Chapter 8 - The Trial of the Blackwood Dynasty
The trials were consolidated into two major cases.
Victor faced murder, pension fraud, conspiracy and witness tampering.
Margaret faced kidnapping, child abuse, obstruction, fraud and conspiracy.
Kane faced kidnapping, evidence destruction and financial crimes.
Alexander testified under his plea agreement.
The courtroom was filled every day.
Former employees.
Pension holders.
Reporters.
People who once attended Blackwood galas now lined up to watch the family fall.
The prosecution began with Natalie.
Her compliance reports.
Her deposit box.
The bridge footage.
Victor’s recorded confession.
Damon testified that he helped burn the SUV and frame Luis Mercado.
Victor’s attorney argued the dashboard video had been altered.
Experts demonstrated its chain of custody and original encoding.
Then Gabriel testified.
He identified Natalie as his biological mother.
Victor’s lawyer tried to portray him as a resentful abandoned son.
Gabriel answered:
“She did not abandon me. She arranged an adoption when she was nineteen. Later, she found me and tried to protect my future.”
“Did she leave you money?”
“Yes.”
“So you benefit from Victor’s conviction.”
“I would prefer my mother alive.”
The courtroom became silent.
Luis testified about the planted drugs.
Maya described finding Ethan in the service corridor.
Damon admitted placing the watch in the backpack.
Then Ethan’s recorded forensic interview played.
His face was not shown publicly.
Only his voice.
“Grandma said thieves enter through the back.”
Margaret watched without expression.
When the video ended, one juror wiped his eyes.
Alexander took the stand for three days.
He admitted covering up Natalie’s murder.
Approving fraudulent transfers.
Recording my conversations.
Allowing Margaret to become Ethan’s emergency guardian through forged documents.
And helping hide Ethan after the gala assault.
Victor’s attorney asked:
“You are blaming your family to save yourself?”
Alexander answered:
“I am describing my crimes to reduce my sentence. That does not make the description false.”
He did not pretend morality had motivated his first cooperation.
That honesty made him more believable.
Margaret’s attorney presented her as a grandmother protecting a troubled child.
He showed photographs of Ethan at family vacations.
Birthday parties.
Christmas mornings.
“Does this look like an abused child?”
A pediatric trauma expert replied:
“Children can smile in photographs and still be unsafe.”
The defense produced the family psychiatrist’s reports about me.
Dr. Priya Shah explained why they were invalid.
“You cannot diagnose a person through a relative’s complaints.”
Margaret chose to testify.
She wore navy blue and pearls.
She spoke calmly.
The same way she had in the service corridor.
“I loved Ethan.”
The prosecutor asked:
“Did you pin a sign to his jacket?”
“Yes.”
“Did you order him to kneel beside garbage?”
“He needed to understand the seriousness of theft.”
“You knew the watch had been planted.”
“I knew it would be found.”
“That was not my question.”
Margaret looked toward the jury.
“Children born into responsibility must learn consequences early.”
“Consequences for witnessing murder?”
Her face tightened.
“He misunderstood a private recording.”
“Did you order Damon to destroy the memory card?”
“I ordered him to protect family materials.”
“Did you flee the country?”
“I left because the investigation became political.”
“Did you kidnap Ethan?”
“I retrieved my grandson from an unstable environment.”
“Did you authorize Kane to use a firearm?”
“No.”
The prosecution displayed messages.
If Claire resists, create enough chaos that authorities remove her.
Ethan must be inside the tower before the vote.
Alexander will cooperate once the boy is at risk.
Margaret claimed someone else wrote them.
Metadata proved otherwise.
I testified during the seventh week.
Victor’s lawyer focused on money.
“You became voting trustee of shares worth billions.”
“Temporarily.”
“You controlled the restructuring.”
“Under court supervision.”
“You sold Blackwood assets.”
“Independent administrators did.”
“You benefited financially.”
“No. Ethan’s shares remain in trust.”
“Your lifestyle improved.”
I looked at him.
“I moved from a Blackwood penthouse into a two-bedroom apartment.”
A few people laughed.
The attorney changed direction.
“You hated Margaret?”
“After what she did, yes.”
“Then you wanted revenge.”
“I wanted distance, evidence and legal accountability.”
“Isn’t prison revenge?”
“Prison is the court’s decision.”
The prosecutor asked why I had not handled the gala privately.
“Because private handling was how they buried Natalie.”
The jury deliberated four days.
Victor was convicted of murder and received life without parole.
Margaret was convicted on nearly every charge and received fifty-two years.
Kane received thirty-four.
Damon received twelve under cooperation.
Several executives received sentences ranging from five to twenty years.
Alexander pleaded guilty separately and received fourteen years.
At sentencing, he addressed Ethan through a statement approved by the child’s therapist.
I chose the family I came from over the child I helped create. I cannot ask you to undo the consequences.
Ethan read it months later.
He did not answer immediately.
Margaret spoke at her sentencing.
“This family built New York.”
The judge replied:
“No family builds a city by stealing the pensions of the people who work in it.”
When Margaret was taken away, she looked at me.
“You turned my grandson against his blood.”
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“No,” I said.
“You taught him blood was not enough.”
