The dispatcher heard it all, the 911 murder of Jose Madrid by Glenn Hughes. It was recorded live early last New Year’s morning, and replayed in court last week during Hughes’s preliminary hearing. Even the homicide detectives in the courtroom were staring at their shoelaces as the soundtrack of Hughes beating the life out of his old friend boomed out of the recorder.
Motive?
Madrid, who owned the car the two amigos had driven downtown in, had left Hughes to drink alone at the Welcome Inn, a popular Fort Bragg barroom described by a patron as: "This place rocks! Almost makes you feel like it's the old times when the mill was running... surly, crotchety and funny as hell. The regulars here are straight out of andy capp/moes tavern! A must stop on the Mendo coast!"
Before setting out, for Moe's, Madrid and Hughes and their two lady friends had been celebrating the advent of 2011 at the Hidden Pines campground where Hughes lived in a trailer with his girlfriend Susan Brown and worked as the campground host.
Madrid was also living there in a tent with his girlfriend, Shannon Wilson. The two couples had become friends and had enjoyed a New Year’s Eve barbecue together, after which the two men drove to town in Madrid's car. but Madrid had driven back to Hidden Pines without his co-celebrant, stranding him in Fort Bragg.
Hughes had to foot it back
to Hidden Pines, which is quite a hike north of town on Highway One. Hughes was very unhappy when he arrived home. He dragged Madrid out of bed and commenced beating on him as Madrid's girlfriend, Shannon Wilson, frantically called 911.
The recording begins with Ms. Wilson’s desperate gasps and shrieks for help. It was hard to make out everything that was being said, due to the commotion in the background, the sounds of grunts and thuds.
Wilson: “Someone’s beating my boyfriend — Glenn, stop. Stop it!”
Dispatcher: “Ma’am, I need you to calm down. Do you know this person?”
Wilson: “Yes – Stop it, Glenn! Oh, God! Stop! You’re killing him. Stop!”
Dispatcher: “Does he have a weapon?”
Wilson: “I don’t know. Maybe a hatchet. Glenn, stop it! Get off him, you fucker.”
More thuds, grunts, shrieks and gasps.
Dispatcher: “Can you tell me where you are?”
There was no answer from Ms. Wilson. Only the dull thuds of fists on flesh and the screams of the terrified caller. The cellphone seems to have been dropped, but it picked up the sounds of a beating that went on and on. Everyone in the courtroom averted their eyes from the recording device, as if it were the evil of what we were all hearing.
Hughes, a picture of disinterest, was sitting with his lawyer, Carly Dolan, at the defense table. He doodled on a yellow legal pad then gazed off at an empty corner of the room. A young man sat stoically in the gallery, a relative of the victim. Everyone else in the room had to be there.
The cops had arrived quickly, but too late. Madrid was gone.
Deputy Richard Munoz, who is now Judge Ann Moorman’s bailiff, was the first one on the scene “at approximately 1:13am.”
Deputy DA Matt Hubley: “What did you find?”
Deputy Munoz: “I saw a man walking away from a body on the ground.”
“Anything else?”
“There was a woman, naked from the waist down, leaning over the body, and pointing after the man who was walking away.”
“What did you do?”
“I discovered that it was a homicide. Ms. Wilson identified Mr. Hughes as the suspect, so I detained him and placed him in the patrol car. By then, Deputy Clint Wyant [Munoz’s partner], had begun CPR on the decedent.”
“Was the victim, Mr. Madrid, was he responsive?”
“No.”
“Did you check for a pulse?”
“Yes.”
“Was there a pulse?”
“No.”
“Was the CPR successful?”
“No. No success.”
“Were there any medical personnel there?”
“Approximately ten minutes later the EMTs arrived.”
“Was the body warm or cold?”
“Warm.”
“Were there any injuries to Mr. Hughes?”
“There was blood, and a small cut on his hands.”
“Nothing further.”
Carly Dolan of the public defender’s office cross-examined.
“So you responded to the scene of what was described as an altercation?”
“Yes.”
“And you found my client there, as you say, walking away from a body on the ground?”
“Yes.”
“Did you detain him immediately?”
“Yes, for my own safety, and the safety of others.”
“Did he smell of alcohol?”
“Not that I remember.”
“Was your contact with him very lengthy?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Then you went back to Mr. Madrid?”
“Yes.”
“Can you describe the lighting?”
“We had two spotlights and the headlights of the patrol vehicle. It was well lit.”
“In your report you describe the victim’s face as being purple.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“And you refer to the victim as throwing up.”
“Yes.”
“Did he eject something from his mouth?”
“No.”
“Then how did you know he was throwing up?”
“I could see it in his mouth.”
“How long did you do the CPR?”
“A few minutes.”
“Nothing further.”
Detective Andrew Porter had arrived at the scene around 3am where he went to the trailer where Glenn Hughes and Susan Brown lived. Ms. Brown, Det. Porter said on the stand, didn’t know anything about the assault.
Det. Porter: “She was asleep when I contacted her. She said the victim and the defendant were good friends. They had had a barbecue the night before; they’d gotten drunk and went to town.”
Mr. Hubley: “They went to a bar?”
Porter: “Yes.”
“Do you know the time?”
“Tennish.”
“How far is the campground from Fort Bragg?”
“Probably about a half-mile.”
“She told you both men left to go to the bar?”
“Yes, and that around 11pm the car returned without Hughes. She told me that he told her”—
Ms. Dolan: “Objection, hearsay.”
Mr. Hubley: “It’s not being offered for truth of the matter, your honor.”
Judge Moorman: “I’ll allow it.”
Det. Porter: “He told her Hughes had pushed him so he left Hughes at the bar. Then sometime later Hughes came back and was upset and angry because he’d been left.”
Hubley: “Nothing further.”
Ms. Dolan: “You met with Ms. Brown inside the trailer?”
Porter: “Yes.”
“When you approached, were the lights on?”
“Yes.”
“Did it appear that she’d been asleep?”
“Oh, yeah.”
“And she told you she’d taken a sleeping pill?”
“Yes.”
“And she told you Mr. Madrid returned at 11?”
“That’s what she estimated, but she said she couldn’t be sure. She said they’d both been drinking quite a lot and was surprised they hadn’t been arrested.”
“And when Hughes returned, he appeared to be pretty angry?”
“Yes.”
“Now, she also told you she was pretty out of it, too, and that she’d been drinking?”
“No. I’d have to check my report, but I don’t believe that’s in there.”
“Thank you, Detective. No further questions at this time.”
Detective Dustin Lorenzo, the lead investigator in the case, was called.
Mr. Hubley: “Did you interview the defendant, Mr. Hughes?”
Det. Lorenzo: “I did, yes.”
“Did you first check him for injuries?”
“Yes. He had a small laceration on the palm of his hand.”
“How did he appear?”
“Intoxicated and agitated.”
“Was he aggressive?”
“Yes.”
“With you?”
“Yes.”
“Anything else?”
“His shirt was torn.”
“Did you contact Shannon Wilson?”
“I did, yes.”
“You interviewed her — where?”
“At the Fort Bragg substation, yes. I asked her to recount the last couple of hours She said she’d consumed some alcoholic beverages — cocktails, she said, and went to sleep at about 5pm. When she woke up she contacted Ms. Brown and found the men had gone to the bar. She ate dinner with Ms. Brown and went back to bed. Later, Mr. Madrid returned and described Mr. Hughes as being left because he was being a jerk. She went back to sleep and hears — a short time later — Hughes shouting ‘Where is that motherfucker?!’ Then the tent was ripped open and Madrid was dragged out by the collar. Hughes threw Madrid to the ground and began kicking him in the head and upper torso. She called for help.”
Hubley: “Did she try to stop the beating?”
Lorenzo: “Yes. As she described it, the first kick to the head knocked him unconscious, and she tried to shield him after that, by putting herself between Hughes and Madrid.”
“Did Madrid fight back?”
“Not at all. He was unconscious from the beginning.”
“How long did this last?”
“Right up to the point law enforcement arrived.”
“Did she get in it?”
“Yes. She had bruising all over her arms and forearms, a mark under her eye — which later became a black-eye — and welts on her cheeks and ears.”
“Were you able to find out which bar they went to?”
“Yes. The Welcome Inn.”
“How far is that from the Hidden Pines campground?”
“About three miles, I guess.”
“Did you talk to William Lee, the bartender at the Welcome Inn that night?”
“Yes. He was familiar with them. He said they arrived about 8pm, Madrid was buying the drinks, and he last saw them around 9:30 when it got busy.”
“Did he observe any tension between them?”
“None whatsoever.”
“Nothing further.”
Ms. Dolan: “When you first contacted Mr. Hughes, did you ask him to get out of the patrol car?”
“Yes.”
“Did he smell of alcohol?”
“Yes.”
“Was the smell strong?”
“Yes.”
“Notice anything else?”
“He was very agitated.”
“Did he talk to you?”
“He yelled at me, mostly.”
Ms. Dolan spent some time trying to pin down how much drinking the two women had done, but the amount was unclear. Then she returned to the beating.
Dolan: “Now, Ms. Wilson told you she did not think Mr. Madrid fought back?”
Lorenzo: “No. She said he did not.”
Dolan: “He was ‘unconscious from the first kick’ — were those your words or hers?”
“Hers.”
Dolan: “Nothing further.”
Judge Moorman: “Does counsel wish to argue?”
Hubley: “The People reserve argument for the time being.”
Dolan: “Defense submits, for purposes of the prelim.”
Moorman: “The court finds the People have presented sufficient evidence for Count One, murder in the first degree with malice and intent aforethought in the murder of Mr. Madrid. And I’ll also find sufficient evidence was presented for Count Two, assault with force likely to cause great bodily harm to Ms. Wilson.”
The next phase, an arraignment on the information produced by the prelim, will be held May 3rd.
Be First to Comment