Newsletter (page 4)
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Newsletter (page 4)
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Page 4 of 4 UPDATES Continued... If You Really Loved Me: Although I have yet to confirm all the details, it appears that Cinnamon Brown's husband was a suicide in the city of Las Vegas this year. Cinnamon hasn't had many breaks in her life, and I pray that she has happier days ahead. She and her late husband had a son several years ago. If she should happen to read this, I hope that she will get in touch with me at AnnieR37@aol.com. David Brown remains in New Folsom prison in California, and likely will be there for the rest of his life. I hear occasionally from his daughter, Krystal, raised by David's parents, who is grown and living on her own. Her grandfather passed away a few years ago. Cinnamon and Patti Brown have been out of prison for more than a decade. Cinnamon lived with an Orange County family for about six months until she became acclimated to the world outside prison. She married and has a child. The last I heard she was working in a very responsible job. After she was paroled, Patti married a prison guard and gave birth to twin boys. She regained custody of her daughter, Heather, who was fathered by David. Richart "Liberty" Steinhart died of A.I.D.s many years ago, still a committed Christian. There was a made-for-TV movie about Arnold Brown's case, but it was not based upon my book, and based on Patti Bailey's story. Everything She Ever Wanted: There is never a shortage
of news about Patricia Vann Radcliffe Taylor Allanson Taylor Pat is 68 now, and
scarcely the slender and lovely Southern Belle she once was. Several years ago,
she was paroled from her second prison sentence--for pretending to be a "Registered
Nurse," and poisoning and stealing from the elderly Crist couple. Pat returned to
McDonough, Georgia, to move in with her stepfather, Clifford,” The Colonel" Radcliffe
and his new bride, Aggie whom he had married a few months after "Boppo" died. (Aggie
was Pat's mother Boppo's younger sister.) Pat has a small doll shop nearby: "Pat's
Pretty Playthings." Aggie passed away last year, and Pat's son, Ronnie, also died
in 2004. Pat is battling Ronnie's widow over who will possess his cremains. Radcliffe
is in his nineties and was hospitalized several times in 2005. When he is home,
Pat cares for him and oversees his business affairs. Pat bears much ill will toward
her granddaughter, Ashlynne, now in her twenties, and, of course toward her daughter,
Susan, who was instrumental in Pat's most recent arrest. Susan lives on the West
Coast, but occasionally gets ominous messages from Pat. Susan and Bill divorced
many years ago, and Susan has happily remarried and is slowly putting her family
back together. Dead by Sunset: Brad Cunningham, now 54, and convicted both civilly and criminally in the murder of his fourth wife, Cheryl Keeton, was granted a new murder trial in 2002 by the Oregon Court of Appeals after his objection to Cheryl's mother's testimony who told jurors about a phone call from Cheryl just before she went to meet Brad on the night of her death. She described the fear in her daughter's voice. Brad claimed that that testimony was hearsay. In February, 2005, the Oregon Supreme Court reversed the Appeals Court ruling. Cunningham will not have a new trial. His subsequent arguments have all been turned away by the Appeals Court. The three sons that Cheryl bore Brad were, of course, adopted by Dr. Sara Gordon during her marriage to Brad. Sara has raised the boys to adulthood. Although Brad has contacted them to convince them to change their testimony about the October, 1987, night their mother was murdered, they have refused to do that. They have no contact with him. Sara retired from her position as an anesthesiologist last year, and has moved closer to her extended family. Cunningham remains behind bars in the Oregon State Penitentiary. Recent photos of him show a very overweight man who is rapidly Balding. He is no longer the smooth "ladies' man" who once charmed so many successful professional women. However, his arrogance continues undiminished, and he continues to file lawsuits and appeals. Bitter Harvest: Last year, Dr. Debora Green, who took an Alford Plea on the charges of poisoning her husband and setting the fire that killed two of her three children in Prairie Village, Kansas, was granted a hearing to ask for a trial last year. (The Alford Plea stipulates that the defendant does not admit guilt but believes she will be found guilty if her case should go to trial.) With the death penalty outlawed in Kansas, Debora no longer risked execution if she was found guilty in a trial. With the help of supporters on the outside, Green presented testimony by a man termed an arson expert. He argued that the original arson investigation in the days after the fatal fire in 1995 was flawed. Once again, Johnson County District Attorney Paul Morrison spoke for the State. Green lost her bid for a trial, and is back in the Women's Correctional Center in Topeka, as she continues to serve her "Hard 40" sentence. She was allegedly caught two years ago with escape plans in her cell. Unless her legal motions should prevail, she will be in her eighties when she is released. Debora's surviving child, Lissa, supports her mother's position. Dr. Michael Farrar has now fully recovered from the ricin poisoning Debora gave him (three times) in food she served him, and continues to practice as a cardiologist. And Never Let Her Go: If Anne Marie Fahey were alive today, she would be thirty-nine, and undoubtedly married and a mother, living in Wilmington, Delaware in the midst of her loving siblings' lives. But Tom Capano murdered Anne Marie in June, 1997. Her body, which he abandoned to the sharks in the Atlantic Ocean, has never been found. Capano remains in prison on Death Row in Delaware, frantically making appeals to save his own life. Nothing and no one is too important for Capano to sacrifice to stay alive. Insiders say he has been found with contraband in his cell, for making forbidden phone calls and there are well-grounded suspicions that he receives special "favors" from members of the prison staff. Women write to him, bewitched by his eloquent letters, fancying themselves in love with him. Even so, his living conditions are far from lavish. And the execution chamber draws closer to him all the time. None of the women who knew him before he shot Anne Marie want anything to do with him, all of them betrayed by his secrets and lies. The Faheys lost another sibling; Mark Fahey died in July, 2004. The others drew in closely. Each fall, the golf tournament held in Anne Marie's honor donates the proceeds to worthy causes. This year, they gave all profits to Katrina's victims, something Anne Marie would approve of. "O'Freel's" closed its doors, and Kevin Freel moved to Chicago, one of the very few Wilmington natives to leave. Kay Capano is still single, still in Wilmington, although her four daughters go to college and leave. Debbie MacIntyre finished college with the highest marks, and has an excellent job. She and her children have a tight family unit and her daughter married last year. She sometimes thinks of leaving Wilmington forever, but all of her history--both good and bad--is there. She holds her head up, believing a good life is the best revenge, and she never says Capano's name out loud. Mike Scanlan moved away, but he still comes back to visit Anne Marie's brothers and sister. Colm Connolly is now the U.S. Attorney for Delaware and Ferris Wharton is the Assistant U.S. Attorney. Every Breath You Take: The scene in San Antonio constantly changes. After Allen Blackthorne was convicted of conspiring to kill Sheila Bellush, his ex-wife and the mother of quadruplets, who was hiding in vain in Sarasota, Florida, he was sent first to a federal prison in Beaumont, Texas. He was ambushed there, allegedly by the "Mexican Mafia," and stabbed repeatedly. He eventually recovered from injuries to his eye, kidneys and other organs, and then transferred to another federal prison near Atlanta. In the meantime, Maureen Blackthorne sold hundreds of thousands of dollars in stock in the medical company Allen helped found. But she failed to pay income tax on her profits. Charged with tax fraud, Maureen summoned an interesting character witness in her trial: Allen himself. He testified that she knew nothing about the family finances or prior tax filings. He wasn't particularly convincing, and Maureen began serving her own prison sentence of a year and a day in June, 2005. Before she was locked up, she had the pink mansion painted orange, and filed for divorce from Allen. Her two sons will stay with her mother until she is released. At that point, Maureen may be deported. Rick and Kerry Bladorn raised both of Sheila's daughters after Jamie Bellush told them they were not welcome in his home. Daryl was with them in Oregon from the time of Sheila's funeral, and Stevie joined them about eighteen months later. Daryl is in college in Florida now, engaged to be married. Stevie lives most of the time in Portland where she is learning to be a sommelier (a wine expert.) Recently, she toured Europe. Rick and Kerry have built a new home with their own hands, and their two oldest children are now in college, while the "little boys" are in grade school. After years of tragedy and upheaval, they are doing well. Bellush remarried an attorney a few years ago. She has a son about the age of the quadruplets--almost eight now. She stays home to look after the five children. Gary De Los Santos has been promoted to Captain in the Texas Rangers. After being assigned to the Rangers' office in Lubbock, he has returned to San Antonio to continue working on Cold Cases. Michael Appleby was transferred on special assignment, and Richard Urbanek retired from the San Antonio Police Department. John Murphy and Richard Durbin are still with the U.S. Justice Department, and Federal Judge Edward Prado was elevated to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. More recently, Prado was a top candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. Heart Full of Lies: Liysa Northon, who took an Alford Plea rather than face trial for the murder of her husband, Chris, serves her ten-year sentence in Wilsonville in Oregon's only women's correctional facility. Many readers who are outraged by her short sentence need to know that prosecutors weren't convinced that the judge in Wallowa County would allow the secrets on her "stolen" lap-top computer into evidence, and also her screenplays where the wives always killed their husbands with some kind of damage to their heads. Without that compelling evidence, Liysa might have walked free. It was a tough call to make. Her sons, Bjorn and Papako, live in Hawaii with Liysa's second husband and visit Dick and Jeanne Northon regularly. The boys are doing very well. Liysa can have visits if she avoids talking to them about Chris's death, a proviso she doesn't often honor. The Oregon legislature has voted in what is essentially a "Liysa Northon bill" that forbids convicted killers not only from benefiting financially from their victims' estates, but from the descendants of victims, a law designed to protect Bjorn when he comes into the large estate from Chris Northon when he is in his mid-teens. Liysa has sued the Northons, her former brother-in-law, Prosecutor Dan Ousley, the State of Oregon, and me. It makes you wonder if her legal ploys will ever end. Her best friend in prison is Carolyn Exum, also convicted of killing her husband. Green River, Running Red Gary Leon Ridgway is locked in a cell at the Walla Walla Penitentiary in Washington, under super high security. He may be moved to another high security prison soon. In 2004 year, he proudly bragged to detectives about his cleverness in trapping innocent young women. Now, he rarely has visitors. His wife has divorced him and changed her name. The chance that he will be tied to womens’ murders outside King County, Washington, is good. If that should happen, any plea bargain he made in King County Courts will not apply--and he may yet die in an executioners' chamber. Empty Promises: Steven Sherer, convicted of killing his wife Jamie, didn't stop planning violence, even locked in prison in the cell next to Gary Ridgway. Sherer thought he had hired someone to torch his in-laws house (where his own son lived). Instead, the "arsonist" confessed the plot to the police. A fake fire was staged and reported in the local newspaper. Sherer went back to court and now has an even longer sentence! Although it's doubtful that he will ever get out of prison, he still advertises for female company on the "Prison Pen Pal" site. Last Dance, Last Chance: Debby Pignataro still suffers many painful after-effects of her chronic arsenic poisoning administered by her doctor husband, Anthony Pignataro. It is almost impossible for her to work, but Debby has taken wonderful care of her children. Ralph Pignataro graduated as Valedictorian of his class in June, 2005, and received a scholarship to Cornell where he has just started college. Lauren Pignataro, two years younger also gets straight A's. Neither Anthony nor his wealthy mother have contributed anything toward helping Debby as Lena continues to deny any wrong-doing on the part of her son. Debby often posts on the Guestbook on this website, so if you have any comments or questions for her, I'm sure she will respond to you. A Rose for Her Grave:Randy Roth is reported to have married a woman who started writing to him after seeing his ad seeking a Prison Pen Pal on the Internet. You Belong to Me: Ex-Florida State Trooper Tim Harris has many years to serve in prison, but he too attracted a bride--a much older, wealthy woman. Sandy Harris remarried, moved away from Florida and had twin sons. A Fever in the Heart: Jerrilee, Morris Blankenbaker's widow, has moved back to Yakima. Their children are very successful. Olive Blankenbaker passed away in late 2005 at the age of 95. Prosecutor Jeff Sullivan is the U.S. Attorney in Seattle, and, sadly, Vern Henderson died suddenly in October, 2005. In the Name of Love: Susan Harris, Jerry's widow, remarried and had a little boy, but she still keeps her whereabouts secret. Steve Bonilla, who carried out the ultimate betrayal of his best friend, still awaits execution on Death Row in California. The End of the Dream: Steve Meyers and Mark Biggins continue to serve out their long sentences in federal prisons, where there are no early paroles. Robert Kevin Meyer lives in Colorado and continues to paint. He has married at 50 and has a son. His website is www.robertmeyers.com. The tree house in the woods has long since been condemned and has blown away in the wind. Scott "Hollywood" Scurlock, dead for a decade, still fascinates readers more than almost anyone I have written about. A Rage to Kill: This is a collection of many cases, and it will be updated soon on this website. Last Dance, Last Chance: Debby Pignataro still suffers many painful after-effects of her chronic arsenic poisoning administered by her doctor husband, Anthony Pignataro. It is almost impossible for her to work, but Debby has taken wonderful care of her children. Ralph Pignataro graduated as Valedictorian of his class in June, 2005, and received a scholarship to Cornell where he has just started college. Lauren Pignataro, two years younger also gets straight A's. Neither Anthony nor his wealthy mother have contributed anything toward helping Debby as Lena continues to deny any wrong-doing on the part of her son. Debby often posts on the Guestbook on this website, so if you have any comments or questions for her, I'm sure she will respond to you. Without Pity: This is a collection of many cases, and it will be updated soon on this website. Kiss Me, Kill Me: Most who read this book ask me if Julie Weflen or her remains have ever been found. I wish that I could say "yes," but the mystery of her tragic vanishing continues. SIGNINGS: As I schedule booksignings, I will have them listed on the Home Page of this website. MOVIES: Small Sacrifices and Dead by Sunset show quite often on the Lifetime Network. And Never Let Her Go should air soon again on CBS. The Stranger Beside Me, A Fever in the Heart, and Every Breath You Take are now in pre-production at the U.S.A. Network,. Watch your TV guides and I'll have the exact dates on my website. WEB SITES: The Real Crimes web site above is for families and friends of crime victims who
have never found justice, here is an excellent forum to state your case. It is on-line,
thanks to author Lois Duncan Arquette and her husband Don, who lost their daughter
Kait, 18, in a still-unsolved murder. Perhaps it will help you. I hope so.
Community Resources Available for Families and Friends
of the Murder Victims Killed by Green River Serial Killer, Gary Ridgway.
WHERE TO FIND BOOKS? Just because you may not find every one of my
books on store shelves, that doesn't mean they're unavailable. They are all in
print. All bookstores and libraries will order books for you if you give them
the titles and my name. You can also order my books on-line through
www.amazon.com, www.barnesandnoble.com, www.Books-a-million.com,
www.Poisonedpen.com, www.Auntiesbookstore.com and many other sites. If you're on
a budget, you can also try looking on eBay. If you're really, really rich buy
several and never loan them out to your friends! If you would like books autographed through the mail, I'll be glad to do that. To send books to be signed the address is P.O. Box 98846, Seattle, WA 98198. Please remember to enclose a self-addressed, stamped mailer and a note on what to say? All my best!
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