No Regrets

write it down...”
    Although Yazzolino and MacNeel were convinced that Dick Hamilton was somehow involved in the disappearance of his family, even they were not prepared for the statement which Hamilton wrote out painstakingly in his own hand. Many of the words in the scrawled document were misspelled. Even so, his confession was, in its own grotesque way, a classic statement. It is still used today in many Northwest law schools as a prime example of a confession that demonstrates intent, premeditation, and the suspect’s cognizance of right and wrong at the time of the actual crime.
    It is shocking and difficult to read:
    I don’t know when I first planed [sic] to kill my wife. I starting planning about 3 or 4 weeks ago. First I thought I would hide the bodies in the Columbia up by the Sandy River. At first I planded to dismember the bodies this way mabey [sic] they would never be found.
    On the day it first snowed I went out there and found that I wouldn’t be able to get over to the river because of a deep stream that crossed the way. I went on to work and told my boss that I had stopped to help some people out of the snow. At one time I asked one of the janitors for some plastic bags so I would be able to carry the bodies without a lot of blood.
    On Friday night I called (a friend) and asked her if she would type a paper for me. She said she would the (next) day. On Saturday about noon she did type my paper as I asked her to.
    I went home at 3:30 Saturday afternoon. When I got home, Carol let me in. Sometime later—I don’t just (know) how long, I asked Carol to sign the paper. I had it covered with another sheet. I told her it was part of her Christmas present. Then I asked her to come into the bedroom and take her glasses off. I asked her to turn around, I think she sensed something as she acted nervoise. I tried to break her neck quickly but I couldn’t. She screamed some and I tried to quiet her and choke her. Then Robert tried to open the door and come in. I pushed the door closed with my head and told him to go back to his room. In the fight Carol scratched me and a lot of the furniture was kicked around the room. At last I got all the way on top and hit her head on the floor. When I stoped she was still breathing so (I got) my hunting knife and cut her throat.
    The incredibly evil confession continued as Hamilton wrote about washing up. One of Carol’s friends from work had stopped by to give her a ride, but he said he had gone to the door and told her that his wife was “sick” and wouldn’t be going to work.
    He wrote of fixing the children’s supper. Then he had settled them in front of the television while he returned to the bedroom. He cleaned up and carried his wife’s body into the bathroom.
    “I cut her head off and her ring finger off but just couldn’t cut anymore. After trying to eat some boiled eggs, I wraped [sic] Carol up.”
    Hamilton wrote that he had then driven to a drugstore to get “some pills” for himself. He sent his children to their room while he placed Carol Hamilton’s body in the trunk of her car. He threw her clothes and other possessions into the trunk, too. His children sat near the decorated tree as he made several trips in and out. And then he had put their coats on and taken them to the car.
    We left about 9 or 9:30, I think. First I went to several Goodwill and Salvation Army boxes and left everything. Then I got myself a milkshake and some french-fries for the kids. Then I drove out to the Sauvie Island turnoff, but thought I should go further on. I paused 2 or 3 times and even drove part way down to the river. I findly made up my mind to start back and at the latest do it at Sauvie Island. When I got there the kids were still asleep and I carried Carol’s body down to the water put it in. Then I carried Robert down and put him into the water and hit him 2 or 3 times with a rock on the head. When Igot Judy she was crying and I felt horrible but I couldn’t stop. I hit her on the head 2 times with a rock and ran back to the car. I drove so fast trying to get off the island I nearly had several wrecks.
    Page by page, Hamilton handed his confession over to the investigators. And, still, he continued his chilling narrative. He wrote of how he had parked his wife’s red Ford in a parking lot before he threw his knife and his own bloody clothes off a bridge. He left the car, and he walked aimlessly for a while. But he got cold and tired, and decided to