As some of you know, I like to listen to audio books while I'm doing my house and yard work and going on my walk/runs. I started a book a few days ago that I found very interesting, but I had been interrupted a number of times and was just a little confused as to who the characters were. I thought I'd get on the internet and do a search for the author and see if there was a site that could help me figure out who was whom. I did a Google search and found a site with an intriguing lead in. It stated that the author was a prolific writer as well as a convicted murderer. That caught my attention and I clicked on it and started to read. The writer had been very ill as a child and had been sent several places for her health. When she was about 14 she was in New Zealand where her father was a professor. She made friends with another young girl there. They became close, so close in fact that both parents were worried about their relationship. The author's parents decided to take her back to England. Her friend wanted to go with them but her mother was against it. They were both very mad and figured the way to solve the problem was to kill the friend's mother. They went for a walk in a secluded area and hit her over the head with a brick in a sock. The author was 14 and her friend 15 and they foolishly thought one blow would do it and they could claim the mother fell and hit her head. It turned out they had to hit her a number of times before she died and it was quite obvious she hadn't fallen. The defense tried to prove the author was a schizophrenic and her friend was also insane. The jury didn't buy it and they were sent to prison. Because they were under 18 they only had to serve five years. One of the conditions of their imprisonment and release was that they never have contact with one another again.
While that may be shocking enough, I continued reading and found out that the author had become a stewardess in New York and then moved to California. While she was there she joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. She has written two LDS themed books and has been a member for over 40 years. The LDS books are Tathea and Come Armageddon. As far as I can tell, she never married.
The whole story kind of turned my stomach and for awhile, I didn't think I would be able to read any more of her books. I don't know how she could have been baptized, but then I realized, I'm not her judge. The beautiful thing about the gospel and the atonement is that there is the opportunity for repentance and that Christ will be the judge. I would be interested in knowing what some of your thoughts are about this true story.
3 comments:
That is disturbing! She definitely would have needed special permission to be baptized. What are her books like?? I guess it just goes to show that there is hope for anyone to accept the gospel!
Don't hate the book because the author made a mistake when she was very young and immature. obviously she has changed. hate the sin, not the sinner. but yes, that is really disturbing and I think I would have a hard time following my own advice.
Even though they are juveniles, I think they're perfectly aware of the evil they did and should be treated no different from adults in cases like this. That's very odd, considering that murder is something that cannot be forgiven. You have to suffer for that sin on your own. This is the one area we can judge, and the reason capital punishment is approved of by the Lord. On the other hand, maybe she wasn't the one who actually killed the mother, maybe it was her friend, that's something we don't know and I suppose we should put aside, especially if she was permitted to be baptized into the church. She is alive and we should still treat her as a child of God.
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