True Crime

By Alan Gold

     ”True Crime” is a fictional account of a true horrific event. This story is based on the 1997 murders of Gabriella Goza, 26, and Frank Nimz, 36, found shot to death on a beach in Seaside, Oregon. They were slain by Jesse McAllister and Bradley Price, a pair with a fascination for the Truman Capote movie In Cold Blood. McAllister and Price were eventually captured and sentenced to life in prison. The book is loosely based on these original facts.

    Reporter Lou Tedesco works for a small weekly paper and is in the town of Seagirt, Oregon, hoping to cover the opening of a new movie theater. Just as he arrives, the news breaks that two young people have been murdered on the beach. Lou’s interest is intensified when he finds evidence connected to the case the police had missed. The police, however, are not thrilled with his continual interference and don't take him seriously.

   Lou meets the mother of one of the victims and makes a promise he intends to keep. He busily interviewing friends of the deceased, he follows a steady stream of clues. Apparently, the townspeople have much to share or hide.

   While I was initially dismayed to find a fictional account of a real murder, the story it self can stand on its own without that connection. Lou is the kind of character you'd want to know and the kind you know would keep that promise to someone’s mother.