Bloody Lies: A CSI Scandal in the Heartland

9. Ring of Truth

66 bloody lies 9 ring of truth Dave Kofoed assigned christine Gabig to track the engraved ring’s origin. Gabig, a trace evidence expert, seemed right for the task. She was like a dog on a bone, Kofoed remembered. She scoured jewelry books and magazines to understand the significance of the serial imprint on the ring bearing the letters and numerals aaJ10K. She discovered that the last three symbols stood for 10 karat gold. Gabig also gleaned that the letters “aaJ” revealed the jewelry manufacturer’s trademark. Two North american companies had used those letters; one had been out of business and without an address since 1994. if the ring belonged to that company, the mystery behind the ring would surely hit a brick wall and end there. Fortunately, Gabig discovered a working phone number for the other company, a & a Jewelers inc., which was located in Buffalo, New York.1 Gabig’s cold call caught one of the female employees in the shipping department by complete surprise. That woman wasn’t quite sure what to do. The employee notified her manager that someone from a Nebraska police department was on the line. Operations manager Mary Martino dropped her heavy workload to take the unexpected call.· · · Gabig’s call in May 2006 could not have come at a worse time. Martino was preoccupied with closing her company’s offices in Buffalo. She was one of three employees left to liquidate the a & a Jewelers operation. about two hundred employees had just been let go. The company in New York was in the midst of bankruptcy and in the process of disconnecting its telephone in a matter of days. During the call, Martino confirmed that Gabig was, at the 66 ring oF truth 67 very least, on the right track. The AAJ imprint definitely matched the A & A jewelry company manufacturer’s serial number. additionally, Walmart was one of a & a’s biggest retail customers, Martino advised. Gabig conceded she didn’t have any additional useful information to pass along except for the ring’s unique inscription, “love always, cori & ryan.” “That’s like looking for a needle in a haystack,” Martino replied.2 But Gabig persisted. She pleaded for Martino’s help. This ring was mysteriously found at a gruesome double homicide in rural Nebraska. everyone else appeared unwilling to assist her, Gabig admitted. Martino didn’t shrug off the call. rather, she promised to see if she could be of any help, realizing the case involved double murder. Unfortunately, Martino didn’t have much to go on. all she knew was that her company manufactured the ring and created the unique engraving. She had no idea which of the literally thousands of Walmarts scattered across the country may have sold that ring and whether the purchase order still existed. in any case, Martino promised to get back in touch with cSi Gabig if she found anything noteworthy. This engraved ring with the unique inscription “love always, cori & ryan,” ultimately cracked the Stock murder case. DNa left on the ring would prove deeply damaging to one theory of the crime and pivotal to another, after an extensive “needle in a haystack” search traced it back to a particular owner. (Author’s collection) 68 bloody lies after the call, Martino headed straight to a & a’s warehouse, which stored copies of tens of thousands of back records for jewelry purchases from all over. She started with Box 1, which inventoried the sales receipts for Walmart stores 1 through 25. She inspected every single sales record in the box but came up empty. Next, Martino moved on to Box 2. it contained sales receipts from stores 26 through 30. again, no luck. Martino inspected Box 3, Box 4, Box 5, and so on. She spent several hours manually inspecting dozens of boxes, trying to find the elusive sales receipt for the “Love Always, Cori & ryan” engraved ring. Martino went through sales receipts for approximately one hundred Walmart stores. She found nothing. She was exhausted. She felt hopeless and emotionally drained. “i thought this is going to be impossible doing this,” Martino said.· · · Back in Nebraska, cSi Gabig contacted the Walmart stores around Omaha and lincoln, hoping the ring was purchased there, but her enthusiasm was dashed when local Walmart officials denied the ring came from one of the eastern Nebraska stores. Gabig’s efforts reached an impasse. it was all up to the Buffalo jeweler who had never even been...