Free And Then She Killed Him by Robert Scott

want the sheriff ’s office to find out who did it and what they possibly did it for.”
    MCSO investigators were certainly doing that. Investigator Chuck Warner was directed to conduct a background investigation of Miriam Giles Helmick. Using Accurint, which was a computer Internet program, Warner discovered that Miriam had lived in Jacksonville, Florida. While living there, Miriam had been married to Jack C. Giles, who had committed suicide on March 15, 2002. Before that, their daughter, Amy Giles, age twenty-three, had died on August 29, 2000. Amy had died of an accidental prescription drug overdose.
    Warner found that Miriam had two liens and judgments against her. The first was a federal tax lien of more than $20,000 from the year 2007. The second was a civil lien in the state of Georgia for $9,731.
    Warner pulled up other data on Miriam and noted that she had lived in homes around Jacksonville, Florida, during the 1990s until 2004. In 2003 and 2004, a number of court actions had taken place concerning Miriam. Conseco Finance Company sued her, and in the judgment Miriam had to turn over a boat, a boat motor and trailer to them. American Express filed a suit against Miriam and Jack Giles for $68,189. Miriam seemed to have sold her home on Landmark Circle to help defray these costs. Then Miriam moved in with her father and stepmother in the Jacksonville area after the death of her husband.

C HAPTER 10
    “I’ M B ETTER O FF WITH H IM A LIVE T HAN D EAD .”
    On June 11, 2008, Investigator Lissah Norcross interviewed Portia Vigil, thirty-seven, Alan Helmick’s daughter who lived in Delta, Colorado. Portia told Investigator Norcross that she didn’t know of anyone who might want to harm her father. She said he had always been fair and even-handed in his business practices. Most people who met her father liked him.
    Portia added that Alan’s first wife, and her mother, Sharon Helmick, died unexpectedly about four years previously. This had been from a sudden heart attack. It had been a very difficult situation for everyone in the family, including her sister, Wendy, who lived near Denver, Colorado, sister, Kristy, who lived in Seattle, Washington, and her brother, Alan Jr., who also lived out of state, in Alaska.
    Portia related that her father, Alan, had run Helmick Mortgage in the area since 1986. She stated that he had always been an honest but stern businessman, and that everyone in Delta knew him. Portia also said that, in 2002, her father had gotten out of the mortgage business and moved into land development through his business Crista Lee. Portia mentioned that he owned land in Delta, Garnet Mesa, Fruita, and Clifton. Portia also related that she now ran the Helmick Mortgage business in Delta.
    Portia didn’t know if her father had a specific attorney or if he had a will, but she had talked with him about getting a will after her mother had died. Portia related that her father had always been the type to be very active in his finances and to keep on top of his business transactions.
    Portia told Investigator Norcross that after her mother’s death, her father said he was going to take ballroom dancing lessons because it was something his deceased wife had always wanted to do. Miriam was working at a dance studio and she became Alan Helmick’s dance instructor. The couple had been living together first in Delta, and then got married in June 2006 and bought a home in Whitewater, where they had lived up until the point of Alan’s murder.
    Portia said that Miriam was very different from her mother, and it was hard for her and her siblings to get to know the woman. Then Portia added that before his marriage to Miriam, she could always call her father, leave a message, and he would get back to her in a short period of time. Portia stated that during that period, she spoke with her father on the phone at least twice a week.
    Portia reported that everything had started changing when her father married Miriam. And