John Philpin - Stalemate: A Shocking True Story of Child Abduction and Murder

Books by John Philpin

Dreams in the Key of Blue

The Murder Channel

Stalemate

Tunnel of Night

Beyond Murder: The Inside Account of the Gainesville Student Murders

(co-written with John Donnelly)

The Prettiest Feathers

(co-written with Patricia Sierra)

For Amanda, Amber, Angela,
Ilene, Jennifer, Michaela, Polly,
and too many others

November 19, 1983Angela Jane Bugay disappearsAntioch

November 26, 1983Angela Bugays body foundAntioch

December, 1984Bindner begins visiting Angelas grave in Oakmont Cemetery

June 2, 1988Bindner sends letter to Susan Bugay, Angelas mother

June 3, 1988Amber Jean Swartz disappearsPinole

June 6, 1988Bindner arrives at Swartz residence offering to help search for Amber

June 15, 1988Dogs track Ambers scent to Angelas grave

November 19, 1988Bindner fails firefighters agility testHayward

November 19, 1988Michaela Joy Garecht kidnappedHayward

November 20, 1988Bindner begins two-week search for Michaela Garecht

January 30, 1989Ilene Misheloff disappearsDublin

February 11, 1989Bindner searches for Ilene Misheloff

May 22, 1991Bindner attends Oakland As baseball game, sees Sheila Cosgrove

May 23, 1991Sheila Cosgrove receives first letter from BindnerFairfield

December 27, 1991Amanda Nikki Campbell disappearsFairfield

December 30, 1991Bindner calls Nikki hot line to offer help

January 1, 1992Dogs track Nikkis scent to Angela Bugays grave

January 11, 1992Dogs find Bindners scent at Oakmont cemetery

January 15, 1992Dogs track Bindners scent to a hill above Sheila Cosgroves home

December 9, 1992Fairfield Police search Bindners house and find nothing

June 9, 1993Bindner files $25 million claim against Fairfield and Harold Sagan

April 24, 1996Larry Graham arrested for the murder of Angela Bugay

May 2, 1997Fairfield agrees to settle suit with Bindner for $90,000; the city admits no fault

Many people assisted in telling this story.

In Vermont, CBS Winter Olympics sports personality Paul Robbins helped with video and other media-related matters.

Psychologists Stephanie Case, Neil Marinello, and Marion Wedell offered their insights and advice. Captain Michael LeClair of the Vermont State Police once again gave me the perspective of a law enforcement professional who stuck with it for more than twenty-five years. Chief Joseph Estey, of the Hartford Police Department, as usual was generous with his time and advice.

Steve Philpin spent his Bennington College Field Work Term editing and critiquing earlier versions of the manuscript, as well as managing the more than ten thousand pages of material synthesized in this work. He also continued to provide the sound track for my life.

In California, Harold Sagan tolerated the intrusive researcher and writer. He is the consummate detective. He is also an educatorand a person to whom I will remain indebted.

Thanks also to Fairfield Police Chief Douglas Milender, Deputy Chief Jerry Walker, Sergeant Chuck Timm, and Detectives Joe Allio, Barry Horn, and Mel Ferro.

Also: Fairfield FBI Special Agents Kimton Zane and David Heinle, San Francisco FBI Special Agents Larry Taylor and Tim Bezik, and Sacramento FBI Supervisory Special Agent Don Pierce.

Daracy Kopf shared her experiences and insights, as did Bob Penkivich, California Highway Patrol (Retired), who serves on the board of the Amber Foundation. Clay Haswell, former managing editor of the Contra Costa Times, offered his observations on the cases.

A special thank-you is due Dale Myer and his bloodhound, Friday. The Bay Area is fortunate to have a man of Dales skill, temperament, and dedication.

Equally important were the contributions of sources affiliated with other Bay Area law enforcement agencies. They know who they are and how they helped. Many thanks.

Kim Swartz is a person of great strength, grace, and intelligence. Through the nonprofit Amber Foundation in Pinole, she provides for others who suffer the loss of children to stranger abduction.

Timothy Bindner has not been charged with any of the crimes described here. He gave hundreds of hours of his time in open-ended, occasionally troubling interviews. He was not paid for his story, nor did he ask to be.

I owe a debt of gratitude to Sierra. I am fortunate that the Ohio office had such liberal hours.

As always, many thanks to my agent, Elizabeth Knappman of New England Publishing Associates.

My editor at Bantam, Katie Hall, has been a never-ending source of enthusiasm and advice. Her wit, keen eye, and sharp pencil keep me on my toes.

J OHN P HILPIN
Reading, Vermont
September 1996

This story is true, and it continues to unfold in the communities of San Franciscos Bay Area. Because most of the cases discussed remain open, some changes were necessary to protect the integrity of ongoing investigations.

With the exception of the victims, the names of all minor children and their families have been changed. Despite previous exposure in the media, the names of surviving victims of abduction and abuse have been changed; privacy is necessary to their healing.

One person requested anonymity out of fear. I have respected that persons wishes.

Where conversations are reported, they are based on the recollections of one or more of the participants, official documents, transcripts, media accounts, audio or video tape recordings, and personal notes.

The lengthy italicized quotes attributed to Timothy Bindner are based on telephone conversations and personal interviews with him from November 1993 to May 1997.

As silent as a mirror is believed Realities plunge in silence by

H ART C RANE ,
L EGEND

A man feared that he might find an assassin; Another that he might find a victim. One was more wise than the other.

S TEPHEN C RANE ,
T HE B LACK R IDERS

DECEMBER 27, 1991

A little girl walked alone through the fading winter light on Salisbury Drive. She was wearing her Santa Claus earrings, a pink nylon ski jacket, purple pants, and white sneakers trimmed in pink. They were bright colors against the gray landscape of her middle-class Fairfield, California, neighborhood.

Amanda Nikki Campbell scuffed along like any four-year-old, oblivious to the chill and the light rain. She had come outside between three and four oclock to play with some of the other kids, and it was getting late now. Her mother would be home from work soon.

Her friends still played elsewhere on the streets. She might have heard their voicessound carries on the moist airbut she couldnt see them. And they didnt know where she had gone. One minute she was there, and then she wasnt.

DECEMBER 27, 1991

Rain. There had been days of rain. And when it wasnt raining, fog.