True Life Crime Told From a Teenage Friend Perspective
Richard Bruns first-hand account of the Pied Piper of Tucson and his friendship with the serial killer Charles Schmid is a thought provoking and fascinating account of a man who at 19 decided to end the trail of terror.
To give a brief history of Charles Schmid, in 1964 decided to murder a girl to see what it felt like. Along with a friend and his girlfriend, they would kill Alison Rowe through strangulation. When another girlfriend threatened him after he broke up with her, he murdered her and her sister. The interesting story about Schmid is that although he was a loner, he was very popular and very flamboyant with his stories of murder within his teenage group with support.
Richard Bruns was a friend with Charles Schmid and this is a very candid memoir about a boy who lived through this torment of a friendship turning bad. The interesting aspect of this is that Bruns, at first enjoyed his friendship with the charismatic Schmid but this soon goes afoul with Schmid slowly decent into darkness.
Whilst reading the book, one has to remind themselves that Richard Bruns was a teenager. The story becomes very involving and there is a matter of fact detailing within the pages which heighten awareness as the story unfolds. The detailing and picture quality found with the pages are stunning to give credence to the overall story but the truth is in the actual narrative. Bruns memoirs are very accomplished considering that he wrote this in 1967. As he didn’t publish the book, until recently with urging from his daughter, I imagine this was written as a sort of therapy for him to get over the tragedy of the situation.
This is well written account of the true story of The Pied Piper of Tucson told from the point of view of a close friend of Schmid. Harrowing, thought provoking and frightening true story crime where the teenagers are involved and the parents are kept in the dark. It shows a community which is being torn apart whilst one man, tries desperately to make the nightmare end and protect his girlfriend whom he is afraid maybe the next victim.
This is a short novel and it did make me yearn for more information. The book does have an appendix which gives an up to date detailing about Schmid and what was to follow. Brun has a written interview also that sheds some light on his situation. For a book that was found mixed in with a box of lost photographs, this still hits one hell of punch. A must read for real true life crime and not the defined accounts of someone who thinks they have the answers that you would normally find in this genre, but a true account from a boy who lived it and survived. Truly remarkable and defining read.
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