Without Pity: Ann Rule's Most Dangerous Killers

by Ann Rule

  The testimony in the Marcus-Brown case on brainwashing was something of a landmark in legal precedent. Bob Hamilton pointed out that, although such testimony is generally not admissible, furtive conduct to cover up a crime is evidence of guilt. In this instance, the evidence that Tom Brown covered up was Robin Marcus’s memory. If he could have permanently changed the “computer” of Robin’s brain, the crime might never have been discovered, much less successfully prosecuted.

  The long ordeal of Robin Marcus seemed to be over. At the time Hank Marcus was murdered, however, life sentences in Oregon were not what they seemed to be. Some lifers got out in ten to twelve years. And by the late 1990s Tom Brown began to appear periodically before the parole board, asking to be released.

  The victims or the victims’ families usually appear at these hearings, standing in a small room with the felon who terrorized them as they give their reasons why the prisoner should not be released. To protect Robin, Bob Hamilton stands in as the victim. “It would be too hard on Robin to have to see Tom Brown again,” Hamilton explains. “So I’m there in her place, and Brown and I engage in what’s basically a long staring contest.”

  Thus far, Brown has failed psychological tests that would indicate he was safe to move about in society. He is still in prison, but he will continue to come up for parole, and it’s quite possible he will one day be released from the Oregon prison system.

  Robin Marcus is over forty now; she has remarried and has children. In her new, happy life she now lives thousands of miles away from Oregon. Only a handful of people know where she is and what her name is, and she is grateful for that. She is still afraid of the man who hunted humans rather than animals, and she dreads the day he is paroled.

  Acknowledgments

  We try to give readers at least one new book a year, and I couldn’t possibly do that without the super-efficient help I get from my friends at Pocket Books! I’d like to thank them, the team that stands behind me—and sometimes tugs me forward: Louise Burke, Executive Vice President and Publisher; Mitchell Ivers, my editor; Josh Martino, Mitchell’s very able assistant and the man who edits my newsletters; Steve Llano, Copyediting Supervisor; Donna O’Neill, Managing Editor; Hillary Schupf, Publicity Director; Louise Braverman, my longtime publicist; Paolo Pepe, Art Director; and Felice Javit, Vice President and Senior Counsel.

  As always, I received encouragement from my first-reader, Gerry Brittingham Hay, and my literary agents, Joan and Joe Foley of The Foley Agency. Ron Bernstein of International Creative Management is my theatrical agent and makes my books turn into miniseries and movies, although it isn’t as easy as simply waving a magic wand!

  And a big hand and thank you for my readers. I am more grateful for you every year. I enjoy your letters and emails and read every one—even when I can’t always write back.

  The Tumbledown Shack

  Beverly Johnson left the Oregon Coast with her best friend, Patty Weidner, to hitchhike hundreds of miles. Neither girl ever came home.

  Beverly Johnson and Patty Weidner were much too isolated to call for help when they desperately needed it.

  Two young women from Oregon chose this abandoned shack to spend the night in.

  Jack Stolle told detectives a number of scenarios about what had happened in the lonely shack. He went to prison for forgery, but he had a much worse crime on his conscience.

  Pretty Patty Weidner and Bev Johnson thought joining the Washington State apple harvest would be fun and lucrative. Instead, they encountered a deadly stalker.

  Beverly Johnson’s jeans, shirt, and boots were on the floor next to her body.

  “Charlie,” one of the victims’ dogs, tried to protect them. Their other dog was not at the crime scene when Chelan County investigators arrived.

  Dead and on Tape

  Nick Kyreacos, 26, prepared for a mysterious meeting in a dark alley with walkie-talkies, a tape recorder, a knife, and a gun filled with blanks. It wasn’t enough.

  This alley was dark as ink during a November storm. Nick Kyreacos crept along the building walls while someone watched him from a truck parked where the white car is pictured. Seattle police officers were stunned to learn who the shooter was.

  Counterclockwise from upper left: Detective George Marberg, Detective Sergeant Bruce Edmonds, Lt. Patrick Murphy, and Detective Dick Reed and Detective Don Strunk. They solved a murder case, but this time they wished they were mistaken about the killer’s identity.

  Fatal Obsession

  A former Seattle burglary detective walks to a trial where his testimony will keep an entire courtroom in suspense. Stan Tappan*, right, was playing an unfamiliar role.

  Kitsap County Chief of Detectives Bill Clifton will never forget the most horrifying case of his long career. Not even an experienced detective could have predicted the identity of the killer of a perfect little family.

  The New Year had barely begun when sheriff’s officers were summoned to a virtual house of horror. Lori Rennsler’s body lay across her bed; her small son’s body was nearby, and so was the body of their dachshund puppy. There was one more victim in a case of multiple murder that defied explanation.

  Lori Rennsler was fully clothed in a red and white satin robe when detectives found her. The investigators didn’t know who could have destroyed her entire family in their picturesque waterfront home.

  Campbell’s Revenge

  Snohomish County detective Joe Belinc worked tirelessly to track down the killer of Shannah and Renae Wicklund and Barbara Hendrickson. (Ann Rule)

  Washington State patrolmen leading Charles Campbell to the awaiting squad car that would take him to Snohomish County Superior Court, where his 1989 death warrant was issued. (Drew Perine)

  Renae Wicklund, a beautiful drum majorette in high school in Jamestown, North Dakota. After graduation she moved to the West, where she found great happiness and stark tragedy.

  Shannah Wicklund was too young to remember the first time the huge red-haired man came to her house.

  One Trick Pony

  Washington State Senior Assistant Attorney General Greg Canova, who successfully prosecuted Russ Howard for the murder of Donna Howard.

  Bob Keppel, investigator for the Washington State Attorney General’s Office, who would not quit until he uncovered what really happened to Donna Howard.

  Donna Bennett, around 1950, a few years before she met her future husband, Noyes “Russ” Howard. Her sister felt they had little in common, but Russ’s charisma caught Donna, and she forgot her dreams of marrying a cowboy. She married him, knowing she was taking a chance on love. (Bobbi Bennett)

  The Bennett sisters in the early 1950s. They were as close as sisters could be. Donna is on the left, and Bobbi is on the right. (Bobbi Bennett)

  This is how Russ Howard said he had found Donna after he’d returned from town with warm doughnuts and a new mailbox. Note the “paintbrush” swipes of blood just above her left elbow. Lt. Rod Englert, nationally renowned blood-spatter expert, said these were made as someone repositioned Donna’s body, not by medium velocity blood spatter from a horse-kick wound. Donna’s shirt and jeans are pulled up as if she had been dragged by her boots.

  Noyes “Russ” Howard on trial in 1986 for the murder of his wife, Donna, a dozen years after her death. The years since Russ met Donna are etched on his face.

  The Last Letter

  Jackie and Bill Brand. He pursued her for years, but when he won her for himself he still wasn’t happy.

  Bill Brand was nothing if not precise. He noted the minute of Jackie’s death in military time.

  I’ll Love You Forever

  From the magazine “Dr.” Anthony Fernandez raises a glass of champagne to toast his new bride, Ruth Logg. Their perfect love did not survive for long. (Ann Rule collection)

  Roger Dunn, King County, Washington, homicide detective, worked with Detective Ted Forrester to prove that Ruth Logg had not died in a tragic driving accident. (Ann Rule)

  Anthony Fernandez was so angry at
Detective Ted Forrester for pursuing him on a murder charge that he sued Forrester for a million dollars. He did not collect. (Ann Rule)