Wensley Clarkson - Deadly Seduction

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Contents

Dear Reader:

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St. Martins True Crime Library gives you the stories behind the headlines. Our authors take you right to the scene of the crime and into the minds of the most notorious murderers to show you what really makes them tick. St. Martins True Crime Library paperbacks are better than the most terrifying thriller, because its all true! The next time you want a crackling good read, make sure its got the St. Martins True Crime Library logo on the spineyoull be up all night!

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Senior Editor, St. Martins True Crime Library

To Toby, Polly, Rosie, and Fergus

Notes of Gratitude

The idea of using a leaden, dispassionate word like acknowledgments for this section cannot begin to express the depth of my feelings for the many individuals who have made this book possible. I owe them my deepest and most heartfelt gratitude.

First to my agent Peter Miller and my editor Charles Spicer. Without them this book would never have happened. Their support and guidance has been very much appreciated. Also, many, many thanks to Frank Abatemarco, whose investigative skills proved invaluable.

Then there are the townsfolk of Peru, Indiana, who welcomed me with such enthusiasm and hospitality. They include: James A. Grund, Connie Grund, Gary Nichols, Wil Siders, Bob Brinson, Mary Heltzel, Charlie Scruggs, Don Fern, Darlene Worden, Nellie Sanders, Jane Allen, Tony Hare, Mary Sue Frietag, Jack and Linda Rich, Anne Hubbard, Nancy Newman, Aimi Bell, Shirley Day, and the staff of the Rosewood Mansion Bed and Breakfast.

In Oklahoma City there was: J. M. Einhorn, Don Deason, Lester Suenram, Paddy Harkey, Vivian Susil.

But one of my biggest debts of gratitude must go to Andy Pierce at the Peru Daily Tribune.

Lastly, a special word of thanks to Joe Paolella, whose expertise proved invaluable, and Mark Sandelson for providing all the usual facilities.

Authors Note

The central figure in this story, Susan Grund, changed her name frequently through her propensity for marriage. In an effort to avoid confusion, throughout the book she is referred to by whichever name she was using at the time.

Some of the dialogue represented in this book was constructed from available documents, some was drawn from courtroom testimony, and some was reconstituted from the memory of participants.

Every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way

Leo Tolstoy

Prologue

The cold, steel nozzle of the semiautomatic pressed hard against Jimmy Grunds eyelid, then the killer squeezed the trigger. Grund did not even have time to awaken from his slumber. If he had, he would have looked up and recognized the face above him immediately. There was no struggle. The bullet entered the left corner of Grunds eye, traveled through his brain, exited the right side of the back of the head, and embedded itself in the base of the couchs armrest. His life was snuffed out in a split second.

* * *

Susan Grund entered the bedroom of her vast mansion and saw the corpse of her husband, Jimmy. He looked so relaxed. His legs were crossed and he was sitting at his favorite angle on the sofa in the bedroom he shared with her. His left arm lay across his chest. He was still dressed in his favorite green golf shirt and in his right hand he clutched a Kleenex tissue. He looked very peaceful. There was no sign of a struggle. Then she saw the gunshot wound to his left eye and a drop of blood on his mouth.

On the floor was a personal check made out for two hundred and ninety-five dollars. Handwritten notes were sprawled across the coffee table in front of him. They looked like the outline for a speech he was planning to make.

A TV remote sat on the sofa next to Jimmy Grund. His eyeglasses sat on the coffee table. It all had the ring of comfort to it. No struggle. No pain. No anguish.

Susan Grund leaned down to touch him. There was no response. She then called out to him, Jim? Jim? Nothing.

* * *

Its my husband, we just got here, and theres blood on him, Susan Grund explained breathlessly after dialing 911.

She went on to inform the Dukes Memorial Hospital Emergency Room that she had found her husband shot in the bedroom of their house. They had to come quickly.

The hospital immediately contacted the Peru, Indiana, Police Department, which got in touch with the Miami County Sheriffs Department because the Grund house was outside of the city limits.

Downstairs in the basement of the house, Susans seven-year-old daughter Tanelle, and her cousin Andrea had been awoken from their sleepover by the sound of Susan crying and talking on the telephone. They walked up the stairs bleary eyed and asked her what was happening.

At the hospital, the dispatcher heard Susan Grund tell one of the children. Daddys not well right now. Then she spoke softly into the receiver, Oh God, please hurry.

Susan stayed on the line to the dispatcher, opened the front door, and turned on the outside lights to the house and waited in the warm summer night air for the ambulance to appear. The mobile phone was still glued to her ear as the white paramedics vehicle slid to a halt on the gravel-covered drive a few minutes later, at 11:58 P.M.

Dukes Memorial Hospital emergency medical technician Carolyn Shaffer immediately went to the bedroom. As she walked in the room, the first thing she noticed were suitcases sprawled across the bed, then she turned and saw the corpse of Jimmy Grund. She did not need to check his pulse to know he had already gone. But Shaffer went through the motions for the sake of the widow standing next to her. She walked over to the body, checked his dilated pupils and lack of pulse.

Susan Grund stood behind the technician, muttering, Do something, do something.

Your husband is gone, maam, replied Shaffer.

No, no, give him some oxygen and some blood.