Brothers Silenced by
Kathryn Jewel
pbk out December 06
(iUniverse.com)
at £9
On August 30, 1993, Roberta Moore phoned the Price County Sheriff's
Department and said that her husband had discovered the bodies of their
two youngest sons lying on a snowmobile trail near to their rural home.
She added that she believed they had shot themselves.
Representatives from the small town Department went to the scene and
found both boys - thirteen year old Robert and ten year old Ben - lying
next to an old car that they loved to play in. They were barefoot and their
soles were dirty and scratched. Robert had a large purplish bruise on his
forehead consistent with a harsh blow or a fall and his legs and left elbow
were badly bruised. Ben also had numerous contusions on his legs. Both
children had apparently been shot through the head with the family rifle
and the Department agreed with the parents that this was a double
suicide.
But armchair detectives soon realised that the evidence suggested foul
play. The inseparable brothers had enjoyed school and had made future
plans with other children: there was no suggestion that either child was
clinically depressed. Moreover, the rifle used in the double-killing always
jammed after one shot so the second user would have had to prise out the
damaged shell as his beloved sibling lay dying, reload then shoot himself
through the head. Aware of these - and many other - inconsistencies,
substance abuse counsellor Kathryn Jewel spent over a year researching
this chilling but fascinating case.
The idiosyncratic punctuation aside, this is as much of a page turner as an
airport thriller, yet the author's respect for these children, and her
determination to find justice for them, shines through. I read Brothers
Silenced at one lengthy sitting and I'm already looking forward to her
next true crime book.
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Brothers Silenced by
Kathryn Jewel
