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Feature
Murder Allegation Most Foul
The remarkable life and imprisonment of Stephen Nodine.
(Page 4 of 4)
But, without replaying a blow-by-blow of the earlier trial and of the cell phone records and video of Nodine’s subsequent stops at a convenience store and a Mexican restaurant, and without recounting my own interviews, site visits, or stopwatch use to create a timeline, here are all the things that must have happened if Nodine actually shot Downs:
First, in a tiny time window of between two minutes (best-case scenario from Nodine’s standpoint) and three minutes and 30 seconds (worst case), Nodine would have had to a) enter the house; b) be confronted by Downs, with her gun in hand; c) somehow get the gun from Downs’ possession; d) end up in Downs’ short front driveway, in clear light (it was about 12 minutes after sunset, but still fairly bright) and in clear sight of front windows of at least six and as many as a dozen other homes; e) not just fire a gun in a struggle, but shoot her execution-style, muzzle pressed hard against her temple, as if she were immobilized or entirely passive; f) realize he just shot his girlfriend without having planned to do so (remember, it was she who had the gun out), make split-second decisions to drop the gun near her right hand as if it were suicide (and place it perfectly for that purpose), but without wiping blood from the gun barrel; and g) bound over to his truck, jump in, and speed off.
He would have needed the presence of mind to make it look like suicide, perfect confidence in his luck that nobody saw the shooting in a fairly wide-open space, and the even greater luck that her blood would show up on her gun and the crook of her hand but that none of his fingerprints would be found on the gun (which was not tested for prints in a timely manner).
After all of this occurred in about 150 seconds, he then would have had to drive above the speed limit to a convenience store (leaving him no time at all to stop the truck for any self-examination or clean off any blood that might have ended up on him); stride into the store wearing the exact same clothes he had worn all day at the beach (as attested to by photos and by testimony of those present) and without the slightest apparent concern that blood or brain-matter or other awful indicia might be visible on him; buy a Diet Mountain Dew and, with breath still smelling of a boozy beach excursion, politely wish the clerk a good day.
Nodine later told police that he drove to the Timber Creek Golf Club to hit balls in preparation for a pro-am the next day, only to find the sometimeslighted range unlit; drove across from the golf community to a Ruby Tuesday’s where he changed in the back of the parking lot into fresher clothes, while throwing his beach attire into the back seat of his cab; approached the door only to decide it looked too crowded; and returned to his truck and drove two minutes to a Mexican restaurant, where video cameras recorded him sauntering in as if without a care in the world and taking a bar seat to drink coffee and watch a Yankees-Red Sox game. The timeline shows he actually did appear at the restaurant almost precisely when one would expect if he had taken that exact route with those exact stops.
In just a few minutes, the phone calls began: A newsman had heard on the radio that law enforcement was looking for him, but didn’t know why. Nodine professed bafflement. He called one lawyer, who knew nothing and told him to call another lawyer. He tracked down that lawyer, and…suddenly, dramatically, let out a loud, anguished exclamation.
Eventually the lawyer drove to meet Nodine at the restaurant, from which they went together to a nearby satellite sheriff’s facility. Nodine voluntarily spent hours answering officers’ questions without exception, with eyes red and occasional sobs, but (with a few small glitches) remarkable consistency about every occurrence that day and evening. Asked if he minded having his truck impounded, he said no problem and volunteered the keys.
In coming weeks, exhaustive forensic tests would be run on the truck, on everything in it, including on the beach clothes he left in a dry heap in the back seat. Not the merest trace of Downs’ blood was found. No gunpowder residue from her gun either. Streaks of material widely reported (based on early suggestions from prosecutors) to look “bloodlike” proved to be entirely innocent.
So-o-o… she had blood on her gun and on her right hand, and brain matter was all over the scene, but none of it showed up on Nodine, none on his clothes, none on his own hands that would have wiped off anywhere in or on the truck, not even any droplets on the door handle or the steering wheel. Nodine made no attempt to hide anything, gave no evidence of distress (on video cameras in two different places) until exactly the moment when Lawyer Number Two told him by phone that Downs was dead-and he made no attempt to cite the Fifth Amendment or deny law enforcement access to his person or possessions.
Back at Downs’ condo, investigators found no signs of struggle. Neighbors who clearly heard the gunshot report hearing no fighting or argument beforehand. Three of four forensic pathologists and psychologists concluded that Downs committed suicide, and the other one’s supposition otherwise relied in”defensive wounds” on her hands that, it was later discovered, actually were visible on photos taken that day at the beach, before the two returned to her condo.
Four years earlier, Angel Downs had called her sister, sounding distressed, immediately before attempting suicide via pill overdose. She barely survived. On May 9, 2010, Downs called her sister, sounding distressed, just before she died. Ambien, taken recently, was coursing through her veins. As has been well established medically, Ambien and alcohol can be a dangerous combination. Both are depressants, as is Xanax, which was also found at therapeutic levels in her blood. On the other hand, Adderall, also in her system, is an amphetamine, an upper. She had no prescription for it, nor should she have, as she had a heart condition since birth. But in conjunction with the three downers, the mind- and sudden-mood-altering potential is huge.
Angel Downs, by all accounts a woman of generous heart and abundant friendship, was suffering what she called “economic hardship” of declining income in real estate sales. Downs had just written a letter that week demanding that Nodine leave his wife for her and saying that their illicit relationship made her look bad. And she had way too many chemicals affecting her brain.
Yet Stephen Nodine was charged with her murder.
Is it technically conceivable he could have done it, and been simultaneously smart enough, poised enough, and incredibly lucky enough to have left behind not a shred of physical evidence while otherwise acting like an innocent man? Yes, maybe, just barely — if you squint at the evidence in just the right way and then willingly suspend every smidgen of disbelief.
And was Stephen Nodine’s personal life a mess — was he, in common parlance, a skank? Well, to pull no punches, yes. Skankiness in major measure, without a shadow of a doubt.
But skankiness is no crime. Not all violent deaths are murder. So Stephen Nodine sits in a friend’s dining room, showing photos of his remarkable life, a GPS monitor attached to his ankle — while vowing that he’ll clear his name just as surely as he once cleared a scenic, residential road from the stench of a flattened possum.
About the Author
Quin Hillyer is a senior editor of The American Spectator and a senior fellow at the Center for Individual Freedom. Follow him on Twitter @QuinHillyer.
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Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 6.26.12 @ 8:34AM
That perp cartoon looks auspicious. A black man held onto by two white police officers. Are those police officers stupid? Did they leave no stone unturned? Are you changing into Ed Asner?
He will get a trial and he can present his side there. Apparently, there was some evidence which looked bad for him. It will come out at the trial and he will have to put forth a defense.
Maybe he is innocent. However, he played a dangerous game and all games have winners and losers.
Brooksifier | 6.26.12 @ 2:00PM
What is the message of the piece? Adultery killed Angel?
PCC| 6.26.12 @ 8:46AM
This is why we have a jury system. Let justice take its course.
C'mon Man!| 6.26.12 @ 11:59AM
You mean the jury system where 9 of 12 jurors found him guilty with lousy "evidence?" Yeah, I'm sure he has a lot of faith in that...
Mobile| 6.26.12 @ 1:49PM
Or maybe 9 of the 12 had no faith in Nodine.
TrueBlue | 6.26.12 @ 2:37PM
Don't have to have faith in a person to find them "not guilty." Evidence and fact lean far in his direction.
Mobile| 6.26.12 @ 4:07PM
Of course not and that wasn't my point. Nodine is the lowest form of human creation by his own choice and in so doing lacks any credibility. Its not unheard of for a jury to be swayed based on character.
The facts nor the evidence lean far in either direction. In the end, the evidence may not be able to prove that Nodine pulled the trigger, but his actions (and past) tell a story of someone that isn't telling the whole truth.
Fast and Curious| 6.26.12 @ 10:05AM
"beyond a reasonable doubt" can never be reached in this case. There is just no way he could have done this without any physical evidence.
Oldefarte| 6.26.12 @ 11:55AM
I will not comment on this situation for personal reasons!!!!!!!!!
HBealeJr| 6.26.12 @ 12:50PM
Your argument that he has been framed sounds reasonable. However, if he had been at home with his wife and not involved in an affair with a drug addicted woman (to say nothing of his own addiction), he would not have gone to jail and be subject to murder charges.
Mom always said, don't put yourself in situations were trouble can happen and you won't get into trouble.
Mobile| 6.26.12 @ 1:47PM
A most brilliant piece of fiction Mr Hillyer! Most brilliant!
I have to say my favorite part of this tale has to be Mr Hillyer's attempt to use Lord Conrad Black as a credible witness (and part time defense attorney as well it appears) for Nodine. The same Conrad Black who was convicted of defrauding the company he worked for in excess of $60 million, or as Mr Hillyer refers to it as "shenanigans". Oh, that cheeky ol' Conrad and his "shenanigans". Last time I checked, I don't believe defrauding a corporation of $60 million falls into the "shenanigans" catergory.
Of course, Mr Hillyer further attempts to lend our felonious friend (Black) some credibility by repeating the same, tired mantra of the innocent prisons. Its such a shame in this country that prison after prison is filled to capacity with innocent men and women. A crying shame, really!
After this piece, its hard to decide who has less credibility: Nodine or Hillyer. At least in the case of Nodine, he's not the one with the hook in his mouth.
JPTravis | 6.26.12 @ 3:27PM
You are entitled to your opinion, but not your own facts. According to what actually happened in the legal system, Conrad Black was convicted of nothing but impeding a federal investigation by removing personal items from his office IN CANADA after being ASKED to remove those items by the company. That's all. Akin to Martha Stewart's conviction for lying about a crime she didn't commit. Our federal prosecutors are out of control. They're thugs no less dangerous than Al Capone's gang.
Quin Hillyer| 6.26.12 @ 5:15PM
JPTravis is right about Black. The whole $60 million thing was bogus. Just another of Patrick Fitzgerald's personal vendetta/witch hunts (remember Scooter Libby?). Fitzgerald was out of control. So are many federal prosecutors. Read the Heritage Foundation's "One Nation Under Arrest": http://site.heritage.org/Levin/default.aspx
anamvet68| 6.27.12 @ 6:46AM
Being a retired Fed. Officer Mobile knows nothing about evidence collection or "time lines" or anything about crime. It's about a possible "crime" NOT his personal life. JPTravis is right in his reply to Mobile. Like I have said before most people on this site are STUPID!
nononsense| 6.27.12 @ 4:23PM
Fiction???
Fiction...God what an idiot...
the only one that is not credible her is YOU...
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 3:19PM
It's not at all uncommon for a narcissist to portray his ex-spouse/girlfriend as "nuts." It's how they build sympathy.
Meanwhile, in most cases the ex-spouse/girlfriend has actually become nuts directly due to his behavior, which includes a great deal of "gas-lighting" and emotional abuse.
This guy matches the profile.
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 4:34PM
I re-read the article again, and I must admit, Mr. Hilyer, that your seeming attempt to vindicate Mr. Nodine looks very weak.
First of all, as I mentioned in a previous posts, ex-wives and/or girlfriends are commonly referred to as "nuts" by the kind of men whom even you referred to as "skanks."
Second, your time-frame doesn't really say he's innocent.
Steps A-B require hardly anytime at all. If Ms. Downs was yelling and upset, it's possible Mr. Nodine would have simply turned on his heels and headed back out the door.
Steps C-D are actually the same step; they struggled ON the porch, and he (supposedly) got the gun. How long does it take a very physically fit man to wrestle a gun from a drunk woman?
Step E: He has the gun, and he shoots her in the head. Again, how long would this take??
Step F: He runs to his car; what, is her driveway half a mile long??
Step G: He gets in his car and drives off.
2-3 minutes, in this context, is an eternity.
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 4:41PM
Also...Let's look at Nodine's personality (based on your article):
He's a liar (he's cheating in his wife, and lied to Ms. Downs for some time).
He likes to ingratiate himself with people in positions of power.
He likes to portray himself as a selfless man-of-the-people, all the while mugging for the camera.
He seeks publicity for his own ends, and is not above exaggeration and distortion.
He's addicted to narcotics (of course... they're for "pain", right?)
He smokes pot.
He's being impeached from his political office for committing a crime.
Sounds like an upstanding citizen...
Look closely into Mr. Nodine's personal life, especially his relationship with Ms. Downs. I'm willing to bet there were other women, too. I'm also willing to bet that he made repeatd promises to Ms. Downs to leave his wife...promises that he never intended to keep.
Quin Hillyer| 6.26.12 @ 8:42PM
Hey, there is not a single thing in this feature that suggests I think Stephen Nodine was an upstanding citizen. But it's just one hell of a human interest story, a "True Crime" special that needed to be told -- especially after, having done the research and gone over everything with a fine tooth comb, I discovered that it is quite unlikely that he killed her. My bet is that prosecutors won't actually go through with the murder charge after all; what I did NOT put in the piece, because it was so long already, was that another grand jury was convened after the first trial was inconclusive, and the new grand jury REFUSED to charge Nodine with murder, instead coming up with some rare charge that amounts to being morally culpable for her death (harassed her into suicide, or something like that) without having actually done the deed himself..... but the prosecutors chose to throw out that grand jury and return to the original grand jury indictment, which technically was still standing.
anamvet68| 6.27.12 @ 6:53AM
Very good Hillyer most people on this site don't do research or are toooooooo lazy to do it or just don't care. Their like the Fed. and local prosecutors lazy and looking to improve their standing.
Doctor Right| 6.26.12 @ 4:43PM
In short, from what I've read, Mr. Nodine is the proto-typical narcissist.
FYI, one of the characteristics of the narcissist is their ability to fool others into believing "He/she would have NEVER done such a thing!"
That's how they roll...
TinaB| 6.26.12 @ 7:00PM
From my meager level of expertise, I read some great mystery authors and I watch way too much true crime on tv, a GSR test for both victim and Nodine would have made some serious difference. That neither was tested for gun shot residue tells me they believed they had their man and wrapped the investigation right up. Too bad, I thought of it immediately upon reading a murder/suicide was in question. An old retired math tchr vs. the Mobile PD, no contest. Unless they wanted it that way, an easier case for them to make without this.
Truncheon| 6.27.12 @ 10:43AM
A boozing, pill-popping, overambitious, dope-smoking philanderer with a neurotic mistress finds himself horribly tangled in the webs of distrust and deceit he wove about his life.
Pardon me while I fail to generate a tear....
TinaB| 6.27.12 @ 2:28PM
No, no tears for him. Yes, it would seem that Nodine has made a nasty bed for himself, and now, at least for a time, he is being forced to lie down in it.
I am seeing a lot of what goes around come around lately. I don't find that such a bad thing generally. However I am truly grateful that I didn't get everything I deserved after some of the webs I've woven in my life. I have reaped much of what I have sown, just not all of it. Yet.
God is in the business of forgiving His children, and I have asked, begged even, for that gift. I have received it as He has received me. With arms wide open. That's consequences, but no condemnation.
nononsense| 6.27.12 @ 4:20PM
Some people just cannot accept the truth for what it is...Steve Nodine did NOT kill Ms. Downs...
Some of you would not believe that he did not do this if God came to earth and told you he did not kill her.... How narrow some of you really are...
TinaB| 6.27.12 @ 5:46PM
Don't you think sometimes people get what's coming to them in a round about way? If they crap on people for years, then change, they pay consequences of an unrelated nature, and get crapped on back? Just changing your ways doesn't always mean you are free from the consequences of your previous horrible behavior. Sometimes.
Dedicated_Dad | 7.5.12 @ 12:50PM
Wow.
It's AMAZING to me how many people have NO clue how our "justice system" is supposed to work.
Whether or not the man was a "skank" is irrelevant to this legal case.
The only question is whether he is guilty of murder BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT.
Woman with a dangerous cocktail of drugs in her system found in a position that makes suicide obvious.
Her blood and brain matter spread over the area, but he has none on him at all, anywhere. No trace on his hands, clothes or truck.
It's not up to him to prove he didn't kill her, it's up to the state to prove he DID - BEYOND ANY REASONABLE DOUBT.
Not even close.
It seems as though FL has a SERIOUS problem with overzealous prosecutors here lately!
Again - the man's obviously a sleazeball, but that's not a crime. No way in hell he's guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
No way.
insighted| 1.3.13 @ 5:35PM
I find this truly unbelievable!
First of all Nodine IS narcissistic scum and he DID kill Angel Downs. BUT!! Take away that and you still have to scratch your head over the fact that he is working in the judicial system while serving time for perjury! Ya gotta love the "Good Ol Boy System" in Alabama...He is guilty and I am not just speculating.
insighted| 1.3.13 @ 5:35PM
I find this truly unbelievable!
First of all Nodine IS narcissistic scum and he DID kill Angel Downs. BUT!! Take away that and you still have to scratch your head over the fact that he is working in the judicial system while serving time for perjury! Ya gotta love the "Good Ol Boy System" in Alabama...He is guilty and I am not just speculating.