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The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast
Each week, The Murder Book will present unsolved cases, missing persons, notorious crimes, controversial cases, and serial killers, exploring details of the crime scenes and the murderer's childhood. Some episodes are translated into Spanish as well. The podcast is produced and hosted by Kiara Coyle.
The Murder Book: A True Crime Podcast
Murder of Stanley Cohen Part V
Could the result of a polygraph test be the key to solving a murder case? Join us as we examine the high-stakes journey of Joyce Cohen, who is accused of killing her husband, Stan Cohen. We dive into the meticulous efforts of her defense attorney, Alan Ross, who enlists the reputable George B. Slattery Sr. to administer a polygraph test. Despite initial skepticism, Slattery’s rigorous approach aims to uncover the truth behind Joyce's claims of innocence amidst erratic breathing and focus challenges.
As we move through the detailed procedures of the polygraph test, you'll get an inside look at the obstacles Slattery faces while trying to ensure accurate results. Joyce's initial inconclusive results add to the tension, leading to a nail-biting second attempt that she manages to pass. This milestone prompts Ross to plan a strategic press conference, only for the situation to take an unexpected turn when detectives demand an additional polygraph for Joyce. The episode encapsulates the intricate world of polygraph testing and the relentless pursuit of truth in a sensational murder trial.
Beyond the courtroom, we also touch on the contentious legal battles over Stan Cohen’s estate, valued initially at $13 million but burdened with debts. The strained relationships between Joyce and her stepchildren, Gabby and Jerry, further complicate the narrative. Personal stories of betrayal, suspicion, and resilience emerge, painting a vivid picture of the emotional and financial turmoil following Stan’s death. Don't miss this captivating episode that combines legal drama, personal conflict, and the relentless quest for justice.
Welcome to the Murder Book. I'm your host, kara, and this is part five of the Murder of Stan Cohen. Let's begin. Ever since he sold the first Miami Herald article on the day after Stan Cohen's murder, alan Ross knew his client was facing an uphill battle in the media. Klein was facing an uphill battle in the media. New stories that appeared in the next few days echo the tenor of the first. Joyce Cohen had something to hide. She must be guilty. She must have killed her husband. There were less than helpful quotations from the cops. We're not baffled. That was a comment that Lieutenant Ed Carberry said about the investigation. Then there was Prosecutor David Waxman's classic. This is the first time I have been asked to prepare a search warrant because the widow would not allow the police to come into her house to conduct a crime scene search.
Speaker 1:Ross was determined to clear Joyce of suspicion so that detectives could redirect their efforts and started looking for the person who had really killed Stan Cohen. Russ decided to ask his client to take a polygraph, a lie detector test. He knew Miami police and prosecutors often use polygraphs during investigations. Sometimes they ruled out possible suspects, sometimes they confirmed leads. His problem, russ knew, was to choose an examiner the cops would have confidence in, somehow find someone that themselves used and trusted. That way, when Joyce Cohen passed the polygraph, as Ross believed she would, the cops would have to drop her as a suspect in her husband's murder. That was his plan. Ross knew just the right polygraphist. He was a man the Miami homicide detectives and the prosecutors at the Dade State attorney's office had relied on for years, a man who had impeccable professional credentials, a solid reputation, nearly 25 years experience as a polygraph examiner, a former New Jersey state trooper and former United States Marine. That man was George B Slattery Sr. Among Ross' colleagues in the Miami Criminal Defense Bar, george Slattery was sometimes jokingly referred to as the King of Fail, because so few suspects pass his polygraph examinations. Sometimes they actually confessed to Slattery during the test. But Russ had confidence in Joyce Cohen and he expected her to pass the examination. And if she failed for some reason, russ might as well know about it now.
Speaker 1:The only question was whether Joyce was willing to submit to the polygraph. Russ consulted his client. The test was strictly voluntary and confidential. Test results were protected from disclosure by the attorney-client relationship. If Joyce passed the test, of course Ross would advertise this and would advise the detectives using the Faber test results to exonerate her If she failed. The cops would never know about the test at all. Joyce's response was immediate she would take the polygraph.
Speaker 1:Ross formed Slattery's office to make arrangements for a test the following day, on Tuesday, march 11th, just four days after Stan Cohen's murder, joyce appeared at Slattery's Miami office at 9.30 am, accompanied by Alan Ross and his private investigator, steve Corrali. Slattery had polygraphed other clients for Ross. He knew Ross, understood the procedure and would provide the necessary background information for the test. After he was introduced to Mrs Cohen, slattery asked her to wait in his reception area while he met privately with Ross and Kiraly In the interview room. Slattery asked Ross for the basic case information. Slattery asked Russ for the basic case information. Usually there was an arrest affidavit or police report, given the cops' version of events, but today there was nothing for Slattery to read.
Speaker 1:Russ quickly described the situation. His client was an unofficial suspect in the murder of her husband, stanley Cohen, four days ago. She had found him upstairs in the couple's bed bleeding from fatal head wounds. The police suspected her of the murder because she was the only other person in the house at the time and because she had refused to let them search the house, as the cops put it. There had been a lot of bad publicity for his client and Ross was anxious to clear her name and he wanted to get the test done as soon as possible. Ross believed his client was innocent, but he didn't try to persuade Slattery as some lawyers did and according to Ross, quote said I just want to know where we stand. Quote. Ross told him that to Slattery.
Speaker 1:But in Slattery's experience that was the way Alan Ross and his partners Jeff Weiner and Bill Turnkey approached the polygraphs. They were straight lawyers and he respected that. But also based on his long years of experience, slattery figured that Joyce Cohen was a legitimate suspect in her husband's murder. Most suspects were chosen for a reason. The cops didn't just drag random characters off the street. So Slattery wasn't surprised that most suspects failed his polygraphs. Yes, he thought to himself Joyce Cohen probably did it and he expected her to fail the polygraph. But he said nothing to Alan Ross and Slattery asked him instead what do you want me to cover? And Ross replied everything he said I want to know did she do it? Was she involved? Does she know who did it?
Speaker 1:As he listened to Ross Slattery began to plan the specific questions he would ask Joyce Cohen during her polygraph test. He used a polygraph examination method called the Baxter Zone Comparison Technique, which he believed to be the most reliable. In this technique, which he believed to be the most reliable, the subject's psychophysiological reactions that means blood pressure, pulse, respiration and galvanic skin reflex are measured and respond to two types of questions Control questions, which are about issues other than the matter at hand, and relevant questions, which are specifically about the matter at hand. The subject's physiological reactions are recorded on a graph called a chart or polygram. The polygraphist then compares the subject's reactions to control questions and relevant questions. The theory is simple the fear of detection in an important light causes the subject to react to relevant questions. But in practice, light detection is not so simple. It requires carefully controlled conditions, a subject capable of taking the test and, most important, a skill examiner.
Speaker 1:Slattery began his private interview with Joyce Cohen by recording personal information her name, the birthday address and so on. Immediately he observed that Mrs Cohen seemed very upset and he was concerned about whether she was physically capable of taking a valid polygraph test. That Mrs Cohen seemed very upset and he was concerned about whether she was physically capable of taking a valid polygraph test that day. She had recently suffered severe trauma. He knew if she was still very disturbed her test charts might be inconclusive, might be inconclusive. She felt okay to take the tests and Joyce told him that. But she had had very little sleep since the night her husband was killed. She had slept only maybe four hours the night before, despite having taken a 10 pm dose of sleep medication prescribed for her by her doctor. She had had her usual breakfast this morning, which was half a banana, half a coffee. Slattery thought Joyce was very stressed.
Speaker 1:Although he doubted a valid test could be conducted that day, both Joyce and Alan Ross were anxious to make the attempt. Slattery decided to try it. So he asked Joyce for her version of her husband's murder and she told him just what she told Alan Ross, detective John Spear and all the others. She believed her husband was killed by the intruders she saw in her home on the morning of March 7. She did not kill her husband, she said, but she had no knowledge of who did. She didn't have him killed. She didn't know beforehand that he would be killed. She insisted that she had absolutely no knowledge of or participation in her husband's murder.
Speaker 1:Slattery tried to make Joyce comfortable as he carefully explained the polygraph test procedure. She would answer only yes or no during the test. No other talking was permitted. He would go over with her every word of every question which he would ask her during the examination. There were no trick questions, no surprises, and this is what Slattery assured to Joyce, since Ross wanted to cover everything in Joyce Cohen's polygraph. Since Ross wanted to cover everything in Joyce Cohen's polygraph, Slattery used a method called SKY technique, which probes a subject's knowledge about an event in addition to any degree of participation. He drafted these questions to ask Joyce Cohen. The first one was regarding the shooting death of Stanley Cohen. Do you know for sure who shot and killed him? Another question regarding the shooting death of Stanley Cohen do you shoot and kill him? And the third question was regarding the shooting death of Stanley Cohen do you know that someone was going to kill him before it happened? He went over each question with Joyce. These were the exact questions he would ask her about the murder. The questions would be asked three separate times, in different order, on three different shards.
Speaker 1:Then Joyce sat in the examination chair and Slattery attached her to the polygraph instrument he would use for the test. Two convoluted rubber tubes were fastened around her waist and chest to record her breathing patterns. As she inhaled or exhaled, the tubes stretched or contracted and the result was recorded by a pen on the movie chart paper. The result was recorded by a pen on the movie chart paper. Electrodes were attached to her fingers. The imperceptible electric current flowing through the electrodes would reflect changes in her skin resistant to electricity, which would be recorded on the chart. Finally, a blood pressure cuff was placed on her right arm and inflated with air. Her pulse rate and blood pressure changes will be recorded by the rise and fall of the pen on the movie chart paper.
Speaker 1:Slattery was now ready to administer Joyce's polygraph, but as he began with questions on chart one, he immediately noted that Joyce was having difficulty. There were frequent distortions in her breathing. The pen moved erratically on the chart. Several times he marked DB on the paper, meaning deep breath, or maybe it was a sob. She seemed to be having trouble concentrating on the questions. The reactions and distortions on the chart showed no pattern in relation to the questions asked. Sometimes there were distortions when he had not yet even asked a question.
Speaker 1:Slattery decided to do a verification test to see whether Joyce was able to focus her attention and respond to questions reliably. He placed three small pieces of paper on the table. Each had a number on one side a two, a four and a six. He turned the papers face down, shuffled them and asked her to take one and look at the number, without showing him or telling him what it was. And she did. Now Sledery said I'm going to ask you whether the number you have is a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. I want you to answer no to each number, since he knew Joyce had only one of three numbers the 2, the 4, or the 6,. When she answered no to each of three numbers the two, the four or the six when she answered no to each of his questions, she would be lying one time and telling the truth five times. Is it the one? He asked her? No, she replied, and so on with each number. He watched her responses recorded on the moving chart paper and then he asked did you pick the six? No, the four, no, the two, no Again. He noted her responses. Now Slattery said I'm going to ask you again. This time I want you to answer truthfully. Is it the two? No. Is it the four? No. Is it the six? No. But Slattery knew she had to have one of those numbers, so she wasn't following his instructions. He checked her chart again. He showed a reaction. Each time she denied having the number six. That must be the lie, he thought. Which number did she have? Slattery asked her. Joyce turned over her paper On. It was a six.
Speaker 1:Although Joyce's chart showed reliable reactions on the verification test, she had not followed the simple directions Slattery had given her. Maybe she was just too tired to concentrate, he thought. Still, he decided to try again. Slattery moved on to chart two. There were more distortions. Joyce moved her arm. Her blood pressure suddenly increased, then dropped. A noise outside the room caused a reaction which Slattery marked on the chart as OSN.
Speaker 1:Regarding the shooting death of Stanley Cohen. He asked Joyce, do you intend to answer truthfully each question about that? And she would answer yes, I do. Again, she wasn't following following instructions. Only a yes or no response was permitted. Talking through off uh reactions, um, the one that says regarding the shooting death of stanley cohen, did you shoot and kill him? Her answer no, I did not.
Speaker 1:Slattery discontinued chart two instructions again was please answer only yes or no, be um. This was reminded again and the other reminder was please try not to move. And they started again. Joyce fidgeted, moving her left hand, her right arm. He stopped again. On chart three there were more distortions, no consistency of reactions, no focus. This simply was not enough for a clear-cut opinion. They were just wasting time. Slattery stopped.
Speaker 1:The test marked inconclusive. The charts did not conclusively indicate either truth or deception on the relevant questions. It was 2.01 pm. Joyce had been in George Slattery's office for four and a half hours. The results are not clear enough for an opinion and that's what he told Joyce and her lawyer Ross knew what inconclusive meant.
Speaker 1:Then Slattery suggested that they attempt to remedy Mrs Cohen's problem, whatever it was. If it's lack of sleep, get someplace where she can rest. If it's lack of sleep, get someplace where she can rest. Let her eat, let her get herself in shape to take a test. Slathery also recommended that they talk to Joyce's physician to see if he could prescribe some milder sleep medication for her, or preferably none at all, so that she would have no medication in her system when she came in for another test. But he wasn't too worried about the effects of medication on test scores. In his experience there was no medication that could selectively suppress psychophysiological responses, is block out reactions only to relevant questions, leaving the subject otherwise functioning normally. And if a person was overmedicated, then he simply showed flat charts, no reaction to anything. It was an inconclusive test result.
Speaker 1:So the following morning, wednesday March 12th, joyce Cohen and Alan Ross returned to George Slattery's office for another polygraph. This time Joyce assured Slattery she was rested and ready. Slattery repeated the polygraph with Joyce using the same procedure, the same relevant questions he had used the day before. Joyce responded no to each relevant question. This time the test results were conclusive on all three charts no significant or consistent psychophysiological reaction indicative of deception to the relevant questions. So Joyce had passed the polygraph. Alan Ross was elated. Now he had something concrete to give the Miami homicide detectives. Now they would have a reason to redirect the murder investigation away from Joyce Cohen.
Speaker 1:So Ross wanted to call a press conference and he told Slattery to announce the results of the polygraph. Joyce had already endured so much bad publicity. Maybe a public announcement that she had passed the polygraph would give her a fair shot in the investigation. Would Slattery agree to participate in the press conference? Slattery hesitated. He had avoided press conferences throughout his professional career. Confidentiality was his job, no publicity. Even when a test subject and his attorney specifically asked him to make results public, he feared that publicity undermined the public perception of confidentiality and of Slettery's professional integrity. Someone who saw him on television might think here is a guy who might test me and then go talk about it on TV. But Voss was persuasive. It was important, he said, to counteract all the terrible publicity his client had already had. Reluctantly, slattery agreed to participate in a press conference with Alan Ross and Joyce Cohen. Ross would make the arrangements and call Slattery's office. Ross would make the arrangements and call Slattery's office and as he headed back to his own office, ross was delighted at the prospect of this press conference, now unknown to Alan Ross or George Slattery.
Speaker 1:At the very moment, john Speer, ed Carberry and Steve Vinson were in Ross' office requesting a meeting with him. They wanted him to agree to a polygraph of Joyce Cullen. The detectives left the message with Ross's staff and departed. They would be in touch. When he returned to his office, ross was told that the detectives wanted to polygraph his client and the opportunity was simply irresistible and he decided to have some fun.
Speaker 1:So first Ross called Carberry at the homicide department and the conversation quickly turned to the detective's request for a polygraph of Mrs Cohen. And Ross played along. Ross play along. He might agree to a test, he said, but it would have to be given by an independent polygraph examiner, not one of the homicide detectives who had polygraphs for the police department. Carberry was agreeable. And whom would Carberry suggest as an independent examiner? Ross gasped George Slattery's name came up. All right, ed, responded Ross. He was of course secretly delighted. As long as we're in agreement, let's go over some proposed questions to make sure this is what you want her to be asked. So Ross then read off the relevant questions on the test which Slattery had already given Joyce Cohen and which he had already said she passed. And so Carberry said fine, so we agree. And Ross said well, let's meet at my office this afternoon to set up the polygraph. Let's make it 4 pm. So it was agreed and Russ was gleeful. Now he was ready to spring the trap. He quickly arranged for a press conference in his office at 3 pm. The word was passed to Slattery, who agreed to attend. But no one told Slattery about the byplay with the homicide detectives and no one told the cops about the press conference at three o'clock, an hour before they planned to meet with Voss to arrange his client's polygraph.
Speaker 1:At three o'clock that afternoon, television newspapers, reporters jammed the law library of Weiner Robbins for the press conference. Against a straight backdrop of legal volumes on custom-built wooden shelves, alan Ross sat at the head of a long polished wood conference table. To his right sat his client, joyce Cohen, wearing a tailored black blazer and black pants. A black torn black ribbon the traditional Jewish symbol of mourning was pinned to her striped blouse. Joyce's shiny black hair was perfectly coiffed in her usually French Bob style and just visible beneath her hair were large diamond stud earrings. Her eyes were puffy, heavy lidded, her pale cheeks highlighted with pink blush that matched her lipstick. She sat motionless, lips, compressed eyes, downcast, no expression crossing her face. She looked exhausted. George Slattery was there, dressed in a somber, dark suit, white shirt and tie. He brought his 12-page professional resume with him and says his six-page report of polygraph examination of Joyce LeMay Cohen regarding murder of Stanley Cohen.
Speaker 1:As the television cameras focused in tight, ross opened the press conference by reading a prepared statement. He said quote Unfortunately and without foundation, the City of Miami Police Department cast a cloud of suspicion over Joyce Cohen at a time where she should have been permitted to grieve in private private. Equally unfortunate and disheartening is the fact that the media reported this investigation with little regard for Ms Cohen's presumed innocence. In light of accusations by the police, ross continued Mrs Cohen was compelled to take a polygraph examination and he introduced George Slattery as the examiner chosen by the Miami Police Department who had tested Mrs Cohen using questions approved by the police. Joyce Cohen passed that polygraph. Ross announced polygraph. Russ announced there is no doubt he said that she is innocent of any involvement at all in the murder of Stanley Cohen. So next, george Slattery read the relevant questions and Joyce Cohen's responses denying that she had any knowledge of or participation in her husband's murder, and he confirmed that she had passed the polygraph and said it's my very firm opinion that Mrs Cohen truthfully answered those questions.
Speaker 1:Ross concluded the press conference by announcing that obviously Joyce Cohen was no longer a suspect in her husband's murder. With his deep, resonant voice and dramatic presence he looked and sounded like a Hollywood actor playing a criminal defense attorney. He handed the event masterfully. The media loved it as Slathery started to leave the library, loved it. As Slattery started to leave the library, ross called him aside and said come on here, I want you to hear this. So they walk into an empty office and Ross placed a call to the Miami Homicide Department. He put the call on the speakerphone so Slattery could hear it. Slattery wasn't sure who was on the other end of the line and Ross said into the speakerphone you want her tested? Who do you want to use? And the response was slattery. And Russ laughed and said okay, well, guess what folks, we already did. We watched the Channel 4 news at 6 pm. The speakerphone was disconnected and of course, ross was laughing uproariously. Slattery, on the other hand, he was dumbfounded.
Speaker 1:Ross's reference at the press conference to the examiner chosen by the Miami police have been ambiguous. Now Slattery realized that the Miami homicide detectives had wanted to use him for a polygraph of Joyce Cohen and he recognized exactly what had happened. And he recognized exactly what had happened. Ross Attorney Ross had sent back him. Well, he sent back the detectives and then make it look as if he was part of the plot. So, without a word to Ross, slattery turned on his heel and strode out of the office. He knew he had to get out of there before he said something to Ross that he might regret. He was seething absolutely furious. This might have been a big joke to Ross, but for Slattery it was devastating. He knew he would be unfairly tagged as part of Ross' scheme and he knew the professional repercussions would be severe. The cops and prosecutors, law enforcement professionals he had worked with for many years. He had trusted him. They have trusted him Now. They felt tricked. They felt betrayed. He could hardly blame them for what they would think and he had absolutely no way to defend himself.
Speaker 1:Ross's press conference had the desired effect defend himself. Ross's press conference had the desired effect. Reporters dashed to Miami police headquarters for comment and caught by surprise a police spokesperson that could only stammer that the polygraph was not given under police department supervision. The investigators offered to arrange another polygraph for Joyce Cohen, this time under their supervision, but Ross quickly declined. His client had been harassed enough. He complained so privately. The Miami detectives were seething. George's lottery was right. More battle lines had been drawn. Joyce Cooper remained the cop's number one suspect, regardless of her polygraph, and Slaughery was not firmly in the enemy camp as far as detectives were concerned.
Speaker 1:The word spread quickly in Miami's law enforcement community. It says don't do slaughtery. He must be up to something with Alan Ross. He tested on a Joyce Coyne test and he was suspicious. It would be years before Miami police or prosecutors called George slaughty for polygraphs. He had just lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees. He calculated Worse. He wondered whether his professional reputation would ever really recover. And the logical television stations ran tape on Ross' personal. The follow-up interview with the Miami police spokesperson. Up interview with the Miami police spokesperson.
Speaker 1:So Ross and his law firm colleagues gathered to watch the Six O'Clock news on an office television set, hooting with laughter at excerpts from the press conference and the cops' befuddled response. They finished the afternoon with an impromptu celebration at the Victory Bar in their office and Ross was jubilant. His strategy had worked and Joyce Cohen was no longer a suspect in her husband's murder. He advised her to try to recover from her ordeal and put the strategy behind her. Then he turned his attention to the legal problems of his numerous other clients and he took some time out for a little fishing on the not guilty.
Speaker 1:But the very day of Alan Ross's conference, march 12, 1986, gary and Jerry Cohen took legal action against their stepmother. Their lawyers filed a petition for the administration of Stan Cohen's estate, the. The dry legal language was clear they wanted to cut Joyce Cohen off from the father estate. We'll be right back If Joyce had in fact been in any way involved in the father's murder. Gabby and Jerry knew there could be only one motive money. And to find out how much money there was, they turned first to Jay Rawson, who had been Stan Cohen's accountant and trusted business advisor for more than 20 years. He was also the executor, or personal representative as it is called in Florida, of Stan Estate. The two men had been friends since their days at Miami High School and they were fraternity brothers at the University of Florida.
Speaker 1:Stan's death was a real blow to Rawson, but as CPA for SAC Construction Company and for Stan personally, he knew all about his complicated financial affairs, his personal projects, investments, his assets and his debts. Rawson sighed as he handed Gabby and Jerry Cohen a copy of their father's will and sat back to discuss it with them. The will, which Stan had executed in July 1984, left $200,000 each to Gary and Jerry, $50,000 to Stan's adopted son, michael Cohen, and a trust to be funded by $100,000 for the benefit of Stan's brothers, artie, and their mother, frances. Everything else houses, condos, furniture, real estate investments, jet plane, stock and sack construction company proceeds of several life insurance policies was left to Joyce Cohen to be hers absolutely. Gary recalled a brief conversation with Joyce years before when the subject of revisions to his father's will came up. Stan wanted to establish a trust for her and she had told Gary, but she preferred that everything be left to her outright. Gary had not paid much attention at the time. His father's death was simply inconceivable.
Speaker 1:As to the value of Stan Cohen's estate, a preliminary review showed assets totaling approximately $13 million, show assets totaling approximately $13 million, but, as Rossen carefully explained to Gabby and Jerry, this figure had almost nothing to do with the estate's net value. In the first place, there was very little cash, certainly not enough to fund the specific bequest of $200,000 Stan had left to each of them. Most of the estate's assets were real estate in Florida and Colorado and the market was falling in both states. The value of those assets would be whatever each property could be sold for. Assets would be whatever each property could be sold for, minus debt owed on the property. Of course, the outlook was not good. In addition, the estate's liabilities were enormous.
Speaker 1:Stan Cohen, as his business associates knew, was a master of leverage in a decade where leverage was an art form. He was a financial plate spinner, like a juggler, who kept several plates whirling in the air on long, flexible sticks, giving each stick just enough flick of the wrist to keep them from crashing down. As long as the juggler was around to tend the sticks, the plates spun merrily overhead To finance his lifestyles and his high visibility projects. To keep all those pretty plates spinning overhead, stan had bubbled heavily. Stan had borrowed heavily and he had borrowed $450,000 from SAC Construction Company and pledged his SAC stock value at $500,000 as collateral. He had borrowed $400,000 against his pension. He had borrowed against his life insurance policies, and this was all in addition to the money borrowed against his different real estate properties. There were notes and mortgages on all of them, as well as tax liabilities. In short, vosick estimated that after all the debts nearly $11 million in total were repaid, the net value of the estate might be $2 million before taxes, if the estate could meet payments on its current obligations so that property could be sold in an orderly manner, and if he could get good sale prices for the properties. It is what he said, a troubled estate.
Speaker 1:But Gary and Jerry had a more pressing concern. Whatever the value of their father's estate, they were determined to keep their stepmother from getting any of it. Investigators had told them they were nowhere near an arrest in the case. In the meantime, unless something happened soon, joyce would take over their father's homes the house on South Bayshore Drive, the penthouse condo across the street at Port Bywater and Wolf Run Ranch in Steamboat Springs. She would collect on all his life insurance policies which totaled $565,000, and everything else she was entitled to under the terms of their father's will, and then she might just disappear.
Speaker 1:Gabby and Jerry knew they would have to move fast. Gabby consulted his colleagues at Fine Jacobson and they quickly developed a plan. But it was going to be expensive, very expensive, and the Cohens would have to pay their lawyers, just like the firm's other clients have to pay their lawyers, just like the firm's other clients. So the plan began to take public form when Gabby and Jerry petitioned the Dade County Providence Court to freeze all the assets in their father's estate pending the investigation into his murder. Next, the insurance companies from which Stan had bought policies on his life were warned not to pay the proceeds of those policies to his widow, a suspect in her husband's murder, they said. And finally Stan's children moved to cut Joyce out, or off, I should say out from using any of the couple's property until the criminal investigation was completed.
Speaker 1:The legal maneuvers, these abrupt legal maneuvers, caught Joyce and Alan Ross by surprise, because Gabby and Jerry's actions were simply incomprehensible to Joyce it was another blow which this nightmare never ended with that. So why were they making her suffer? So Because she had lost Stan. She had never said any unkind word about Gabby and Jerry. What was she going to do now? A battle was looming in Provate Court, ross explained, and she would need another lawyer, I should say, to protect her rights there, because Ross was a criminal law, he was not probate law.
Speaker 1:Joy is hired then by Robert Rosenblatt, a well-known Miami civil lawyer, to block her stepchildren's plan to tie up Stanton State. So, despite Russell Blatstrang's efforts, gabby and Jerry won the first round. Their lawyers succeeded in cutting off Joyce, at least temporarily. She only got like $6,000 in cash, florida State Tutorial Widows Allowance. There would be no further distribution of the state's assets pending the investigation into Stan Cohen's murder. The probate court ordered there was more Unless Joyce agreed to pay rent to Stan's estate.
Speaker 1:She couldn't live in any of the houses she had shared with her husband in Florida and Colorado and since her white Jaguar and Stan's tan Bronco was leased by a sack construction company, she had to take over lease payments herself if she wanted to continue driving. To continue driving or she could buy herself a car. But as everyone knew, joyce had no income of her own. Her fledgling interior decorating business was hardly more than a hobby and without money she couldn't afford to pay rent to Stan's estate or lease a car that $6,000 wouldn't last her very long. Then she might be literally out on the street.
Speaker 1:So Joyce's friends were stunned. They didn't believe that nonsense about her being a suspect in Stan's murder. Believe that nonsense about her being a suspect in Stan's murder. They knew Joyce simply didn't have it in her to do something like that and she had passed the polygraph test. If she had been seen unhappy with Stan she could have gotten gotten a divorce, a big settlement from her rich husband after 11 years. It must be something you know with joyce. It must be simple greed, according to the conclusion of joyce's friends, that motivated Stan's children to suspect their stepmother of a murder. They're just greedy. They wanted Stan's money and a nickname was coined for Gabby and Jerry Cohen. They called them the Vultures. No one ever repeated it in the hearing, but it was obvious they were pressuring the police for action against Joyce. According to the friends, apparently they had the clout to do it. After all, gary was a lawyer with a powerful Miami law firm and Jerry was a local television news personality who was about to marry into one of Miami's influential families.
Speaker 1:Joyce have always seemed to have a close, affectionate relationship with her stepson, gary, but everyone knew that there was friction between Joyce and Jerry. It must be Jerry Cohen, joyce's friend decided that was the instigator. In fact there had been bad blood between Jerry and her stepmother, and this was almost since the day they met. Jerry had always thought of herself as her father's favorite. Everyone said she was her father's daughter spunky, outspoken, determined to a fall. Jerry was proud of the comparison. She adored her dad and her stepmother was a natural rival for his attention. Stan and Jerry had been specially close when she was a young teenager whose two loves were her father and her show horse horse, and Stan bought Jerry the horse named Carolina Brass and a trailer with the horse's name on it. Jerry was the only one of Stan's children who shared his love of riding.
Speaker 1:Jerry competed in a horse show every Sunday. She was a good rider. She won many ribbons and more than 100 trophies which she kept at her dad's bachelor house in the Grove. Stan was proud of Jerry's riding prowess. He often brought his girlfriends some just a few years older than Jerry to the Sunday horse shows to watch his daughter compete. The girlfriends were quick to recognize that Jerry was her dad's darling.
Speaker 1:Then Stan started dating Joyce MacDillon. Sometimes he met at work and at first Jerry had paid little attention to her father's new girlfriend. But then the worst happened. Stan announced that he was going to marry Joyce and soon after the wedding Jerry began to feel left out of his father's life. It seemed to her that Joyce found ways to exclude her from the new family group. But by then Jerry had left her horse show days behind in favor of an after-school job, school activities and boys. But there was nothing to take the place of those special Sundays with her father at the horse shows. And one day Jerry realized that her ribbon's invited trophies had simply disappeared from her father's house.
Speaker 1:One summer Stan had loaded Joyce and all three children into a Winnebago motor home for a trip out west Somewhere in New Mexico. They stopped at a roadside souvenir shop and what's what's stand was outside With the motor home. Joyce and 17-year-old Jerry browsed at a jewelry counter. Inside the shop, jerry picked out a silver and turquoise bracelet and told Joyce how much she liked it. Just then Stan came into the shop. Before Jerry could say a word, joyce showed him the same bracelet and asked him to buy it for her not Jerry and Stan said oh yeah, sure. So Jerry was stunned and then furious, and she even said you bitch under her breath. Undeterred, jerry asked her father to buy a bracelet for her too, and chose one that cost $90, about the same as the bracelet he had bought for Joyce, and Stan was irritated. He agreed to buy the bracelet he had bought for Joyce, and Stanton was irritated. He agreed to buy the bracelet for Jerry on one condition she must pay him back. And Jerry agreed. She couldn't back down then, but inside she was angry.
Speaker 1:After that there were other slights, and Jerry could recall each one. For example, there was the time when Stan took Joyce and all the children on a family ski trip to Colorado and she outfitted herself in Sean and new parkas, pants, sweaters and boots. Jerry, who had no ski clothes of her own, was given an old parka and pants of Joyce's to wear On the ski slope. Joyce bought lift tickets for herself and Sean as Jerry waited beside her. Then she turned away and left Jerry without a ticket. When she protested, joyce grudgingly bought her a ticket, but Jerry was humiliated and angry.
Speaker 1:As time went on, jerry felt increasingly unwelcome in her father's life and avoided family gatherings. Life and avoided family gatherings. A rift developed between father and daughter. All them were painful because they were so much alike and Jerry still adored her father and blamed Joyce for their estrangement. Gabby's relationship with his father was easier. Gabby himself was more amiable, less assertive than his sister.
Speaker 1:One day at the University of Florida, where he had joined his father's fraternity, pi Lambda Phi. Gabby returned to the fraternity house for lunch and discovered a large funeral wreath addressed to him. What happened, you know? Did someone in your family die? He was saying this to the fraternity brothers that crowded around and he replied gee, I don't think so. So, gary, read the card aloud. It says quote for my son, gary, who must have died because I haven't heard from him in two weeks signed Stan Cohen.
Speaker 1:Gary worked to maintain an amicable relationship with his stepmother and he became the self-appointed family peacemaker. But um will, he couldn't. You know, he still, he couldn't heal the breach in his family. But he still, he couldn't heal the breach in his family. So finally, while Jerry was in Florida, at Florida State University in Tallahassee, she was away. She wrote her father a 20-page letter explaining why she blamed Joyce for coming between them. Her chronicle began with the bracelet incident in New Mexico. So shortly after Jerry sent him the letter, stan suffered a mild heart attack. Three days later Jerry was at his bedside in Miami. When Stan would undergo heart bypass surgery, he clutched his daughter's hand and tearfully begged her to reconcile with Joyce. Jerry agreed for her father's sake, but in her heart she knew nothing would change between her and her stepmother. And now her father was dead.
Speaker 1:One evening after the funeral, jerry discussed her suspicions about Joyce with an acquaintance. The very night she said, the very night my father was murdered. The police told me that Joyce might be involved and she confided this. Jerry bitterly resented her stepmother's post as the grieving widow. Joyce told her that she had helped the police or she could, and now she simply wanted to be alone to grieve in private. And Jerry said I have been down to the police station every day. I have taken I would take a hundred detectors or tests or whatever they wanted me to do to help. Why isn't she cooperating? To say that she wants to grieve in private isn't right when the police need her help. Jerry was shangri-ing to see her comments repeated in a Miami Herald article the following day, complete with a photograph of her.
Speaker 1:After establishing a career as a professional in the news industry, she suddenly found herself a subject of the news, greasily sensational news at that. Ironically, her colleagues downshot interviews with her about the case To protect her professional status and try to salvage some of her privacy. Jerry chose a prudent course. Although she was on the news, she would not be in the news, at least not voluntarily. She would not give interviews, no comment on any aspect of the case and she would be very cautious about confiding in friends and acquaintances.
Speaker 1:In the aftermath of her father's murder, jerry Cohen faced a serious dilemma what to do about her forthcoming wedding to Steve Hoffman. The date had long been set. It was January sorry March 29th. The invitations for 125 guests had gone out In January. Stan had put down a deposit with the Grand Bay Hotel and put down a deposit with the Grand Bay Hotel, reserving the Continental Ballroom, the Crystal Room outside Traces and the hotel for the five-hour event. But then, just three short weeks before the planned wedding, stan had been murdered. So Jerry's life was in chaos. She didn't really have the heart to go through with her plans in the wake of her father's murder. But she wasn't sure what to do. So she wrote her announcements for herself and Steve, stating the death of Mr Stanley Cohen, obliged them to recall the wedding invitation but still undecided, she hesitated to send them out.
Speaker 1:Then Jerry received a phone call from a Miami travel agent who said that Stan Cohen had ordered a honeymoon travel voucher for several thousand dollars as a surprise wedding gift for his daughter and her fiancé. When she read of Stan Cohen's death, the travel agent had called Joyce to ask her preference. Should the travel voucher be delivered directly to Jerry Cohen and Stephen Helfman? Would Mrs Cohen rather present the gift to them herself? Joyce's response startled the travel agents because she said cancel the travel voucher and credit the amount to my account. Jerry was surprised and deeply touched by her father's gesture in planning the unexpected wedding gift and she was furious that her stepmother had canceled it. My father's dead, she thought bitterly, and Joyce is still trying to come between us. So finally, jerry made up her mind. She would have her wedding on March 29, as planned. She did, however, send out two of the cancellation announcements. One went to her stepmother, the other to Mrs Wenny.
Speaker 1:So Jerry and Steve then turned to the details of their wedding and decided to curtail the plans somewhat. The plans somewhat. A less elaborate celebration was appropriate, they thought, in view of the recent family tragedy, and they would have to make certain financial arrangements even with the reduced plans. Stan had already put down deposits, but there were still substantial balances due to the hotel, the caterer and others. These are expenses that he had planned to pay for his daughter With her father gone. Those expenses were a problem for Jerry. So she turned to Marvin Sheldon, her father's friend and partner, her father's friend and partner. She needed money to take care of wedding expenses, so she would repay Sheldon out of her inheritance. But she wasn't sure when the funds would be available. Marvin, who was a very fond of Stan's children, was anxious to help out. He gave Gary about $17,000 and told her not to worry about when she could repay. But Jerry insisted. Several months later she paid back every cent.
Speaker 1:Sean had gone back to school and Joyce had moved again, and this time to stay with Ed and Sam Smith. But no matter where she went, she seemed completely obsessed with Dan's murder. She hardly slept. She couldn't drive. If she had to go out, sam drove her. Joyce and Sam spent most days sitting on the patio of the Smiths' Coral Gables house.
Speaker 1:Joyce sometimes wore Sam's report code and she carried his picture constantly and she would try uncontrollably saying why did this happen to me? What am I going to do without Stan? So she talked about the murder all the time. She was reliving her horror over and over again and she said I had Stan's head in my lap and she was telling this to Sam and Ed as she sat on the floor rocking and sobbing hysterically. He was bleeding all over me. I took a towel. I was trying to stop the blood from coming out and I didn't know what to do. And I couldn't stop the blood from coming out. So finally Ed couldn't stand anymore and he told Sam that Joyce would have to leave because she was disrupting their lives. Sam was spending all her time trying to take care of Joyce. That was not her job. So Joyce seemed to have no alternative but to leave Miami for Steamboat Springs. She said she wanted to distance herself from the tragedy and even though it seemed so unfair, she agreed to pay $500 per month rent to Stan's estate for Wolf Run Ranch. It was her house too, and she had decorated with such care just a few years ago. And since Stan's tan Bronco would be more practical in Colorado than her white jacket, she bought the Bronco from SAC Construction for $9,000 and then she signed promissory notes for the car and for another $4,990 that she borrowed from SAC.
Speaker 1:Prosecutor Dan Waksman and Detective John Spear did not object to Joyce's plans to move to Colorado. They knew where to find her there. They expected that she wouldn't just disappear as long as Dan Cohen's estate hung in the balance. Stan Cohen's estate hung in the balance. They still consider her the prime suspect in her husband's murder, but, as they patiently explained to Gabby and Jerry over and over again, they just didn't have probable cause to arrest her.
Speaker 1:Now, three weeks after Stan Cohen's murder, on March 29, 1986, they invited guests attending the wedding of his daughter, jerry and Steve Helfman. The guests did not include Joyce Cohen and Myra Wenning. Gary witnessed the marriage for his sister. All the Oco and family friends were there the Sheldons, the Rossens, the Levesteens and others a group that extended back in time to the Gainesville days when they were young and their lives lay ahead like a bright promise. The Huffmans and their friends were there and they were colleagues from the law firm of Fine Jacobson, where both Gabby and Steve practiced law of Fine Jacobson, where both Gabby and Steve practiced law. Some well-known local television personalities were also there, friends of the bride.
Speaker 1:The wedding to the hotel ballroom was beautiful but subdued, restrained, shadowed by the tragedy of Stan Cohen's murder. The bride was lovely, thinner than ever, striking in her long lacy designer gown, but guests noticed that her eyes sparkled with unshed tears as she walked down the aisle alone. They knew what was in her heart. Her father should have been beside her on that day. It was a poignant moment for all those gathered to witness the marriage of Stan Cohen's only daughter. He was in their thoughts as surely as if he stood next to them, laughing, proposing a toast, joking with his pals, joking with his pals.
Speaker 1:Myra Wenning was furious at being disinvited to the wedding and she was deeply offended that Gary had tried to enlist her support in drumming up evidence against Joyce. On March 29, the evening of Gary Cohen's wedding, myra took herself to dinner at Boussion's, the restaurant where she had spent so much happy evenings with Joyce and Stan, and she intended to spend on herself exactly what she had planned to give Jerry and Coneham, which was a gift for $60. Which was a gift for $60. Myra ordered herself dinner and good wine, a good bottle of wine, and then she offered a bit of wedding toast. That said to Jerry Cohen, may she rot in hell. Thank you for listening to the murder book. We will continue with this case to see what happens next. Have a great week.
