Chapter 21
SETTING BAIL
Since Rebekah had been arrested during the day, getting her out of jail was a bit easier than it had been for Ron Johnson and Gena Lombardi. Ken Shurlock had already contacted the district attorney's office by the time he met me at the city jail. When he entered the room I recognized him immediately from Ron's description.
"Hi, Mr. Shurlock. Thank you for coming down her so quickly."
"It's okay, have you seen your wife yet?"
"No, she's still being processed."
"Did you have any idea she was a suspect in Sheila Logan's murder?"
"No, it never even occurred to me."
"Has your wife ever been in trouble before?"
"No, absolutely not. She would never break the law. This murder charge is totally ridiculous."
"Well, the assistant DA assigned to the case seems to think he's got some solid evidence. I couldn't get too much out of him, but he seemed pretty confident."
"What do we have to do to get her out of here?"
"There's a bond hearing set at eleven. Do you have a bondsman?"
"Yes, Alliance Bonding."
"Good, I'm pretty sure we can get a bond since your wife has a clean record and you are established in the community. I just hope the bond isn't so high you can't afford to post it."
"Oh God, I've got to keep her out of here. She couldn't handle jail; she'd go bananas."
"Well, keep your fingers crossed that the judge is in a good mood."
"Oh man, I'm serious. Rebekah can't go to jail! We've got four kids at home."
"I realize that, Stan, but you've got to understand this is a murder charge and the judge doesn't have to set a bond. I think he will, but it could be pretty high."
"How high?"
"A hundred or maybe a hundred and fifty thousand dollars."
"Oh shit, I'm not sure I could post a bond like that."
"Well, don't fret over it now. Let's just wait and see what happens."
Around ten o'clock I was able to see Rebekah. She was shaking pretty badly when the jailer escorted her into the small visitor's booth. Her eyes were swollen and she was very pale. Seeing her so distraught upset me. I couldn't hold back the tears that had been swelling in my eyes since I had first laid eyes on her. Of course, seeing me cry set her off again.
"Rebekah, are you okay?"
"No, do I look okay?"
"I'm so sorry. We're going to get you out of here real soon. Ken Shurlock has agreed to defend you. He's a friend of Ron Johnson and he's very good."
"Really? How soon until I get out, I don't want to go back in there. The people in there are scary."
"I know. There's a bond hearing at eleven and once the bond is set then we can get you out of jail."
"I didn't kill Sheila; you've got to believe me."
"I know you didn't kill her. You would never kill anyone, I know that."
"She was okay the last time I saw her, I looked at her chart and everything was normal. Her IV was running just fine, I checked it."
"Somebody must have got to her after you left."
"How could they, the floor was packed with people. How could anyone just walk in there and tamper with the IV?"
"I don't know."
"That's why they think I did it. No one would suspect a nurse going in and out of the room. I'm so scared Stan, what if they convict me."
"They won't, that's ridiculous. Don't even think like that."
"How are my babies? Oh my God, can you imagine what they thought seeing their mother arrested. They're going to be emotionally scarred for life."
"No, I explained to them it was all some kind of a mistake. I promised them you'd be back home tonight."
Rebekah began to cry hysterically, "I want my babies. Get me out of here, Stan, Get me out of here!"
"I will, sweetheart. I will. I promise."
The jailer suddenly appeared to escort Rebekah back to her holding cell. It killed me to see her taken away in chains. I found Ken in the lobby making phone calls. He hung up as he saw me approaching.
"How is she?"
"Not too good. She's pretty upset."
"I can imagine. Let's head on over to the courthouse and maybe we'll get lucky and get her out of this dump."
"God, I hope so."
At precisely eleven o'clock judge Robert Wendall Stone took the bench. He was a distinguished looking jurist in his early sixties with white hair, a mustache and sky blue eyes. Ken advised us that Judge Stone was a tough but fair judge. He said he was pleased he had been assigned to the case. The bailiff called Rebekah's case and she was escorted by a jailer in front of the bench. Ken and Paul Snyder, the assistant DA assigned to the case, joined her in front of the bench.
"All right, what do we have here?" the judge said.
"Your honor, Mrs. Turner is charged with murder under §19.02 of the Texas Penal Code," Mr. Snyder advised. "The victim was a patient at North Central Receiving Hospital. The defendant was a nurse at the hospital and was seen going in and out of the victim’s room. We intend to prove that the defendant injected a lethal poison into the patient's IV causing her to arrest."
"What was the motive?" the judge asked.
"We will show that the victim was having an affair with her husband, your honor."
"Oh, I see," the judge said. "So, do you oppose bond," the judge asked.
"Yes, your honor, the people feel that it would be an unacceptable risk to the public to have Mrs. Turner back in the hospital tending to patients when it's very likely she took advantage of her position in the hospital to kill Sheila Logan."
"Would you object if she agreed not to go back to work?"
"No, your honor, the people feel that due to the heinous nature of this killing that the defendant should be denied bond."
"Okay, Mr. Shurlock, what do you have to say about all of this?"
"Your honor, Mrs. Turner has no criminal history, she owns a home, she's got four children, a husband who is a practicing attorney in this community, and her parents live close by in DeSoto. There is absolutely no risk of flight and she certainly poses no threat to patients at Central Receiving Hospital."
"Do you think it's fair to allow her to go back to work at the hospital when these charges are outstanding?"
"Fair to whom, your honor. Mrs. Turner has a right to make a living. She's not a wealthy woman."
"All right, you both can go ahead and put on your testimony and then I'll make my ruling," the judge said.
Snyder called several witnesses from the hospital who testified as to how the murder was perpetrated. Ken put on Rebekah's parents and her parish priest. I volunteered to testify but Ken didn't think it would be a good idea since it was my alleged affair that was supposedly the motive behind the crime. When all the testimony had been presented the judge made his ruling.
"Okay, I don't see any great risk that the defendant will flee given her strong ties to the community. I don't want her working at Central Receiving Hospital, however, during the pendency of this case. The testimony has shown that the Turners are not well off financially, so if I set a very large bond it would be tantamount to not allowing bond at all. On the other hand, Mrs. Turner is charged with murder which is obviously a very serious charge and could result in a sentence of life in prison. Taking all of this in consideration, I'm setting bond at $50,000. The defendant is remanded into the custody of the county sheriff until the bond has been posted."
The judge banged his gavel and then got up and left the courtroom. I was relieved that bond had been set, but I had no clue how I could get a bond for such a large amount. I called Roger Rand and told him the situation. He indicated that he could cover the bond if I could come up with $5,000 and talk Rebekah's parents into signing a personal guaranty. Luckily Rebekah's parents came through and before Rebekah was transported to the county jail we had her out on bail.
It was a great relief having Rebekah back home again. Although she had spent less than one day in jail, the experie
nce had shaken her up so badly I thought it best if her mother stayed with her and the kids during the day while I was at work. During the first week Rebekah was home she became obsessed with looking after the children. She spent every minute seeing to their every need or whim. Getting her away from them for even a minute was impossible. When I confronted her with this obsession she said no matter what happened, no one would ever take her babies away from her, she wouldn't let them. Not wanting to deal with that possibility yet, I dropped the subject.