Savage Son. Corey Mitchell
in Sugar Land, but the ten-year veteran detective knew he needed to get over there as quickly as possible. He wrote a note so his wife and kids would know he would be gone, grabbed his keys, and headed over to the Sugar Land police station to pick up his camera and pocket digital recorder.
Detective Slot arrived at the Whitaker house, slightly after 9:00 P.M. When he pulled up to the street, he witnessed a Life Flight helicopter ascending out of the neighborhood. He had no idea who was inside the rescue vehicle; however, he knew it must be serious.
Slot exited his car, walked up to the front porch, and noticed several Sugar Land police officers on the scene. When he entered the house through the front door, he saw the prone body of a young man. It was obvious the man was deceased.
Slot turned to one of the police supervisors on the scene to get the lay of the land, and as much detail about the crime scene as possible. Slot asked another officer to give him a walk-through of the Whitaker house. The detective scanned every room and made special note of the awkward way the drawers were pulled out in the rooms. The manner in which they were pulled was an obvious red flag to the seasoned detective. His first thought was that he was staring at a staged robbery.
While upstairs in the Whitaker house, Detective Slot made his way into what looked like a young college student’s bedroom. It was bedecked with sports equipment, desktop computers, and a framed Texas A&M poster, which had not yet been hung up on the wall. There was even a sheathed ceremonial sword propped up in the corner of the main room.
A quick stroll through the bedroom led Slot into a smaller room with a sloped ceiling. It was readily apparent that this was someone’s game room. A couple of videogame consoles lay on the floor next to at least ten videogames in their cases. College textbooks were laid out on a table, and even more Texas A&M posters were found.
As Slot worked his way farther into the game room, he spotted something a bit out of character. He noticed a couple of boxes of bullets, along with a fairly large black metal box. He could see that the box appeared to be some sort of safe. Upon further inspection, he noted that the safe had been pried open with some sort of metal device. The door to the safe had been bent back, and the black paint had been scraped off around the edges.
Slot made his way back downstairs and to the back door, which was unlocked. He also noticed a window had been cracked open slightly; however, he could see no signs of entry through it. He noted that all of the outside screens for the windows remained intact. Slot also observed that the majority of the knickknacks inside the house, as well as the recent Christmas decorations, were mostly left undisturbed.
Once Detective Slot completed his walk-through, and felt sufficiently updated on what had occurred, he exited the home through the back door, so as to let the crime scene technicians perform their tasks. Outside, the detective continued to search for evidence of escape by the shooter or shooters. The only potential pieces of evidence he spotted were some loose pickets on the family’s backyard fence. He could not determine for sure, though, whether they were loose prior to or after the break-in and shooting.
Detective Slot exited the backyard and made his way around to the front yard. There he encountered Deputy Keith Pikett, from the Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Office. Pikett was the canine handler for the sheriff’s department. His specialty was scent-tracking dogs. Pikett was working with three bloodhounds in an attempt to track down the shooter.
Slot stood back as Pikett and his four-legged fellow officers did their magic. The animals made their way over to a Yukon SUV, parked in the street directly in front of the Whitaker home. Slot walked over to the truck, when he noticed a plastic evidence number stand near the right back tire. It was difficult to see in the dark, but he saw a black glove next to the evidence indicator placard. It lay in between the bumper and the curb on the street. One of the police officers walked up to Slot and informed him that he had discovered the glove moments earlier.
Slot continued to work the crime scene at the Whitaker house. He sent Detective Billy Baugh out to check up on Kent, Tricia, and Bart Whitaker. He had no idea that Tricia Whitaker would not make it to the hospital. She passed away while on board Life Flight en route to Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital.
5
December 10, 2003, 10:00 P.M.
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital
West Grand Parkway South
Sugar Land, Texas
According to Kent Whitaker in Murder by Family, where he detailed the night of the murders, he was joined at the hospital by both of his parents. He described being surrounded by doctors and nurses as well, and realized no one would tell him anything about his other family members. When he asked about Tricia, Kevin, and Bart, he was told by a nurse that he and Bart would be undergoing surgery. No mention was made of Tricia or Kevin. Their omissions worried him.
According to Kent, he spoke with his parents. “Mom, I think there’s a good chance that Tricia and Kevin are dead.” He then looked toward an administration representative for confirmation. “Isn’t that so?” he queried, worried what the true answer would be. The representative stared back at him, an eternity frozen between two strangers. She broke the hold with a slight nod, up and down.
“It is,” she quietly muttered.
Soon thereafter, Bart was airlifted into the hospital as well. Kent was informed that Bart had been rather heroic in his attempt to tackle the shooter and had been shot in the shoulder in the process. His oldest son was in a state of shock about the events that had just occurred, but he would be all right.
Both Kent and Bart were ably tended to by the Memorial Hermann staff. Both men had suffered a broken arm and were both set in temporary casts. According to Kent, the bullet he had taken had “entered my right shoulder and traveled through the arm muscle, striking midhumerus and shattering the bone.”
Bart had been shot in the left arm, which had also been broken.
The arms of the Whitaker men weren’t the only things to be set and healed that night. According to Kent, a self-described very religious man, he “felt God’s presence and comfort” in his hospital room the night of the murders. As a constant stream of well-wishers respectfully marched in and out of his hospital room, he claimed that “Scriptures of comfort came to mind” and described it as if “God gave me a shot of Novocain” to deal with the pain of the complete and total upheaval he was now about to embark on.
Miraculously, on the same night his beloved wife, Tricia, and his equally beloved youngest son, Kevin, were murdered, Kent Whitaker decided to invoke a “conscious act of will.” He forgave the shooter.
Not wanting to be burdened with the additional emotional turmoil wrought by anger, Kent made an emphatic decision to forgo anger and hatred. Instead, he decided to turn his faith over to God. According to Kent, he stated, “I wanted whoever was responsible to come to Christ and repent for this awful act.”
Kent’s decision to forgive startled even himself. Earlier, he felt the normal feelings of an individual who had a loved one ripped away from him—depression, anger, the desire to kill his wife and son’s killer. He stated, however, that once he decided to forgive the killer for the murders, “This forgiveness astounded me.” He believed the act saved his life and changed everything for the better.
6
Thursday, December 11, 2003, 7:00 P.M.
Memorial Hermann Sugar Land Hospital
Sugar Land, Texas
The night after the murders, Detective Marshall Slot and his partner, B. W. “Billy” Baugh, paid a visit to Kent and Bart Whitaker at the hospital in their shared room, which had been upgraded from a double to a hospitality suite to hold their numerous visitors. Slot and Baugh were able to speak with both men about the previous night’s fateful encounter. Detective Slot introduced himself to the two men and informed them that he would be lead detective on their case.
Detective Slot wanted to learn more about the Whitakers so he could possibly unearth a single clue as to