http://nikkiladuejanuary.blogspot.com/2011/05/catch-as-catch-can-to-put-you-on-spot.html
Catch as catch can
This is the third in a series on the mysterious death of Nikki LaDue January. She was killed by a single bullet to the head on 7/29/2002.
In the second series I told you about Nikkis last night before freedom (death). The flurry of calls made between Nikki and Phils 000000s ID (possibly to establish an alibi?)
Phil had even called Nancy saying he couldnt find Nikki. Nancy had an uneasy feeling and was disturbed to not see Nikkis car in her drive when she got home. She told her son she was going to check on Nikki but came back after only going a few blocks.
Phone records showed Nancy called Nikki the night she was killed at 3 am and 3:30am they were not answered and the last to come in.
Monday morning Nikkis friend Nancy Burge, from the Grand Gulfport Casino came by around 9:30 am (instead of the agreed upon 8am) on July 28th. She said she was surprised to be let in by Nikkis 5 yr old son . The little boy had told her Mommy was still asleep but Nancy couldnt find her,searching the condo twice. Phil then shows up and promptly sees the balcony door ajar and finds Nikki dead on the balcony. Riga mortis had already set in. Nancy then calls 911.
The babysitter, heard about Nikkis death the morning of Monday July 29th around 11am. She couldnt believe her ears. She had just seen Nikki the night before. She decided to call the phone number Nikki left her in case of an emergency. A young man named Jason Burge answered the phone he told her where Nikki lived, he said his Mom was there.
To put you on the spot
Nancy wasnt there when the sitter arrived at approximately 11:45am. Phil, a young man and one police car with a lone officer were all that were there. The sitter approached the police officer and explained who she was, she gave him her name and number and told him Nikki was fine when she left her house with her son the night before. She then spoke to Phil explaining who she was and how sorry she was. She noticed Phil had lots of tiny specs of blood on his face and shirt. The police never contacted the sitter, there was no investigation.
According to Jason Burge, Nancys son, he and his dad rode over to the condo in the early afternoon. When he got there the only persons present were Nancy, Phil, Jasons Dad, and Jason. Jason then took his Dad's truck to McDonald's in Long Beach to pick up a few burgers for the four of them. Later on, Phil's friend and wife arrived to clean the balcony, they were alone.
The following day Tuesday there was a gathering of Phil's family and a friend to complete the process of moving everything out of the apartment. Nikki's ex and a couple of his friends also showed up to gather all of her son's belongings.
The Grand Casino held a memorial service for Nikki. Phil was there with many co-workers and friends. Phil was wearing a white bandage on his hand.
Its your funeral
When Phil arrived at the funeral home in NY the day before her funeral, one of the first things noticed were his swollen hands....they were badly bruised and scratched up. When asked what happened, he allegedly said he had been punching the cement wall that surrounded the condo complex the day Nikki died. Why did no one question of this and how the blood got onto his face?
Nothing about the scene of the shooting makes sense. Nikki was found in a chair with her right knee held by the table in front of her and her left leg down. Phil, the person who found her, has stated in writing, The gun was sitting beside her on a small padded wicker stool with rod-iron railing.
A maintenance man found a shell casing in a swimming pool, 20 feet over from the balcony and three floors down. The gun, which was owned by Phil, was a Sterling .380 semi automatic.
However, the police photo shows Phils pistol on the chair, under Nikkis left thigh. How do you shoot yourself in the temple and then place the pistol under your thigh? Also while you hold a phone in your hand, commit suicide by gun. Get blood on the phone afterwards, and then the phone is found resting face down on a table? Would she not use the same hand to talk on phone or shoot gun?
On the table lay a pack of Nikkis Marlboro Medium 100s, but they were to her left, not to the right where a right handed person would normally place them. On the far side of the table, lay a pack of Marlboro Red 100s with a lighter beside them, perhaps indicating that someone else was there that night.
Phil smoked Marlboro Reds. Nikki was a cigarette snob and did not smoke anything but her own brand. The portable phone, was face down on the table, covered with blood. A pathologist was hired to do a private autopsy and told the family that Nikki died instantly. So who bloodied the telephone? Since police didnt seize it as evidence, it will never be known whose prints were on it or on the lighter. Verbal description.
Gun under Nikki's left thigh
Bloody phone and 2 lighters and 2 diff cigarettes
Wanted a police investigation
Within two hours police closed the case as a suicide. The chief investigator, Pass Christian Police Officer Tom Putsay, told the family that no autopsy or investigation was deemed necessary. No fingerprints were taken and there was no gun powder residue test to determine whether Nikki had fired a gun. Strong physical evidence that somebody WAS ON THE BALCONY WITH Nikki at the time of the shooting was totally ignored, as was information from several individuals that Nikkis death was very likely linked to an interstate drug operation involving people from the Grand Casino in Gulfport.
The crooked circle
In March, 2003, the Grand Casino conducted an internal investigation of Grand personnel and their alleged involvement with the distribution of illegal drugs. In the course of that investigation, information surfaced about The Oxy Ring, a group of individuals at the Grand Casino who allegedly travel to New Orleans and Houston to obtain Oxycontin from crooked doctors. Those drugs are then brought back and sold on the street. Weve also learned that, on Sunday, July 28, 2002, a big drug party was held at a private residence and attended by people from the Grand. Nikki is said to have attended. Allegedly no one remembers what time she left or if someone accompanied or followed her.
Ill see ya in jail sometime.
Update May 12, 2005 the chief investigator in Nikkis case, Tom Putsay, has been arrested on charges of sexual battery and is being held in the Harrison County Jail under a $200,000.00 bond. Putsay, a 21 year veteran of the Pass Christian Police Department, is accused of sexually molesting a juvenile female. A 19 yr old at the time stated he begun molesting her at age 9. Pustay's wife testified he confessed to her.
He was found guilty and ordered to 40 years in prison. He will be 92 when eligible for release. This supports the belief that Officer Putsays character and credibility as a criminal investigator are, at the very least, questionable. And is ongoing molesting of children abuse was definitely a key factor in his poor investigation of this case.
Tom Pustay, Chief Investigator,
Pass Christian Police Dept
South Mississippi Correctional Institution
P.O. Box 1419, Leakesville, MS 39451
MDOC #129388
John Dubisson, Chief of Police
Pass Christian Police Department
123 East 2nd Street
Pass Christian, MS 39571
228-452-3300