Orange County Superior Court Department C-35 Oct. 9, 2009 Louis Wiechecki, in a suit and tie, sat at the counsel table in Judge Frank Fasel’s eighth-floor courtroom awaiting the most important judicial ruling in his life. Former Orange County Register reporter Larry Welborn covered Linda Cummings’ story from 1974 until his retirement in 2014 and still pursued the truth in the following years.
He wrote about it in the new book “Murder by Suicide: A reporter unravels a true case of rape, betrayal and lies,” which is available on Amazon. This is part four of a seven-part series. Part one: 50 years ago, Linda Cummings died and the pursuit of the truth started Part two: Search for evidence leads to more heartbreak Part three: After 31 years, an arrest is made Part five: Coming Friday I sat in the gallery, as a spectator without a pen and pad.
My editors grounded me after defense attorney John Barnett contended in his motion to dismiss that “this prosecution was not driven by evidence, but by the scrutiny of Larry Welborn.” My colleague Rachanee Srisavasdi had the reporting assignment. My own emotional stake in the outcome only added to the drama that marks every verdict in every case in every courtroom I’ve ever covered.
Judge Fasel began with a summary of the facts and list of evidence he would be relying upon. He noted Wiechecki’s role in discovering the body and his use of a manager’s passkey to enter Linda Cummings’ apartment. He detailed the suspicious cir.
