Like An Evil Onion

Alan Clark Helmick was born on August 27, 1945 in Delta, Colorado, one of five children. He pitched for Delta High, graduated in 1963, took a physics degree at Adams State College and in 1967 married his high school sweetheart, Sharon, whom he had known since 1959. They had four children, Alan Jr, Portia, Wendy and Christie. He worked his way up to bank manager, then became a land developer, founding Helmick Mortgage, taking a share in a title company and helping build the Christa Lee subdivision in Mesa County. Everyone called him a genuinely good man. Sharon died of a massive heart attack on New Year's Eve 2003, and his son said a big part of him died that day.

details of the account remain covered until revealed In 1976 she met Jack Callaway Giles, and about a year later they married and settled in Jacksonville, Florida, where Jack became a chemical engineer. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now The death was ruled a suicide. details of the account remain covered until revealed Jack was strongly left-handed and the wound was on the right side of his head, but the gun was in his right hand on his chest. His brother Tim never accepted the finding and was never interviewed. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

this part of the story is covered for now She moved in with her elderly father and stepmother and stole more than $80,000 from them. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it When the studio opened a branch in Grand Junction, Colorado, in early 2005, she asked to go and train the staff.

That year Alan, lonely and in his late fifties, took ballroom dancing lessons so he would not embarrass himself on a cruise. this part of the story is covered for now Alan moved her into his secluded home on 40 acres at the end of a dead-end road on Simino Road in Whitewater, and bankrolled two businesses, Creek Ranch Sport Horses and the Dance Junction studio. He kept 95 per cent of each, she five. There was a prenup: if he died she would get nothing he owned before the marriage, and his insurance was structured to buy out his business partners, not her.

details of the account remain covered until revealed Estimates ran from about $16,000 to $40,000, and about $140,000 was moved from his account to pay two commercial loans in a way he would never have done. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He also had untreated heart disease.

this part of the story is covered for now The agent offered at most $250,000 and refused the secrecy. On April 30, 2008 they drove to Delta, where Alan sold part of his title company and was handed a $100,000 cheque. details of the account remain covered until revealed They put it out and found a wooden wick jammed into the fuel tank. The tank was full, which is why it did not explode. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it She said Alan told her to take the wick inside; he said he never did. this part of the story is covered for now Wells warned him he might be in danger, Alan stopped cooperating, and the arson case closed.

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it She said she left at about 8.15 a.m. while he showered, shopped and went to the restaurant, where he never arrived, leaving voicemails including one saying it was not funny any more. At about noon she went home and found him on the floor with a single gunshot wound to the back of his head. She called 911, too upset to give the address, and said it looked as though someone had broken in and robbed him.

Deputies found her kneeling over him. The scene looked ransacked but the staging was poor: drawers were open with their contents untouched, all pulled out to roughly the same distance, a trash can was tipped over, and the kitchen was torn up but not the rest of the house. Alan's wallet with cash and cards lay inches away; his phone, jewellery, electronics and six firearms were all still there. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed Gunshot residue tests were negative and her clothing showed no high-velocity spatter; investigators noted that a shower and a change of clothes, plus the little residue a .25 leaves, could explain that, and that she was unusually ready with her receipts.

On June 22 she reported cabinets opening, a locked door found unlocked and a white truck cruising past, though neighbours had seen nothing. With her friend Penny Lions there she found an envelope under the doormat addressed to the grieving widow. Inside was a store-bought card printed with the fake Einstein line about insanity being doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Handwritten inside was: Alan was first, your next, run, run, run. The bar code had been cut off. She called her lawyer before the police.

The card was sold at only three local stores. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Confronted, she admitted it and said she planted it to force the police to work harder and attract media attention. this part of the story is covered for now Investigators found more than 180 searches on her computer about overdosing on Alan's medications, mixing Ambien and Viagra, undetectable poisons and putting a horse down at home. She had taken out a $25,000 policy on him six days after the murder, void for unpaid premiums. The missing .25-caliber pistol had belonged to Sharon's stepfather, who in 1989 fired a warning shot into the ground during an argument with a neighbour. A retired officer with a metal detector found that bullet twenty years later, and ballistics matched it to the fatal bullet. details of the account remain covered until revealed

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details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The judge excluded evidence about Jack Giles's death as too prejudicial. The prosecution described isolation and control and said that when someone on the path to loneliness crosses path with greed, the results are devastating. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now The house on Simino Road still stands, a four-bedroom, three-bath, 3,290 square foot house on 39 acres, valued at $960,200 and not for sale.