By Tiffany Craig Investigative Reporter
Published: Thu, August 07, 2008 - 8:20 pm
Last Updated: Thu, August 07, 2008 - 8:36 pm
Short URL: http://wkrg.com/a/16704/
Tiffany Craig
All the elements of a box-office thriller wrapped up in a real-life mystery in Citronelle.
The crime sent shockwaves through the north Mobile County city last August. Almost a year later, there is still no one charged with murder.
Nikki Perret is pleading for answers in her husband's murder case. "We need to find out. My kids want to know. They want to know why this has been done to their dad."
The murder of Stephen Perret on August 17, 2007 and the events that followed have filled up case files in the Mobile County Sheriff's Office. Detective Chris McLean says it's one of the biggest files on record in their department.
McLean says the investigators know who killed Perret. So, News 5's Tiffany Craig asked, "If you guys are so sure that he's your man, why can't he be charged yet? McLean responds, "Well being sure and getting your evidence together to take it to trial are two separate things."
The man authorities believe killed Perret is his boss and neighbor Mike Crocker. Both men worked at Vulcan Industrial Services in Mount Vernon. Crocker was a part-owner and Perret was his plant manager. The two men went to breakfast on the morning of the murder at the Iron Skillet on Highway 45. A waitress who knew both men later told investigators that Crocker was acting strange. "Her quote was... it looked like he had seen a ghost."
Perret's wife says her husband went back home to change out vehicles that morning and borrowed Crocker's truck. As he was leaving their street at 10:05am, he was shot. "Mr. Perret was stopped on the side of the roadway. His vehicle was in drive and his foot was on the gas and on the brake." McLean believes that Perret had stopped on the opposite side of the road for something and that's where he was shot and killed.
Perret's family tells us that the shotgun from the crime was never recovered.
Days later, the Crocker's attended Perret's funeral in Louisiana. Nikki Perret remembers her interaction with Crocker. 'You know, I hugged Mike. He was blaming himself. He was saying O'Neal's ordeal was meant for him. Because he was driving his truck? Yeah."
The couple went back to Citronelle after the funeral. Then, a 9-1-1 call came in from the Crocker's house. "His wife actually calls and advises that he had been attacked by a couple of subjects in his backyard." According to investigators, Crocker claimed someone cut out his tongue. "The more and more that we started digging deeper into the investigation, we come to realize that what Mike Crocker had told us about cutting his tongue out was false."
Investigators also claim that Crocker stole hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Mount Vernon Company he part owns. Witnesses interviewed by investigators says that Perret knew about the missing money. Crocker was arrested and charged with theft and false reporting... but never murder.
When he was arrested in October, the damage to his tongue made it sound like two fingers were holding his tongue as he spoke. Tiffany asked him if he had anything to say to the Perret family. His response was short and to the point. "What would you like to say to the Perret family? He said, "They know good and well I didn't do this."
Crocker's lawyer believes investigators just need to pin the murder on someone. Skip Brutkiewicz said "they are trying to do whatever they can either by threat of coercion or locking somebody up in jail without a bond in order to try to solve the case. They can't do it."
The prosecution decided to drop the false reporting charge. The theft charge is still headed to the Grand Jury.
The Perret's live in Loranger, Louisiana but plan to travel to Citronelle next weekend for the 1-year memorial.
On Saturday August 16th, the Perret's will go door-to-door with flyers detailing the case.
The following day, they'll have a memorial service at 2pm on Dogwood Drive to remember Stephen O'Neal Perret.
News 5 spoke to Mike Crocker by phone. He maintains his innocence and even told us that he offered reward money to help find the killer.
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so this is called the Perfect Murder?