Prosecutors Aim to Sink Shawkey with His Inconsistent Story

On Day 4 of the Gary Shawkey murder trial, prosecutors played interrogation tapes of the accused, hoping his bizarre and seemingly contradictory statements would stick with the jury.

Shawkey stands accused of killing Phoenix resident Robert Vendrick by tying him to an anchor, throwing him overboard and leaving him to die on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, according to the prosecution's story.

No body has been found.

Testifying Friday were Orange County Sheriff's Deputy Craig Gordon Nelson, who searched Vendrick's vacant Dana Point Harbor hotel room after his wife reported him missing, and Deputy Mike Thompson, who interviewed Shawkey after police brought him in for questioning.  

The jury spent most of the day listening to recordings authorities made of their phone interview with Shawkey as he stood outside the Long Beach Aquarium in February 2008--shortly after Vendrick disapeared--and more interviews after they picked him up.

Shawkey contacted police after his wife called to let him know police were looking for him in connection with Vendrick's disappearance.

Shawkey’s 3.5-hour recorded conversation with police was a crucial piece of evidence for the prosecution.

Early in the tape, Shawkey focuses on Vendrick’s wife, telling deputies she is the reason Vendrick disappeared.  

“He thinks his wife is a bitch; I hate to say it, but so do I,” the accused murderer told police. 

When Detective Thompson asked Shawkey, “Where is Bob?” Shawkey replied, “He’s in Chile,” but later said, “He’s is in Mexico,” and also, “He went to bike week in Daytona Beach.”

When asked about the more than $1 million dollars Vendrick had funneled to Shawkey over their six-year business relationship, Shawkey said Vendrick didn’t care about money.

"He was a Jekyll and Hyde," Shawkey said on the tape. "He would throw $5,000 down on craps, hookers. That was his philosophy.”

Another item interrogators focused on was Shawkey's purchase of a 23-foot sailboat when he didn’t know how to sail. He then immediately took it on the dangerous 26-mile trip to Catalina.

“Robert wanted to take Sharlene sailing,” Shawkey said on the tape, referring to Vendrick’s alleged mistress Sharlene Slama.

Shawkey also told deputies he planned on using the 23-foot sailboat as a commercial fishing vessel for lobsters. Upon hearing this, jurors couldn’t disguise their laughter.

Shawkey also told detectives he wanted to go to Chile to fight pirates stealing abalone.

Shawkey revealed the purchases he made before Vendrick got to Dana Point Harbor: a pirate flag, depth finder, bucket, rope and two anchors.  Prosecutors allege Shawkey, in an attempt to hide Vendrick’s body, tied him to an anchor and, using the depth finder to locate the deepest part of the ocean, threw him overboard.

When asked why Vendrick would leave his insulin behind in the hotel, Shawkey told police Bob had decided to deal with his diabetes with diet control.

“Where’s Bob?” Detective Hoffman asks Shawkey on the tape.

“Maybe he took up with a hooker,” Shawkey said. “He talked to me about leaving his wife all the time. Bob was my best friend.”  

“Where’s Bob?” the detective persisted.

“Bob’s in Chile,” Shawkey says, seeming worn down from the interrogation.

“Look, I’m going to cut right to the chase," the detective said. "You said something very interesting before. You said, 'That was Bob’s philosophy,' that Bob was your best friend. What do you mean 'was?' Did you kill Bob?”

“I never thought about killing Bob,” Shawkey said. “Bob was a friend of mine.”

“Don’t you mean ‘is’ a friend of yours?” the deputy shot back.

Although the prosecution attempted to portray the interview as damning for Shawkey, his lawyer said it wasn't any more important as evidence than the opening statements. The prosecution is trying to make a case without a body.

“I don’t think the testimony has moved the ball sufficiently forward in evolving the case the prosecution gave in their opening statement,” said Brian Waite, Shawkey's lawyer.

Deputy Orange County District Attorney Ebrahim Batiyeh said he hoped the jury would see, from the recordings, “that he [Shawkey] is a lying murderer, that’s kind of the objective.”

The trial will continue Monday, in the Santa Ana Central Justice Center.