Hillside Stranglers
Page 44
As for the trip to Europe, Grogan chose to visit the land of his fathers. He spent a month in Ireland, much of it at a pub in Tipperary called O’Looney’s that was owned by an ex-policeman, cooling down from the Stranglers and sorting out his life, which had been so messed up by his six-year obsession. When he returned, he moved out of his apartment in Glendale, finally breaking connections to the Hillside murders. He drank less. He was almost enjoying life again.
Los Angeles—Tulsa—Dublin, 1981–1986
SOURCES AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
During many months from 1981 through January 1984, I observed court proceedings in the trial of The People v. Angelo Buono. I was also able to examine police reports on Buono and on Kenneth Bianchi and to read the 57,079-page transcript of the trial. I studied as well the nearly two thousand exhibits, including audio tapes and videotapes and written transcripts of police, psychiatrists’, and others’ interviews with Buono and Bianchi and some three hundred witnesses. Two of a Kind derives primarily from these official public records and from my own interviews with people concerned with the case.
Judge Ronald M. George and Sergeant Bob Grogan were of great help to me. Judge George, whom I have known since 1954, when we were high school students together, and who was my roommate at Princeton for four years, would not discuss Angelo Buono’s trial with me until it was finished; but his insistence that the case be tried was what first alerted and attracted me to the subject.
My regard for Sergeant Grogan should be obvious in these pages. I hope I have, as it were, done him justice. In a way I like to think that the portrait of him here is also an oblique tribute to my late grandfather, Daniel J. O’Brien, who was chief of police in San Francisco during the 1920s and who, though less profane, was as admirable a cop as Grogan. The many days and nights I spent with Grogan discussing the Hillside Stranglers will remain with me as bright spots of time along a continuum that was often gloomy.
I am grateful to Patrick MacEntee, S.C., chairman of the Bar Council of the Republic of Ireland, for sharing with me his architectonic perception of the criminal mind and his informed speculations about Buono and Bianchi. His insights, many of which I have borrowed, gave me confidence.
Frank Salerno and Pete Finnigan allowed me to accompany them on visits to Angeles Crest and other stations and provided me with persuasive documents. They were in every way courteous and helpful.
Roger Boren and Michael Nash gave me important truths, helped me to verify facts, and inspired me by their commitment to a just cause.
To Paul Tulleners I must express special gratitude. Without access to his files on the early life of Angelo Buono, I could not have known much of the story of Buono’s childhood and adolescence, nor would many of the details of Buono’s marriages have been known to me.
Because of the restrictions imposed by the attorney-client privilege, I could not interview Gerald Chaleff or Katherine Mader about their client. I am sure they know a great deal more than they can tell.
For ease of access to documents and for other courtesies I am grateful to Lu Gonzalez, Jerry Cunningham, Pete Martinez, Judy Leff, Christopher M. George, Art Acevedo, Frank Fuller, Charline Howell, and Christine Olson.
Writing a book such as this demands the help, practical and intangible, of family and friends.
Molly O’Brien added vivid details and encouragement, and her reaction to the Bianchi psychiatric tapes helped to fashion my treatment of that peculiar episode. She also accompanied and assisted me during the final research and composition.
Suzanne Beesley gave me emotional and intellectual assistance in countless ways. Her insights into human nature, including the author’s, and her unthinking kindnesses will not be forgotten.
My University of Tulsa colleagues Donald Hayden, Gordon Taylor, and Joseph Kestner helped in numerous ways. Without the support of J. Paschal Twyman, president of the university, and Thomas F. Staley, provost, I could not have considered taking on a project that required so much time away. I must thank also Dr. Corinna del Greco Lohner, professor of Italian, for deciphering and interpreting the term mi numi as it appeared in garbled form in police interviews and in Bianchi’s Bellingham diary; and Priscilla Diaz-Dorr, my graduate student, who enlightened me on the subject of the religion of the Numa as she discovered it in Walter Pater’s Marius the Epicurean.
Michaela Hamilton, editorial director of NAL Books, has had much to do with the appearance of this book in its present form. She anticipated errors of proportion from the start and was meticulous in her attention to detail and nuance, without once resorting to nit-picking. She was sensitive to the author’s intentions and proved herself adept at the diplomatic arts. The book has benefited immeasurably from her care, commitment, and literary sophistication.
I am fortunate in having as a literary agent a fiercely loyal friend, Erica Spellman, whose role in the writing and in attendant matters has been exemplary.
D.O’B.
All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.
Copyright © 1985 by Darcy O'Brien
ISBN 978-1-4976-5859-2
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