|
Tomorrow came and there was no phone call. On Friday evening, May 19, I get a telephone call from Florida. David's friend was wondering if I had heard from him. He hadn't made it back to Florida as scheduled on that Friday evening and he didn't get on the airplane that he was scheduled to be on. I made a telephone call to David's attorney in Arizona, asking when was the last time she spoke with him. The attorney and I made several telephone calls back and forth that Friday night. On Saturday morning at 7 a.m. I called my parents to ask them to please come over...I had something to tell them. That Saturday many telephone calls were made and arrangements were made for my parents and I to fly to Arizona on Sunday where we would also meet my sister (who flew in from California). On that Sunday, May 21, 1995, in Phoenix, Arizona, we met with David's attorney who introduced us to a private investigator and we hired him to find out what happened and where was David? The police had been to Karen Gugel's trailer (David's wife) asking questions of her and her boyfriend. They said David had been there and they gotten into an argument on that Thursday, May 18, and David had walked away mad. They didn't know where he was. The children did not see David that day as they were locked in a back bedroom. On Monday night, May 22, the Chandler, Arizona police department called and told us that they were going to arrest Karen and her boyfriend. My sister and I left for the police station where we met with David's attorney and set up the night there. The police got a search warrant together and left the station to do their job. I don't remember the time exactly, but at around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, May 23 as we sat in an office at the police station (I was sitting where I could see anyone walking the hallway) I saw first the police bring through Darren Greer, (the boyfriend), and then next came Karen Gugel with her hands behind her back in handcuffs. My feelings at that time were so mixed. I didn't know what I wanted to do. At about 7:30 a.m. a policeman came in to us and said he had just finished interrogating Karen and due to what she had said they had no reason to hold her but they would keep her until they heard Darren Greer's side of the story. I was so upset, so mad! As my sister and I drove back to the motel, we cried and cried, not believing what we had just heard. We got to the motel, telling our parents of the night and they went on to have breakfast while my sister and I laid down to try to rest. At about 8:30 a.m., just about an hour after we had left the police station, we got the telephone call. Darren Greer had confessed and was going to take the police to David's body. During this time I was concerned about the children, Alex and Timmy and their half sisters, Christine and Adrianne. I wanted them. I knew David would want me to care for them. Shortly after that I got a call from David's attorney asking me about doing a news report at her office on the whereabouts of David since we were not definite of where he was and also about how I would be getting the four children to take home with me. David loved these children so much!! That afternoon, Tuesday, May 23, we arrived at the attorney's office. Things were so hectic. The children came in and I only got to see them for a couple of minutes at that time because news reporters were coming in and I was taken in to another office to answer their questions. Just a short time later we found out that after several hours of giving the police the runaround Darren Greer finally took them to where he had buried David's body in the desert. You see, on the morning of May 18, 1995, David was to pick up Alex and Tim at the Chandler Police Station, but Karen called to say that her car had broken down and she had no way to get the boys to the police station. David, of course, said I will come and pick them up. David was at the police station at the time and an officer told him to wait a little while and someone would be able to go with him. David told the officer "It's ok I will be fine." David never suspected a thing as far as we know. He arrived at the trailer where they lived. Karen asked him to come in and see some work she had been doing with Alex. (You see she had pulled them out of school and was trying to homeschool.) Supposedly an argument took place and Darren walked in. (It was stated he had walked to where their car had broken down). A fight broke out and continued to the outside into the next door neighbor's driveway where the neighbor watched (and she never called the police). As my son, David, lay face down with Darren Greer's knee in his back and one of his arms around his throat Darren said something to Karen. She came over with a big rock and hit David over the head a couple of times. Darren saw the neighbor lady looking and he smiled at her. A neighbor about four doors away passed in front of the trailer and saw something going on - but never called the police. A man down the street passed the trailer slowly and asked if he could help. He thought David was having a seizure or something but Karen waved him on. Darren picked David up from behind by lifting him under his arms. The trunk of David's rental car was open and Darren put David's body inside the trunk. Darren left the trailer, drove around for several hours and even stopped at a place to get himself a cold pop to drink before burying my son's body in the desert. During that week I got a call from one of David's best friends that was also in the Navy after he had heard what happened. He told me that David's body would have an escort back to Ohio and said that he would like to have the honor if that was okay with me. I was delighted that someone who knew David and was his friend would do the honor. When the Navy came to the motel room and told me they would help me in anyway they could, my main request was let me fly on the same airplane to bring my son back home. Flying home on May 26, 1995, bringing David's body were 7 members of my family, his friend that wanted to escort his body and David's 2 sons and 2 stepdaughters. In 1996 I sat through 2 trials and 2 sentencings. Karen Gugel was charged with second degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years. Darren Greer was also charged with second degree murder and was sentenced to 18 years. I was told that second degree murder in the state of Arizona carries no chance of parole. Neither eighteen nor twenty years will bring my firstborn son back to me. I miss him terribly every day. I have custody of Christine, Adrianne, Alex, and Timothy and I am thankful for them each day. They give me a reason to live.
|
