H.E. Teter - Twin Peaks: The True Story

Because sometimes, the truth is stranger thanfiction

2nd Edition

Copyright 2015 by H.E. Teter

Smashwords Edition

All rights reserved. This book or any portionthereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoeverwithout the express written permission of the publisher except forthe use of brief quotations in a book review.

Some names and identifying details have beenchanged to protect the privacy of individuals who are still livingat the time of this writing.

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Twin Peaks-The True Story

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This book is dedicated

To the memory of

Nancy Easton

THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN
TWIN PEAKS: THE TRUE STORY and
TWIN PEAKS: THE TV SHOW

TWIN PEAKS: THE TRUE STORY

Nancy lived in a mountain sawmill town namedTwin Peaks

Nancy had been a Homecoming Queen*

Nancy worked at the Lodge across theLake

Nancy used drugs, mostly pot

Nancy had a good friend who was a drugsmuggler/dealer

Raped-Murdered**

TWIN PEAKS: THE TV SHOW

Laura lived in a mountain sawmill town namedTwin Peaks

Laura had been a Homecoming Queen

Laura worked at the Lodge across theLake

Laura used drugs, mostly coke

Laura had a boyfriend who was a drugsmuggler/dealer

Raped-Murdered**

* Nancy never talked about this with me.Friends that knew her before I did had two different stories. Onewas that, yes, she had been a Homecoming Queen at her High School.The other story was that she was elected Homecoming Queen anddeclined the position.

** Both women were killed in the samemanner.

Preface

For 40 years Ive played the What If game.If Id done things differently, would my girlfriend still be alive?What did I do so wrong that caused a beautiful young girl to loseher life in an extremely violent manner? Well, after 40 years, youcome to find that some questions just dont have answers. You makeyourself crazy thinking about it. That old axiom, Time heals allwounds, is total B.S. Time might take the rough edges off, butthats about it.

This is the true story of the violent murderof a young woman in Twin Peaks, California, in the 1970s. Its alsoa story that has been an albatross around my neck for the last 40years. The impact of the murder has had far-reaching effects on mylife, good and bad. Mostly bad. The two worst are developing alifelong fuck it attitude, and consuming large amounts ofalcohol. More on that later in the story.

When I first watched David Lynchs TwinPeaks on TV, it was like a knife stab to the gut. I had spentmany years trying to ease the memory of what happened on thatwinter night so long ago. Then comes along a friggin TV show,opening up all the old scars. My wife, Debi, really liked the show,as did my son, Bryan, so I was stuck with it playing in the house.I ignored it, but it was impossible not to pick up bits and pieces.After a while, I was convinced Mr. Lynch had gotten his idea forthe show from the real murder mystery that happened several yearsprior in a small, ex-mill town in the mountains of SouthernCalifornia.

Heres how I think it happened. David Lynchlived in Los Angeles from 1971 to 1979 the same years the murderand following investigation took place. The type of Hollywoodpeople Mr. Lynch would associate with are the same people who havehideaway vacation homes in nearby Lake Arrowhead. Lake Arrowhead isa mountain community in the San Bernardino National Forestcomprising a mosaic of small towns, with Twin Peaks being one ofthem. The area, only an hour and a half drive from Hollywood, haslong been the refuge for celebrity types looking for a quick escapefrom the killer pace of movie-making. Many big-name stars,producers and writers have owned homes in the area since the 1930s,when Noel Coward first set up shop there. I dont know if Mr. Lynchever owned a home at Lake Arrowhead, but he undoubtedly had friendswho didfriends who lent their homes to friends for weekendstays.

Also during this time, the commander of theSheriffs substation was a guy named Ken Blackstone. Ken would knowthe particulars concerning the murder since it happened on histurf. It was well-known in town that Ken was a major league suck-upwhen it came to visiting celebrities. Its very possible that Kenleaked details of the crime to Mr. Lynch or one of his friends.

One other thing tells me Mr. Lynch wasfamiliar with the Lake Arrowhead/Twin Peaks area. In 1985 or 86,Mr. Lynch pitched a movie project to Dino De Laurentiis just beforehe went out of the movie-making business. Not much is known aboutthe project, other than that it was a mystery story. The name of itwas Up at the Lake. Anybody in the movie business from Hollywoodasks you, Where you been? and you answer, Up at the Lake, theyknow you mean Lake Arrowhead.

So, lets take a look at the similarity ofthe fictional TV show and the real murder. Obviously, well startwith the town itself. The fictional Twin Peaks is a mill townsituated in a mountainous, forested area. The real Twin Peaks was amill town up until 1956. Many parts of the Dexter Mill exist tothis day. The town is in a mountainous, forested area.

Next up would be the age of the victims andhow they died. In the TV series, Laura Palmer is 17. She was rapedand stabbed to death. In the real murder, the victim had justturned 20. She was raped and stabbed to death. In both cases, realand fictional, the women were Homecoming Queens, very attractive,very independent.

As to One-eyed Jacks, the lodge across thelake, Lake Arrowhead had its own Lodge. Opened in 1923, LakeArrowhead Lodge was of Norman-style architecture and was situatedon the lake shorejust like the fictitious One-eyed Jacks. Duringprohibition in the 30s, it was a hotbed of illegal boozing andprostitution. If Mr. Lynch stayed on the north shore of LakeArrowhead, which is where all the celebrities homes are, the LakeArrowhead Lodge would have been referred to by the locals as TheLodge across the lake. Nancy worked there for almost a year as amaid. It was torn down in 1976 to make way for the new LakeArrowhead Village.

As to the crazy characters depicted in the TVseries, Lake Arrowhead certainly had more than its fair share.Still does today, though I cant say we had anything as cool as aLog Lady. Lake Arrowhead and Twin Peaks in the 70s were exactlythose kinds of small towns that Mr. Lynch would love to dissect.There was just so much material there to work with.

Last but not least, drug use. Both thefictional and the real victim used drugs. Also, in the seriesinvestigation, one of Lauras friends, Jacques Renault, isidentified as a drug dealer/smuggler. In the real life story, oneof the Nancys friends is identified by police as a drugdealer/smuggler. So, are all these similar incidences coincidence?All six of them?

I think not. I cant say this is where DavidLynch definitely came up with the story, but the similarities arecompelling. I will stand by the facts as Ive written them. I thinkthe best thing to do is let the reader decide.

This is also the story of a bungled policeinvestigation by the San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department andhow that institution used its authority to protect its reputationonce it discovered how badly it had screwed up.

My big problem was I could never stopthinking about it. Over time that preoccupation paid off when Ieventually uncovered a nest of monsters that had been living rightin front of everybody involvedthe whole time.

The albatross around my neck got a whole lotlighter when the monster who murdered my girlfriend died amiserable, lingering, cancerous death. I think writing about whathappened will be cathartic and help remove the rest of the leftoverweight.