WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.240 Hello, It is Ryan and I was on a flight 2 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:04.480 the other day playing one of my favorite social spin 3 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:07.120 slot games on chumbacasino dot com. I looked over at 4 00:00:07.120 --> 00:00:08.919 the person sitting next to me, and you know what 5 00:00:08.919 --> 00:00:11.720 they were doing. They were also playing Chumba Casino. Coincidence, 6 00:00:11.839 --> 00:00:14.240 I think not everybody's loving having fun with it. Chumba 7 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:16.480 Casino's home to hundreds at casino style games that you 8 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:20.519 can play for free, anytime, anywhere, even at thirty thousand feet. 9 00:00:20.600 --> 00:00:23.160 So sign up now at Chumbuckcasino dot com to claim 10 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:26.359 you're free welcome bonus. 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You could get lucky anywhere 24 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:55.880 playing at Lucky landslots dot Com play for free right now. 25 00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:57.000 Are you feeling lucky? 26 00:00:57.079 --> 00:00:58.000 No, We're just necessary void. 27 00:00:58.079 --> 00:01:00.159 Were my long eighteen plus terms conditions plus you will. 28 00:01:01.960 --> 00:01:02.240 Host. 29 00:01:12.079 --> 00:01:15.480 You are now listening to True Murder The most shocking 30 00:01:15.599 --> 00:01:18.640 Killers in True crime History and the authors that have 31 00:01:18.680 --> 00:01:25.959 written about them Gasey, Bundy, Dahmer, The Nightstalker DTK. Every 32 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.680 week another fascinating author talking about the most shocking and 33 00:01:29.799 --> 00:01:34.319 infamous killers in true crime history. True Murder with your host, 34 00:01:34.680 --> 00:01:37.200 journalist and author Dan Zupansky. 35 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:49.200 Good evening, This is your host Dan Zupanski for the 36 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:52.000 program True Murder, The most shocking Killers in true crime 37 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:56.840 History and the authors that have written about them. Casper, Wyoming, 38 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:01.000 nineteen seventy three. Eleven year old Amy Bridge rides with 39 00:02:01.040 --> 00:02:04.079 her eighteen year old sister Becky to the grocery store. 40 00:02:04.719 --> 00:02:08.240 When they finished their shopping, Becky's car gets a flat tire. 41 00:02:09.159 --> 00:02:11.960 Two men politely offer them a hand, but there were 42 00:02:12.000 --> 00:02:16.199 anything but good Samaritans. The girls would suffer unspeakable crimes 43 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:19.400 at the hands of these men before being thrown from 44 00:02:19.400 --> 00:02:23.680 a bridge into the North Platte River. One miraculously survived, 45 00:02:24.840 --> 00:02:28.680 the other did not. Author and journalist Ron Francell, who 46 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:30.719 lived in Casper at the time of the crime and 47 00:02:30.840 --> 00:02:34.199 was a friend to Amy and Becky, cannot forget Wyoming's 48 00:02:34.520 --> 00:02:38.639 most shocking story of abduction, rape, and murder. The two 49 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:41.560 men who violated her and Amy were sentenced to life 50 00:02:41.560 --> 00:02:44.639 in prison, but the demons of her past kept haunting 51 00:02:44.680 --> 00:02:48.319 beck Becky until she met her fate years later at 52 00:02:48.360 --> 00:02:51.560 the same bridge where she had lost her sister. The 53 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:55.280 book we're featuring this evening is The Darkest Night with 54 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:59.960 my special guest, journalist and author, Ron Francell. Welcome back 55 00:02:59.919 --> 00:03:02.800 to the program, Ron Francell, and thank you for agreeing 56 00:03:02.840 --> 00:03:03.479 to this interview. 57 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:07.280 Oh Dan, you know I always loved being on your show. 58 00:03:07.919 --> 00:03:10.479 Well, the feeling is mutual, Ron, and I'm sure the 59 00:03:10.520 --> 00:03:13.400 audience bearing out by the amount of people who listen 60 00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:17.080 to the programs, you're one of the show's favorites. Bar Nunn. 61 00:03:18.280 --> 00:03:21.840 Now let's start. This is a personal story for you, 62 00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:25.800 obviously we've alluded to that. Tell us a little bit 63 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:29.240 about Casper, Wyoming set the stage for us. What was 64 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:32.840 it like growing up in Casper, Wyoming for you? And 65 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:36.680 in that you can tell us what your relationship specifically 66 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:39.800 was to Amy. And Becky and tell us a little 67 00:03:39.800 --> 00:03:44.199 bit about what Casper, Wyoming was like in nineteen seventy 68 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.520 three when this story began. 69 00:03:49.479 --> 00:03:55.560 Well, Casper was like many small high planes towns. It 70 00:03:55.639 --> 00:04:01.319 was sometimes barely clinging to the landscape in swept town, 71 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:07.479 largely built on hard work in the oil fields and 72 00:04:08.280 --> 00:04:13.639 surrounding mines and cattle. It was just a hard working 73 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.399 town and the people who lived there were hardworking people. 74 00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:21.680 But it was a small town and so we enjoyed 75 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:27.639 this sort of idyllic existence. Well, you know, so many 76 00:04:27.759 --> 00:04:33.000 of your listeners will, you know, envision those places maybe 77 00:04:34.079 --> 00:04:37.199 like they've grown up, where you could ride your bike 78 00:04:37.399 --> 00:04:40.839 into the evening. You know, all the neighborhood kids would 79 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:44.600 be out at night in the summers, and parents weren't 80 00:04:44.759 --> 00:04:48.360 much worried about what they were doing and what might 81 00:04:48.480 --> 00:04:53.839 happen to them. It was a fairly it felt innocent. 82 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:57.759 No place is truly innocent, but for those of us 83 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:01.120 who were growing up at that time, there there was 84 00:05:01.199 --> 00:05:03.560 there was no evil, there was there was no threat, 85 00:05:03.639 --> 00:05:09.079 There was no danger, and I think in retrospect our 86 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:14.399 parents had grown complacent about that. So this was at 87 00:05:14.519 --> 00:05:21.319 least from the perspective of us kids an innocent place. 88 00:05:22.920 --> 00:05:26.439 We grew up in a neighborhood that was full of kids, 89 00:05:26.519 --> 00:05:29.240 and and we had spent a lot of years together 90 00:05:29.319 --> 00:05:34.360 growing up, and we had become a little more than friends, 91 00:05:34.480 --> 00:05:37.519 and maybe a little less than brothers and sisters, but 92 00:05:38.160 --> 00:05:44.360 in that kind of interesting relationship between and So next 93 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:49.920 door were these this family that had had these girls. 94 00:05:51.079 --> 00:05:55.600 Eleven year old Amy, who was a tomboy and joined 95 00:05:55.600 --> 00:06:00.600 in all the ballgames and and really conducted herself in 96 00:06:00.639 --> 00:06:06.399 every way like one of the boys, and her older sister, Becky, 97 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:13.639 who was the neighborhood beauty. And as we're growing up, 98 00:06:13.759 --> 00:06:18.519 we are seeing her blossom, and as we're getting to 99 00:06:18.680 --> 00:06:26.240 know our own maturity, I guess we're seeing her blossom 100 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:31.839 and become this young woman. So in nineteen seventy three, 101 00:06:31.879 --> 00:06:37.199 when I'm sixteen, when Amy's eleven and Becky is eighteen, 102 00:06:38.680 --> 00:06:40.759 this horrible thing happens. 103 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:44.920 Right now, tell us a little bit about Amy and 104 00:06:44.959 --> 00:06:51.079 Becky and their family, the Beerage family. Amy and Becky 105 00:06:51.120 --> 00:06:55.279 are not birth sisters, so they're stepsisters. So tell us 106 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:58.399 a little bit about the family dynamic and what type 107 00:06:58.439 --> 00:07:01.040 of family up next door. 108 00:07:01.680 --> 00:07:06.680 Again, a hard working family, Their stepfather was a was 109 00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:11.680 an oil field worker. Mom was common at the time, 110 00:07:12.879 --> 00:07:17.120 stay at home mom. They were in some ways a 111 00:07:17.120 --> 00:07:24.759 blended family. Amy and Becky were half sisters, and uh did. 112 00:07:25.079 --> 00:07:30.480 But but they we didn't see that. You know, we're kids. 113 00:07:30.519 --> 00:07:33.360 We don't see that. We're not thinking about that. And 114 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:38.439 it's in in in some ways it's irrelevant because they 115 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:42.199 considered themselves sisters in much the same way that all 116 00:07:42.279 --> 00:07:45.240 of us in that neighborhood kind of considered ourselves related 117 00:07:45.279 --> 00:07:49.240 in some way. So it was a family that, like 118 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:52.199 like many, you know, had its ups and downs, but 119 00:07:52.199 --> 00:07:56.639 but it was I think a basically good family. 120 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:04.759 Right And uh no, these two you say, was the 121 00:08:04.839 --> 00:08:07.560 stepfather worked in the oil rigs? Was there was there 122 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:13.360 any trauma in these young girls' lives up to that 123 00:08:13.439 --> 00:08:17.000 point you talk about that in nineteen seventy three in 124 00:08:17.000 --> 00:08:20.120 this small town. You didn't know evil from It was 125 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:23.680 just a concept in a movie to you. But what 126 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:26.639 was Amy and Becky's life? Like what you say, it 127 00:08:26.680 --> 00:08:31.120 was typical, But was there any trauma in their life? 128 00:08:31.160 --> 00:08:34.360 Had they what was their disposition Amy and Becky? What 129 00:08:34.399 --> 00:08:37.919 type of personalities were they and had they received had 130 00:08:37.919 --> 00:08:42.720 they had they encountered any sort of trauma in their 131 00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:45.639 life up to that point. 132 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:47.440 Not that I know of, and nothing that in my 133 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:50.120 research of the story that I could really see. I mean, 134 00:08:50.120 --> 00:08:53.519 their mother had been married a couple of times, and 135 00:08:53.639 --> 00:09:00.399 so they had that kind of unbalanced you know, working 136 00:09:00.440 --> 00:09:05.519 against them, But there was nothing that certainly showed itself 137 00:09:05.720 --> 00:09:10.679 to the rest of the world. Amy was absolutely the 138 00:09:10.720 --> 00:09:17.519 most vibrant little little girl in you can imagine. In fact, 139 00:09:17.559 --> 00:09:19.399 we didn't even see her as a girl. She was 140 00:09:19.440 --> 00:09:27.159 just part of the ball team. She was absolutely the 141 00:09:27.240 --> 00:09:35.879 most active and vibrant, dynamic little girl that you could imagine. Becky, 142 00:09:35.960 --> 00:09:39.320 on the other hand, was again beautiful with long dark 143 00:09:39.440 --> 00:09:44.240 hair and a woman really by the time the crime 144 00:09:44.320 --> 00:09:48.159 happens in nineteen seventy three. But there was no you know, 145 00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:52.480 we again, in much the same way we viewed the 146 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.799 world through our rose colored glasses, we probably viewed each 147 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:00.519 other through our rose colored glasses. But nothing that, nothing 148 00:10:00.559 --> 00:10:05.919 that really turned up in my later research suggested that 149 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:11.080 they had a life that was you know, traumatic in 150 00:10:11.159 --> 00:10:11.600 any way. 151 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:17.799 Right now, take us to the faithful Day in nineteen 152 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:23.000 seventy three, where they met Ronald Leroy Kennedy and Jerry 153 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:28.440 Lee Jenkins. Tell us what prompted Amy and Becky to 154 00:10:28.519 --> 00:10:31.279 be out at night, and tell us approximately what time 155 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:36.799 did they venture off on their journey because of their 156 00:10:36.799 --> 00:10:39.480 mother wanted them to do something. Tell us what exactly 157 00:10:39.480 --> 00:10:41.919 what this chore was and what actually happened. 158 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.360 Take you back a little bit to that idyllic town 159 00:10:47.000 --> 00:10:52.120 and remember that because it plays a role here. It's 160 00:10:52.840 --> 00:10:57.080 around nine o'clock at night when mom needs something from 161 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:02.080 the grocery store. There's a neighborhood market, oh maybe a 162 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:07.000 mile away, and so she asks Becky to go to 163 00:11:07.039 --> 00:11:10.360 the market and pick up these items for her. Becky 164 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:17.799 takes her little sister Amy down to the store. They 165 00:11:18.480 --> 00:11:21.080 pull up at this little market and there's not a 166 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:25.559 big supermarket now, it's really just kind of a neighborhood market, 167 00:11:25.600 --> 00:11:30.720 a small, small store. They pull into the parking lot 168 00:11:31.200 --> 00:11:34.080 and get out of the car and go into the store. 169 00:11:35.039 --> 00:11:41.120 Unknown to them, these two, these two criminals, Jenkins and Kennedy, 170 00:11:41.600 --> 00:11:46.600 were in their own car, just pulling into the lot. 171 00:11:46.840 --> 00:11:50.879 And remember I said, Becky's this beautiful young woman. They 172 00:11:50.919 --> 00:11:57.440 see her and immediately fixate on her, and Kennedy in 173 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:04.799 particular decides he wants to meet her. Jakos as well. Listen, 174 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:08.159 just just go up and talk to her, and Kenny says, no, 175 00:12:08.240 --> 00:12:11.360 I've got a better idea. So, while the girls are 176 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:15.320 in the store, they pull up next to Becky's car. 177 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:19.080 Kennedy pulls out a pocket knife and flattens one of 178 00:12:19.120 --> 00:12:23.639 Becky's tires. Then they retreat across the parking lot and wait. 179 00:12:24.759 --> 00:12:27.159 When the girls come out, they get in the car 180 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.799 and they start to drive off, and Becky realizes she 181 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:33.080 has a flat tire. She stops and lo and behold 182 00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:36.399 here these two guys drive up and say, hey, can 183 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:39.600 we help you? And that's where it begins. 184 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:45.600 Now the now they have a flat tire, and then 185 00:12:45.639 --> 00:12:49.320 these two people offer to help. What exactly did they 186 00:12:49.360 --> 00:12:51.000 say in terms of what was the help that they 187 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:51.799 were going to offer? 188 00:12:52.080 --> 00:12:54.759 What it ends, well, they were at first they made 189 00:12:54.799 --> 00:12:57.360 a big show out of trying to change the tire, 190 00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:01.480 but the story becomes that they've lug wrench doesn't work, 191 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:05.840 so they say we will we will give you a 192 00:13:05.960 --> 00:13:11.840 ride home and Becky. Becky's a little iffy about this, 193 00:13:12.200 --> 00:13:18.159 but she agrees and Amy. Then she she tells Amy 194 00:13:18.240 --> 00:13:21.480 to go call their mom and tell the mom don't worry. 195 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.159 We had a flat tire, but a couple of nice 196 00:13:24.200 --> 00:13:27.679 fellows are going to bring us home. And and she 197 00:13:27.759 --> 00:13:32.279 does that. She goes to a payphone and calls mom 198 00:13:32.360 --> 00:13:40.120 and tells her that. When she returns, Kennedy's pulls out 199 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:44.720 his knife and he forces them into the car, into 200 00:13:44.759 --> 00:13:52.279 his and Jenkins car, and they begin motoring around town, 201 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:59.399 you know, in a very meandering way, beating the girls 202 00:13:59.480 --> 00:14:04.679 in frighting them and telling them just horrific stories about 203 00:14:05.799 --> 00:14:09.720 what's going to happen to them and why, and it's 204 00:14:09.720 --> 00:14:12.480 a it's a horror. They are terrorized through the night. 205 00:14:13.639 --> 00:14:19.360 And sometime after midnight they these two guys take them 206 00:14:19.639 --> 00:14:23.519 far far away from the city, out out into the 207 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:29.480 prairie to to of a canyon. And over this canyon 208 00:14:29.559 --> 00:14:34.039 is a is a bridge twelve stories above the North 209 00:14:34.080 --> 00:14:41.679 Platte River, a very very narrow, almost sheer canyon. And uh, 210 00:14:43.720 --> 00:14:46.879 almost as soon as they arrive, Kennedy takes little Amy 211 00:14:46.960 --> 00:14:52.799 out into the darkness and and when he returns, she's 212 00:14:52.840 --> 00:14:57.000 not with him. He's thrown her off the bridge. 213 00:14:57.840 --> 00:15:00.440 What does what does Becky do? What does Becky believe 214 00:15:00.559 --> 00:15:03.759 that has happened? There was a ruse there that you know, 215 00:15:03.799 --> 00:15:07.600 it's a clumsy one, but they are telling these girls something. 216 00:15:07.720 --> 00:15:10.519 So what does at that moment, what does Becky believe 217 00:15:10.559 --> 00:15:11.799 has happened with Amy? 218 00:15:12.559 --> 00:15:20.320 They've been telling the girls that they had a friend 219 00:15:20.399 --> 00:15:25.559 who was killed or injured by a car that matched 220 00:15:25.799 --> 00:15:30.840 the girls car's description, and that they had to take 221 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:37.879 the girls out to meet the leader of a motorcycle 222 00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:42.960 gang who would decide their fate. And Kennedy's story was 223 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:47.200 that Amy would be the first one to go to 224 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:51.480 meet the man. And you know, it's kind of a 225 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:56.679 haunting turn of phrase, but in fact, when he comes 226 00:15:56.720 --> 00:16:00.279 back to the car without Amy, he said as she 227 00:16:00.440 --> 00:16:07.440 ran away. So he and Jenkins then turned to the 228 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:11.039 rape of Becky and they when they've both taken their 229 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:16.159 turn with her, they take her out to the bridge 230 00:16:16.399 --> 00:16:22.519 and on this very incredibly dark night, moonless night, and 231 00:16:22.559 --> 00:16:24.320 they throw her off the bridge too. 232 00:16:25.399 --> 00:16:33.480 Wow, Now what happens to Becky after she has thrown 233 00:16:33.519 --> 00:16:36.440 off this bridge? 234 00:16:37.120 --> 00:16:40.960 Imagine if you can a night so black that you 235 00:16:41.000 --> 00:16:45.480 can't see your hand in front of your face. And 236 00:16:46.879 --> 00:16:52.399 I know this because I spent a very dark night 237 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:58.120 that matched the sky and weather conditions underneath that bridge 238 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:05.519 and it was an unnerved, unnerving evening night, I believe me, 239 00:17:05.559 --> 00:17:08.960 and it seemed endless and I've covered wars. 240 00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:11.559 Hello, it is Ryan And I was on a flight 241 00:17:11.599 --> 00:17:13.799 the other day playing one of my favorite social spin 242 00:17:13.880 --> 00:17:16.440 slot games on chumbacasino dot com. I looked over at 243 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:18.240 the person sitting next to me, and you know what 244 00:17:18.240 --> 00:17:21.039 they were doing. They were also playing Chumpa Casino. Coincidence, 245 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:23.519 I think not everybody's loving having fun with it. 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No, We're necessary, dally Rio wherever 251 00:17:38.359 --> 00:17:40.279 if I lost in terms of conditions of eating plus. 252 00:17:40.119 --> 00:17:43.400 Lucky Land Casino asking people, what's the weirdest place you've 253 00:17:43.400 --> 00:17:46.920 gotten Lucky Lucky in line at the deli, I guess. 254 00:17:46.720 --> 00:17:49.240 Ah, in my dentist's office more than once. 255 00:17:49.279 --> 00:17:50.880 Actually, do I have to say? 256 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:51.319 Yes? 257 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:51.640 You do? 258 00:17:51.839 --> 00:17:54.279 In the car before my kids pta meeting? 259 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.920 Really? Yes, excuse me? What's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky? 260 00:17:58.119 --> 00:18:00.640 I never win, and tell oh, there you have it. 261 00:18:00.720 --> 00:18:03.519 You can get lucky anywhere playing at lucky landslaughts dot 262 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:06.480 com play for free right now. Are you feeling lucky. 263 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:15.319 Every else I've I've covered hurricanes from inside, but without 264 00:18:15.359 --> 00:18:19.319 a doubt, that was the most unsettling night of my life. 265 00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:20.519 Interesting. 266 00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:28.759 Becky caroms off the the site of the canyon wall 267 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.119 twelve stories now. She hits about a third of the 268 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:39.880 way down off a rock ledge and it bounces into 269 00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:43.839 deeper water. When she hits that ledge, she breaks her 270 00:18:43.880 --> 00:18:49.599 pelvis in five places. She she breaks some ribs. She 271 00:18:49.599 --> 00:18:53.960 she has numerous other injuries. She's been beaten by these guys. 272 00:18:54.359 --> 00:18:59.319 She's been raped by them. She's wearing only a very 273 00:18:59.480 --> 00:19:05.680 thin blouse and otherwise naked on a thirty two degree night, 274 00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:11.920 and she plunges into a river in utter darkness. She's 275 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:17.359 able to dog paddle her way to the shore and 276 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:22.519 drag herself across these sharp rocks out of the water, 277 00:19:23.400 --> 00:19:29.200 and she finds a little place down there among the 278 00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:36.960 brush and the rocks and the rats to hide herself 279 00:19:37.039 --> 00:19:39.759 because she believes these guys are still up there. She 280 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:45.359 believes they know she's lived through this horrific experience and 281 00:19:45.400 --> 00:19:48.000 that they are going to try to come and get her. 282 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:53.720 She's also beginning to believe that maybe this is what 283 00:19:53.839 --> 00:19:56.319 happened to her sister too, and her sister is down 284 00:19:56.319 --> 00:20:02.000 there someplace and very likely dead. So you can imagine 285 00:20:02.200 --> 00:20:04.920 what's going through her mind as she hides down there 286 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:09.920 in this utter blackness, hoping that they aren't going to 287 00:20:09.960 --> 00:20:16.119 come down after her, and freezing because it's it's right 288 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:24.160 at the freezing mark in temperature. It The night that 289 00:20:24.240 --> 00:20:27.400 I spent down there was very similar. It was the 290 00:20:27.480 --> 00:20:34.119 same temperature, the same moonless night, and yet I was 291 00:20:34.160 --> 00:20:40.400 wearing a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and I 292 00:20:40.720 --> 00:20:45.680 was freezing. Today, you can imagine this half naked woman 293 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:49.880 who's been in the water and who's been raped, and 294 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:53.319 who's who's in shock because of her injuries. This this 295 00:20:53.640 --> 00:20:59.519 just it makes it makes me shiver just to think 296 00:20:59.519 --> 00:20:59.720 of it. 297 00:20:59.799 --> 00:21:04.039 Right, Yeah, you know, you spent an incredible amount of 298 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:08.720 time describing that, and it really does get an investment 299 00:21:08.759 --> 00:21:14.200 from the reader in her terror. And like you say, 300 00:21:14.240 --> 00:21:17.680 she survived this, but now she wants to go to sleep, 301 00:21:17.839 --> 00:21:20.440 She wants some relief. From all of this stress and 302 00:21:20.519 --> 00:21:23.400 pain and everything. But she says to herself, no, I 303 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:26.279 can't go to sleep. She thinks that she hears these 304 00:21:26.359 --> 00:21:31.640 guys' voices still, and then she says, and she says 305 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:34.480 to herself in your book that she just wants to 306 00:21:34.480 --> 00:21:37.720 wait till the dawn. And then you talk about and 307 00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:40.240 this is just sort of indicative of what happens in 308 00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:43.839 this story anyway, a false dawn. Explain what a false 309 00:21:43.880 --> 00:21:47.039 done is. You just talked about the darkest type of night. 310 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:48.759 What is this false dawn? 311 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:56.279 There are there is a period during every year when 312 00:21:57.519 --> 00:22:00.319 a very short period, as a matter of fact, when 313 00:22:02.400 --> 00:22:07.480 the sky conditions are such that in places away from 314 00:22:07.519 --> 00:22:11.279 city lights, like this canyon out in the middle of nowhere, 315 00:22:13.200 --> 00:22:18.240 where around three two thirty three o'clock in the morning, 316 00:22:18.960 --> 00:22:23.559 the sky begins to lighten because the atmosphere is reflecting 317 00:22:23.799 --> 00:22:27.680 light from the Milky Way. And again it only happens 318 00:22:28.160 --> 00:22:34.960 right at in this autumnal period, and it can only 319 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:38.839 be seen in this kind of utter darkness. Had there 320 00:22:38.839 --> 00:22:41.279 been a moon that night, it wouldn't have been as 321 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:44.559 accentuated as it was. But again, this is a night 322 00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:49.440 when there's no moon, and it is as black as 323 00:22:49.440 --> 00:22:58.039 you can imagine. So Becky who has determined that when 324 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.839 dawn comes, she will try to get out of there somehow. 325 00:23:01.880 --> 00:23:06.759 She doesn't know how impossible that is. She can't see anything, 326 00:23:06.880 --> 00:23:10.880 She didn't see anything. She's not familiar with this area. 327 00:23:11.279 --> 00:23:16.880 She doesn't know exactly how daunting an escape from this 328 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:22.200 canyon really is going to be. But she's determined that 329 00:23:22.359 --> 00:23:29.319 when dawn comes she will try to get out. Well, here, 330 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:32.799 she begins to see this light and she's convinced that 331 00:23:32.960 --> 00:23:36.599 down is coming. She begins to feel that relief, but 332 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:39.680 in fact it's just this false don and she's hours 333 00:23:39.720 --> 00:23:45.640 away from reel Don. And I found that to be 334 00:23:47.359 --> 00:23:52.920 heartbreaking because because of all the horrors that had been 335 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:58.599 visited on her, because of the betrayal of her, because 336 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:05.920 of her her being totally alone in this in this darkness, 337 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:13.480 that seemed to be the ultimate last betrayal. As we 338 00:24:13.599 --> 00:24:17.880 learn in the book it isn't. But at that moment, 339 00:24:19.160 --> 00:24:22.759 I think that that that that that brief that's not 340 00:24:22.839 --> 00:24:26.759 even brief. It's for a couple of hours, it looks 341 00:24:26.799 --> 00:24:30.279 like dawn is coming, and you can imagine the hope 342 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:35.920 in her heart that ultimately is dashed because she's she's 343 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:41.119 literally six hours from dawn when she thinks it's at 344 00:24:41.200 --> 00:24:43.960 hand right now. 345 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:47.319 The next morning, Carl and Dorothy Stratser were going to 346 00:24:47.359 --> 00:24:49.480 go They got up early, and they were going to 347 00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:54.839 go fishing. And tell us what happened in terms of 348 00:24:54.839 --> 00:24:57.799 Becky and the Strassers, Well. 349 00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:02.519 This elderly couple on their day off, decide they're going 350 00:25:02.559 --> 00:25:05.599 to go out to the lake fishing, and so they 351 00:25:05.880 --> 00:25:08.160 get up early. They want to be at the lakeside 352 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:13.039 as early as possible. And as they cross this bridge, 353 00:25:13.160 --> 00:25:17.160 which is really thirty five thirty six miles from the 354 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:26.599 nearest town, they notice this strange, almost otherworldly site at 355 00:25:26.599 --> 00:25:29.279 the end of the bridge. It looks like a girl 356 00:25:29.400 --> 00:25:34.960 and she's wearing this bright pink blouse but otherwise looks naked. 357 00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:39.799 And as they pull up they see it is exactly 358 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:44.200 that it's Becky. Becky has dragged herself out of this canyon. Now, 359 00:25:44.839 --> 00:25:51.440 the photos in the book give some idea of what 360 00:25:51.640 --> 00:25:57.160 an accomplishment this was. It is a sheer canyon. Becky 361 00:25:57.799 --> 00:26:01.079 cannot walk, she can't use her in any way, she's 362 00:26:01.119 --> 00:26:06.440 broken her pelvis. She has dragged herself up literally with 363 00:26:06.559 --> 00:26:12.200 her back against the canyon wall, pushing herself inch by 364 00:26:12.359 --> 00:26:15.640 inch with her hands and occasionally sliding back down and 365 00:26:15.680 --> 00:26:19.720 having to start all over again, but almost It takes 366 00:26:19.720 --> 00:26:24.039 her about two hours to get you know, up this 367 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:29.519 one hundred and thirty hundred and forty foot steep wa 368 00:26:29.640 --> 00:26:34.839 wash of near the bridge and come out on the top. 369 00:26:36.039 --> 00:26:40.440 She is cut by the stones. She's still bloody from 370 00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:45.839 the experience of the night before. And this this couple 371 00:26:46.000 --> 00:26:52.359 arrives like angels, and they find her and they wrap 372 00:26:52.400 --> 00:26:56.440 her up, and they take her to the nearest settlement died, 373 00:26:56.480 --> 00:27:00.440 the nearest gas station, and they call the sh sheriff, 374 00:27:01.599 --> 00:27:06.200 and the sheriff comes and Becky is taken to the hospital. 375 00:27:06.519 --> 00:27:09.400 And it's at the hospital that she begins to describe 376 00:27:10.119 --> 00:27:15.319 her assailants. Cops. This is a small town, remember, yeah. 377 00:27:16.240 --> 00:27:20.559 They they know exactly who she's talking about from her description. 378 00:27:21.240 --> 00:27:25.759 Jenkins is this sort of short, fat, greasy looking guy 379 00:27:25.839 --> 00:27:33.279 with glasses, his good buddy and you know, partner in crime. Literally. 380 00:27:34.279 --> 00:27:39.519 Ron Kennedy is a tall, skinny, sort of bug eyed, 381 00:27:39.680 --> 00:27:46.799 crazy looking guy. The description probably had barely gotten out 382 00:27:46.839 --> 00:27:49.559 of her mouth before the cops knew exactly who she 383 00:27:49.799 --> 00:27:54.960 was talking about. So they went out and they found 384 00:27:55.079 --> 00:28:02.880 Kennedy and Jenkins. Kennedy is arrested literally at high noon 385 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:07.319 on the main street in front of the courthouse by 386 00:28:08.000 --> 00:28:13.519 by a detective who draws his gun and pulls him 387 00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:19.440 out of his car steps away from the courthouse. So 388 00:28:20.799 --> 00:28:24.319 there's there's a lot of dramatic element to this too, 389 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:27.640 that again, if I made it up, you wouldn't believe it. 390 00:28:28.440 --> 00:28:31.880 I present this as a fiction, it would be difficult 391 00:28:31.920 --> 00:28:32.480 to believe. 392 00:28:33.880 --> 00:28:36.880 Now, they first picked up Ronald Kennedy, and then they 393 00:28:36.960 --> 00:28:42.480 and they soon after picked up Jerry Jenkins, and and 394 00:28:42.599 --> 00:28:46.079 they wasn't it that Jenkins had the white Impala the car, 395 00:28:46.440 --> 00:28:49.640 The car itself tell us a little bit about the 396 00:28:49.759 --> 00:28:53.640 arrest of Jerry Jenkins and and the seizing of that vehicle. 397 00:28:54.599 --> 00:29:00.000 Jenkins actually is arrested while walking. They see him walk 398 00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:04.160 walking out in sort of the down part of town, 399 00:29:04.799 --> 00:29:08.759 and he's arrested there and taken in. Kennedy is driving 400 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:11.440 his own pickup truck which is stopped there on the street, 401 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:15.519