On the morning of April 16th a garage owner found a car abandoned in his parking lot. When he looked inside he discovered a terrible crime. A body of a woman was slammed on the driver seat dead, from the position of the body and direction of the blood splatter it was clear the woman had been shot on the head. Her purse was not in the car, police could not find no identification nor did they have a suspect, but the evidence did point to a motive.
In a random carjacking the perpetrator leaves a few clues, police didnt know even where to begin all that changed with the arrival of a man named Thompson. Driving by the scene, he noticed a commotion then he saw the car it looked like his mother’s, to the police, Thompson arrival was too much of a coincidence. Thompson confirmed what the vehicle registration had indicated the victim was his mother Emogene Thompson age 53.
When police checked into Thompson background they learned that his mother had called police in the early April to report a burglary. Gwinnett County police officer Michael Harold Chapel had responded to that call. He was told 7 of the 15 thousand dollars the victim kept tapped to the back of her dresser had been stolen. Thompson the son didn’t know it, but Emogene had told Chapel she thought her son had stolen the money. She was banking on officer Chapel to catch the burglar and if possible find her money. She actually showed him upon to his request the reminder of the money which was probably estimated 7,000 dollars and all the money was in new hundred dollar bills. Officer Chapel had assured the victim the money would be easy to find because it was in consecutive numbered brand-new bills. After the murder of Emogene Thompson, police discovered that the rest of the cash was missing from its unusual hiding place. They believed Thompson might have killed his mother for the money. They would just have to prove it.
Police went to set up roadblocks to question drivers about what they remember from the night before which they found an unusual number of potential witnesses. Emogene Thompson had been murdered on April 15th traffic passed the murder scene on the way to the post office had been heavy because it was Tax day.
Witness pinpointed the police car at the murder scene between 9:30 and 10:30pm, many said it looked like the victim’s car had been pulled over. This disturbing revelations stirred suspicions away from the victim son and as more witnesses came forward police had to consider the awful possibility that the killer was one of the own.
The police were aware that officer Chapel had responded to the victim burglary complaint 2 weeks earlier. When the head of the police looked for chapel’s report on the case he couldnt find it. Chapel was asked about it. When chapel went to prepare the report, police went to interview that victim friends. They said Emogene Thompson had been touched by officer chapel personal interest in her burglary case. She had also told her friends that officer chapel is concerned about her and his keeping an eye on her and that she had observed him following her on several occasions. It begin to look like this guardian angel may have had his own interest.
Before the murder officer chapel was in heavily in debt. After the murder, his creditors told police he paid off what he owed with crisp hundred dollar bills. One of the victim close friend told the police that she had in fact had a conversation with the victim and the victim had reported that she was to meet with officer chapel that night and instructed her to bring her money because he recovered some of her money and could compare serial numbers and hopeful could recover some for her.
Chapel became an enemy of the law he had sworn to uphold. Chapel was relieved of his duty and he was told to turn in his gun and his badge. It was important to treat this case like any other. Chapel rain coat was sent to the lab and tested for any kind of trace evidence.
Tests for miniscule amounts of blood were positive. The stains were shaped like high velocity blood spatter. When a bullet strikes a body, the impact creates a fine mixed of fluids that often blows back toward the weapon and the shooter. While the blood was being analyzed, police received another lead from a car wash manager. Officer Chapel had been into the car wash the day the victim body was discovered and he had his car washed his patrol car and he had paid her with a new one hundred dollar bill for the work on the car.
Only the results of a DNA comparison could definitely link the blood stains to the victim Emogene Thompson. The blood was placed in a gel medium and subject to RFLP test. In this process, mild electrical current separates the longer and the shorter fragments of the DNA to a binding pattern unique to the donor. Upon to the inspection the pattern in the victims DNA resemble the sample taken from the cruiser chapels car. Computer analysis statically confirmed the match! As always the ultimate test of the forensic evidence took place in the jury box. After 18 hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict against Michael Chapel. He was sent to 2 life terms plus 5 years in prison. The stiffest penalty allowed by Georgia Law short of a death sentence.