Deadly Charm: The Story of a Deaf Serial Killer

5. March 1980: Under Suspicion, and a Night of Rampage

5 March 1980: Under Suspicion, and a Night of Rampage Jealousy feeds upon suspicion, and it turns into fury. La Rochefoucauld, Reflections Patrick McCullough didn’t know what to do or where to turn. Now that his boss, Clint Riley, was gone, he had no job, no place to live, and very little money. Marilyn Riley had locked up the Yankee Yacht Carpentry shop and told him he could no longer stay there. Temporarily, he moved in with his friend Floyd, who lived on a boat docked nearby. The police had fished Patrick’s motorcycle out of Spa Creek, but it would take weeks of work and considerable expense to get it back in running order after being immersed in salt water. And, other than his monthly Social Security check, money was something Patrick had very little of. What was worse, the police kept questioning him, acting as if he knew something but wasn’t telling them. Over and over Patrick tried to make them understand that he’d argued with Clint about money only because he was owed three whole weeks’ salary. Yes, he told the officers, there had been some pushing and shoving that night, but nothing more. It made 28 him nervous that none of the police knew sign language and wrote all their questions down on paper. That wasn’t good, because he wasn’t able to read, write or spell very well. Back when he was in school, the teachers would get mad at him because he always made mistakes. Then the other kids would laugh and call him stupid. He kept trying to explain to the policemen that he wanted to help, that Clint was his friend. They acted like they didn’t believe him, like maybe he’d done something bad to Clint. That made him feel nervous and upset , like everything was going wrong again. Patrick wanted the police to stop bothering him. The more questions they asked, the more he could feel ugliness and rage beginning to boil up inside of him. Just like it had boiled up at Clint. Clint knew how much his motorcycle meant to him, and he had no business dumping it in the water. That had been a mean thing to do. Patrick had worked hard to save up the money to buy the Harley, and he’d spent hours and hours repairing the machine and polishing it. Now it was messed up, and he had to walk everywhere he went. Even the van wasn’t his to drive anymore. He’d liked Marilyn, and he thought she liked him, but since the police started asking questions, she was being mean like Clint. One evening Patrick walked past Marmaduke’s Pub and spotted Freddie Potts standing on the sidewalk. He’d heard that Freddie had been saying bad things about him, that he’d even told the police some lies about him. Patrick yelled to Freddie from across the street, “I going kill you!” Then he pointed his finger at Freddie as if aiming a gun. Freddie went running off, and for a moment Patrick felt good. He’d shown Freddie Potts that nobody could bad-mouth Patrick McCullough and get away with it. Later that evening he headed again toward Marmaduke’s, thinking that perhaps a few beers would make him feel better and help him forget his problems. He also figured Rosamund would be there, since that was where they often met. But more Deadly Charm 29 30 McCay Vernon and Marie Vernon trouble was waiting at Marmaduke’s. Rosamund Witty was there, but she was sitting at a table with two men. She was talking and laughing with those other guys and acted like she didn’t even see him come in. Patrick was angry—Rosamund was his girlfriend, and she had no business being with other guys. She’d even taken him for trips in her car and said she really liked him. He sat down at a table behind Rosamund, but she was flirting with the other guys and didn’t bother to turn around, just acted like he wasn’t even there, or like she didn’t know him. He began poking her in the back and trying to tell her not to talk to those other men because she was his girlfriend. No matter how many times he poked at Rosamund, she still ignored him. He wondered...