The Man from Primrose Lane

Hunting serial killers can be an expensive hobby. I've visited New Hampshire four times this past year (searching for Maura Murray) and the reason I was able to do that is from the advance I received for this book, which will finally be released across the U.S. and Canada February 28. This is my first novel, and if it is successful I can devote more time to these unsolved mysteries.

The Man from Primrose Lane tells the story of a true crime writer who goes looking for the man that killed a strange hermit who always wore mittens, even in the middle of the summer. It's a story about obsession, about the search for answers. It's a love story. It's about crime but it's also about science. And science fiction. Read more about it here.

If this story sounds like your kind of thing, you can find the novel at your local bookstore or online for your Kindle, Nook, or e-reader. Hope you like it.

Breaking: Runkle's Nephew Purchased Home At Center of Mystery

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Remember Oneta McCarthy? From 1987-1989, Dean Runkle worked for McCarthy at her convenience store/pet store in downtown Norwalk. When reached a few years ago, she claimed Runkle had been selling mice raised at her store to area nature centers and believed one of those places to have been the Lake Erie Nature and Science Center in Bay Village, where Amy often visited. That's Runkle's connection to Amy and the other girls who got calls from her killer. For more on Runkle's connection to the case click on the "Runkle" tab below.

When Amy was abducted, Dean Runkle was house sitting at Oneta McCarthy's house in New London, which was good for Dean because he'd been sharing a house with his parents and had the run of the McCarthy place. A private place for himself, for once.

Police have long known that Amy was actually murdered someplace else before her body was moved to County Road 1181. But they've never been able to find the crime scene.

I'd heard a rumor years ago that Oneta's house was later purchased by Runkle's nephew Todd Tappel. I blew it off as fantasy. But after checking the records in Huron today, I discovered it's true. The property was sold to a Marc Gagne. And Todd Tappel now lives there.

What is it about this property that is so important to Runkle's family?

To this day, police have not searched this possible crime scene.

Back to Ashland

Finally caught some time to do research down in Ashland tomorrow. First stop, vital records. Then on to Holmes County Auditors Office. Will hopefully have some info to share soon.

Last word on Frank Dienes?

Frank Dienes is sitting in a prison somewhere, making friends. Like all felons in the state of Ohio, his DNA will be added to the database and should be available for Bay Village to compare to any evidence that may exist in Amy's murder case. I know BVPD was interested in interviewing him again but I have no idea if this has happened yet.

Now that the murder of Joe Kopp is officially closed, I was able to get my hands on the prosecutor's report last week. There's nothing very telling related to Amy, except for the witness list. If the case would have gone to trial, the prosecutors intended to call a Bay Village detective to the stand. The only reason to do this would be to have the detective answer questions about Dienes as a suspect in Amy's murder. It would have put a quick end to the defense's spin that Dienes was no longer consider a suspect, so perhaps that gave them pause.

Dienes deserves to be included in Amy's Top 25 Suspects because of his proximity to the crime scene and his propensity to commit murder. But, in my opinion, there remains a likelier suspect...