Don’t Look Behind You

Post
    “Ann Rule has an extraordinary angle [on] the most fascinating killer in modern American history…. As dramatic and chilling as a bedroom window shattering at midnight.”
    —The New York Times
    HEART FULL OF LIES
    “A convincing portrait of a meticulous criminal mind.”
    —The Washington Post
    “Fascinating…. The sheer weight of [Rule’s] investigative technique places her at the forefront of true-crime writers.”
    —Booklist
    EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE
    “Affecting, tense, and smart true crime.”
    —Washington Post Book World
    “Absolutely riveting … psychologically perceptive.”
    —Booklist

Books by Ann Rule
    In the Still of the Night
Too Late to Say Goodbye
Green River, Running Red
Every Breath You Take
Heart Full of Lies…
And Never Let Her Go
Bitter Harvest
Dead by Sunset
Everything She Ever Wanted
If You Really Loved Me
The Stranger Beside Me
Possession
Small Sacrifices
    Ann Rule’s Crime Files
    Vol. 14: But I Trusted You and Other True Cases
    Vol. 13: Mortal Danger and Other True Cases
    Vol. 12: Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder and Other True Cases
    Vol. 11: No Regrets and Other True Cases
    Vol. 10: Worth More Dead and Other True Cases
    Vol. 9: Kiss Me, Kill Me and Other True Cases
    Vol. 8: Last Dance, Last Chance and Other True Cases
    Vol. 7: Empty Promises and Other True Cases
    Vol. 6: A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases
    Vol. 5: The End of the Dream and Other True Cases
    Vol. 4: In the Name of Love and Other True Cases
    Vol. 3: A Fever in the Heart and Other True Cases
    Vol. 2: You Belong to Me and Other True Cases
    Vol. 1: A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases
    Without Pity: Ann Rule’s Most Dangerous Killers
    The I-5 Killer
The Want-Ad Killer
Lust Killer



Pocket Books
A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
    The names of some individuals have been changed. Such names are indicated by an asterisk (*) the first time each appears in the narrative.
    Copyright © 2011 by Ann Rule
    All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
    First Pocket Books paperback edition December 2011
    POCKET and colophon are registered trademarks of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
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    Cover by Tom Hallman, hand-lettering by James Wang
    10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
    ISBN 978-1-4516-4108-0 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4516-4109-7 (eBook)

For everyone who has lost someone they love, never to find them—or learn the reasons they vanished. With my sincere hope that those who are lost will find their way home, or to God.

NORTH TO ALASKA

When I am asked to choose which murder cases are the most interesting for me to research and write, I always say they would be selected from a relatively recent unit in the homicide divisions of large cities: the “Cold Case” department. There is something infinitely satisfying about finding killers long after they have become confident that they have walked away free. Some have gone on to commit even more violent crimes, while others have lived out their years in “average Joe” anonymity.
    And then there are those who enjoy a luxuriant lifestyle after their victims’ lives ended violently because of the killers’ ultimately selfish motives.
    Even so, surely they must always be listening for a footstep behind them and sirens in the night, waiting to see the flash of a badge.
    North to Alaska
unveils at least two murders and a tangled and convoluted history that often results from weird family trees. Any rational person would speculate that one of the homicides should never have been solved—not after three decades. The single detective who traveledfrom Washington to Alaska to New Mexico to Maryland investigating it had virtually nothing going for him at first. Quite literally, the second murder was a “bare-bones” case with a dark secret. That secret probably would never have been discovered if not for the jaws of a bulldozer that dug deep into the earth. But as its operator cleared land for yet another of the ubiquitous strip malls that spring up like mushrooms around America, the remains of a body emerged.
    Maybe the bones