Chapter 9 - Richard Had Already Started Building His Version
The sheriff’s investigation found Richard’s first text to:
me
sent three minutes after Carol called 911.
Eli threw a fit and ran. He fell in the workshop because he was fighting me. Don’t let him twist this.
I had not seen it before arriving.
Then:
He needs consequences, not an audience.
Then a message to Megan:
Your son had another meltdown at my house. James will make this worse.
Interesting wording.
Another.
To his brother:
Jimmy’s kid attacked me and now I’ll probably be blamed because the kid got hurt.
Richard created:
witnesses to his narrative
before anyone asked for:
a statement.
Not necessarily criminal behavior.
People tell relatives their side.
But the consistency showed:
priority.
He was protecting:
credibility
before checking whether Eli had:
broken ribs.
The body recording captured some of his later statements, including his threat about:
judges.
Useful.
Not magical.
Dana had not recorded the original injury.
No device showed the workshop shove.
The case would rely on:
medical findings,
Eli’s statement,
Richard’s partial admissions,
physical evidence,
texts,
neighbor observations,
timing.
Real cases are built from:
May you like
pieces.
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