The Darkest Night: Two Sisters, a Brutal Murder, and the Loss of Innocence in a Small Town - Softcover

Franscell, Ron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0312948468 ISBN 13: 9780312948467

Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime, 2008

Synopsis

The chilling true tale of two innocent sisters who are abducted, terrorized for hours, raped, and finally thrown from an isolated bridge into a dark canyon in the middle of nowhere on a dark night in 1973.  One miraculously survived. The other did not.

Years later, author and journalist Ron Franscell--a childhood friend and next-door neighbor to the girls--can't forget his hometown's most shocking story of abduction, rape, and murder.  Exploring the nature of a small town's memory and the poison of survivor guilt, THE DARKEST NIGHT races toward a shocking ending.  The result is one of the most provocative true-crime stories of the decade, told by one of the nation's finest narrative journalists.

About this title

From the Back Cover

ONE CAR RIDE. TWO YOUNG SISTERS. A BRUTAL FATE.
Casper, Wyoming:1973. Eleven-year-old Amy Burridge rides with her eighteen-year-old sister, Becky, to the grocery store. When they finish their shopping, Becky's car gets a flat tire. Two men politely offer them a ride home. But they were anything but Good Samaritans. The girls would suffer unspeakable crimes at the hands of these men before being thrown from a bridge into the North Platte River. One miraculously survived. The other did not.

A CRIME THAT TORE A SMALL TOWN APART.
Years later, author and journalist Ron Franscell--who lived in Casper at the time of the crime, and was a friend to Amy and Becky--can't forget Wyoming's most shocking story of abduction, rape, and murder. Neither could Becky, the surviving sister. The two men who violated her and Amy were sentenced to life in prison, but the demons of her past kept haunting Becky...until she met her fate years later at the same bridge where she'd lost her sister.

About the Author

Ron Franscell is the bestselling true-crime author of The Darkest Night and Delivered from Evil,  which established him as one of the most provocative new voices in narrative nonfiction.  His Crime Buff's Guide series -- along with his beautiful literary jaunts in The Sourtoe Cocktail Club and Angel Fire have made him one of America's most entertaining storytellers.  His work has regularly appeared in publications such as the Washington Post, Chicago Sun-Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Denver Post, San Jose Mercury-News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

About this edition

• Publisher: St. Martin's True Crime
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0312948468
• ISBN 13: 9780312948467
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 304