Chapter 66 Section VI

On December 8, 1999, the preliminary hearing of the case was held in the criminal court building located at 100 St. Trey Road in the center of Chinatown, New York, to discuss a motion filed by the defense, about not citing Xian Tai and Kenny in the court argument. Some "insincere" words said during the arrest.It may be that the food in the prison is not to your taste, Xiantai looks a lot thinner.During the seven-day hearing, a total of 18 law enforcement officers from the FBI and the New York Police Department testified in court. In the end, the judge agreed to delete from the record several passages Xian Tai said to the police. For example, she used to be an assistant lawyer and she understood her For another example, if she was allowed to seek the advice of a lawyer in advance, she might be able to provide the police with clues about Erin Suleman; and Kenny denied to the investigators that he had a car.That is to say, when these witnesses from the FBI and NYPD appear in court, they cannot quote the words Xian Tai and Kenny said, nor can the prosecution use these words to attack the defendant.

On January 27, 2000, the review of the selection of jury members began.First of all, about 100 candidates are selected by the group screening method from nearly 1,000 candidates, and then reviewed one by one.The defendant invited Dr. Arthur Weed, a senior criminal psychologist, as a consultant. He suggested that the defendant choose blue-collar workers as much as possible, such as taxi drivers, truck drivers, construction workers and janitors, because "they look at the problem from the perspective of others." Not like us."Xiantai hopes that it is best to be all black and South American, "they are more compassionate."Among her defense attorneys, Michael Hardy and Hosse Munitz are black and South American, respectively.

Judge Jeanne Ouvile first explained the charges against Xiantai and Kenny to the candidates, told the disappearance of Erin Suleman, and then pointed out that there was no dead body, no DNA, no blood, and no witnesses in this case. Or, there is no on-site evidence, and it is a case completely based on indirect evidence or circumstantial evidence. "Circumstantial evidence is no better or worse than direct evidence. The absence of a body does not mean that there was no murder. As long as there is strong enough evidence, you can convict murder even without a body... If you insist that only the body can prove it Murder, okay, you can keep your opinion, but you can't be on this jury."

What Judge Uweiler did not mention was that there had been two previous cases in New York State and more than a dozen cases in the United States where there were no bodies, but the defendant was finally convicted of murder.It needs to be explained here that according to the traditional concept of judicial circles in western countries, the absence of a body cannot prove that the victim is dead, and such cases can generally only be treated as missing persons. Questions to be answered by jury candidates include whether they know any of the defendants, lawyers or witnesses who may appear in court; evidence; whether there are language or comprehension barriers, etc.

After two weeks of screening and evaluation, a jury of 12 people, including eight women and four men, was formed, including: public school assistant cooks, telephone company technicians, librarians, stockbrokers, staff of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, teachers, and law firms A secretary, a construction worker, a salesman, two postmen, and a woman with a degree in economics.By convention, the first member of the jury to be selected is the presiding juror.There were also six alternate jurors. On February 14, 2000, the trial of Xiantai Kaimes and Kenny Kaimes officially opened.Chief prosecutor Connie Fernanda took a deep breath and began her three-hour speech.

"Sitting in the dock now are two criminals whose conscience and humanity have been robbed of their conscience and humanity by greed and arrogance. From California to Las Vegas, from Florida to New York, the police followed their wicked trail all the way to Sur Man Towers, where they killed Irene Suleman. When you see and hear the evidence and testimony we are about to present in court, you will come to one and only simple conclusion: Irene Suleman Mann is no longer alive, the two defendants killed her because she was a stumbling block to them and they had to get rid of her. And as long as people can't find her body, they have enough time to loot and steal her. Property — the multimillion-dollar Suleman Mansion."

Connie went on to tell the jury that Xiantai and Kenny had been carefully planning how to take the Suleman Mansion for themselves long before the killing and hiding of the body.Connie mentioned more than 20 aliases and aliases used by Xiantai. She called the property appraisal company to inquire about the relevant information of the Suleman Building, and pretended to be Mrs. Suleman to trick the notary public into stamping a forged contract. Zhang, the contract transferred the Suleman Building to an overseas company under the control of Xiantai.Connie also mentioned how Xiantai and Kenny used Suleman Building's monthly rent receipts to practice forging Erin's signature, and tried to use lies to get money from a Suleman Building staff, Valerie Meleau. Obtain Erin Suleman's social security number.Connie pointed out that according to Xiantai's notes, the two Kaimes already knew that Mrs. Suleman was going to drive them away.Connie said that Erin Suleman is a shrewd businesswoman who is good at observing words and feelings and has worked in the mall for decades. She can accurately judge the people and things around her.She became suspicious of Kenny when she learned that Kenny was looking around the Suleman building and that he was always turning his head away or covering his face with his hands as he passed the security cameras.Connie reminded the jury members not to forget that when Kenny was arrested, the police found two sets of Mrs. Suleman's keys from him.

"It is absolutely impossible for Erin Suleman to give the keys to the Suleman Mansion to an outsider, especially someone she considers suspicious. There is only one way for Kenny to get these keys, and that is to forcibly snatch them from Mrs. Suleman .” Connie also reminded everyone of the fact that in the past 15 years, Erin Suleman has never spent a night outside the Suleman Mansion.When Connie listed more than a dozen witnesses who were going to appear in court, Kenny's face turned pale, and Xiantai, who was always writing something on paper, also stopped writing and looked serious.

Michael Hardy, representing Xiantai on the defense side, first made an opening statement.He emphasized: "There is no evidence to support the hypothesis of murder...the prosecution has a lot of inferences and speculations, but they can't find a single witness to prove the crimes imposed on Xiantai's mother and son. No body means no body." Mai It can be said that the police who were unable to solve the case took Xiantai and Kenny as scapegoats because "they are foreigners". "This trial is like the 'divine judgment' implemented by the ancient Teutonic people. The suspect's hand is put into a boiling oil pan and judged by the gods. If the hands are still intact, he will be acquitted."

Meier Shaqi, who represented Kenny, went on to say that this case is like building a house on sand, because there is no solid foundation-the body, no matter how beautiful the house is, it will eventually be pulled down. The only thing the defendants' lawyers didn't mention was the evidence: aliases, pistols, electronic guns, wigs, bugs on Eileen Suleman's phone, forged deeds, Eileen's late husband Samuel Sur Mann's passport, Erin Suleman's passport and Social Security card, keys to the Suleman Building, blah, blah, blah. In the following 12 weeks and 43 days, the public prosecutor presented 425 physical evidence to the court, including thousands of pages of various original documents and more than 10,000 pages of photocopies, and summoned a total of 129 witnesses.

Irene Suleman's deputy, Monkey Melles, appeared in court for three consecutive days.He testified that Mrs. Suleman never left the Suleman Building alone and never gave the keys to anyone, including the building staff.All of Irene's clothes have special large pockets, which contain her reading glasses, handkerchiefs and keys. These three things never leave her body, and she takes them wherever she goes.Because of poor eyesight, her keys were marked with red nail polish, making it easier to find them. Romon Kashal, the superintendent of the Suleman Building for more than 20 years, testified that when Mrs. Suleman disappeared, so did her keys and red-rimmed reading glasses. Jing Boge is Xiantai's friend in Florida.She told the court that in May 1998, before she and her husband were due to vacation in the Bahamas, she went to a pharmacist's pharmacy there to buy medicine "for an 82-year-old lady".According to Xiantai, this drug is not available in the United States.Later, the Boge couple canceled the trip for some reason, and Xiantai said it was okay, she would call the pharmacist herself to order.That bottle of pills was the pink narcotic, or perspiration, that the police found in the Lincoln.During the investigation, the police also found that Xian Tai also bought several different sleeping pills for Ken Kaimes at the same pharmacy. The police officer and electronic gun technician of the New York Police Department's Emergency Operations Department said on the witness stand that the electronic gun purchased by Xian Tai and Kenny in Florida has a voltage of 200,000 volts. damage.If it is longer than 5 seconds, it will make people collapse.He also said that the voltage of a similar product used by the police was 50,000 volts. Other witnesses appearing for the prosecution were: Hershey Antonio Alphari, Xiantai and Kenny's driver and cleaner. Don Aoqi and Nolly Sweeney, two notaries who were invited by Xian Tai and Kenny to room 1B of Suleman Building. Stanley Paterson, the former Las Vegas construction engineer who sold the guns to Shanty and Kenny. Nanetti Vekowski, a private notary trained by Xiantai. The fire broke out two weeks after Frank McCullin, Las Vegas homeless man, had insured his Geelongnemo Road property in his name. Elva Hickley, a friend of Irene Suleman and a costume designer. Sonia Baptis is a business assistant at an overseas investment bank in the Bahamas, where Xiantai opened an investment account. Helen Pandoraki, a friend of Irene Suleman's who was ill during Independence Day 1998, had called to check on her on the morning of Eileen's disappearance. Jeff Feig, Erin Suleman's Real Estate Manager. Max Schurr, Judy Heyman and the real Mani Guerin, Xiantai and Kenny's neighbors at the "Polo Club" apartment in Florida.The two Kaimes stole their credit cards, driver's licenses and other identification documents, and illegally used their personal information to defraud. Valerie Meleau, the director of the Suleman Building, from whom Sinty and Kenny had tried to scam Erin Suleman's social security number. Cai Zhang, a friend of Erin Suleman, is a Malaysian fashion designer. Alanseli Levira, the sole worker at the Suleman Building on the day Irene Suleman disappeared. Carlo Hansen, friend of Irene Suleman, painter and journalist. Peter Jacobson, producer of the CBS show, was the only tenant who remained at the Suleman Building during the 1998 Independence Day, other than "Menny Gaylin" - Kenny. Rudy Vaca, friend of Erin Suleman, food supplier at Suleman Building. Witnesses called by the prosecution also include FBI and NYPD case investigators, other law enforcement officers involved in the case, handwriting and document identification experts, a narcologist, a psychologist, other employees and tenants of the Suleman Building, Iraq Lynn Suleman's doctor and other friends, Xian Tai and Kenny's friends, Kenny's ex-girlfriend, and people from title companies, real estate appraisal companies, real estate development companies, insurance companies, banks, credit card companies, phone companies, social Witnesses for security card authorities, tax offices, hotels, restaurants, car parks, etc. Xiantai's notebooks, especially the last two on Irene Suleman, are crucial in this case.After explaining the abbreviations and code words in the notes, the public prosecutor read some of them to the jury, including the weapons written by Xiantai that she and Kenny were going to buy: electric batons, daggers, sprayers, etc., and the videotapes to watch: Whispers of Death, etc. Books to read: Forgery and Other Crimes, How to Make a Muffler, etc.On June 14, 1998, the day Kenny moved into the Suleman Building, Xiantai wrote: "Change the lock/property/ready to pack and leave at any time." Then she wrote such as: "Irene's work and rest time?" "Are there any other exits from the building?" along with NYC property tax essentials, each employee in the building and their daily schedule, instructions for Stanley Padson, and more. Here is a passage from the notes: Does her room have an alarm?safety devices? BP machine?Get a blank check?who am I?Q: "Can I have a photo with you?" Who is Samuel Suleman?Who are her friends?Does she like to drink?Change $6000 per month on receipt to $6000 per 6 months/check rooms/ask her if she can cash checks/idea drop by houses/get keys/basement?The attic/emergency exit/trying to get a check/are we separated from her by a wall?Managed to get her autograph / "Can I write your name?" / Packed everything into Lincoln / Route to New Jersey? /Color copy Social Security cards/Buy garbage bags/Rolls of paper towels/Plastic shower curtains/Sanitizer/Gloves/Brooms and mops/Our letters go to ? ? ? / Copy Social Security List / Open Jeff Feig Account / Practice Signing / Print Deed / Keys / Take Passport / Take Social Security Card, Copy / Investigate Kobe Foundation / Who's the Lawyer?official? /Is she sick? / Is there another exit from her room? / Do you like watching movies? / What's your favorite? / When to sleep? /get up? / Do you have any friends living here? / What kind of music do you like? / Favorite flower? / Power of Attorney / Letter of Guarantee / Nolly Sweeney - meet at the hotel at 8:30 / sign / photocopy / suitcase on wheels / Does anyone not like her?who? /Who is she treating badly? /Find a confidant to tip me off before she enters my room? /Change receipt to $16,000/Change lease contract/Lincoln parked nearby Most memorable: The jury heard the voice of Irene Suleman herself.Evidence No. 44 is a telephone recording secretly recorded by Xiantai and Kenny.Before making this call to Erin, Xian Tai drafted what he wanted to say in a notebook.She posed as a representative of a Las Vegas casino in an attempt to defraud Erin Suleman of her social security number. "You sit still, I want to give you a huge surprise." Xiantai's voice. "I'm sitting pretty solid," Erin Suleman said. "You won a completely free four-day vacation to Las Vegas, including round-trip airfare, a star hotel, free food and $1,000 in gambling..." "Tell me what kind of a hoax this is." "Definitely not a scam. This is one of our newest promotions and the winner is determined entirely by lottery. We would love to have you come, but you must make a decision as soon as possible, if you cannot arrange this vacation within two months, Even if you give up automatically... now please allow me to take two minutes of your time to ask a few small questions. Do you drive?" "not open." "And your social security number is...?" "I don't remember. You send me all the information, and if I think it's good, I'll give you a social security number."