Ron Franscell

Morgan fled from Chicago following the death of his young son from leukemia. He had little else to want but to start a small town newspaper in Winchester, his childhood home, a town filled with “peccadilloes and idiosyncrasies,” with his wife, Claire, and now a new son, Colter. A forensic team, headed by Dr. Cowper, has come to town to examine the remains of an old women, ostensibly Etta Place, the girl friend of the infamous Sundance Kid. When they open the casket, however, the discover show more a headless male corpse, clearly murdered. How could he tell the skeletal remains were that of a male? “Dr. Cowper slipped a ballpoint pen from his breast pocket and kneeled beside the grim box. The sheriff and the coroner bent over for an anatomy lesson from one of America’s most brilliant forensic anthropologists. Even Morgan leaned closer. “Gentlemen,” Dr. Cowper said, directing their rapt attention to a leathery flap near the corpse’s pelvis, “this is a penis.” “

That scene gives you a feel for the sardonic nature of this small town mystery populated with characters like rancher Ray, who believed state road signs bore secret codes to tell New World Order tank squadrons who owned guns. He believed jet contrails in the sky were secret government plots to control population and inoculate Americans against their wills with anthrax and other strange diseases. He believed, because he’d once heard it on Art Bell’s late-night radio talk show, that Thomas Pynchon and J.D. Salinger were the same person, although he’d never read either. and who put cowboy boots on the top of his fence posts, but only because they looked good.

The book has some nice similes and metaphors. How’s this for the inverse of what we normally envision of a Wyoming sunset: The blood-smeared western sky spilled along the brink of the horizon, seeping slowly beneath the earth where it peeled back at the edges. A summer sunset in Wyoming was silently violent, a death. . . . The bleeding sky drained to corpse blue, then decomposed to black while Morgan slept.

For a small town,there’s a lot going on. “Excellent,” Cowper said as he rose to leave. “Meet me at the funeral home in thirty minutes. You won’t believe this, but he leaves the back door unlocked.” Morgan smiled. “It’s a small town,” he said. “The only time we lock our cars around here is zucchini season. If you don’t, somebody will stick a box of squash in your front seat.” “I’ll keep that in mind. And the cashier at the truck stop reads Anais Nin and Bertrand Russell. Not to mention the small-town radio station with totally obnoxious characters with a call-in show too often frequented by a local twelve-year-old. Dude, you got nothin’ better to do with your Saturdays than sit around and call the radio station?” The Bug said. “You’re what, thirteen? Haven’t heard of masturbation? Can I say masturbation on the air?” “You just did.” “Cool.”

An author definitely worth following. show less

The true tale of John Story and his crimes against women is a frightening revelation of what can happen in a small town when women are afraid to speak out. Jack Olsen takes you through the horrors of Story’s crimes, at first delicately as the women of Lovell, Wyoming reveal their experiences on his examining table. As each victim comes forth with her story it becomes almost unbelievable. The idea that a trusted and respected small town doctor could manage to rape young girls and women and show more get away with it for so long is horrifying. When his actions, denials, and rebuttals grow to unbelievable levels the entire town is split into factions; Story supporters and Story accusers. Already somewhat at odds due to religious differences, Mormons and Christians, the gap widens and the hatred reaches insane depths. Long time friends become enemies, violence erupts, and Story sits back letting it happen. As more and more victims surface from Story’s past it becomes obvious his depravity has grown over time. Only the determination of a group of brave women who stand strong bring justice to the town of Lovell. Well written and gripping, “Doc: The Rape of the Town of Lovell” is an example to abused women everywhere that evil can be rooted out and exposed no matter how successful the criminal. In fact this book was so good I easily overlooked the editing errors. show less

September 24, 1973 started like any other day in Casper, Wyoming, the events that transpired that evening into the next day changed life for everyone. Eleven-year old Amy Burridge and her half-sister Becky Thomson had been abducted from a local store, Amy was thrown off the Freemont Canyon Bridge, afterwards Becky was raped by the two men that had abducted them and was also thrown off the bridge. Becky survived, Amy did not.

Ron Franscell lived next door to Amy and Becky. Because of that we show more get a uniquely personal view of the account. Besides learning biographical details of the people involved we also learn how the town was affected by this horrifically violent crime. This book is about more than the murderers, the victims, the crime and trial. It is about a town and how one act can have widespread consequences.

Becky struggled with PTSD, with survivor guilt, she self-medicated with alcohol and drugs. She was quite possible the victim of another sexual assault. She lived in fear of the men who raped and tried to kill her. In 1992 they were seeking a new trail, as unlikely as it was they would be successful, she feared they would one day be free. In July she returned to the bridge where it all started and as the back cover of the book states: “she met her fate . . . at the same bridge where she’d lost her sister.”

This is an extremely detailed account of this tragic event. Some have said it was too long, and took too many side trips into the history of the town and other people, I found it rich in detail and well rounded, never boring and recommend it. show less

Gerald & Alice: A Homicidal Love Story by Ron Franscell is a 2019 publication.

This is one of the most bizarre true crime stories I’ve ever read… and I’ve read quite a few.

Gerald was married twice before he met Alice. He had adopted two children from his previous marriage, and this meant he owed child support after the divorce. This caused tension in his marriage to Alice, so his solution was to kill his ex-wife and her children.

He gets away with this for many years, while Alice also show more carries a murderous secret of her own…

While the saga is insane with all the investigations and the searches that required herculean efforts to look for the dead bodies, often the narrative went down avenues that were unnecessary and even a little off topic or carried on far too long.

It was worth sticking it out to see what became of this infamous duo- because it was the very definition of situational irony and poetic justice. What a pair!

There were some issues- the author was close to the victim’s mother/grandmother and would write as though he was paraphrasing her feelings or what he thought her feelings must be. He did this in other places as well, often using unnecessary language that was not a direct quote. It drove me nuts sometimes. This seems to be a thing now with nonfiction- and I’m not a fan. I much prefer professional language in these situations, and the author should not speak informally, assuming the reader will not get offended, because this is not always true.

Overall, though, this was an incredible tale. Gerald and Alice were a good match… they deserved each other… show less