Opinion ID: 1237936
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Moore Residence Burglary and the Hickey Murder

Text: On January 23, 1983, William Eaton reported an apparent burglary at the Humboldt County residence of Richard and Dottie Moore, Eaton's stepfather and mother, who were away from their residence for the weekend. The only items missing were the firearms in Richard Moore's collection, which included two rifles, three shotguns, and a .22-caliber handgun. The house had not been ransacked. On February 18, 1983, Berlie Petry had been living with Elizabeth Hickey and her two minor children for three or four years. Hickey was the daughter of Dottie Moore and the stepdaughter of Richard Moore. Petry worked the night shift as a security guard at a lumber company. Both Petry and Hickey owned guns, including rifles, shotguns, and handguns. They kept the guns locked in a bedroom closet, except for a revolver that Hickey kept in a trunk. Petry left for work as usual at 11:30 p.m. As was his custom, he called the residence every hour on the hour. He spoke to Hickey at 1 a.m. and at 2 a.m., but he received no answer at 3 a.m. The line was busy at 4 a.m. and thereafter. When Petry returned home at 8:30 a.m., the telephone receiver was off the hook. In the bedroom, he found Hickey's nude and lifeless body on their bed. Both the bedroom closet and Hickey's trunk had been ripped open. The guns were gone. Also missing was a combination radio and tape player that Petry had recently given Hickey. In Hickey's trunk, officers found a note in Hickey's handwriting that said Call Curt at [telephone number of Rebecca Williams] about money for guns. Hickey had been killed by blows to the head with a bar like a tire iron or crowbar. There were five or six depressed skull fractures that left brain tissue exposed. Bruises on the upper right chest and each shoulder indicated Hickey had been forcibly held down. There were defensive wounds on the back of the hands. Two small knife incisions in the chest near the sternum were apparently inflicted after death. [2] A day or two after Hickey's murder, defendant arrived at his stepfather's residence in Reno, Nevada. [3] He had two bundles wrapped in blankets. Defendant said they were guns that might have been stolen. Defendant's stepfather gave him permission to leave the guns at the residence. On February 28, 1983, defendant returned to Reno and moved the bundles to a ministorage unit. A search of defendant's automobile yielded a product manual for one of Petry's rifles, a knife that had belonged to Hickey and had the name Liz written on it in fingernail polish, and a notebook in which someone had written, Elizabeth, weapons, corner of Simpson and Pine [the location of Hickey's residence]. Hickey's telephone number was written on the same page. Another note with the name Liz and Hickey's telephone number was found in defendant's room at his mother's residence in Eureka. A third note with Hickey's name, address, and telephone number was found in defendant's wallet. Defendant's mother gave police a combination radio and tape player that had been in defendant's room. It was identical to the one taken from the Hickey residence. In a suitcase in the garage of defendant's mother's residence, the police found a shotgun like one taken from the Moore residence. The barrel and stock had been sawed off. On March 31, 1983, law enforcement authorities searched the ministorage unit in Reno, Nevada. They found all of the guns taken from the Moore residence except one shotgun (apparently the one found in defendant's mother's garage) and the handgun. They also found all the guns belonging to Hickey and Petry, and over 1,000 rounds of various kinds of ammunition. Most of the guns were loaded. Moore's handgun, which was one of only four makes that could have fired the bullets that killed Richard Barnes, was never found.