“I think there’s a tablet in storage,” said Kroupa. He’d rented a storage unit during his last move, and it was filled with boxes of stuff he hadn’t gotten around to sorting.
“Could you see if you can find it when you get a chance?”
Kroupa said he’d look for it, but Kava didn’t expect much. He had no idea how important that forgotten tablet would turn out to be. Dave soon located it, and handed it over to Kava, who discovered it contained an SD card with multiple images erased. He retrieved the deleted photos, his pulse quickening as he realized he recognized many from an earlier search of Liz’s phone. The SD card from the tablet had at one time been inserted in Liz’s cell phone!
Liz had apparently deleted the photos from her phone and then recycled the SD card, plugging it into Dave’s tablet. Kava found himself staring at images Liz believed were gone forever. There were photos of her kids and lots of selfies, some in the nude. As he scrolled through the photos, he paused as he saw something strange. It appeared to be a close up of a tattoo, and as he studied it, he noticed veins around it. He couldn’t be certain, but it looked like the tattoo was on a foot.
When detectives asked Nancy if she had a photo that showed Cari’s bare feet, she didn’t ask why. She supplied the picture, and it was soon confirmed that Cari’s tattoo matched the one in the photo. Had Liz taken a photo of Cari’s foot? If so, it was proof she’d been near the missing woman, near enough to snap a closeup photo. But there was something very disturbing about that photograph. The detectives sought the opinion of another expert, and the news she gave them was extremely helpful to their case. It was also horrifying.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
WHILE CARI’S LOVED ONES, the investigators, and the prosecution team all felt certain that the vibrant woman no longer walked the earth, there would be no justice for her unless it could be proven she was deceased. Murders without bodies are notoriously difficult to prosecute, but many “no-body” trials do result in convictions. When Charles Manson was convicted of the 1969 murder of Donald Jerome “Shorty” Shea at a Chatsworth, California, ranch, the victim’s body had yet to be found—a point the killer emphasized when he appealed his conviction in June 1977. A judge in the higher court denied Manson’s appeal, stressing, “The fact that a murderer may successfully dispose of the body of the victim does not entitle him to an acquittal. That is one form of success for which society has no reward.”
Six months later, in December 1977, Shea’s remains were recovered when Manson’s incarcerated accomplice, Steve Grogan, drew a map for authorities. Unfortunately, many victims are never found. The judge who made the Manson ruling had an excellent point. Why should killers enjoy victory for successfully concealing their victims’ remains? But there is a flipside to the argument. About a hundred miles southwest of Omaha, in 1887, William Marion was executed for the murder of his best friend, John Cameron. The two had left Beatrice, Nebraska, together to look for work on the railroad, but when William came back alone wearing his friend’s boots, authorities concluded he had killed John. A crowd gathered to watch as William was marched up to the platform and a rope was looped around his neck. He swore he was innocent, but everyone assumed he was lying. About a year after his execution, John ambled back into town, looking for his pal.
One hundred thirty years later, as Douglas County prosecutors prepared to go to trial, they were quite certain Cari Farver would not come strolling back into town as John Cameron had. The trick, however, was proving that. Anthony Kava’s latest discovery had just made their jobs a whole lot easier. He’d been right about the disturbing image he’d found on the memory card. Forensic pathologist Dr. Michelle Elieff studied the photograph and concluded it depicted a tattoo on a foot—a foot that was in a state of decay.
The killer had snapped the photo, Brenda Beadle realized, as a gruesome souvenir of her sadistic crime. Cari’s remains might never be located, but the photo of her lifeless foot with the unique tattoo proved she was no longer alive.
Cari had four tattoos, including a large sun between her shoulder blades and the yin yang symbol on her hip