This is my attempt at retelling a story that changed my life and that of my family.

Liberty has been taken at times, intentional and unintentional, to keep the people involved from having to deal with outsiders.

Fictitious names are used for that same reason. Any detective would be able to root out the actual case but the court details don't begin to touch what happened to us over that period of time. With the exception of the murderer and his family, all of the characters have moved on to become wonderful adults with an extra streak of compassion that they may, or may not, have developed through the natural course of a happy childhood.

I have set this up in a novel like format with each new item being the next chapter. I didn't think classifying it as a novel was appropriate and I wasn't sure a journal was a right fit either.

I can handle critism of the writing since my main objective is to put this in a clean and orderly "book" that I can give to the boys to read...one day.

This is the story of what can happen when murder enters your life....