Here's my interview with Hugh and Lenny's is mentioned.
Hugh Auslander
By Jim Jones
I'm delivering pizza and my shift is almost over when I get a text from Hugh Auslander. He lets me know he's in town and has some time if I'd like to meet up. I say sure and offer to buy him lunch if he'll come to where I work. He says that he will.
It's early fall (2012) and the Long Island case appears to have gone completely cold. Locating Shannan hasn't brought us any closer to solving the impossible crime that took her life, nor has it revealed any relation or clues to the Ocean Parkway murders. I've lived through so many of these investigations in my mind by way of books and what not that I know how long they can often drag on without progress. But this case feels different. Something stinks.
The Atlantic City case is just as cold and whether or not the two are connected is still anyone's guess. I generally write for those who are, at least, fairly familiar with both the Long Island and Atlantic City serial killer cases. But for readers who are not familiar with the Atlantic City one and Hugh Auslander's relation to it, let me briefly bring you up to speed.
Four women were found murdered behind Atlantic City's Golden Key Motel on November 20th 2006. They ranged in ages from 42 to 20 years old. All four women were believed to be involved in prostitution. One was strangled, another suffocated, and two others were too decomposed to tell the cause of death. All the women were found clothed, but shoeless with their heads turned facing east toward Atlantic City and the ocean. Their names were Kim Raffo, Tracy Ann Roberts, Barbara Breidor and Molly Jean Dilts.
Hugh Auslander was Kim Raffo's husband of sixteen years. I've read a couple of his interviews in the papers and we've communicated over the internet on several occasions, but this is the first time I'll be meeting him in person.
As with any active serial killer investigation of this kind, with so much complexity to sort through, and so much at stake, the events leading up to and surrounding each homicide cannot be told enough times. In my mind, everything's in play; the smallest detail and most minor occurrence, however slight or seemingly insignificant, have their place in contributing to the crime's construction - or reconstruction. And there is no telling what singular fact lurking in the background, when flushed out and held for examination, will reveal a secret snapshot that helps piece together more of those fragmentary scenes. Or at least one can hope.
So like an obsessed killer who takes souvenirs to relive his crimes, our side must collect facts. I'm hoping Hugh is willing to share with me some of the details of his relationship with Kim and their tumultuous life leading up to its tragic ending, so we can add more data to the spreadsheets, and more columns to collate.
I greet him out front in the parking lot. He's wearing a white tank top, blue jeans and black sneakers with white soles and a Velcro strap across the tongue. A long homemade chain of key rings and clips hangs from his belt loop into his front pocket. His sunglasses are on top of his head and his hair is medium to long in length. He shakes my hand and gives me a friendly smile through some obvious agitation.
He tells me made the trip up from Florida to visit family and to try and see his kids who are in permanent foster care. But, he says, he's been getting the run around.
We go inside the restaurant to a secluded corner table. I offer him up some drink choices and he says iced tea is fine. When I get back with the beverage he's talking on his cell phone to someone about not being able to see his kids. I leave the drink and finish up some work duties before clocking out. When I return Hugh's gone and the iced tea is untouched. I soon find him outside smoking a cigarette at one of the sidewalk tables, still talking on the phone.
I sit across from him, light a cigar and try not to feel awkward while listening to his conversation. As he wraps up the call, I empty myself and prepare to descend down the dark well of this case.
The first thing I'm interested in hearing Hugh recall is how Kim went from being a very normal mother and middle class house wife to becoming a crack addict who used prostitution to feed her habit.
Hugh tells me that they were doing great in Florida. The housing boom was in full effect and his construction business was successful enough for them to own a home and for Kim not to have to work. But when the industry there dried up, Kim took some cooking classes so she could join the workforce doing what she had always loved doing for her family. While she was doing this, Hugh found work in New Jersey and was sending money back home. It was during this time period that Kim met a man named Ken and began having an affair.
HA: Kim was my best friend. She was my soul mate. I knew that from day one. We spent everyday together. There was not one day we went to sleep angry with each other. Until I left to find work in Jersey. She was a great mom. Always cooking. Always cleaning twenty four seven. All the family was always at our house. Christmas, Thanksgiving, every birthday. Neighbors kids running through the house non-stop with their dogs. It was crazy. Everybody had pools. Jumping in this pool, jumping in that pool. Life was good. Damn good life. Miss it like hell. But when work dried up that just killed us.
I came back from Jersey in June (2002), and, you know, I kind of felt something was going on. But I just I think no, no, no. And I see in my mother-in-law's eyes and she just couldn't tell me. You know, and I have to go back up to work the next day. So I really didn't have time to really check things out. So anyway, I went back to Jersey and then I wanted to come home for the Fourth of July weekend and she said, no, no, no, no, no. And I'm like what's up with that? You know, and that's when I got the phone call from my mother-in-law stating, Huey, get home, something's going on. Why? Mom, what's going on? What do you mean? You know everything should be fine. She's like, 'No, it's not fine. You need to fix this right now.' So I dropped everything drove eighteen straight hours, got there at 3 o'clock in the morning and threw it all at her. 'What's going on? What's this? What's that? Where's Kenny?' And she said, 'No, no, no, no. That's not true. No, no.' She's lying and denying all the way through.
But Kim and Ken's relationship was tough to deny when Hugh saw Kim and Ken driving Hugh's unregistered van through a crack ridden part of town.
HA: So I'm running around and doing some errands. Going to pay my auto insurance and I ran into them. And they're driving the van. I'm like oh, my god. So I'm driving to see where they're going. And they drive right in the hood to find their crack. I stop right there on Miramar and 441. Walked up to the van. Scared the living daylights out of 'em. 'Get the **** out of the van.' And he sees it's me and tries to get at me with a kitchen knife to cut and stab me through the window. So tally ho, I'm like **** this. I went back to my car. I'm looking for like tools, anything to protect me. I see my son's mitt and baseball bat in the back seat. I grab that. I turn around. He's coming at me with the knife. Bam, right into his elbow. The knife goes flying out on 441, you know, and I'm like, 'You're going to get it.' And I'm going around the van like this and I would smack it and...'I'm going to ****ing kill you, you mother ****er.' And I'm like, 'Kim, get in the van, take it home now.' She came up grabbed me by my arm and I'm like don't you touch me, don't you dare touch me!' So anyway, the light turned green, everybody was honking their horns, 'Move the car.' I jumped in the car and I took it into the gas station and I kind of forced Kim to drive into the gas station too. So he's like drop the bat pussy and I'm like...klink. Come on.' So he comes flying at me. I jumped up in the air and did a flying drop kick on his chest. Then right in his jaw. Bam! Mother ****er how dare you come into my ****ing life like that!
Hugh believes Ken had to be high on drugs because no matter how many times he said that he hit him, Ken would get back up and come after him, even after he punched him in the face and broke his jaw and punched out several of his teeth. But eventually Hugh knocked him out cold. Hugh left after that, but later learned that the cops had come and Ken had pressed charges against him.
HA: So anyway, I wound up going back up to Jersey with my kids. Put my house up for sale and sold it. I gave her $10,000 to start a new life. And that's when she called me up saying, 'You know, you're wanted for attempted murder in Florida for trying to kill Kenny.' I said, 'No, no. I fought him in self-defense.' And I was like, 'I know you seen that.' It wound up being downgraded to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. I didn't believe any of it. I'm like, 'You're full of ****.' So anyway, later on in the year she wound up crying to me, 'Oh, I miss the kids, please, please, please.' I bought her a plane ticket flew her back up. She was high as a kite, ended up spending ten thousand dollars in three weeks. Her lips were all broken and her fingers all messed up from crack. She was sleeping all day and up all nite. Poppin' Xanax. I'm like look, you can't be around my kids like this. I drove her to the airport and I said, 'Call me when you're sober.'
Then December comes rollin' around and Christmas and, you know, a mutual friend of ours calls me up and says, 'Look Huey, she's been clean for two weeks. She's been staying with me. She's no longer with Kenny. She really wants to see the kids. Can you help here?' I'm like, 'All right. I'll send one more ticket. But if she comes up high like that again --'you know, I don't want nothing to do with this.' So she came back up. She looked good. She got her weight back. Christmas came. Everything was good, you know, kind of almost like a family. But there's still a separation between me and Kim. I didn't trust her at this point.
So anyway, I started seeing like hints of things going on like, you know, she was trying to get the kids away from me. And I'm like why do you want to do that? I mean why -- she wanted to go to her cousin's house with the kids for no apparent reason. And I was like, 'All right, I'll drive.' 'No, no, no, I got it.' I'm like, 'What? No. They ain't going. Plain and simple.' Then I found out, Kenny had moved to Atlantic City and he was waiting there and she's trying to get the kids away...to get me arrested, to get me out of the way. So she can get the kids!
So I beat them to punch. On January 1st 2003, I walked into the police station with my kids. And I gave myself up in Atlantic City. I told 'em 'I'm supposedly wanted for something. I don't know what.' They looked it up and they said, 'Oh, yeah, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.' I was like, 'Well, look, all right, I want nobody taking these kids. I want these kids in foster care. I don't trust anybody. I don't know who's who right now and I need help from the State. And I've asked for the help.' And they took it all against me.
When Hugh was arrested, Kim went down to the police station to pick the children up, but it turned out she too had an outstanding warrant in Florida. So Hugh and Kim were both extradited to Florida – on the same plane. Hugh ended up doing three months in jail and their children ended up in foster care, where they remain to this day.
HA: We both got extradited. Same plane. Flew together and they tried to stop us from talking together. And like, 'Well, do you know she's my wife?' 'But you don't have the same last names?' 'Well, that's my wife.' And I told the cop what happened. He says, 'Wow...well, maybe it's better if you don't talk to her.' I'm like, 'Yeah, you're right. But, you know, we have kids here and that's a very key element here. I want her to know what's going on with that.'
So she wound up getting out of jail first, took my income tax check, $3000 and took off back to Atlantic City and hid in the bowels of Atlantic City for two years until I found her again in 2004. And then, she was like, you know, 'Oh, I want to see the kids.' And I'm like, 'Well, straighten out. Look at you, you're smoking crack again. You're living in this ****ing shanty shack. I mean do you think the kids want to see this? Honestly? I mean what kind of life can you give the kids?'
So when I got out of jail I went back up to Ocean City, packed up all my belongings. I had two cars, two vehicles at that time. I had a Rodeo. I packed that up with all my stuff and I left my little Paseo in the lockup in Margate Township. I drove back, flew back up, got the car and drove back and on the way back the Paseo, the engine blew up. So I lost that car. Sold it for $400, whatever. So I still had the Rodeo. So with that I was traveling back to New Jersey every two months for family court for two years. Every court date I was there, present, pushing everything. Everything they gave me. They were like, 'We want you to do anger management.' I came back with the diploma the next time. 'Okay, now we want you in parenting counseling.' Came back with a diploma the next time. I'm like, 'Alright, come on, let's get this done.' They dragged it out for two years - so they could put them in permanent foster care. They were out for my kids. Without a doubt. And my lawyer I had...should be shot. They had such an easy slam dunk case. I was going twice a week for drug testing. I was also getting drug tested through probation. And I had no drug charges at all. I mean like Ken was the drug addict but I'm the one who's paying the penance.
Anyway, they're like, 'You know that eighty percent of the guys won't get their kids back,' right to my face in the courtroom. And I'm like, 'Really, why is this?' 'Cause they're deadbeat dads. You're a deadbeat dad.' I'm like, 'Really? You don't even know why I'm there and you're already judging who I am?' I mean what kinda system is this? And yet, if Kim went to try to get the kids. Being a crack addict and everything. They would have given her the kids. Put her through special programs. They got all kinds of reach out programs for moms like that. And I was so upset, but there was nothing I could do.
I learned to bite my tongue. Every time I open my mouth I get in trouble. There are no advocacy groups for fathers. Nothing out there for us. So that last court date, January 19th or something, just happened to coincide with a court date I had in Florida. And I could not delay that court date in Florida because I was coming to a closure with it. But I was also coming to a closure with the family court in New Jersey. So I tried to postpone it. I told my lawyer in Jersey to postpone it. He didn't. He went on without me. He signed them into permanent foster care without me even being there. The only court date I missed.
In September of 2006, Kim was homeless on the streets of Atlantic City. According to Hugh, Kim's mother asked him to find her and get her out of Atlantic City and away from the drugs. So Hugh picked her up from Atlantic City and took her to Long Island. Here, the couple stayed for five weeks while Kim wrestled with her addiction. Still unable to see her kids, the pain was too much for Kim to handle and she made the fateful decision to return to Atlantic city and its world of drugs and prostitution. She was last seen alive on Sunday, November 19th at around 2:30 AM, getting into the Black Nissan Maxima of an unknown man. Her body and the bodies of the other women were discovered on Monday at around 3PM.
HA: It wasn't easy. Those five weeks -- the first two weeks were really, really dull, you know. She was climbing the walls. I mean, I know she was going behind my back to every that she could find asking them for drugs. We were staying at that motel. Where was it?...Westbury. Westbury Inn. Something like that. It was a real sleazy dive. Some crack head came up to me and sold me these swords for like twenty bucks. And she immediately ran to that guy and asked if he was getting anything. I'm like, 'Hey get over here. Don't even talk to him. Then I told him, 'If you see her you better not come near her. Stay the **** away from her.' Kim left Long Island on the 11th of October. I believe I must have left on Friday the 24th . My last days working with my friend, then he told me about a Florida project on Las Olas.
Hugh spent six months in Atlantic City looking for answers about Kim's murder. He was convinced the killer kept her phone because he called it as soon as he found out what happened to her and someone picked up.
HA: After Kim got killed, I was literally in the bowels of Atlantic City trying to find out the who, what and where for like six months, draining every penny that I had. Wound up losing my job because of it. I just went all out trying to find out what happened.
When it happened they called Kim's mom who in turn called me and ended up telling me. I didn't believe it. I immediately called Kim's phone. They answered the phone call and, you know, they had the Boost Mobile Connects or Nextel. When you press it and it goes through – there'd be a chirp, click and you'll hear it, it initiates. And if it's busy or shut off, it'll be chirp, buzz and then it'll be a busy tone. And then when I tried it again, it was off. So somebody had that phone. So as soon as I got to Atlantic City, I'm like, 'Trace that phone. It's active.' And they were, 'Oh, don't worry, we got this.' Nothing. They didn't even go to the pawn shop. I went to every pawn shop and asked if the detectives have come here yet looking for this phone? They're like, 'No.' 'Oh, well they should be.' And then I went back again. 'Nope.' They still didn't go. I was running into them at every other place like, you know, there's a guy named Ish (Charles Ismall Coles) that she was staying with. They thought that he was initially the one. He's Islamic. They said it was like an Islamic killing type thing and all this other ****. Because they were all facing east barefoot.
Mark Hessee, a minister who stayed at a nearby motel who was rumored to have had a foot fetish and Terry Oleson, a handy man at the Golden Key Motel, who was discovered to be secretly recording his girlfriend's daughter in the bathroom, made the headlines as possible suspects.
HA: Then there was the foot fetish thing. I went to go interview at the Fox Motel - Mark Hessee. He was a nut job for sure. All hell bent on Jesus saying he is trying to help the women. But he was so wacky I didn't bother listening to much more of what he said. All about Jesus. Scary. The foot fetish thing I think is a side step. I don't think it really has much to do with it. Why would a killer take away someone's shoes? Shoes walk in places and pick up fibers. If they found shoes they could find fibers from the carpet of a hotel and could be matched.
Anyway, then Terry Oleson came into the spotlight. Pam Covelli – she stayed with him for a couple of days at the Golden Key Motel - and she supposedly went through his things and found a drawer full of sex toys with a rope in there and a whole lotta cell phones and jewelry. Now I gave Kim a wedding band cause she ended up losing the original so I gave her a new one but it was never recovered. And Pam Covelli said, 'He was very rough during sex and he strangled me. And it scared me.' He ended up getting arrested. Then she was saying this other crazy story that she was part of a party and Kim and Barbara were dead on the bed. That was on the Dark Minds episode. Pam Covelli's a little whacked. She's lost. She couldn't keep a conversation. I tried but...she's just lost.
Supposedly they have DNA evidence. But they won't say what they have. Terry Oleson offered them DNA and I think that they took it and tested it because right after that Oleson's lawyer came in and said, 'Oh, you should let him go because you took his DNA and you never gave us any results.' And they ended up letting him out. But he was videotaping his girlfriend's daughter undressing in the bathroom. Something sick.
Hugh told investigators about some unsavory characters Kim and him ran into in Queens during their stay on Long Island in the weeks leading up to her murder. The police will not comment on the degree to which they were looked into.
HA: The people from Queens I don't know if they were ever really followed up on. Because that scared me. Because when we were on Long Island she was like, 'Well, I know some people. Let's stop in there. I just want to see how they're doing.' All right. So we stopped somewhere in Queens and it was not too far from Howard Beach. It was close to Lenny's Clam Bar, but it wasn't right there - just in that neighborhood. So anyway, we went to that place and I didn't like the way they were talking to Kim or just, you know, treating Kim. And I seen everything and I'm like come on we're out of here right now. It was a house. I was like taking her out of there. And they're like, 'Oh, who the **** are you.' And I'm like, 'I'm her ****ing husband so show some ****in' respect. I started getting crazy, and they're like, 'Whoa, calm down there buddy. We're all friends here. It's okay.' They were doing drugs. And that's what she wanted to do. That's why I started flipping out. That's why I grabbed her out of there before anything happened. And I'm like, 'let's go.' Boom...and we got out of there fast. And she was a little upset with me at first. I'm like, look, do you want to go back to that **** hole or do want to go and see your kids? Tell me which is more important to you right now? And eventually she chose her kids. I didn't know the exact address and I didn't know their names. So... couldn't really follow up. They came to Atlantic city frequently. And they knew Kim from the streets.
The detectives told me nothing. Kept me in the dark. I thought at first they thought I was a suspect. After talking to them for twenty minutes, I told them everything. But, you know, I was in Florida. I went and stopped in to see them this past week on my way up. I spoke to Fred Spano. He was one of the first cops on the scene. He's like, 'Honestly, it's out of this office right now. It's more or less up to the prosecutor to take care of everything.'
The fact that the case is now officially cold hangs heavy between us. Hugh looks beat and I apologize for having him dredge it all up again. I look at my watch and realize we've been talking for nearly an hour and a half. We both got so lost in conversation that the idea of lunch was forgotten. I offer Hugh some good New York pizza but he says he wants to get on the road and begin the long drive back to Florida.
We shake hands and make plans to meet again. He's partnering up with some people and opening a bar in New York City and tells me maybe we can talk some more over drinks when he comes back in a month for business. I tell him that sounds great.
Before he leaves, I remember one last question I want to ask him, “What was the deal with that Philadelphia crack dealer who was staying with Kim?”
He shakes his head and says that he doesn't know anything about it.
“It's probably nothing,” I say, “but I read in one of the articles that she had a crack dealer from Philadelphia staying with her. ¹ And I read in another article that Molly Dilts was always obsessed about moving back to Philadelphia and that she had a lot of friends there.” ²
Hugh's face lights up and says it might be something worth looking into, especially since Molly was the first one to be killed. “It all started with her,” he says.
I nod and I think we both kinda smile at the realization that no case is really cold as long as questions are being asked, even if just by a pizza delivery man.
1.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/23/nyregion/23slay.html?pagewanted=all
2.
http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/uncategorized/the-girl-in-the-ditch-470650/
