Case No. BR056
Discovery of Body of US Marshal

The Brief

On 1 October 2000 the body of US Marhsal Jack Renford was discovered in the crawl space beneath #1432 Penson Boulevard in Birmingham, Alabama. He had been shot twice in the back with what appeared to be his own gun, although there was no sign of any bullets in the corpse. Neither was there any physical evidence to suggest anyone carried Reford's body into the crawlspace.

The mid-west evidence response team began work on this case on 2 October 2000, liaising with US Marshal Ellen Rabwich. The following is the agents' understanding of what actually transpired.

The Facts

The last official case Jack Renford worked on was the apprehension of rapist and murderer Peter Hulham, but this was not Renford's last case. Renford was obsessed with catching the small time drug dealer and bail-jumper, Tic-Tac Loos. He was tracking Tic-Tac in his spare time and eventually found him. Tic-Tac was about to escape Renford again and something snapped in the US Marshal. He shot Tic-Tac twice in the back as he was running away, killing him.

This was a serious matter for Renford and so he chose to hide the deed. He took Tic-Tac's body back to his home in Birmingham, Alabama and buried it in his garden. The agents conjecture that the body of Tic-Tac was discovered by Renford's son, Chuck, and that somehow the spirit of the dead criminal was able to possess and control Chuck. How this was possible is unknown.

Tic-Tac's spirit did not realise that he wasn't still in his own body, and left the Renford's home on 17 September 2000. Not realising what had happened Jack Renford followed his son. Tic-Tac in Chuck's body went to the Jackson residence at #2432 Penson Boulevard to obtain drugs and/or weapons from his old allies. Renford followed his son onto the Jackson property by climbing over the wall dividing the Jackson property with that of Heath Emmentine (this is where he left the fibres). The Jacksons wanted nothing to do with Tic-Tac/Chuck and turned this "white kid" away from their home.

Tic-Tac/Chuck then encountered Jack Renford. Tic-Tac/Chuck killed Renford by shooting him with the weapon that had been used to kill Tic-Tac. Because Tic-Tac was a spirit he manifested this attack as two 'psychic-bullets' that had all the same effects as real bullets but they left no trace. Tic-Tac's spirit then picked up Jack Renford and hid him in the crawl space under Heath Emmentine's house. Again, because Tic-Tac was a spirit he left no physical evidence.

Tic-Tac now understood his predicament (he was trapped in Chuck's body). He returned to Jack Renford's house. Chuck used psychic powers of some sort to dominate and subdue Jack's wife Lois and also to prevent the personality of Chuck from resurfacing. On 18 September 2000 he telephoned Jack Renford's work to call in sick. He booked holiday for Renford on 21 September that would run from 25 September to 8 October. He was playing for time.

The discovery of Renford's body on 1 October created problems for Tic-Tac. He dominated the US Marshal Bob Cates who came to the house to look after Lois, and continued to convince Lois that Jack was alive and well. This is where evidence response got involved.

Tic-Tac/Chuck was able to use his psychic powers to subdue Special Agent Jane Munroe and to terrify Artemis Black. He did could not control Joshua Blackthorne and so he shot him with psychic bullets in a similar fashion to Jack Renford. To stop Elijah Stone Tic-Tac animated the corpse of his original body as a zombie. When Stone destroyed the body it is assumed that he destroyed Tic-Tac's spirit. Chuck was freed of Tic-Tac's influence and Lois Renford, Bob Cates and Jane Munroe returned to normal.

Unanswered Questions

• How was Tic-Tac Loos able to accomplish these feats? What is his background? There seems to be a link to voodoo? Who taught Loos to raise a zombie?
• The agents never successfully interviewed Bubba Black. Could he have anything to do with these proceedings?
• Chuck Renford is due to be released from care around 4 December 2000. It is important to determine if any lingering effects of Tic-Tac's influence persists.

Related Cases

• None (yet)