FALSE WITNESS
This section deals with the false testimony given by Coralea Purych at the original (May, 1993) custody trial before Justice W.V. Hembroff.
BACKGROUND INFO: Coralea Purych and Gabby were schoolmates at the age of 13. They became best friends a year later and she claimed that they talked about everything. Although they were only "best friends" for a year, she claimed to have first-hand knowledge of Gabby's abuse at the hands of her parents, as well as making the observation that they were "not a loving family".
Oddly enough there was never any indication or manifestation of this alleged abuse to any of their close friends, who had known them for 20 years or more. These close friends unanimously describe the Pentz family as extremely loving and caring. The claim that Gabby was never allowed to participate in school extracurricular activities is quickly debunked by the Affidavit of School Principal, Ron Prystay. Her complaint that Gabby's parents were way too strict and overprotective is, as parents well know, the common complaint of most teenagers.
Judge W. V. Hembroff chose to believe this testimony over that of people who had been close friends with the Pentzes for 20 or more years. Read Letters of support
THIS IS A COPY OF THE ACTUAL TRIAL TRANSCRIPT OF CORALEA PURYCH'S TESTIMONY.
LINDA CORALEA PURYCH, sworn, examined by Ms. McMurchie:
Q. Ms. Purych, where do you presently reside?
A. Vancouver.
Q. And you're here today because you were a personal friend of Gabe Pentz then, Gabe Kliim-Hansen as we know her?
A. Yes, I was.
Q. It's really important that you speak up, okay. Are you presently working?
A. Yes.
Q. And what do you do?
A. I teach work skills to mentally and physically challenged adults.
Q. Now, where did you first meet Gabe?
A. I moved to Eagle Bay when I was in grade 7, and so I met her in school.
Q. Were you two approximately the same age?
A. Yup, we were both the same age.
Q. Were you both in the same grade in school?
A. Yes, in the same class.
Q. So when you first met her, how did you become friends?
A. It was a small school, small class. You knew everybody in the class.
Q. And did your relationship with Gabe progress after that?
A. Mmm hmm. We didn't start off as best friends, but we became best friends.
Q. Now, this would have been approximately 1982?
A. Yeah.
Q. Do you remember what grade you were in?
A. Seven. Our friendship started in grade 7. We became best friends probably in grade 8.
Q. Now, just so that we're clear, what do you mean when you say best friends?
A. We were together all the time at school and after school. We spent our weekends together. Everything we did was together.
Q. And I'm sorry, how old were you and Gabe at that time?
A. 12. 13.
Q. Did you have to take the bus to school?
A. Yes, every morning, two hours.
(Lie # 1, the bus trip took one hour each way. She does not mean a total trip of 2 hours, but 2 hours one way as becomes evident in later testimony.)
Q. And home again?
A. Yes.
Q. Did you and Gabe ride the bus together?
A. Yes.
Q. Where did you sit?
A. Usually in the back of the bus together.
(note: These questions are a setup for later testimony)
Q. Did you have an opportunity to go to Gabe's home?
A. All the time.
Q. And did you meet her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Pentz?
A. Yes. The first time I went there Gabe made a point of introducing me to her parents, and after that it became a habit that I had to say hello to them every time I got there.
Q. Now, over the course of a week, an ordinary week during this time, late grade 7, grade 8, where did you and Gabe go after school? How many times would you be at her home?
A. Oh, it wasn't unusual in the summertime for me to be there almost every day after school and always on the weekends. Little less frequently in the wintertime. Because I biked there, but it was -- we did all our visiting at Gabe's house. She didn't come to my house.
(Lie #2 - Gabby visited Ms. Purcych at her own house. Mrs. Pentz often picked her up from there, and Ms. Purych's father, John, as well as Robert, Gabby's brother confirmed that.)
Q. Now, did you notice anything -- when you first met Gabe and first went to her home in Eagle Bay, did you notice anything about her bedroom or the home in particular?
A. Gabe had a beautiful room. It was every little girl's dream room, but we weren't allowed in there.
(Lie #3. Gabby was allowed to play in her room all she wanted. It was simply her responsibility to keep her room neat and tidy when necessary.)
Q. What do you mean by that?
A. It was always spotlessly clean, and we weren't allowed to play in her room. We were allowed to be downstairs in the living room, but we were never allowed to just hang out in her room. (Lie #4)
Q. Now, obviously this is over a long period of time, but can you give us some idea of your personal observations of how Gabe and her parents related to each other, what you noticed about that relationship from your point of view?
A. Gabe often expressed to me frustration and anger at the lack of control over her own life that she had. She had a lot of restrictions. She had to be home all the time. She didn't participate in any extracurricular activities like sports or anything.
(Lie #5. Gabby was on the baseball team and participated in gymnastics, as well as skiing, swimming and school trips. Also remember that the girls were 12 or 13 at the time. It would be very normal for Gabe's parents to exercise control over their daughter's life, and for her, as a teenager to chafe under that control. Robert Pentz also confirms that he and his sister has the normal amount of freedom to participate in what they wanted, but that they also had responsibilities at home which they were expected to do.)
I didn't notice that it was a loving family at all. It seemed no affection was shown. Like in my family, you know, hugs when I got home from school were a normal thing there. It didn't happen that I can recall. It seemed like a cold kind of atmosphere.
(Lie #6. This statement is in sharp contrast to the many letters of support from longtime close friends)
Q. Okay. Now, when you would arrive at the Pentz home, was there something that you did, you and Gabe did?
A. Yeah, all the time, any time I was there, the first thing we did was Gabe would say okay, now we have to go say hello to mommy and daddy, and I would have to -- we would have to seek them out, no matter where they were in the house or outside in the yard, and I would have to go and say hello and show my respect.
Q. do you recall any occasions when you didn't do that?
A. There were -- there was a time when we didn't and Gabe got yelled at and I had to go home.
Q. By whom?
A. Mrs. Pentz.
(Lie #7. Saying hello when arriving at someone's home was a point of politeness, and required as a matter of course, but certainly no one was ever yelled at or sent home.)
Q. Now, what did you do when you got to her house after school?
A. There was usually always chores that had to be done before we could do anything by ourselves, and I would help Gabe do whatever she had to do, dust, whatever she had to do, and then when the jobs were done and done properly, then we could do what -- well, we could sit in the living room or we could go for a walk or whatever it was that we were going to do that day.
(Lie #8. Gabby never had to do indoor chores like dusting because Mrs. Pentz was home all day and did that herself. There were some outdoor chores that Gabby had to do occasionally, such as raking the leaves, or getting wood for the stove. Ms. Purych never had to or did help Gabby with any sort of chores, certainly not on a daily or consistent basis.)
Q. Now, did you notice -- did you observe -- did you personally observe any disputes or any discussions between Gabe and her parents or you and Gabe's parents about the chores?
A. Yes. If the chores weren't done properly, we had to do them again, and it wasn't just, no, that's not good enough, it was always yelling, and a lot of times if it got out of control, I would be sent home and Gabe and I wouldn't get any time to ourselves. (Lie # 9)
Q. Yelling by whom?
A. Mostly Mrs. Pentz. I rarely saw Mr. Pentz unless it was at dinnertime or something like that.
Q. Now, did you ever observe any form of discipline exercised toward Gabe by either of her parents?
A. Yes. I saw Mrs. Pentz slap Gabe several times.
(Lie #10. Mrs. Pentz has never slapped Gabby at any time.)
Q. In what manner?
A. As a disciplinary sort of thing. If Gabe argued with her mother about anything, there was always some kind of disciplinary action, whether it was slapping or pinching. Mrs. Pentz would pinch Gabe either on the arm or on the thigh, and usually when it got to that point, I was sent home. (Lie #10)
Q. Now, by slap, how slap? Slap where?
A. Open-handed across the face. (Lie #11)
Q. And over the course of that period, you observed that how often?
A. It wasn't an unusual thing. Several times. (Lie #12)
Q. And you indicated that there was pinching?
A. Yes. (Lie #13)
Q. Now, how did --
A. That was more frequent. (Lie #14)
Q. Pardon me?
A. That was more frequent. That was for any little thing that didn't go right. (Lie #15)
Q. Like what?
A. If we were doing dishes and the dishes weren't done properly, a pinch on the arm. I was pinched. (Lie #16)
Q. By whom?
A. Mrs. Pentz. (Lie #17)
Q. What other kinds of things would result in that?
A. Well, we would redo whatever it was that wasn't done properly, (Lie #18) and we would -- Gabe would try very hard to make it so that it was done properly, and it was obvious that she would -- we were both trying very hard to get the jobs done properly and just try and avoid situations like that. It was always like that. Everybody was trying -- Gabe tried very hard all the time to please both her parents.
Q. Now, what other situations did you observe pinching? What other behaviour would . .
A. If Gabe ever argued about something, if she wanted to do something and she was told no, and if she ever tried to argue beyond the point of no, pinching or yelling and screaming were a very common occurrence. (Lie #19) It just was always very tense when it got to that point, and like I said, usually I was sent home.
(note: even though the pinching allegations were false, there was probably incidents of teenage-parental disagreements in the Pentz household in Ms. Purych's presence. This seems very normal, as any parent with teenagers would know.)
Q. Now, you indicated that jobs had to be done a certain way and properly. Were there other things besides chores that became an issue?
A. Gabe and I used to write notes to each other in school, just about kid stuff, you know, interest in boys, how our classes were going that sort of thing, and when my mom found a note, she would set it in my room and that would be that, and I would do whatever I wanted with it. But Mrs. Pentz would go through Gabe's things looking for these notes, and if she found them, Gabe got in a lot of trouble. (Lie #20)
(note: This is hearsay evidence and could only have been told to her by Gabe herself, a teenager under normal conflict with her parents. If this information did come from Gabe, she could have been venting to her friend in an exaggerated fashion as teenagers will often do.)
Q. Now Ms. Purych, I want you to be really careful to stick to things you personally saw happen, okay.
A. Okay.
Q. Did you personally -- do you have personal knowledge, apart from anything anyone else told you, of Mrs. Pentz searching through things?
A. I was there one day when she found a particular note between Gabe and I. Gabe and I were having a little tiff and there was maybe not some polite language in this letter, and Mrs. Pentz yell at both of us. I was there after school, and we both got into trouble for that particular note. (Mrs. Pentz has no recollection of finding any such note, or of searching her daughter's room for them.)
Q. Were there other kinds of behaviour, other kinds of things that were supposed to be done properly?
A. Everything was supposed to be done properly. The room. Her room had to be kept a certain way. The way she combed her hair, the way she stood. If she slouched, she would get pinched. If she wasn't dressed properly, she would get pinched. There was a way to do everything, and it had to be done that way all the time.
(Lie #21. This statement is a highly exaggerated version of the way things stood between Gabby and her mother. There was certainly never any "pinching" or extreme criticism of the way Gabby dressed or carried herself)
Q. Now, you indicated that Mrs. Pentz pinched you.
A. Mmm hmm. (??)
Q. Can you tell us about that.
A. I don't remember what the issue was about. I remember we were in the kitchen and it was just before dinner or just after dinner. It could have been that we weren't doing the dishes properly, I'm not sure. But shortly after that I was sent home, but she pinched my arm; Mrs. Pentz pinched my arm. (Lie #22. This never happened)
Q. What did it feel like?
A. It hurt. It's not just a little pinch, it's a pinch and twist. (Lie #23)
Q. Now, did you have a chance to observe Mr. or Mrs. Pentz interact with their son Bobby?
A. Yes.
Q. And what can you tell us about that?
A. Bobby also tried very hard to please his mother. Like I said, I didn't see Mr. Pentz a lot, but if he ever argued or wanted to do something that Mrs. Pentz didn't feel was appropriate and he argued with her, she would say that he was no good and that he was fat and lazy. And Bobby always seemed to be trying very hard to fit in and to be who he thought he should be, but it never seemed to be good enough. There was always a fault with Bobby, whether it be he was lazy or overweight; his schooling, you know, his grades in school, the way he did his chores. There was always some kind of fault.
(Lie #24. This statement is completely rejected by Robert (Bobby) Pentz. See Affidavits. Bobby was a grade A student, among other things, although he was known as a mischief maker at school, and, although nothing was found on him at the time, was suspended from school for three weeks, alledgedly for using marijuana. Bobby had been using it previously, so he was not believed when at that point he rightly denied that he had any on him.)
Q. Did you have any opportunities to have dinner at the Pentz home?
A. Quite often.
Q. And do you recall anything about the dinners? Would they be with the whole family?
A. Yes, it was very proper. There was definitely a way to hold your fork and cut your meat. One particular instance was that we had all sat down to have dinner and the whole dinner went very well. It was very quiet. It wasn't a chatty dinner, but nobody got yelled at. And for dessert we were having bananas and we had all gotten a banana. And I was peeling mine and Bobby had already peeled his, and he took a bite out of his banana, and Mrs. Pentz slapped him and said to use a fork and knife. So I quickly put my banana down and used a fork and knife. (Lie #25. The banana incident never happened)
Q. Now, what did Gabe call her parents?
A. Mommy and daddy. (Lie #26. Gabby called her parents mom and dad like everyone else, or sometimes the Hungarian, "Anyo" and "Apu")
Q. And do you understand that that was -- why do you understand that she did that?
A. That's what they requested she call them. The few times that I ever heard her say "mom" she got slapped -- or at one time she got slapped, another time Mrs. Pentz yelled at her and said, "don't be disrespectful". (Lie #27. This never happened)
Q. Did Gabe ever express to you any feelings she had about the names she was to call her parents?
A. She never -- no, it really wasn't an issue. That's what she called her parents. I mean, you could tell there were times when she felt uncomfortable with it, you know. (How did she know, or what caused her to think this?)
When I first started going over there, she was uncomfortable with it in front of me, but I was over there a lot throughout the years, (she was only a visitor in the Pentz house over the course of one year) and she became used to me being there when she had to call them mommy and daddy. (Lie #28) So, it was not a big deal that, you know, we were getting a little older in our teens and most people kind of grow out of that mommy and daddy sort of thing.
Q. Why did you keep on going back to their home?
A. Gabe was my best friend. She needed me.
Q. Why do you say that? How did she act toward you?
A. When I would go over there, as soon as I got there, Gabe would cling to me, hug me and just -- and to leave, it used to be a little game for Gabe to hide my shoes so that I couldn't leave. You know, I would say, I have to go a half hour before I actually did because it would take me that long to get out of the house. It was always hugs and hiding my shoes, and she clung to me. And I didn't see it that way then. I just thought we were really good pals. We were best friends. We did everything together. She told me everything.
Q. Did Gabe come to your home?
A. No. (Lie #29)
Q. Do you know why?
A. She wasn't allowed. (Lie #30) When we were together, we were -- we had to be at her house. (Lie #31) Gabe never came over to my house, (Lie #32) never spent the night.
Q. Well never -- she was never at your house?
A. Well, once later in the years she had dinner at my house with just me, but not when we were younger. Not when we were best friends. This was after I'd lost contact with her for awhile and I saw her for the first time in a couple of years, we had dinner together. But growing up with Gabe she didn't come to my house. (Again, Gabby visited Ms. Purych often, and she never "grew up with" Gabby)
Q. Did you have other friends?
A. Mmm hmm, yes.
Q. And did you do things with other friends?
A. Yes, I was very active in figure skating, I was on the basketball team at school, I was on the student council. I had lots of activities.
Q. Did you go to people's houses?
A. Mmm hmm, yes.
Q. Now, do you recall going on a field trip with Gabe and her mother?
A. Yes, in grade 7.
Q. Can you tell us about that.
My grade 7 class at the end of the summer went to Canyon Hot Springs for three nights, I think, and we were all separated into sleeping groups, as well as separate cooking groups, and Gabe could only go on that camping trip with her mom as a chaperone. And I was in their cooking group, but Gabe slept with her Mom, and I was with another friend. (Lie #33. Mrs. Pentz was asked to go as one of the chaperones, by the Principal, but Gabby certainly would have been allowed to go, whether or not her mother was a chaperone. As well, Gabby slept with her friends in a tent, while Mrs. Pentz slept in the car)
In the cooking group I remember one incident. We were all having steaks that night for dinner, and we unwrapped our steaks and we were going to throw them on the barbecue, and Mrs. Pentz got quite excited about the fact that we had to rinse the blood off the steak or that we were all going to get sick. (the steaks were actually pork chops and there were bits of bone on the meat from the butcher's cutting, so Mrs. Pentz had the girls give the meat a quick rinse.)
Q. Did you know Gabe when she met Paul?
A. Yes.
Q. And do you recall anything about that?
A. Just that Gabe was very excited about this new boy that had moved into our neighbourhood and the kind of freedom that she felt when she was with him. You know, we had restrictions on what we could do, but she didn't feel restricted when she was with Paul. But it wasn't something that she could talk about either. It was definitely not talked about at home with her parents.
Q. Now, did you and Gabe talk about Paul?
A. All the time.
Q. So at this time you were still riding together on the school bus?
A. Yes.
Q. Now, Miss Purych, do you recall any specific conversations with Gabe about her parents' reaction to Paul or any particular incident?
A. Gabe -- after she started seeing Paul for awhile, Mr. and Mrs. Pentz made it quite clear to Gabe that they didn't like Paul and that they didn't want her seeing him, and Gabe made it quite clear to me that she was going to see Paul no matter what, and she started sneaking out her bedroom window.
(Paul was almost four years older than Gabby, was growing his own marijuana, and had introduced Bobby to it as well. Paul was told by his father that he didn't care, as long as Paul didn't start selling it to kids. Paul had gotten himself kicked out of school because of the marijuana use. Of course Mr. and Mrs. Pentz didn't want Gabby hanging around with him. She was only 14 at the time, and Paul was 18.)
Q. Did she tell you that she was doing this?
A. Yes, and during the day, like after school or something, she quite often told her parents that she was going to walk and meet me on the road and that we were going to sit on the beach together, and then she would meet Paul instead, but she was using me as a -- because she was often allowed to meet me halfway. When I was coming to her house, she could start walking and meet me half way. So she was using me as an excuse to get out of the house, but at night she would sneak out her bedroom window.
Q. Now again, we're clear here that this is something Gabe told you, not something you saw.
A. Right. Gabe told me this.
Q. Does any particular conversation or incident stick in your mind? If so, can you please be as detailed as possible about the event.
A. Well, the biggest thing that Gabe ever told me was that on one particular night she had snuck out to be with Paul.
Q. Now, tell me how this -- where this conversation took place, what was her demeanor --
A. She --
Q. Okay, where did it tale place?
A. On the school bus. She was very upset. She was wearing dark sunglasses and crying, and I couldn't -- it took a long time to get her calmed down. We're on the bus for two hours, (Lie #34. It was a one hour trip to school) and it took me awhile to get her to calm down and tell me what was wrong.
And she said that she had snuck out the night before out her bedroom window and down this tree that she had outside her bedroom, and she'd met Paul and they did whatever they did when they were together, and when she got back her parents were waiting for her. Her mom had told her that some time during the night she'd gone to check on Gabe and she wasn't in her room. So they were waiting for her when she got home.
And Gabe said that they took her to this little sitting room just below their spiral stairs and started questioning her and drilling her about what she'd been doing, and accusing her of being with Paul.
Q. Would you like some water?
A. Gabe said that they checked around her neck for hickeys, and they were accusing her of being a bad girl and of doing things with Paul that she shouldn't be doing. And Gabe said that they made her take her shirt and her bra off to check for hickeys, and eventually they made her remove all her clothing, and that they checked to see if she was still a virgin. (Lie #35. This never happened. The only thing Mr. and Mrs. Pentz did was grill her about where she had been, which would have been normal under the circumstances)
Q. What did you do?
A. Not much.
Q. Did you know what she was talking about?
A. Not really. I didn't really understand what Gabe could have been doing with Paul. We were 13 and 14 by this time. I wasn't even thinking about boys. (Lie #36. She was very interested in boys. She admitted this in earlier testimony regarding the note writing in school. ". . just about kid stuff, you know, interest in boys, . . " Unfortunately, boys were not interested in her since she was somewhat overweight. Before Paul came along Gabby had a boyfriend next door that Ms. Purych was also interested in, and she would come to Gabby's house quite often so she could see him) I was involved in sports. It shocked me that Gabe was kissing Paul, let alone needing a physical check to make sure she was still a virgin.
Q. How did she act through this conversation?
A. She was hysterical, crying, didn't want to go back home, didn't want to be at home anymore. She wanted to be with Paul. She was afraid to go back home because she was afraid her parents were going to make her stop seeing Paul, and she wasn't willing to not be with him.
(Had this "physical check to make sure that she was still a virgin" been true, Gabby's reasoning for not going home would obviously have been that she had been violated by her parents. (How else can a check for virginity be made?) Instead, Gabby was not wanting to go home, according to Ms. Purych, because her parents would forbid her to see Paul.)
Q. When did you and Gabe stop seeing each other?
A. When it became obvious that Paul was going to be with Gabe, mine and Gabe's friendship started to dwindle. It was like she didn't need me as much anymore; she had somebody else that was obviously what she needed. I guess Paul replaced me in what Gabe needed, and we just -- I started hanging around with other friends, and Gabe moved away shortly after that.
MS. McMURCHIE: Thank you. I have no other questions, although I believe Miss Kenny has a preliminary matter.
MS. KENNY: My Lord, I'd like to take a short break before I cross-examine this witness.
THE COURT: Indeed. We'll deal with this if we have to. We'll take 15 minutes. Is that satisfactory?
MS. KENNY: Sure. I didn't need that much time, but that's fine sir.
THE COURT: All right
(ADJOURNMENT)
Ms. Kenny cross-examines the witness:
Q. Miss Purych, had you seen Gabe since she left the Shuswap?
A. I'm having trouble remembering if the time that she came to my house for dinner was -- I'm pretty sure it was after she had left the Shuswap. We had dinner at my house, my parents' house, just the two of us. And I saw her on a weekend that I came to Calgary with some friends. We had dinner at Carol and Andy's house; Gabe and Paul, Carol and Andy and I, and then briefly on the day of Carol and Andy's gift opening after their wedding.
Q. So, from best friends you've seen her three times since she was about 14 years old?
A. Yeah. Gabe and I lost contact after she moved away.
Q. And I understand that you really didn't speak to each other at all at Carol and Andy's wedding.
A. Oh, yeah. Well, I wasn't at the wedding, but at the gift opening Gabe and I talked. I talked with Paul too.
Q. Now I understand that you were -- at the same time as Gabe that you were very interested in Paul. The two of you were competing for Paul's attention.
A. No, not at all. (Lie #37. Ms. Purych was very interested in Paul. In a letter to Gabby from her friend Tammy, who had stayed over for a weekend, Tammy states "I think Paul's really nice and you're really lucky to have him. You two make a great, excellent pair. Don't worry about Cory because she'll never get him.", indicating that there had been some discussion about concerns as to Ms. Purych's intentions)
Q. You didn't have any arguments with Gabe over Paul?
A. No. (Lie #38) Originally in the beginning Paul once came to my house before he ever started seeing Gabe, and it was like I said, I was interested in sports at the time and a boyfriend wasn't foremost on my mind. And we both didn't pursue it after that one visit, and he started to see Gabe, and Gabe and I were still very, very close when she started seeing Paul, and I didn't have a problem with Paul being her boyfriend. (Lie #39)
Q. You weren't upset about that at all?
A. No. (Lie #40)
Q. And you didn't become more upset when she left with Paul, actually went away with him?
A. No. No, we all remained friends while we were living -- while we were all in Eagle Bay, we were all friends, and after she moved, like I said, I lost contact with her. And no, it was never a problem. (Lie #41)
Q. Now, you seem to indicate in your testimony that you were sent home regularly from the Pentz home.
A. Mmm hmm. (Lie #42)
Q. Why would you go to the Pentz home if you were just sent home whenever you arrived?
A. It wasn't all the time. It happened quite often, but Gabe was my best friend. I wasn't going to not visit her on the off chance that I might get sent home. She was my best friend. I went there because we were friends. I grew up in that atmosphere with Gabe.
(again, "growing up with" is an exaggeration since it was only during one school year that she was a guest in the Pentz home)
Q. And what did she and her mother argue about? You said that she would argue with her mother.
A. From the amount of freedom that Gabe had to do the things that she wanted to -- she didn't have any freedom -- to the clothes she wore, to the chores weren't done properly, to her room was clean, the notes that Gabe and I wrote together back and forth in school. (this is at best an exaggeration)
Q. So she would argue with her mother about these things. Did she talk to her mother about, you don't let me have any freedom?
A. I don't know what Gabe and her mother talked about when I wasn't there.
Q. That's the question I'm asking you. You said that she had arguments with her mother. what were those arguments about?
A. All of those things that I just stated, and if it got out of hand, if Mrs. Pentz started to feel that maybe I shouldn't be there, then I was sent home. So I don't know if the argument continued or if it stopped after I left, but if Gabe wanted to wear a yellow sweatshirt and Mrs. Pentz thought she should wear a white sweatshirt, they would argue. (Lie #43)
Q. So the two of them would argue with each other about these types of incidents.
A. Mrs. Pentz would initiate the arguments if that's what you're asking me. Noting ever seemed to be quite good enough. Gabe tried very hard to be who she thought her parents wanted her to be, but there was always something that wasn't good enough.
(It is interesting to note that Ms. Purych says almost the same thing about Bobby in earlier testimony, almost as if she is trying to bring across that the Pentz children are unappreciated and over-controlled. "And Bobby always seemed to be trying very hard to fit in and to be who he thought he should be, but it never seemed to be good enough.")
Q. And so that was every day that happened that you were there?
A. Something always happened while I was there, yes. (Lie #44)
Q. So, every day that you were at their residence --
A. Not necessarily a full blown --
Q. There would be a fight --
A. -- incident, but there was always some kind of word, or a put down or a pinch. Something happened. (Lie #45)
Q. Now you indicated when talking about Bobby -- was Bobby overweight?
A. Yes.
(Lie #46. Throughout all the photographs of Bobby growing up, none show him as an overweight child or teenager. His weight was never an issue.)
Q. He was? And how much overweight was he?
A. I don't know. He was noticeably overweight.
Q. And how old was he then?
A. I think he's a year younger than I am, so he would have been 11, 12, 13 in the progressive years.
Q. Have you seen him over the years?
A. No, I haven't seen Bobby since they left.
Q. So. the time that you're talking about was when he would have been about 12?
A. 11, 12.
Q. 11, 12.
A. Mmm hmm.
Q. Now, Miss Purych, are you absolutely positive that Gabe never stayed over at your house?
A. She never did, and I've discussed this with my mom. We both tried to remember a time when she might have, and Gabe has never spent the night at my house. (Lie #47. By making an overnight stay the same as a daytime visit she makes it sound as if none of it ever happened. Although Gabby probably never spent a night, she did visit often)
Q. Did you know about the difficulty with drugs with Paul and Robert?
A. No. (Lie #48)
Q. You never heard about that?
A. No, I don't know what you're talking about. (Lie #49)
Q. I was just wondering if you did know about that.
A. No. (Lie #50)
Q. And so you were best friends with Gabe, and you were over there several times a week; is that right?
A. Yes.
Q. And you never heard about any incident with respect to Paul and Robert and the use of drugs in school?
A. No. (Lie #51)
(Remember in earlier testimony, Ms. Purych stated that it was a small school and everybody knew everybody, and she and Gabby "talked about everything" so it is hard to imagine that she knew nothing at all about this)
Q. Would you consider Mr. and Mrs. Pentz to be overprotective parents?
A. Would I consider them to be? Yes.
Q. And you indicated that they wouldn't let their daughter do anything? She couldn't participate in anything?
A. She didn't. She wanted to be on the basketball team with me, and she wasn't allowed. So, I guess they didn't, no. (Lie #52)
Q. So there was no activities that she participated in at all of any recreational --
A. Not that I'm aware of, no. (Lie #53)
Q. So absolutely no recreational pursuits or interests in the whole time that you were friends?
A. Not that I recall. (Lie #54)
Q. No school activities?
A. No.
(Lie #55. As stated earlier, Gabby was on the baseball team, gymnastics team, she went skiing, swimming and on school trips, all of which Ms. Purych, being her "best friend", should have known about.)
Q. Now you indicated as well that you never set foot in Gabe's bedroom; is that right?
A. No, I didn't say that. I'd been in Gabe's room. She'd showed me her room. If she'd gotten something new, a new piece of clothing, we'd be allowed to go look at it, but we weren't allowed to hang out in her room, just lounge on her bed and look through magazines or sit up there and talk. We weren't allowed to do that. (Lie #56) If there was something to see in Gabe's room, like a painting that her dad would do for her, we'd go look at it and we'd leave again.
Q. so the maximum you would spend there would be five minutes or something?
A. Maximum. (Lie #57)
MS. KENNY: No further questions.
THE COURT: Ms. McMurchie?
MS. McMURCHIE: Nothing arising, sir
The Court questions the witness:
Q. When you were that age, did you and your mom get along reasonably well?
A. My mom is my best friend.
(Note how Ms. Purych skirts the question by answering in the present. She does not say how her relationship was with her mother, as a teenager ten years before this testimony was given.)
Q. It puzzles me that if you had a nice relationship at home, you would place yourself in this rather, as you describe it, argumentative, tense sort of circumstance.
A. At first it was very awkward for me and I felt very uncomfortable around Mr. Pentz, but like I said, Gabe was my best friend, and since she wasn't allowed to come over to my house, (lie #58) unless we didn't want to be together after school or we didn't want to hang around, then I had no choice but to go over there. And it did seem unusual, and always very tense, but I didn't know how to change that for Gabe or how to help her.
Q. Did you ever ask Mrs. Pentz, well, can Gabe come over to my house today?
A. We'd ask quite often and the answer would always be the same, no. (lie #59) It would have been easy for Gabe to just get off the bus at my stop, and I would have walked her home or my mom would have driven her home, but she wasn't allowed to do that. (lie #60)
THE COURT: Okay. Arising?
Ms. Kenny re-cross-examines the witness:
Q. Miss Purych, what kind of activities did you do then at the Pentz home?
A. Mostly we just talked, or we'd walk around the Pentzes' property. They lived in a nice, wooded area. They had a very pretty yard. We'd walk around and we'd sit down. We talked. Gabe and I always -- that's what we did. In the summertime we'd go down the road by Gabe's house and go to the beach and swim, but always we talked. I don't remember watching TV. We didn't get like cable or anything out in Eagle Bay, so there wasn't a lot of TV to watch. But we talked, that's what Gabe and I did.
Q. And what did you do on weekends.
A. Hung out together on the beach or at her house, and talked.
MS KENNY: Thank you
THE COURT: Thank you very much.
(the witness steps down)
Throughout this testimony there is information and oddities that are never picked up on or questoned further:
1. It is extremely strange that the shocking alleged "virginity check" by Mr. and Mrs. Pentz is never referred to again during cross-examination!!
2. The inferences to "growing up with Gabby" and the frequent mention of "years" when Ms. Purych talks of her time with Gabby, is never picked up on. Had anyone done the math they would have realized there had only been a one year, "best friends" relationship between the girls.
3. No one bothered to verify with anyone else, the strange claim that Gabby was not allowed to visit Ms. Purych's home. No one notices that Ms. Purych turns the question, " . . are you absolutely positive that Gabe never stayed over at your house?" into ". . Gabe has never spent the night at my house.". She thus probably answers the question correctly, but the question was not, did she ever have a sleepover at your house, but, was she ever at your house?
4. The Court does not bother to question Ms. Purych on her preposterous claim that Gabby was not allowed to participate in any extracurricular activities, (even though she was allowed to go unchaperoned to the beach, which would have been inconsistent had Gabby's parents been that strict). No one picks up on the subtle change in her testimony when Ms. Kenny questions her on this issue. She changes from, "she (definitely) didn't participate in any extracurricular activities" to "not that I'm aware of" and "Not that I can recall".
5. The reasons why Mr. and Mrs. Pentz didn't like Paul and didn't approve of Gabby's relationship with him are never brought up in court. His use of marijuana, the fact that he was much older than Gabby, (the four year age gap between them was huge at that stage) or the fact that he introduced Bobby to marijuana and got him into trouble, were all valid reasons, but never pointed out or questioned. As well, no one picks up on the fact that it was a small town and a small school, and "everybody knew everybody". And yet Ms. Purych claims that she did not know about the drugs??
6. No one questions Ms. Purych's claim of being sexually ignorant. At that age her knowledge and experience may have been sketchy and limited but not totally ignorant. It seems unbelievable that "I wasn't even thinking about boys.", and that "it shocked me that Gabe was kissing Paul".
Even to a layperson (the writer), the cross-examinations by both the Pentz's lawyer and the Court are seen as sloppy, and not at all thorough.