- Crystal -

Here it is – the morning after the murder last evening. I didn’t sleep much, had a lot of nightmares as I tried to remember the events of yesterday.
I called Detective Franks early this AM to ask for a meeting with him and Detective Tracy, so I am now still trying to remember how the day went and waiting to see Franks.
I know he will ask what time did I see the man? Well, it was before dinner which was 5:30 PM, and my daughter, Laine, in Crystal River, had called about 4:30, her usual time to call and we spoke for 15-20 minutes so I know it was after that. I went back to my computer for a few minutes after the call but do not know how long I worked. So I must have seen him after 4:30 and before the murder.
Then the Detectives wanted to know, again, the attire of the man, and anything else I could tell him: height, weight, color of hair [or was he bald?] eyes and skin. Did he have any tattoos that could provide a clue? Was he wearing a special ring or pin or earrings that stood out – that could identify him? Could I tell if he had an accent of any kind: foreign; New England, Southern, Midwestern – to tell what part of the country he came from? And I wracked my brain trying to remember – had he said ANYTHING? Maybe even one little word he had said might help. But he hadn’t said even that one little word. He just acknowledged me with a little, quick nod.
Then a thought came to me --- had he been in the Landings earlier this morning and happened to pass by the open door to Doug’s office and heard something he was not supposed to hear or had he heard something as he passed by Doug’s office earlier?
If he happened to be in the Landings earlier that day, perhaps he had overheard Doug speaking loudly – too loudly – and it caught his attention and he loitered a while . A loud voice, arguing with someone about money. By hearing this, it made him think that Doug had money on him and he surely needed money. This was a crime of opportunity. Maybe if he got Doug apart from others, he could take his money so he decided to get into the action. He made Doug take him to the Colonial where they found an empty upstairs apartment away from the halls where people might be walking, and they started arguing again. The argument stopped long enough for them to get on the upper floor elevator and they started back down. The argument escalated and the man pulled out a pocket knife, stabbing Doug. He stopped the elevator on the next floor and got out, stopping the elevator until someone else pushed the button.
He had tried to hold Doug up, thinking he had money on him, since he was an accountant for Hardnose. BUT Doug didn’t carry cash with him. So he got angry that his plan didn’t work and he was afraid that Doug would call the police on him, so he thought he had to kill him.
Now --- Did he leave Freedom Village immediately after he killed Doug? Could he have left ANY clues that the police could find?
As Detectives Franks and Tracy searched for anyone having seen the man in the Landings, Colonial or Concord buildings --- Thomas, one of the residents in the Concord, suddenly remembered seeing him and said “Oh, yeah, -- he’s been here before. He’s TROUBLE.! He begs from everyone he can”.
He had told Thomas his name was Joe Round and he lived a few blocks away ---- so he was familiar with Freedom Village. A few years earlier he had gotten mixed up with some unsavory characters in New York and decided to change his residence to Florida. Besides that, he said he liked the warm weather and was ready to get out of the snow and cold.
After he disappeared, the police searched all over the area for him -- boats, cars, planes – railroad, supposedly if he got to the East Coast. He was nowhere to be found! They were able to obtain his car license so they had APB’s out for him. Maybe someone was hiding him. Maybe he had another license and another name. But the police never found any relatives or any business associates of any kind. No mob connections. No military service. It was as if he JUST APPEARED. So time passed while they kept looking. They were not going to give up until they found him.
About three weeks later, there was an accident on Highway 95, the Dixie Highway, in St. Augustine. The driver was driving at high speed in a rental car - a tire blew, the car turned over three times: fortunately no other car was involved. The driver survived – and it was Joe Round ! He obviously was getting ready to flee Florida – but it was unknown where he was heading. Perhaps thinking of leaving the country when he could.
The newspapers in St. Augustine had published details of the accident and Joe’s picture, asking for identification on him because all they knew was his name.
How/why his picture and name got up to New York was interesting. Johnny, one of Al’s men was vacationing in the St. Augustine area just at that time and picked up a paper and read about the accident and saw Joe’s picture. He recognized Joe! The police and the paper found information about him with the mob and because of mob activities, it was highly publicized. Joe knew it would come to the attention of Al, the head of the mob, which terrified him.
Joe had tried to escape but now they had found him. Not only had the Florida police searched for him but the New York mob was now seeking him also. He did not want to go to NY so he worked with the Florida police. He went on trial. He would rather be incarcerated in the Florida sun than be incarcerated in cold New York - with the mob close by. So he pled guilty to killing Doug for the money he thought Doug was carrying.
The trial was very short, the jury easily found him guilty since he had already made the admission. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing Doug.

MAYBE he would see the Florida sun out of his prison window.???

THIS WAS A KILLING FOR NOTHING!!

BUT he would NEVER kill again.