Monday, Nov. 09, 2009

Details on Calverts' disappearance emerge

A court order declaring John and Elizabeth Calvert dead provides more details pointing to Dennis Gerwing as their likely killer and lists several points that debunk notions that the couple might have vanished on their own.

The order, issued Oct. 22 by a DeKalb County, Ga., probate judge, came in response to a request from the Calverts' heirs - David White, Elizabeth's brother, and Nancy Calvert, John's aunt - that the couple be declared dead.

The case was handled in DeKalb County because the Calverts were permanent residents of Atlanta. When on Hilton Head Island, they lived on a boat moored in Harbour Town.

They were last seen just heading to a late-afternoon meeting with Gerwing on March 3, 2008. Investigators believe the three met to discuss funds that were missing from the Calverts' island businesses, collectively known as Harbour Town Holdings. Gerwing had embezzled not only from the Calverts, but also from other clients of The Club Group, where he was chief financial officer, investigators learned later. The Club Group, a property management company, handled many of the Calverts' business affairs, including employee leasing and accounting services.

Gerwing committed suicide March 11, 2008, after being identified as a suspect in the Calverts' disappearance.

The judge's order provides details not previously made public as well as amplification on aspects that have been reported. Among them:

- Investigators who searched Gerwing's home in Hilton Head Plantation found a holster for a pistol, but not the .22-caliber Beretta they know Gerwing owned. They testified that such a pistol is small, easy to conceal and might leave little or no blood trail because of its relatively small bullet.

- Investigators believe that Gerwing got rid of the pistol at the same time he disposed of two other items he bought the day the Calverts disappeared - latex gloves and three heavy-duty drop cloths. Capt. Bob Bromage, a homicide investigator with the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office, testified in the probate case that the drop cloths "could be used for body disposal, body transport." Another Sheriff's Office investigator, Staff Sgt. Angela Viens, said they "could be used to protect surfaces from showing traces of blood."

- Before Gerwing's March 3 meeting with the Calverts, he took pains to make sure no other employees would be at The Club Group offices, investigators said. One Club Group employee sent on an errand by Gerwing told investigators she was "under the impression that he did not want her in the office during the meeting" with the Calverts. Another employee also said she "believed that Gerwing was attempting to keep her out of the office." He told her the computers were going to be shut down for maintenance, but investigators determined they weren't.

- Investigators stated that Gerwing embezzled "in excess of $4 million" from the accounts of clients whose affairs The Club Group managed, including the Calverts' accounts. After Gerwing's suicide, Club Group CEO Mark King said Gerwing had embezzled much less - $2.2 million. Explaining the discrepancy last week, King said Gerwing had put much of the money he took out of accounts back in, and that a forensic audit showed that the amount Gerwing ended up actually pocketing was $2.2 million. Of that, $119,028 was from the Calverts' businesses, said Tom Duke, an Atlanta accountant hired by the conservators of the Calverts' estate.

It was known that Gerwing disliked Elizabeth Calvert, a lawyer described by peers as an energetic advocate for clients. After a meeting with her on Feb. 24, 2008, for example, Gerwing wrote an e-mail calling her a "viper," according investigators. Gerwing also appeared to revel in one-upping her, the judge's order suggests. The order cites quotes from his e-mail saying he "came out on top" during the meeting, then observing: "That's what the old ego needed."

When Gerwing admitted in his suicide note that "it happened in SPC," the word "it" referred specifically to the Calverts' murder, according to Michael J. Padron, a criminal investigative profiler from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division who evaluated the note. "SPC" was shorthand for Sea Pines Center, the location of The Club Group's offices and the last place the Calverts were seen. Padron's report "seems to indicate an admission" by Gerwing that he killed the Calverts, the judge's order states.

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