The next story seems to be the strangest. Jody and Loren Edwards spend years building their dream boat. They are going to take a three year trip with their two children and one their friends. When off the coast of Tahiti someone hears a distress signal coming from the Spellbound. When rescuers boarded the ship they did not find what they expected. Kerry (the daughter) had suffered a severe head injury, Gary (the son) had a broken wrist, the parents were missing and the only one unharmed was Lori (the friend). There are two different stories about what happened to Kerry. She said she was injured at the same time as her father. She said that she was injured by an out of control boom along with her father. Her brother stated that she fell from her bunk and hit her head. Their father died from injuries from the boom swinging and their mother shot herself after the death of their father. They decided to throw the bodies overboard due to the heat. They had no idea how far from land they were and did not want the bodies to start smelling. They story seemed odd and it was never discovered for sure what happened to the Edwards family.
In the next story Dusty Millroy stabs his mother to death. Before her death, Lorraine had told family members and neighbors she was afraid of her son. A once normal child, became paranoid and strange after years of LSD use. Lorraine did not show up for work and the neighbors saw Dusty driving his mother's van (which she never let him do). After the authorities were called they found a strange scene. There was blood everywhere....in the kitchen and all in the van. Dusty came up with some strange stories. He said he had suffered a nosebleed in the kitchen. He said he thought his mother had killed a chicken in the living room. Finally Dusty admitted to stabbing his mother to death and dumping her body along the road.
Franklin Monohan was found dead along the side of the road. His body was discovered after the snow bank he was placed in melted. It seemed there was little motive for his death. The well dressed man did not meet the typical description of those found tossed by the roadside. No one would have guessed that he lead a secret life. He was involved in the "swinging" community. This fact made the investigation more difficult because people were not eager to talk about their sordid sexual activities. This was too early for DNA testing so investigators followed the trial of charges made on Monohan's credit card. It led them to Don Majors. Majors had lured men in by using pictures of his ex-wife and promising sexual deeds (his ex-wife was unaware of this fact). A young man (the son of one of Major's girlfriends) came forward to explain what happened to Monohan. He was in the car the night Major's shot and then dumped the body of Monohan. He did not want to live the rest of his life in fear of what Majors would do to him and his mother.
No two murderers are alike. As observers we wonder what set them off. This is very true of the next story. The spree of crimes was short lived with just three days of activities. The crimes occurred in a park in Seattle, Washington. Penny DeLeo left early one morning to go for a run in the park. She left a note for her son saying that if he awoke before she got back to fix some breakfast and she would return soon. When she had not returned all day the authorities were called. The next morning her body would be found in the park. Even as they were roping off the crime scene another woman can screaming through the park claiming someone tried to attack her. The woman gave a description of her attacker. And later another woman would come forward and say she was attacked the day before Penny DeLeo. There attacker turned out to be fifteen year old Lee Dubois. On the surface it seemed unlikely this young man would attack. His mother had a degree in educational psychology and his stepfather was on engineer for Boeing. It turned out Lee's past was not as pleasant and there had been violence between his mother and biological father. Lee was sentenced to life in prison for brutally stabbing Penny DeLeo and his attempted attacks on the two other women.
I grew up in small town where it was not uncommon to see young people walking around town. This was true of Enumclaw, Washington as well. Two teenagers, Camilla and Keith, took a walk one afternoon that would change their lives forever. Reverend Thomas Tweedie and Robert McCleod were driving down Scatter Creek Road when a bleeding young woman appeared from the bushes. The young woman jumped in the car and moments later they heard a gun shot. The girl was screaming that the men had to help her friend. The girl told the men a madman was beating her friend with a shovel. It all started when Jerry Ross stopped and asked the teens if they wanted a ride. They were forced into the car when Ross pulled a gun. When Camilla was begging him to let them go he shot her in the leg. He drove them to a deserted stretch of land. Ross forced the teens to remove all their clothing and have sex. They refused and Keith moved in front of Camilla to protect her. Ross began striking Keith with a shovel. Camilla was able to escape but she was unable to save Keith. Ross died in 2006 while in prison. It is believed he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder from his time as a Marine in Vietnam.
The final tale in the book will make you wonder how many chances a criminal deserves. The story starts with a family camping for Labor Day weekend and then disappearing into thin air. Richard and Belinda Cowden took their 5 year old son and 5 month old daughter camping near their home. They had made plans to eat dinner with Belinda's mother the following Sunday evening. When they did not show up for dinner she knew something was wrong. Their remains would be found months later. Richard's remains were tied to a tree while the rest of his family was stuffed into a nearby cave. Detectives would discovered the family was believed to be killed by Dwain Little. Little had been convicted of murdering a female neighbor at the age of 16. He was the youngest person to ever be in prison in Washington. Dwain later attacks a co-worker. He almost cut off her hand and foot. He also stabbed her in the skull. The woman was pregnant and luckily did not lose the baby. Dwain was in and out of jail but some how was always released. The Cowden family will never know for sure what happened to their relatives but based on circumstantial evidence it seems Little did commit the crime. Little had learned to play the system and mask the animal that simmered just below the surface.
No comments:
Post a Comment