Josephine Marsh had kept records.
Locked in that bedroom, with the blinds taped shut, she’d done what a schoolteacher of thirty-four years does. She’d taken notes.
She’d written them on the backs of the paper napkins Eli brought her with his smuggled lunches. Tiny, careful printing in pencil. A pencil Eli had brought her from school, a yellow No. 2 he’d sharpened in Mrs. Hadley’s classroom.
She’d hidden them in a pillowcase.
There were sixty-three of them.
Detective Okonkwo laid them out on a long table at the precinct the next morning. I stood next to him and read them.
“Sept 22. D took my checkbook. Says she’ll handle bills.”
“Oct 4. Heard D on phone. ‘The old lady’s pension hit. 2,140.’ Laughing.”
“Oct 30. Bolt on door. R installed it. Told Curtis it’s for my safety.”
“Nov 12. D brought a man. Said he’s from bank. Made me sign papers. Hand too shaky to read them. Asked what they were. D said, ‘Just bills, Josie.'”
“Dec 25. Christmas. Heard them open presents. Eli came to door. Said Merry Christmas through the crack. Gave me a candy cane under the door.”
“Jan 9. Asked R for water. He said I already had some today.”
“Feb 2. Told Eli about Officer Dunham. The one with the voices. Told him: find him.”
Detective Okonkwo set down the last napkin very gently.
“Ray,” he said. “I need to find out what she signed on November twelfth.”
It took him four days.
On November 12th, Josephine Marsh had signed a quitclaim deed. It transferred her house on Larch Street, the house she’d bought with her late husband, Harold, in 1971, the house that was paid off in 1994, to Darla Paulsen.
For the sum of ten dollars.
The deed was notarized by Richard A. Paulsen. It had been recorded with Multnomah County on November 19th.
Then, on December 3rd, Darla had taken out a home equity loan against the house with a lender in Beaverton. $142,000.
And from Josephine’s account at Unitus Community Credit Union, between September and February, Darla had transferred out $31,600. Josephine’s Social Security, $1,840 a month. Her Portland Public Schools pension, $2,140 a month. Plus most of the $19,000 in savings Josephine had put away over forty years.
“The TV in the living room cost $3,200,” Detective Okonkwo told me, reading from his notes. “The sectional, $4,100. A 2022 Dodge Ram in Rick’s name, $14,000 down payment. Two trips to Las Vegas in January.”
He closed his folder.
“And a padlock and hasp from Home Depot,” he said. “$11.47.”
Lila Hart is a dedicated Digital Archivist and Research Specialist with a keen eye for preserving and curating meaningful content. At TheArchivists, she specializes in organizing and managing digital archives, ensuring that valuable stories and historical moments are accessible for generations to come.
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