Chapter 68 – The Roadside Mystery 9
Four hours later, in the interrogation room of the Miami Metropolitan Police Department, Larry handed Sergeant Doakes all the forensic and psychological profiling results obtained in the case.
The items found in the main suspect's auto repair shop matched the weapons Larry had previously identified as potential murder instruments in Dina's case. With this solid evidence, all that remained was to reinforce the investigation with supporting details.
They already had the test results for the screwdriver and hammer. The bloody fingerprints found on the railing, along with the scorched textile fibers among the ashes, were confirmed through DNA analysis. All the physical and biological evidence belonged to the suspect, Jonathan Wills.
The bloodstains found on the barbed wire, the scattered droplets on the ground around the crime scene, and the fingerprints on the tools matched those of the suspect. There was no room for doubt. The evidence was irrefutable.
Jonathan Wills, locked in the interrogation room, did not put up much resistance against Sergeant Doakes. After a series of direct questions and a psychological evaluation that revealed signs of guilt, he confessed everything.
According to his statement, Jonathan had always been in love with Dina, a young woman from his community. He often helped her and her father with various tasks. During the previous Christmas, he decided to confess his feelings, but Dina kindly rejected him.
Though hurt by her response, Jonathan assured her he was fine with just being friends. From then on, he continued to visit the family, and his relationship with Dina remained cordial.
Not long after, Jonathan noticed that Dina had started dating another young man. They soon became a couple, and the news spread around the neighborhood. Since Dina considered him part of her close circle, she even introduced him to her new boyfriend.
Jonathan felt deeply jealous. He turned to alcohol on several occasions, but the rage inside him kept growing.
One afternoon, about a month ago, Jonathan saw Dina's boyfriend drop her off at her house. However, something caught his attention: the young man returned a few minutes later.
Drunk and confused, Jonathan followed him secretly until the guy turned into an alley and headed straight to Sandra's house—Dina's aunt. When Sandra answered the door, she carefully closed it behind him and led him upstairs. Intrigued, Jonathan decided to investigate further.
He jumped over the backyard wall and peeked through one of the windows. Sandra's dog wasn't around, so no one noticed him. What he saw took his breath away: Dina's boyfriend and her aunt were having sex in the living room.
Enraged, Jonathan felt it had all been a setup. The aunt had introduced that man to Dina, knowing they had a secret relationship. He stormed out of the house, outraged, and tried calling Dina, but her phone was off.
It wasn't until the next day that he was able to reach her. She had just finished a work retreat and was preparing to head home. Jonathan asked her to stop by his workshop.
Dina arrived looking radiant: a shiny red skirt, high heels, black stockings, and a dazzling smile. For Jonathan, that image was the final straw. He knew the cause of that glow was the man who was deceiving her.
He invited her for a walk near the greenbelt by the ramp—a place the older folks called the Triangular Garden, popular among couples seeking privacy. With the noise from the highway trucks, talking was difficult, so Dina agreed to follow him to the quieter spot.
There, Jonathan told her what he had seen the previous afternoon. Dina reacted with fury. She accused him of meddling, lying, and refusing to accept reality. She yelled that he would do anything to have her, even lie.
Seeing her like that—so cold, so aggressive—completely unbalanced him. Jonathan, unable to handle the situation, lost control. Without another word, he pulled the hammer from his waistband and hurled it at her.
Dina fell to the ground, dazed, mumbling incomprehensibly.
Jonathan approached, overwhelmed with rage. In a confused and desperate act, he tore her clothes off. Then, filled with disgust and fury, he pulled a screwdriver from his toolbelt and stabbed her violently in the head and neck, over and over again.
Only one word echoed in his mind, repeated endlessly like a sick mantra:
"Bitch!"
Did she really give herself to a man that easily?
Disgusting!
Despicable!
When he noticed Dina was no longer moving, he realized she had stopped breathing.
At that moment, Jonathan felt a chill. He touched his blood-covered face and wiped it with his vest.
He dressed quickly, turned around, and tried to flee.
But when he looked down and saw that Dina was no longer twitching, he stopped again.
He dragged Dina's body behind a pile of low bushes. Then he gathered all her clothes and shoes scattered on the ground, stuffed them into a bag, and ran in the opposite direction.
He found a railing at the far end of the area. He widened an existing damage and crawled through the opening to escape.
During the maneuver, he cut his elbow, but didn't feel it. He was in shock.
Upon reaching the main road, he threw all the clothes on the ground and set them on fire. He waited until the flames reduced them to ashes, and only when night fell did he start moving again.
Meanwhile, Sandra's case also took an important turn.
Guilty and troubled by the idea that Dina might suspect something, Sandra didn't look for her until much later.
Worried about her disappearance, she asked Dina's boyfriend to help her find her.
They went to her workplace, where they were told that the last group of people who had completed training returned the previous day, but Dina had neither shown up to work nor requested time off.
A sense of dread grew within them as they searched every place Dina might have gone.
Finally, Dina's boyfriend remembered a small triangular park in the greenbelt—a spot they used to visit on their dates.
They went there. After searching for a long time and almost giving up, they ventured into the woods and found the corpse of a woman covered in flies. A dark mole on her chest confirmed it was Dina.
The discovery horrified them. They fled the scene.
Back home, Sandra concluded that Jonathan had attacked Dina—maybe even killed her.
Her death, however, represented an opportunity for them.
Her family could inherit Dina's father's house, but with the old man still alive, they decided to act.
They got the man drunk, gave him sleeping pills, and threw him into the basement of the house.
That basement—deep, damp, hot, and filled with an unbearable stench likely from methane buildup—hadn't been used in years.
Dina's father never woke up again.
Sandra, naïvely, thought that since time had passed and no one had identified the killer, she—who had only benefited from the events—wouldn't face any consequences.
Not even a madman could stand hearing such a disturbing confession.
"I don't want to keep listening," said Debra, turning away. "Seriously, I can't take it. I need a drink. If I keep working on cases like this, I'm going to lose my mind."
"Max, how's the HIV comparison report coming?" Larry asked, ignoring Debra's comments.
Max pursed his lips before replying, "You guessed right. Dina's boyfriend is HIV-positive. Both she and Sandra were infected by him."
Larry nodded solemnly. The information was tragic, but it confirmed part of Jonathan's testimony. "Send the report to Sergeant Doakes as soon as it's ready."
At that moment, Jonathan was escorted out of the interrogation room. He was handcuffed and flanked by two officers. He limped noticeably, dragging his right leg toward the detention center.
Then it was Sandra's turn. Her once-arrogant attitude was gone. She was dragged out by several officers and thrown into a patrol car. Both vehicles sped away.
Larry, who had seen more than most, reflected on a case that turned out to be simpler than he had imagined.
In Sandra's mind, killing a "fool" didn't seem like a big deal. Sometimes it's hard to understand such ignorance.
She knew Dina had been murdered and never reported it. That makes her an accomplice. The rest will now depend on the court's judgment.
Larry shook his head. The Southeast is a coastal, developed region. It's surprising that people can still be so ignorant here.
Is it due to a lack of youth education? Or poor family guidance? Or perhaps Yu Jianrui's leniency toward her?
Larry sighed. It wasn't his job to figure that out.
He turned and looked again at Dexter, who had remained silent. "Want to go get dinner?"
"I have to spend time with Rita. Debra's invited too," Dexter replied, clearly irritated.
"Then why don't you invite me too?"