...And Never Let HerGo

from Gerry to make sure that his little brother would have the extortionist story firmly in his mind. And then, whenever Tom might need to get rid of a body, Gerry wouldn’t ask questions.
    And he hadn’t. Gerry wasn’t happy about dumping a body at sea—but he had gone along with Tom’s pleas. He’d kept his backturned while Tom removed the body from the cooler and weighted it down before dropping it overboard.
    Now it seemed that Tom had drawn Debby into his crime, persuading her to be the goat who bought a weapon for him, but not just before he intended to kill Anne Marie—forty-five days in advance. It was one more indication that Anne Marie’s murder was premeditated.
    The investigators looked again at Tom’s E-mail from May through June 1996 and found it full of his dogged insistence that Anne Marie have dinner with him—that she keep him informed of her plans. “Hey,” Tom E-mailed her on May 3. “It’s 2:30 and I ain’t heard from ya so I was wondering what was up. Please give me a call or e-mail me when you get a chance. Is there a good time to call you? Hope you’re having a good day, but my guess is you’re not. Think mussels . . . in a white sauce.” There were many like that, apparent attempts to lure Anne Marie into a meeting that might be their last.
    They looked at the statement from Siobhan Sullivan, Anne Marie’s state trooper friend. Anne Marie had told her that Tom was “a fucking stalker” in May 1996. Anne Marie was afraid of Tom, but the prosecution team realized that she had had no idea of how dangerous he might be; she never knew that he had asked another woman to buy a gun for him—that he had made plans to get rid of a body. And none of them believed for a moment that Debby MacIntyre had bought that gun for herself.
    But where was it now?
    O N January 8, 1998, Tom Capano pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder. His bail hearing—the proof positive hearing—was set to begin in the first week of February. He and his lawyers concurred that Debby MacIntyre would be one of the best witnesses they could present. Tom knew she was scared to death to testify for him; he also knew she would do it. She would do anything for him.
    On January 28, Tom wrote a letter to the woman he purportedly loved and planned to marry. In earlier letters, he had persuaded her to accept a date with another man, urging her to have sex with him, which she could not do. Now he wrote a letter that would haunt her, although it was clearly a picture of who
he
was, rather than a portrait of her.
    Dear Deb,
    It’s 11:57 p.m. and with any luck, you’re naked right now on all fours with your dinner date making you come like crazy, doggystyle. Actually, you say something in your Monday night letter—which arrived tonight—about having your period. Okay, so maybe you’re naked anyway, so he can admire your magnificent body on your knees with his dick in your mouth while he sits in a living room chair—giving him the best blow job he’s ever had. The thought of these things made me have two relaxation sessions since I found out about your date . . . and one of them was in the middle of the day today while I was standing up in a corner of my cell!
    Tom’s pornographic musings about Debby’s date took him a page and a half, and then he told her he had bad news. His three attorneys—Charlie Oberly, Joe Hurley, and the new addition, Gene Maurer—felt that it was essential that she testify at his bail hearing.
    Please forgive me, but I agree with them, as I will explain, and I freely admit that it’s purely selfish. . . . [He allegedly quotes his attorneys:] “Debby MacIntyre is an important witness for us, but maybe more importantly, she’s an impressive witness. We want Judge Lee to see and hear this very credible and honest woman because she will make a very positive impression. . . . She comes across not just as honest, but also as level-headed and mature.”
    Since Tom referred continually in his letters to “dumb” mistakes that Debby had made, this was a new approach for him. He pleaded with her to overcome her fear of publicity and reminded her that she would surely have to testify when his case came to trial, so she might as well testify at the proof positive.
    He warned her that Bob Donovan would be on the stand reading both roles in interviews she had given and it would be so much better if she spoke for herself. “[My team says:] ‘She will help our case,’ ” Tom