Chapter Forty-Nine

The Trial

Dani

Kudos to Mr. Palmer. I think he found every living person who had resided in Nawinah at the time of the murders. He was doing his best to discredit Uncle Bill and possibly give him a motive to kill his entire family. None of it was believable. Probably if anyone was the slightest bit credible, it was John Ramsey, the son of Mitch Ramsey, Gunderson Groves’ foreman when Uncle Bill’s mother was overseeing the company. John Ramsey told the court his father now suffered from Alzheimer’s. Since all of John Ramsey’s testimony was basically hearsay, the judge declared it inadmissible.

Palmer also called back Phil Drummond and Glen Myers, trying unsuccessfully to wrench something out of their testimonies that would be detrimental to Uncle Bill and to the advantage of Edgar Fitzsimmons.

Claude Jordan’s neighbors and business acquaintances were called as character witnesses. The neighbors gave glowing accounts of his generosity and community activism. The business associates told the court Claude Jordan was an intelligent and savvy businessman much respected in Ocala’s business community.

A man named Ronald Jordan from Pennsylvania took the stand and claimed his great grandfather was a first cousin to Claude Jordan’s grandfather. When cross-examined by Mr. Baldwin, who asked this Ronald Jordan, how he became aware of the relationship, Ronald Jordan told him he had subscribed to an online service that traced historical family backgrounds.

Palmer called a man who supposedly served in Viet Nam with Claude Jordan. He testified Jordan had rescued several men in his platoon. Mr. Baldwin objected to this man’s testimony, stating they presented no record verifying Claude Jordan’s military status.

Palmer called witness after witness, each trying to vouch for the good character of Claude Jordan. To our minds he did not disprove any of the hard evidence presented by Baldwin. On the following days, it was more of the same. Palmer and his witnesses painted a glowing picture of Claude Jordan. If I only had to consider Jordan’s life, perhaps I would’ve agreed. According to the witnesses, he was friendly, charitable, respectable, and successful. He was an honorable veteran and an asset to his community. The big issue, however, was no matter how Claude Jordan lived his life, he was still Clay Jackson and Edgar Fitzsimmons, a cold, calculating murderer who committed unspeakable acts because of greed and jealousy.

Thus, we sat through the radiant testimonies of all these acquaintances of Claude Jordan, knowing these people didn’t know the true persona of the man. We knew the truth, and truth had to prevail.