Sex. Murder. Mystery(171)
Karen O'Leary came from money. Her family lived in exclusive Pacific Palisades in Southern California. They owned a villa in Puerto Vallarta, an apartment in New York, a home in Lake Tahoe—Karen grew up blond and beautiful in the California sun. A tennis star as a teen and at Stanford University, she was fit and driven—the coed with the golden future in television news.
So driven, friends thought, there seemed to be no time for the right man. But those friends were delighted when she married not long before the Letourneau case broke. But by the time the case was over, so was the marriage to a lawyer with political aspirations.
For more than fifteen years at KIRO, Karen O'Leary was in the kind of job that ensured she'd never win a popularity contest covering the unseemly of Seattle. Karen reported on the Green River Killer investigation and the infamous South Hill Rapist from Spokane, Kevin Coe. She sat with Jim Lobsenz, a lawyer who would later represent Mary Kay Letourneau, and witnessed the execution of Lobsenz's client, a triple murderer, at the state prison in Walla Walla. And throughout all her stories, Karen O'Leary was always tough, dogged, and when necessary, pushy.
“It's hard to like Karen sometimes,” a former coworker said. “She's a tough broad.”
She didn't know it at the time, but more than ever, she'd need to be tough when it came to the Letourneau case. In time, Karen O'Leary would be fighting for her name, her career, and her dignity when the media circus came to town.
On March 12, 1997, Karen stood with the other pack of reporters in a King County Superior Courtroom to get a look at the thirty-five-year-old teacher in the olive-green gingham dress when she entered not-guilty pleas to two counts of rape of a child. As a sex offender, a child molester, she could have no contact with the victim or his mother; nor could she be left alone with her own children. Since she was a candidate for treatment, there would be weeks of tests, counseling sessions, and legal wrangling to see if she could be placed in program under the guidelines of the Special Sex Offenders Sentencing Act, or SSOSA. Otherwise, Washington's determinate sentencing left no room for wiggling. She'd serve seven years in prison. Certainly the thumbnail premise of the schoolteacher's criminal case was remarkable, but not nearly so as how the perpetrator appeared that day in court. It could not be denied that Mary Kay Letourneau was not just any sex offender. Even the reporter who had seen it all was shocked.
“This person was so pretty and sweet-looking and frail and pregnant,” Karen O'Leary said later.
And it was the pregnancy that immediately raised an eyebrow.
Could it be the kid's? Karen thought.
Chapter 44
MARY LETOURNEAU'S REQUEST made Katie Hogden feel uncomfortable. It also made the teenager feel more torn than ever. What was she to do? There was a time when she would have done anything for Mary or Vili or any of a number of people about whom she cared. She never felt used. She hung up the phone and sought out her mother.
Judy Hogden could see the confusion in her daughter's eyes. She knew it had to be about Mary.
“Mary wanted to know if I could pass a message between her and Vili.”
Judy shook her head. She didn't think it was a good idea.
Deep down, Katie felt the same, though she explained Mary's motives. She knew Vili was hurting and there was no direct way to contact him.
But everyone was hurting.
“She said it was a three-word phrase that would let Vili know that everything would be all right. She said, no, I can't ask you to do that. But if you could tell him 'three words,' he'll know what it means.”
“I'll have to talk to my mom about it,” Katie had said.
Judy got on the phone later. She chose her words carefully, but she didn't allow Mary to cut into the conversation. Judy had some things to get off her chest.
“Before I say anything else, I want you to know we'll always be here for you, we'll always be your friends. If you need anything, a place to stay, to get away from reporters, come here. We won't tell anybody you're here. I don't approve of what you did, but that doesn't change how we feel about you.”
Mary Kay seemed to take it in and seemed to appreciate the support. She thanked Judy Hogden for the offer, but it wasn't likely she'd take her up on it. She was going to be fine right where she was—at home.
“And as far as Katie getting involved,” Judy said, tackling the most difficult part of the call, the reason for her conversation with Mary. “I think you are in some really big trouble and I don't think it's best to involve Katie, even passing along a three-word phrase.”
Mary agreed and apologized for even asking.
“I'm in such a panic for him to know that everything is going to be okay,” she said. “There are three words that if he heard he'd know that everything's going to be okay.”