These comments droning about shoddy journalism were posted before the trial got into full swing. Since then, we have seen many of the Prosecution's own witnesses refute the testimony Sy ray provided to the Grand Jury making Mr. Martinez look completely inept. Also, for those following the trial, Sy ray hasn't even testified and the Defense has already started. Looks like it wasn't shoddy journalism after all and Sgt. Ray used this railroading to get a promotion. The GPD let him do this, proving they are all a bunch of bumbling douche bags.
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A Gilbert Detective Crossed the Line to Turn Doug Grant’s Wife’s Bathtub Drowning Into a Murder Case
Ray said White had been hesitant, but "Doug [persisted], basically stating, 'If you write the prescription out, I won't fill it right away.'"
White wrote the scrip for Ambien.
Mel McDonald, Doug Grant's attorney
Faylene Grant in Las Vegas, July 27, 2001, the day of her second wedding to Doug.
But Grant immediately ignored the physician assistant's instructions, Ray said, and went to a Walgreens to fill it and the other prescriptions.
Around dawn the next day, the detective continued, "Doug recalls Faylene wet the bed. He changed his story a few times on exactly what happened after that."
One of Grant's accounts, Ray testified, was that he had helped Faylene into the bathroom after she urinated.
"Later on, he says, she got up, went to the bathroom on her own," Ray said. "Says he remembers her running a bath, getting into a bath. He rolls over, goes back to sleep in the same bed that she was in. Wakes up later, calls for her. She doesn't answer, so he immediately jumps out of bed, runs into the bathroom expecting something is wrong."
Ray said Grant told him that he had found Faylene submerged in the tub. He lifted her out, carried her to the bed, and began CPR.
"The first person he calls at that point is Chad White" but, inexplicably, not 911, Ray pointed out.
White did call 911 from his car as he rushed over to the Grants' residence from Mesa. Then, he performed CPR on the unresponsive woman in the master bedroom until paramedics arrived.
Faylene died late that afternoon, September 28, 2001, at Valley Lutheran Hospital.
Ray testified that Grant and ex-girlfriend Hilary met at a park just hours after Faylene died, where Doug gave Hilary at least $1,000 in cash and told her to have a good time because her life was about to change dramatically:
"She is going to be the mother to his children. He also places his hands on her hips, tells her a statement along the lines that he missed [them]."
Ray then claimed, "We have spoken to both Doug and Hilary [and] both have admitted . . . the time and place that the conversation took place."
The detective said the ex-lovers often had spoken by phone after Doug's remarriage to Faylene.
He alleged that the "last phone call" Doug made on the night before Faylene drowned was to Hilary, as was "the second call he made from the hospital" the next day.
Ray already had painted quite a damning picture of Doug Grant, but he was far from done.
He described how Doug had proposed to Hilary within days after Faylene died, and then married the 19-year-old on October 23, 2001, less than a month later.
The detective told the grand jury how Faylene's 11-year-old daughter from a previous marriage, Jenna, had seen Doug feeding son Braven breakfast in the kitchen about 7:15 on the fatal morning.
Jenna then showered and came out of her bathroom about 7:30, while, according to Ray, "Doug is still in the kitchen with Braven."
Five or 10 minutes later, Ray said, Doug told Jenna in a panic to grab the two boys and go over to a neighbor's.
"So her story is not consistent with Doug having been asleep all morning?" prosecutor Grimsman asked.
"That's correct," Ray replied, noting that Jenna's account fit into the timeline of Chad White's 7:42 a.m. phone call to 911.
The detective then made this definitive statement:
"Jenna specifically, without a doubt, recalls not only seeing Doug in the kitchen that morning, [but] also talking to him."
Ray said the little girl told him she remembered that day so well because "that is the morning her mother dies."
The detective then discussed his star witness, Jim McElyea, a former close friend of Doug's.
McElyea became a police snitch in early 2005 after his plan to extort $10,000 from Faylene's family in exchange for information about Doug's alleged murder confession to him went awry.
Ray described how McElyea had told Faylene's sister Cherlene in a secretly tape-recorded meeting that Doug confessed everything one day after Faylene died.
The detective said that, according to McElyea, Doug's motive for murder was that his "alimony and child-support payments were extremely high, over $2,500 a month. Doug was fearful that Faylene may leave him again, that he didn't want to pay that kind of money."
Ray testified about the two meetings between McElyea and Doug that police secretly recorded in early 2005 after McElyea had become a "cooperating witness" to avoid his own prosecution on bribery charges.
Ray conceded that Doug never admitted killing Faylene in the long recorded conversations with McElyea.
(Doug told McElyea in one terse exchange, "If you believe in your heart that I told you I put her in that tub and I put her to sleep, that is basically saying [I] killed her. That is the most ridiculous thing on the planet.")
The prosecutor asked the detective if he had considered the possibility that Faylene committed suicide.
He said he had, noting that Faylene had "kept pretty accurate journals" for years.
But Ray said he had found only two entries in which Faylene expressed suicidal thoughts, the most recent one about five years before she died.
This would be the sole reference in the grand jury presentation to Faylene's telltale diaries, the ones in which she'd written so positively about Doug while also reflecting on her looming demise and what she wanted to happen with her family afterward.
17 comments
Rubin's obvious bias toward grant is so obvious its beyond silly. You have tom read between the lines to read the facts; the evidence; and when you do that its pretty obvious what happened. The love of money is the root of all evil; and murder is the ultimate evil.
From other articles i have read; jim Mcelyea was set up by the eaves with the promise of a loan to get him out of safford for his and his boys safety. The loan was a hoax;the police needed a direct confession from grant and they set up this guy who; according to the news article; had been hounded by the eaves to testify. even though they had mcelyea draw up a business plan on how the money would be used to start a new business in another state. Sounds like he may have grounds for libel from this publication.
For the sake of time, which part of the article WASN'T biased? You don't know Doug Grant, you are some lame wanna be journalist. If you'd like to get to know some TRUTH about Doug Grant, please visit this website: http://www.topix.com/forum/cou...
You're probably not MAN enough to post this on your site, we'll see.
Once again your journalism is found wanting. I can't believe you still have a job after this. Bigotry abounds. Who cares if she is a "Mormom". What religion is everyone else in the story? Oh, I forgot, it doesn't matter. The fact is that 99% of us believe in a God and Heaven and Hell. So big deal if some of the players are "Mormon" in this story.
Next, where are the opinions of the victims family, and the prosecuting attorneys. This story came out because the defense probably asked you to write it to help Doug Grant in the minds eye of the public. This is not balanced journalism. It is a crucificion of a detective trying to do his job and it is done purely by the defense to try and show how incompetent the detective was as a defense for Doug Grant. Whether or not the detective was incompetent, which I think he was, does not preclude Doug Grant's innocence or guilt. Fair and balanced journalism is what it is, and this is definitely not fair or balanced. I hope you get fired for not doing your due diligence.
In the end Doug Grant will be convicted because the prosecutors wisely did not give their case away in a biased, slanted, news article. You will look like the foolish writer you show yourself to be.
I have read these stories about the death of Faylene Grant with great interest. They were VERY thought-provoking. I obviously have no idea if Mr. Grant is guilty as charged or not, though my gut tells me that he's only guilty of being a self-centered ass. I am very troubled by the actions of Detective Ray. My brother in law is a detective with a local agency (not Gilbert) and after reading the story said that, if the writer is being factual, Detective Ray ought to be bumped back to patrol ASAP rather than be promoted and praised. If you're going to "get" someone, get them clean, not the way he's trying to railroad this defendant. Let me also send my condolences to Faylene's family for their loss. Whatever happened, it was a tragedy.
Some of you make me sick. A woman has lost her life, children have lost there mother due to deciet , lies and manipulations, and all you can say is, boy what crooked cop.
Let's not overlook the fact; A young beautiful woman lost her life to a man that is more capable of understanding how meds affect our body then most. And while she continued to die her husband is coming and answering the door, suppositly in a panic. Obviously the man knew CPR, he is a qualified something right? You don't leave giving CPR. People have done Cpr to strangers for hours waiting for help & this man who loved this woman so much he married her twice, gave him 2 additional children, STOPPED doing CPR to come to the door.???? The police, emergency staff. DO NOT wait patienly at the door. They bust in. As well as a neighbor, she doesn't just wait for someone. I think this is Sad Journalism.
They only people in Vegas when they got married the 2nd time ; was Doug, Faylene and ther 2 beautiful boys. WHERE DO YOU THINK THESE PICTURES CAME FROM? DOUG.
DOUG.
DOUG!!!!
Since Faylene is no longer with us, and the boys I'm sure r not readers of the New Times yet.
SO ALL OF YOU READERS, DON'T YOU THINK THIS IS A LITTLE SLANTED. DOUG GRANT IS MANIPULATING THE PUBLIC JUST LIKE HIS WIFE. AND YOU WONDER HOW IT HAPPENED TO HIS WIFE;
IT JUST HAPPENED TO YOU.
Im actually still shaking my head in disbelief about this story..they can actually lie at grand jury proceedings? Isnt that the basis for the steriod/athlete convictions, perjury?? I cant even begin to fathom how this POS is getting away with lying to a grand jury, or even how a case with more holes than a civ could actually get this far..and here i thought the whole part of the process was to find the truth and punish the criminal..guess its to help ignorant, worthless cops have a chance at promotions...
Isn't this the same Doug Grant associated with Don Lapre and the Greatest Vitamin in the World? If so, where is the background on that?
I have read with interest the story of Doug and Faylene Grant. The whole thing is so far from the life our Father in Heaven wishes for us. Our time here is to be spent proving ourselves, proving our commitment to Our Father and loving those around us so they might learn of His plan for us.
My understanding is that if infidelity occurs in a marriage the person committing the act must show repentance by abandoning any relationship he/she has with another person. Never will a relationship developed through infidelity be recognized by our Father as one worthy of Celestial sanction.
I am so sorry for Faylene�s duping. I am so sorry that she missed the chance to raise her children; that she allowed the man she loved to convince her that she didn�t need to live, that he and a 19 year old child could do a better job of parenting than the heavenly ordained mother of those children could. With all Faylene�s prayer and study, I am surprised that she could believe she had the authority to �invite� an adulterer to sit at her table. While it is our responsibility to forgive those who trespass against us, only God can wash them clean and extend the invitation to sit at His table.
My prayers for the spirits of all misguided souls to turn God for truth and to listen to His voice for the answers, I pray that we won�t allow our selfish desires to confuse the simple truth that Our Father has given us. I am truly sorry that this unfortunate event ever occurred, but since it has, we need trust that God can make it right. Romans 8:28 �All things work together for good to those that love the Lord.�
Signed � MRS- New Mexico
What a horrible horrible display of journalism. You talk of a bad cop; what about a bad jounalist. Did you even allow the defense to give any input or even a statement? You should be fired for such a one sided article when there are real people, families and lives at stake here. Whether Doug is guilty or innocent, both sides should be reported by you.
After reading the first part of the story last week I was so anxious to read the second part of this article. All week I have been thinking to myself, and talking to some co workers who also have read the article and the big question we all had concerning this case was how did it even pass through the grand jury??? This is an obvious suicide case! and then this week�s article came out and hit it right on the nose , the answer we were waiting for�. A crooked cop tells a one-sided story to the jury and then lies multiple times to sway the jury to indict Mr. grant�Sergeant Ray sounds like the biggest scum bag crooked cop that has ever walked the streets. He should serve jail time for all of his misrepresentations and lies he told in front of the grand jury... Its funny how he was promoted for "solving a case" whatever happened to innocent until otherwise proven guilty in a court of law??? The only thing that has been solved is that Sergeant Ray is a sorry excuse for a Sergeant and a JOKE of a cop! How long can Mr. Ray and the family of Faylene get away with what they has done to the life of Mr. Grant? It blows my mind how just because of a little gold badge that he can get away with what he wants... how come no one has been brave enough to step up and call him out publicly until now??? Whats taken so long?
Surely for any student who has taken Psych 101, it's clear that Faylene was using religion as a rationalization to believe her life and kids were Ok with this sick sociopath. For starters, no man who is a sexual addict and cheated repeatedly on his wife is going anywhere near the Celestial Kingdom according to LDS doctrine. Sometimes we just believe what we have to in order to surrvive...My heart goes out to Fay and her family; we surrvived the sociopath in ours but clearly she did not.
What's with all the stories suddenly where you point out that the person is Mormon in the headline? How does that really have anything to do with the overall story? It's not like these are polygamy stories, now are they? I don't see you mentioning Arpaio's religion in the stories you write about him, what about that scam artist from last week? His religion wasn't mentioned in the headline either. I don't see Andy Thomas' religion making it into the headlines either.I could understand it when you had the stories on Thomas O'Brien, since his title was related to his religion, and part of the overall story was about how he acted, even though his title should have made him act differently. Making sure to place 'Mormon' near 'murder' in your headlines is just tackySorry, I have been a new times fan for almost 25 years, but this is a little annoying, and I'm not even religious, let alone Mormon.
So, let�s see if I�ve got this straight. Doug dumps his YOUNGER girlfriend, and remarries his wife because God is calling her to Heaven. He get�s the kids (without paying child support), the settlement money, and the life insurance money. There is only one stipulation. He has to MARRY the YOUNGER girlfriend after his wife dies. Oh yes, and the wife has never been happier!
Now poor Doug is being tried for murder because a corrupt cop has manipulated the grand jury!
Someone has got to put this fairytale to an end. Hopefully Juan Martinez can do that.
I DON'T APPRECIATE YOUR COMIC PORTRAYL PICTURES.I THINK THAT THEY ARE A INSULT TO A VERY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN.
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