Don’t Look Behind You

both of them had admitted to the details of Joe Tarricone’s murder, they each pled “not guilty.”
    Judge Susan Serko set bail for Nick at $2 million and for Renee at $500,000. She stipulated that Renee could not arrange bail through Henry’s Bail Bonds because of “a conflict of interest.”
    Which was, of course, obvious.
    But Henry Lewis was close to all the long-standing bail bonds companies and they respected him, so something was worked out between them. Renee was released from jail and returned to the luxurious condominium where she lived with her husband.
    Nick was not bailed out; actually, jail was probably a much nicer place to be than under a bridge or in a mission. At least he knew where he was going to sleep and that he would eat every day. “Three hots and a cot,” was the term veteran prisoners used. His plans to retire down South were no longer on Nick’s agenda. He looked old, stooped, and tired as he left the courtroom.
    With this arraignment, the Northwest media publicized the awful details related in the courtroom and the story of a thirty-year-old unsolved crime of monstrous proportionswas at the top of television news and in bold headlines in newspapers.
    Quoting Deputy Prosecutor Dawn Farina, most lead-ins began with: “Miss Curtiss, along with her brother, chopped up Mr. Tarricone’s body and buried it …”
    There were undoubtedly many men who had once been involved with Renee Curtiss who heard about that and heaved a sigh of relief.

Chapter Seventeen
    Dawn Farina doesn’t look like a hard-hitting criminal-prosecuting attorney. She is a slender, pretty woman with long blond hair, but dumb blonde jokes never fit Dawn. She was to be Renee’s nemesis. Beyond Dawn Farina’s expertise in prosecuting homicide cases, Pierce County prosecuting attorney Mark Lindquist made an astute decision when he chose her to face Renee Curtiss in a courtroom.
    Before he gained fame as the “baby doctor of America,” Dr. Benjamin Spock did some psychological studies while on duty at a military hospital. He found that attractive women who exhibit sociopathic tendencies are quite good at manipulating men. But they don’t fool other women. (The reverse is also true; sociopathic males can delude women quite easily, but their real motives are transparent to other men.)
    From the moment she took on the case, Dawn could see through Renee’s ploys as clearly as if she had x-ray vision.
    Dawn Farina would handle the prosecution of Renee and Nick all on her own. She would not have an assistantprosecutor to help her, but the massive preparation ahead didn’t faze her.
    Trial dates were set and set again. Delays in a major homicide trial are far from unusual. In September 2008, Dawn Farina asked for a rare “double” trial where both Nick and Renee would be tried—but there would be two juries. Renee’s jury would be excused when evidence was introduced against Nick—but not her—and vice versa. The deputy prosecutor argued that this would be the most expedient way to try two defendants for what was, essentially, the same crime. And perhaps it was, but there was also the possibility that it could be confusing.
    Defense attorney Gary Clower, representing Renee, argued strongly against a dual trial.
    Farina’s request was denied.
    There would be
two
trials, one for Renee and one for Nick. After more delays, Nick’s trial finally began on Thursday, February 12, 2009, in Pierce County Superior Court with Judge Kitty-Ann van Doorninck presiding. Judge van Doorninck would oversee both trials—but separately.
    By Farina’s special request, Ben Benson sat beside her at the State’s table. He knew every aspect of Joe Tarricone’s murder case by heart, and he was granted permission to sit with the prosecutor throughout both trials, even though prospective witnesses almost always are banned from the courtroom until after they testify. Dawn Farina didn’t have a coprosecutor, but she had Sergeant Benson.
    Gypsy, Dean, and Rosemary Tarricone were in the courtroom observing everything. They all noted how slow Nick’s thinking was and felt he was a pawn for Renee.
    Looking back, Gypsy sighed as she remembered Nick Notaro. “You could see that he was mentally disabled to some degree and he’d been manipulated by Renee. She probably paid him off all these years with money and other things. She really took advantage.”
    In her final argument, Dawn Farina had ample ammunition, gleaned from Nick’s own