the doors of his new truck but abandoned the idea for the time being. It didn’t take long for the community to embrace their newest resident. He was instantly becoming a well respected member of the area, and devoted a great deal of his time to restoring the property - it was becoming a showcase.
After moving in, an attractive offer presented itself. The bank where he conducted business, (The First National Bank of Pacific Grove,) asked if he was interested in purchasing the land adjacent to his property. The bank acquired the real estate in a repossession and all they wanted was to recover their expenses with an enormous amount of pressure from the bank CEO. They were not in the real estate business and over the years discovered that once a property was held by them, was extremely costly. By now Richmond was a well respected customer and was offered 300 acres on The Pacific Ocean - for the trivial sum of taxes only! The investment of back taxes and bank fees added up to $27,000. Richard jumped on the opportunity and was soon the owner of a 300 additional acres. News of the transaction raced through the community further demonstrating him as a shrewd businessman.