No Regrets

1987, seven years after Rolf Neslund vanished, as her attorneys appealed her conviction on nine counts, involving the admission of the Smith & Wesson handgun, the handgun transfer receipt of December 1980, Ruth’s alleged confessions and/or admissions, Paul Myers’s testimony, premeditation beyond a reasonable doubt, testimony about Ruth’s shooting of animals, Winnie Kay Stafford’s alleged incompetence as a witness, and what the defense dubbed Greg Canova’s alleged “improper comment” in closing arguments.
    Ruth’s life seemed serene. Her bed-and-breakfast business was more popular each year. Visitors came to stay there because they liked the view, the amenities, and Ruth’s cooking—or, perhaps, because they enjoyed the mystery of the place, the fact that their hostess was a convicted murderess, and the possibility that Rolf’s ghost might still wander the hall and walk the grounds through the mists of fog that descended on cool evenings.
    Ruth gave an interview to the
National Enquirer
for their “Scales of Justice” series, and she smiled in the photo that accompanied it, posing as she filled hummingbird feeders on the veranda of her cozy inn.
    She told the reporter with a sigh that she knew she hadbeen convicted when she saw the jurors come back on that December night in 1985. But the verdict had been wrong. She was maintaining her innocence as she awaited the appeals court’s decision. If they upheld the verdict, she said, “I’ll go to the federal Supreme Court if I have to. But I may not live that long. I have high blood pressure and arthritis. I’m broke. I’ll have to sell my house to fight this thing through.”
    Ruth recalled better days in her life, her eyes tearing up as she spoke of Rolf. “We had a lot of good times,” she said softly. “On Mother’s Day before he disappeared, The Captain gave me a big, beautiful greeting card. I wanted to show the jury how nice he had been to me—but I never got the chance.”
    It was an odd holiday for Rolf to celebrate. They had no children together, and Ruth detested the sons Rolf fathered with Elinor. Why would he have given her a sentimental Mother’s Day card?
    Now Ruth often referred to the lost Rolf as “The Captain,” with a tone creeping into her voice as if she had idolized him.
    Ray Clever sometimes caught a glimpse of Ruth as he patrolled in San Juan County. And it was a bitter thing for him and his fellow investigators to see her out and about, free as a proverbial bird. They had all worked so hard for years to see that she would finally have to answer for what they knew she had done to Rolf. Eighteen months after she was convicted, she seemed no closer to going to prison than she had the first time Clever saw her. Indeed, she seemed smugly invincible.
    And then, something happened to change that.
    On July 10, 1987, Ruth was about to make headlines once again. It was a lovely day and visibility along the roads of Lopez Island was perfectly clear as Ruth drove her 1975 Dodge van on Mud Bay Road near Islandale.
    Ruth was considered “legally blind” as far as operating a motor vehicle; her driver’s license stipulated that she could only drive during the day, and that she had to wear glasses whenever she drove. She herself said that she had lost her eyesight when she suffered a stroke, although her medical records failed to verify that.
    The road was straight and traffic was nonexistent as Ruth drove close to the speed limit. She was not, however, driving very well as she came up behind two bicycling tourists who were also headed south.
    They pedaled close to the edge of the two-lane road, aware of a vehicle coming up behind them—but not concerned.
    Suddenly, Ruth Neslund’s van veered off the pavement and sideswiped them. Her outside rearview mirror—possibly even her right-side fenders—struck one biker and sent him crashing into the other, a young woman. Both of them were knocked violently off their bikes, cartwheeling out of control from the impact.
    Ironically, it was Deputy Greg Doss who responded to the report of a single car/bicycle accident. He found two moaning and weeping victims on the ground, bleeding copiously from their wounds. And there was Ruth Neslund, visibly upset over the collision and offering explanations. Doss’s first concern was for the injured cyclists, and he radioed for an immediate response by the Lopez Emergency Medical Unit. The EMTs did what they could at the scene, and then