Family Of Spiders- Don’t Ask Alice 69

Listen to me as I spin a web,

about things like blood, hate, and death.

Listen good and you may hear,

things that you loath, love and fear.

Give me your time and I’ll tell you some lies,

that you’ll make real until I bleed you dry.

                                                                               Alice Hassey

 

 

Family Of Spiders- Chasing Ghosts 68

   “London Siler was a good man who was looking for justice for his brother. His contributions were invaluable in putting my sister away. He could never prove for certain that Milan didn’t set the fire that killed my mine and Drayton’s family, but investigators were able to trace the gun that he supposedly killed himself with to a victim who Alice is suspected of killing. Like many things with Alice, you couldn’t positively say she did everything she’s accused of, but it’s highly probable. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for him, and so for the next twenty-five years he spent his free time looking into crimes that Alice is suspected of committing. Like you, he listened to her crazy ramblings, as she played the role of me, Drayton, her sister, brother and even him,” Doane said. Detective Plouff looked utterly confused. “That’s right, London would spend hours up here interviewing Alice, as she became him. It’s frightening to listen to someone play you in their parallel world. I remember her actually getting my voice and mannerisms down to the point where if you didn’t see her you would have thought that it was me. She kept sucking London into her sick world until he finally cracked. One day, Alice almost admitted to killing Milan, and London thought he was going to hit the mother lode. Then Alice admitted to killing a young girl in Kentucky, and convinced the DA there to press charges. Unfortunately, just before the trial, a lab tech ran a blood sample on a hunch and it eliminated Alice as the killer. The case fell apart and the real murderer was eventually apprehended. That happened three times to him, and it almost allowed another serial killer to go free. Alice finally told him the last time he came to see her that he had wasted his life chasing ghosts and that there was no way he could get them back. She said that watching him make a fool of himself was worth more than just putting a bullet in his head. He tried to kill her, but the aides pulled him off her and he was sent for evaluation. The DA here dropped the charges and prohibited him from ever talking to Alice again. About a year later he killed himself. I’m not saying that you would suffer the same fate, but why waste your life on someone who wants to suck it out of you? Let this go, and move on with your life.”

   “The best way to deal with Alice is to never talk to her. She can’t hurt you if you don’t listen.”

Family Of Spiders- You Can’t Reason With A Sick Mind 67

   “You see, killing two young boys who held so much promise cast Alice in a very negative light, and all her intellect couldn’t change that she was nothing more than a cold-blooded serial killer who murdered innocent people because she was inadequate. There’s nothing special about her except that she’s able to kill without remorse, and in typical fashion, she created her own little world where everyone else was to blame for her crimes. My mother’s life was cut short by her evil sister, but Alice made her out to be a manipulative criminal because she hated her from when they were children. Mother got out of the house and started a family and lived her own life while Alice remained the confused girl who no one wanted anything to do with.” “Why would she make Brian LaJoie a monster,” Detective Joe Plouff asked, as if I could give him a rational answer. “Don’t ask those questions. They only serve to feed into her madness.” “But what about the families who want closure,” the young detective pleaded. “You’re free to play her game if you like, sir, but this is the last time I’m coming to this place to listen to the rantings of a twisted criminal. If you think you can decipher her gibberish then continue to humor to her, but if you were smart you let this madness go and get on with your life.”

   Detective Plouff had made the trek to the institution for over a year trying to crack Alice’s cryptic nonsense with the hopes of closing several cold cases that have haunted detectives for over four decades. He’s listened, as Alice played the role of my mother, Gil, Doane, and various other characters who have never been identified as real or fictional. Only Alice knows what’s real, but one’s sanity isn’t worth the snippets of information she throws out to keep investigators coming back for more, which keeps her sick world alive. “If we can solve one case than all this is worth it,” Plouff said. “All the time you’ve wasted talking to that lunatic you could have solved several active cases,” I replied. “But do what you want.” Doane walked into the room and asked if I was ready to leave. “Let’s go,” I replied. “Mr. Brookings,” Detective Plouff said. “Yes, sir.” “What really happened to London Siler?” Doane shook his head and then smiled. “Do you really want to know,” Doane said.

Family Of Spiders- Different Voices, One Killer 66

   Brian LaJoie was a spunky seven-year old boy back in 1971, who had a knack for numbers. Despite his special gift, Brian still enjoyed doing boy things, and he never let his skill in math inhibit him from seeing the world through a youngster’s eyes. With his soft blue eyes, blonde hair and angelic face, Brian Lajoie was a beautiful child who would have grown up to look like a teen idol who the girls would swoon over. He was innocence personified.

   Then he met Alice.

   Alice’ fractured mind was fast falling apart and her behavior reflected that. She stopped going to class and spent her nights driving aimlessly around town. She knew eventually the investigators would come asking about all the missing people and unsolved homicides throughout southwest Virginia, and she no longer had the will fight, so when she saw Brian Lajoie and another child named Sean Dillard, walking down the street near her apartment one morning after she had cruised all night, Alice gave in to her grisly temptation.

   Three days later, the bodies of Brian LaJoie and Sean Dillard were found in a wooded area outside of Blacksburg. Two days after that, Alice was apprehended in Ohio. While awaiting extradition back to Virginia, she talked in the voices of her brother, Doane, Gil, and my mother, Carol. She told wild stories about murders that she may or may not have committed. For almost forty years, Alice has spun wild tales in various voices that continue to draw the ear of investigators hoping to close unsolved cases.

   And that’s what keeps her alive.

Family Of Spiders- Coming To An End 65

   Alice was rapidly going through her studies at Virginia Tech, as she set her sights on a physics degree. Her behavior in Blacksburg was surprisingly normal, and her professors extolled her work ethic and willingness to help others. Alice had managed to blend into the academic environment, and not draw unwanted attention to herself. She lived off-campus in a small apartment, and her landlord had nothing but positive things to say about the studious young woman whose natural ability to grasp difficult scientific theories astounded everyone who knew her. Alice’ future look bright.

   Too bad Alice was always stuck in the darkness.

   When the investigators confronted her about the bones they found on her parent’s property, she merely smiled and told them that she had no idea what they were talking about, and if they made any disparaging remarks about her character, she would get a lawyer and sue each of them personally. Alice learned a few things besides math and physics on campus, much to the chagrin of the investigators who were hoping she would crack under pressure. She had put up a tough exterior, but on the inside it was a different story. Alice no longer had the advantage of being anonymous, and with determined investigators looking to put her away, her fragile psyche began to fracture.

   Alice would have a few more months of freedom, and she knew it. She could no longer mask her madness that had consumed her for so many years.

   She needed another world.

Family Of Spiders- Evidence Of Evil 64

   After the fire, Doane spent a couple of weeks in the hospital for smoke inhalation, a broken leg, cracked ribs, and a broken jaw–all incurred when he crashed through the window with me in his arms. Doane had just gotten home from Vietnam, a few weeks earlier after taking a bullet in his left hand, which eventually had to be amputated. It was ironic that all he endured in Vietnam, he almost lost his life at home. “I should have stayed in-country,” Doane bitterly said while in the hospital.

   Upon his release from the hospital, Doane set about to put his sister away, who was finishing up her studies at the community college, and preparing to head to Blacksburg in January. Unfortunately, Doane had no place to stay after his parent’s house burned down, so he came to North Carolina to stay with my grandparents for a while. While there, Doane talked to the sheriff, who promised to talk to someone he knew in the S.B.I., who later told him that Milan Siler was responsible for the fire and that the case was closed. Doane wasn’t convinced, but subsequent illnesses, both physical and mental, delayed his quest for justice.

   Then, in 1971, London Siler came around looking for the same thing, and after raising enough noise, he was able to get the S.B.I. to conduct a search of the property of Doane and Alice’ parent’s , which turned up no human remains, but plenty of animal ones.

   As investigators sifted through the staggering amount of small animals bones that were discovered buried in my maternal grandparent’s property, it was clear that something was horribly wrong. S.B.I. Agent Bryce Koosman suggested that they dig around the property to look for such evidence after he remembered a case while growing up in Minnesota, where the boyhood home of serial killer revealed similar horrors when investigators went digging for evidence. The animals, mostly cats and small dogs, had been tortured and mutilated in every way possible. It wasn’t enough to arrest Alice, but she could no longer roam free without casting suspicion.

   Sadly, it would take two more murders before she was permanently taken out of society forever.

Family Of Spiders- Trapped By the Past 63

   The second half of ’68 proved particularly lethal for the good folks of Southwest Virginia, as Alice roamed the highways, back roads, and dirt trails, looking for unsuspecting victims. Being a small, slight woman who dressed like an unsophisticated farm girl, Alice was able to travel about without raising much suspicion, even though two witnesses described her car, clothing, and general physical features after she murdered an elderly man at a rest stop outside Roanoke. The composite closely resembled her dress, but since the witnesses didn’t get a clear look at her face, the drawing emphasized her clothing, which should have been enough for investigators to question her, but her name never came up and Alice went about her murderous ways.

   In early ’69, Alice enrolled in community college and took courses that didn’t challenge her, but they did satisfy the basic requirements for her to pursue a four-year degree. Naturally, Alice aced the work and enrolled for the summer semester where she continued to breeze through the work. Her advisor at the college recommended that she continue her studies at the community college for the fall semester, and then transfer to Virginia Tech in the spring.

   The Fall of ’69, would prove to be Alice’ undoing, as the fire that killed her parents, brother, sister and brother-in-law, left her suddenly vulnerable and without any allies. The burned remains of her parents house and the surrounding property would reveal the real Alice, two years later.

   Killers always leave something behind for investigators to find, and Alice was no different. She thought she her tracks covered, but like all criminals who think they’ve gotten away with their crimes, Alice overlooked details from her past that came back to trap her.

   Dead things do tell.

Family Of Spiders- Deadly Mobility 62

   In 1968, Alice graduated from high school two years early, which meant that she was able to attend college in the fall. Her academic prowess allowed her to attend the most prestigious universities in the country on a full ride scholarship. Since she excelled in math and science, her guidance counselor in high school recommended Harvard or Stanford, because both universities would have challenged her brilliant mind and opened her horizons beyond Virginia, which was a nice way of saying that it would have gotten her away from her redneck, and intellectually challenged family. It was a recommendation based solely on good intentions, but also one that completely ignored Alice’s glaring shortcomings.

   Despite her dazzling intelligence, Alice was socially retarded and often times said and did embarrassing things that confounded even her unenlightened parents. The idea of Alice mingling with sophisticated kids from upper-class families was absurd–and almost certainly lethal. Her curiosity of the dark side, which her parents mistakenly attributed to an overactive and childish imagination, would have collided with a culture that frowned upon such adolescent immaturity, and it wouldn’t have been long before something bad happened–like murder.

   What also made 1968, so special for Alice was that she turned sixteen and was able to get her license, which made her mobile. It also helped that it was the year Doane was drafted into the military. Alice was now the only child home, and with clueless parents who saw her as a gifted, but awkward teenage girl, Alice was able to roam about satisfying her lust.

   It certainly wasn’t the Summer of Love.

Family Of Spiders- The Conscience Of A Punk 61

   In May, of 1966, the body of nine-year old Amy Lewis was found floating in Cripple Creek, outside of Rural Retreat, Virginia. The autopsy revealed severe head trauma caused by a blunt object, probably a rock, along with numerous scratches and cuts on her body. The young girl had put up a fierce struggle against her attacker, who undoubtedly was surprised by the slightly built child’s ferocity. Blood and skin samples were found underneath her nails, and droplets of blood and strands of hair were scattered along the banks of the creek. Investigators surmised that Amy Lewis’ killer was physically unimposing and lacked physical strength, which pointed to the possibility that the murderer might be another child.

   At the time of Amy Lewis’ murder, Alice lived twenty miles away in Maple Grove, which on the surface would have excluded her as a suspect because of the distance involved. Alice was also not known for being physically active and loathed childhood activities like exploring the outdoors.

   There was one person, however, who thought Alice was the perfect suspect.

   Doane Hassey was sixteen-years old at the time of Amy Lewis’ murder, and was having issues of his own, particularly with his parents, who worried that their younger son was on the fast track to becoming a criminal. It was no secret that Doane was a suspect in several residential break-in’s around the county, and was known for being reckless to the point of being dangerous. Local law enforcement had a particular hard-on for Doane because of his “fuck you” attitude and disregard for authority. Doane was a lot of things in the sixties, but he wasn’t without a conscience, which kicked in a month after Amy Lewis was murdered.

   On the day Amy Lewis’ body was found, which was on a Saturday, Alice’s parents had gone to Roanoke to visit friends, and wouldn’t be back until Sunday. Doane’s friend’s had picked him up that morning to go to Bristol, which left Alice home alone–with a car. Gil, who was in the military at the time, had left his 1960 Ford Falcon at home, which his father had promised to keep up. Alice wasn’t old enough to drive, but that wouldn’t have stopped her from her compulsion to kill, and when Doane recalled the incident at Hooper’s Mill, three years earlier, he told his parents what he thought.  Unfortunately, Doane’s lousy reputation along with his parents indignation that he would even suggest something that horrible led to a family fight, which caused Doane to runaway–and Alice to do what she pleased.

   Like kill.

Family Of Spiders- The Dark Heart Of A Child 60

   “I’d like to see how an autopsy is performed,” Alice told Deputy Toles, who looked at the eleven-year old in disbelief. “I know they cut the body open and look for clues about how the person died. Leonard drowned, so they must have found water in his lungs. I’ve heard that drowning is a peaceful way to die once you get over the fear that you’re going to die, but that’s just what I heard,” Alice continued.

   At twenty-years old, and only a few months experience in law enforcement, Deputy Early Toles was certainly unprepared for what he encountered in July, of 1963. Like most young men who go into law enforcement, he had his ideas of what a criminal looked like. They were rough-looking men who lived lives of violent desperation, not eleven-year old girls with a morbid interest in death. “She made my blood run cold,” Early told Deputy Siler. “I looked in her eyes and saw no emotion whatsoever. It was like she was talking about sweeping the floor or taking out the trash. I wondered how such a young girl could be so jaded.” “Do you think she killed that boy,” Siler asked. “I didn’t want to think so at first, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I probably let a killer go free. I should have called in one of the detectives, but in my mind, eleven-year old girls don’t commit murder,” Early replied. “That’s understandable,” Siler said. “I found out a few weeks later that the reason she and her brothers were at their grandparents house was because there was a fire at their home in Virginia. I never got an explanation about how the fire got started, but it sure seems suspicious now,” Early said. “There was another fire six years later that killed six people,” Siler told Early. “Is that why you’re here,” Early asked. “Partly, but the real reason is I think she killed my brother.”

   “Oh my God,” Early replied.