Poking a Dung Pile

A Spike Some might ask, "Have you tried to reach out to any of those interviewed for the podcast?"  I have.  A few months ago, I reached out to someone through social media. I began by asking if I'd contacted the right person.  I was told I had, and this person would answer any questions they could. I then sent a list of questions to them.  I've not received a reply. What did I ask?  Here is a list of some of the questions:    1. Did Greg know Bo before the night of the murders?  If so then how long had they known each other? 2. Did you know Jim Prew, Paul Harter, Chris Campbell, or Robbie Van Heest? 3. Can you think of anything that wasn't included in the podcast that should have been? Again, these are just some of the questions.  I've not followed up after sending them because it's not in my nature to pester people outside of a classroom.  People have busy lives.  And no, I didn't try to reach out to anyone else. Given that the interviews in the po

Clip from the January 29, 1984 Santa Cruz Sentinel I came across this notice while scanning stories the other day.  Here's a link to NamUs .

  Obtained this today. (Compare this photo with the one I posted earlier. )

  Recently, I've learned a little bit more about Mary Gioia, the Deadhead scene near Santa Cruz, and those who existed on the margins of that community.   A "tour rat" who'd arrived in California about a month and a half before the murders kindly shared this information.  This person remembers Mary as having visited Greyhound Rock/Davenport Beach a few times.  Mary was "full of life"--"incredibly vivacious and radiant."  Her "beauty and strong spirit" turned heads and attracted the guys' attention. I'd formed my own impressions about Mary after reading her mother's book and the snippets of information that Mary communicated in her letters and phone calls.  I'd imagined that there were things about Mary that her mother didn't know about, and that her decision to go on tour was one of those things.  My source has challenged that image, explaining to me how Mary was "different," as not being involved "in th

"So yeah it's just a big question mark.  It wasn't until two weeks ago this all came up, you know, when I saw that you were starting this podcast.  It was the first time I knew the person's name--Ralph International Thomas--the man that was convicted for the murders." ("Robert"  Dead and Gone.  Episode 3 "The Human Condition") What's that old saying?  Don't let the facts get in the way of a good story?  Or in the way of a good conspiracy theory?  I'm going to circle back to this quote... Two pieces of satire poked my ego during the past few weeks.  The first jab came as I was reading Ed Watt's novel  U.S. Blues .  The second came as I listened to a parody of true crime podcasts from Onion Public Radio called A Very Fatal Murder .   U.S. Blues The plot of Watts's novel begins with the murder of a taper at one of the Alpine shows in '85.  The protagonist, Peter Van de Carr, is an aging Deadhead who decides to investigate