This book by Jeanine Cummins, subtitled “A Memoir of Murder and its Aftermath,” was recommended to me by my wife. I told her she has recommended three excellent books in a row, but that she has to suggest one that is has a happier story for the next one. The book is about the “Chain of Rocks Murder Case.” Three teenage cousins, Julie and Robin Kerry and Tom Cummins, have sneaked off late one night in April 1991 to see the poetry that Julie painted on the underside of the abandoned bridge over the Mississippi River. They are accosted by four young men who seem at first to be friendly but then tell the three they are going to rob them. The two girls are gang raped and then all three cousins are forced off the bridge into the Mississippi. Only Tom survives. Julie is with him for a while, but she panics, grabs him, and they both sink. He feels as if he is about to drown, pushes her off, and except for a few brief moments following never sees her again.

A warning about the book is that it is written by Tom’s sister. My wife believed the story, but I was uncomfortable that the information was “unbiased.” However, I highly recommend the book to anyone who is or might be involved in an encounter with the legal system. Tom and his father think they are doing the right thing by assisting the early investigation, and are comfortable that Tom is not at risk because he is innocent. Anyone hearing their Miranda rights being read, including the statement that anything they say can be used against them, should shut up until they have a lawyer representing them. This book illustrates that being innocent is not sufficient protection.

The facts presented about the rapes and murders are difficult reading, and the descriptions of the four young men who brutalized the three cousins and forced them to jump to nearly certain death into the Mississippi should serve as a warning. The four who are convicted are portrayed as committing the crimes without remorse. Some are portrayed as proud that they were the ones mentioned in television reports. One bragged “I did that” before he was taken into custody.

Going back to the warning to not talk to investigators until there is a lawyer representing you, the coercive methods used in Tom’s treatment by numerous police investigators are startling. Tom was sleep-deprived for about a day and a half during his interrogation. He thought he was providing information that would assist in the search for his cousins and the criminals. However, the police decided he was the logical suspect. Tom agreed to a lie detector test that was conducted in a confrontational manner, and it was judged from the results that he wasn’t telling the truth. References are given that indicate lie detector tests are not always accurate, and they are particularly inaccurate when the person being questioned is sleep-deprived. Tom was coercively interrogated by detectives who initially pretended to believe him, but they then began to invent stories about how Tom was responsible for the death of his cousins.

It is disturbing that the police convinced Tom’s father that Tom was not being honest by telling a disturbing lie. They told the father, who had been in the Navy, that Tom could not have possibly have fallen or jumped the distance into the river without being severely injured or killed. Tom had “only” fallen 50 feet, but the detectives lied to the father and told him the distance was 90 feet. The police convinced the father to demand Tom to “tell the truth.” References are given that the courts have ruled deceiving witnesses during an investigation is constitutional.

The police finally wear Tom down to where he provides what they interpret to be a confession. He said hopelessly, “…you are going to believe whatever the hell you want. I’ve told you the truth. So this is what you want to believe, then fine. Sure. Why not? That’s what happened. Tom was taken to provide a videotaped “confession,” but was fortunately smart enough to refuse to repeat his sarcastic comments on video. The “confession” was neither videoed nor recorded, and the District Attorney refused to indict Tom on the word of the detectives.

Evidence began to surface to implicate the four young men who committed the crimes. A flashlight left on the bridge was traced to one of them, and he decided to accuse two of his three companions. The evidence of what actually happened soon led to the arrest of the four who had been involved in the horrible crimes, but the news media was a cycle or so behind. They continued to represent Tom as the “monster” who had caused the death of the two cousins. I had the sense that the author was torn between blaming the police for the miscarriage of justice or the news media, or whether she held them both equally responsible.

The saddest part of the story is that Julie’s body was found by a fisherman a few weeks after her death, but Robin’s body was never found.

I found the writing about the reaction to the several family members to the events to be somewhat tedious, although I’m uncomfortable making that comment about such a traumatic series of events. I also was uncomfortable about Tom not saving Julie when he had the chance, because she is portrayed as a friend he loved. She had latched onto him as they drifted in the Mississippi, and he had pushed her away to save himself. Perhaps he could have changed the story if he had the courage to grasp her in a “lifeguard grip” and take her to the shore while he saved himself? He instead saved himself and let her drift away to her death. There was little mention of his remorse except for a brief mention in his testimony against those who committed the crimes.

There have been reports about the murders and aftermath described on the Internet. Marlin Gray, who was portrayed as the leader of the group who committed the crimes, was executed in October 2005. Daniel R. Winfrey, who participated in the crimes but did not rape the two cousins, was released on parole in 2007. Antonio Richardson’s death sentence was resentenced to life without parole by the Supreme Court in 2005. Reginald Clemens death sentence conviction was reviewed in September 2012, and the judge will announce a decision in “several months.” Tom was given a civil settlement of $150,000 as the result of his coercive interrogation.

There are Internet sites that claim racism in the conviction of three of the four young men. The basis of this claim is that Winfrey, the only Caucasian member of the four involved and did not participate in the gang rapes, was eventually released on parole while the other three were sentenced to death ( one of which has been reduced to life at this point) . One defense presented in the Internet even repeats the lie began by the police to convince Tom’s father that Tom could not have been telling the truth because he could not have survived a fall of 90 feet into the river. As mentioned earlier, the actual distance was a still daunting fall but not necessarily lethal fall of 50 feet.

All in all, a very, very disturbing book! Get a lawyer no matter your confidence of your innocence if a policeman or other legal official reads you your Miranda rights. Trusting the police you should be able to trust is a huge mistake! And you can never be sufficiently paranoid in thinking about how to protect your beautiful children from predators and psychopaths!

To be fair, some of the police were kind to Tom, but they were in the minority.