Lee Chapin's testimony at the Dorian Lord murder trial
Lee: My name is Lee Chapin and I come from Portland Oregon.
Nora: And before that, where did you call home?
Lee: Llanview, at Llanfair.
Nora: The home of the late Victor Lord?
Lee: Yes in deed, I was Mr. Lord's butler from 1957 until his untimely demise.
Nora: Well Mr. Chapin as Mr. Lord's butler you must have been well aquatinted with his wife, his widow Dorian Lord?
Lee: oh yes mama, I knew her.
Nora: And how did you feel about her? (He's silent) You're sworn to tell the truth Mr. Chapin. Did you like Dorian Lord?
Lee: No mama, not much.
Nora: What about her didn't you like?
Lee: well to be perfectly honest, I always thought she was out for herself. I never thought that she had Mr. Lord's best interest at heart.
Nora: That's very interesting Mr. Chapin, If you harbor such negative feelings for about Dorian Lord, then why did you agree to fly all the way across the country to appear as a witness at her defense.
Lee: You were very persuasive Mrs. Gannon.
(The courtroom laughs)
Nora: Well thank you Mr. Chapin but if you recall our conversation, I did not
compel you to come here, you made the trip of your own free will. Didn't you?
Lee: Yes mama I did.
Nora: why then Mr. Chapin? Why are you here?
Lee: Because the least a man can do is to tell the truth, as he knows the truth Mrs. Gannon.
Nora: And what is the truth, as you know the truth?
Lee: I believe and it is possible that Dorian Lord has been wrongly accused of murder!
Nora: Specifically I'd like to make you think back to a night about a week before the death. Victor Lord had suffered a stroke and he was recovering from that stroke, he was resting in his room at Llanfair when the doorbell rang. Who was at the door?
Lee: A visitor to see Mr. Lord.
Nora: Did you know this visitor?
Lee: Oh yea, she was quite familiar.
Nora: she?
Lee: Well I told her the doctors had forbidden any visitors but she insisted. Later I heard her voice coming from his room.
Nora: Did you hear what she had to say?
Lee: I couldn't make out the words but her tongue was angry, very angry.
Nora: You said that you knew her by site, and by her voice. Who was she?
Lee: Irene Manning Clayton
Nora: You said that she was a familiar figure around Llanfair.
Lee: Well not openly.
Nora: Please explain.
Lee: Ms. Manning and Mr. Lord, well now that she's dead I don't suppose it would be indiscreet to say…um Irene Manning and Ms. Lord were roommates at college. Then Ms. Manning and Mr. Lord began a relationship that lasted several years.
Nora: They were lovers?
Lee: Yes, she gave birth to his daughter Tina.
Nora: Mr. Chapin I wasn't aware that butlers were so privy to the person lives of their employers?
Lee: Mr. Lord depended on me to arrange their assignation, which continues secretly for a number of years.
(Hank said that this stuff was just for tabloids and had nothing to do with the case but the judge aloud Nora to continue but to be more to the point.)
Nora: Mr. Chapin lets move right on to the night of Victor Lord's death. Were you present at the hospital that night?
Lee: Why of course I was always near by in case I was needed.
Nora: Will you please tell the court where you were and what you saw moments
before you learned of Victor Lord's death?
Lee: Well I had gone down to the hospital cafeteria to get myself a cup of tea. And on the way back as I got out of the elevator I saw a woman rushing on the hall from the direction of Mr. Lord's room.
Nora: And how did this women look to you?
Lee: Well she was very disheveled and upset agitated. She didn't even recognize me.
Nora: Mr. Chapin, was this women Dorian Lord?
Lee: No mama, it was Irene Manning Clayton!
Nora: Mr. Chapin if that was Irene Manning Clayton running from Mr. Lord’s room? Where was Dorian Lord?
Lee: Well as I passed Mrs. Clayton in the hall, as I was going to Mr. Lord's room, I happen to glance in the other direction and there at the far end of the hall I saw Mrs. Lord.
Nora: was she alone?
Lee: No she was in conversation with Mr. Riley
Nora: Mr. Joseph Riley, the late husband of Victoria Lord Buchanan, Victor Lord's daughter?
Lee: Yes mama.
Nora: And what time was this?
Lee: It was 9:00 precisely.
Nora: Precisely, how can you be so sure?
Lee: Well I gave myself exactly 15 minutes to get my cup of tea and return to Mr. Lord's room by 9:00.
Nora: And then did you precede into Mr. Lord hospital room?
Lee: Well I was going toward it when the door suddenly opened and Mr. Lords
Private Duty Nurse emerged.
Nora: Nurse Ethel Crawford?
Lee: Yes and she was pail as a ghost and her hands were shaking and as she steadied herself against the door she suddenly began calling out for a doctor. The medical team came running and they hurried into the room and a few minutes later, Doctor Craig came out in the hall and told everyone that Mr. Lord was dead. God rest his soul.
Nora: When she said Doctor Craig told everyone, does that include Dorian Lord?
Lee: Oh well she tried to run into the room with them, but they made her stay outside. And when the doctor told her, she was silent, so very silent.
Nora: Mr. Chapin lets just take a few steps back for a minute. When you testified that you saw Dorian Lord talking with Joe Riley at the far end of that hallway, how did she appear? Did she appear upset or was she nervous? In short, did she look like a person who had just killed her husband?
(Hank objected but Nora said she would rephrase the question.)
Nora: How did she behave?
Lee: Calm, she just seemed like herself.
Nora: Ethel Crawford, Nurse Ethel Crawford has testified that she was in the bathroom of Victor Lord's hospital room and she saw Dorian Lord smother her husband with a pillow and the time was 9:00.
Lee: No she is mistaken.
Nora: Mistaken, but she swore.
Lee: I'm sorry but I know what I saw Mrs. Gannon, at 9:00 Dorian Lord was at the far end of the hall calmly talking to Mr. Joe Riley. Now she could not have been in 2 places at the same time!
Nora: No, you’re right Mr. Chapin, she couldn't be. Thank you. No further
questions your honor.
(Viki in one of the seats with Sloan)
Viki: This isn't possible! It's not possible! It's not! Irene Clayton didn't kill my father, Dorian did! It can't be Sloan, it cannot be.
Sloan: It's all right.
(Now it's Hanks turn)
Hank: I'm curious, Victor Lord died 18 years ago, and in all that time had you ever told any one of this eyewitness account of yours?
Lee: No sure.
Hank: Then what prompted you to come forward now?
Lee: Mrs. Gannon came to Oregon and told me about the trial.
Hank: So in good conscience you offered to help the defense.
Lee: Yes it seemed to be the right thing to do.
Hank: Ah I see, it would also be exciting wouldn't it Mr. Chapin? I mean your retirement has perhaps grown a little dull?
(Nora objected and Hank withdrew the question)
Hank: Mr. Chapin, if you said that Irene Manning Clayton came to visit Victor
Lord at Llanfair a week before he was hospitalized, what day was that?
Lee: What day?
Hank: Yes sir, was it a Sunday? A Tuesday? A Wednesday?
Lee: Well I'm not sure. But I do remember it was just about a week.
Hank: about a week? It could have been 10 days, or 2 weeks, or 3 weeks, it could have been 10 years!
(Nora objected to Hank trying to confuse the witness)
Hank: Mr. Chapin, the last thing I would want to do is confuse you. The night of Victor Lord’s death, was it about 9:00 when you saw Dorian Lord talking to Joe Riley down the hall from Victor Lord’s hospital room?
Lee: No sir, it was 9 precisely!
Hank: How can you be sure about that?
Lee: Well I told you I had timed my trip to cafeteria.
Hank: How did you time it? I mean did you look at your watch? Did you check the clock? Did someone tell you the time?
Lee: Well I guess I must have looked at my watch.
Hank: You guess!
Lee: Well you are talking about 18 years ago sir.
Hank: Mr. Chapin, you've testified that you saw Irene Clayton rushing down the hallway from the direction of Mr. Lord’s Hospital room.
Lee: Yes and I shall never forget her face.
Hank: No, well then you probably won't forget about the people who were in the corridthat night. How many werether?
Lee: How many?
Hank: Yes sir, well we know you were there, and Irene Clayton was on her way out, and then you saw Dorian Lord and then you saw Joe Riley. Now that's 4. Is that all? Were there nurses? Orderlies?
Lee: Probably
Hank: Probably!
Lee: I couldn't tell you exactly how many. There weren't a lot, maybe a few.
Hank: So are you saying that you can't remember who was in the hallway outside of Victor Lord's room but you can remember the precise locations of Irene Clayton and Dorian Lord precisely at 9:00?
Lee: I wasn't paying any attention sir; my main concern was Mr. Lord. His daughter was there I do remember that and a few of the other members of the family too.
Hank: And who were they?
Lee: I don't remember it all happened so fast.
Hank: Oh I'm sure it did Mr. Chapin and yet you tell us that Irene Clayton was nervous and Dorian Lord was calm. You can even remember their facial expressions. What about the clothes they were wearing? Was the widow to be wearing black or the daughter wearing white? Or was it the other way around?
Lee: I don't remember. But I know what I saw.
Hank: Well sir I truly believe you think you do, but as you said, it was 18 years ago and memory is a tricky thing. Isn't it Mr. Chapin? No more questions your honor.
(Now Nora redirects)
Nora: Mr. Chapin, to spite the prosecution's attempts to muddy the water, could you please tell us again what happened that night in the hospital?
Lee: I saw Irene Clayton running down the hall from the direction of Mr. Lord's room. I saw Dorian Lord outside talking to Mr. Joe Riley.
Nora: Therefore it was not Dorian Lord in Victor Lord's room just moments before Ethel Crawford came running out and calling for a doctor.
Lee: No it was not!
Nora: Thank you very much, no further questions.
(Later Viki and Sloan are at the palace talking about what Lee said)
Sloan: Still thinking about Lee Chapin's testimony?
Viki: It's absolutely amazing!
Sloan: Do you believe it? Do you think Irene went to see Victor in the hospital the night of his death?
Viki: I don't quite frankly know what to believe anymore about anything! Irene was my best friend. She was certainly around a lot in my life, more to the point she was around during a lot of critical moments in my life. Finding her in bed with my father, well you know what that did to me. And then 16 years later, she showed up in Llanview, told me she was dying and asked me to raise Tina. But never bothered to tell me that Tina wasn't in fact my godchild as I have always believed but in fact my father daughter, my sister. So I don't know, maybe she was at his bedside.
Sloan: I really wasn't asking if you thought fate brought her to Victor bedside that night.
Viki: But why would she have been there? I mean as far as I knew she hadn't seen my father in years! What reason would she have had?
Sloan: What do you think?
Viki: I haven't a clue! Do you think it's possible that Irene murdered my father? That Dorian didn't do it? Do you think we could be wrong?
Sloan: Do you really believe Dorian could be innocent?
(And it ends with Viki thinking)