Starkweather by Harry N. MacLean

Author:Harry N. MacLean
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Catapult
Published: 2023-10-06T00:00:00+00:00

36

MCARTHUR HAD HIS WORK CUT OUT FOR HIM. HIS main problem was that by her own words, Caril had just condemned herself for two things in particular: holding a gun on Carol King and “waving” her out of the car, and holding a gun on the maid and telling her what to do. Both women ended up dead. She also admitted to warning Charlie of the policemen coming to the Bartlett house and alerting him to the arrival of Lauer Ward’s car at the house. Whether charged or not, this looked like a lot of bad conduct. And as for her hostage defense, her Statement established there were plenty of opportunities for her to flee her captor.

In a blue dress, nervous, looking a little older in her glasses, Caril took the stand and sat primly with her hands folded in her lap. Her feet just touched the floor. McArthur attempted to put a human face on the defendant through her own words, to present her as a young schoolgirl who got caught up in something or someone way beyond her ability to handle. She was fourteen, halfway through eighth grade. She could identify the president, the former president, the governor, but not the mayor of Lincoln. She’d been on one vacation to the Sandhills in her father’s car but had never been to Omaha or the Missouri River. She got along fine with her mother and adored her little sister, for whom she would do anything. Her stepfather had “his ways,” but they got along. He gave her a spanking shortly after he and her mother were married for refusing to put the mop away, but that was the only time. Her face didn’t change expression as she talked, and her answers were clipped, strangely flat. McArthur coaxed her gently, trying to get her to relax. She identified all the main participants in the courtroom by name, including the judge, except for Scheele. As for this trial, she had learned only at the last minute that Starkweather was coming to testify against her. McArthur asked her how she felt when she saw Charlie come into the courtroom. Her eyes flashed. “I was scared to death.” She had known Charles Starkweather (which is what she called him on the stand) for a couple years (which meant she was a little over twelve when they met).

McArthur turns back to her family.

Q:How did you feel when your baby sister was born?

A:I felt like a million.

Q:What were your feelings toward that little girl?

A:I would do anything for her.

McArthur had Caril identify a number of family photos showing Caril with her mother and siblings and one of Betty Jean opening a Christmas present of dishes that Caril had given her. The photos were passed among the jurors. Caril liked to roller-skate, ride her bike, and dance, and she did a lot of babysitting for the five children of Virginia and Sonny Von Busch. She’d wanted to be a nurse ever since she could remember because she liked children so much.

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