Then lied and said he never evoked council. They held him in interrogation for five straight days. He’ll make something stick, and he’ll cut all the corners to lock his suspect away. “Because then they couldn’t convict him of murders he didn’t commit,” she says as though it’s obvious and he’s stupid for even asking.ĭonny leans back, annoyed.

They wouldn’t allow the eye witness testimonies or admit them as alibies in the courtroom.” Several of those nights, he was home with his kids and two extra.

He couldn’t even raise his hand to his own kids. “He never could have raped and killed those women. She pauses, swallowing down emotion that I didn’t detect in her voice. Robert always talked to my boy as if he was his own, and as a single working mother, I appreciated all the help I could get. My boy’s daddy left when he was a tiny little thing. Such a good soul and a good home, people couldn’t stay away. Robert cooked, he cleaned, he cared for his children, and he usually had others come over and hang out as well. Jacob Denver, of course, was there most nights as well. My boy was even over there a lot of those nights. She sips her water again, and I refrain from demanding she get to the point. They threw every shoe and the kitchen sink at him to make him the murderer, as though that would somehow make the killings just disappear and everyone could go on with their lives.” You need to know first that Robert died in lockup the night he was convicted of crimes he couldn’t commit. She was selective with her friends more than her boyfriends. She shared a house with two men, so she was more comfortable making friends with boys than girls. She was mostly raised by her father after her mother died when she was ten. “I’m not married, but I’m not a bachelor.” “I’ll bet you both enjoy being bachelors and thinking time will never catch up with you.”ĭonny shifts in his seat uncomfortably, but I just smile. “You have kids?” she asks us as she returns, sitting down with her water, drawing out the suspense. There’s a jaded harshness to the way she carries herself, as though she’s forcing herself to make it through each day. Only there’s a sense of guilt there as well, unlike Lana’s. She’s a regal, timeless sort of woman, with haunted eyes. Her chocolate skin is a stark contrast to her ivory dress that hangs to her knees. Jacob spent more time at his house than he did his own, because Robert was made of a sort of strength and compassion you can’t find just anywhere.”ĭiana Barnes clears her throat, and I watch as she stands to get a glass of water. And Robert, well, he did all he could to make sure those kids were loved. Just a year separated Victoria in age from the boys. Wherever Marcus and Jacob went, she followed. “Marcus Evans…that boy was a handful when he was a child, but such a sweetheart. To the living, we owe respect, but to the dead, we owe only the truth.

All the Lies by S.T. Abby