The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson Page #7

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to do an investigation,

and there was some guy

named Jacques Garon.

[reporter] A couple of the accusations

being made about the Festival Committee

is that it's backed by some of the Mob.

Two, you're making a lot of money

and profit off this thing

and nothing goes back

to the gay community.

The first thing

is about the Mob connection.

That rumor has been going on

for centuries.

I've been in the committee

for seven years

and I've never seen any Mob connection,

'cause I wouldn't be involved

if that would be the case.

Number two, as far as making

a lot of money? God, I wish.

The only money that we get

is through the sale of the booths

on Christopher Street on Friday.

And what happens with that money?

That money is given back in many ways.

We help a lot of people

throughout the year.

We don't make a big issue out of it

because we don't want to.

[Randy] It's outrageous that these kind of

people, Jacques Garon and Red Mahoney,

are running our particular event.

I say that we're gonna

take this festival back.

We'll run it for our community.

We have nothing to fear but fear itself.

This is Randy Wicker saying

keep the faith.

[Candida] Randy was good

at antagonizing people.

But why stop at knocking off Marsha?

Why not punish Randy?

-[Eddie] Okay.

-[man] All right.

[Victoria] Here we go. Here we are again.

-Number seven.

-Call log, that's what you're looking for?

[Victoria] Yeah, call logs.

To see if there's anything we've missed.

Maybe it's one of those two boxes there.

Sh*t, wouldnt you know it.

What's this here?

-[Eddie] Ms. Vicky, do you need help?

-[Victoria] Nah.

[man] Look, Ms. Vicky.

[Victoria] Wait a minute.

Here it is.

-Found it?

-Yeah.

Okay.

"Received a call.

Do you know Randy Wicker?

Tell Randy Wicker to leave Jacques Garon,

Red Mahoney and...

did not get name... alone,

or what happened to Marsha Johnson

will happen to him."

Sh*t.

It was a very chilling phone call,

particularly given the circumstances

surrounding Marsha's death

and everything that was going on

with the Festival Committee.

And then... I don't know

if this happened the same day.

You received a call

from a Rodger McFarlane

and he said he remembered seeing Marsha

on the fifth at 4:00 a.m. in the morning

on 22nd Street.

He said that Marsha was kind of terrified

and was being followed by two guys

going west to the river.

-Was that reported to the police?

-That was reported to the police.

'Cause that determines

someone saw Marsha on the fifth,

and her body was found on the sixth.

We made that statement publicly known.

It was up to the police

to follow up on it.

Right. Then that would tie in

about Randy taking on the Mob,

the call that you got

of Marsha being followed and her death.

Well, those pieces certainly fit together.

There's all these pieces here

that point to exactly

what we were saying back then, that...

Marsha did not die by suicide.

In any other community,

had a similar hero been found dead

under unclear circumstances,

it seems self-evident that the city

would have put real resources behind it

to try to figure out what happened.

[speaking indistinctly]

[line ringing]

[Litwin] Cold Case Squad,

Detective Litwin. Can I help you?

Yes, good afternoon, Detective Litwin.

It's Victoria Cruz.

-Hi, how are you?

-Very well, thank you.

-And yourself?

-Very good, thank you.

Okay, I know that you had spoken

to a couple of retired detectives,

and they called me because I investigated

this case about two years ago.

And I'm not gonna say

she committed suicide,

but there's no credible evidence

that she was murdered. None.

[Victoria] Let me ask you a question.

Did the police ever record

the threats made to Randy Wicker?

That's never come up at all.

I don't have any record of that.

So I can't really say anything on that.

Did AVP ever pass that on

to the police department?

They said they did.

And what about the sighting of Marsha

on the fifth at 4:00 a.m.

in the morning on 22nd Street?

She was kind of frightened

because there were two men following her

as she was rushing down

towards the Hudson River.

Do you know if the police ever recorded

two males following her?

-I see no record of that in the case.

-You see no record?

No, there was never anything

conveyed to the police

about her being seen on the fifth

and being followed.

So, that's new to me.

[indistinct chatter]

-So how you been?

-Pretty good.

Okay, listen.

I have a couple of questions

to ask you because all the, um...

-All that we've been finding out...

-Right.

...points to the Mob.

Okay.

What do you know about that?

So, Marsha...

apparently had a fear

about the Mob or the Mafia.

-And I don't--

-Because?

Because I was investigating

the Christopher Street Festival Committee.

Have you and Marsha ever had

a conversation about this subject?

Of you taking on the Christopher Street

Festival and the Mob?

Maybe that's why she didn't wanna go home.

She thought she was in danger.

She probably raised the issue with me

about what I was doing.

I don't remember that.

But if she had, I would've laughed at it,

because to me

it was just a political fight.

I don't think of political fights

as being heavy duty,

where they murder your roommate

because they don't like what you're doing.

Heritage of Pride tried to get control of

the Festival a couple years before I did,

and they were threatened.

-By whom?

-By the Mob.

They told me, "Randy, don't do this.

We tried to do it and we were threatened."

And I said, "Well, I'm gonna do it."

Well, on July 28th,

they've made a threat to you.

Here.

At 5:
55 on the 28th,

just five minutes before AVP closes,

my informant gets this call.

"Do you know Randy Wicker?"

Matt said, "Yes." Then he said,

"Tell Randy to leave Jacques Garon,

Red Mahoney,"

and another person who did not get named,

"alone or what happened to Marsha Johnson

will happen to him."

And the person hung up.

Oh, God.

I am sure that he did not tell me that.

I'm willing to bet you now--

So, you were never threatened

when you took them on?

No. I never... Who would forget that?

When people would tell me things

about the Mob and whatever,

I was the one that just...

Don't go there, you know.

I was actually...

I look at it now,

I realize I was really in heavy denial.

That might've been

why she ended up staying out,

and why staying out, she winded...

Instead of being home and safe in Hoboken,

you know, with me,

and the dog, you know, and our family.

Could I say

you're blaming yourself for it?

Yeah, I think that...

I mean, it really bothers me.

I mean, I didn't know that.

[Sylvia] This is a beautiful turnout.

And she's gonna be so proud.

And remember that the last name...

The middle name is Marsha P. Johnson,

and the P stands for

"Pay It No Mind" Johnson!

[crowd cheering]

A band of angels

Coming for me

Comin' for to carry me home

Swing low, sweet chariot

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