An Act Of Murder (14 page)

“I'm learning each day but I realize I've been expecting too much,” he said. “Never feel you have to say I love you or call me at work.”

Steve told Kim he would be there when she needed him and he just wanted her to be herself because he had fallen in love with that woman. He asked Kim to tell her therapist how special she was and that he now understood how lonely he made her feel and that he would do anything he could to make her happy again. He promised Kim he would always be there for her.

Steve said if he and Kim worked together they could have a great marriage, but he admitted it would take a long time. He said he knew he couldn't erase the past but he could slowly build a better future.

In another letter Steve talked about how wonderful their relationship used to be. And he told Kim not to be afraid to trust him and love him again. Steve wrote this letter after a telephone conversation with Kim.

He told her he wanted her to know that hearing her voice made him feel wonderful. He said his eyes had been opened, his mind had cleared and his heart had grown. He said that for some reason he had been remembering the night they first met at Maureen and Mike's house. The minute he saw her he was struck by her beauty and after just a few minutes he felt comfortable with her and knew they were going to have something special. He was drawn to her because he sensed she was kind, sensitive, caring and affectionate. He said by the time he talked to her the next day his heart belonged to her.

Steve reminisced about their wedding and how he had to fight to keep from crying as Kimberly walked down the aisle. He told Kim she was the most incredible looking bride there ever was or ever would be. Steve talked about sitting in bed watching television with Kim when she was pregnant and he told her he remembered all the love and strength she had shown him over the years. He said he always knew he had the greatest, most beautiful wife in the world, but his depression clouded his mind and prevented him from doing all the things he wanted to do now. But he said he knew he was going to make it because she made him want to be a better man. He said now he wanted her to draw on his strength rather than him drawing on her strength.

Steve told Kim not to be afraid because she could trust him and count on him again. And although it would take time, he would do everything in his power to be the man she thought she was marrying.

“I love you with such passion and it is a great feeling. You wrote you were afraid that your feelings for me won't return or maybe that they will,” he said. “I believe they are still there but I built such a wall around them it is almost impossible for you to open up to me again. I understand that after all these years it is difficult to put yourself in a vulnerable position where I could possibly hurt you again.”

Steve said although he and Kim made a commitment to each other and promised to always stay together, he wouldn't blame her if she wanted to leave him. But he wanted her to know that her husband was a special man—an intelligent, sensitive, caring and affectionate man who loved her very much. He told her not to be afraid to fall in love with him again because he would always be there for her.

The word “wife” meant so much more to him now, he said. Kim had been his lover and best friend. He said their marriage meant everything to him and he believed it was worth it to fight to make it work. If only Kim would give him a chance, they would have the marriage and family that they both had always wanted. Steve told Kim he knew that he had hurt her, but asked her to take a leap of faith and believe and trust that the love they once shared could come back stronger than ever.

“I'm sorry if this has upset you or made you feel smothered. I just can't contain my feelings for you anymore. I have nine years built up in me. Please don't be afraid to open your heart to me. I won't disappoint you ever again. I love you very much,” Steve said, adding that if they worked together they could accomplish anything.

In yet another letter, Steve told Kim she was the most beautiful woman in the world, inside and out. He asked her to have faith in him, stand by him and give their marriage one more chance. Not quite what Kim had in mind.

Steve said although he had kept his emotions bottled up his entire life, he just couldn't contain them any longer. He said he was even dehydrated from crying so much and now he understood the saying, “crying an ocean of tears.”

Steve said he now knew true happiness was not how green a fairway was, but seeing his wife and child smile at him, knowing they were happy and proud he was part of their lives.

He explained that he couldn't let Sarah grow up believing it was okay for a man to make her feel the way he had made Kim feel. Although he knew it was impossible for him to change thirty-five years overnight, he was taking the first step to becoming the man he had always wanted to be. Steve told Kim he needed her help to change his ways.

“Love is something that is felt and is difficult to put into words. When I look at you I see the most beautiful person I have ever seen, inside and out. Your strength inspires me to become a better person. This can only come from inside of me but I need your support and love for me to succeed,” he said.

Steve told Kim although she had been faithful to the vows they made on their wedding day, he had not. He said he had received all the “better,” while Kim had received all the “worse.” But if Kim had faith in him, trusted him and loved him, he would make their marriage work.

While writing the letter Steve told Kim he had thrown up three times—the result of all his pent-up feelings coming out.

In order to have a complete life with his wife and daughter, Steve said he knew he had to love himself first and he was trying to do just that. Loving Kim and Sarah was the easy part. He said he loved them more than life itself and finally realized just what that meant to him.

“Please stand by me one more time and give our marriage one more chance to succeed. I will fight to improve myself as a husband, father and person,” Steve said. “I love you.”

While Steve was pouring his heart in his journal and his letters to Kim, she was doing some writing of her own. Unlike Steve, however, who promised to be a better husband and father, Kim didn't talk about the changes she would make to improve the relationship. Instead she focused on the changes Steve needed to make.

Kim wanted Steve to:

Kim did take some responsibility for the way Steve acted throughout the marriage in a note she wrote before he died. Kim explained that, for Sarah's sake, for her family to appear normal, she made it easier for Steve to remain withdrawn and “hermit-like.” Kim didn't want to be someone “who bitches all the time . . . to change an unchangeable person.”

On March 3 Corporal Joe Gamble talked to Dr. Timothy Wex, chief anesthesiologist at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Maryland, who, in the course of his duties, interacted with surgical technologists, including Kimberly and Ken Burgess.

The purpose of the interview was to corroborate Burgess's statements to police that after he learned of Stephen Hricko's death he told Wex that Kimberly had asked him to kill Steve for her. Gamble also wanted to ask Wex about the hospital's policy for storing various drugs in the operating room.

Wex told Gamble he learned about Steve's death sometime around February 16 when he heard other operating-room personnel talking about a newspaper article reporting the incident. Gamble said Wex might have mixed up the date because the
Washington Post
didn't report the story until February 19.

One evening, shortly after Steve's death, while they were in the locker room changing their clothes, Burgess told Wex that Kim had approached him a few days before she resigned in December 1997 and asked him if he knew anybody who would kill her husband for $50,000. Wex told Burgess to call the police and tell them what he knew, which he did.

Gamble then asked Wex about curare and succinylcholine, the two drugs that Kimberly may have used to kill Steve. Wex said both the drugs were present in the operating room and neither was controlled. The doctor explained that narcotics were dispensed by a system that only allowed a user to access the drugs by entering a personal identification number. That system provided a way for institutions to track the different narcotics. However, there was no such system in place for curare or succinylcholine, Wex said.

The reason those drugs weren't tracked was because they couldn't be abused. And for good reason—anyone who attempted to abuse curare or succinylcholine would die.

Gamble asked Wex if there was any way to determine whether Kimberly took either of the drugs from the operating room. Wex said it would be impossible to account for every dose of the drugs in question. According to Wex, if a doctor had a technologist draw a dose of either curare or succinylcholine and then didn't use it, it would just be thrown into the trash.

“Based on your information and experience, do you think Kimberly could steal the drugs in question from the hospital?” Gamble asked Wex.

“It is absolutely possible,” he replied.

Wex said that anyone working in the operating room could steal one dose or multiple doses of the drugs because they were not kept under lock and key. Instead, they were kept on a cart, where they were available for immediate use during surgery. Wex added that there was ample opportunity for the surgical technologists, who prepared the room for surgery, to steal the drugs.

Gamble also asked Wex how the drugs were administered. Wex said they were either administered intravenously or intramuscularly. Wex added that during her career as a surgicial technologist, Kimberly would have seen the drugs used many times.

That same day Gamble also spoke with Dr. William Keefe, another anesthesiologist at Holy Cross Hospital. Again Gamble wanted to corroborate Burgess's statement that after learning of Steve's death, he also talked to Keefe about his conversation with Kimberly. Keefe said Burgess told him that Kim asked him if he would kill Steve for $50,000, or if he knew somebody who would do it for her. Like Wex, Keefe advised Burgess to contact police and tell them about that conversation.

Then Gamble asked Keefe the same questions he asked Wex about curare and succinylcholine. Keefe provided the same information as Wex about the availability of the drugs in the operating room. Keefe said the drugs were kept in the top drawer of the anesthesiologists' cart in the operating room. He said there was no accountability for the drugs and it would be nearly impossible to find out if a few vials were stolen during the time Kim worked at Holy Cross.

On March 3 Gamble interviewed Helen Basaman, an assistant nurse manager for the operating room at Holy Cross Hospital. Basaman supervised the surgical technologists, including Burgess and Kimberly.

Basaman said that Burgess also told her about his conversation with Kim. Basaman said Burgess approached her on February 19, the day the
Washington Post
reported on Steve's death. Burgess told Basaman that Kimberly asked him if he could find a hit man to get rid of her husband for $50,000. Basaman recalled that Burgess said he believed Kimberly was serious about having her husband killed. Basaman told Burgess to do what was right and advised him to call the state police.

Basaman told Gamble that Kimberly Hricko was a smart and energetic employee. She said Kim never discussed any personal issues with her. Through this interview Gamble also learned that a former coworker, Marcia Carroll, visited Kim at Perkins after her arrest.

During Gamble's March 18 interview with Carroll, an operating-room nurse at Holy Cross Hospital, she told him that she had visited Kimberly at Perkins three times since she had been arrested. Carroll said she went to see Kimberly to offer spiritual and emotional support, even though the two had not been particularly close outside of work. She told Gamble she started visiting Kim because of her religious beliefs.

During her first visit Carroll told Kim she didn't want to know anything about the case, because she didn't want to become a witness. So Kimberly didn't talk to Carroll about her relationship with Steve or his death. Their conversations were limited to religion and concern for Kim's daughter.

Gamble also spoke with other employees of Holy Cross Hospital. Through these interviews police learned that coworkers and supervisors considered Kim a knowledgeable surgical technologist who enjoyed a good reputation. In fact, the supervisors wanted to hire Kimberly to work at the hospital full-time. During her time at Holy Cross, Kim actually worked for First Assist Inc., a temporary medical-staffing agency.

On Monday, March 23, Gamble spoke with Sean Petrone, the golf professional at Patuxent Greens Country Club, where Steve worked as the course superintendent. Petrone, who first met Steve at Patuxent Greens, worked with him for approximately three years. The two were friends until Steve's death.

Petrone said Steve told him about the problems in his marriage and said he was going to counseling to become a better husband and father. Petrone said he didn't know that Kim was having an affair.

A couple of weeks before Steve died, Kimberly called Petrone and asked him to take Steve out for the evening to have a “guy night,” because she would be going out with her girlfriends. Petrone said it was either on a Thursday or Friday night that he, Steve, and Jeff McMackin, who was then the assistant superintendent at the golf course, went to the Green Turtle Pub in Laurel.

Petrone told Gamble that Steve didn't drink much alcohol that evening. In fact, contrary to what Kim wanted everyone to believe, Steve wasn't much of a drinker, nor did he ever smoke. Petrone said he remembered socializing with Steve on four or five separate occasions and never saw him smoke.

Although Steve did chew tobacco, Petrone said he hated cigarette and cigar smoke. Petrone recalled several instances that Steve talked to him about his aversion to cigarette and cigar smoke. Another Patuxent employee, who worked with Steve for about a year, said he had never seen Steve smoke, although he did chew tobacco.

The next day Gamble interviewed McMackin, who was promoted to course superintendent at Patuxent after Steve's death. McMackin, who had worked as Steve's assistant for two years, told police he and Steve were close friends.

McMackin said Steve also told him about his marital problems and that he was in counseling because he wanted to improve his relationship with Kim. McMackin said he didn't know that Kim was having an affair and he didn't believe that Steve knew about it, either, or he would have mentioned it.

According to McMackin, before Steve planned the Valentine's Day weekend getaway to Harbourtowne, he checked with Kim to make sure she wanted to go, despite the fact that McMackin said it would be better to surprise her. Steve felt that given the problems in their marriage, surprising Kim wouldn't be such a good idea. Steve later told McMackin that Kimberly was looking forward to going on the minivacation.

Before Steve and Kim left for Harbourtowne, Steve called McMackin and asked if he would feed the Hrickos' cat and dog over the weekend, which he did. That was the last time McMackin ever spoke to Steve.

When asked about Steve's alcohol and tobacco use, McMackin told Gamble that Steve was not a big drinker.

“I've seen Steve drink a couple of beers in a social setting, but never knew him to drink to intoxication,” McMackin said. “And Steve never smoked anything, but he did chew tobacco.”

McMackin recalled once when he and Steve attended a conference hosted by a company that manufactured and sold golf-course maintenance equipment. After the conference the representatives of the company treated McMackin and Steve to an expensive dinner at an upscale restaurant. After they finished eating, the representatives passed a cigar box around the table and encouraged McMackin and Steve to have a complimentary cigar. McMackin said the cigars were high quality and expensive.

Everyone at the table took a cigar, except Steve. When McMackin lit up his cigar, Steve turned to him and said, “How can you do that to yourself?”

McMackin told Gamble that Steve wouldn't even let anyone smoke in his office. Gamble then showed McMackin a package of Backwoods cigars, identical to the pack found in the Hrickos' room at Harbourtowne, and asked if he had ever seen Steve with that brand of cigars. McMackin said, “No. Steve did not smoke. Never, ever.”

 

 

Near the end of March, State Trooper Jack McCauley interviewed two of Steve's coworkers at Patuxent Greens Country Club about Steve's habits. Steve's immediate supervisor, Dana Kessler (pseudonym), who had known him for three years, told McCauley she had never seen Steve smoke anything in all the time she knew him. In fact, she recalled that Steve wouldn't even allow her to smoke in the golf cart when they were riding together because the smoke really irritated him.

Kessler said about a month before he died, Steve asked her for some time off because he was having problems with his wife and needed to see a counselor. Steve told Kessler how Kim was his whole life. Shortly before Valentine's Day Steve told his boss that things were better in his marriage. Kessler said she knew Steve had planned something special for Kim for Valentine's Day, but she didn't know what it was.

After Steve's funeral Kim called Kessler to get the address of one of Steve's coworkers. Kessler asked Kim how her daughter was doing and Kim said a trust fund had been set up for Sarah and that they had collected on Steve's life insurance. Kim said Sarah didn't have to worry about money.

McCauley also talked to Mitch Bergman (pseudonym), a mechanic at Patuxent Greens, about Steve. Bergman, who started working at the club in November 1997, met Steve in September of that year when he interviewed for the mechanic's position. Bergman said he saw Steve every day at work and never saw him smoke. Bergman, who was a smoker, said Steve made him smoke outside because he couldn't stand the smell of it.

Bergman told police that Steve said he was having marital problems and that he was working too many hours and not spending enough time at home with his family.

 

 

A former Patuxent Greens mechanic, Don Sanderson (pseudonym), who oddly enough lived on Kimberly Drive in Stevensville, Maryland, told police he had worked for Steve for two years and three months, until September 19, 1997, when he left to take a position at another golf course. Sanderson said he and Steve had become good friends and they had similar views about family life. Sanderson said Steve often spoke highly of Kim and Sarah. He said he was shocked to learn that Kim was seeing another man. Sanderson said he last spoke to Steve on January 14, 1998. During their conversation Steve said he was working too many hours and it was affecting his relationship with Kim. Steve said he had set up an appointment with a counselor to try and get his marriage back on track. Sanderson said he didn't know what kind of problems the couple was having.

Gamble asked Sanderson whether Steve smoked, drank heavily, or liked to look at pornography. Sanderson said not only did Steve not smoke, but smoke made him physically ill. Sanderson recalled the night he and Steve attended a retirement party for a coworker. During the party most of the men were smoking cigars and he and Steve talked about how cigar smoke made them sick. Sanderson said he saw Steve drink a beer or two on a couple of occasions, but he had never seen Steve drunk, nor had he ever seen Steve look at pornography of any kind. In fact, Sanderson said, Steve wouldn't allow pornography to be displayed in his shop.

Gamble also interviewed several of the Hrickos' neighbors to find out if any of them had ever heard the Hrickos arguing. None of them had.

During their investigation, the state police, with help from the medical examiner, eliminated every other cause of death and put a circumstantial case together; so when the case went to trial, they would be able to lead the jury into believing Kim killed her husband.

“We subpoenaed all his medical files and we knew we were going to have the doctor testify in court that Steve was healthy,” Gamble said. “Then we started trying to attack the story she gave police that night, including that he brought a pack of cigars with him.”

The pack of smokes taken from room 506 was a package of Backwoods Mild 'n Natural cigars. The package was light brown with red and white lettering and had a white $2.49 price tag printed on it in blue ink.

“I was assigned to locate the store that the cigars were purchased from,” Gamble said.