Two Million Reasons for Murder
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RD I FEBRUARY 2007 been shot four times-in both shoul- vestigators that he thought the culprit ders, under the right nipple, and was a crazed mugger. But a few of through the left hand. The man was those close to April developed their gone. Justin called April's name, then own theory. They suspected the killer spotted her floating facedown in the was someone she knew very well. surf. There was a .22-caliber hole in her left cheek. He dragged her up the APRIL GREWUP in fIennessey (pop. beach until his strength gave out, then 2,024), Oklahoma, an island of cen- left her and staggered to the road to tury-old storefronts and modest flag down passing cars. When none . homes in a sea of prairie. She stood stopped, he climbed into his Toyota out as sharply as the local grain eleva- 4Runner, turned on the flashers and tor: an A student, thoughtful yet pop- gunned it. Nearly ten miles down the ular, as comfortable at a rodeo as in road, a motorist signaled him to pull biology lab. over and called 911. As Justin was , During April's senior year of high transferred to a hospital, police and school, her mother was diagnosed with rescuers searched the beach for April. lung cancer and died after six months Lt. Ben Tanner of the St. Johns of agony. April's father, an oil field County Sheriff's Department found worker, was too traumatized to care her. "She was lying with her head to for the kids. Though other relatives the north, facing the ocean," he says. took them in, April became a surro- "She didn't have a pulse." gate mom to her siblings Julie, then nine, and Kendon, one. Still, she kept PRIL'SPHOTOISetched her grades up and was named her into her tombstone; it class's salutatorian. She went on to the shows a woman with premed program at Oklahoma State a brilliant smile, corn- University, then studied radiation ther- silk hair and exquisite apy at the University of Oklahoma. cheekbones. But her In October 1998, Amber Mitchell beauty wasn't just skin-deep: April introduced April to one of her busi- was a survivor of family tragedy who ness school classmates-a handsome poured her energy into helping oth- blond named Justin. The two clicked ers, from her younger siblings to the instantly. April had dated a string qf cancer patients she served as a radia- men for whom fidelity was not a tion therapist. "She put more value on strong point; Justin seemed different. relationships than most people do," He spoke of his Christian values. He says her best friend, Amber Mitchell, had grown up in a town even smaller an Internet entrepreneur in Oklahoma than Hennessey, herding cattle with City. "She didn't take life for granted." his older brother on their parents' 120- Who would want to snuff out such acre spread. A quiet and solitary boy, a vibrant spirit? Justin would tell in- he'd blossomed into a star athlete in 116 0.. « a:: w ~ -....J a:: 0.. « high school and graduated as valedic- siblings moved in, and the trouble torian. He'd married in college and began. Julie was 15then, and a rebel- spent a few years drifting between lious teenager; her behavior infuri- low-paying jobs. When he met April, ated Justin, sparking fights between however, he was newly divorced and him and April. At one point, accord- aflame with ambition. "He was among ing to several of April's confidants, he the best and brightest in our class," threatened to never let April bear his says Amber. ''April was attracted to children. Within a year, Julie and his drivenness." Kendon were back in Oklahoma. April and Justin quickly became en- By then, some of April's loved ones gaged; then he moved to Dallas, taking had begun to see a disturbing pattern. a job as a financial analyst for a wood- "Justin seemed very into appear- products corporation. The two car- ances," says April's aunt Patti Parrish, ried on a long-distance romance until a civil court judge. He tried on his August 4,1999, when they married in jeans from high school every month a small ceremony in the Bahamas. and fasted until they fit. He made fun They relocated for Justin's job to of his overweight mother behind her Douglas, Georgia, where April found back, and publicly criticized April's work at a hospital. A month later her' singing voice, her taste in clothing and 117 RD FEBRUARY 2007 her weight. He warned her not to em- tratingly vague, and the details kept barrass him at his company Christmas changing. The case raised a slew of party and discouraged her from call- questions. How did Justin escape with ing or e-mailing him at work. When minor wounds-he left the hospital his barbs made her cry, he mimicked with just his arm in a sling-while his her sobs.Yet April tolerated Justin's wife was killed with a single shot? mistreatment. Why did he claim she'd been drink- But in January 2001, when Justin ing, when her blood-alcohol level was transferred to Jacksonville, April measured .000? Why had he left his decided to stay put. "She told me that cell phone at home that night, and why if they lived together every day, they'd didn't he use April's, in her purse on kill each other," Amber says. Justin the passenger-side floor of his car? bought a condo in an upscale neigh- . What made him drive so far in search borhood, and the two saw each other of help, when there were mansions on weekends. Usually it was April and gas stations along his route? who drove the three hours to visit. Meanwhile, April's friends and rel- She just wasn't ready to give up on atives were pondering possible an- Amber and Patti's first thought Justin. He could be charming, and his swers. Aunt Patti remembered.that in criticisms dovetaiied with some of her the summer of 2001, April had told deep insecurities. "She was harder on her Justin wanted them to take out herself than anyone else," says Amber. $2 million insurance policies on each "She put up with a lot from her men." other's lives. "She asked if I didn't Still, there was always a point at think it weird that he was pushing for which she drew the line. such a large amount," Patti says. "I told her yeah but said I didn't think they THE MANIN the hospital bed was soft- would qualify. She called back the next spoken and personable, and seemed day and said, 'You can't say anything eager to help catch his wife's killer. to Justin. He'll be furious if he finds But something about him made De- out I told you.''' tective Howard "Skip" Cole uneasy. Justin found a company that would Justin's account of the attack was cover them. Not long afterward,April oddly businesslike. "His body lan- began to suspect that he was having an guage and demeanor didn't seem ap- affair. She told Amber she'd found an propriate," says Cole, 35, who'd been earring in his bedroom, and in July assigned to lead the investigation. 2002, she discovered he was playing In the days that followed, Cole's sus- tennis regularly with a rental-car agent picions grew. Justin's story was frus- named Shannon Kennedy. Despite 118 TWO MILLION REASONS FOR MURDER Justin's admonitions, April e-mailed flowed the pews. Several attendees him at work, asking him to tell her were struck by Justin's failure to cry, when he was socializing with other though he appeared to be trying. The women. Justin responded with a sar- next day, Patti called Detective Cole. castic message listing every female She told him what she knew and put he'd glimpsed that day. him in touch with Amber. April told her boss, Ramesh Nair, During a search of Justin's condo, that she was going to confront Justin Cole found the insurance policy in a on their anniversary-August 4. She filing cabinet.' Brought in for ques- visited her husband that weekend; tioning, Justin denied his affair with when she returned, she told Nair that Shannon Kennedy until he was told she'd threatened to end the marriage, she was in the next room; then he in- but Justin had denied everything. She sisted that his marriage had been gen- seemed agitated. On Friday the 16th, erally placid. she drove back to Jacksonville. Cole knew he was dealing with a The next night, she was dead. liar, but arresting Justin for murder Amber and Patti's first thought was was another matter. There were no was!7(/:5~I!lDID l1:" "Justin did it." And Nair was struck witnesses; no weapon had been found. by a memory from a few months ear- Even the motive remained fuzzy. lier: "One day, out of the blue, April Justin was a rising professional with a said, 'If anything happens to me, sus- base salary in the $70,000s; his wife pect foul play.' Ianswered with a joke, earned nearly as much. Living apart and she looked hurt, like, You're not from her, he could cheat with relative taking me seriously. Don't forget." impunity. Did he kill her-and shoot himself-simply to upgrade his life- ApRIL'SBODY WASflown to a mortuary style a few notches? in Hennessey.