Cash for info?

The thought occurs to me that perhaps some people who have chosen not to either talk to me or to allow me to share their information concerning the book about the Stacey Burns murder might be willing to do so if offered cash. Several blogs ago, I mentioned that I would love to be able to ask just two questions of certain people. I wonder if there is dollar amount that would convince these folks to answer those questions? My guess would be that most still would not want to answer the questions regardless of the "stipend" offered but it is an interesting thing to ponder. Obviously my budget for this project is long gone, as if there ever was one anyway. However, it would be an intriguing exercise to see if spreading cash around in the search for information would do any good.
My sincere hope would be that the search for the truth would not be dependent on the trading of information for money but who knows?
Just wondering . . .
duker

Watching and Waiting

This blog will be brief but it concerns a critical area in the investigation into the murder of Stacey Burns. (Less than four months to the 4th Anniversary)
I wonder why this case has seemingly lost its momentum. Is it because the police have decided that they want to wait until the murderer makes a mistake? Is it because no new information has come forth? Is it because some people just want it to go away? Is it because a trial could be an embarrassment for someone (beside the killer)? Is it because those who know something are afraid to come forward? Is it because any pressure on the police to solve this crime has evolved into a once a year event?
Please add your own questions to these, at least in your mind. I believe there is truth in every one of them.
It just seems to me that if someone cares, than that someone acts or at least takes the initiative in trying to force something to happen. The fear factor should not be a part of the equation. Unfortunately, it appears that in this case, for whatever reason, it is part of the equation.
duker

 

Change in focus

Since last June, my blogs have been focused on the murder of Stacey Burns and my work on Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns. Approximately seventy blogs later, I wonder if these pieces have had any effect. In the near future, this blog will hopefully be reaching a wider audience as a completely rewritten version of my first novel, A Favor Returned, is released as an e-book and as a paperback. As that event approaches, the blog will have a change of focus. It will still be addressing my true crime book but will be expanding into other areas as well. Perhaps with a wider audience, the blog will have the effect I intended in the first place. That effect was (and is) to help keep the cold-blooded killing of Stacey Burns from falling through the cracks of indifference. I am not at all sure that all the blogs I've written have come anywhere close to doing that.
I'm sure that as the FOURTH ANNIVERSARY of her murder rolls around in a few months, there will be a flurry of newspaper articles and memorial events with a great deal of attention paid. I thought that just maybe these blogs would fill in the gap between anniversaries of her death, keeping her memory in the forefront. Sad to say and hard to admit but I guess just maybe I was mistaken.
duker

And still a killer walks free

I never met Stacey Burns yet over the last thirty months or so since I've worked on a book about her death, I feel I've come to know why she was so loved by so many. My extensive research coupled with interviews with friends, colleagues and acquaintances (unfortunately not her family) have, quite frankly, made me increasingly angry that her killer is still living his or her life in freedom.
     Recently, I was rereading an Ann Rule book of true crime cases (A Rage to Kill) and ran across the phrase, "Closed-Exceptional," in her foreword. It is a phrase I did not recall but she says it designates a case in which "the guilty person is known by detectives but, due to lack of physical evidence, has never been arrested." Obviously, with her outstanding record of excellent writing about true crime, Ann Rule would be aware of such terminology. I have been told (and I've mentioned it in other blogs) that the police know who killed Stacey Burns. One person in authority went so far as to say that he thought there would be an 85% chance of conviction with the evidence they had, which apparently is not enough to risk letting a guilty person walk free. Why bring this up? Here are just a few reasons.
     1. If Stacey Burns murder is in a category such as Closed-Exceptional or whatever else it may be
         called, then it has been solved but the killer will continue to walk around free. For how long?
         Infuriating!
     2. If the killer continues to walk around free, then assurances from the police that the public is not in
         danger are ludicrous. Any person, male or female, who could take another's life in a manner such
         as happened to Stacey Burns has to be extremely unstable. Don't tell us this is a one time event!
         What if the circumstances that set this homicidal sociopath off are duplicated in his or her life?
         Murder was a solution once; why not again? No matter what a profiler might say, it is illogical
         and probably even dangerous to assume that Stacey Burns' killer is not a potential threat to others.
     3. If this case is indeed "solved" but not coming to a conclusion, would the public be better served
         to know which of the potential persons of interest (suspects) are actually free from suspicion?
As I said at the beginning, I did not know Stacey Burns but I know that it is a sad, frustrating and even frightening prospect that her killer remains out there.
duker
    

A Public Reading

Apologies are hollow when they are for the same mistake but I'll make yet another anyway. It's been about two weeks between blogs and that is inexcusable on my part. So there you have it- another apology for not blogging in a timely fashion. I been told by one who knows that I need to write something on a blog every day so I will try desperately to do better in 2013. Enough of that!
There are some developments of which you should be aware. First, this blog will be branching out in subject matter as this year progresses. Murder in a Small Town . . . will remain the most substantial focus but  a few other items will begin to make an appearance.
First, you will be interested to know that I will be reading an excerpt from the Stacey Burns book at the 6th Annual Authors' Showcase in Green Valley, Arizona, joining eight other invitees at the event which takes place on January 12, 2013. I've not decided yet on the excerpt I will read but whatever I choose, it will be the first public exposure of that part of the book. Stay tuned to see how it is received.
Second, my two novels, A Favor Returned and Agent for Justice are undergoing revision in preparation for rerelease in e-book and publish on demand format. Both of those books were originally published in hard cover but are now out of print although copies are still available. The plan is to do an extensive rewrite of A Favor Returned, retaining the full impact of the story while tightening the flow. It was, after all, a first novel with some of the weaknesses that occasionally accompany first attempts. It will be worth rereading if you have already read it and if you haven't, well . . .please do when it is released.
Third, here is a request which I've made in the past but it is worth asking once more. At this time, Murder in a Small Town; The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns is sorely lacking some details which Stacey's family could supply to help me to make the story a fair and reasonable portrayal of a wonderful person. I know they are not in favor of this book but I still contend that just maybe I could help to somehow not let her memory drift away into a cold case file drawer. In my opinion, should that happen, it would be yet another crime against Stacey Burns.
Happy New Year!
duker