One Dick From Murder

I want to issue a sexually graphic warning for this episode for our listeners in case they like to listen while kids are around… freaks. So you may have heard of the twinkie defense before… I know I mentioned it in another episode and I looked up the backstory for it. It has to do with the killing of Harvey Milk and George Moscone. If you haven’t seen the movie, Milk, you need to – it’s about their legacy and murders. "Twinkie defense" as told on Wikipedia, is a derisive label for an improbable legal defense. It is not a recognized legal defense in jurisprudence, but a catch-all term coined by reporters during their coverage of the trial of defendant Dan White for the murders of San Francisco city Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone. White's defense was that he suffered diminished capacity as a result of his depression, a symptom of which was a change in diet from healthy food to Twinkies and other sugary foods. But… have you ever heard of the big dick defense? Well, I have a story to tell you… This is the story of Richard Patterson whom I’ll refer to as Dick even though I have no idea if he actually goes by Richard, Rick, Rich, Dick or what. For this particular episode, I feel like the word needs to be reiterated repeatedly. Dick, who was 65 was dating 60 year old Francisca Marquinez. They lived in Florida, so of course nearly every article I looked up about him started with “Florida Man.. yada yada yada.” Like that meme that went around for a while telling you to type your birthday in google along with the term “florida man” to find out your florida man birthday article. By October 2015, Dick and Francisca had only been dating for about four months. Dick and Francisca lived in the Royal Palm Garden complex in Homestead, Florida. It wasn’t clear if they lived together or both had separate units and possibly met there. However, neighbors said the couple had been heard arguing. They even said that Francisca had wanted to end her relationship with Dick. Francisca was last seen by anyone besides Dick on October 25. On October 28, Dick sent a concerning text messages to his daughter. It read, "Your dad did something really bad last night and I'm so so sorry," He spoke with his daughter on the phone the same day of the text message and told her that something terrible had happened and he “couldn’t go on.” When his daughter asked him what he did, he never answered. Dick was supposed to go to a friend’s house to do a painting job, but he cancelled and sent a text to the friend that read, “My meds are making me crazy and I can't function thank you though," followed by another that said "If I need to come to your house I will drive. I need time to think. I did something terrible." Only after these texts did Dick finally call… not 911, but his attorney, Kenneth Padowitz. It was his attorney who called police to come to the apartment. When police arrived at the apartment, they found the already decomposing body of Francisca lying face down on the bed covered with a bed sheet. There was blood in the apartment and on Francisca’s hand. A bag filled with blood and semen-stained paper towels and tissues was recovered at the scene. There were no obvious signs of trauma on the body, but bruises were hard to detect as decomposition had set in on the face and neck and arms. The scene did look like someone had attempted to clean up. A medical examiner determined Francisca had been dead from between 8 and 24 hours before her body was found. Dick was taken to a mental hospital under the Florida Baker Act which allows the involuntary institutionalization and examination of a person if there’s evidence of mental illness or if there’s the possibility the person may try to harm themselves or others. Break Francisca’s son, Omar Andrade, described her as kind, friendly and independent. He had only met Dick a couple of times not long after the couple had started dating in the summer of 2015, which makes sense since they had only dated for 4 months before she died. He said he was shocked about her alleged murder since he didn’t think Dick was capable of killing anyone. “I didn’t think anything of him in particular,” Omar said. Francisca hadn’t once told him that she was having issues in her relationship with Dick. Upon examination, the medical examiner noted that the body was in the early stage of decomposition, and so badly discolored that they were unable to reach a definitive conclusion as to the manner of death because of the delay in being able the examination immediately after death. However, her neck was not broken and the hyoid bone – the cartilage in the neck that usually is indicative of strangling - was also intact. Dick was arrested a week after his girlfriend’s body was found. Dick now faced a maximum of life in prison if found guilty of the 2nd degree murder of Francisca. Apparently, with those texts and calls that Dick had made, he had told a friend that in addition to “doing something bad,” he also claimed that he had choked Francisca. Dick’s attorney was quick to point out that he didn’t confess to strangling his girlfriend, instead, Dick claimed during rough sex. In fact, there IS a “rough sex” defense. It has been used in numerous trials in the past, and while not often successful, it is a viable defense. The heart of the rough sex argument is that the victim died accidentally during consensual sex. Dick wasn’t claiming he had choked Francisca with his hands, though. Rather, he claimed she asphyxiated on his over-sized member, his dick, while giving him oral sex. In 2011, a British man tried to claim an identical defense. He’s now serving a life sentence. Omar, Francisca’s son, 41 at the time of the trial, thought Dick’s defense was “desperate.” He said, “It’s totally false. He’s a desperate man trying to avoid being convicted for the crime,” “He’s trying to do anything to not go to jail.” BREAK Dick said he didn’t immediately call 911 because he was embarrassed that his penis had blocked his girlfriend’s airway, causing her to accidentally asphyxiate. The medical examiner for the defense testified under oath that Francisca indeed COULD have died from asphyxiation during the oral sex act. However, another medical examiner who took the stand for the prosecution said that Dick’s dick would have had to be lodged deep inside the victim’s throat for two to three minutes. If such an event had occurred, he said the victim would have put up a struggle in an attempt to free herself for air. He didn’t find any evidence of a struggle in the autopsy. There was other evidence like fluid build-up in the lungs that would support the asphyxiation theory, but it wasn’t definitive. According to his attorney, Dick didn’t notice anything wrong with Francisca until he came back from the bathroom 15 minutes later after the oral sex was over. Like, is he trying to claim that not only is his whang colossal, but his wad is also Herculean and she choked on that? Jurors also heard a wiretapped conversation between Dick and his ex-girlfriend, Holly Graff, in the days after Francisca’s death. In the recording, she asked him, “were you arguing?” Dick replied, “Holly, it doesn’t matter what happened. I’m not telling you what happened because you don’t need to know. Period.” He told her that he caused her death and that he was going to jail. He had texted her that his meds were making him crazy and that he couldn’t function. This could be the most penetrating piece of the trial. Dick’s attorney filed a motion to present some very substantial evidence to the jury. They wanted to present Dick’s dick as evidence one could easily choke on such an enormous trouser snake. If the judge allowed the motion, the public would have to miss out. It would only be viewed by the judge, jury and lawyers. A prosecutor raised the question of the logistics of such a presentation. He said, 'Is it going to be erect, or is it going to be flaccid?' 'Because the allegation is they're having a sexual intercourse and I'm assuming the size of the penis does matter for the defense.' He claimed that since Dick’s defense hinged on the idea that the victim died while Dick was aroused so Dick’s tallywhacker would need to be aroused during the “unveiling” to the jury. Dick’s attorney claimed that showing the schlong is pertinent to their defense. He hit back at the prosecution saying that the other lawyer wasn’t qualified to say that a person could only choke on an erect wanger. “It is material and relevant. The view by the jury is essential for them to fully understand Dr. Wright’s (the medical examiner) testimony and the defense in this case.” Dick’s lawyer even went so far as to provide photos of Dick’s weiner to the prosecution, including one with it photographed next to a tape measure and yet another with Dick naked from the waist down. When the judge heard about the photographs, she asked about the state of the member. Basically asking whether it was hard or not. The prosecution replied, “it’s definitely not erect.” During the back-and-forth banter about his johnson, Dick sat stone-faced at the defense table, dressed nicely and sometimes fidgeting with his watch. Another attorney who had handled a differe “rough sex” defendant in the past heard about the idea of having Dick get naked in front of a jury and her reply was, “really? Couldn’t they just make a mold or something?” Which, coincidentally, was another approach Dick’s attorney was considering. After a medical examiner testified in court that it’s unlikely Francisca died by choking during a sex act, Dick’s attorney reversed course. They decided not to try to prove that her death was due to a massive stiffy, but instead focus on the fact that her death was undetermined. They said she could have died from a stroke or a heart attack that went unnoticed by Dick while he was in the bathroom. Even Dick’s attorney admitted it’s unlikely that Francisca had died by penile asphixiation. "That's not the way she died," Padowitz, Dick’s lawyer, said. "But that's the way Richard Patterson thought she died. He believes that's how she died," he said. "He's wrong!" After the week-long trial, the jurors took 5 hours to deliberate before reaching a verdict. Dick and his attorney hugged after the not guilty verdict was read. Francisca’s family members showed obvious frustration at the same time. One person called out, “This is not justice.” Francisca’s son left the courtroom in silence and declined to comment to the media.