Linda Rosencrance - Bone Crusher

Id like to thank my agent Janet Benrey, of Benrey Literary Agency, for her friendship and support. Id also like to thank my editors at Kensington, Michaela Hamilton and Richard Ember, who Im sure breathed a sigh of relief when I finally finished.

Id also like to thank Peoria County sheriff Michael McCoy, Tazewell County sheriff Robert Huston, Lieutenant Mark Greskoviak, of the Peoria County Sheriffs Office, members of the task force that investigated the murders and ultimately apprehended Larry Bright, Peoria County states attorney Kevin Lyons, and Seth Uphoff and Paulette Fair, of the states attorneys office.

I would also like to thank the nice lady at the Creve Coeur, Illinois, Police Department who helped this frazzled writer track down some information at the eleventh hour, and the nice gentleman at the Tazewell County Coroners Office who helped me verify that information.

To my friends, who have had to put up with one canceled social engagement after anothersorry.

And finally a shout-out to Marc J. Schiller, who is doing his best to make me understand the importance of a good outline. Im trying.

Peoria, Illinois, was incorporated as a village on March 11, 1835. When it was incorporated on April 21, 1845, as a city, it ended the village president form of government and began the mayoral system. Peorias first mayor was William Hale.

Peoria (named after the Peoria Indian tribe) is the largest city on the Illinois River, and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois. As of 2007, it had a population of approximately 144,000. It sits midway between Chicago and St. Louis.

In 1830, John Hamlin constructed the flour mill on Kickapoo Creekand so began the citys first industry. In 1837, E. F. Nowland started another big industry, the pork industry. Over the years a number of industries have cropped up in Peoria, including carriage factories, pottery makers, breweries, wholesale warehousing, casting foundries, glucose factories, ice harvesting, farm machinery manufacturing, and furniture making.

Peoria won the All-America City Award three times, in 1953, 1966, and 1989. In 2007, Forbes ranked Peoria number forty-seven out of the largest 150 metropolitan areas in its annual Best Places for Business and Careers. Forbes evaluated the city on the cost of doing business, cost of living, entertainment opportunities, and income growth. In 2009, Peoria was ranked sixteenth best city with a population of a hundred thousand to two hundred thousand in the U.S. Next Cities List, compiled by Next Generation Consulting.

And who hasnt heard the famous question: Will it play in Peoria? The phrase originated during the days of vaudeville in the early 1920s and 1930s. At that time Peoria was one of the most important places in the country for vaudeville acts to perform. Because Peoria was considered the typical American town, new live acts and shows were booked into theaters in Peoria to test the reactions of audiences. If an act did well in Peoria, vaudeville companies knew that it would work throughout the nation.

Today Peoria is still used as a test market by advertisers trying to determine how popular products and ideas will fare around the country.

Peoria also has everything its residents could want: affordable housing, great schools and colleges, excellent medical facilities, shopping, arts and entertainment, and many recreational areas. But despite its growth, Peoria still exudes Midwestern friendliness and warmth.

But theres a seedy side to Peoriaa side inhabited by prostitutes and drug addicts and those who prey on them. A side of the city where a thirtysomething mamas boy could go seemingly unnoticed on a fifteen-month killing spree.

He didnt want to do it again.

He knew it was wrong, but it wasnt his fault. It was those damn voices echoing in his head. He tried to fight them, but he was powerless.

Kill, they said.

And he obeyed.

Under cover of darkness on that warm September evening in 2004, he cruised the backstreets of Peoria in his Chevy Blazer, looking for his next victim. Hunting, he called it. And then he found her. His prey. She was standing in the parking lot of the furniture store, next to Woodys Bar, like she often did. He pulled up to her and she jumped in. She had no idea it was her night to die.

You wanna party? he asked, showing her an eight ball.

Yeah, but can you take me to get more crack for my friend first? she asked.

So he drove her to a little house next to a yellow building on the south side of town. He dropped her off, circled the block, and waited for her to come out. Then he took her back to Woodys so she could deliver the drugs.

When she finished her business, she got back in the car and he drove her to his place on Starr Court. They went inside, where they drank whiskey and smoked crack until they were wasted. Then they got naked and had sex. He wore a condom, like he always did, but it broke.

You cant let her go. You cant let her go. You gotta do it. You gotta do it.

The voices again.

He put his hand on her throat and squeezed the life out of her. He had to get rid of the body, but he couldnt do the fire thing because his mom was home and his grandma was coming the next day. He tried to pick her up, but her body was slick from the lotion she had been wearing, and he couldnt get a grip. So he pulled a bootlace out of one of his work boots and tied it around her neck. Then grabbing onto the lace, he pulled and dragged her off the bed, out of the house, and into the Blazer.