1HV0iyl#CEB
1HV0iyl#CEB
1HV0iyl#CEB
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Around 3:15 p.m., Doug Burdick finally convinced defendant to call the<br />
police. At one point, defendant was placed on hold and became very upset. He hit<br />
the kitchen cabinet with his fist, and exclaimed, “Ah fuck. Here we go again.”<br />
During the conversation with police, defendant reported that his wife and daughter<br />
were missing and that his wife had failed to show up for work at 11:00 a.m.<br />
Contrary to his statement to Mary Burdick, defendant claimed that he last saw his<br />
wife at 7:30 a.m., before he took Ashley to school. He also told the police that he<br />
did not think his wife was going to take his daughter to work with her, that he<br />
expected her to return home after running errands and before going to work, and<br />
that he had called hospitals and had been doing yardwork.<br />
At the Kopatzes’ house, Burdick saw two rings next to the bathroom sink.<br />
At trial, he described the rings as having “a similar cut” to Mary’s wedding ring<br />
and as being “very, very similar” to Mary’s anniversary band.<br />
Defendant’s brother, Alan Kopatz, arrived at the Kopatzes’ house about<br />
3:20 p.m., after learning that Mary was missing. Alan asked what Mary had been<br />
doing that morning. Defendant responded that she was going to Sav-on to pick up<br />
a prescription and then run a few errands. He stated that he had called Sav-on to<br />
see if Mary had been there, but was told that she had not picked up the<br />
prescription. 4 He stated that he had called the police and hospital emergency<br />
rooms.<br />
Alan Kopatz announced that he was going to Sav-on to search for the<br />
family’s van. He grabbed defendant’s keys, in case he found the van. Defendant<br />
4 Several Sav-on employees testified that they worked on the morning of<br />
April 22, 1999, but did not recall defendant calling to ask whether his wife picked<br />
up a prescription. One employee testified that such a phone call would have been<br />
unusual, since defendant was the one who usually picked up prescriptions from the<br />
store.<br />
8