Chapter 9 - Eric’s Payments
Eric Palmer was Luke’s college friend.
The texts:
Another boy.
Not yet.
Need Caroline dependent.
Those already made him look bad.
Now $38,000.
He hired lawyer immediately.
His explanation:
He was a freelance fitness and nutrition consultant.
He had given Luke training plans and supplement advice.
Northline Wellness was real but tiny.
Did he supply the pregnancy compound?
He said no.
Bank records showed payments from Mercer Holdings marked:
consulting.
Amounts:
$5,000.
$8,000.
$10,000.
Irregular.
Too much for gym plans.
Then Eric produced his own records.
He had loaned Luke money for property taxes.
The “consulting” payments were repayments mislabeled for business deductions.
Tax problem.
Not poisoning necessarily.
He admitted.
Then his texts.
What did “not yet” mean?
Luke told him:
“If Caroline has kid, her sister gets into trust and I lose flexibility.”
Eric thought unethical financial maneuvering.
“Did you know Luke was causing miscarriages?”
“No.”
“Did you suspect?”
“Not until fourth.”
Why fourth?
Luke called after.
“He said, ‘At least I bought another year.’”
Eric asked what he meant.
Luke said refinance.
Eric felt sick but did not connect medical.
Then after fifth pregnancy, Luke asked Eric:
“Know anyone who can get prescription stuff discreet?”
Eric said no.
He sent link to telehealth pharmacy? That could implicate. He claimed he thought sleep medication. Records showed Luke did not specify.
Prosecutors did not charge Eric in assault.
Tax authorities separately handled misclassified business expenses.
Again.
Not everyone part of poison.
Then Northline payment no longer central.
But Eric’s testimony about Luke’s statements mattered.
Defense attacked:
He avoided tax charges? He entered cooperation resolving misdemeanor tax issue. Jury later heard incentive.
Then my old clinic nurse, Jasmine Ortiz.
She remembered Luke.
“He always answered.”
Once she tried separate me.
Luke complained.
One appointment after pregnancy 3, I told Jasmine:
“I feel dizzy after drinks Luke makes me.”
She wrote.
I did not remember saying.
Then note:
Patient denies safety concerns. Husband states supplements natural.
The clinic did not test.
Should they have?
Not enough.
Jasmine felt guilty.
I told her later:
“You wrote it.”
Record survived.
Then pregnancy 4 recurrent loss workup.
Dr. Alan Reeves, old OB, ordered toxicology due unexplained liver enzyme pattern.
The test did not include the rare prescription compound because not standard.
Stored serum later allowed.
He had not missed obvious known poison.
Important.
Then Luke's purchase pattern.
Online source orders occurred before pregnancy 3, 4, 5.
Not pregnancy 1 or 2.
So perhaps first two miscarriages were natural?
That changed my story.
For years I believed he caused all.
Evidence did not show.
Pregnancy 1 occurred before any suspicious purchases.
Likely natural early miscarriage.
Pregnancy 2 had male genetics, but no drug purchase yet.
Could Luke have caused another way? No evidence.
Prosecutors refused speculate.
That hurt strangely.
If first two were natural, Luke had taken genuine grief and later weaponized it.
Maybe after seeing how dependent I became after miscarriages, he learned.
That was worse in another way.
The pattern may have started at pregnancy 3.
Then pink necklaces purchased before loss 2 though. He knew male and bought pink. Why?
Maybe he had already decided to lie about sex even if loss natural. Perhaps pregnancy 2 complications suggested likely loss before purchase.
So he exploited, not caused.
Then pregnancy 3:
strong evidence of intentional administration? No stored sample maybe. But purchases and notes.
Pregnancy 4:
toxicology supported.
Current pregnancy:
direct.
The prosecution charged current and pregnancy 4 causing loss. Pregnancy 3 remained prior-act evidence if judge allowed limited.
Pregnancy 1/2 not alleged caused.
I had to accept.
Truth not satisfy narrative.
Then Emma.
At six weeks old, she smiled.
Maybe gas.
I called it smile.
Rebecca rolled eyes.
“She loves me.”
“Obviously.”
Then I moved out of Rebecca's guest room into a rented apartment.
Not marital house.
I wanted neutral.
Two bedrooms.
Secure building.
Burn care.
Night nurse? My insurance/settlement not yet. Rebecca helped weekends.
No fairy-tale staff.
I was exhausted.
Then my job.
School district placed me on medical leave.
Coworkers sent books.
One child wrote:
MISS CAROLINE PLEASE COME BACK WHEN YOUR BABY STOPS CRYING.
I laughed.
Then Luke filed through family court for photos of Emma.
The judge allowed his attorney to receive one medical update but no direct image given safety concerns? Could be.
He had parental rights until terminated, but pretrial detention. The court appointed guardian ad litem.
No contact.
Then he wrote Emma a letter from jail:
Daddy loves you.
The guardian held.
I did not give.
One day she could choose.
Then criminal discovery produced audio from Luke’s phone.
A voice memo.
He had recorded himself after pregnancy 4:
One more year. Then refinance, replace Caroline money, let next one stick.
Let next one stick.
I listened once.
Could not again.
May you like
That sentence showed pregnancy loss was not accident to him.
Not if he believed he controlled outcome.
