November 17, 2013
UPDATE to this blog!
I am beginning to start writing again after almost 2 years of absence. 2 years of losing some close member of my family and going through all of the adjustments that have to be made after those losses.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Sunday, August 28, 2011
People vs. Archie Sutter
Note: As I share these cases, names and locations have been changed just so the families of the defendant (the guy who did it) are not reminded of the terrific pain and disgrace brought into their lives by their relative who was convicted.
I will be writing about these cases in chapters as some of them are quite lengthy. Each chapter will be a separate post.
People vs. Archie Sutter - Capital Murder Case
CHAPTER ONE: Getting to know Archie
Well, I got a call from one of my favorite attorneys, Jimmy Ellis, who told me he just got given a new capital murder case and he would like me to go down to Madera County Jail and interview Mr. Archie Sutter. Capital murder cases can bring the death penalty, if convicted. It also interprets into quite a bit of money for this investigator. A normal capital murder case would keep me busy 6 days a week, 8-10 hrs a day for 3 yrs. It takes that long to get them to trial. There is a huge amount of work in these cases because they have serious consequences for the defendant if found guilty when he may be innocent.
Jimmy told me that we are the third legal team to have this case because Mr. Sutter threatened to kill the last two attorney/investigator teams on the case and they signed off of it. GEE thanks, Jimmy!
Soo - I go to Madera County Jail. You push a button at the jail front door. A voice comes on the little speaker asking what your purpose was for being there - "Private Investigator Micki Hitchcock, here for a legal visit with Mr. Archie Sutter." You hear a "CLICK" which means you can pull on the door handle and open the big heavy metal door which takes you into a hallway. In this hallway there is a little window with a shelf. On the other side of this window is the front office and a female deputy waiting there with a clipboard. She passes the clipboard underneath the small opening at the bottom of the window. I fill out the form which asks you who you are coming here to see, what attorney you are working for and your reason for your visit. I then attach my PI License with photo ID and slide it back through the slot.
Phone calls are placed, minutes pass and you are given a badge saying "VISITOR" and directed further down the hallway where you have to walk through a metal detector. Your notebook or briefcase is inspected. You are only allowed a pad of paper, pens, file folders without any paperclips or file fasteners. I am then directed to the end of the hallway where I wait at another big thick metal door. "CLICK" I pull the door open and walk through. Up to my left, up about 6 feet are about 6 windows. It is the control room where the CO's (correctional officers) control all the doors, have at least 20 television screens which look at each door, all hallways and each POD (a POD is a wing of the jail where a certain number of inmates are kept. They have 6 PODS in Madera County Jail.) I was given directions to go to POD F.
I push the button outside POD F. A voice comes on the little speaker beside the button asking who I was and who I was there to see. "CLICK" and I am met with a CO who opens the door and makes sure it closes behind me. I am now in a small room with another heavy metal door in front of me, "CLICK" another door opens. Now I am in a gigantic two story room with a large center section filled with picnic tables. Around the edge are cell doors with tiny windows, two stories of them. There are inmates roaming around, talking and looking in my direction. I was in my 30's with long red hair and decent looking. I always made a point of wearing pants instead of a dress. The inmates smiled and talked among themselves, possibly commenting on the female who has just entered their POD. To my left is a room with the door open. There is an inmate in there with a large laundry bin and he is sorting clean laundry and passing out clean socks, orange jumpers with "INMATE" stamped on the back of them. He is also taking in dirty laundry bags and getting them ready to send to the laundry. To my right, is a windowed room which is a small library. A legal library with one small table. The walls of the library are full of legal books and there is an inmate in there, evidently, doing research on his case.
The officer leads me to a small room with a 12in by 8in bullet proof window in the heavy metal door. The officer gives a nod to another officer standing at a desk and "CLICK" the door is unlocked and I am directed into an 8ft by 8ft bright yellow room with cement walls, very bright neon lights in the ceiling and a very small table with 2 plastic chairs placed on each side of the table. The door closes. I sit down and go through my files, getting ready for my meeting with Mr. Sutter.
The room was very cold. Whenever I had jail interviews I always took a sweater because they keep the jails cold. which keeps the inmates quieter or so they believe. "CLICK" the door opens up. In walks an older man who appeared to be in his late 60's. His actual age was 51. He was limping. He had a bandage on one foot. He had grey hair, about 5' 8", dressed in an orange jumpsuit, and an aged face. He greeted me, thanked the CO. He had a heavy southern accent. The door closed and locked. Well, here I am, locked in this room with this guy who threatened to kill his last investigators and attorneys. Hmmmm. Okay, Micki, this might not be a good idea! You think?
I introduced myself and gave him my card, telling him who I was working with. Archie said he was happy to meet me and hopes we can help him. Throughout the entire interview he ended each paragraph with , "mamm." I told Archie what I knew about his case from what I read in the police reports. I asked him to give me his version. He began, in a southern, Texas like drawl, telling me of his innocence and how he had been set up by his deceased bosses, who owned the trailer park Archie lived in.
The victims in this case was Mr. and Mrs. North. They owned a trailer park in Fresno, California and, for many years. They had been onsite managers up until they hired one of their tenants, Archie Sutter, to take over management. Mr. and Mrs. North had built and moved to a nice home in Madera. Mr. and Mrs. North were found brutally murdered in their home. Both shot multiple times.
Archie Sutter and Allen Menden were suspects and arrested for this murder. Allen Menden was in his late 20's and lived in the trailer park also.
During the many subsequent interviews I had with Archie, he came up with 7 differnt alibi's. That only created 7 times more work for me. On this first day of meeting Archie, he told he of his suspicions of who he thought killed the Norths. He then went on to talk and brag about himself and his accomplishments in his life which he thought would prove he could not have killed the Norths.
Archie told me he was ex-CIA, he had traveled extensively and worked on many "highly secret" cases. Hmmm those aren't the normal words that CIA or federal govt uses. Okay, go on......He buys and sells guns, he had been in the Navy and was the Admiral of a ship. He loved the Norths because they trusted him and let him manage the trailor park for them. He went on providing me with names of witnesses that could prove his innocence, name of his wife, names of his kids and ex-wife, addresses and relatives. As I was talking to him, he all of a sudden took a swing at my head from across the table. It was his version of a what he called "a karati chop". He wasn't close enough to even make contact with me. I always made a point of spacing myself far enough away so they would have to stand up to get at me.
Archie then said, "I like you Miss Micki. You didn't seem to be bothered about my test. I think you can help me get out of here. And when we are done with this, I would like to take you to dinner." I asked Archie about his foot and he complained that he was not being taken care of as he had a foot infection and the jail was not doing enough. The story of his foot will come in the next chapter. I thanks Archie and said I had to go.
I knocked on the heavy metal door, a CO arrived, "CLICK" and the door opened and I advised the officer I was done. Archie said goodbye, smiled at me and greeted the officer as though he had known him for many years. He was led out and back to his cell. I was escorted to the door of the POD. I could hear some of the inmates yelling, "Bye cutie", "Bye Honey" and various other affectionate terms. "CLICK" the door opens up, I am escorted to the next security door, "CLICK" the door opens and I bid the CO goodbye. I walk back down the hallway, watching the officers in the control booth up above watch me and when I get to the next doorway, "CLICK" the door is opened, and I go through several other doors that leed me back to the hallway where I turn in my visitors badge, sign out my time and get my PI ID back. Approach the front door of the jail, "CLICK" and into the warm, fresh, spring air with soft winds blowing. Oh how good it feels to walk out of jail or prison, every time. I am free! It is a feeling of gratitude that entered my life repeatedly over 22 years of walking in and out of jails and prisons.
I drive back to Jimmy's office and report what my afternoon was like. He laughed and was tickled that his "redheaded fox investigator" got an dinner invite instead of a death threat.
So now the work begins on this case.
Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoy the stories Lynda and I will be sharing with you. So many adventures over 22 years.
I will be writing about these cases in chapters as some of them are quite lengthy. Each chapter will be a separate post.
People vs. Archie Sutter - Capital Murder Case
CHAPTER ONE: Getting to know Archie
Well, I got a call from one of my favorite attorneys, Jimmy Ellis, who told me he just got given a new capital murder case and he would like me to go down to Madera County Jail and interview Mr. Archie Sutter. Capital murder cases can bring the death penalty, if convicted. It also interprets into quite a bit of money for this investigator. A normal capital murder case would keep me busy 6 days a week, 8-10 hrs a day for 3 yrs. It takes that long to get them to trial. There is a huge amount of work in these cases because they have serious consequences for the defendant if found guilty when he may be innocent.
Jimmy told me that we are the third legal team to have this case because Mr. Sutter threatened to kill the last two attorney/investigator teams on the case and they signed off of it. GEE thanks, Jimmy!
Soo - I go to Madera County Jail. You push a button at the jail front door. A voice comes on the little speaker asking what your purpose was for being there - "Private Investigator Micki Hitchcock, here for a legal visit with Mr. Archie Sutter." You hear a "CLICK" which means you can pull on the door handle and open the big heavy metal door which takes you into a hallway. In this hallway there is a little window with a shelf. On the other side of this window is the front office and a female deputy waiting there with a clipboard. She passes the clipboard underneath the small opening at the bottom of the window. I fill out the form which asks you who you are coming here to see, what attorney you are working for and your reason for your visit. I then attach my PI License with photo ID and slide it back through the slot.
Phone calls are placed, minutes pass and you are given a badge saying "VISITOR" and directed further down the hallway where you have to walk through a metal detector. Your notebook or briefcase is inspected. You are only allowed a pad of paper, pens, file folders without any paperclips or file fasteners. I am then directed to the end of the hallway where I wait at another big thick metal door. "CLICK" I pull the door open and walk through. Up to my left, up about 6 feet are about 6 windows. It is the control room where the CO's (correctional officers) control all the doors, have at least 20 television screens which look at each door, all hallways and each POD (a POD is a wing of the jail where a certain number of inmates are kept. They have 6 PODS in Madera County Jail.) I was given directions to go to POD F.
I push the button outside POD F. A voice comes on the little speaker beside the button asking who I was and who I was there to see. "CLICK" and I am met with a CO who opens the door and makes sure it closes behind me. I am now in a small room with another heavy metal door in front of me, "CLICK" another door opens. Now I am in a gigantic two story room with a large center section filled with picnic tables. Around the edge are cell doors with tiny windows, two stories of them. There are inmates roaming around, talking and looking in my direction. I was in my 30's with long red hair and decent looking. I always made a point of wearing pants instead of a dress. The inmates smiled and talked among themselves, possibly commenting on the female who has just entered their POD. To my left is a room with the door open. There is an inmate in there with a large laundry bin and he is sorting clean laundry and passing out clean socks, orange jumpers with "INMATE" stamped on the back of them. He is also taking in dirty laundry bags and getting them ready to send to the laundry. To my right, is a windowed room which is a small library. A legal library with one small table. The walls of the library are full of legal books and there is an inmate in there, evidently, doing research on his case.
The officer leads me to a small room with a 12in by 8in bullet proof window in the heavy metal door. The officer gives a nod to another officer standing at a desk and "CLICK" the door is unlocked and I am directed into an 8ft by 8ft bright yellow room with cement walls, very bright neon lights in the ceiling and a very small table with 2 plastic chairs placed on each side of the table. The door closes. I sit down and go through my files, getting ready for my meeting with Mr. Sutter.
The room was very cold. Whenever I had jail interviews I always took a sweater because they keep the jails cold. which keeps the inmates quieter or so they believe. "CLICK" the door opens up. In walks an older man who appeared to be in his late 60's. His actual age was 51. He was limping. He had a bandage on one foot. He had grey hair, about 5' 8", dressed in an orange jumpsuit, and an aged face. He greeted me, thanked the CO. He had a heavy southern accent. The door closed and locked. Well, here I am, locked in this room with this guy who threatened to kill his last investigators and attorneys. Hmmmm. Okay, Micki, this might not be a good idea! You think?
I introduced myself and gave him my card, telling him who I was working with. Archie said he was happy to meet me and hopes we can help him. Throughout the entire interview he ended each paragraph with , "mamm." I told Archie what I knew about his case from what I read in the police reports. I asked him to give me his version. He began, in a southern, Texas like drawl, telling me of his innocence and how he had been set up by his deceased bosses, who owned the trailer park Archie lived in.
The victims in this case was Mr. and Mrs. North. They owned a trailer park in Fresno, California and, for many years. They had been onsite managers up until they hired one of their tenants, Archie Sutter, to take over management. Mr. and Mrs. North had built and moved to a nice home in Madera. Mr. and Mrs. North were found brutally murdered in their home. Both shot multiple times.
Archie Sutter and Allen Menden were suspects and arrested for this murder. Allen Menden was in his late 20's and lived in the trailer park also.
During the many subsequent interviews I had with Archie, he came up with 7 differnt alibi's. That only created 7 times more work for me. On this first day of meeting Archie, he told he of his suspicions of who he thought killed the Norths. He then went on to talk and brag about himself and his accomplishments in his life which he thought would prove he could not have killed the Norths.
Archie told me he was ex-CIA, he had traveled extensively and worked on many "highly secret" cases. Hmmm those aren't the normal words that CIA or federal govt uses. Okay, go on......He buys and sells guns, he had been in the Navy and was the Admiral of a ship. He loved the Norths because they trusted him and let him manage the trailor park for them. He went on providing me with names of witnesses that could prove his innocence, name of his wife, names of his kids and ex-wife, addresses and relatives. As I was talking to him, he all of a sudden took a swing at my head from across the table. It was his version of a what he called "a karati chop". He wasn't close enough to even make contact with me. I always made a point of spacing myself far enough away so they would have to stand up to get at me.
Archie then said, "I like you Miss Micki. You didn't seem to be bothered about my test. I think you can help me get out of here. And when we are done with this, I would like to take you to dinner." I asked Archie about his foot and he complained that he was not being taken care of as he had a foot infection and the jail was not doing enough. The story of his foot will come in the next chapter. I thanks Archie and said I had to go.
I knocked on the heavy metal door, a CO arrived, "CLICK" and the door opened and I advised the officer I was done. Archie said goodbye, smiled at me and greeted the officer as though he had known him for many years. He was led out and back to his cell. I was escorted to the door of the POD. I could hear some of the inmates yelling, "Bye cutie", "Bye Honey" and various other affectionate terms. "CLICK" the door opens up, I am escorted to the next security door, "CLICK" the door opens and I bid the CO goodbye. I walk back down the hallway, watching the officers in the control booth up above watch me and when I get to the next doorway, "CLICK" the door is opened, and I go through several other doors that leed me back to the hallway where I turn in my visitors badge, sign out my time and get my PI ID back. Approach the front door of the jail, "CLICK" and into the warm, fresh, spring air with soft winds blowing. Oh how good it feels to walk out of jail or prison, every time. I am free! It is a feeling of gratitude that entered my life repeatedly over 22 years of walking in and out of jails and prisons.
I drive back to Jimmy's office and report what my afternoon was like. He laughed and was tickled that his "redheaded fox investigator" got an dinner invite instead of a death threat.
So now the work begins on this case.
Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoy the stories Lynda and I will be sharing with you. So many adventures over 22 years.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Day 1 - Micki
WELCOME! Truly this is day #1 of this blog and my first day as a PI.
At that time in life, there was only two licensed female PI's in San Joaquin Valley and I was one of them. Female PI's were unheard of and the attorneys didn't know what to do with them.
Just a little info - a Private Investigator represents Defense clients (the person arrested and accused of a crime) and the Detectives in the Prosecution's office works for the State/and victim. In Civil cases a Private Investigator can work for either the Complainant or the Defendant.
My first case was a criminal case - "Stolen Hay".
I found out fast that when you are a PI you take 5 minute courses on various things in life to become enough of an expert to be able to know what is right, wrong and what questions to ask and what to look for that is not kosher.
So I started by reading the case, which means reading the police reports. You see I was a Defense Investigator which means I always work for "the guy that is accused of doin' it." I met with the attorney and he briefed me on the case. I then, routinely, go to jail and meet with the client/defendant and find out his alibi and witnesses he wants me to talk to.
Since this was my first case I had to find out lots of information about hay and how do a person identify their hay, when found. To me at that time, all hay looked alike. So I called and talked to farmers who grow and sell large quantities of hay. I found out that most farmers bind their hay with different colors of twine or they may just use bailing wire which isn't used much anymore.
Well, once I took a look at the evidence it was definitely a slam dunk case, not in favor of our defendant. And when he was arrested some blocks away and raised his arms when being arrested, alfalfa leaves fell out of his shirt. Not good. Sooo - our boy got convicted and served his time. I learned all about binding hay, why some is green and some is not and became an expert for ........someone some day. Although now I live on a ranch and we do sell hay but not the same kind or shape.
Thanks for visiting and come back as you are in for some better stories.
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