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Every 60 00:02:26.120 --> 00:02:29.719 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 61 00:02:29.879 --> 00:02:34.360 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, 62 00:02:34.800 --> 00:02:36.039 journalist and author. 63 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:48.080 Dan Zufanski, Good Evening. 64 00:02:49.719 --> 00:02:53.199 The Killing Season is a true crime saga, the story 65 00:02:53.319 --> 00:02:56.039 of a double murder that went unsolved for more than 66 00:02:56.120 --> 00:02:59.599 thirty five years, and a chilling portrait of a small 67 00:02:59.639 --> 00:03:04.719 town up ended by unimaginable violence. In the summer of 68 00:03:04.840 --> 00:03:09.240 nineteen seventy five, the valley town of Grand Junction, Colorado, 69 00:03:09.479 --> 00:03:12.080 is stunned by the grisly double murder of twenty four 70 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:16.439 year old Linda Benson and her baby daughter Kelly. For 71 00:03:16.599 --> 00:03:20.560 Jim Fromm and Doug Rushing, the two young detectives assigned 72 00:03:20.599 --> 00:03:24.039 to the case, the investigation is a chance to earn 73 00:03:24.080 --> 00:03:27.960 their stripes and prove their metal. At first, from and 74 00:03:28.080 --> 00:03:32.560 Rushing page the woman's mercurial husband, a pipefitter who works 75 00:03:32.599 --> 00:03:36.599 outside of town, as the primary suspect. But as their 76 00:03:36.680 --> 00:03:41.319 case against Steve Benson unravels, the detectives find themselves short 77 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:45.120 on leads and running out of time. With the city 78 00:03:45.240 --> 00:03:48.719 on edge and anxious for answers, a notorious serial killer 79 00:03:48.800 --> 00:03:51.560 goes on the lamb, and yet another young woman and 80 00:03:51.639 --> 00:03:55.599 her children turn up dead. In The Killing Season, Acclaim 81 00:03:55.680 --> 00:03:58.960 journalist Alex French traces the story of the Benson murders 82 00:03:59.400 --> 00:04:02.159 from the night Linda and Kelly's bodies are found strewn 83 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:06.800 across their second floor apartment to an improbable discovery made 84 00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:09.879 more than thirty years later that enabled a new breed 85 00:04:10.039 --> 00:04:12.479 of detectives to crack the case and bring closure to 86 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:19.560 those who'd watched justice slip away. Writing in taught atmospheric prose, 87 00:04:20.040 --> 00:04:24.160 French has crafted at heart pounding tale of tragedy, resilience, 88 00:04:24.399 --> 00:04:28.480 and redemption set against the burning red vistas of the 89 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:32.480 American Southwest. The book that we're featuring this evening is 90 00:04:32.600 --> 00:04:36.000 The Killing Season with my special guest, journalist and author 91 00:04:36.199 --> 00:04:39.040 Alex French. Welcome to the program and thank you for 92 00:04:39.079 --> 00:04:42.680 agreeing this interview. Alex French, thank you so much for 93 00:04:42.759 --> 00:04:43.040 having me. 94 00:04:43.120 --> 00:04:43.800 How are you tonight? 95 00:04:45.199 --> 00:04:45.600 Very good? 96 00:04:45.720 --> 00:04:51.160 Thank you Alex for joining us tonight. Incredible story and 97 00:04:51.560 --> 00:04:56.680 as we alluded to, a notorious serial killer. So people 98 00:04:56.680 --> 00:04:59.839 will find this very very fascinating, this book and this 99 00:05:00.680 --> 00:05:04.680 story that you have in the Killing Season. Now, just 100 00:05:05.079 --> 00:05:07.800 without giving anything away, I know that's my biggest cliche, 101 00:05:07.959 --> 00:05:10.920 but tell us how you came to want to write 102 00:05:10.920 --> 00:05:13.519 this book. So tell us how you came to write 103 00:05:13.560 --> 00:05:14.319 the Killing Season. 104 00:05:15.120 --> 00:05:17.839 So, you know, just about every day I kind of 105 00:05:18.120 --> 00:05:20.240 cruised through the you know, through the headlines on the 106 00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:25.560 ap wire, kind of looking for story ideas, and gosh, 107 00:05:25.639 --> 00:05:29.360 it was probably the spring of two thousand and nine, 108 00:05:30.199 --> 00:05:32.759 two thousand and eight or two thousand and nine, I 109 00:05:32.959 --> 00:05:36.439 saw a news item about this story, you know that 110 00:05:36.480 --> 00:05:41.040 after thirty five years, interest had finally been made and 111 00:05:41.560 --> 00:05:43.879 you know, it wasn't a long story, but it basically 112 00:05:44.199 --> 00:05:47.360 mentioned that these two detectives Jim Frahm and Doug Rushing, 113 00:05:48.360 --> 00:05:51.160 had worked the case back then and had you know, 114 00:05:51.279 --> 00:05:53.959 had never left town, and and you know, for a 115 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:56.120 long time they were sort of known as the guys 116 00:05:56.160 --> 00:06:00.519 who weren't solving these murders that they were assigned to 117 00:06:00.600 --> 00:06:05.319 solve and and they they had both sort of you know, 118 00:06:05.639 --> 00:06:09.120 for years and years never really been able to. 119 00:06:09.160 --> 00:06:09.759 Get over. 120 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:15.079 You know, these crimes and and and sort of you know, 121 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:19.360 in in in nineteen seventy five, they had gosh, twelve 122 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:22.519 homicides or eleven homicides in Grand Junction after not having 123 00:06:22.560 --> 00:06:26.240 a single homicide there for more than a decade. And 124 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:32.920 so this community was really just really sort of on 125 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:35.000 a you know, on a razor's edge in terms of, 126 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:39.240 you know, the tension around town. And they were, you know, 127 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:42.319 they were sort of widely viewed as the guys who 128 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:45.160 were letting everybody down, and that was that was hard 129 00:06:45.240 --> 00:06:46.920 on them. They were both young, you know, in their 130 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:53.519 early twenties, and I I contacted them immediately and they said, 131 00:06:53.519 --> 00:06:55.120 you know, gee, we'd love to tell our story, but 132 00:06:55.240 --> 00:06:56.879 you know, we've got to do this whole trial thing, 133 00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:59.639 and you know, there are appeals afterwards, and you know 134 00:06:59.759 --> 00:07:01.800 it's probably going to be a couple of years before 135 00:07:03.639 --> 00:07:04.680 before we can speak to you. 136 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:05.920 So I waited. 137 00:07:06.079 --> 00:07:09.720 I waited six years and followed the story through the 138 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:14.360 trial and then you know sort of you know, just 139 00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:18.399 waited and waited, and gosh, two summers ago, some guys 140 00:07:18.439 --> 00:07:23.000 from Amazon dot Com approached me about they and said 141 00:07:23.040 --> 00:07:24.399 to me, you know, if you could tell any story, 142 00:07:24.439 --> 00:07:27.120 what story would you tell? And I just couldn't stop 143 00:07:27.160 --> 00:07:30.199 thinking about rushing and from so I contacted them right 144 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:32.800 around the time I contacted them, like I think a 145 00:07:32.879 --> 00:07:41.560 week after the perpetrator's final appeal was denied and they 146 00:07:41.600 --> 00:07:42.519 were able to speak to me. 147 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:43.319 So I went. 148 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:46.920 I went there almost immediately and spent gosh two and 149 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:50.199 a half weeks in Grand Junction researching and reporting and 150 00:07:50.279 --> 00:07:52.399 knocking on doors and stuff like that. 151 00:07:55.959 --> 00:07:58.800 Now, before we talk about before we get into this 152 00:07:58.920 --> 00:08:01.759 incredible tale, let's talk about a little bit about the 153 00:08:01.879 --> 00:08:08.399 Benson family. Linda, Steve Benson, and Kelly take us back 154 00:08:09.040 --> 00:08:11.879 the research that you've done and who are these people? 155 00:08:12.399 --> 00:08:13.959 Start off with Steve Benson. 156 00:08:14.560 --> 00:08:18.439 Yes, so you know, there's not a you know, I 157 00:08:18.519 --> 00:08:22.120 don't know, you know, Steve wouldn't speak to me. I 158 00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:24.480 suppose for good reason. He's been he's been through some 159 00:08:24.759 --> 00:08:25.360 horrible things. 160 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:26.480 You know. 161 00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:28.519 He came from a tough family. 162 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:29.560 You know, I. 163 00:08:31.120 --> 00:08:34.159 You know, uh, he had a brother, Bob, and and 164 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:35.879 not much is known about them. I you know, I 165 00:08:35.960 --> 00:08:39.480 think he came from someplace in the Midwest, Indiana or something, 166 00:08:39.559 --> 00:08:43.480 and you know, they they they settled around uh, you know, 167 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:47.720 Grand Junction. When he was in his teens, you know, 168 00:08:47.840 --> 00:08:49.720 he went to Vietnam sort of a he was sort 169 00:08:49.759 --> 00:08:52.000 of a sort of a bit of a hell raiser 170 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:56.960 and you know, had sort of a you know, a 171 00:08:57.039 --> 00:09:02.159 bad history with women. Uh you know, big drinker, big partier, 172 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:08.080 and for all sort of intense purposes. It seems as 173 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:10.840 though Linda Benson was sort of this or her name 174 00:09:10.919 --> 00:09:14.360 was Linda Ketch him before she took his last name, 175 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:19.840 really settled him down. She was a you know, I 176 00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:21.919 sort of spent a lot of time while I was 177 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:24.480 you know, reporting this, trying to sort of get a 178 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:27.279 hold on her personality, and she seems to have been 179 00:09:27.399 --> 00:09:33.000 a just a genuinely sweet young lady. I think, you know, 180 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:37.240 she really had maybe the saddest life of anybody that 181 00:09:37.320 --> 00:09:40.399 I think I've ever you know, not that I ever 182 00:09:40.480 --> 00:09:44.279 met her, but encountered just hearing stories about her. You know, 183 00:09:44.399 --> 00:09:46.960 her father died when she was two, He dropped dead 184 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:52.440 in a duck blind. They were from Nebraska. They moved 185 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:57.960 to Colorado with Linda's stepmother, her mother, and I'm sorry 186 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.559 her mother and her stepfather, a guy named Tim Right, 187 00:10:00.600 --> 00:10:06.159 who was a degenerate alcoholic and abusive to her. When 188 00:10:06.240 --> 00:10:12.480 she was sixteen, Lawrence paid, uh, you know, her mother 189 00:10:13.919 --> 00:10:16.320 an ultimatum, basically saying, it's either the kids or me, 190 00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:18.519 So she kicked the kids out of the house. There 191 00:10:18.639 --> 00:10:21.120 was abuse, you know, I mean, she just had her 192 00:10:21.240 --> 00:10:24.120 you know, a couple a couple of months before lind did. 193 00:10:24.120 --> 00:10:26.120 I her sister died of a you know, sort of 194 00:10:26.159 --> 00:10:30.399 a strange drug overdose. And I think she was just 195 00:10:30.519 --> 00:10:34.080 a you know, sort of a sweet, sad woman, you know, 196 00:10:34.519 --> 00:10:38.639 sort of twenty four year old stay at home mom. 197 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:41.120 But yeah, I think she was just a sweet, sort 198 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:44.919 of a sad woman. And I think she and Steve 199 00:10:44.960 --> 00:10:46.279 were just doing the best that they could. 200 00:10:49.519 --> 00:10:49.639 Now. 201 00:10:49.759 --> 00:10:52.559 Tell us a little bit about their family life there 202 00:10:52.639 --> 00:10:55.240 and their daughter, Kelly, and you can tell us and 203 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:59.080 tell our audience about baby daughter, but also tell us 204 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:01.799 a little bit about Grand Junction. Where where Grand Junction, 205 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:04.559 Colorado really is geographically. 206 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.279 Okay, So so I think there, you know, their life 207 00:11:07.360 --> 00:11:09.039 was pretty quiet. They lived in a sort of an 208 00:11:09.120 --> 00:11:12.480 upscale apartment complex known as the Chateau Apartments. There were 209 00:11:12.480 --> 00:11:17.600 a lot of young families and a lot of college 210 00:11:17.679 --> 00:11:21.120 co eds living around there. And they lived in a 211 00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:26.679 second floor apartment that Steve paid for by working at 212 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:30.399 as a pipes that are at a power plant about gosh, 213 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:35.279 four or five hours north in Craig Craig, Colorado. Grand 214 00:11:35.320 --> 00:11:38.720 Junction sits on the western slope of the Colorado It's about, 215 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.559 you know, twenty five minutes from the Utah line. It 216 00:11:42.679 --> 00:11:46.240 is a really a striking place for much of the day. 217 00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:52.679 The the entire atmosphere there sort of glows vermillion. There's 218 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:57.480 the Colorado National Monument is there, and it is it 219 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:00.799 is sort of mesa and butte and high desert for 220 00:12:00.919 --> 00:12:02.159 as far as the eye can see. 221 00:12:03.320 --> 00:12:03.600 It is. 222 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:08.159 A uniquely beautiful but also sort of spooky kind of place. 223 00:12:10.360 --> 00:12:12.960 And it is, you know, historically been a boom town. 224 00:12:13.840 --> 00:12:17.679 There were you know, they mind minerals there, vandium, eventually 225 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:22.200 uranium for the Manhattan Project, and there was a real 226 00:12:22.360 --> 00:12:25.320 sort of booman bust mentality where you have a lot 227 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:28.279 of young men moving into town, getting rich and then 228 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:33.440 getting poor again even quicker. And I think nineteen seventy 229 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:35.720 five in Grand Junction is sort of unique because you know, 230 00:12:35.799 --> 00:12:38.759 you've got guys coming home from Vietnam. It seems like 231 00:12:41.120 --> 00:12:43.840 sort of oddly, everybody I spoke to had some some 232 00:12:44.120 --> 00:12:46.559 story about a young man that they knew back then 233 00:12:46.600 --> 00:12:49.679 that died in a drunken wreck. You know, I think 234 00:12:51.399 --> 00:12:55.000 alcoholism was fairly rampant. It was also this sort of 235 00:12:55.120 --> 00:12:59.320 place where when men crossed each other there was a fight. 236 00:12:59.440 --> 00:13:02.919 There was no sort of shoving, They just fought. 237 00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:03.200 You know. 238 00:13:03.320 --> 00:13:06.279 It was a lot of you know, Steve Benson's dad 239 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.399 and also Doug Rushing's dad for that matter, were World 240 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:13.320 War Two vets and tough guys. You know, Doug Rushing's 241 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:16.159 dad was in the eighty second Airborne and so you 242 00:13:16.279 --> 00:13:18.759 had that generation of men who had had combat training, 243 00:13:18.799 --> 00:13:21.080 and then you had you know, the next generation where 244 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:23.519 young men who were you know, going off to fight 245 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:28.200 in Vietnam. So there was that sort of that, you know, 246 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:32.720 the the that sort of tension of like having been 247 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:35.399 in war, having been a soldier, you know, sort of 248 00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.399 you know, kind of the widespread loss of like you know, 249 00:13:38.519 --> 00:13:42.879 white male privilege in terms of you know, we're talking 250 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:44.639 about a generation of guys who had sort of been 251 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:47.120 betrayed by or you know, felt like they had been 252 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:51.360 betrayed by the the command structure in Vietnam, women's live 253 00:13:51.480 --> 00:13:54.480 was big, you know, sort of we were on the 254 00:13:56.039 --> 00:13:58.679 sort of the sexual revolution was sort of in in 255 00:13:59.159 --> 00:14:02.720 full progress, and around town, you know, there was a 256 00:14:03.039 --> 00:14:06.240 Chicano movement was sorting to sort of was starting, was 257 00:14:06.320 --> 00:14:11.240 beginning to sort of gather scheme. So It's Grand Junction 258 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:16.960 in nineteen seventy five is sort of a town that 259 00:14:17.240 --> 00:14:22.440 is small and yet growing and also sort of seems 260 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:25.639 to be a bit of a pressure cooker in terms 261 00:14:25.679 --> 00:14:26.679 of in terms of crime. 262 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:32.720 Now you talk about Linda and Steve having they had 263 00:14:32.759 --> 00:14:35.919 a lot of friends in this chateau building, but they 264 00:14:35.960 --> 00:14:38.480 really did spend most of their time. They were especially 265 00:14:38.559 --> 00:14:41.200 close with the Grants, Maureen Grant and Gary Grant and 266 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:43.919 Gary Junior, who was three years old, and they lived 267 00:14:43.960 --> 00:14:46.919 right above them in apartment three eleven. So tell us 268 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:49.840 a little bit about their relationship and how close they were, 269 00:14:49.960 --> 00:14:53.480 and tell us a little bit about Maureen. 270 00:14:53.200 --> 00:14:56.039 And really it was really, yeah, it was really Linda 271 00:14:56.120 --> 00:15:01.840 and Maureen. Maureen was nineteen when she moved to the chateau. 272 00:15:02.559 --> 00:15:05.840 You know, I think probably in the fall fall of 273 00:15:05.960 --> 00:15:09.080 seventy four, and Linda was really like a big sister 274 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:11.960 to her. They you know, their kids were about the 275 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:15.600 same age. Gary Junior was you know, three, Kelly was five. 276 00:15:17.960 --> 00:15:19.679 So they spent you know, their days at the park 277 00:15:19.879 --> 00:15:23.200 or you know sort of in the in the mornings 278 00:15:23.279 --> 00:15:24.720 they would go and they would take their kids for 279 00:15:24.799 --> 00:15:26.399 a walk, and then in the afternoon they would do 280 00:15:26.519 --> 00:15:28.679 yogan one of the apartments and they sort of you know, 281 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.200 since they they lived sort of one on top of 282 00:15:31.240 --> 00:15:33.240 the other, you know, they would just keep their doors 283 00:15:33.279 --> 00:15:35.879 open and sort of run up and down the stairs. 284 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:36.759 You know. 285 00:15:36.799 --> 00:15:38.960 They sort of had a schedule. On Tuesdays they went 286 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:42.159 to you know, Taco bell. At Wednesdays, you know, on 287 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:44.399 Wednesdays they brought their kids to friendlies. You know, there 288 00:15:44.480 --> 00:15:49.799 was always some sort of activity with the kids, and 289 00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:52.679 you know, there was a strange a sort of a 290 00:15:52.720 --> 00:15:55.600 strange thing was was that these two women were very 291 00:15:55.639 --> 00:15:59.879 close and yet their conversations a lot of the times 292 00:16:00.039 --> 00:16:02.559 sort of revolved around motherhood. You know, there wasn't a 293 00:16:02.639 --> 00:16:06.799 lot of there wasn't a lot of kind of intense 294 00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.039 intimate personal talk about about you know, sort of about 295 00:16:11.039 --> 00:16:13.200 their lives. It was you know about sort of their 296 00:16:14.000 --> 00:16:16.200 their lives beyond sort of the most the more quot 297 00:16:16.279 --> 00:16:19.159 hittying details, you know, when they had some other friends 298 00:16:19.240 --> 00:16:21.200 that that I think she filled the more in that stuff. 299 00:16:21.200 --> 00:16:24.879 But but more, Maureen is really the closest person to 300 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:30.360 to Indo at that time. And and sort of Gary 301 00:16:30.440 --> 00:16:33.159 Senior worked out of town. I think he was a 302 00:16:33.320 --> 00:16:37.360 coal miner up north, uh, not far from where Steve worked. 303 00:16:37.679 --> 00:16:39.840 But they didn't really like Gary Senior. He was sort 304 00:16:39.840 --> 00:16:43.759 of abrasive, uh you know again, sort of a boisterous, 305 00:16:44.440 --> 00:16:48.200 a boisterous drinker. So yeah, they had they had a 306 00:16:48.279 --> 00:16:52.840 really they had a really lively social life there. You know, 307 00:16:53.000 --> 00:16:55.279 a lot of sitting out on the patio, you know, 308 00:16:55.320 --> 00:16:58.799 a lot of a lot of beer drinking, and and 309 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:02.559 and and and sort of soft drugs and having fun. 310 00:17:06.200 --> 00:17:08.920 Now, tell us about the situation where. 311 00:17:10.440 --> 00:17:11.279 Her husband is. 312 00:17:11.720 --> 00:17:14.359 Steve is not home when he works. He works a 313 00:17:14.400 --> 00:17:17.359 little bit out of town. So what's the situation there. 314 00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:19.759 They're not buried. But tell us how how it comes 315 00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:21.880 that he's not there all the time. 316 00:17:22.119 --> 00:17:24.799 We'll say, so, Yeah, so Steve works as a he 317 00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:28.799 was a union pipe fitter at a on a big 318 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:32.000 construction job. They're building a big powerhouse up in Craig, Colorado. 319 00:17:33.119 --> 00:17:36.000 So every Sunday at around four am, he would get 320 00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:38.720 out of bed and uh he'd either and he would 321 00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:42.599 drive up to Craig with a guy named Harold Railey, 322 00:17:43.440 --> 00:17:47.920 and you know, they they'd work the week Steve would 323 00:17:47.960 --> 00:17:50.319 camp out and you know, when it was warm enough, 324 00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:53.960 he would pop a tent out by uh was it 325 00:17:54.039 --> 00:17:56.599 Otter Creek up up by the yamp or out by 326 00:17:56.640 --> 00:17:59.200 the Yamper River, and he would wake up in the 327 00:17:59.240 --> 00:18:01.279 morning and he'd fish for his breakfast, and then he'd 328 00:18:01.359 --> 00:18:04.160 go to work, and then he'd go back to his 329 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:09.400 campfite campsite and fish for his dinner. And he saved 330 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:13.279 a lot of money doing that. During the winter, he 331 00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:15.880 would share a hotel room with you know, eight or 332 00:18:15.920 --> 00:18:17.640 ten other guys and they would split the bill eight 333 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:21.680 or ten ways. And you know, he was he was 334 00:18:21.720 --> 00:18:24.079 really sort of working for the weekend, if you know 335 00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:28.319 what I mean. You know, like his he had lending 336 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:31.720 Kelly down down in Grand Junction, so he was sort 337 00:18:31.759 --> 00:18:35.279 of you know four days there, you know, three at 338 00:18:35.279 --> 00:18:36.920 home or or something like that. 339 00:18:40.519 --> 00:18:44.759 Now, was there any talk with Linda, with Maureen about 340 00:18:45.920 --> 00:18:48.119 Steve being a threat at all? Was there any I 341 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:51.279 know they weren't. Some of the conversation was limited, But 342 00:18:51.640 --> 00:18:55.480 was there any conversation like that with Maureen that Maren has. 343 00:18:57.160 --> 00:18:59.400 You know, I not that I was aware of, you know, 344 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:02.960 the sort of a picture of you know, it was interesting. 345 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:06.000 The way my research sort of shook out was I 346 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.519 got in touch fairly early with the Grand Junction District attorney, 347 00:19:11.880 --> 00:19:16.640 and they were really supportive. For my first three or 348 00:19:16.680 --> 00:19:19.480 four days in Grand Junction, they opened up a conference 349 00:19:19.599 --> 00:19:22.440 room in the courthouse building, and they just brought in 350 00:19:22.559 --> 00:19:26.000 all the all the files, all the photos that you know, 351 00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:30.799 the crime scene photos, the autopsy photos, all of the 352 00:19:30.880 --> 00:19:34.039 police reports, all the all of the notes that the 353 00:19:34.119 --> 00:19:38.119 cops actually took back in nineteen seventy five. You know, 354 00:19:38.200 --> 00:19:40.640 Doug Rushing still had his stuff too, and he allowed 355 00:19:40.680 --> 00:19:42.160 me to take a look at that. But I just 356 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.240 had an unbelievable amount of you know, every time the 357 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:47.519 police would would interview somebody, they would fill out sort 358 00:19:47.559 --> 00:19:52.680 of an interview report, and you know, all the sort 359 00:19:52.720 --> 00:19:54.559 of the stuff that I read about, you know, kind 360 00:19:54.559 --> 00:20:00.000 of Scheve's difficult history with women came from those police reports. 361 00:20:00.400 --> 00:20:02.240 You know, they came from ex's or from people who 362 00:20:02.359 --> 00:20:05.319 knew an X or something like that. By all accounts, 363 00:20:06.400 --> 00:20:09.640 you know, other than sort of from talking to Linda's family, 364 00:20:09.720 --> 00:20:12.519 I mean, they they they are sort of under the 365 00:20:12.720 --> 00:20:16.400 impression that Steve was still is still Steve is they 366 00:20:16.480 --> 00:20:17.440 think Steve is the killer. 367 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:19.200 I do not, But. 368 00:20:20.759 --> 00:20:24.559 By all accounts, it was sort of a loving, gentle relationship. 369 00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:26.559 You know, they were sort of, you know, like I 370 00:20:26.599 --> 00:20:28.680 said earlier, like two kids who were really kind of 371 00:20:28.759 --> 00:20:31.920 doing the best that they could. And so now, you know, 372 00:20:32.000 --> 00:20:38.960 I don't think that Maureen or Lind's other kind of 373 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.079 close confident in the building there, her name was Pat Freeman, 374 00:20:42.599 --> 00:20:44.880 ever really thought of Steve that way, you know. I 375 00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.799 mean I think certainly Pat had seen Steve lose his 376 00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:52.400 temper kind of in a drunken rage one night. But 377 00:20:53.079 --> 00:20:55.400 but other than that, you know, he never you know, 378 00:20:55.519 --> 00:20:57.880 they never heard of him, you know, sort of touching 379 00:20:57.960 --> 00:20:59.519 Linden in a way that she didn't want to be touched, 380 00:20:59.640 --> 00:21:02.839 or you know, there were never you know, Bruce Marks. 381 00:21:02.880 --> 00:21:04.480 I know, the police didn't pull up any you know, 382 00:21:04.599 --> 00:21:08.839 hospital reports for her with with you know, a broken 383 00:21:08.920 --> 00:21:11.200 nose or a you know, a black guy or anything 384 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:15.640 like that. So so sort of from what I gather, 385 00:21:15.799 --> 00:21:19.759 it was kind of a you know, kind of a quiet, 386 00:21:19.799 --> 00:21:20.720 gentle relationship. 387 00:21:22.519 --> 00:21:25.680 Okay, let's talk about July twenty fifth, nineteen seventy five. 388 00:21:26.160 --> 00:21:29.599 Why is it that Steve doesn't have a key? Tell 389 00:21:29.680 --> 00:21:33.119 us the circumstances and the discovery that he made. 390 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:33.920 So Steve. 391 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:35.880 Steve was doing well enough at work that he wanted 392 00:21:35.920 --> 00:21:39.200 to buy a new al Camino and he put down 393 00:21:39.240 --> 00:21:43.559 a deposit at the Chevy dealership in Craig, Colorado, and 394 00:21:45.039 --> 00:21:48.559 you know, after work that night, he dropped his Chevy 395 00:21:48.640 --> 00:21:51.839 comment off at the dealership and caught a ride from 396 00:21:52.200 --> 00:21:57.000 Craig down to Grand Junction. About an hour outside of 397 00:21:58.160 --> 00:22:02.359 Grand Junction, he realizes that the keys that he'd left 398 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:05.079 in the glove par the glove box of the car 399 00:22:05.200 --> 00:22:07.880 that he was trading in, also had his house key, 400 00:22:08.599 --> 00:22:12.599 so that when he arrived back to the chateau, he 401 00:22:12.799 --> 00:22:16.720