Winter of frozen dreams (28 page)

11

Barbara Hoffman's defense began on the afternoon of June 25th, with a brief opening statement in which Eisenberg guaranteed a refutation of the prosecution's outrageous charges and fabrications. The defense planned to offer an alternate explanation to the scenario the state had proposed. A clear and unbiased look at the facts showed a radically different view of what had happened. Barbara Hoffman had been trapped by an upset boyfriend and an overzealous prosecutor. Fueled by jealousy and rage, Jerry Davies had murdered Harry Berge and then, in desperation, had taken his own life several months later, depressed by the trouble he had wrought.

Scheduled witnesses for the defense included Robert and Vi Hoffman, Barbaras parents. Eisenberg boasted that jurors would be "flabbergasted" by their testimony. Also promised was a "big surprise" witness who would devastate Professor Deibls prejudicial remarks and judgment. The controversy over Deibl—having his testimony scratched, then permitting him to retestify—had rankled Eisenberg. He referred to the microbiology professor as a prostitute who had sold his professional opinion to the state. The defense would present an eminently qualified expert to rebut Deibls interpretation regarding the items purchased from Laabs.

The first three witnesses called on by the defense, however, contained neither revelation nor surprise. Their connection to Barbara was limited to her work at EDS Federal and as an interim clerk for the state of Wisconsin, Department of Health. They vouched for her intelligence and punctuality. They provided character references designed to demonstrate that Barbara was not the monster some people had assumed and that the prosecution had depicted.

Dr. Paul Slavik reported that he had examined Jerry Davies on January 19, 1977, and had issued a prescription for Valium. Davies had appeared anxious and agitated and said he was having trouble sleeping. The patient went on to mention that his girlfriend had been charged with murdering someone and that she was "innocent." On cross-examination Dr. Slavik admitted that although Davies had been upset he had not seemed depressed or suicidal.

In an effort to discredit Chuck Lulling s conduct and testimony Eisenberg called Assistant DA Donald Antoine to the stand. The young prosecutor admitted that he disliked handling cases that Lulling had investigated because he did not trust the detectives methods of gathering evidence. He said that he had once called Lulling a liar regarding another case, and he characterized Lulling as "less than honest." Asked to expound on what he meant, Antoine acknowledged that he believed Lulling did not always tell the truth.

After Antoine's testimony the court recessed for the day. The five witnesses summoned by the defense had done little to counterbalance a week and a half of incriminating testimony from dozens of witnesses and the ton of circumstantial evidence and exhibits accumulated by the prosecution.

"But tomorrow their story gets destroyed/ 7 Eisenberg quipped to reporters as he exited.

12

By 8:00 a.m. a crowd had assembled in the hall outside the double oak doors of Judge Torphy's courtroom. It was already eighty degrees, and heat clotted the courthouse. Spectators shared sweat and sections of the morning paper. Law students debated strategy. Retirees and taxi drivers and lawyers with a couple hours to kill discussed love and money and intrigue.

Every time the elevator door whooshed open, heads swiveled in anticipation. A reporter meandered through the crowd, seeking opinion, jotting the comments in her notepad. A chubby woman with varicose veins and Bermuda shorts hugged her husband and explained that they were visiting their daughter, who was a student at the U.W., and they'd decided to pass the morning attending the trial.

"Even over in Kenosha we heard of Don Eisenberg." She smiled. The husband fingered the brim of his AMC cap and smiled too.

The scuttlebutt was that Barbara's parents would testify, and because no one had noticed a friend or relative of the defendant in attendance thus far, the rumor evoked fascination as well as speculation as to why the Hoffman family had been so conspicuously absent.

The law students discussed the merits of putting Barbara on the witness stand. An old man in a T-shirt and cardigan snoozed on a bench. The dab of shaving cream lodged behind his ear looked like a larva's thick webbing.

The regulars toted lunch bags and jugs of iced tea so they could sit through the lunch recess and not risk forfeiting their seats.

When requesting a change of venue many months previously, the defense had claimed the trial would degenerate into a carnival atmosphere due to extensive media coverage and the morbid curiosity of the community. Such fears were not borne out. People were shocked and fascinated and titillated by the allegations of cunning and subterfuge, by the lurid exposures regarding Madison's unsavory and prosperous blue world, by the aura of mystery that enveloped the dramas central character, Barbara Hoffman. People flocked for a glimpse of the notorious celebrity, whom many had already presumed was guilty of double murder. Yet as people exercised this perverse expression, they retained a sense of their midwestern dignity. They did not charge the elevator door when Barbara Hoffman arrived. They did not pursue her autograph or hound her during recesses. Her rights to space and movement and privacy were respected.

The people who flocked to the trial observed and listened. What was being investigated was the darkest chambers of human deeds, and many simply wanted to watch, mesmerized by the grappling and the struggle.

The newspapers played to the sensationalism. "Barbara Hoffman: Still a Mystery After 30 Months" ran a headline in the Capital Times. Reporter Jackie Mitchard wrote that Barbara had a "galvanized self-possession, a grace and coolness that mystified some and made others uneasy." Another headline read "Jury's Choice: 'Cold-Blooded' or Tittle Girl/' The paper quoted a college classmate: "She wasn't easy to know. Hell, she wasn't even easy to describe."

The television cameras and the photographers' lenses exhibited much less restraint than the galleries that gathered every day. The media encroached, the media confronted, whereas the regulars were content to see the process played out and maybe catch a shred of insight into the mystery of Barbara Hoffman.

A bailiff tossed open the doors and admitted the gallery. People searched for their favorite seats. Some had occupied the same spot for all seven days. The banter was light, punctuated with laughter. They could have been waiting for the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra to perform a pops concert out on the capitol square. Someone lauded Eisenberg, compared him to a symphony conductor playing to the jury, and someone else frowned in disbelief. Torphys courtroom was poorly air-conditioned, and the heat oppressed and stifled any prolonged outbursts of vitality.

The first witness of the morning was a cherubic woman with an open, oval face. Her mouth, softly highlighted by red lipstick, trembled at the edges. Hair spray held her coiffure in place, and courage held her composure. Vi Hoffman described her family as close and loving, cliches that sounded genuine only because she believed them. Her eldest daughter was a social worker in Boston, and the youngest girl studied at Indiana University. Barbara was a middle child who always "had a special love for flowers and plants." Violet Hoffman toiled as a secretary, having returned to work when her children no longer needed constant attention at home. She was quick to mention that the job did not preclude her fulfilling her motherly duties and quick to mention again that her daughters were capable of fending for themselves. It was a normal household, and Vi Hoffman's sincerity did not induce one to question her definition of normal.

When asked to expound on Barbaras background, Vi Hoffman recited the accomplishments with a tone of pride yet without surprise, as if Barbaras academic achievements were expected, like payments delivered on a promise. Barbara had been an AFS exchange student and a national merit scholar. She was fluent in three languages, competent on the French horn, and the recipient of a scholarship to Butler University, where she'd earned the Dean's List each semester. That standard had not changed when she'd transferred to the U.W.-Madison. Her record of straight As continued, despite the challenge of her sci-

ence courses. Barbara was happy. Her life appeared in order.

In August 1976 Vi Hoffman learned that things were not as they seemed with her daughter. During a late-night phone conversation Barbara confessed to her mother that she was working in a massage parlor. Vi was stunned. Disbelief, dismay, then despair overwhelmed Vi Hoffman as her daughter explained the tragic situation. Through an ad in the student newspaper Barbara had interviewed for a receptionist position in what was presented as a health spa. Because the pay was good, she remained when she discovered what truly went on. Her intention was to work for a semester and quit. When she saw the easy money to be earned as a masseuse, the temptation swayed her. She was working part-time.

Recollections of the agonizing phone conversation eroded Vi Hoffman's composure. She wept as she repeated her daughters confession.

"She said she had made a terrible mistake and that she was going to quit. She said she didn't know what she was getting into at the time and she was sorry/' Vi Hoffman remembered Barbara as "quiet and withdrawn during that period." A couple weeks later Barbara called to let her know that she had quit the parlors. But she followed the good news with another stunning announcement.

"She thought maybe it would be necessary to change her name so that her massage parlor—that short time wouldn't follow her, so she could more easily get into—get back into her normal lifestyle."

The Hoffmans suggested their daughter move back home; however, Barbara declined the offer. She thought it important to overcome what had happened rather than run away. Besides, she liked Madison. She would stay.

The parents accepted her judgment. In spring 1977 Barbara began working full-time at EDS Federal, starting out as a data entry clerk, and was soon promoted to assistant supervisor. The error of Barbara's past had been eclipsed.

As Vi Hoffman reconstructed that sorrowful episode

in her family's life, her pudgy shoulders trembled and her face was streaked with tears. She wept at the awful memories. The hurt had cut deep, for parent and child.

Vi Hoffman's suffering seemed almost palpable. The courtroom was hushed throughout her entire testimony, and some spectators sobbed quietly with her. Eisenberg's questions had been delicate and direct and paced with enough hesitation to allow the jury to feel a mothers pain. Then he guided his witness further along.

Barbara had spoken to her parents of Harry Berge sometime in late 1976. He sent her cards and gifts. It appeared Berge loved her, but the emotion was not reciprocated.

"She considered him—he was a friend/ 7 the mother said, and from her intonation it was obvious she believed friendship was the extent of Barbaras relationship with Berge.

Barbara had also told her parents about Jerry Davies, that she dated him, that he drove her to work every day. While Barbara enjoyed Daviess company and kindness, she was not serious about him and had never mentioned any plans for marriage.

Several times a year since Barbara had moved to Madison in 1973 the Hoffmans had visited their daughter. Rather than stay in a motel they bedded at Barbaras apartment. For Christmas 1977 Vi Hoffmans husband drove up to Madison, accompanied by Boomer, their dog.

Her husband left on December 22nd, and he and Barbara returned home midday on Christmas Eve, laden with colorfully wrapped gifts. Christmas Day followed routine. All three daughters were at home. They attended early services, ate a late brunch, exchanged presents. Late that night the wonderful holiday was interrupted by the Park Ridge police. Barbara was taken to the station and returned within the hour, distraught by the mysterious death of her friend Harry Berge.

The next morning the Hoffmans drove their daughter back to Madison. Her apartment was sealed. They went to Rennebohms, had coffee, and called the police, who ar-

rived to open the premises. The apartment "looked like it had been ransacked/ 7 Barbara was visibly disturbed. Her father suggested she retain an attorney. Barbara went to a phone book and called someone whom they went to see the same afternoon, which was Sunday. Whatever reason the police had to search the apartment was never explained to them by the police, Vi Hoffman said.

The Hoffmans went back to Park Ridge the next day, as Barbara was confident she was in no trouble with the authorities. On January 18th they were informed that their daughter had been arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Stunned by the incomprehensible news, numb with astonishment, they extracted their life insurance savings, secured a second mortgage on their home, and raised bail money for Barbara, who seemed perplexed, withdrawn, and frightened. Her lawyer said the case was beyond his expertise and recommended they hire Don Eisenberg. The Hoffmans did as he advised.

Months passed with no explanation from the police as to why they were suspicious of Barbara. What little information the newspapers carried seemed stocked with rumor. On Easter weekend Vi Hoffman and her husband again visited Barbara. They arrived Saturday, around noon, went out for dinner, and retired early—no later than 10:00 p.m. —sleeping on the sofa as usual. They rose early, went to church services, and enjoyed the holiday with their daughter. At 6:00 p.m. Sunday evening they returned to Park Ridge. Within the week they found out about Daviess death. Barbara was "shocked and upset."

Asked by Eisenberg if her daughter had ever talked about Ken Curtis, Vi Hoffman, after almost two grueling hours of testimony, replied yes, the name had been mentioned. "Barbara seemed to be afraid of him."

The court recessed for 15 minutes to allow Vi Hoffman to regain her composure for the cross-examination. Her face was puffy from her crying. Her voice was racked with sorrow.

Vi Hoffmans testimony was not only emotional and dramatic; it directly refuted the states version of events. It