Mr. Big (14 page)

By the end of the evening there were only a couple of people left at Little Harbour. As night closed in quickly, Jennifer put the girls' safely back in the car, and they drove home to Gander.

44

August 4, 2002.

“The girls are sleeping,” Jennifer informed Nelson when he woke up. “Try not to wake them. I think they're worn out from last night.”

They hadn't gotten home until after nine o'clock. Jennifer had put them into the tub and got them off to bed as early as possible. Today was going to be a big day.

Every year the town of Gander holds a demolition derby, which brings out nearly everyone in town. This year the town had installed new stands, so Jennifer figured the girls were old enough to take in the event from the seats.

When they finally woke, Jennifer got them breakfast. As soon as they had finished eating, they started giggling and ran straight for the living room. They were getting ready for playtime, but in order to have them both ready for the derby in time, Jennifer started getting them ready right away.

“All right, girls,” she called out. “We're going to put your hair up into ponytails today.”

It was rare for the girls to wear their hair up, but Jennifer thought it would like nice for the big day out. Then it was Jennifer's turn to get ready. But before she got into the bath, the girls started acting up. “Mommy, Karen's pulling my hair,” said Krista.

“Come on, now, girls, Mommy has to get ready,” said Jennifer. When she looked, she noticed their hair was already getting messed up. They were bored and restless.

“I can take them to the playground so you can get ready,” said Nelson.

“Okay,” said Jennifer. “Just give me a minute to get their travel bag ready.”

Inside, Jennifer packed snacks, extra clothes, and sunscreen. By the time she was finished, the girls had everything they needed for the day. Even though they wouldn't be gone long, it was a standard practice to make sure they had all the necessities whenever they went out.

All dressed and ready to go, she walked her beautiful little daughters to the door.

And in a moment Jennifer would never forget, they both looked at her. Simultaneously they both said, “Mommy, we come back for you, okay?”

She waved them off and went to run the bath. She assumed Nelson was going to the playground down the street and would be back in less than an hour. She didn't want to keep the girls waiting when they got back.

It wasn't often Jennifer was home alone, so she enjoyed the warmth and comfort of the bath on this particular morning. Last night had left her feeling rejuvenated, and she was looking forward to the derby.

But the day was waiting, so she got out and started getting dressed. After her clothes were on, she put on her makeup as she usually did.

Her hair was still wrapped in a towel when her life changed forever.

“Jennifer, Jennifer!” Nelson was yelling. He was out of breath from running. He burst into the apartment. “Krista is in the water, and I can't find Karen.”

“What are you talking about?” She knew from the panic in his eyes that something was seriously wrong.

“The girls are at the lake!” He tried to catch his breath.

Time stood still as Jennifer ran down the stairs of the building. The towel from her hair landed next to the apartment door as she fled. The police would find it there in the same location several hours later.

“I just remembered, Karen is in the car,” he said as they ran to the car.

She looked in the car. No Karen.

“Karen's not here,” she cried, looking around the parking lot. “Where is she?”

“I left her down there,” he said.

“Where?”

“Little Harbour.”

“Let's go,” she cried. She got in the car, confused. Where were the girls? Why wasn't Nelson giving her a straight answer about what had happened?

From then on, time began to slow down.

“Drive faster,” she yelled as she and Nelson made their way down the highway in his Dodge Shadow.

“My foot is to the floor,” he said.

But that wasn't how it felt to Jennifer. For the next ten minutes, Jennifer felt like the car was barely moving. She couldn't tell if Nelson was lying to her about how fast he was going or whether time was standing still.

Either way, she couldn't get to Little Harbour fast enough.

The familiar landmarks moved past the window of the car in what seemed to be slow motion to Jennifer. The Irving truck stop, the radio station. In what felt like an eternity, they passed an area known as Tower Hill. Nelson sat behind the wheel quietly.

Finally, they made the left turn off the Trans-Canada Highway and went down the dirt road that would take them to Little Harbour.

The car finally topped the last hill looking down toward the vast, dark lake. It had never looked so ominous. It was isolated, and today the place that had been so joyous last night was terrifying. It was an overcast morning. Calm. There was no one around, of course. Everyone would be getting ready for the derby by now.

Jennifer's eyes scanned the landscape before her. There was an eerie darkness in the surrounding hills and the glass-like reflection of Gander Lake. Prominent in the horseshoe-shaped inlet, there was a rickety old wharf slightly to the left. It was the same one where Nelson had sat last night, watching the teenagers as they swam and jumped from the end of the wharf.

And although they were still quite a distance away, Jennifer's eyes were drawn to the floating piece of cloth next to the wharf. The cloth, she knew, was the little T-shirt she had put on Krista not long ago.

“Go get help,” she said, as the car came to a stop and she got out. She stumbled, not realizing the car was still moving, as she headed toward the wharf. She turned around to realize Nelson was still there. “Get help!” she screamed.

“Krista, Krista! Can you hear me?” Jennifer yelled.

She walked out to the end of the wharf. She moved carefully, knowing she couldn't swim and there was no one here to help her.

She's still alive, I've got to help her
, she thought. But Krista was too far away for Jennifer to reach. Shaking, crying, and yelling for Karen, she went to the trees nearby.

“Karen! Where are you? It's Mommy, please come out!” Jennifer felt numb. She could hardly believe what was happening as she went into the woods trying to find a stick.

She fell, and got up. She grabbed every stick in sight, but none of them was long enough for the job she needed to do.

Finally, she found a long branch and ran back to the wharf.

There was no movement from Krista. She was face down, and there was no response. But in Jennifer's mind there was hope. If only she could get her out of the water.

“Krista! Krista!”

Using the stick, she lay down on the wharf and reached to try and hook Krista's clothes. But there was no way. The closest she could get was just a couple of feet away.

And where was Nelson? Again she wondered if time had stopped, but it seemed like Nelson was taking too long.

“Karen,” she continued to call out. Suddenly, she had an image of Karen being caught in the woods, trapped and hurt. She ran back to the forest and started tearing her way through the brush. She swatted away the stinging branches, expecting at any minute to see her little girl. But there were no replies to her calls.

She felt like she had been searching for hours.

At last, Jennifer sat, in the extreme silence of the lake, and cried until she heard the approaching sirens. It seemed like it had taken hours for help to arrive. For her there was still hope—they would rescue Krista, and then she could go back to searching for Karen.

They were her family. They were her everything, and without them Jennifer knew her world would collapse.

45

“You have to come with us now, Jennifer,” said the paramedic as he put his arm around her.

“I'm not leaving here without Karen,” she cried.

“I'm really sorry, Jennifer, but we need you at the hospital with Krista. The police will be here to search for Karen, and they'll let you know as soon as they find anything.”

When the paramedics arrived, Jennifer stood in shock. She watched as one of them walked out into the water and picked up Krista's little body. The little girl who was so full of life lay limp in his arms. Jennifer wondered whether Krista's body must have floated closer to the shore while she was searching for Karen in the trees.

Now she stood at the back of the ambulance and looked inside. The attendants began moving mechanically, hooking up wires to the little three-year-old body that lay on the stretcher.

“I can't leave,” said Jennifer. “I don't know what to do.”

“You have to go with Krista,” said the paramedic.

Reluctantly, Jennifer climbed into the back of the ambulance. She noticed Nelson had already started the car and was driving back toward the hospital to meet them.

As she sat beside Krista, she could swear there were little movements in her body. Little signs of encouragement. Jennifer refused to believe this could be the end of such a short life. The attendants had asked her not to try and touch her daughter because of the web of wires and tubes. For Jennifer, Krista looked so fragile, she wouldn't dare touch her for fear something would go wrong.

46

The trip back to the hospital was mostly a blur of busy ambulance attendants fluttering over Krista.

The only thing Jennifer could remember was the hope she was in a dream.

When they finally arrived back at the hospital, Nelson was already inside. The attendants took Krista into a separate room, and the doctors brought both Nelson and Jennifer into a family room.

From what seemed to be miles away she heard a voice say, “We're just going to have to wait and see.”

The ambulance attendants had been giving Krista oxygen using an oxygen bag and by doing cardio compressions. But by the time she was admitted to the hospital, there were no vital signs. Dr. Glenn Loy Son wasn't giving up that easily. They began full cardio pulmonary resuscitation. They put tubes into her lungs to help her breathe and started cardiac compressions. They started an IV and put medications into her lungs to try and restart her heart.

Krista was cold and they tried warming her up. After about an hour and fifteen minutes, they finally got a heart rate. Exactly 12:22 p.m.

But there was still no pulse. Dr. Loy Son continued with cardiac compressions until, six minutes later, there was a pulse.

The tests began on the function of her lungs and kidneys, and it looked like they were working reasonably well.

But Krista had suffered severe brain damage.

What Jennifer didn't know was Karen's body had been recovered on the opposite side of the cove and was brought in about forty-five minutes after her sister.

Karen was pronounced dead as soon as she arrived.

47

Constable Terry Trainor (later corporal) was with the RCMP Major Crime Unit in Gander, on the morning of August 4, 2002.

Once he was provided with the details of what had happened, he quickly headed to the hospital.

He and another officer first went to see Karen's body, where they took photographs. Constable Trainor then gave directions to ensure that neither Nelson or Jennifer could have access to either of the children unless they were accompanied by a police officer.

At that point the constable was near the family room where Nelson and Jennifer were meeting with members of the Salvation Army.

Constable Trainor watched as Nelson came out of the family room with a nurse. He suddenly started looking underneath a stretcher, then opened a cabinet.

That's when the nurse called for security, and Nelson said, “I'm just having a spell, I'm just having a spell.” He went back into the family room, but someone from security was assigned to keep an eye on the room.

“We are transferring Krista to the Janeway Children's Hospital in St. John's,” Dr. Loy Son told Jennifer. She struggled to keep it together as Constable Trainor walked into the room. The police wanted to speak to both her and Nelson that afternoon, while Krista was being moved to St. John's.

“What about Karen?” she cried. “I need to go back up and look for her.”

The police hadn't yet told her that Karen was dead. “We're doing everything we can.”

Jennifer stayed at the hospital, but at around four o'clock she and Nelson were taken to the police station in separate police cruisers. At the station, Jennifer felt sick while she tried to go over the details with Constable Letang. They sat in the detachment's coffee room, where Jennifer was asked a series of questions. Nelson was questioned for several hours, until eventually he went back to the lake with the RCMP to explain his version of events.

The police urged Jennifer to stay at the station and get some rest, but she only wanted to go home.