Don't Look Behind You and Other True Cases
Ann Rule
I’LL BE WATCHING YOU
Walking home on a dark night, you hear footsteps coming up behind you. As they get closer, your heart pounds harder. Who is closing in with dangerous intent—a total stranger? Or someone you know and trust? The answer is as simple as turning around, but don’t look behind you … run. Ann Rule, who shared her own nerve-jangling account of unknowingly befriending sadistic sociopath Ted Bundy in The Stranger Beside Me, chronicles other fateful encounters with the hidden predators among us in this riveting collection, fifteenth in the bestselling series drawn from her personal files. First in line is a stunning case that spanned thirty years and took a determined detective to four states—ending, finally, in Alaska—where he unraveled not one but two murders. A second case appears to begin and end with the hunt for the Green River Killer, focusing on a Washington State man who was once cleared as a suspect in that deadly chain of homicides. But the millionaire property owner believed he had successfully buried his own murderous past and the awful truth behind his young wife’s disappearance. She vanished soon after she left for a day at the Seattle World’s Fair, and her three small children grew up believing their mother had abandoned them. But one amazing witness remained—the missing woman’s best friend, who heard her last words in a frantic phone call—“He’s coming!”—before the line went dead. Only since Robert Hansen’s suicide has the monster within been revealed. In another true story, a petite woman went to a tavern, looking only for conversation and fun. Instead, she met violent death in the form of a seven-foot man who had seemed shy and harmless. You’ll feel a chill as you uncover these and numerous other cases of unfortunate victims who made one tragic mistake: trusting the wrong person—even someone they’d known intimately, or thought they knew.
DON’T LOOK BEHIND YOU
Includes an excerpt from In the Still of the Night, Ann Rule’s true-crime bestseller!
MORE THAN 30 MILLION COPIES OF ANN RULE’S BOOKS IN PRINT!
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PRAISE FOR
“AMERICA’S BEST TRUE-CRIME WRITER”
(Kirkus Reviews)
AND HER #1 NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLING SERIES
ANN RULE’S CRIME FILES
Now celebrating fifteen riveting collections!
“Chilling cases…. A frightening, fascinating rogue’s gallery of mercenary murderers.”
—Mystery Guild
“Prolific and talented Rule brings to life a rich case.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Gripping tales…. Fans of true crime know they can rely on Ann Rule to deliver the dead-level best.”
—The Hartford Courant (CT)
“Fascinating, unsettling tales…. Among the very small group of top-notch true-crime writers, Rule just may be the best of the bunch.”
—Booklist
“Rule’s ability to depict both criminals and victims as believable human beings is perfectly embodied in this sad, fascinating account.”
—Library Journal
Ann Rule’s titles are also available from Simon & Schuster Audio and as eBooks
MORE MUST-READ TRUE CRIME
FROM ANN RULE—DON’T MISS THESE
CELEBRATED BESTSELLERS
IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT
“Make yourself comfortable—at the edge of your seat! That’s where you’ll be throughout this chilling true story of infidelity, lies, and murder…. Another Ann Rule masterpiece.”
—Mystery Guild
“An interesting case, a real-life whodunnit…. addictive.”
—True Crime Book Reviews
TOO LATE TO SAY GOODBYE
“The quintessential true-crime story…. The mesmerizing tale of how law enforcement coordinated information from two deaths separated by nearly a decade to convict Bart Corbin of murder…. Prepare yourself for a few late nights of reading.”
—Bookreporter.com
GREEN RIVER, RUNNING RED
“[Rule] conveys the emotional truth of the Green River case.”
—Los Angeles Times
“Riveting…. Rule infuses her case study with a personally felt sense of urgency.”
—People
Ann Rule worked the late-night shift at a suicide hotline with a handsome, whip-smart psychology major who became her close friend. Soon the world would know him: Ted Bundy, one of the most savage serial killers of our time….
THE STRANGER BESIDE ME
Now in an updated edition!
“Shattering … written with compassion but also with professional objectivity.”
—Seattle Times
“Overwhelming!”
—Houston Post
“Ann Rule has an extraordinary angle [on] the most fascinating killer in modern American history…. As dramatic and chilling as a bedroom window shattering at midnight.”
—The New York Times
HEART FULL OF LIES
“A convincing portrait of a meticulous criminal mind.”
—The Washington Post
“Fascinating…. The sheer weight of [Rule’s] investigative technique places her at the forefront of true-crime writers.”
—Booklist
EVERY BREATH YOU TAKE
“Affecting, tense, and smart true crime.”
—Washington Post Book World
“Absolutely riveting … psychologically perceptive.”
—Booklist
Books by Ann Rule
In the Still of the Night
Too Late to Say Goodbye
Green River, Running Red
Every Breath You Take
Heart Full of Lies…
And Never Let Her Go
Bitter Harvest
Dead by Sunset
Everything She Ever Wanted
If You Really Loved Me
The Stranger Beside Me
Possession
Small Sacrifices
Ann Rule’s Crime Files
Vol. 14: But I Trusted You and Other True Cases
Vol. 13: Mortal Danger and Other True Cases
Vol. 12: Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder and Other True Cases
Vol. 11: No Regrets and Other True Cases
Vol. 10: Worth More Dead and Other True Cases
Vol. 9: Kiss Me, Kill Me and Other True Cases
Vol. 8: Last Dance, Last Chance and Other True Cases
Vol. 7: Empty Promises and Other True Cases
Vol. 6: A Rage to Kill and Other True Cases
Vol. 5: The End of the Dream and Other True Cases
Vol. 4: In the Name of Love and Other True Cases
Vol. 3: A Fever in the Heart and Other True Cases
Vol. 2: You Belong to Me and Other True Cases
Vol. 1: A Rose for Her Grave and Other True Cases
Without Pity: Ann Rule’s Most Dangerous Killers
The I-5 Killer
The Want-Ad Killer
Lust Killer
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The names of some individuals have been changed. Such names are indicated by an asterisk (*) the first time each appears
in the narrative.
Copyright © 2011 by Ann Rule
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address Pocket Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
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Cover by Tom Hallman, hand-lettering by James Wang
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
ISBN 978-1-4516-4108-0 (print)
ISBN 978-1-4516-4109-7 (eBook)
For everyone who has lost someone they love, never to find them—or learn the reasons they vanished. With my sincere hope that those who are lost will find their way home, or to God.
Contents
North to Alaska
Part One: Puyallup, Washington
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Part Two: Joe Tarricone
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Part Three: “Jane Doe Down …” Healy, Alaska
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
Too Late for the Fair
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
The Case of the Deadly Giant
The Most Frightening Crime of All
Part One: The Daylight Rapist
Part Two: The Handsome Rapist
Acknowledgments
NORTH TO ALASKA
When I am asked to choose which murder cases are the most interesting for me to research and write, I always say they would be selected from a relatively recent unit in the homicide divisions of large cities: the “Cold Case” department. There is something infinitely satisfying about finding killers long after they have become confident that they have walked away free. Some have gone on to commit even more violent crimes, while others have lived out their years in “average Joe” anonymity.
And then there are those who enjoy a luxuriant lifestyle after their victims’ lives ended violently because of the killers’ ultimately selfish motives.
Even so, surely they must always be listening for a footstep behind them and sirens in the night, waiting to see the flash of a badge.
North to Alaska unveils at least two murders and a tangled and convoluted history that often results from weird family trees. Any rational person would speculate that one of the homicides should never have been solved—not after three decades. The single detective who traveled from Washington to Alaska to New Mexico to Maryland investigating it had virtually nothing going for him at first. Quite literally, the second murder was a “bare-bones” case with a dark secret. That secret probably would never have been discovered if not for the jaws of a bulldozer that dug deep into the earth. But as its operator cleared land for yet another of the ubiquitous strip malls that spring up like mushrooms around America, the remains of a body emerged.
Maybe the bones were those of a person who never wanted to be found.
Sometimes people whose lives are in turmoil step out of their own identities and leave broken hearts, financial problems, and stunted dreams as they seek to escape that chaos. Occasionally, they start over with a different name. Sometimes they commit suicide. If they are peripatetic travelers, as one of the vanished characters in this true case was, the reasons for their disappearances don’t necessarily have to be horrific.
But in this case, they were.
PART ONE
PUYALLUP, WASHINGTON
Chapter One
It was midafternoon on a very warm day—June 4, 2007—when bulldozer operator Travis Haney paused to wipe the sweat from his forehead. He’d been demolishing an old farmhouse and leveling the topsoil on Canyon Road East in Puyallup (pronounced Pew-AL-up), Washington.
It was a prime spot for a shopping mall in the Summit district of Pierce County.
The Washington State Fairgrounds were close by, and land surrounding Puyallup was known for its rich soil and never-ending acres of daffodils.
But just as the Kent Valley had been paved over to make room for the burgeoning Boeing Company and the parking lots, apartment houses, malls, and other businesses necessary to meet the needs of a startling influx of new residents, Puyallup’s daffodils were beginning to disappear, along with the small truck farms and strawberry fields in the valley.
It was dismaying to see the rich loam of the area buried under cement. But progress was progress.
The tall yellow home that had once stood on this particular piece of property was probably built more than a hundred years ago. The house had been empty for a while, but even without care, many of the old-fashioned roses, lilacs, and other familiar perennials had managed to survive among encroaching weeds. The house was slowly dying. Its front porch sagged; some windows were broken and seemed like dead eyes staring out as the demo teams moved in.
There had, indeed, been a ghostly presence surrounding the house, which no one wanted any longer. Workers didn’t notice it much in the bright sunshine of summer days, but they certainly did as the sun began to set. In June, in the Northwest, that doesn’t happen until almost 10 p.m.
The house itself was gone by June 4; all the splintered boards and walls with a dozen layers of wallpaper had been hauled away to landfills.
The last thing Travis Haney was thinking about on this Monday afternoon was hauntings and bizarre secrets. He moved the ’dozer close to the fence on the west/northwest section of the lot, idly glancing at the dirt the blade turned up.
And then a black plastic trash bag rose up through the disturbed earth. Haney lowered the bucket again and the next scoop brought up the rest of the bag. He dumped it onto a pile of dirt. He could see that it was torn. Curious, he hopped down from his perch and opened the bag along one side.
There were bones and rotted clothing inside and some tattered twine that might have been used to tie it all up.
Finding bones wasn’t particularly unusual for crews who were demolishing buildings and houses and rearranging dirt. Haney mused that these bones must have been in the bag for a long time. They could have been the bones of a dog or even a small farm animal. The presence of shreds of cloth, however, made him wonder if whatever had died here might have been a human being.
Travis Haney called his father, Matt Haney, who was the chief of police of Bainbridge Island just across Puget Sound. Matt told his son to call 911. There was probably an explanation that wasn’t ominous, but Travis’s discovery should be reported.
Just in case. Because you never know.
Pierce County deputy Jason Tate responded to the address on Canyon Road, arriving at twelve minutes to four in the afternoon. As he headed toward the man standing next to the excavating equipment, he saw that construction had begun on some commercial buildings in one section of the property. There were a few peopl
e standing by, apparently curious about what Travis Haney had found.
Deputy Tate peered into the bag of bones. He wasn’t an expert, but he suspected they might very well be human bones. He contacted the Pierce County sheriff’s dispatch and requested that the forensic unit respond.
Adam Anderson arrived first. After studying the bones, he tended to agree with Tate. The remains did appear to be human. Anderson’s supervisor, Steve Wilkins, headed out to the scene as the afternoon slipped into evening. On the way, he contacted the Pierce County medical examiner’s office. They needed all the experts they could summon to establish the bones’ species.
