Deadly Intentions

Deadly Intentions (1982), a non-fiction book by American author and prosecutor William Randolph Stevens, chronicles the case of dermatologist Patrick Henry, accused of attempting to murder his ex-wife, and the subsequent trial prosecuted by Stevens. Stevens received an Edgar Award nomination for Best Fact Crime for Deadly Intentions.

On December 6, 1977, a man calling himself A. Donald Vester arouses the suspicion of a ticket counter clerk at Tucson International Airport. Vester appears to be wearing an outlandish disguise. Sporting an obviously fake black wig, he has a huge upper torso with a tiny head and tiny legs by comparison. When moving his arms, they seem to wrinkle as if made from fabric. Upon attempting to baggage-check his briefcase, Vester is so uneasy the clerk insists that he bring the case onboard, forcing it to go through the X-ray machine at the security gate. On the X-ray display, there looks to be the outline of a pistol. Agents demand that Vester open the locked briefcase, but he insists he lost the key. Ultimately, Vester is permitted to board the plane to Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, but only if he relinquishes the briefcase to the security agents. Shortly after Vester departs on the plane to Dallas-Fort Worth, bomb specialists open the briefcase and find several alarming items. There is a .32-caliber pistol with nine bullets, a hunting knife, a glasscutter, pliers, glue, a small plunger, string, twenty-three firecrackers, and matches.

At the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport, FBI agents wait to meet Vester at the gate but fail to find anyone fitting his outlandish description. Then they see a man with strands of black hair—Vester's wig—overflowing from his trench-coat pocket. After claiming his name is Donald Vester, the man empties his pockets to reveal a bottle of pills, safety pins, a map of Tucson, and a car rental form covered in various scribbles. In his wallet, there is a Maryland driver's license, social security card, and library card, all of which have the name Terry Lee Cordell on them. Credit cards and a US Public Health Services ID card list the name Dr. Patrick Henry, which authorities proceed to verify is the man's real name. He is a senior resident in dermatology at Baltimore's University of Maryland hospital. He was last seen in Dallas at a medical conference which he left to fly to Tucson and then return to Dallas. The only explanation he can offer for his bizarre behavior, disguise, and duplicate IDs is that he prefers to "travel incognito."



Having committed no apparent crime, the authorities let Henry go. They pass on the briefcase, its contents, and the other suspicious items on Henry's person to Charles Wallace who works for the Tucson branch of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. Of most interest to Wallace are the notes scribbled on the rental car application. Though they initially appear to be indecipherable, Wallace makes out what appears to be a rough plan for burglary and possibly worse: "In 1409; select window; tape, plunger; thru-open; find T; M T; out front; or rm window." Wallace wonders, who is T? And given the gun and knife, could M stand for murder?

Wallace also finds two telephone numbers included in the notes. The first is to a kindergarten and pre-school. The second is to 1409 East Broadway, the residence of William Bellios. Wallace drives to the home, fearing in his stomach that a corpse awaits him. However, a woman answers the door who says her name is Christina Bellios. William is her father, who lives in a guesthouse on the property with Christina's mom, Athena. All three are unharmed. Then Athena calls Christina by her nickname, Tina, and suddenly Wallace knows the identity of the "T" in Henry's notes.

When Wallace mentions Henry's name, an incredibly alarmed Christina explains that she could have sworn she saw him a day earlier except he had long hair and a much heavier-set build. She also says he called her at the kindergarten and pre-school where she works, pretending to be a parent looking to enroll his child at the school. Suspecting the caller was Henry, a frightened Christina slammed down the phone and returned home.



Wallace brings the case to Pima County's chief prosecutor, William Randolph Stevens. Intrigued and troubled by the events, Stevens interviews Christina, leading to more alarming revelations. When Christina met Henry in 1967, he seemed shy and sweet. With little experience with men, Christina was easily convinced to marry Henry shortly after meeting him. Before long, he proved to be alternately impassive and cruel. When he did speak to Christina, he either called her "Toad" or explained his favorite ways to torture and kill a person, including shoving small explosives—like the firecrackers in Henry's briefcase—into his victim's vagina or anus. Despite Christina's religious objections, she divorced Henry to protect herself and their then-infant child, Stevie.

Stevens moves to file criminal charges against Henry. The trouble is that the state can't imprison a person for merely planning to kill someone. Stevens must convince the court that Henry committed "acts in furtherance" of the crime in question. Terrified, Christina agrees to act as the prosecution's star witness, testifying to her ex-husband's sadistic fantasies. Meanwhile, the defense puts Henry's new wife, Nancy, on the stand to testify to the defendant's strong moral character. The jury finds Christina's testimony more compelling and after just six hours of deliberation delivers a guilty verdict in the charge of attempted murder in the second degree. Henry is sentenced to six-and-a-half years in the Arizona State Prison.

Deadly Intentions is a deeply disturbing look at how close one woman came to becoming the victim of a twisted murderer.