Kill the Ones You Love (12 page)

 

 

Apparently, Gabe told Doug a slightly different tale about the murders, and added that he had to kill his mother to protect his family. As to the reason why, Gabe said that his mother was “evil” and had been hired by the people who were trying to kill him and his family.

In this tale, Gabe said that his mother was part of the plan with Bob Kennelly to poison him with rat poison. And he said that he'd ingested a lot of rat poison, and that would have killed a “normal human being.” However, he was able to heal himself because he was beloved by God.

One of Gabe's most outlandish claims to Doug was that there was a conspiracy by the government to set off fault lines in California and sink it into the ocean. Perhaps the reason why Doug did not turn Gabe in to the police was because he thought the man was just a raving lunatic and everything he said was either a lie or a delusion.

CHAPTER 21

On Monday morning, February 22, Judy recalled, “I think Gabe knew he was surrounded. He started freaking out. Because his urgency—it went from restlessness to urgency on Monday morning. That's when I got really, really scared because I had no idea what was going on. My mother-in-law called me and wanted me to get out of the home. I found out later she had gone to work and was talking about Gabe to a couple of her coworkers, and one of the coworkers asked what his name was. So my mother-in-law told the woman because he had used his real name. And you know what? This woman looked it up on the computer and a story came back about
America's Most Wanted.
And that's when my mother-in-law called it in to the police.

“Anyway, my mother-in-law called my cell phone and didn't get in touch with me right away. And Gabe came into the room and said she had been trying to call me and to call her back. So I called her back and she said her mother was in the hospital up in Fairfax and she needed me to take her car up to her. She was basically trying to get me out of the house, and I could tell by her voice that what she was saying wasn't true.

“Gabe was sitting right there. I got off the phone with her and then he said to call her back and to tell her I was going to take a shower first and then be there in thirty-five minutes. So I did call her back and told her that. Then Gabe said to call her back again and ask where the keys were to her car. So I did.

“Basically, Gabe was biding time, and she called back again somewhat later. And in the meantime I was telling him I was not going. And that's when he started putting my clothes in bags and Jessica started getting their stuff together and packing up Kalea's stuff. Right before we walked out the door, my mother-in-law called again. And right at that time, I don't know why, my brother walked in the door.

“I was standing at the top of the stairs. And my brother walked in and said, ‘They have the roads blocked off to the entrance of the neighborhood.' And there was a SWAT team out there and snipers on the roofs. And that's when Gabe flipped out.”

 

 

Around 10:30
A.M
., Special Weapons and Tactical (SWAT) team members started blocking all routes in and out of Dominion Drive in the Prince William Estates neighborhood. Snow lined the roadways, and it was a very cool and shadowed morning under the trees.

The SWAT team was actually a part of the Capital Area Regional Fugitive Task Force (CARFTF) and they were suited up, heavily armed and ready for anything. They already knew all of the wild claims Gabriel Morris had been making to everyone, and he was clearly unbalanced. The worst fears were that they might now be headed into some kind of hostage situation or a shoot-out. This could be especially dangerous, since they knew Gabe had been a trained police officer. They didn't know what kinds of weapons he might have with him or if he was wearing body armor.

Judy recounted, “He didn't say anything. He just basically pushed us out the door and started giving orders. I was completely terrified. He found my dad's rifle, and I don't know if it even had any ammunition in it, but he wrapped it in a blanket and handed it to me. I don't know what he planned on doing with it. And then he took all the bags and took them out. He said I was riding with him. And he made my brother give him the keys to his SUV. He told my brother to drive his car.” In fact, Gabe made Jessica and Kalea go in the Silver Ford Taurus with Judy's brother.

By that means, perhaps Gabe was hoping to get away with Judy while the others were detained. If so, he was sacrificing Jessica and Kalea at this point in time.

Judy recalled, “I was so scared. I just kept thinking, ‘Somebody stop this! Please, somebody stop this!' Then we got to the intersection, and that's when the police pulled behind us. They had their lights on, and pulled us over and stopped us. And Gabe actually stopped.”

 

 

At around noon, as the Ford Taurus and Ford Explorer made their way from the driveway onto Dominion Drive, the SWAT team members suddenly broke cover and swooped in. Jessica, Kalea and Chris were detained first. Gabe and Judy made it a little farther, onto Curtis Drive, when they were suddenly blocked by squad cars.

As the
Inside NoVa
weekly newspaper related,
The roar of cars and trucks on nearby Interstate 95, which runs adjacent to the neighborhood, drowned out commands shouted from a police bullhorn used to coax Morris from the car. From 150 yards away, police could be heard telling Morris to get out of the car with his hands up.

Despite their worst fears, Gabe surrendered without incident, even though he was in possession of a loaded .45 pistol and a rifle in the vehicle. Jessica surrendered as well without incident.

Judy recalled, “Gabe saw the police car lights and he said, ‘Oh, well.' I'm not sure exactly how he phrased it, but he said, ‘They're pulling us over.' And I said, ‘I'm really, really scared.' And he said, ‘Just do what they say.' And then that was it. He cooperated one hundred percent and it was over.”

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) soon came out with a short statement about the arrests, and they also related how many law enforcement agencies had been looking for Gabe, Jessica and Kalea. These included the USMS, FBI, U.S. Marshals Oregon Fugitive Task Force, Washington County Sheriff's Office, Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police, Multnomah County Probation and Parole, Clackamas County, Coos County Sheriff's Office and even the Oregon National Guard.

Of course, Bill and Rita Pope were the two people waiting most anxiously for an apprehension of Gabe, Jessica and Kalea. On that Monday morning, they got a phone call from the Bingham County Sheriff's Office. Rita said later, “Bill phoned me immediately at work. He was in tears, and he said, ‘They're okay!' During the past two weeks, I had every worst-case scenario running through my mind. I couldn't stop thinking of the horrible things that might have happened.”

But the worst things didn't happen to Jessica or Kalea. In fact, the Popes were informed that Kalea was now with police officers, eating popcorn and “having a great time.” Prince William County Police Department (PWCPD) 1st sergeant Kim Chinn later said, “We've got her at the station and we've had her coloring and giving her snacks.”

Around that same time, a reporter for the
Blackfoot Morning News
contacted the Popes. Bill Pope said that they were anxiously awaiting word that they could go and see their daughter and get their granddaughter. Bill added, “I do know because of the spirit and nature of my daughter that I'm sure she wasn't involved in it. He probably threatened her and told her he would kill her if she didn't stay right with him.”

Bill was wrong in this assessment, but it may have been a type of brainwashing on Gabe's part that had made Jessica go along with the whole cross-country scenario. By February 2010, she was fully under his spell.

Rita Pope told the reporter that she had pleaded with her daughter not to go to Oregon in an attempt to patch up her marriage with Gabe in 2009. Rita said that Jessica knew before going that Gabe had put them deep in debt. Rita added, “But I don't think she really knew how bad it was until she got out there. For years, she was the only one working to support the family.”

The Popes were determined to go to Virginia in person and collect their granddaughter. They made plans to drive down to Salt Lake City, Utah, and catch the red-eye to Washington, D.C. Rita told an Idaho reporter, “I just can't wait to get there and hold my little granddaughter.”

CHAPTER 22

Gabe was taken to an interview room in the PWCPD. Despite the fact that he sat in a straight-backed chair for the next four hours, he never complained or whined like some suspects did. And though he did not look outwardly agitated, his voice betrayed an inner turmoil.

The two investigators, one with the last name of Coady and the other with Troutner, were not confrontational in style. They tended to let Gabe answer questions in any length that he wanted. Coady started out by asking how Gabe was at the moment. Despite the circumstances, he answered, “Just fine.” Then he added, “I'm breathing, alive.”

Coady replied, “You can't beat that.”

To which, Gabe said, “Well, it's a matter of time, I suppose.” Which indicated he thought he might be heading toward the death penalty.

Coady said, “Well, it's a matter of time for all of us.”

Gabe responded, “Right. You know, I'm not gonna make this difficult for you. You have questions—just shoot 'em and I'll tell you the truth. I'm not gonna play games with you. I'm not gonna try and be intelligent. You guys got a job and I'm not gonna frustrate it. If I'm in your custody, that's what should be.”

Coady said there were two sides to every coin. He wanted to hear what Gabe had to say about all of this. “We're not gonna get a dome light out or beat you with rubber hoses. That's not what we do.”

Troutner added, “You're in custody. We gotta take care of some business first.” So then Coady read Gabe his Miranda rights, and Gabe said he understood them and wanted to keep talking, anyway.

Coady then said, “What it sounds to us is you've had a bad time of it. You've had some pretty strange things happen in your life recently.”

Gabe stated, “Yeah, for sure. It's been a strange life altogether, to be honest with you. But what can you do?”

Troutner added, “I know that Judy has a lot of respect for you, 'cause she really feels that you helped her out [with her medical condition]. And Doug said they don't really understand how. All she knows is that she physically feels better.”

Gabe responded, “She will always be that way. She'll never go back to the way she was before.”

Troutner said, “Yeah, I think she believes that too. I was talking to Doug and he said, ‘You know, I don't understand it. I don't, but it worked.' It meant a lot to Judy too, because she'd been in chronic pain for so long. And then just to have it go
poof
—that's pretty amazing.”

Gabe replied it would be nice if everything could be that way.

So Troutner added, “It has been a long trip, hasn't it?” He might have meant from Oregon to Virginia. But Gabe took him to mean about his life. Gabe said, “It's thirty-three years so far.”

Coady said, “I think probably the last three weeks have probably been the hardest, though, wouldn't they?”

Gabe's answer completely surprised them. He said, “No.”

Coady replied,
“No?”

Gabe continued, “No. I mean, you know, you live every day and you're grateful for each one. And the experiences you have at each point and each turn teach you something new about yourself, and the people around you, and the world you live in. Sometimes it rains and sometimes it's sunny.”

Coady said, “More often than not, there's a reason for a man's actions.”

Gabe agreed that was true, and added, “I can tell you anything you want to know. I'm not gonna lie to you.”

Troutner spoke up and said, “We heard secondhand that you were concerned about getting sick and—”

Gabe broke in with, “We all get sick. I mean, people freak out and say, ‘I don't wanna get sick from this. I don't wanna get sick from that.' We're all going to die from getting sick from something. But, I mean, shit, you can be sick and then be fine the next day and—”

Troutner jumped in and said, “Your family was getting sick.”

Gabe saw where he was going with this. He replied, “Oh, the poison.” And then he added something very odd: “Well, I'm not worried about that sickness, because we don't have it anymore.”

Troutner was surprised by this comment as well, because the supposed motive for the killings was because Bob Kennelly and possibly even Robin were poisoning Gabe's family. At least, that is what Gabe had been telling Jessica.

Troutner said, “Um, you did what you had to do to protect your family. You got 'em out of the situation. You got 'em away from what was making them sick. Like any father would be expected to do.”

Coady added, “You're gonna do whatever you have to do to protect your kids, right?”

Gabe responded, “I'll tell you what I did. Where to start? You tell me.”

Troutner replied, “We understand you had a rough childhood. I'm just telling you what your friends told us.”

Gabe said, “Okay, my dad took me out in the ocean when I was about four years old. He dropped me into it and came back to the beach. I was aware that he had done that. And I passed out and blacked out and woke up in the water. So either I'm nuts or I remember that happening. But I don't really feel like I'm crazy. I mean, I've been to psychiatrists and they say I'm a little intelligent. Dad dropped me off in the ocean and I walked back to shore, and Mom and Dad looked shocked that I came out, and I'm happy.”

And then Gabe accused his half brother of beating him and sexually abusing him as a child—the same Jesse who had always taken his side and tried to protect him.

Gabe said, “I remember when I was, like, six, he got the local black girl and forced me to have sex with her. Him and all his little friends. And, like, Mom, she says she loves me, but beats me with the wooden spoon and stuff. And I mean I'm not angry or bitter. I love them. I mean, when I describe my mother, she's, like, the only reason I made it through my childhood somewhat decent. Though, I suppose, in these circumstances, that's somewhat questionable.”

And then Gabe went on a rant, without hardly drawing a breath. “Even as a young child, I learned to close my eyes and ask for help, and that's why I'm alive.” Gabe seemed to be indicating that he asked for help from God. “That's how I continue, and that's how I grow. That's how I learn things and can bless the people around me.

“I know that Mom made more than just an attempt, and then she took off. And I think he's dead (his father), and a sister I had never met called me and said she had his ashes and wanted me to be involved with that. But I told her no. I don't want anything to do with it. I've never loved him, never knew him. It's hard to talk about it.

“When I was nineteen, I looked up and I realized I was making decisions with my life based on weaknesses versus faith. At nineteen, I decided I was done with weaknesses and fears. But I did love everybody. I didn't want to hate anyone. And so, quite honestly, I turned to God and I asked him if this whole Jesus story and spirituality was true. And I got a resounding yes.

“So it wasn't, like, ‘You're holy. You need to save the world.' It was, like, ‘I love you, man. Come to me.' Very humbly. And then I tried to forgive my dad. I made contact with him. He said, ‘Why don't you come out to Oregon and spend some time with me?'” (Apparently, Danny Morris lived in Oregon at that point.) “You know, he hadn't changed a lot. It's hard to try and forgive someone who's done stuff to you. And I let him go out of my life. He ain't gonna change. I even invited him to my (Author's note: Gabe mentioned some kind of event), and my mother had a reception at her place.

“I know some special things. I went over to Australia on a mission. I learned some special things over there from beautiful people. Polynesians, Samoans, Aborigines.”

Then his mind quickly went back to his mom. “She ended up being in a relationship with an individual named James Anstey. And she had a heinous relationship with him.” This was an odd comment. Gabe had spoken previously of James as the good father he never had. But now he seemed to be lashing out at everyone who had been close to him.

Gabe went on to accuse James of all sorts of illegal activities, which were not true, and talked about the divorce. Then Gabe ranted about his mom supposedly giving children medications from a hospital, and it wasn't clear if he was talking about himself and Jesse as children. This quickly changed into the subject of Bob Kennelly.

Gabe said, “Boy, the hell that guy gave to her life. She didn't have a clue. I'm pretty clued in. I try to pay real close attention. And we (Gabe, Jessica and Kalea) go over there and try to make a life with him. We try to make Mom happy. We try to bring energies and the knowledge that we have and healing, and love, consideration, prayers and music.

“They got medical marijuana up there in Oregon, and they got a future and can just relax. Get off those crazy meds that are making you crazy. Mom is goin' nuts. And I start overhearing conversations about how they want to hurt us, because I don't sleep very much. I stay up. And I felt that something was wrong and I had to pay attention to what people were saying. And I caught Robert putting rat poison in food that night. So I purposefully drank in this food because I wanted him to see it wasn't gonna affect us, because I was pretty certain Jessica and Kalea had gotten some.

“So I shared it with them, slept close to them, prayed for them and took it (the poison) out of them. I experienced it myself for me to die. I mean, he made a solid threat on our life. And it was a situation where I had an advantage and took it. And I have been a police officer before.

“I have seen rape cases. I've seen beating cases. And I heard him (Bob) talking about a building with a nice little room for himself, which my mom never knew. I can put that on the table. Okay, I have to spend the rest of my life in prison so that my daughter can believe in her father. She saw me do these things. And I know she's got a memory, because I had a memory from the age of four. And that's what the world wants to do to individuals who can do these types of things.

“I'm happy, okay. I mean, have I had a hard day? No. The world's having a hard day. And when I'm sitting next to a cellmate and I talk to him and I discuss with him his life, I will love him just as much as I've loved my daughter, as I love my mom, as I love anyone else in the world. And we'll see what happens because He's the reason I'm here. So are you two. So I mean, there ain't no complications. I ain't gonna tell you a different story.”