Thursday, April 01, 1999
Writer makes case for murder book
BY JIM KNIPPENBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Nothing like a good murder to spice up this April Fools' Day morning, says George Stimson, author of Cincinnati Crime Book (Peasenhall Press; $16.95).
In the book, the Cincinnati native now living in California reviews 13 of the most notorious Tristate murder cases and murderers of the past 100 years; such as:
• Edythe Klumpp, sentenced to death (later commuted) for murdering her boyfriend's wife in 1958.
• The murder of socialite Audrey Pugh and the sensational trial of meter reader Robert Lyons, found not guilty, in 1956.
• Anna Marie Hahn, the first woman executed in Ohio (1938), for murdering at least four elderly men.
• Drake Hospital serial killer Donald Harvey (1987).
• The Cincinnati Strangler (1965-67).
• The unsolved murders of Jerry, Linda and Deborah Bricca (1966).
Crime was researched through newspapers and court records. “A memory jogger” Stimson calls it, on Cincinnati's darker moments.
Hmmm. Maybe we need to ask him a few questions. Say, some fill-in-the blanks types beginning with . . .
The one element a really good murder needs . . .
“Something twisted, a catch that takes it out of the realm of the humdrum killing. A wife killing her husband for money? Boring. You need more intrigue. You need something odd about how they did it or really bizarre reasons for doing it.”
My favorite case here is . . .
“I thought about that and never came up with an answer. Some are more interesting than others, but none is a way-in-front favorite.”
My least favorite is . . .
“Oh, that's easy. Della Sutorius (1996). I know she interests a lot of people, but it's just a wife killing a husband. I don't think the Black Widow title is appropriate . . . all her exes are alive but one.
I'm not crazy about the Harvey case either. I mean, it's just a story about mercy killing (the nurse's aide pleaded guilty to killing 37 patients at local hospitals). He's prolific, but he's just a mercy killer.”
From an insider's view, the most heinous one is . . .
“They all are, but I guess the most is the Bricca case, because whoever did it is still out there. And because of the little girl (4-year-old Deborah) who was murdered. Such a waste.”
One thing I learned writing this book . . .
“Is that Cincinnati is fascinating any way you look at it, but it has an especially great criminal history.”
If anyone in the book was unjustly convicted, it was . . .
“Edythe Klumpp. I don't think she was railroaded, but I do think she got a raw deal. Nor do I doubt her complicity in the crime, but it certainly wasn't enough for the death penalty.”
The reaction I most often get to all this murder . . .
“Has been positive. People enjoy a memory jogger, and most people here grew up hearing about these cases but never looking into them. The reaction has been that the book is good for recall and good for bringing readers up to speed.”
The one thing I really regret about doing this book . . .
“I can't think of anything to say. I enjoyed it too much. The research, driving around to the crime scenes, looking at places that people drive by 100 times a year without knowing what happened there.
If I could have added a 14th case, it would have been . . . ”
“I don't know for sure. Probably Joseph Franklin, the guy who killed two boys in Avondale. I kind of understand murder, but senseless hate, I don't get it.”
What I'm proudest of . . .
“I feel good that I personally like the book. I don't know if that's pride, but it's the best I have.”
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
Psst! appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Have an item to report? Call Jim Knippenberg at 768-8513; fax: 768-8330.
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