When last we saw our heroine, Karen Read, she was free after her trial last year in Dedham, MA for the murder of her then boyfriend, Police Officer John O’Keefe. The trial ended in a hung jury. But like all soap operas, we ain’t done yet! Her retrial has just begun and it promises to be as bizarre as her first…or even more so. The most troubling aspect is that the victim and his family are all but ignored as the media chases its darling and her supporters.
The Fairbanks Four
Imagine spending 18 years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit!
October, 1997.
Late one night in Fairbanks, Alaska, a passerby finds a teenager unconscious, collapsed on the edge of the road, beaten nearly beyond recognition. Two days later, he dies in the hospital. His name is John Gilbert Hartman and he's just turned 15 years old. The police quickly arrest four suspects, all under the age of 21 and of Alaska Native and American Indian descent. Police lineup witnesses, trials follow, and all four men receive lengthy prison terms. Case closed.
But journalist Brian Patrick O'Donoghue can't put the story out of his mind. When the opportunity arises to teach a class on investigative reporting, he finally digs into what happened to the "Fairbanks Four." A relentless search for the truth ensues as O'Donoghue and his students uncover the lies, deceit, and prejudice that put four innocent young men in jail.
The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing
The story of Evelyn Nesbit was the subject of popular media throughout her life. The book, musical and movie Ragtime was based loosely based on her life. A major motion picture was made starring Joan Collins and Ray Milland entitled: The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing available on YOUTUBE. She was also the model for Anne of Green Gables (see photos below).
The Gilded Age in America was a time of great political corruption, wealth inequality and loosening of Victorian Age morals in the late 1800s. No one person embodied all that the Gilded Age promised more than Evelyn Nesbit, a willowy, copper-haired beauty from Philadelphia. Arguably, she was the world’s first ever supermodel. Before she was out of her teens, Evelyn was the most sought-after artist and fashion model in NYC.
She was the original “it” girl, the model for the Gibson Girl and her haunting face graced the packaging of almost every commercial product of the age. She rubbed elbows with the rich and famous and even had time to have a tryst with John Barrymore. Her life was turbulent and eventful, but her fame peaked when she became embroiled in a murder.
She was an innocent Mormon girl. He was America's most notorious serial killer. When their paths crossed on a quiet autumn afternoon, he planned to kill her. But this victim had an incredible will to survive and would live to tell her story nearly three decades after he met death in a Florida electric chair.
Ted Bundy brutally attacked Rhonda Stapley in a secluded Utah canyon in 1974. She miraculously escaped and hid her dark secret until now. This compelling real story of triumph over tragedy is both shocking and inspiring and told with the true courage of a victim turned survivor.
It was my honor to sit down with Rhonda as she bravely recounted her attack and her road to recovering her life. I think you will be as moved by her story as I was.
