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An inquiry is needed into why
Riverside law enforcement
officials repeatedly dismissed The following list of law enforcement failings is presented in the hope that you will be as outraged as are Mary and others involved in this struggle over the many ways in which law enforcement failed to competently protect and serve the interests and rights of the Stewarts. If you agree that the many disturbing questions that remain about Terese's death deserve to be answered, we hope you will make use of the links on the How You Can Help page and urge state and federal officials to begin an investigation into the conduct of the Riverside County Sheriff's Department and the Riverside County District Attorney's office regarding this matter. 1. Detective Paul Brinkman, lead detective at the death scene of Terese Stewart on June 10, 1992, failed to note the blood splatters on the wall, located approximately 4.5 feet to the left from where Terese sat sprawled in a chair, and seventeen inches above Terese’s sitting head height, rather than opposite the entry wound, where blood splatters would normally occur. Brinkman claims in his notes that the weapon and spent shell casing were discovered under Terese’s hand, but forensic photos clearly show the gun and casing, wedged between the chair cushions under her arm with the barrel of the gun pointing away from her body, an unlikely position had Terese actually fired the weapon. Detective Brinkman also failed to note that the gun was jammed. 2.
Riverside County Deputy Coroner Birdsall performed no autopsy, despite the fact that the
coroner’s policy is to perform an autopsy on any suspected suicide or any death
resulting from gunshot. Coroner Birdsall informed Mary’s son Shane that Terese had
been arrested on drug charges in 3.
A week after Terese’s death, Mary and Shane met with RSO Detectives Brinkman,
Antonaidis and Sgt. Rush and informed them that Wesley admitted to them that he had
instructed his wife and Bishop Arnell to wash blood splatter from the walls while Mary was
away from the residence informing her son of his sister’s death. Shane also revealed
that Wesley seemed to know alarming details about the death scene, although in sworn
statements he declared he had never entered the room where the death occurred. They also
provided information on an additional potential suspect. Det. Brinkman informed the
Stewarts that he still believed Terese had killed herself because she had been
“5150’d” (involuntary psychiatric admission to a hospital) in 1990. He did
not budge from this opinion, even though Mary explained that she and Terese’s
treatment director, Rocky Hill, had initiated the hold because of a drug relapse, not
because she was suicidal, and that Terese was released from the hospital 5 hours after
admission. 4. In the ensuing months after Terese’s death, the Stewarts met in person a second time with detectives and their commanding officer, Captain Rick Sayer (who was later promoted to Deputy Chief, and is currently running for Sheriff of Riverside County), as well as had several telephonic contacts to provide additional information and to request further investigation, but the Sheriff’s office took no further action. According to Ms. Stewart, Brinkman and Sayer were increasingly demeaning and condescending during these contacts. PI Jim Stice, then a Riverside Sheriff’s Deputy, indicated that Capt. Sayer directed his staff at roll calls more than once to notify him if anyone received a call from Ms. Stewart, claiming that Mary was a “nut who wouldn’t go away.” 5.
In September, 1992, John and Lynn Wesley forcibly took control of Ms. Stewart’s
computer rental company, Giant Computer. Mary’s attorney contacted RSO, provided them
with paperwork proving that Mary was the incorporator, CEO, major investor, and personal
leaseholder on the premises, and asked Deputy Hintergardt to evict the Wesleys.
Hintergardt was instructed by Capt. Sayer to stay out of the matter. In October, the
Wesleys began removing Giant’s property from the premises without Mary’s
consent, and her attorney advised her to call 911. Deputy Gillogly responded to the
location, but instead of preventing the illegal removal of Giant assets, he instructed the
President of the Corporation, Bob Brazeau, Giant’s security guard Jim Hoskins, and
Giant’s Training Director, Bonnie Blevins to leave the premises or be arrested. He
instructed them to stop “harassing the Wesleys”, and cited Mary for making a
false emergency call, stating that if RSO ever received another call from her regarding
Giant issues, she would be arrested. Forced to defend herself in court against the
“false emergency call” charge, Mary’s public defender informed her that the
DA’s office and RSO wanted to make certain that Mary never again harassed them. When
Mary demanded a jury trial on the charge, the DA dropped the charges. 6.
In the summer of 1993, Captain Sayer told Ms. Stewart that if her private investigator
concluded that Terese had been murdered, he would reopen the investigation and assign a
new detective. In May of 1994, Mary and her private investigators Pat and Mike Sullivan
met with Capt. Sayer, Brinkman and Antonaidis to provide information, including their
assessment that Terese was a homicide victim. The officers agreed to question John Wesley
and get his fingerprints to ascertain if Wesley had a criminal record under an alias, but
RSO did not fulfill this commitment, nor the one Captain Sayer made to reopen the
investigation. 7.
In September 1994, Mary appealed directly to the Riverside County Sheriff, Cois Byrd, for
assistance. He appointed Detective Eric Spidle, who Byrd claimed was independent of the
Southwest station commanded by Capt. Sayer, to “review” the case. Spidle’s “thorough reevaluation” of
the case concluded there was no reason to believe the death was not suicide, claiming that
since the death scene didn’t look like a suicide, it must be suicide. Byrd suggested
that someone murdering Terese, but wanting to make it look like suicide, would not put the
gun and casing where they were found. He defended his twisted logic by stating that since,
in a suicide, no one would expect for the gun and casing to land where they did, it must
be a suicide. After meeting with Det. Spidle, PI Sullivan advised Ms. Stewart that
“The Riverside Sheriff’s Office doesn’t like you; they think you’re a
troublemaker. Spidle wasn’t interested in anything I had to say. He was there to
defend the department.” Spidle also told Sullivan that he and Capt. Sayer were patrol
partners in the past. So much for someone independent of Southwest station investigating
Mary’s claims! 8.
In February 2001, DA Investigator Martin Silva targeted Mary Stewart as the primary
suspect in Terese’s murder, based on statements made by John Wesley about Ms. Stewart
which had been ruled slanderous in civil court. According to Mary, Silva told her
“Either you killed her, or it was suicide. In these cases, we just want to get
closure.” Mary took this to mean that if she accepted Terese’s death as a
suicide, Silva would not pursue her as a murder suspect. On 9.
In a May 2001 meeting with Ms. Stewart, her attorneys, private investigator, and DA
Investigator Silva, D.A. Michael Soccio announced that he’d read none of the
Investigative Package provided by Stewart’s investigators. Yet he supported and
authorized Silva’s Search Warrant affidavit against Mary, which was based largely on
Wesley’s unsubstantiated, slanderous claims about Mary’s relationship with her
daughter.
The work
of
Wings of Justice is possible only because of the
generosity of those who believe in our efforts to render support and comfort to
violent crime victims' families, as well as holding elected and appointed
officials accountable for the corruption, misconduct and incompetence in
the criminal justice system. Won't you consider making a tax-deductible
donation today so that we may continue this important work? Every donation is
greatly appreciated!
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Since becoming a crime victim in 1992, Mary
Stewart has sought to fulfill her obligations to her daughter and society by
providing law enforcement relevant information. Law enforcement officers, who
characterized Ms. Stewart as "a troublemaker, a nut who won't go away, and
obsessed," demonstrated a tragic ignorance and insensitivity regarding the effect the
murder of a child has on a parent. Mary believes it is proper for a parent to fervently
and persistently seek justice on behalf of his/her victimized child. This belief, however,
is apparently not shared by those in the Riverside County criminal justice system.