Table of Contents
Berkley titles by Glenn Puit
WITCH: THE TRUE STORY OF LAS VEGASS MOST NOTORIOUS FEMALE KILLER
FATHER OF THE YEAR: BILL RUNDLE: ALL-AMERICAN JEKYLL AND HYDE
IN HER PRIME: THE MURDER OF A POLITICAL STAR
GHOST: THE TRUE STORY OF ONE MANS DESCENT INTO MADNESS AND MURDER
This book is dedicated to my mother,
Dolores Hicks,
who lives in Upstate New York;
to Greg and Sandy Chopp of Michigans Upper
Peninsula;
and also to my colleagues
at the Michigan Land Use Institute.
They have stuck with me through the three
most difficult years of my life, 2008-2010,
and I am forever grateful for all of their love,
guidance, and support. I will never forget it.
INTRODUCTION
My name is Glenn Puit. I witnessed human cruelty and evil at its darkest levels in my seventeen years of work in the print media news business. I covered violent crime and capital murder trials in Las Vegas from 1996 to 2007 for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and I wrote, every day, about the most heinous crimes imaginable in Sin City. A psychotic man who shot four innocent strangers to death as they shopped for groceries. A horrifically cruel quadruple murder in which four promising young men were tied up and shot to death for a hundred-plus bucks, a pager, and a video-game player. A cab driver doused with gasoline and set on fire in a robbery for a few hundred dollars, or the lethal stabbing of a child and the paralyzing of another over the selling of a bag of salt in a drug deal.
The experiences covering crime in Las Vegas and also in South Carolina have, of course, left me incredibly appreciative of life. Ive always covered crime because I believe life is precious, and I hope that by my telling these stories, we can all be a little bit more aware and mindful of the fact that in this beautiful worldwhere humans do great goodevil walks among us.
This is a common thread in my true-crime books. My first book, Witch, chronicles the story of a successful, seemingly normal technical writer who killed her mother and stored her in a storage shed for three years. Father of the Year details the life of a man once voted Father of the Year in Las Vegas. In actuality, he was a coldhearted killer. And in my book In Her Prime, a talented critical-care nurse who seemed to have everything going for him poisoned his wife in the most cruel way. The message I try to convey through these books is this: always be careful in life and be wary of evil. It is out there, and there is no better evidence of this than the book you have in your hands right now.
The origins of this book stem from my work as a reporter at the Las Vegas Review-Journal from 2002 to 2006. I was assigned in 2002 to cover the criminal case of John Patrick Addisa man on the lam for nearly a decade in the killing of Las Vegan Joann Albanese.
What I would learn about Addis as I reviewed court files and conducted interviews is that Addis was a controlling, obsessive, cold-blooded killer. However, he was also more than just a killer: he was a very smart man trained in law enforcement and wilderness survival. He was incredibly elusive and was always one step ahead of authorities. He is one of the most intriguing criminals Ive ever come across, and he is arguably the most complex and interesting killer in Las Vegas history. I think you will agree with that assessment after you read this book.
Addis is a person who thrives on complete control and a very vile form of domestic violence. He victimizes people who dare to try to break free from the control. He is a very scary human being, and what makes him so scary is his normalcy. Meeting Addis and shaking his hand and talking to him would never reveal to you just how evil a person he was. You usually didnt get to see the pure evil of Addis until you were close to him.
I always knew while covering the story in Las Vegas that the case would make a great book. I always promised myself that, if I got the chance, I was going to write it.
Several people who I reached out to for interviews declined my requests. I respect their decision to do so. I recognize that Addiss actions have caused immense pain and suffering to many, and anyone who knows me knows I spent my entire newspaper career sticking up for victims of violent crime and their families, so again, I respect their choice. I have a very real understanding of the wreckage Addis left behind in Alaska, Las Vegas, and Mexico. So, to the victims families and those forever affected by Addis, I offer my sincerest and most heartfelt condolences and a great desire that you are able to find peace and strength in the face of such devastation.
Researching this book was also not easy. Ive been threatened with a lawsuit and asked to pay for interviewsrequests I always refuse. Ive pushed forward because I believe in the power of journalism. I am a firsthand witness to the ability of journalism to educate, inform, and even change the world. I write these books for that very reasonto give people knowledge about the small percentage of people out there who spend most of their lives victimizing others. It is a valuable lesson each of us needs to be reminded of regularly: be thankful for what youve gotbe thankful for being aliveand be very careful about trusting others until theyve demonstrated they are worthy of that trust.
I have used pseudonyms for the names of several witnesses contained in police reports and Alaska court records. These pseudonyms are denoted by asterisks.
So, as I sit here, wrapping up this very difficult project, a few thank-yous are in order for those who made this all possible. Thanks to my editors at Berkley, Shannon Jamieson-Vasquez and Faith Black. Im honored to write for Berkley. Thanks to my literary agent, Jim Cypher, who has guided me through the pitfalls and challenges of writing five books in as many years while working very demanding full-time jobs. Thanks to Las Vegas police detective Larry Hanna. He greatly assisted me in my research. Thanks to all the Alaska law enforcement officers and officials who granted me interviews and provided me a great deal of insight into Addiss unraveling in that state. Thanks to my researcher, Timothy Pratt, formerly of the Las Vegas Sun, who helped me explore Addiss time in Mexico. Thanks to Alaska judge Jane Kauvar. She took the time to guide me through the Alaskan criminal justice system when I faced obstacle after obstacle. Thanks to all the public library researchers in Alaska, Michigan, and Montana. They took the time to assist me when they had no obligation to do so. Thanks to veteran Alaska journalist Kris Capps and Las Vegas Court Information Officer Michael Sommermeyer. Thanks to Las Vegan Sam Morris and Review-Journal photo editor Jeff Scheid, who each helped me obtain additional photos for this book when I was in a pinch because of a problem with my photo-scanning software. I want to thank my friends at the Michigan Land Use Institute in Traverse City. They are great people.
Most importantly, though, I want to thank you, the reader. Thanks for reading my books and giving me your support.
Glenn Puit
1... JOANN
The great American city of Las Vegas basically got its start because of a couple of narrow streams of crystal clear spring water. The naturally occurring streams in what is now known as the Las Vegas Valley were a gathering spot for Native Americans. The streams cobbled together in natures glorious, captivating, and mysterious ways a marshy and grassy area in the middle of the desert. John C. Frmont, the nineteenth-century explorer, traveled through here as he sought to chart the Americas and the expansive West. Trappers and traders made the marshy area a stop on the Old Spanish Trail. The Mormons used the area as a stopping point in their journey across the country.
