Maloney appeal: An investigator was the first to suggest Hellenbrand napped

When she changed her statement to include the nap, it gave the investigation a boost

By Melanie Fonder
News-Chronicle

The saga of Tracy Hellenbrand's alleged naps has never been concretely clarified.

Did she take a nap the night of Feb. 10, 1998, thus giving John Maloney time to leave the house unnoticed, drive to his estranged wife's home and murder her, then return, as prosecutors successfully argued?

Or did she invent the nap to aid investigators and deflect attention from herself, as the defense contends?

Hellenbrand made no mention of taking a nap in her first statement to investigators but later made statements and testified at Maloney's homicide trial that she napped at least twice during the crucial time period.

Because John, Tracy and the boys were not in plain sight of each other at all times in their house between 6:30 and 7:45 p.m., no one is absolutely certain who was where.

"The events that occurred that night, regarding Tracy and John and their whereabouts, the only thing that we know for sure is that John went to pick up his son around 8 o'clock," said Bridget Boyle, Maloney's attorney.

But inconsistencies about Hellenbrand's recollections of her nap - or naps - should have been clarified, she said.

"That is a very relevant piece of information that investigators should have said, 'Wait, why didn't we hear about this nap before?'" Boyle said. During an interview in March 1998, Hellenbrand made no mention of a nap, only an attempted one, after John left to pick up his son shortly before 8 p.m. In the same interview, Hellenbrand did not account for any time between 7:15 and 7:50 and, when she was asked, said she had "no clue" what she did during that time.

In late April, an officer's report said Hellenbrand said "she didn't know what was correct any more" when they were trying to confirm an earlier statement. Tracy told the officer she took a nap sometime after 7:52 p.m.

"At this point, Special Agent (Michael) Vendola stopped and asked if Tracy was suggesting that she took two naps. Tracy asked Vendola what he meant," the report said. "Vendola said that the investigation clearly demonstrated that Tracy took a nap subsequent to her arrival home from work and prior to the departure of John Maloney.

"Vendola continued that on page 8 of her statement, the most relevant portion of her statement...between 6:15 and 7:45 p.m., there was practically no information. Vendola concluded and announced this was because Tracy was asleep."

Tracy then implored the officers to "get her out of this." They told her the interview was over and escorted her outside, where she said maybe she was wrong about the nap time.

She was escorted back to the interview room and said, "I feel you want to charge John Maloney with this crime, but my (first) statement to Lt. (Ken) Brodhagen is standing in the way."

At trial, Hellenbrand testified she told Brodhagen that she took a nap right away when she arrived home and told him to leave out the word nap. Brodhagen testified Hellenbrand did say she took a nap, but that he no longer keeps his notes from interviews.

Boyle thinks the nap suggested by investigators was needed to clear Tracy Hellenbrand of the crime and focus on John Maloney.

"The prosecution needed a nap in that time frame - that gave John the supposed ability to leave the house, go over, have an argument, kill his wife - his soon-to-be ex-wife - and get back to the house (in seven to 20 minutes)," Boyle said.