Murder in the Heartland
Read Murder in the Heartland Online
Authors: M. William Phelps
Tags: #Non-Fiction, #non fiction, #True Crime
“Drawing on interviews with law officers and relatives,
Murder in the Heartland
will interest anyone who has followed the Stinnett case. The author has done significant research and—demonstrating how modern forensics and the Internet played critical, even unexpected roles in the investigation—his facile writing pulls the reader along.”
—
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Phelps uses a unique combination of investigative skills and narrative insight to give readers an exclusive, insider’s look into the events surrounding this incredible, high-profile American tragedy…. He has written a compassionate, riveting true crime masterpiece.”
—Anne Bremner, op-ed columnist and legal analyst on Court TV, MSNBC,
Nancy Grace,
FOX News Channel,
The O’Reilly Factor,
CNN,
Good Morning America,
and
The Early Show
“When unimaginable horror strikes, it is certain to cause monstrous sufferings, regardless of its locale. In
Murder in the Heartland
, M. Williams Phelps expertly reminds us that when the darkest form of evil invades the quiet and safe outposts of rural America, the tragedy is greatly magnified. Get ready for some sleepless nights.”
—Carlton Stowers, Edgar Award–winning author of
Careless Whispers, Scream at the Sky
and
To the Last Breath
“This is the most disturbing and moving look at murder in rural America since Capote’s
In Cold Blood.
”
—Gregg Olsen,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Abandoned Prayers
“A crisp, no-nonsense account…masterful.”
—
Bucks County Courier Times
“An unflinching investigation…Phelps explores this tragedy with courage, insight, and compassion.”
—
Lima News
(Lima, OH)
“An exceptional book by an exceptional true crime writer. In
Sleep in Heavenly Peace,
M. William Phelps exposes long-hidden secrets and reveals disquieting truths. Page by page, Phelps skillfully probes the disturbed mind of a mother guilty of the ultimate betrayal.”
—Kathryn Casey, author of
She Wanted It All
and
A Warrant to Kill
“An insightful and fast-paced examination of the inner workings of a good cop and his bad informant culminating in an unforgettable truth-is-stranger-than-fiction climax.”
—Michael M. Baden, M.D., author of
Unnatural Death
“M. William Phelps is the rising star of the nonfiction crime genre, and his true tales of murderers and mayhem are scary-as-hell thrill rides into the dark heart of the inhuman condition.”
—Douglas Clegg, author of
The Lady of Serpents
“An intense roller-coaster of a crime story. Matt Phelps’ book
Lethal Guardian
is at once complex, with a plethora of twists and turns worthy of any great detective mystery, and yet so well-laid out, so crisply written with such detail to character and place that it reads more like a novel than your standard non-fiction crime book.”
—
New York Times
bestselling author Steve Jackson
“
Perfect Poison
is a horrific tale of nurse Kristen Gilbert’s insatiable desire to kill the most helpless of victims—her own patients. A stunner from beginning to end, Phelps renders the story expertly, with flawless research and an explosive narrative. Phelps unravels the devastating case against nurse Kristen Gilbert and shockingly reveals that unimaginable evil sometimes comes in pretty packages.”
—Gregg Olsen, bestselling author of
Abandoned Prayers, Mockingbird,
and
If Loving You Is Wrong
“M. William Phelps’s
Perfect Poison
is true crime at its best—compelling, gripping, an edge-of-the-seat thriller. All the way through, Phelps packs wallops of delight with his skillful ability to narrate a suspenseful story and his encyclopedic knowledge of police procedures.
Perfect Poison
is the perfect antidote for a dreary night!”
—Harvey Rachlin, author of
The Making of a Detective
and
The Making of a Cop
“A compelling account of terror that only comes when the author dedicates himself to unmasking the psychopath with facts, insight and the other proven methods of journalistic leg work.”
—Lowell Cauffiel, bestselling author of
House of Secrets
“A blood-curdling page turner and a meticulously researched study of the inner recesses of the mind of a psychopathic narcissist.”
—Sam Vaknin, author of
Malignant Self Love—Narcissism Revisited
M. WILLIAM PHELPS
PINNACLE BOOKS
Kensington Publishing Corp.
For Mom
Murder in the Heartland
was written during an ongoing murder investigation. An arrest has been made, a confession of the crime made public, but the investigation is still active as we go to press. The book does not attempt to solve any portion of the crime or taint the investigation and/or prosecution of the accused. Any allegations made by parties in the book against the accused are brought forth under their own opinions, thoughts, and judgments. The author does not, in any way, make conclusions about the case but aims to unravel this complicated true story and offer some sort of understanding (and insight) about the events herein.
M
y own introduction to murder came years ago when a family member was slain by a drug-crazed serial killer who preyed on helpless, vulnerable women in the Hartford, Connecticut, region. She was my oldest brother’s wife, five months pregnant when her assailant reportedly put a pillowcase over her head and strangled her with a telephone cord. He was a large man, a professional-football-player type. An average-sized woman herself, she had no chance.
Although I wasn’t writing about true crime then, I didn’t realize how significant her murder would be to my work later on in life. Her death showed me that painful events such as murder carry over into everyday life in subtle ways, and hover, like guilt, over many of the things we do. Through the years, I’ve often sat and thought about this as I interviewed victims of murder: relatives, loved ones, friends, spouses, community members close to a case.
Soon after I finished investigating the Bobbie Jo Stinnett murder case, however, I realized the exclusive information I had uncovered while researching the book you are about to read had tested everything I thought I knew about life, loss, community, and dealing with unexpected tragedy.
As I was finishing my last book in December 2004, the Bobbie Jo Stinnett murder became front-page news. For about a week during the Christmas holiday, I couldn’t turn on the television or open a newspaper without hearing something about the case. Everyone wanted to know what had driven a woman to cut another woman’s child from her womb, killing the mother of the child. It became one of the most high-profile crime stories of the year.
I followed the case, made a few calls, interviewed some of the people involved, and began gathering anything I could find related to the case, with the thought I might one day pursue it as a book. I often juggle about ten to twelve cases before I decide on a book subject. I write dozens of letters to the people involved, send them, and see what happens. Who calls or writes back. A litmus test, to see how many people will talk on record.
The first letter I wrote pertaining to the Stinnett case was addressed to Carl Boman, the alleged perpetrator’s ex-husband. I figured, if I could get Mr. Boman to come forward, I would have a powerful story to tell. He knew the accused perpetrator better than anyone; he could tell me things about her no one else could, and, more importantly, he could help me understand the psychology behind her possible motives, which fascinated me more than anything else.
I wrote Mr. Boman a letter, printed it out, placed it in an envelope, and put it in the out-box I have on my desk—but, for whatever reason, never sent it.
Wait
, something told me.
One afternoon a few months later, I was working at my desk when a little dialogue box on the bottom corner of my computer screen alerted me an e-mail had just arrived.
Then the name of the sender appeared in the box:
Carl Boman
.
“I want you to write this story,” he wrote. “I need to get the truth out. There’s way too much speculation and rumor out in public right now.”
I was pleasantly shocked, to say the least, that Carl Boman had reached out to me. Still a bit skeptical, however, during our first telephone conversation, I said, “Let’s talk about this. Tell me a little bit about what you know.”
“Well, I have known her,” Mr. Boman said first, referring to the alleged perpetrator, “for twenty years, and fathered four of her children. I’ve been right in the middle of everything for two decades. My life—my kids’ lives—have been torn apart by all of this. Two of my children held Bobbie Jo’s baby on the night she was murdered.”
“Why me, though?” I asked.
“You seem very thorough. Like you can tell this story and put aside the rumor and speculation.”
“I can’t pay you,” I said. “I never pay sources.”
“I don’t want money. I only want the truth.”
Thus began my quest. Through Carl Boman and my own garrulous way of reaching out to people, I’ve been introduced to scores of sources for this book. Mr. Boman’s children, all of whom have spoken to me in one form or another, are incredibly tough kids. They have been through a lot and lost more than most might assume; they are victims, too. Not that Bobbie Jo Stinnett and her immediate family haven’t lost the most. But I’ve learned in the years of writing true-crime books, along with a tragedy of similar scope in my own family, the pain involved in the aftermath of murder—that is, if it is to be weighed on a scale of emotion—is equal, no matter which side you’re on.
People suffer.
No pain is greater than any other.
Fundamentally, this is a story of loss, life, and being able to move forward in the face of an immeasurable tragedy. The accused killer’s children still love their mother. But more than that, as Mr. Boman said to me once, “This is a tragic death that should have never happened—and that’s one of the main reasons why I want to get this story out. The whole story. Everything that led up to this senseless murder needs to be told as a cautionary tale so people understand how mentally ill people who don’t get professional help are potential time bombs. In this country, we need to take the issue of mental health more seriously.”
While writing this book, I was amazed by the candor and honesty of some, while appalled by the lies of others. Especially flattering was that Sheriff Ben Espey, the law enforcement hero of this book, opened up and told me his story.
In the end, I found a story of two towns, two mothers, several children, one “miracle” child, an ex-husband left to clean up twenty years of family dysfunction, a sheriff determined to find a missing child, and a telling look into the heart of America.
I’ve written a number of true-crime books now and have seen and described the most depraved people in society. I thought I had become hardened by all the murder in my professional life, and nothing could break me. But this story turned me inside out. To understand why this crime happened is one thing; yet to sit and digest this material for as long as I did made me realize that people
truly
are capable of just about anything, especially when driven by desperation.
This, then, is not your typical, straightforward true-crime account: body, investigation, background of victim and perpetrator, trial, verdict, sentence. Some of those elements will appear, certainly. But this story encompasses two families, many victims, and two towns coming to terms with a senseless, incredibly hideous murder. Here, I give you the entire story as it played out from day one—but also, most important, the all-inclusive backstory of the alleged perpetrator, which explains why she did what she did and how she, her immediate family, and the two towns are coping with the aftermath today.
—
M. WILLIAM PHELPS
Vernon, CT