 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Whittlesey v. State5/13/1992
ot and subsequently released to the Baltimore County Police Department. It proved to be the Griffin automobile. When Mr. Griffin saw his automobile after it was recovered he noted that it had been driven some four or six thousand miles more than when he last saw it. The trunk lock was smashed out and the thick
pad that Jamie used when driving the car was in the trunk. It also had a dent in the right front fender which had not been there.
David Strathy was a friend of Whittlesey. They shared a common interest in playing pool and drinking beer. On the night of 10 April 1982 they were pursuing their interests. Whittlesey asked Strathy if he "wanted to go dig up some gold and silver." They fetched a shovel from Whittlesey's home and drove in Strathy's car to Gunpowder State Park behind Golden Forty off Route 7 near the Baltimore County-Harford County line. When the car was parked, Whittlesey informed Strathy that there was no gold or silver but he wanted Strathy to help him bury a body. Whittlesey led Strathy to a wooded area on the Baltimore County side, and after getting his bearings, stopped at a little mound covered with pine needles. He said, "Look this could be a foot." He wiped away some of the pine needles disclosing a tennis shoe. Strathy took the shovel and scraped away more of the pine needles to check if there really was a body. He uncovered a red shirt and a jacket. At that point, before actually seeing a body, Strathy said that he was getting out of there. He took Whittlesey home forthwith.
Strathy talked to Whittlesey a few days later. Whittlesey offered Strathy $40 to help bury "the body." Strathy told Whittlesey that he "didn't want to have nothing to do with him, not to bother me anymore." Strathy saw a missing person poster concerning a James Griffin. The description on the poster "kind of made [Strathy] decide that it probably was a body back there and [that he] had better call the police." Without giving his name, he told the police that "there was a body in this wooded area."
Whittlesey discussed the matter several times with Strathy at school. On one occasion Whittlesey told Strathy that he was getting scared and was going to leave town. Another time he warned Strathy "not to talk to the police or tell anybody about it, and keep it a secret." The police investigation brought Strathy to their attention, and they interviewed him on 1 June 1982. He "just told the police what I
knew because my conscience was bothering me -- talking to the police was the right thing to do." Following the interview, he accompanied the police to Gunpowder State Park, but a body was not located.
Strathy agreed to be outfitted with a "body-wire" -- a recording device -- in order that his conversations with Whittlesey could be surreptitiously taped. He arranged to meet with Whittlesey and recordings of their conversations were made on June 2nd, 3rd and 4th. The relevant parts of the conversations were winnowed from the tapes and we summarize them.
There were frequent comments by Whittlesey relating to Jamie. He noted that "nobody even knows anything yet." He stated, "you know what I do to hustlers, Dave," and when Strathy asked what he did, replied, "You know where that little kid with the red hair is." As they were riding by Gunpowder State Park, Strathy told Whittlesey to be quiet. "Be solemn when you pass the gravesite of --." Whittlesey interjected, "Jamie Griffin." Strathy asked if that was a nickname, and Whittlesey answered, "Yeah. Dave we're not to remember the kid, ever."
Strathy wondered if he could be alive. Whittlesey replied, " e's dead." Whittlesey told Strathy that he thought Jamie bled to death from
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Maryland DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|