Opinion ID: 2111189
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Events of Thanksgiving Week 1996

Text: Brown had been a railroad worker for approximately 28 years prior to his death. During 1996, he normally worked away from home at a jobsite from Sunday afternoon until Thursday evening. During the week of Thanksgiving 1996, however, Brown was at home on vacation. On Tuesday, November 26, 1996, shortly after 5 p.m., Diane Hixon of Phillips 66 in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, called Brown's residence to inquire about a past-due account. She testified at trial that the party answering the telephone identified himself as Tom Brown and denied having a Phillips 66 credit card. Janet Whaley, a credit analyst with Phillips 66, then made another call to Brown's residence and, at the request of a party identified as Tom Brown, closed the account. Phillips 66' records showed that the account address when opened on September 17, 1996, was 512 West 21st Street in Kearney, which was the address of Brown's home. On September 30, the address was changed at the request of a telephone caller to a Kearney post office box utilized by Castor. On November 29, check No. 2639 was written on Brown's account to Phillips 66 for $194.08. During a telephone conversation on November 26, 1996, Brown invited his nephew Todd Michalski and his family to have Thanksgiving dinner at his home. Michalski accepted, but circumstances prevented him from traveling from his home in Roscoe, Nebraska, to Kearney on Thanksgiving Day. Thus, the only people present at Browns home on Thanksgiving Day were Brown, Castor, and Eddy. Eddy testified that when he went to bed that evening, Brown and Castor were watching television. Eddy testified that when he awoke early the next morning, Castor was already awake and that he did not look for Brown. Castor and Eddy then went to a restaurant for breakfast. Castor stated that when they returned, Brown was awake and suggested that they all go Christmas shopping, which she thought to be unusual because Brown disliked shopping. According to Castor, the three then embarked upon a shopping trip. At 8:31 a.m. on November 29, 1996, Brown's Visa check card was used to purchase a childs comforter, tights, cigarettes, and a gasoline additive at a store in Kearney. At 9:21 a.m. on the same day, the card was used to purchase a dropcloth, toys, jeans, and a hinge hasp at another Kearney store. Later, at 11:09 a.m., the card was used to purchase insulin, toothpaste, and hand soap at a third store in Kearney. In a videotaped statement given to police on December 15, Castor said that Brown was present and authorized all the Visa transactions, although she actually signed his name. The record includes surveillance videotapes from one of the three stores, which do not positively identify the person making the purchases or those present when the purchases were made. At 10:38 a.m. on November 29, 1996, Castor and Eddy deposited two $2,000 checks which had been written on Brown's account into their joint checking account at a Kearney bank and withdrew $300 in cash, for a net deposit of $3,700. In her statement, Castor represented that on the night before Thanksgiving Day, Brown instructed her to write the checks to herself and Eddy as gifts. Castor stated that after the shopping trip and the visit to the bank, she, Eddy, and Brown returned to Brown's house. She stated that while she was unloading the car, she heard Brown say I'll be a son of a bitch, and then observed him walk toward a pickup which was parked on the street in front of his house. She did not pay much attention to what he was doing, but heard him say he was going to work on the truck. She saw only the rear and side o the truck and described it as brown with primer on it. Castor stated that after Brown got into the truck, she never saw him again. Eddy and Castor installed the hinge hasp, purchased earlier that day, on the basement door sometime that afternoon. Angela Lauby testified that Castor was present at Kearney Keno, where they both worked, before 3 p.m. and again around 6 p.m. before Castor's shift began on November 29, 1996. Lauby testified that she and Castor were friends and that Castor had told her she hated Brown. Lauby recalled Castor telling her that Brown did not know about the Phillips 66 card. Lauby testified that on the same day Castor told her about the credit card, Castor also showed her Brown's checking account, which reflected a balance of more than $10,000, and said she was angry because he cut her off despite the money in his account. According to Lauby, Castor and Brown did not have an intimate relationship, and Castor was frantic when her gun, which she referred to as her baby, was stolen. On the night of November 29, 1996, Castor and Lauby had conversations with their shift supervisor Brian Sazama about switching shifts for the next night, but Castor changed her mind. Castor punched in for work that evening at about 6:50. Sometime after 6 p.m., Michalski arrived unexpectedly at Kearney Keno and told Castor that he had gone to Brown's house but found no one home. Michalski testified that when Castor asked him where he was staying, he replied that he and his family intended to get a motel room in Kearney. Castor told him she would pay half of the room charge, and did so. Castor told police she did not want Michalski to stay at Brown's house because Brown had previously instructed her never to permit anyone to stay there when he was not at home. When Castor departed from Kearney Keno at 11:30 p.m., prior to the end of her normal shift, she left a note for the manager, Becky Crocker, stating that November 29, 1996, was her last day of work and leaving an address where her final paycheck could be forwarded. Castor had previously given notice that her last day would be December 6. Castor told police that after leaving work, she and Eddy went home and put several loads of her personal items in storage, finishing about 3 a.m. on November 30. Castor paid for this storage unit with a check written on Brown's account to which she signed Brown's name. According to Castor, she and Eddy then drove to Grand Island and stayed at a motel there because she needed to pay off four insufficient funds checks at a store located in Grand Island later that morning. After doing so, they returned to Brown's house in Kearney. Michalski and his wife arrived, and he helped Castor and Eddy load the rest of their belongings into their vehicle. Castor and Eddy then left Kearney around noon, driving to North Platte where they checked into a motel room for the night. Castor and Eddy then drove on to Oregon. After staying for a short time, Castor flew to Reno, returning several days later to retrieve her vehicle.