Let's try a tentative reconstruction. ALL good mystery novels have 'em.
Friday before the murders: Kimberly Candela Scarola and her son Jeff leave Colts Neck. Kim goes to Florida. Jeff goes to stay with his father Jesse Scarola on Staten Island. Why take Jeff out of school for an improvised holiday?
The weekend: Al Chalem is still in Colts Neck. Al doesn't have a driver's license, so he'd need someone around to drive him into town, or wherever else he wanted to go. It's a fairly big house. Was there staff? If so, where were they? When did Lehmann join Chalem? Did Chalem have friends in the area? Did he spend any time with them that weekend?
Sometime before late afternoon on Monday: Lehmann arrives at the house in Bluebell Lane, driving a rented grey Dodge. Why did he rent a car? He lived on Long Island, in the suburbs; he must have had a car of his own.
Monday, daytime: Why did Lehmann visit in the first place? Yes, he and Chalem ran the StockInvestor site together, but it hadn't been updated in months. It seems doubtful that Lehmann drove from Long Island to Colts Neck daily; a long commute, with what point? They could have done most of what they needed to do online and by phone.
When Chalem and Lehmann were killed, they were wearing business suits. It isn't reasonable to think that two guys on their own in a country house would dress that way unless there was some reason for it. Did they have a late afternoon appointment elsewhere, stop on the way home for dinner, and for some reason not have time to change on their return?
Monday evening: Press reports are confused. Initially it was said that the bodies were found by "workmen" who rather improbably arrived at one a.m.
Kaye said two workmen who were friends with Chalem called police at about 1 a.m. Tuesday after arriving to spend the night. The men had been calling the house, where Chalem and Lehmann operated their business, since Monday evening but no one had answered, Kaye said.
dailynews.yahoo.com
According to the next version of the story, "two friends" first called, and then drove to Colts Neck, worried:
The friends who found the brokers had come from North Jersey to spend the night at Chalem's house in Colts Neck, about 10 miles northwest of Asbury Park, Kaye said.
They last spoke to the two about 7:30 Tuesday night and called frequently between 8 p.m. Tuesday and 1 a.m. yesterday, when they arrived in Colts Neck to find the mansion's gates open, the front door unlocked, and Chalem and Lehmann dead on the floor, Kaye said.
phillynews.com
By a slightly different account:
Two friends of the slain men were the first to discover the bodies. They had been in touch with Chalem throughout the day Oct. 25, and their last conversation was at 8:30 p.m.
nydailynews.com
A law enforcement source identified one of the men who found the victims' bodies as Allen Lloyd Conkling. In the SEC case, Conkling is identified as an employee whom Lehmann hired to promote Electro Optical.
The second man (we'll call him "X", naturally) has yet to be identified. Joe Logan? Conkling is or was a licensed stockbroker.
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Conkling had been named, but not charged, in an SEC complaint with Lehmann. Conkling owns a tanning salon with Chalem in Fort Lee.
nj.com
One of the two friends who found Lehmann and Chalem's bodies last week, Allen Conkling, was involved in the Electro Optical Systems case, but he was not charged by the SEC. Conkling is also listed as an investor-relations officer for Aviation Industries Inc., a company currently touted on futuresuperstock.com, an Internet site in which authorities say Lehmann was involved. A woman answering the phone number for Aviation Industries said she never heard of Conkling.
injersey.com
Conkling lives in Pequannock, about 40 minutes north of Colts Neck. He called Chalem at about 7:30. Why? He and X were evidently expected. Of course the Colts Neck house was gated; someone would have to let them in. Presumably, the gates could be opened from inside the house; not unreasonable to assume that Conkling would call when he was a few minutes away, informing his host of his imminent arrival.
What did Chalem say to Conkling in the course of that call? Not, evidently, to come ahead. Might he have told his friend that he had another guest? That they didn't want to be disturbed, so would C please call back to confirm that the coast was clear? Conkling claims that he did call again and again, but that from around 8 p.m. got no answer.
Why were Conkling and X going to spend the night at Colts Neck in the first place?
Chalem had told friends he was planning to go by car to Tennessee the next day and from there charter a plane to Fort Lauderdale, where his girlfriend, Kimberly Scarola, had been staying for the past few days in their condominium.
nydailynews.com
Chalem, as we've seen, didn't have a driver's license; a business associate say that he was driven everywhere, either by Kim or by one of his gofers. Was Conkling and/or X meant to drive him to Tennessee? If so, what car would be used? Though he didn't drive himself, Chalem had several cars; no problem. Lehmann had arrived in the rented Dodge. Conkling and X would arrive in yet another car. When the police arrived on the scene, they found the Dodge in the driveway, the trunk open, a suitcase inside. Why was the trunk open?
Jeff has suggested that perhaps Lehmann was about to leave when he and Chalem were surprised by the killers and forced to return to the house at gunpoint. This would account for the open gates, ready for Lehmann's departure. Did Lehmann miss a chance at survival by minutes?
On the other hand, let's consider the crime scene:
According to USA Today, which saw some crime scene photos, the
murders were brutal. The victims were dressed "in business attire... Cellular phones, pierced by bullets, rest a few feet from the bodies. Business papers are strewn across a table...Bullet holes pepper the walls. Casings were even found under the bodies.."
Message 11769586
Meanwhile, a county medical examiner performed an autopsy on Lehmann, who was married and the father of five children. Results revealed that Lehmann was shot once in the leg and three times in the head, the prosecutor said. A county medical examiner is expected to conduct an autopsy on Chalem today.
Kaye said that it appeared that Chalem was sitting in a chair when struck with the first of numerous shots. One of the shots was a contact wound to his left temple, Kaye said.
Detectives, who dusted the entire residence for fingerprints, found bullets and casings in various areas of the house, which was sparsely furnished, Kaye said.
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Autopsy results released Thursday by Jay Peacock, the assistant Monmouth County medical examiner, showed that Chalem was shot six times, in the head and chest, while Lehmann was shot once in the leg and three times in the head.
Investigators found 10 bullets and shell casings at the scene, said Robert A. Honecker Jr., the second assistant county prosecutor, who is heading the day-to-day investigation.
nytimes.com
Results of an autopsy performed yesterday on Alain Chalem, 41, show he was shot six times, once in the chest and five more times in the head and neck, Second Assistant Monmouth County Prosecutor Robert Honecker Jr. said.
Chalem's business partner, Maier Lehmann, 37, was hit by four bullets, and all appear to be from the same caliber semiautomatic weapon. Honecker declined to say what caliber. He would not say exactly how many shots had been fired.
injersey.com
There's a good deal of confusion here. Casings were found in "various areas of the house"? Walls "peppered" with bullet holes? I doubt it. Common sense suggests that in fact only ten rounds were spent, and they were all aimed at the victims. Seems highly improbable that the killer or killers chased Chalem and Lehmann all over the house, only to end up cornering them and gunning them down in the dining room, close to the front door.
More interesting: Chalem was evidently seated when first fired at. Logical conclusion: Chalem and Lehmann let the killer or killers into the house, invited them to sit down in the dining room, presumably to discuss business. Neither victim was expecting trouble. Suddenly the shooting begins: Chalem slumps in his chair, Lehmann jumps up and tries to escape, only to be shot in the leg.
What should we make of this? That Chalem was the intended victim, and that Lehmann was only there by chance. I think that's it, but.... It could also be that Chalem was shot first in an attempt (no doubt successful) to frighten Lehmann, who would then be willing to talk.
It must have been a helluva mess, and pretty noisy. Odd if no neighbors heard anything: in an isolated area without traffic, the sound of gunshots would travel quite a distance.
Presumably the killers then left. Unless they removed something from the trunk of the Dodge, they don't seem to have taken anything with them.
Tuesday, one a.m.: Conkling and X finally arrive, find the gates open and the front door unlocked. After a glance at the scene, they call the police, who tell them to leave the house and wait in the road.
They found the bodies, called 911, and departed, frightened the killer or killers might still be there. They waited for police in their car at the end of the street.
Message 11797626
By that time, of course, the killers were long gone. Several things do seem clear, to me at least:
--they were expected
--they were well-known to Chalem
--they'd been to the house before; I doubt it'd have been all that easy to find in the dark for someone unfamiliar with the area. And of course one wouldn't necessarily know about the gates.
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