McCrady Case:
The Purse Packin',
Shovel Totin' Trooper
By
Bonnie M. Wells
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Civitan Park
Even though the only witnesses the state had to Jackie McCrady driving his wife's red blazer, had selected the picture of someone else's vehicle as being like the one he saw a trooper putting gas into in the early morning hours of September 19, 1996, the state finally decided it was the blazer that had been used to transport Jenifer McCrady's body to the burial site .... or at least I think they finally decided that.
It was actually quite difficult to know for sure what they decided since the story changed almost as often as the case did. Never the less, they "proved" to twelve jurors that he had used her vehicle and then parked it at Civitan Park in Belpre before getting out of it and walking home.
It wasn't such a stretch of the imagination to believe that whoever parked Jenifer McCrady's vehicle at Civitan Park had indeed walked home. I'd figured as much myself. The only problem was, Jackie McCrady was in full uniform, and had to carry, not one, but two shovels as well as his wife's purse and Reebok tennis shoes!
Why he left her other clothing folded and laying on the seat remains a mystery. Or better yet, why he didn't leave the purse and tennis shoes with the rest of the clothing is an even bigger mystery.
The state contended that he used the ATM card that Jenifer carried in her purse, to obtain money from the bank after she disappeared. And for awhile it looked as if they had him dead to right.
Then, his attorney showed everyone that he had not used the card that they thought he had used, but instead had used an old card that just happened to have the same numbers on it.
I thought the move was absolutely brilliant, and darted a questioning glance toward the reporters in the court room. None looked too happy. And here I thought news reporters didn't form opinions, but just reported the news!
I saw where they stood when Officer Garvey testified. Prior to Garvey's testimony the court had been full of reporters. When it was finally Garvey's turn ... after hearing everyone else's testimony ..... the reporters were suspiciously absent. They missed some great testimony! Contradictory, but great!
The Time? Still Unknown
Jenifer's vehicle had been found at Civitan Park in the early morning hours of September 20th, so from that moment on, everyone knew or suspected there was something not just right. Of course, in view of the fact that Garvey claimed Jackie McCrady was a "prime" {and only, I might add} suspect from day one, I don't understand why they contacted him to go down to the park and get the vehicle and take it home with him! That's always bothered me.
Still, the scenario that the prosecution painted was probably even more puzzling than why the blazer was sent back to the missing woman's home.
They contended that Jackie McCrady had shot his wife while at their Dana Street home .... in the early morning hours, probably around 2:00 Am.
He then loaded her into her own vehicle and drove her to an old secluded area of Little Hocking where he spent...well, we don't know exactly how much time it took to dig the grave .... well, there again, it appeared there were actually two holes that had been dug!! Wonder who the other one was for? Anyway, he dug a grave and put her in it, covered her up, drove up the road 2.2 miles and put gas in her vehicle, and then took it down to Civitan Park and parked it in the boat dock area. An area where it would surely be noticed since it was parked incorrectly, and since it had no boat trailer on it.
The state contended that he then got out of the vehicle, removed not one but two shovels, along with her purse and tennis shoes and walked home.
Now considering the fact that he was seen by at least three people at the service station, and the time ranged from around five that morning until sometime around seven {one witness was taking her daughter to school}, it had to be broad daylight by the time he did this.
There had to be people walking at the park by that time, and there had to be quite a bit of traffic in Belpre .... people going to work, others at Hardee's for breakfast. And yet, no one saw a trooper in full uniform walking any where that morning.
McCrady's lawyers brought several of the walkers from Civitan Park into the court room. He had witness from approximately 5 that morning until well after nine that morning. None had seen Jackie McCrady, but some said they saw Jenifer's vehicle sitting there.
It was somewhere along this area that McCrady's lawyer proclaimed that Jackie McCrady must have been the dumbest damned cop that ever lived! I had to agree. If he paraded down through Belpre carrying 2 shovels and his wife's purse and shoes, then he must be pretty bad off. I only had one question .... so how's come he was chosen Trooper Of The Year in 1995? Says a lot for the rest of the pack!
One Man's Testimony
A man by the name of Bill testified at Jackie McCrady's trial. He and his wife were friends of Jackie and Jenifer's. The woman occasionally babysat for the McCrady's, and she and her husband owned a car cleaning business in Belpre. Both testified at the trial, and both said they knew the McCrady's vehicles when they saw them in traffic or sitting somewhere. They had detailed both vehicles at various times.
Bill was leaving an auto parts store just a few minutes after 9:00 AM on September 19th when he turned onto Lee Street and saw Jenifer's blazer coming out Dana Road. The vehicle turned onto Lee and proceeded up the hill with Bill coming up behind it. There's a stop sign at the top of Lee Street hill. Bill was close enough to the vehicle to see that it was Jenifer driving it. He could see her hair, which was shoulder length and brown in color. But he testified that as he came up closer to the vehicle it picked up speed and he wondered why. He said he was concerned that Jenifer was not going to be able to stop at the stop sign .... and sure enough, the blazer barely slowed down before running the stop sign and bailing out in front of an oncoming semi!!!
Bill testified that he thought to himself that if Jenifer kept driving like that she was going to get killed, or kill someone. He said he thought that she must be running late for work. And in fact, had it been Jenifer McCrady, she would have already been an hour late for work.
The state dismissed Bill's testimony as a friend who was trying to help Jackie McCrady. I didn't. I didn't know Bill, but I'd seen pictures of a guy wearing a woman's wig ..... and I'd heard other witnesses tell about seeing a woman running from the back of a burning house trailer, a woman whom they thought was the lady of the house, but when I interviewed the "lady of the house," I discovered she was not home that day and was at work. That case remains unsolved in Washington County too, and as far as I know the "rumor" that the woman "burned her own house" continues! The fact that she wasn't even home has no bearing on the personal opinions of the experts in this area! The fact that the woman's daughter was murdered just a year before the fire, and that the daughter's home was set on fire after she was murdered, is simply another of those "coincidences" that everyone likes so well around here!
The Blazer
Could Jenifer's blazer have been taken to Civitan Park around nine o'clock on the morning of September 19th? Possibly.
Was it Jackie McCrady who was driving her vehicle, perhaps wearing one of Jenifer's wigs? Did she own any wigs? Don't think so. There was no testimony about her ever owning or wearing wigs. Besides that Jackie McCrady was gone from the house at 9:00 that morning. He was dropping his children off at the daycare center and preschool.
Jackie McCrady didn't testify at his trial, which I have always felt was a mistake. But, I assume it was his attorney's advice ... which is advice that they really should stop giving their clients ... along with the advice to "not show any emotion." That's just about the worst thing the accused can do.
Every reporter in the nation is searching for that big story ..... the "cold blooded killer" that shows no emotion.
But there was a taped interview between Garvey and McCrady, so the jury got to hear McCrady's recounting of morning events.
He claimed he and the children got up around 8:00 that morning. He fixed them some breakfast and then began getting them ready for their morning activities. After dropping the children off in two separate locations he returned to the house.
He guessed this to be around nine twenty or so, but didn't have any reason to pay close attention to the time.
If Jackie McCrady's recounting was accurate, then it could not possibly have been him driving Jenifer's vehicle at the time Bill J. seen the vehicle racing up Lee Street hill.
As to whether the vehicle was taken to Civitan Park at nine that morning or not, it is my belief that is was not taken there until later that night. I personally believe it was taken to the park around midnight on September 19th.
And I'll be glad to give my reasoning for this theory. Belpre PD patrols the park area on a pretty frequent basis. No one had spotted Jenifer's vehicle throughout the day of Sept. 19th. She had been reported missing, and of course everyone knew what her vehicle looked like. If it had been parked where it was found, and the way it was found parked during the daylight hours, someone would have noticed it.
Several people testified that they noticed it as soon as they came to the park to walk on the walking trails on the morning of September 20th. If these people noticed it, then many other people would have noticed it throughout the day on the 19th, if it had been there. Belpre cops should have noticed it, and should have ticketed it because it was illegally parked. But no one saw it until it was discovered around 1:00 AM on September 20th, by a Belpre police officer.
Well, he was a Belpre cop. Until I met him and liked him, and made the mistake of telling certain people that I liked him. He's no longer a cop. Someday, I'm going to hunt him up and we're going to have a long chat. Yes sir, we're going to have a long chat.
So, if the blazer wasn't at the park and it wasn't at the McCrady house ... then where was it? Oh who knows, maybe inside a storage building somewhere just waiting for darkness.
Wouldn't fit? Sure it would. If a full sized van could fit, then you can rest assured a blazer will fit. Yes, I tested this too!
There really aren't many questions that I can't answer when it comes to certain things and certain people. But then, every cop out there already knows this, don't you?
And, although I've mentioned this before, and it probably doesn't belong here, I'm going to repeat it for those who might have missed it the first time.
The sleeping bag that Jenifer McCrady was found inside of was never traced back to Jackie McCrady or anyone else connected to the case. The state couldn't even find out who made the sleeping bag, when it was made, or where it was purchased.
It didn't take the defense long to answer all those questions. They answered all but one. Who bought that damned sleeping bag? It was a question that I wasn't willing to walk away from because I honestly believe whoever bought that sleeping bag is the person who murdered Jenifer McCrady. And I believe he bought the comforter in a yard sale the summer before he murdered her.
And I firmly believe the reason he bought it was because it had once graced her and her husband's bed. He knew exactly who it had belonged to, and it was "payback time."
Jackie McCrady had once taken my sister from his clutches, and now he would return the favor. Warped? You bet, but as long as I'm the only one who notices, it works every time!
The manufacturer testified that the sleeping bag was made in the mid 1980's and was sold exclusively by Montgomery Ward stores. He said the bag was "top of the line," in its day. And was one of the few that were ever designed in which two single sized air mattresses could be inserted in the inside pockets to make a double bed ... or a bed for two people. Of course used this way, the bag was opened fully, thus requiring a quilt or blanket for covering. If one person used the bag then they could insert one air mattress and use the other half of the bag as a blanket.
It sounded nice .... and it reminded me of the only person I'd ever known that took air mattresses with him when he went camping!
But that wasn't good enough for me. No, I had to dig deeper. I was still wondering who the second grave was for!!! And I was afraid I knew .... and afraid she had no one who gave a damned one way or the other! Well, she wouldn't go quietly! She hadn't lived quietly and she sure as hell wouldn't die quietly!
The sleeping bag had mallard ducks inside of it. The state couldn't decide if it was green or blue. I didn't know which it was because when they showed it in the court room, I didn't get a good look at it at all.
Jackie McCrady had been sitting in prison for more than five years by the time I traced that sleeping bag {or one just like it} down!
But the fact remains, I did trace it down. I found a woman who was with a man when he bought two of those sleeping bags. He bought another one that day for his child. It had cartoon characters on it, while the adult one had mallard ducks inside it. The woman described the bag as "a strange color of green-blue-gray."
I talked to another woman .... a woman who was living with the man the first woman said bought the sleeping bags. She told me that in 1996, she helped the man decorate his kitchen in ducks! I wasn't surprised. I expected as much.
Before leaving this subject and getting back to the shovels ... let me say this.... The man in question here ....the one who bought the sleeping bags back in the mid 1980's, lived real close to Civitan Park .... had been caught exposing himself to women at Civitan Park on numerous occasions ..... met me at Civitan Park in 1990 ... has been stalking my sister, my daughter and me since sometime back in the mid 70's .... is a twice convicted sex offender in Washington County ..... was seen watching the McCrady house from a distance many times before Jenifer disappeared ..... and was lurking around the McCrady property in the middle of the night before she disappeared. And, as if all this is not bad enough, in 1996 he had a master key to several storage buildings that were located near Civitan Park!
2006 UPDATE: I have recently spoken to a young man who has confirmed much of the above information about the sleeping bag and who added several details about the time period that Jenifer disappeared. For more information, please see -- The Real Dummy
The Shovels
The state originally contended that Jackie McCrady had used a square-edged shovel to dig the grave for his wife. Their reasoning was a prime example of how much insanity there really was in the McCrady case. They insisted that the square-edged shovel {like a person would use to shovel snow or gravel} contained minuet amounts of "cinder like material" that matched the dirt at the grave site. First of all, cinders are used in this area in the winter time. They are dumped on our main roads along with salt in an effort to prevent ice build-up and accidents.
Why there would have been cinders at the old access road, I haven't a clue. I didn't see any evidence of cinders when I was there. All I saw was large, heavy slag like comes from Price Inland Terminal or some other "gravel" company. Never the less, the state said that this flat shovel contained "similar" dirt as was found at the grave site. I came to despise the term "similar." What does that really say?
My shirt is similar to ten million others. My shoes are similar to anyone Else's shoes.
"Similar" .... is simply that ... similar. I'd think in a murder trial it would be required by law to be closer than similar; that a thinking, rational jury would demand more than similar. But not in the McCrady case. No, similar was just fine in that case.
It didn't take McCrady's lawyers very long to dispel the "square shovel" idea. The dirt that the shovel contained was very "similar" to the cinders and dirt found along the edge of the McCrady's drive-way. They contended that the reason the material was there was because that's the shovel that Jackie used in the winter time to remove the ice and snow from the driveway.
He hadn't used the shovel since winter time, therefore it still contained traces of the material it had been last used on.
The attorney's also nailed the state on the shape of the grave issue. Anyone who has ever planted a bush or a tree or even a flower knows you do not use a flat edged shovel to dig the hole with. Any moron knows this.
The grave was dug with a pointed tipped shovel, and still bore the strike marks that the shovel had left! However, the pointed shovel only contained dirt that was of "similar" composition as Jackie and Jenifer's yard! How interesting. Jackie had planted several trees for Jenifer in July. In fact, he suffered a heat stroke from working out in the heat of July 4th. He was hospitalized for several days because of the stroke and spent weeks going back and forth to physical therapy. He had to re-learn to talk and walk, and his recovery was not immediate. He had been off from work because of the stroke and had only returned the day before Jenifer disappeared. The man worked one day before someone murdered his wife, and all the state could say was he did it. It sounded to me as if someone had been waiting, watching, and biding their time. But, no one cared what it sounded like to me. They were on a roll, and I don't think anything could have stopped them.
The state had no trouble changing their story as soon as McCrady's lawyers showed that the square-edged shovel was not the instrument used to dig the grave. It just automatically rolled into..."he used both shovels." He dug the grave with one shovel and then covered it up with the other one! Well organized killer, if they asked me .... whoops, I forgot. No one asked me. That's probably because I would have told them that any killer this organized would not have brought the dead woman's purse and shoes home with him!!
Oh, I forgot, the other theory {yes, there was always a back up in case the first one just didn't sit well with the jury}...the other theory was that in his blind rage and panic, Jackie McCrady had forgotten to take her purse and shoes. Okay, I can understand how that could happen ... but....the man had twelve days in which he could have gotten rid of the shoes and purse. The trash went a couple of times during that time period. He could have thrown them away. He was on patrol several days while she was missing. He could have dumped them in any river or creek in this area and they would never have been found. He could have dropped them in any number of containers for the needy or he could have dropped them into any business dumpster and there again, no one would have ever known. But no, this cop takes them home with him!
Didn't make any sense at all to me ... but then, I don't have the "education" the rest of them have, so maybe my reasoning powers are just not up to par. Yeah, right.
I suppose the thing that bothered me the most about the "evidence" that was found in the rafters of the McCrady garage...."the shoes and purse," is the fact that absolutely nothing was found during the first two searches of the property!!
Right after the second search, a Belpre woman who knew a certain Belpre cop real well came into the beauty shop where my daughter and some of my friends worked and began talking about the McCrady case. She said this certain cop had told her that he had left the house, garage and storage building unlocked after the search!
Sindee and I hit the streets that night with a passion. Someone had to guard that property! This was terrible. But we couldn't do it. The property was too isolated. Sat back too far from the road and was entirely too dark. Anyone..... a dozen people could have been inside the house and we'd never have known it. We didn't dare leave our vehicle and go prowling around on foot. I figured that's what that certain cop was waiting for. In fact I figured that's why he'd passed the message to whom he did. Some wanted rid of me, and any way it could be accomplished was just fine. Well, that didn't work either! I'm still here and still screaming! And the more time that goes by, the more this case stinks.
If you'd like to see how things are done in this area, be sure and read The Task Force Farce. It's a real eye-opener, and goes a long ways toward showing that I don't have nearly as many "imaginations," as some would like for everyone to think I have! And by the way, I've never been told by any doctor, lawyer or anyone else that I had a mental problem. I've never taken any kind of medication for a nervous disorder of any kind. I don't even need sleeping pills at night! I've never done drugs of any kind in my entire life, never drank anything other than an occasional wine cooler....and that's usually 1/3 of a bottle at a time and days, if not weeks apart!
And I have been told by cops, doctors, lawyers, judges, FBI agents, CIA agents, friends and strangers alike, that I have one of the best and most accurate memories that they have ever seen. My information is accurate and detailed and I have NEVER manipulated anything to make things happen the way I want them to.
WTAP News / Parkersburg, West Virginia
Jan 11, 2008
A Belpre Police officer is on administrative leave for suspected criminal activity.
The Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation says it's looking into allegations brought against Sergeant Dave Garvey.
BI&I says Garvey has not been charged with anything at this point and it would not release any information regarding the allegations.
The Belpre Police Chief and the Washington County Prosecutor would not comment on the investigation.
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