Dangerous Liaisons

If this were true, it certainly could explain a lot.  Zack’s threats might have tempted the Georges to take drastic action, but it was just a theory.  To find out for sure, detectives would have to do something highly unusual in a murder case—force the George’s youngest daughter to take a paternity test.

Becausec Zack’s threats might have tempted the Georges to take drastic action, but it was just a theory.  To find out for sure, detectives would have to do something highly unusual in a murder case—force the George’s youngest daughter to take a paternity test.

Detective: They were stalling us.  They didn’t wanna cooperate with us.  So we had to take measures to have forensic testing done.

Det. Felber: We didn’t wanna go that way.  We wanted them to cooperate.

Corderi: How did you react when you got the test results?

Detective: Well, I don’t think we were surprised.

Because the test results proved what they’d suspected. Jeff Zack had indeed fathered the child, who was born 7 years before the murder.

Corderi:  You had to know this was going to be explosive.

Lt. Whiddon: Right.

Det. Felber:  We knew that that was gonna be the motive.   Up to that time, you know, volatile affair, harassment, that’s a motive.  But to protect your daughter from getting—either taken from you or having a paternity suit filed, that was more of a motive than we had previously.

Still, it wasn’t enough to break the case. The detectives believed Ed George either alone or together with his wife Cindy had found someone or some way to get rid of Jeff Zack, but they still had no way to prove it. After almost a year, they were no closer to finding the gunman.

Det. Felber: We knew the person who shot Jeff Zack was not Cindy George, wasn’t Ed George. We needed to find that third person. And we weren’t coming up with much.

Corderi:  So that looked like someone was gonna get away with murder?

Det. Felber: Yes.

Lt. Whiddon:  Yes.

That is, until a new lead suddenly appeared: an unexpected witness who would hold the key to the case.

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