The investigation of a family that was murdered and their house set afire.
This is the fictional account of the murder of an entire family in 1994. It happened in the Town of Vinton, Vitrginia.
This story is a supposition of why, and how, the murders may have happened.
The story starts with the discovery of a house fire and continues until the man the police picked as the culprit.
The actual trial testimony form the transcript of the trial, along with the FBI Freedom of Information files, can be viewed on the internet.
Excerpt
It was a crowd of about twenty people
that didn’t get much smaller the rest of
the morning, not until the fire trucks and rescue vehicles left, but it was an
ever-changing crowd. They were gathered
in the median of the four-lane divided
highway. The two north-bound lanes had
been blocked by Vinyard police vehicles,
their emergency lights flashing and their operators waving people to use the one south-bound lane that had been separated from the other with orange cones. The reduction of four lanes to one for seven or eight hundred feet required that vehicles slow down, but the traffic was further slowed by drivers trying to discover what had happened. The more curious found parking in nearby empty parking lots of businesses close by but not
yet opened this time of morning. New
arrivals asked those already present in low tones what had happened, and were told whatever that person knew. Then they moved on, hoping for a better look. Some had vestiges of their night wear on a pajama top over blue jeans, or house
slippers. These were the neighbors. Others were dressed for their jobs—painter’s coveralls, postal uniforms. They had stopped after seeing the number and variety of emergency vehicles, which made it apparent that this was more than just a house fire. Most stayed until they learned what was known, and as they left, others took their place. The ritual continued. The big media trucks for local TV stations pulled in any place they could park across
the street from the house and crowd.
Technicians scurried in and out, setting up equipment for the morning newscast. The reporters, holding steaming paper cups, hacking and clearing their throats, were getting ready for their live broadcasts. Across the street, the people working the catastrophe seemed not to notice the onlookers. It had taken less than a half-hour to put out the house fire, and some firefighters were busy rolling up the canvas hoses. Others were gathering up equipment and making sure nothing was left behind. The victims’ bodies had been taken out right after the fire was extinguished, each in its own body bag, and placed in the coroner’s vehicle, the only vehicle behind the crime tape that
had left so far. The police were in the
small house, mostly out of sight, probably more people than had ever been in the house at any time before. Most of the Vinyard Police Department’s morning shift not yet on duty, and all of the graveyard shift still on duty, inside the house. The lieutenant arrived shortly afterward. Then several cars with multiple antennas on roofs, trunks, and windows arrived. These were unmarked state police cars, easily recognized by their frugal, stripped-down look—black tires and hubcaps.
Professional Reviews
Great Mystery Novel
Format:Paperback
As a self-proclaimed mystery buff, I am always searching for interesting and suspenseful mystery novels that pull readers right into the plot and sadly, most of the mysteries that I read fall flat of this standard. But not this novel. In Smoke and Murders, Douglas Graham has crafted an intriguing and tense storyline centered around the generic small town. Once I started the novel, I couldn't put it down.
Graham begins his mystery by describing the gruesome murder of your typical family, a father, a mother and two children, the horrific event which draws the corrupt local cops in to investigate. In the small town portrayed in the novel, where neighborly gossip and knowing everyone who lives in the town is common, it doesn't take long for the police to name a scapegoat responsible for the murders, a suspect in a previous case. From there on, we see how desire to shut the case quickly and to calm the townspeople propels corruption by skewing the truth.
Although this novel is a fictionalized story of the true life murder of a rural family, Graham delivers his message clearly; he believes in the innocence of the man who was wrongfully convicted and wishes to show readers this. A well-written mystery recommended for anybody who likes suspense.
If You Can't Trust The Police Who Can You Trust?
Format:Paperback
`Inside the still smoky house, Lieutenant Bill Kenny of the Vinyard Police Department was approached by a tall, older man in a baggy brown suit. He introduced himself as Virginia State Police Lead Investigator Bernard McNutt. McNutt assumed he was introducing himself to the Vinyard police chief since Lieutenant Kenny was wearing a suit and tie instead of a uniform. McNutt was surprised to learn that the chief wasn't at the crime scene. He had heard the firemen on the radio talking about the four bodies they discovered and had expected the top cop to be at a crime scene of this magnitude. Kenny told McNutt the police chief left the heavy lifting to him and said he would be working more with him than the police chief. Kenny explained that the police chief did all of the media releases, the glad-handling with business people, and dealt with the town officials, and he, Bill Kenny, handled the crime and workaday part of the Vinyard police business. Then he informed the investigator of what they had found and as much as he know about the victims' background.
Vinyard is a small town in Virginia. Most of the residences were born there and never left. Everyone knows everyone as well as everyone's business. So when ex-postal worker Brad Harmon, his wife and two children were murdered, the first person Investigator Bear McNutt suspected was Adam Brackett. Bear has had his eye on Adam every since two girls that he had taken to his motel room disappeared to never be seen nor heard from again. He couldn't pin it on him then but he would get his, one way or another, for the Harmon murders. But could Adam really murder the only friends he has really ever had?
Loved It
Format:Paperback
This book is based on fact! The names have been changed to protect the guilty. It is about what life is really like; how the innocent are proven guilty; and how the guilty escape prosecution. If you like true crime, mystery, authenticity of detail, and remarkable literary craftsmanship, then read this book. Hey, it's the price of breakfast! Try it! You'll love it!
This is your journal, for your writing. An interactive journal with historical tidbits designed to nurture creativity and self-motivation, features one side for drawings, sketches, or pasting personal pictures, and the other side lined for notes or j
