We Keep the Dead Close

by Becky Cooper

  31 the day in November 2005: Consent for Saliva Sample signed by RMG, MSP form, Nov. 9, 2005.

  32 sent the sample: Letter from Lynne Sarty (MSP Crime Lab) to Bode Technology Group, Jan. 10, 2006.

  33 Bode sent its Forensic Case Report: Forensic Case Report, Bode Technology Group, Inc., Feb. 6, 2006.

  2018: Something Has Been Settled

  1 Conversation with Don Mitchell took place on July 31, 2018.

  Stephen Loring

  1 When I reached Stephen Loring again: Interview with Stephen Loring in 2017.

  Monte Alto

  1 Stephen Loring had done well enough: This chapter is primarily from interviews with Stephen Loring in 2017, but also the Monte Alto field photos and notebooks (Edwin Shook, the field director, was an astonishingly thorough note taker) in the Peabody Archives and “Archaeological Research in Western Guatemala,” Peabody Museum Newsletter, p. 4.

  2 Stephan de Borhegyi, had died: “Dr. Stephan F. de Borheygi,” Milwaukee Public Museum website.

  3 the ocean-blue International Travelall: Interview with Gene Paull in 2018.

  4 where the volcanoes are up so high: Interview with Gene Paull in 2018.

  5 Monte Alto had been part of the early development: Interview with Richard Rose in 2017.

  6 [Photo]: Photograph by Lee Parsons, courtesy Richard Rose.

  7 Much of the two hours back: Ed Shook’s 1969–1970 field notebook, 969-48-00/1, Monte Alto Expedition Records 1969–1971, Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University.

  Stephen Loring, Continued

  1 “I mean he didn’t say he did it”: This chapter is from interviews with Stephen Loring in 2017.

  2 If true, this would mean: Again, I have not found any evidence that the lie detector test questions or results still exist, so I have not been able to verify this statement.

  Chatter in Cambridge

  1 “I’ve been concerned about something”: CPD-JC, pp. 3–4.

  2 Lee Parsons’s Primitive Art class: Tracks with CPD-LP 1 and Jane Britton’s Radcliffe student file.

  3 Boston Globe ran a cover story: “‘Gift’ Rock May Be Cambridge Death Weapon,” Boston Globe, Jan. 9, 1969.

  4 On January 13, the Daily News: “Murder Quiz Finds Jane Had Abortion,” Daily News, Jan. 13, 1969.

  5 like graduate student Frances Nitzberg: Frances Nitzberg interview transcript, Jan. 12, 1969, 3:15–4:25 p.m. (CPD file).

  6 wandering the streets of Cambridge drunk: CPD-JC, p. 13.

  7 Karl Lamberg-Karlovsky said: CPD-CCLK 2, p. 21.

  8 Richard Meadow told police when he was pressed: CPD-RM, p. 41.

  9 “[One of the Peabody secretaries] told me”: Letter from Sally Nash to Don and Jill Mitchell, Oct. 17, 1969.

  10 she shook in her chair: Philippa Shaplin CPD interview transcript, Jan. 14, 1969, 12:47–5:00 p.m., p. 17.

  Anne Moreau

  1 Noah Savett, the other: I have since located Noah Savett, but he hasn’t responded to a request for comment.

  2 The road trip down to Guatemala: Per Monte Alto photos and field notebooks in the Peabody Archive.

  3 Lee had been contacted by the Cambridge Police: Ed Shook wrote that they drove into Guatemala City so Lee could phone the Cambridge police on Mar. 10, 1969 (Ed Shook’s 1968–1969 field notebook, p. 83).

  4 gaps in his attendance on the site: Ed Shook’s 1968–1969 field notebook. Parsons’s notebook is not in the Peabody Archive.

  5 track down a copy of Lee’s lie detector test: The administrator of the second round of lie detector tests, Leonard Harrelson, had passed away, but I tracked down Terry Ball (of Ball & Gillespie Polygraph) who now owns some of Harrelson’s equipment; Ball and Harrelson had been friends. I asked Ball if he had inherited any of Harrelson’s old tests, and he replied that it was too expensive for lie detector administrators to keep records beyond the required window, which used to be five years. Now, it’s three.

  6 Conti…said he remembered Lee Parsons’s name: Email from Richard Conti, May 3, 2017, 4:54 p.m.

  7 she was born in 1932: Public birth records.

  8 discovered cosmic radio waves: “Karl Jansky and the Discovery of Cosmic Radio Waves,” National Radio Astronomy Observatory website.

  9 I caught her as she: The rest of this chapter is from my interview with Anne Moreau in 2017.

  Last Will and Testament of Lee Allen Parsons

  1 [Photo]: Last Will and Testament of Lee Allen Parsons: Broward County Comm. 33862, signed Dec. 30, 1992.

  Confession Chain

  1 I had written Jill Nash: Letter to Jill Nash, May 26, 2017.

  2 in the final email she sent me: Email from Jill Nash, June 2, 2017, 1:11 p.m.

  3 Once I emailed Olga: Email to Olga Stavrakis, June 5, 2017, 8:44 a.m.

  4 we were on the phone together: The rest of this chapter is from this 2017 interview unless otherwise noted.

  5 I contacted Joyce Marcus immediately: Email to Joyce Marcus, June 5, 2017, 11:05 a.m.

  6 graduated from Harvard with a PhD in 1974: “Crimson Compass,” Harvard Alumni Database.

  7 an archaeologist at the University of Michigan: Joyce Marcus page on the University of Michigan’s Department of Anthropology website.

  8 “rumors and even weird drunken confessions”: Email from Joyce Marcus, June 5, 2017, 6:23 p.m. When my checker reached out to confirm this statement, Professor Marcus sought to clarify her quote. She wrote that “the rumors I heard in the 1970s came from a few people who knew Jane, i.e. they were NOT confessions from a few people.” However, Olga Stravrakis was not the only person to tell me that Lee had confessed to Joyce Marcus; David Freidel also told me this in a 2017 interview.

  How Odd and Strange

  1 When Jill saw Jane the afternoon after the Incense Night: In Jill’s 2020 response to her checking memo, she wrote, “I didn’t know Jane took diet pills.” However, in 1969, she had told police, “She’d also had these diet pills that she had gotten so she wouldn’t get fat again after she came back from Iran, and I think she had been taking one because she was very, you know, sparkling sort of” (CPD-JM 2, p. 49).

  2 Jane told Jill that after she and Don had left: CPD-JM 2, p. 49.

  3 Jim had been away for most of the semester: CPD-JH; CPD-RM.

  4 “how odd and strange”: CPD-JM 2, p. 49.

  5 when Lee visited a married couple: CPD-JM 2, p. 42.

  6 something else had happened that night that Jane: CPD-JM, p. 50.

  Who Is the Ghost Here

  1 “I don’t think of Lee as an evil person”: Interview with Stephen Loring in 2017.

  2 Bank of America…Elsie’s: “Spicy Variety of Restaurants Flavors Tour,” Wellesley News, May 4, 1967.

  3 the wurst of all possible houses…Jane’s “ankle biters”: Interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  4 “The sleepwalkers are coming awake”: Adrienne Rich, “When We Dead Awaken: Writing as Re-Vision,” College English 32, no. 1, Women, Writing, and Teaching (Oct. 1972): 18–30.

  5 one of the few all-women’s ones: In 2017, the Harvard Corporation approved social group sanctions, barring members of single-gender final clubs and Greek organizations from leadership positions, prestigious fellowships, and varsity captaincies. In 2018, the last of the all-female final clubs announced their plan to go co-ed: “Harvard Is without All-Female Social Groups after Last Three Holdouts Agree to Go Co-Ed,” Harvard Crimson, Aug. 24, 2018. While some of the all-male clubs have voted to go co-ed as well, others filed state and federal lawsuits. On June 29, 2020, following the Supreme Court decision in Bostock v. Clayton County, Harvard University president Bacow announced that the university would drop its social group sanctions.

  Toronto

  1 The next morning, I wrote down Jim’s name: This scene took place on Sept. 14, 2017.

  November 1968

  1 yank hard to open her door: Per CPD-JM 2, p. 9, Jane locked her door when she went home for Thanksgiving, and per CPD-JM 1, p. 22, closing it required a “m
onumental effort,” so presumably the same applied to opening it.

  2 The wood had swollen and warped: CPD-JM 2, p. 9.

  3 Sincerely Yours: Jane’s journal entry, Aug. 1, 1968.

  4 “Maybe you could compromise”: Jane’s journal entry, Aug. 1, 1968.

  5 Dear Jane, Jim’s letter began: Letter from Jim Humphries to Jane, Nov. 27, 1968; date from Bill Rathje’s police transcript, when he says that he visited Jim in Toronto the Monday before Thanksgiving, and stayed at his house for two nights (CPD-WR, p. 10).

  6 sweeping her off the street: Letter from Jane to her parents, July 14, 1968.

  7 He had bought her flowers at 5:30: Letter from Jane to Elisabeth Handler, July 27, 1968.

  8 “Should have been my old wary self”: Letter from Jane to Jim Humphries, June 4, 1968 (CPD file).

  9 taken a day trip to Oxford: Scene from letter from Jane to her parents, June 12, 1968; letter from Jane to Boyd, June 21, 1968; letter from Jane to Brenda Bass, July 4, 1968; letter from Jane to her parents, July 14, 1968; and Jane’s journal entries.

  10 “Ah to be in London + in love”: Letter from Jane to her parents, June 12, 1968.

  11 a piece of tarnished silver that had just gotten polished: Jane’s journal entry, June 14/15, 1968.

  12 “The thing about this one is that he’s real”: Letter from Jane to her parents, June 12, 1968.

  13 “God, this drivel I’m pouring out!”: Letter from Jane to her parents, June 12, 1968.

  14 “And all this time”: Here to end of paragraph, Jane’s journal entry, June 14/15, 1968.

  15 He had said he didn’t want to be alone anymore: Letter from Jane to Brenda Bass, July 4, 1968.

  16 He had said he really loved her: Letter from Jane to her parents, June 12, 1968.

  17 felt like the girl bunny in Pogo: Here to end of paragraph, Jane’s journal entry, June 14/15, 1968.

  Jim Humphries

  1 figure silhouetted by the window: Jim Humphries did not participate in the fact-checking process of the book.

  Jane’s Last Day

  1 since just after Christmas: Jim was back in time to go to a New Year’s party with Jane (CPD-JH, p. 44).

  2 Bill Rathje, who had been with Jim: Description from CPD-WR, pp. 12–13.

  3 when Jane dropped by her friend Ingrid’s place: CPD-IK, p. 49.

  4 Even Sarah Lee Irwin: CPD-SLI, p. 24.

  5 Jim arranged dinner at the Acropolis: CPD-WR & KD, p. 3, p. 6.

  6 Richard Meadow, Kent Day, and Bill Rathje: CPD-WR & KD, CPD-RM.

  7 in a coat and tie and the maroon rugby sweater: CPD-JH, p. 43.

  8 he wore when he skated: CPD-RM, p. 14.

  9 Jim left his skates by the cigarette machine: CPD-RM, p. 54.

  10 Rathje had agreed to pick up Kent and Jane: CPD-WR & KD, p. 7.

  11 yelled down at him from the stairwell: CPD-WR, p. 5; CPD-JM 2, p. 35; CPD-DM p. 24.

  12 She had been napping: CPD-DM p. 23.

  13 get some London broil: CPD-DM p. 23. London broil detail is from interview with Don Mitchell in 2017.

  14 she hated that buzzer: CPD-DM pp. 23–24.

  15 went out of his apartment to talk to Jane: Here to “offer any more details” from CPD-DM, p. 24.

  16 “Here I am. Let’s go,” Jane said: CPD-WR, p. 5.

  17 wearing a skirt and her auburn fur coat: CPD-WR, p. 8; CPD-JH, p. 43.

  18 Her mood eased over the course of dinner: CPD-WR, p. 5; CPD-WR & KD, p. 10.

  19 split a bottle of retsina: CPD-JH, p. 75; CPD-WR & KD, p. 3.

  20 made a point to avoid talking about Generals: CPD-WR, p. 6.

  21 Jane looked happiest, Rathje noticed: CPD-WR & KD, p. 10.

  22 when they split off at 7:30 p.m.: CPD-WR & KD, p. 4.

  23 Richard to his girlfriend’s place: CPD-RM, pp. 47–48.

  24 Rathje and Kent home to watch TV: CPD-WR & KD, p. 4.

  25 Jim and Jane to walk by themselves: CPD-RM, p. 47.

  26 Jim checked to make sure Jane still felt like skating: CPD-JH, p. 42.

  27 could change out of her skirt and grab her skates: CPD-JH, p. 43.

  28 Jim waited in the kitchen: CPD-JH, p. 44.

  29 thought to himself, At least she’ll be okay for tomorrow: CPD-JH, p. 32.

  30 blue ski parka instead: CPD-JH, p. 87.

  31 It wasn’t a cold night: CPD-JH, p. 43.

  32 They only skated for twenty minutes: CPD-JH, p. 18.

  33 A pint of beer sounded like a better idea: CPD-JH, p. 85.

  34 around 10:30 p.m., a little sleet was coming down: CPD-JH, pp. 18, 57.

  35 she made hot cocoa while Jim kept her company in the kitchen: CPD-JH, p. 34.

  36 Then they sat on her bed: CPD-JH, p. 35.

  37 metal enamel mugs: CPD-JH, p. 31.

  38 to smoke four cigarettes: CPD-JH, p. 89.

  39 had clouded back over: CPD-JH, p. 85.

  40 “She would get very depressed”: CPD-IK, p. 53.

  41 about the exams and about Iran: CPD-JH, p. 16.

  42 Jane said she would drive him home: CPD-JH, p. 24.

  43 Jim liked the cold air after: CPD-JH, p. 56.

  44 Jane said she wanted to start her car anyway: CPD-JH, pp. 56–57.

  45 He kissed Jane good night: CPD-JH, p. 85.

  46 lugging his skates in the pouring rain: CPD-JH, pp. 32, 94.

  47 still in her slacks and sweater: CPD-DM, p. 26.

  48 “Have you got my cat?”: CPD-DM, p. 25.

  49 Jane sat on the floor, and Don poured her a small glass of sherry: CPD-DM, p. 26.

  50 Richard Meadow heard Jim walk in: CPD-RM, p. 20.

  51 hoping that Jim would be back by that time: CPD-RM, p 20.

  52 about eight inches apart: CPD-RM, p. 22.

  53 Jim slept on the one near the window: CPD-RM, p. 22.

  54 Jim took off his coat and hung it in the closet: Here to “walked into the bedroom,” CPD-RM, p. 31.

  55 Meadow was in bed reading: CPD-RM, p. 20.

  56 Jim was soaked: CPD-RM, p. 31.

  57 “Where have you been?” Richard asked: CPD-JH, p. 90.

  58 “Over cheering up Jane”: CPD-JH, p. 90.

  59 “It is a rather thankless task, isn’t it?”: CPD-RM, p. 32.

  60 Jim didn’t answer: CPD-RM, p. 32.

  61 He dried himself off and changed into his pajamas: CPD-JH, p. 13.

  62 Jane didn’t appear to be in a hurry: CPD-DM, p. 31.

  63 she was vague about who she’d been out with: CPD-DM, p. 27.

  64 Don didn’t press: CPD-DM, p. 28.

  65 When she finished her glass: Here through “I think I’ll go to bed,” CPD-DM, p. 31.

  66 Jane took her cat, and Don saw her to the door: CPD-DM, p. 28.

  67 Jill wished her good luck and said she’d see her tomorrow: CPD-JM 1, p. 20.

  68 “If I don’t remember tomorrow”: Exchange from CPD-RM, p. 22.

  Richard Rose

  1 “a guy whose last name was Rose”: Interview with Parker Donham in 2014.

  2 heartfelt thank-you email: Email from Parker Donham, Oct. 29, 2016, 3:17 p.m.

  3 I’d called Merri Swid: Interview with Merri Swid in 2017.

  4 a detective had come out: “Added Information Re: Jane Britton Murder Case,” prepared by Steven A. Obartuck of the MSP is consistent with Merri’s memory: Det. Lts. John Burns and Obartuck spoke with Richard Rose and Merri Swid in Bolton on May 21, 1969 (MSP file).

  5 Richard, indeed, was alive: Interview with Richard Rose in 2017.

  6 When I first arrived at the Roses’ house: This scene took place on Sept. 29, 2017.

  7 dozens of cigarette butts: Don Mitchell interview transcript with Sgt. Sennott, July 17, 2017, p. 181 (MSP file).

  8 According to Elisabeth Handler, Jane loved her Gauloises: Interview with Elisabeth Handler in 2017.

  9 The next day we clicked through slides: The last two scenes took place on Sept. 30, 2017.

  10 [Photo]: Photograph by Richard Rose.

/>   City Island

  1 This scene took place on Aug. 9, 2017.

  2 “to make the world safe for human differences”: It is common, but somewhat controversial, to attribute this quote to Ruth Benedict, as it doesn’t turn up in her collected writings. She did, however, write upon the death of her mentor, Franz Boas, that, “He believed the world must be made safe for differences” Charles King, Gods of the Upper Air: How a Circle of Renegade Anthropologists Reinvented Race, Sex, and Gender in the Twentieth Century (New York: Doubleday, 2019).

  January 14, 1969: Lee Parsons Police Interrogation

  1 This chapter comprises excerpts of CPD-LP 1 and CPD-LP 2, which have been merged in places for clarity and concision. As always, the edits were made with the goal to preserve the spirit of the original.

  Will You Accept This

  1 I got an email from Alice Kehoe: Email from Alice Kehoe, Sept. 22, 2017, 6:30 p.m.

  2 She’s a delight, he’d said: Interview with Stephen Loring in 2017.

  3 On the phone, she asked: The rest of this chapter is from this 2017 interview with Alice Kehoe unless otherwise noted.

  4 Anne, begged him to get a contract: In 2020, Anne Moreau said that she did not remember that Lee had not signed a contract. What she remembered more clearly was that the Kehoes had warned Lee Parsons about Stephen Williams: They’d said that he should not be trusted.

  January 14, 1969: Lee Parsons Police Interrogation, Continued

  1 Excerpt of CPD-LP 2.

  July 31, 2018: Stop the Fairy Land

  1 There’s an email from him: Email from Don Mitchell, July 31, 2018, 2:08 a.m.

  August 16, 2018: Boyd’s Birthday Eve