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Part 2:
If you haven’t read Part 1 yet, scroll down. It’s the story below this one.
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After getting over the initial shock of finding that incriminating profile picture on Facebook, I had to gather my thoughts.
I asked myself:
“Do I really want to get myself caught up in the middle of this shit?”
“NO”
“Should I do the right thing?”
“Also, NO.”
Just kidding. “Of course, I should do the right thing. And I will do the right thing.”
At this point, the only person I have told of my possible discovery was Brian. He has been my confidant all these years as my suspicions grew. He has been so good about keeping my crazy intuition a secret. A good husband, for sure.
Brian told me he would support my decision to contact the Kingston Police. I told Brian “They are probably going to laugh at me.” The police will say “Look at this middle aged woman coming in hot..Trying to be a Facebook detective. Throwing Facebook photos at us and a bunch of circumstantial evidence to solve a crime.”
But, all I could think about was poor Mr. Coleman and all that his family have been through. Even if I was wrong. At least I tried.
One thing to keep in mind is that over the past 10 years the internet and iphones have become much more widespread. Having an iphone was not a thing 10 years ago. I mean, it was, but they were quite rare and new on the scene.
Nowadays, it’s the opposite. if you DON’T have an iphone, you’re in the minority.
Nowadays, you don’t have to go on your front porch to get the news. Nowadays, you go on your phone to get the news.
So, here I was with my iphone in hand. Looking up the phone number.
“Who do I ask for?”, “What do I say?”
All questions going through my mind.
So I typed in “Kingston Police.” Nervously, I hit the search button. Hoping the phone number would be the first thing to pop up.
Ohhhhh — For Fuck Sake !!!!
You’re never gonna believe what popped up first?!!
Fucking Todd Finley. It was an article that just hit the Kingston Daily News that morning.
“Officer Gets Promoted to Detective”
Turns out one of the detectives in the department recently retired. Bob O’Reilly. They promoted Finley to detective to replace him. The article even said they assigned Finley to the Mark Coleman murder case.
Just my luck.
I absolutely refused to deal with Finley.
I had another run in with him since the police checkpoint debacle 10 years earlier.
That little fucker gave me a speeding ticket last year.
In order to avoid dealing with Finley, I decided I should write an anonymous letter to the tip line that I often read about.
Every time I read an article about this case, The last paragraph always stated…. “Police are asking the public to call or email any tips to the Kingston Police at submitatip@kingston.gov”
So- I did exactly that. I submitted a tip to the tipline.
This is what I wrote:
“Hello Detectives,
I am writing to give you some information about a possible suspect in the unsolved murder of Mark Coleman. I have had a strange feeling about a particular person who was coming to the Kingston area during the time of the murder. His name is Mr. Martinez and he is a speech educator from WestChester County. He had at least 1 contract with the Early Intervention Dept for the County. He may have also been a volunteer firefighter for the Overhill Fire Company somewhere near Yorktown, NY. He abruptly left working in the Kingston area after the day of the murder. Please look for Melinda Martinez from Yorktown, NY on Facebook. You will then discover Mr. Coleman’s missing ring on Mr. Martinez’s hand in the profile picture.
I may have other possible names to help you with this case, but I need to look further into this before releasing. You may or may not be hearing from me, again.
~Anonymous”
For quite a while after this photo discovery, I obsessed over looking at the facebook photo. I would always read the comments people wrote below it. There were only a few comments and they all said “Nice picture” or “cute couple.” I was sort of hoping something of importance would suddenly show up in those comments.
I made sure I saved that infamous emerald ring photo on my iphone “photos folder” so that if/when the wife took her photo down, I would still have it as evidence.
I also checked thoroughly and it appeared that Martinez’s wife was not Facebook friends with Kate or with Dan. I was still so confused over that correlation with Kate and Dan’s house being in her photo….
Kate had very slight knowledge of my interest in this case. I never really went too far with it when speaking to her and she didn’t seem to have much interest in it. She would change the subject the few times I mentioned it. So I very rarely made this case part of our conversations.
With these new findings, I really couldn’t talk to her about it. I saw her house in that photo for goodness sake!
What if she’s in on this or knows something?
I also need to mention.. Back 10 years ago.. , At Kate’s picnic… I finally got a chance to talk to her about that private info she wanted to share with me. We finally got alone time when she walked Sam and I to my car that day when we were leaving her picnic. She told me an earful. Just as I thought !! She did have an affair. It was just one time. That was not like her at all. I was shocked ! But, she did admit that some guy in a Mickey Mouse shirt met her in the bathroom at the Liquid Lounge and yada yada, bada bing, bow chica wow wow !!! She said she didn’t remember his name. She was super drunk. She said “I saw him after that a few times at the Liquid Lounge – but we pretended to not recognize each other.” Without being creepy, I asked her to describe the guy, but she was so vague. She was embarrassed about the entire thing.
Was it Mr. Martinez that she banged in The Liquid Lounge bathroom? I may never know.
Also, I found out from our conversation that Dan had a gambling problem. That’s why they were fighting by the garage that day. Kate told me “He’s been gambling large amounts of money. I think he is addicted. We are constantly arguing.”
Kate eventually came clean to Dan about that “fling” at the Liquid Lounge. Dan forgave her. Dan eventually stopped gambling and their marriage has since improved. They worked hard at healing that hiccup in their relationship. They both truly love each other and they have become extremely happy.
A few days after I saw the infamous photo, I met Kate at Panera Restaurant. That had become our most recent once a month meetup location. She was filling me in on how her sweet Mackenzie was doing in school and all the dance classes she took, etc.
That day, we sat near a window. Kate was sitting at a seat across from me with her back to the window. As she was talking to me, I glanced out into the parking lot. About 10 parking spaces back, I noticed two guys chatting intensely in front of a car. They almost looked like they were about to throw some fists! “Ohh shiittt !!! I like a good fight” I thought to myself. I looked closer and realized it was Dan. He was arguing with a dude. That was not just any dude.
It was Todd Finley.
Last I heard, Kate told me her family doesn’t even talk to Todd Finley’s side of the family anymore. Not even a Christmas card. Their families had a huge falling out. It had to do with the grandma and fighting over the money and property that she left in her will when she died. Kate said “Grandma didn’t really have much to leave. But, still, it created family drama. I don’t really call Todd my cousin anymore.”
I pointed my eyes back at Kate as she was talking to me and carefully focused on her face so that she didn’t turn around to see what I was looking at in the parking lot. Did she know Dan was in the parking lot, and talking to Finley?… Of all people. What could they be getting all crazy about? It definitely looked suspect.
I hoped Dan had not been gambling again.
You see, there have been very strong rumors going around town that Finley had been running a major gambling ring and often tends to his gambling business while on detective duty. Seeing Dan and Detective Dick-Wad together made me feel uneasy.
Well, about 2 months went by. There had been zero rumor rumblings of any new findings on the Coleman case. And there had been no information in the Kingston Daily News regarding the case. I am dying to know if my anonymous tip email even made it to anyone. There was no way for me to verify it was received.
One day I couldn’t take it anymore- Brian was at the Bank working and Sam was at school. I drove over to Kate’s house knowing she and Dan were working from home that day.
I needed answers!
I arrived at their back door and knocked really loud. They rushed to the door.
“I need to talk to you two. It’s serious.” I said.
I had both their attention at this point.
Dan said “Sure, Christine. What’s up?”
The 3 of us plopped down in the cozy chairs they had placed nicely on their back porch .
I reached in my purse and fumbled for my phone. I quickly pulled up THE PHOTO.
“Why is your house in this picture?!”
They both looked perplexed.
They both started to reply at the same time. Then Kate let Dan explain. “We always joke that we think our house is famous because it’s probably the background of so many people’s photos. There is some boat tour that comes up the river from WestChester County for day trips. The boat captain likes to stop the boat here during the trip. We don’t know why. But he likes this spot. Maybe because it’s not as shallow here. Our house even made it on the Today Show last year because Al Roker recorded a piece for the show on that boat.”
Kate then asked me “Why are you asking us about this photo? Do you know these people?”
I took an hour explaining the entire situation to them. It felt good to let it all out.
It felt even better to know that Dan and Kate were not involved with Mr. Martinez or the murder.
Kate then reciprocated and told me something that she kept from sharing with me.
She told me that although Todd Finley is her estranged cousin (due to a family fall out), she was still pissed off that he was running a gambling ring. “That makes the family name look bad.” Kate said “I was super pissed off at Todd the day you and I met at Panera a few months back. I arranged for Dan to approach Todd and tell him that he needs to get his shit together. Dan knew from experience that gambling can really fuck up a persons life. Dan hadn’t gambled in the past 10 years and he wanted to warn Finley not to get caught up in that lifestyle.”
I thought to myself “That’s the encounter I was witnessing from the Panera window that day.” It all made sense.
Dan told me what he said to Todd that day.
“You got a good thing going in your life right now! Don’t ruin that ! You’re a detective!”
According to Dan, Finley didn’t give a shit what Dan was saying to him. Finley denied that he did anything wrong . “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man. You got me all wrong.” He acted like his typical arrogant self and was offended by Dan setting up the meeting and confronting him like that. Todd Finley was so self absorbed that he thought he was invincible.
Fast forward about a week.
It was just another day in the life of Christine.
I had dropped Sam off at school and went shopping to Target. Nothing new. Nothing too exciting.
Until ……
I started getting text after text on my phone.
Ding – Ding – Ding – Ding
All the messages were from my beautiful friend, Kate.
“Go to Facebook !!!”
“Look up Kingston Police !!!”
“Tap on Facebook Live !!!!”
“Press Conference !!!”
“Nowwwwww !!!”
“Arrest in your case !!”
“Arrest in your case !!”
She called it MY case. I love her.
I was sweating and I was shaking.
I left my full shopping cart in the middle of the store and abandoned it.
I walked outside where it was quiet so I could listen to every word being said.
When I finally linked up to Facebook Live, I saw one person sitting front and center. Todd Finley. That cocky smirk. In his best suit. Big shiny microphone on the table in front of him. He read a statement. Those blue eyes looking into the camera then looking down onto the paper. Back and forth. He looked nervous and proud all at the same time. In his statement he talked about all the hard work he had put into this case and all the interviews he made since becoming a detective. All the extra late night hours he put in. That he brought the case back to life since being promoted. He said “I dug deep and figured out who the suspect was.”
He then picked up a photo to show the public what it was that cracked the case open.
It was THE profile picture.
He then went on to announce the arrest of Mr. Martinez.
That bastard took the credit from the tip I submitted. He took the credit for the picture that I discovered ! That son of a bitch !
As I calmed down .. I realized It’s probably better that way. I would rather not “get caught up.”
All the news stations picked up the story. Even all the New York City stations. They were able to get a copy of the arrest statement and reported the motive behind the murder:
Mr. Martinez admitted during an intense interview why he killed Mr. Coleman.
Coleman worked at The WestChester Children’s Hospital. He was asked to work in the Human Resources Dept after many years doing a different job. The hospital then hired Mr Martinez to work as a speech educator with a few young patients in the hospital. Mr. Coleman’s new job was to check education credentials for new employees and subcontractors. Mr. Coleman then discovered that Mr. Martinez was not really a certified speech educator . . He faked his educational background. He lied about it all. Mr. Coleman was about to rat him out.
Martinez was worried because he was about to land a $150,000/year speech teacher job with NYC Public Schools. His dream job ! So Martinez used his military skills, his firefighter training skills and tools, and his connections in the Hudson Valley to make his way up to this area to kill Mr. Coleman.
What ever happened to Todd Finley, you ask?
I found out a few months after the big press conference that Finley was fired from the police department because his gambling ring was found out. Because of his dad, he didn’t get arrested and he just mysteriously didn’t work for Kingston Police anymore.
About a month later, Brian came home from work and said “Guess what?! Todd Finley called me today. He wants to meet with me about borrowing money to buy a business.”
I said “Oh yea ? What does Mr. sniffle dick want to buy?”
Brian said with a chuckle “The Liquid Lounge. It’s for sale. He wants to turn it into a strip joint.”
I rolled my eyes.
~~The end~~