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All Tricks & No Treat

Bonnie M. Wells

2 0 5 Coming Or Going

In the beginning of 1996 I'd noticed the numbers ...two.....zero and five.

Roda Snyder had been murdered on February 5^th, or at least that's what the coroner had said. 2-05, I knew that number coming or going. If I was right, it would run both ways before the year was out.

I mentioned it to a few local cops, but it fell upon deaf ears.... didn't matter to me, I went right ahead working because I thought I knew certain people well enough to know where and how they would act out the next portion of the big picture.

Little Hocking Enters The Picture

When Jenifer McCrady was found in Little Hocking {October 1st, 1996}, I knew the next strike would be down this way also and would be along the same lines and on the same theme. I went in search of that old 2 0 5 that had presented itself in the beginning of the year. And I found it! It was a license number on a car that belonged to a man who lived real close to where Jenifer was found. It was reversed though and I said....."Here we go. Let's run her backward a time or two now, and see if anyone notices."

"They" didn't.....but I did!

An Old School Friend

I'd known Diane since the second grade of school! She and her husband Terry still lived on the property she had grown up on. Although located just off State Route 124 in Little Hocking, unless one knew the exact location of their secluded home, they might never guess it was there.

During the years that Wild Bill and I were friends, I'd introduced him to Diane and Terry ... as well as almost everyone else I knew, and most considered him their friend too.

After his "revealing exhibition" in 1994 I walked away from him with no intentions of ever being his friend again. I didn't ask my family or friends to follow suit, although most of them did....especially the women. Some of the men continued to speak to Wild Bill when they saw him, but most didn't go around him or his home.

Terry was an exception.

Terry did a little wood work in his spare time, and usually made some very attractive gifts for the Christmas season.

Wild Bill's brother owned a wood-work shop in which he used various kinds of wood. Some of the scraps were nearly perfect size for Terry to use and once in a while Wild Bill would bring Terry some of the wood.

They had seen each other at the local car wash one day and Terry told Wild Bill that he was almost out of wood to work with and Wild Bill had promised to bring him some board scraps.

I was not aware of this arrangement; not that it would have mattered much to me. I had a couple of lamps in my home that another wood crafter had made from those same wooden scraps. They were beautiful lamps and the craftsmanship was superb.

Double-Take

Reminding a psychopath of your existence is not always a good idea!

September 21st, 1996: I was on my way to meet my cousin and attend the Harvest Moon Festival in Parkersburg when I passed Wild Bill's house. Out of habit I glanced at the house, drive-way and yard. One just never knew what they would see. Sometimes the scenery was comical .... other times it was quite serious.

Like the day a police officer damned near wrecked his cruiser trying to decide if Wild Bill was actually having sex "doggy style" with a woman in his front yard!!!!! I'd already parked my car and was waiting for the cops to come by. I wanted to see their reaction! It was pretend though, although to establish that fact required a couple of trips past the house! What a guy!

"What the hell?" I mumbled to myself as I noticed the old gray Monte Carlo sitting in the drive-way, with Wild Bill and the other Bonnie standing beside it talking to the driver.

Is that Terry? I darted into the nearest parking lot and turned around. My cousin would just have to wait a couple minutes longer. I had to make sure I saw what I thought I saw.

Old gray Monte Carlo, license number 502; yep, that was Terry alright.

I turned around again and went to meet my cousin. "I could not believe that was Terry sitting there talking to Wild Bill and Bonnie," I told MJ. She couldn't understand what he was doing there either.

Wild Bill sold garden produce. I'd noticed pumpkins and gourds, corn stalks and tomatoes. Perhaps Terry had stopped to buy something. Personally, I would have starved to death before I contributed anything to his lifestyle, but that was just me. I didn't expect everyone to feel the same way I did about the man.

Sealing One's Fate

It isn't easy to "seal one's fate." Actually there were few who continued to believe in the old wives tales and spooky legends of the past. I wasn't one of them. I continued to believe in all kinds of strange and weird phenomena. I had no choice. It was always happening right before my eyes!!

When I returned from the festival, one of the first things I did was call Diane to discuss Terry's visit to Wild Bill. That's when I learned of the chance meeting at the car wash and the board scraps that Terry had been promised.

"Well, did Wild Bill give him the material?" I asked.

"No," Diane replied, "he hasn't gotten them yet. He said he'd bring them down to Terry when he got them."

"Don't hold your breath. He will never see them." I warned. {This is October of 2007 and Terry hasn't gotten the boards yet!}

"So, what else did Terry say to Wild Bill," I asked Diane.

She proceeded to tell me that there was no problem; the two men had laughed and joked, and had a nice visit. She said Terry had "teased" Wild Bill about the nice pumpkins he had for sale, and had told him that he must have stolen them because he couldn't grow anything that nice! Joke? Maybe to anyone else, but not to Wild Bill. You didn't criticize anything he had, even jokingly .... not without paying a high price. I knew that man inside and out ....

"Well, I guess all I can say is, I hope Terry didn't seal his own fate today," I told Diane just before we hung up. She didn't think there was a problem, and in fact thought I was taking the entire situation a little too seriously, because Wild Bill had 'no reason' to be angry with Terry. Okay ...

Perhaps she was right. Maybe my own experiences with the man had colored my judgment where other people were involved. Maybe he just cheated, lied, betrayed and stole when I was concerned. Maybe he didn't treat other people that way. ... Yeah, maybe it was all my own damned fault..... Maybe.

Don't Drink, Drive And ...

By six o'clock on the evening of September 21st, 1996 the conversation about Terry was the furthest thing from my mind.

Sindee called when she got off from work and told me to come into Belpre as soon as possible because there was something in Wild Bill's front yard that I just had to see.

It had only been a few hours since I'd came past there on my way home from the festival. There was nothing spectacular at that time. Just the same produce for sale, which didn't seem to be selling like it did when he and I co-gardened. I thought word may have circulated about his extracurricular activities and most people were steering clear of him!

I met a Belpre cop as I crossed the city limit line. He almost looked as if he was waiting for me. Could have been my imagination, but then he did a U-turn in the middle of Washington Boulevard and followed me. Wasn't my imagination. The man had the most bewildered expression on his face I'd ever seen in my life!

It wasn't long until I'm reasonably certain my own expression matched his! The cop and I passed Sindee as she made another trip past the newly constructed monstrosity in Wild Bill's yard. I could see Sindee laughing as we passed. Apparently the look on my face was as priceless as the cops!

The three of us spent about five minutes passing the house, turning around and passing it again. The cop and I got separated and ended up coming back for another look from opposing directions ..... and damned near collided at one point ..... as we were both left of center!

Sindee apparently had more sense than either the cop or me because she parked her vehicle in a street across from Wild Bill's place and watched from there. I could see her laughing every time the cop and I went past. Finally I circled around and pulled in beside her.

"What the hell is that?" I asked as Sindee howled with laughter.

Well, it was hilarious! The simpleton had constructed what appeared to be a jail cell in his front yard! He had placed a bale of hay inside the cage and then sat a dummy on top of the hay. The dummy wore a grotesque mask that my cousin {who had joined the pack by this time} insisted looked like a "decomposing body!" The dummy wore an outfit that looked like the old fashioned, black and white stripes of prison clothing. Over top the cage, Wild Bill had mounted a piece of plywood and surrounded it with some of the yellow Christmas lights he'd stolen from me!! and in big, black, bold letters the sign proclaimed ....DON'T DRINK, DRIVE AND ..

"Don't Drink, Drive And ....? What the hell does that mean?" I asked Sindee and Mary Jo. Neither one knew but both got a charge out of my confusion! I was usually pretty good at reading Wild Bill's "smoke signals," but I had to admit, he had me totally confused with this one.

"Is it a Halloween decoration?" Sindee asked.

I didn't think so. There was absolutely nothing else in the man's yard for Halloween, and it was only mid-September. No one had decorated for Halloween yet. I was usually one of the earliest decorators in the entire area and I'd just begun decoration for the fall season. It would be nearly a month before I decorated for Halloween.

"I don't think so," I answered Sindee’s question. "If it was for Halloween, he would have brought out the witches, cauldron, ghosts, the black and dark orange miniature lights ..... and the rest of the items that I helped him make and that he always displayed for Halloween when we were friends."

By dark that evening there was a constant parade of vehicles driving past Wild Bill's place. I guess it wasn't unusual for a lot of traffic to pass his house since he lived on a main drag, however, when they began going to the nearest turn spot and swinging around so they could come past again, that was unusual. Sindee and I did it all the time, but most people didn't. Most people wasn't aware of how incredibly strange the man was, and the type of things he did in his spare time!

The Laughter Stops

Wild Bill stayed out of sight the entire evening and into the night. That made me suspicious. He liked the limelight. He always wanted to be noticed and get any attention, even negative attention.

"What didn't he say?" I asked as Sindee and I continued to look at the unusual display well after dark. The lights he'd strung around the plywood at the top of the cage illuminated the words pretty well and made them easy to read, even in the darkness.

"What did he say?" Sindee countered.

"He said, don't drink, drive and ....and what? Isn't that part of the Mothers Against Drunk Driver's slogan? Doesn't theirs say .... Don't Drink, Drive And Die?

Yes, Sindee acknowledged that it was part of their slogan. Maybe he didn't have room to write the word die, I thought. But no, that wasn't the case. There was plenty of room on the sign for a three letter word.

"I got it," Sindee declared. "He's telling everyone ....Don't Drink, Drive And .....end up in jail!"

"Maybe," but it just didn't feel right. He didn't drink a lot. He'd never been arrested for DUI and neither had the other Bonnie, and none of her kids were old enough to drive. What was the man trying to tell us?

"That slogan is also known as the "Four D's" of the Highway Patrol," Sindee said. "Some of their cruisers have ...Don't Drink, Drive and Die printed on them."

I wasn't aware of that. All I knew was, there was no good reason for him to leave the word die off the end of the statement. By doing so, he had emphasized the word more clearly than if he had put it on with the rest of the slogan.

"Personally, I think the man is far more psychic than I ever dreamed of being," I chided. "I just told Winstanley a few days ago that we were up for another murder .... another Belpre woman with connections to.... a cop, Civitan Park, the name Lee, connections to me, and somehow connected to Little Hocking. And as far as a time period was concerned I'd named the month of September."{See The Clues.}

The Eleven O'clock News

My friends and I were still talking about Wild Bill's display when the local news came on at eleven o'clock the night of September 21st, 1996.

Our words froze in our mouths as we listened to the announcement .... A Belpre woman who was married to a cop, and the daughter of my veterinarian had disappeared on September 19th. They didn't get around to announcing it for three days! Well, that figures.

MJ had said that mask looked like a decomposing body. Her words just kept running through my mind. Was the "missing woman" dead? Had she taken off with some guy ... or just wanted to get away for a few days? Gut instinct {as well as the brazen announcement at Wild Bill's place} told me she was dead.

Sindee took several pictures of the cage and its occupant ..... just in case they were ever needed. Of course, they never would be needed .... not here.

My Words To Winstanley

Jenifer Lea McCrady's vehicle was found at Civitan Park and her murdered body was discovered here in Little Hocking on my daughter's birthday.....October 1st, 1996. Well, that's when they officially found it .... there's a lot more to that story too!

Everything I'd said to detective John Winstanley had "panned-out." I was just sure he'd call me. But he didn't. Instead, another woman who didn't even live in the area was called!! {See the Gloria clips!}

Jenifer McCrady was the wife of a Highway Patrol officer. She disappeared in September and actually was located in September. Her vehicle was found at Civitan Park. Her body was found in Little Hocking. Her husband was one of my sister's ex-boyfriends. Every word I'd said had come true. We all knew I was psychic, but how had Wild Bill managed to "coincidentally," of course, come up with so many clues?

No one could explain it ... not then .... not now. How could he possibly have known that the "dummy who ended up in prison for the murder, would be Jenifer's drug and alcohol intervention police officer husband? It was coincidence ... right?

October 16th, 1996

After Jenifer McCrady's murdered body was found the case occupied most of my time. I never gave Terry's visit to Wild Bill's place another thought ..... for a while. There was one thing about old Wild Bill. You'd best not completely forget about him, not if you knew what was good for you!

By mid-October I had my yard and house decorated for Halloween. I'd kept a real close eye on Wild Bill's place. He never did put out anything except that strange dummy in a jail cell. Now it reminded me of Jackie McCrady, who had been arrested within a few days of the discovery of his wife's body.

On October 16th, 1996 I had a strange experience with one of the lighted, cartoon character pumpkins that was displayed in my yard. I was reasonably certain the incident was intended to attract my attention and to let me know there was something coming my way. Almost everyone said I was nuts .... was reading entirely too much into the incident. Well, I was probably taking things too seriously again. But, dead bodies and cops sitting in jail awaiting trial for murder tended to set my nerves on edge!

Detective Winstanley wasn't the only cop I wrote to. Oh no, I wrote to dozens of cops. Cops all over the country had received reports and predictions from me.

When Jenifer McCrady's body was discovered less than a mile from the Athens County line, I wrote to Detective Vern Castle of the Athens County Sheriff's Department and warned that he had trouble coming his direction. I predicted a strike of some type in "his" county, "his" jurisdiction. In 1996 Vern Castle was a detective. Today he is sheriff of Athens County:

I warned Vern to watch for "fire" and possibly an attack of some type against an Athens county woman. Either of these might, or might not, be deadly. I'd identified two types of attacks....some were sexual and didn't always involve death. Some were fires {arson} and did not involve death. Others were sexual and involved the death of the victim and fires which involved the death of the victim. It seemed to me that when the sexual side of things involved a death, then so would the fire. But if the sexual didn't involve a death then neither did the fire. It was a strange pattern that I'd uncovered, and I was still trying to determine if it always held true, or if it had just seemed to run in that pattern for a while. Time would tell.

Meanwhile ... {If} Jenifer McCrady's murder fit into my recently discovered pattern, and {if} I was correct about the "Athens" area being the next "strike zone," I figured the next fire would be in Athens county and would involve death; whereas the next "sexual strike" against a woman would not require death. Confusing? Maybe a little. But I was confident enough in my own work and abilities to write the required letters and make the predictions.

And the world knew I had enough self-esteem, courage and bull headedness to stand right up and loudly proclaim that I had told the authorities "in advance" when my predictions panned-out!

While I waited to see what was going to happen in Athens county, I switched back to "Washington County" mode and continued to warn Detective Winstanley that we had another "Terri Lee" strike coming. We'd already seen the "Lee/Lea" portion with Jenifer McCrady who not only lived just off "Lee" Street in Belpre but who's middle name was "Lea." I thought my predictions had been right on the money, but I also knew the game wasn't over. Jenifer McCrady was not the intended victim. She had not been the first, and she most assuredly would not be the last.

November 1st. 1996

It had been precisely one month since Jenifer McCrady had been found dead in Little Hocking. I was still working her case, and would be for years to come!

I suppose next to Diane, I was the most astonished person on earth when her husband Terry Lee was arrested for a crime committed against an Athens County woman on (October 16th)!

Vern Castle had signed the arrest warrant, thus making it "his case."

According to police records .... Terry had been accused of making obscene phone calls to an Athens county woman for several years. Why nothing was done before 1996, I don't have a clue.

Never the less, the victim claimed that the caller had always insisted that he had met her at a yard sale in Little Hocking, {Terry doesn't go to yard sales, but Wild Bill sure does!}

The victim claimed that the caller had always mentioned several sexually explicit things he intended to do to her, and had almost always said something about taking a shower with her. {I just kept thinking about Jackie McCrady and how he'd told everyone that the last time he'd heard Jenifer was when he woke up and heard the "shower" running. And I kept thinking about that "yard sale" her friend P.J. had!}

The victim claimed that about noon on October 16th, 1996, she received another call from this same man. This time he told her he was at a pay phone just a short distance from her house and was coming over. He'd be there within a few minutes, and he repeated the threats that he'd been making all along.

And, according to the charges, approximately three minutes later a man brazenly walked into the victim's home, and began trying to fulfill his fantasy and promise: {Why the woman didn't lock her door and immediately call the police, a neighbor, a nearby relative, or someone, I do not know. This was my first question, but I never received an answer.}

As "luck" would have it ... the "victims" husband's uncle just happened to stop by that day! The attacker is said to have ran through the woman's home, across her rear deck, jumped from the deck to the ground, and fled on foot to a nearby gray car which was described by the victim as an old gray Monte Carlo.

Well, luck seemed to be on both sides of this mixed up picture, because Diane and Terry had purchased a Jeep Cherokee on October 7th, and although the Monte Carlo was still running fine they had parked the car in favor of their new vehicle.

But the law didn't know that at the time of Terry arrest, and neither did the victim or Wild Bill. But I did, and I was the perfect person to throw a monkey wrench into some well laid plans!

Mission Impossible

Terry is a disabled American Veteran of the Viet Nam War. He has had three major surgeries on his back, in which the doctors warned each time that he would never walk again. But he did. However, he doesn't run .... he doesn't jump ..... and he sure as hell doesn't "dive" into waiting vehicles and race down the road!

There again, some people were not aware of how bad Terry's back actually is, nor were they {or the cops} aware of the amount of medication the man had to take in order to continue to walk and do a few little things around the house.

Apparently, the victim had been in a Belpre store on the morning of November 1st, and had seen Terry in the store. After the friend who was with her spoke to Terry, she asked his name. The friend was one of Diane and Terry's neighbors, so she told the victim his name and where he lived.

The woman went to the police and identified Terry as the man who had entered her home on October 16th.

Just before dark on the evening of November 1st, Terry {a Washington County resident} was arrested by Athens County deputies and charged with burglary. He was facing 15 to 20 years in prison if convicted!

The information was ridiculous, and the evidence was ludicrous! I immediately fired off a letter to Detective Vern Castle and attempted to warn him of what I thought was happening.

And I began my own "investigation" into the situation.

My investigation revealed some very interesting information.

In 1994, Wild Bill had dated a woman I dubbed "Little Debbie ... or The Cupcake." His trip to jail had been the results of this woman's boyfriend catching them together and beating the hell out of Wild Bill. He'd gone to Marietta to prove to the woman {and the world} that he could pick up any woman he wanted. That idiot plan had failed and he'd ended up in jail. I got the blame for his misfortune, but I had nothing to do with any of it. I hadn't spoken to the man for more than six weeks when it all happened.

My investigation revealed who the parents of The Cupcake were. I'd gone to school with them. They lived in Little Hocking. And in 1996.... on their front porch sat one of the wooden witches that I had designed, helped Wild Bill cut out, and had hand painted! I'm almost certain if a person examined the yard ornament they would find BMW scrawled at the bottom of it. I almost always signed my art work, and I always.....always......always recognized my own work, no matter where I saw or heard it! That was one of the strange things about artists and authors. They recognized their own work .... and I was both, an artist and an author.

My investigation revealed a few other things too. It was Wild Bill who had the "yard sale." He always had garden produce for sale and when we were friends and making our wooden figurines he always sold some of them along with the produce. Huh, seemed sort of strange that I'd find something he'd sold in his yard, in Little Hocking. It wasn't exactly what the caller had said, but if one looked closely at the words they could be plainly understood! It reminded me of other cases in which I'd had to re-evaluate things old Wild Bill had said to me.

And then there was the fact that the victim appeared to be friends with {or at least an acquaintance of} The Cupcake! My, my, what webs we weave!

And then....there was that night that Sindee and I were watching Wild Bill .... we'd been sitting at Hardee's that night when a car drove into the parking lot of the beauty shop where Sindee worked. It sure looked like the same car that "the victim" in Terry's case drove.

"What's she doing?" Sindee asked. I didn't know, and I had a vehicle in front of me and two behind me and couldn't get out of line so we could go see what she was doing! "Dammit, this is why I need a helicopter," I complained, and listened to Sindee howl with laughter again!

Before we could get out of line, Wild Bill drove past, turned into the same parking lot, and both vehicles came out the rear exit and disappeared into the night!

Was it "the victim's" car? Did she know Wild Bill? Why would she be meeting him? I was almost certain I had the answers, but I seemed to be the only one with questions!

The Look-A-Like

Everyone who read my book about Ronda Manley, Terri Lee Roach and Patsy Sparks was familiar with the term ..."Lee Greenwood look-a-like." That's what some said the killer of Ronda Manley was .... a Lee Greenwood look-a-like. Back in 1992 Wild Bill had looked a lot like Lee Greenwood, especially from a distance.

But he hadn't looked much like that when he went to jail in 1994. Even Detective Winstanley had commented on his wild looking eyes and hair the day he came to court for sentencing. His beard and hair were all grown out and shaggy looking. Both were gray and in need of a new dye job. I marveled at how the man's appearance could change.

I also marveled at how much he and Terry resembled one another in 1996 .... at least as far as hair style, and hair and eye color were concerned. They were about the same height, but Wild Bill was a few pounds heavier than Terry was. Terry had to stay slim so as to minimize stress to his back. Wild Bill was considerably more muscled than Terry, since Terry was retired on a disability and Wild Bill was still an active, working man who operated heavy equipment on a regular basis.

I informed Detective Castle that I had a good picture of Wild Bill and that I'd bring it to him if he wanted it. I got no response, and soon learned that the state of Ohio intended to proceed with prosecution of my friend's husband! Oh no. This is where I drew the line. Enough innocent men sitting in jail. If someone wanted a fight, then they had picked the right arena! I wasn't backing down this time!

Bonnie To The Rescue!

When I realized that the state intended to prosecute, regardless of what I said, then I doubled my investigative efforts. The first thing I did was determine Terry's every move the day in question. I did up a time sheet in which I documented his whereabouts and named any and all witnesses. After we eventually learned the time of day that the incident supposedly occurred it didn't take long to determine that Terry had been visiting a nearby neighbor at that time. The neighbor had no problem with writing a statement and was willing to go to court and testify on Terry's behalf if need be. Of course, it wasn't too long until word was out in the neighborhood as to who this witness was. I figured the person should do a little safeguarding of their own. {Within a few weeks of Terry's arrest, this witness discovered their guard dog hanging from a tree. The dog was dead and no one was ever charged with anything. I suggested the person buy a double barreled shot gun and get ready ..... they did!}

I couldn't understand why no one seemed interested in my information. Why was it that no matter how much evidence "against" Wild Bill I gathered it never counted? Why was it that no matter how much evidence I gathered "in favor of" anyone else it didn't count either?

Then I remembered a little something I'd seen in the news paper back about mid October. It said the wife of the Athens County Sheriff had been arrested for stealing some $14,000.00, while the sheriff was out catching crooks...no doubt! I was beginning to understand a few things. But there was one thing they were going to understand before I was through. The railroading of innocent men ... especially my friends was going to stop.

Diane and Terry were at their wits end. They had never faced anything like this before. Well, I hadn't either but I certainly wasn't at my wit's end. I had an ace in the hole, and I knew it!

I got Terry the name of an Athens County attorney and he made an appointment with him. He and Diane asked me to accompany them. I would have gone by myself if they hadn't! I had a plan ...

The Plan

If Wild Bill hadn't already begun his "duplication" of me, I might not have ever put the pieces together, at least not quick enough to save Terry. But he messed up, and I knew it.

I remembered the old gray Monte Carlo that used to be hid out behind his garage, and so did Sindee, Diane, Terry and several other people. We'd all watched it for weeks. Now I wondered if the owner of that car had loaned it to Wild Bill one day in October. Didn't really matter because Terry had not been driving his Monte Carlo in mid-October.

I recalled my words to Diane back in September. "I hope Terry hasn't sealed his own fate." Apparently I wasn't the only one who realized how much the two men looked alike! And I wasn't taking things any ways near as seriously as Diane and Terry was now days! In fact, my mind was in overdrive! I had a new challenge, a new puzzle, and I was determined to outsmart Wild Bill at his own game!

The Athens County attorney acted like he thought I should have stayed at home! I didn't care. Diane and Terry wouldn't even be there if it wasn't for me. I intended to see this through.

Come to think of it, if Belpre police officer Dave Garvey had minded his own business, and hadn't ran to Vern Castle with a mug shot of Wild Bill from 1994, perhaps none of us would have had to see an attorney! And Vern Castle wasn't exactly blameless. I'd told the man not to accept any pictures from Garvey! Gee, it was almost as if I knew what Garvey would do. Oh, I forgot, I'm psychic! Of course I knew.

I let the attorney talk to Diane and Terry for a while, and then I interrupted ... and asked the attorney to "humor me" for a few minutes, and go stand in one corner of the room while Terry stood across the room from him. {Approximately 20 feet apart.}

I figured I had to make this quick and clean because that attorney looked like he was about ready to have me escorted out of his office ... at gunpoint!

The little picture of Wild Bill that I'd carried in my wallet for several years was the "ace in the hole." I withdrew it from my wallet, walked over to the attorney and handed it to him. "Who is this?" I asked. He looked at the photo for a few seconds and attempted to hand it back to me ...."It's my client, Mr. Xxxx, now can we get back to business..." he remarked.

Not so fast Mr. Attorney. ..... "Who is it?" I repeated while refusing to take the picture from his extended hand. He looked at it again ... more closely this time. He looked from the photo to Terry and back to the photo a few times. I could tell he was thinking; hair parted on the left, beard, graying hair, etc. ... "It's Mr. Xxxxxx , isn't it?" he finally replied.

"Turn the picture over," I instructed.

"Who is this? Who is W------ R------ B--------? Is he related to my client?

"No, he isn't related, but he sure resembles your client, now doesn't he?" I remarked and attempted to take the picture away from him! He didn't want to give it up now! Strange people anyhow!

He summoned his secretary and asked her to get several copies of the picture made as quickly as possible, and to have them enlarged!

He didn't seem to mind my presence anymore ..... although I had nothing more to say. I'd played my ace and I knew it gave Terry a winning hand.

Some Like My Style

Diane, Terry and I left the attorney's office and headed home. I figured all charges would be dropped within a day or so.

We were told that the attorney went over to Vern Castle's office after we left that day. It seems he walked in, tossed one of the copies his secretary had made for him onto Vern's desk and asked ....."Who is that?"

To which Vern replied ....."That's Terry Xxxxx." .....to which the attorney said ....."Who is it?" {copy cat!} Vern looked again and once again said it was Terry Xxxx. The attorney said, "No, it's not Terry Xxxx, it's "Wild Bill!"

They say Vern Castle came to his feet in an instant and threw his chair clear across the room .... and was ranting and raving about Dave Garvey jerking him around! Dammit, when will they learn? I don't mislead, lie or deceive.

Wild Bill and I had been the best of friends, but when I learned what the man was doing, I severed all ties and walked away. I would never have defended Terry [or anyone else] if I'd thought for one second that he was guilty, and friendship had nothing to do with it. Friend or foe made no difference to me. Right was right and wrong was wrong. I'd fight hell and high water for those who were right and stand in silence if they were wrong. This had been one of my principles all my life, and even applied to family. I was one incredibly stubborn woman.

The 502

Diane parked the Cherokee beside the old gray Monte Carlo and I smiled to myself. The license plate number was ...502.... and I knew.....

The Charges Are Dropped

Within a day or so of the visit to the attorney Terry was notified that all charges against him had been dropped. I was glad to hear it, but wondered when they would be slapped against Wild Bill. I should have known they never would be.

The "game" had cost Terry several thousand dollars, none of which was refunded except a small amount from the attorney who had to do nothing except walk across the street and present my evidence. The bail money {2,500 dollars} was gone. The doctor's expenses because Terry was held for hours, denied his medication, forced to sit on hard benches, had his head jerked up to meet the gaze of interrogating officers, pushed down when he attempted to stand to relieve his back pain, called a liar when he tried to tell them that he had a terribly bad back problem, threatened, intimidated and coerced. He still refused to sign the confession and "make things easier on himself!"

The weight hanging over his head had taken its toll. He dropped 20 pounds that he really didn't need to lose. His sleep was interrupted night after night with muscle spasms and nightmares.

Even though the charges were dropped there was never anything in the newspaper so that neighbors and friends could see for themselves that there had been a mistake made. Therefore rumors flew. The most popular being that Terry had "bought his way out" of the mess.

As if the charges weren't bad enough, the man had to be submitted to slander and malicious gossip, and all the while Wild Bill roamed our streets and did his dirty work as usual.

The Confession

My investigation into Terry's case didn't end when the charges were dropped .... and neither should have Vern Castle's investigation, but it did.

Terry had been in Athens County one time in the year before he was accused of the crime. His wife was with him that day. They had gone to Bibbee Motors to look at a Jeep Cherokee. Ultimately they located a better deal in Parkersburg and purchased the Cherokee from there instead of the one at Jerry Bibbee's car lot.

Terry had never made a phone call from the pay phone in question ..... but Wild Bill had been seen at that same phone booth on at least one occasion. I won't tell who the witnesses are here, but everyone can rest assured that I have their names, and so does Vern Castle.

Perhaps I wouldn't feel so definite about Wild Bill's guilt if the other Bonnie had not eventually came to me and told me that he had bragged to her that he was the one who set Terry up! No one ever bothered to question Bonnie H. except me. I always questioned Wild Bill's girlfriends because I believed he bragged to them in much the same way he bragged to me. The only difference was, his brags to me had to be so none of the cops could figure them out or understand them! Otherwise his butt would end up in jail and the game would be over. He couldn't allow that. There were so many more pieces of the puzzle that still had to be designed and displayed.

And The Game Continues

It was during this same time period that two girls were walking at Civitan Park when a man exposed himself to them. The girls gave a pretty good description of the man, and the Belpre police went right straight for Wild Bill. {as if they had heard his description before!}

They questioned him, and he admitted that he'd been "walking at Civitan Park" during the time the crime occurred; however, he hadn't done anything like that! And that was good enough for the Belpre cops. The man said he was not guilty, and two more females were told they were wrong - mistaken - liars - take it any way you like, a man's word {even the lowest of men's word} far outweighs any females word in this area.

But, I've got news for Belpre PD. The girls weren't mistaken, or lying,or wrong. If you had hung around for just a little while, you would have seen him back down at the park.

The other Bonnie questioned him right after the cops left and he admitted to her that it was him that had done what the girls said he'd done! Bonnie asked him to show her what he did. He took her back to the park and showed her the girls. Bonnie said she was shocked, and said, "My God Wild Bill, those are someone's little girls. Those are just kids. I thought you were talking about young women - like teenager's or early twenties. Those kids are about ten or twelve years old."

When she asked what he did ... {she reported to me that he said } he masturbated while watching the girls and pretended that he was raping them!

Now I don't know how the rest of this world feels about the things this man is doing and getting by with, but I can tell you here and now .... I do not like this. This is wrong. The women and girls of this area have as much right to protection as anyone else does.

The treatment I have received from certain members of law enforcement because I have tried to get something done with this man, has been horrible, but it is nothing compared to what their negligence is inflicting upon others.

The Show Must Go On

The way I figured it, and the way I'd warned Vern Castle that things would occur ..... Athens County {Vern Castle} was up for a fire in which someone was going to die.

I re-warned Castle and reminded him that if I was right, there would be some connection between me and the victim. There was no response from Castle. Perhaps he wasn't taking me seriously either. Personally I thought my work was quite serious, and God knew it was taking a toll on my sense of humor. I was almost afraid to go visit any of my friends or family anymore. I wouldn't speak to a cop in public. I was scared to death the man would be murdered, or framed for murder!

I'd known Jerry Bibbee for years; knew him before he married Judy. I'd sold Jerry a couple of German Shepherds before he and Judy married, and then I sold him and Judy a couple of Shepherds, and finally they divorced and I sold Judy the last Shepherd puppy I ever produced. His name was Bo and he stayed with Wild Bill. .... Of course that was back when we were friends - back before I discovered his perverted ways.

Judy had come to Wild Bill's house and picked Bo up. I didn't see much of Judy or Jerry by 1996. Most of my time was devoted to homicide and trying to prevent homicides. I wasn't very successful at preventing them, and that really irritated me. I should have {could have} been very successful ... but....

Wild Bill had made a statement to me one time that I never forgot. He'd told me about his father building a new barn and how he'd gathered all his hay into the barn and then it had burned down.

I'd probably read too many FBI books. They said a lot of serial killers are also arsonists. Someone was killing our people and every so often they did it by fire.

"Hay's all in - barn burns." The words stuck in my mind, and I just couldn't shake them. I'd seen the "Hays" portion fulfilled in Terry Xxxx's situation ..{I won't explain right now, but take my word for it, the word/name Hays/Hayes was an important ingredient in the story!}

"Well, what's next?" Sindee asked as we sat on a darkened side street and waited for Wild Bill to roll into town. 1996 was over .... we'd lived through it.

"Hays all in .... Barn burns." I replied.

"Woman, you are going to drive me to drinking!" Sindee replied.

"Now Sindee, ya gotta pay attention here .... I've taught you how to read the signals. Sometimes you have to read them backward - sometimes forward - sometimes you even have to scramble them, but you always have to hold the pieces that finish the puzzle!"

"Barbara Barns was murdered in December of 1995 .... Hay's played out in October of 1996, so you tell me what's left," I replied.

"All in burns ...1997?" Sindee looked at me with a puzzled expression.

"I know, it doesn't make any sense. I can't figure it out either, but I think it will be in Athens county and this year {1997} I replied as I started the car up. Wild Bill had just zipped past the street we were parked on and I wanted to make sure he was going home. I was dead tired myself and I knew Sindee had to be exhausted after working all day.

"Does it have anything to do with that fireman the other Bonnie is dating?" Sindee asked. I didn't know. Actually, I hadn't thought of that angle.

January 8th, 1997: 9:40 pm - Wild Bill was at the other Bonnie's apartment, and left in a rage. He nearly side swiped Sindee's car as he hit Washington Boulevard and disappeared into the night.

Sindee took up a surveillance spot close to his house so she could see when he came home. I wasn't out that night, so she was running alone with occasional phone calls to update me and to let me know she was still okay.

10:50 pm - "Wild Bill just rolled into his drive-way ..... and he came from the direction of your house!" Sindee reported.

"No sign of him around here. The dogs haven't barked or anything tonight. Maybe he just drove by a couple of times and then went home," I said.

"Maybe. I'm heading home for the night. See you tomorrow." Sindee replied and we hung up.

The home of Bob and Betty Allen burned to the ground around 11:00 pm on the night of January 8th, 1997. They lived in Athens County, just a short distance from their daughter, my friend, Jerry Bibbee's former wife - Judy.

"Hay's all in/Allen ... Barn burns.

The little story was complete ....

My Wild Imagination

The Terry Xxxx versus "Hays" case is closed. The "victim" refused to press charges against Wild Bill and insisted he was not the man. Okay.

The Barbara Barns case remains unsolved in Steubenville, Ohio {click here to see ... more info on Barbara Barns case}

The deaths of Bob and Betty Allen were ruled an accident. Okay.

So it's all coincidence - again. Now it's all part of Pure Coincidence, because the stories must be told; no matter how bizarre, how unbelievable, how incredibly impossible they sound, they must be told. Perhaps then the game can end. I so pray.