Guilty by Accusation
People accused of heinous crimes have their lives ruined long before conviction or even indictment. What if the accusation is as far as it goes?
From Crimes In Progress editorial: What’s the worst thing you can be accused of? The list of possibilities is long and terrifying… but realistically? The worse the accusation, the more readily accepted before all evidence can be considered. Police regularly shift focus to new suspects as information develops. But the sting of suspicion never quite retreats, especially in an era of rabid armchair internet sleuths. What’s our responsibility as true crime fans eager for a more perfect truth?
In forums and subreddits dedicated to murder and other felonious follies, wannabe Sherlocks (or Spades or Poirots) search for their own personal holy grails. These are not physical items but concepts, the botched case waiting for a righteous amateur to correct an injustice. Some work together, even spending thousands of their own money to access records or contesting denied FOIA requests. Most, however, work on their own, sifting through news stories and, ahem, poorly written blogs, crafting their own version of events and arguing with distant strangers about minute details that just might crack the case.
For most, it’s a rather harmless, if admittedly morbid hobby. Of course, someone has to ruin the fun.
1 in 22,250
- Ratio of people in the U.S. that will ever commit murder, based on numbers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Uniform Crime Report though the number is likely lower. Not by much though.
On November 27th, 2005, Catherine Woods was murdered. The young, Ohio-native had aspirations of being a dancer and pursued her dream in New York, where she shared an apartment with David Haughn.
Like many people in their early 20s, Woods and Haughn had a vague, ill-defined relationship. Media reports from that time generally describe it as “on again off again”. The two lived together but pursued other relationships.
Naturally, police identity boyfriends as suspects early in the case. The next day, Haughn was brought in for questioning. Detective Stephen Goetz considered him a suspect early in the investigation. But Haughn was never charged with Wood’s death. In fact, he was never arrested.
That’s not to say Catherine’s death went unsolved. As it happens, Woods was also in an “on again off again” relationship with a yoga teacher from the Bronx named Paul Cortez. In 2007, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. The jury deliberated his case for only a day and a half.
The case against either Cortez or Haughn isn’t particularly strong. Reasonable arguments can be made for the guilt or innocence of both men. Ultimately, the more damning evidence went against Cortez. He left a fingerprint near blood splatter and stopped calling Woods after her death though he’d called her somewhat obsessively, about 13 times, in the hour and a half before.
Despite this evidence, Paul Cortez still has his defenders, most of whom believe David Haughn is the real killer. And they aren’t afraid to share their opinion.
Despite a yoga teacher’s private school education, good looks and talent, he was bested by a “rube from Ohio”, a prosecutor told the teacher at his murder trial yesterday.
- Lead paragraph in The New York Times article announcing the conclusion of testimony in the Cortez trial.
A quick search about the case yields numerous pages and threads detailing multiple theories how Haughn might have done it. It’s tempting to quote actual writings from actual true crime fans about this case and Haughn’s guilt. Considering we’re talking about a group of people with overt interests in murder, I decided against it.
Most of the results for “David Haughn Ohio” have to do with the Woods murder. No Facebook profiles match the description of Haughn, who reportedly returned to Ohio after the murder and is now 35 years old.
In addition to being painted as a loser and cuckold, Haughn will probably carry the murder accusation with him for the remainder of his life.
Ambiguity in the death of Catherine Woods should be enough to inspire caution in anyone researching the case. But what about an instance you’re certain someone got away with murder?
As long as the world shall last, there will be wrongs, and if no man objected and no man rebelled, those wrongs would last forever.
- Clarence Darrow, famous American attorney, as quoted in American Dream: A Search for Justice
By any account, the disappearances of Felipe Santos and Terrence Williams are incredibly suspicious. Though not directly connected by evidence, the cases share a number of similarities. Both men were in their mid-20s and shared similar body types. Though Santos was from Mexico and Williams was black, they lived in the same city, Naples, Florida. Oh, and Corporal Steve Calkins of the Collier County Sheriff’s Department was the last confirmed person to both men alive.
Santos was the first to go missing. On October 14, 2003 Santos was going to work at a construction site when he was in a traffic accident that Calkins responded to. The corporal later claimed to have driven him to a Circle K convenience store though this could not be verified. Detectives continued their search for Santos into 2004 when Terrence Williams suddenly disappeared.
If Calkins’ role in the Santos case is curious, his connection to Terrance Williams is downright alarming. Workers at a Naples cemetery reported seeing Calkins arrest Williams before asking their permission to leave Williams’ car in the parking lot. He later returned to have the car towed. No arrest report was ever filed. Calkins said he changed his mind about the arrest and decided to leave Williams at a Circle K convenience story (a reader pointed out this was probably a typo, which it was, but subconciously, well… that’s another store). He claimed he left Santos and Williams at different Circle K locations.
Calkins was fired from the Collier sheriff’s department after conflicting statements and a polygraph result suggested he lied about seeing Williams after the arrest. The bodies of Santos and Williams have never been recovered though leads are still offered to police. Producer and director Tyler Perry is offering $100,000 for information leading to the bodies or a resolution in the case.
Though Calkins is no longer a police officer, he was never arrested or indicted for any crime. The Santos and Williams cases remain open and it is generally accepted that Calkins was at least involved but there is no evidence directly implicating him.
Like Haughn, Google searches for “Steve Calkins” and “florida” yields results like “Serial Killer Ex-Cop on the Loose?” among other, less salacious variations. Calkins now reportedly lives in “a middle-class North Naples neighborhood”.
As recently as 2013, the Williams family was still holding press conferences with Perry and Rev. Al Sharpton, asking for public help in the case. Amazingly, Anthony Denton Jr. came forward at the conference to say that Calkins and three other deputies chased him on a beach in 1997 claiming, “They were going to kill me.”
Satisfying resolutions to the Santos and Williams cases are unlikely. DNA samples have been archived from family members so it’s possible for their bodies to still be positively identified, if they are ever found. Even if the guilty party (or parties) confessed, corroborating evidence would still be necessary for a successful conviction.
Despite a number of conflicts and procedural issues with Paul Cortez’s attorneys, he remains behind bars. An appellate court upheld his conviction in 2014.
If we’re sharing opinions, Paul did it. Paul lied to the police and couldn’t explain certain details. It’s also not a terribly convincing conviction. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were overturned at some point. Even if he were released, it would be due to a legal technicality rather than presumed innocence. Neither man will fully escape accusations of murder. Steve Calkins will forever be known as a rogue ex-cop turned serial killer.
Unanswered questions are the bane and lifeblood of true crime fans but murder is an act so vicious that, unless solved quickly and without doubt, ancillary victims are created in its wake, perpetuated by casual observers seeking something elusive and ineffable…
True justice.
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Andrew Egan is writer and editor of Crimes In Progress. His work has appeared in Forbes Magazine, ABC News, Atlas Obscura, Tedium, and more. You can read his article, “Any Which Way but Down or A Fair Amount of Male Nudity in the American West” in the December 2016 issue of Blue Skies Magazine. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. His novel, Nothing Too Original, is available now for Kindle and paperback.
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