10 June 2017

True Crime? Maybe Not

by B.K. Stevens





She sighed. "Arson," she said.















"They've been in here for sure," he said.




"Because they might still be here," he said.



















Paul D. Marks said...

B.K., there's definitely a difference between true crime/real life and fiction or drama. We only want to use the high points. And I have to say I laughed out loud when I came to the part where they told your mom you were in the basement. Might not have been funny at the time, but it is now :-) !

Art Taylor said...

Bonnie, I really loved this post--and while you say the story in its own right wouldn't be publishable as a story, I really enjoyed being in scene and in suspense as you pulled us through. Glad you were able to transmute some of that into a different story (which is, as you say, really how much of this all works, rather than simply moving events/stories wholesale into our fiction). Congrats too on the interview in Digest Enthusiast. I have my copy and look forward to reading soon!

janice law said...

A nice illustration of Nora Ephron's Mom's dictum" IT's all copy.
Congratulations on the interview!

David Dean said...

During my career as a police officer, I responded to and investigated a lot of burglaries. Believe it, or not, we (my fellow officers and I) actually solved quite a few over the years and recovered a good deal of property; never cash, of course. In all but a very few cases, the typical M.O. was similar to what happened to your family, B.K.

I, too, have been the victim of burglars--a trio of junkies in my case. They used my bed sheets to bundle up everything I owned, which indicates how very little I had at the time. Between my alert neighbors and the police, two were captured and almost everything stolen returned. Just as you described, I felt violated and very unsettled by the incursion. I was also furious.

Crime, in general, is not worthy of literature. It's just too ugly and, oddly, mundane. Criminals are rarely interesting people. There are few Moriartys or Hannibal Lectors (thank God). That being said, there are always exceptions to the rule--the first story I ever wrote and got published was based on a real life burglar and the efforts to apprehend him. In this case, he operated based on phases of the moon and chose only occupied homes. He had already severely beaten an elderly woman who had chanced upon him in her home. When captured we found a dead German Shepherd in his car trunk. He later explained that the dog had been sacrificed to Satan in order to grant him invisibility during his depredations. He was working up to murdering someone. But, as Art wrote, my story transmuted the ugly facts into something more palatable, and thus began my writing career!

Enjoyed your post very much. As you can see it got me going. Congrats on the interview!

B.K. Stevens said...

You're right, Paul--my mother didn't find it funny at the moment, but we all laughed about it after the police left. Over the years, she told that story many times. She was a great storyteller--I wish I could be half as good at bringing out the drama in a situation.

B.K. Stevens said...

Thanks, Art--glad you enjoyed it. I guess if we can glean even a little insight from an experience, it's not a total loss. And I hope you enjoy the interview--I had fun responding to the questions. It brought back some memories I hadn't thought about in a long time.

B.K. Stevens said...

Janice, that's a wonderful saying--a lot of truth there. Thanks!

B.K. Stevens said...

David, I'm glad that Satan didn't keep his end of the bargain, and that you were able to see the burglar and catch him before he moved on to murder. And I'm glad you were able to extract a story from the situation, too.

Richard Krauss said...

Thanks for sharing your true crime memories, BK! As you say, a burglary leaves the victim(s) feeling violated with an uneasy feeling for a long time after, especially arriving home to an empty house and looking around after opening the door.

Thanks for mentioning your interview in TDE6, and for the terrific interview!

B.K. Stevens said...

Richard, thanks so much for stopping by--and, especially, thanks for inviting me to do the interview. Your questions were terrific--they got me thinking, and I gained some new insights from thinking about how to respond.

Barb Goffman said...

Bonnie Stevens, I never knew you had such a devious side to you. How I smiled picturing you thinking, murder, murder, murder.

As to burglaries, my childhood home was burglarized when I quite young, perhaps four years old, the night of Rosh Hashana. All my mom's jewelry was taken, and of course, nothing was ever recovered. After that, every time we went out at night, we left lights on in several rooms and the phone off the hook. (Remember how you could get a busy signal going that way so anyone calling would think you were home?) A few years later, my parents moved on to a burglar alarm. When I was in high school, Hurricane Fran left my block without electricity for a week (including no hot water!). Everyone else went to a hotel during that time, but my mom refused to leave the house, certain that if she did we'd be burglarized again. I think that burglary really traumatized her. I'm glad your experience was better (and that you got a ride home that night).

Elizabeth said...

I've known three people in my lifetime who killed someone & two of those were in Buffalo. We moved here at the end of 2004. I was friends with one of these perps & I'll use her in a story some day.

A few days ago we had a little incident at our house. I won't bore you with the details; suffice it to say that nothing actually happened, but my husband called 911 & it took the cops an hour and ten minutes to show up!! He thought we didn't need to call 911 again & ask where the cops were. I told him no, we absolutely need to follow up because eventually the police department will be audited & need to explain that certain calls weren't answered, which would be extremely difficult if there's a dead body in the area. I know there are at least two cops who visit and/or write for this site. Let me know if you disagree with this.

Robert Lopresti said...

"She's in the basement" made me laugh out loud. Congratulations on the interview in TDE. I am reading that issue now but haven't gotten to you. Great post!

Robert Lopresti said...

Forgot to mention this, although I have probably done so here a dozen times: There is a terrific book called I, WITNESS: all mystery writers talking about their personal experiences with true crime. Yours would fit right in.

David Dean said...

I'm one of those (retired) cops, Elizabeth. I don't know what the 9-1-1 call was about, or what was actually said to the dispatcher. If he/she deemed it a non-emergency based on the description of the call received, that may be your answer. That being said, I do think you should get an explanation.

Elizabeth said...

Thank you David, you've always been very helpful when I've had questions. I did get an explanation a couple of days later because I complained on our city services "311" website. Someone in authority with the police dept. called back & said when the call came in, they categorized it as priority "3" ... our initial complaint was an unwanted person trying to get into the house without success. I know the local police dept. has been short-staffed until recently. Anyway, nothing actually happened & I thank you for your answer.

B.K. Stevens said...

Barb, Elizabeth, and Rob, thanks for stopping by; David, thanks for stopping by again. I apologize for being so late in responding. My husband and I have been out of town and on the road, seeing two productions at Blackfriars Theater in Staunton, VA. (I thought about posting that information before we left on Saturday, so people would understand why I didn't get back to them sooner. But I decided it might not be smart to let any burglars who follow SleuthSayers know that our house would be empty.)

Barb, burglarizing a house on Rosh Hashana eve is about as low as it gets--no wonder your mother was traumatized. I wonder if the burglars targeted the homes of people with Jewish-sounding names, figuring they'd be at services. Dennis and I once had a burglar alarm, but the cat kept setting it off by knocking over heavy objects that crashed onto the floor, creating vibrations that made the alarm think someone had broken into the house.

Elizabeth, I hope it's only a coincidence that two of those killings were in Buffalo! Buffalo does have its share of crimes, but it was a great place to grow up. It's a wonderful city, despite all the jokes about the heavy snow. (On the whole, I preferred the heavy snows in Buffalo to the endless cold and merciless wind in South Dakota.) I can understand why you were frustrated when no one responded to your 911 call. And I'm glad nothing actually happened.

Rob, I'm glad you enjoyed the post, and I hope you enjoy the interview. I'll have to look for that book.

And David, I can understand why you might get frustrated when people tell stories about disappointing or unpleasant encounters with police officers. I feel the same way when people tell stories about lazy, unfair, or incompetent college professors. I think most people understand that most officers are hard working, sincerely concerned, and very good at their jobs. I hope they understand that most college professors are, too. (But college professors, unlike police officers, don't have to put their lives in jeopardy every day. I hope we all appreciate that police officers do.) I had a little fun with some of the things those two officers said and did that night--I hope that wasn't offensive. I'm sure they weren't the sharpest duo on the Buffalo police force. Even so, they were polite and friendly, and they did a thorough job. (I'll admit I got a little crush on the younger officer. He was pretty cute. That's probably one reason I was so eager to accompany him upstairs and downstairs and anywhere else he wanted to go.)

David Dean said...

I wasn't offended in the least, B.K. Nothing said here comes close to what I've been called, accused of, and been sued for--twenty-five years of police work encourages the growth of a thick hide and an open mind.