A Little Murder in Tucson

“But to see her was to love her, love but her, and love forever.” – Robert Burns. Wednesday, October 21, 1992, 11:00 a.m. There is a dark side to every city. Tucson is no exception. Annie Miles was well acquainted with Tucson’s dark side. She had been homeless and on Tucson’s streets for ten years now and there was no prospect of any change in the future. It was October and the weather in Tucson while still warmer than many other cities that had begun to become noticeably cooler. Annie was use to these changes. She wore most of the clothing she had. The rest was in the shopping cart she pushed. Annie was fifty years old. She couldn’t remember when she last celebrated her birthday. It was many years ago. Judging by her appearance, she could easily be mistaken for someone much older. Her years on the street had been difficult and they had taken their toll. Her lack of dental hygiene had resulted in most of her teeth going missing. The few teeth that remained were stained dark yellow and her gums were shockingly discolored. Adding to this disability was the fact that Annie smoked prodigiously and her lungs undoubtedly were permanently damaged. She had a deep, permanent cough. It was surprising that she had lasted so long. Many of the people she originally knew on the street when she first became homeless were dead. Annie had a routine that probably contributed to her longevity. It was a routine that she had established because she knew when the best trash was being thrown out and she was the first on the scene. She wanted to rummage through the trash containers before her competition. She particularly liked to go through the garbage of restaurants on 4th Avenue. Often she found delicious morsels of food buried in the offal. Half a gourmet sandwich or a juicy piece of steak was a valuable find. Annie carried a knife not only to cut the meat into very small pieces, but for her protection. She had witnessed, on more than one occasion, what could happen to you on the streets of Tucson when you were homeless. Now, she wasn’t looking for food. She had already eaten at one of the better dumpsters on 4th Avenue. An omelet had been partially eaten by the customer and the rest was deposited in the garbage. Annie was on the hunt for other items. Once she found a diamond ring. She had no idea how it had found its way to the trash, but she was thrilled when the pawn broker gave her $200.00 for the ring. It was probably worth much more, but she couldn’t turn down such a windfall. That money kept her out of the garbage for a month and she was able to eat fresh food. The trash often yielded liquor bottles with residue. When you pour five or six of them together, well it could be enough to help Annie forget about her life. There were always practical items as well. Pieces of soap were discovered and Annie knew where she could take the occasional bath. Towels, rags, blankets, and cast off shoes were also found in dumpsters. If she didn’t need an item, she knew she might be able to trade with one of the other homeless people she knew. Some of them were actually Annie’s only friends. Annie pushed her cart from 4th Avenue toward the alley off of 7th Avenue. On either side of the alley were various businesses. You never knew what might be thrown away. Tarps, bags of various kinds, coffee grounds that could be reused, were but some of the treasures a good scrounger might find. Annie bragged to other homeless people that she was the best scrounger in Tucson. No one could dispute that. Annie took her time climbing into the large dumpsters which inhabited the alley. The first three dumpsters had little to offer. The occasional cigarette butt that still had remnants of tobacco, scraps of paper used to start a fire, and, of course, the aluminum cans that she could take to the recycling center and trade for money. The fourth dumpster at the south end of the alley was almost full. Annie climbed on top of the trash and she began to rummage through the refuse. She noticed a dark green plastic bag that appeared to contain something just below the top of the container. It was probably nothing, but Annie knew from long experience in the dumpster diving business you couldn’t tell what the package might contain. Annie unrolled the trash bag only to discover another trash bag. When she unrolled the second trash bag, a third bag presented. As she unrolled the third bag, she dropped the bag and its contents. Two human arms had appeared! Annie clambered off the trash bin, and ran around the building to the front of the small manufacturing company. She was going to do something she never considered doing before – She called the police.