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  It felt very rewarding to get such an extraordinary degree of cooperation from Carol’s family and close friends. I am especially grateful to Katherine Morris, Debbie Wren Hill and Ruth Kennedy for giving me the backstory of Carol and Steve’s relationship, and for helping me illustrate how its dynamics—and Steve’s personality—evolved as he earned and spent more money, up until the day she was murdered. Like me, they wanted Carol and her spirit to be remembered in a case that has been so centered on Steve. I know that rehashing some of this was difficult for them, and I am thankful that they helped me capture her and her words. I also am grateful for the contributions of Sturgis Robinson, who gave me some crucial insights into Steve’s character. The conversations and events these folks re-created for me were approximated from memory, which I cross-checked with official sources wherever possible.

  I want to thank all the other people who gave me interviews or helped me gather photos, documents and information. I send a special nod to Sue Willoughby, who first sent me news articles informing me of this fascinating case, then later took some photos for the book. She’d originally contacted me after reading my book Dead Reckoning, which features two other murder victims from Prescott: Tom and Jackie Hawks. A retired Yavapai County probation officer, Tom owned Matt’s Saloon, a bar on Whiskey Row near Van Gogh’s Ear and across the street from the courthouse, where I had a drink in the Hawkses’ memory during my research trip for this book.

  Because Prescott is such a small town and the college was such a microcosm, privacy was a concern for some of the people I interviewed, as well as some interviewed by law enforcement, so I used a number of pseudonyms in this book, which are noted in the text.

  Big thanks also go to: Les Stukenberg, Michelle Madigan Herman, Jakob Trierweiler, Tina Fenton, Shelly Bacon, Penny Cramer, Sheila Polk, Mike Sechez, Jeff Paupore, Sally and Casey Ober, Sandy Moss, Joanne Frerking, John Lutes, Clayton Heath, Ken Morley, Dan Spencer, Julie Bull, Bonnie Manko, Rick Debruhl, Deborah Koff-Chapin, Ken Korn, Jack Nathan, Janice DeMocker, Carole and Chris Scott, Sharon Whitley Larson and Géza Keller.

  Also much thanks to my agent, Peter Rubie, as well as to Michaela Hamilton and Karen Auerbach at Kensington, and to photographer Joel Ortiz.

  Five-year-old Carol Kennedy and her mother, Ruth, in 1959. (Photo by A.G. Kennedy)

  Carol and her brother, John, on his high-school graduation day in 1970. (Photo by A.G. Kennedy)

  Married in 1982, Carol Kennedy and Steve DeMocker were very much in love and considered each other “soul mates.”

  (Photo by Debbie Wren Hill)

  Carol hiking in Ojai, California, around 1985, before she and Steve had children.

  (Photo by Debbie Wren Hill)

  Prescott College, where Steve earned a bachelor’s degree, taught sociology and went on to become dean. Carol taught Yoga Psychology and Dream Work there as well.

  (Photo by author)

  Steve holding their first daughter, Katie, as an infant in Prescott.

  (Photo by Debbie Wren Hill)

  In 1992, Steve built a small hay bale house on Bridle Path, which later became the guesthouse.

  (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  Carol designed the main house on Bridle Path, into which the family of four had moved by 1997.

  (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  A majestic view of Granite Mountain from Williamson Valley Road, about a mile from the house. (Photo by Sue Willoughby)

  Carol worked in sales and also showed her own art at Van Gogh’s Ear gallery on Whiskey Row. (Photo by author)

  Just before her death, Carol gathered some of her artwork in preparation for a garage sale. (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  Carol and her close friend and former student, Katherine Morris, spoke by phone just hours before Carol was murdered.

  (Photo by Jason Hales)

  Ruth and John Kennedy flew in from Nashville to attend the ceremony.

  (Photo by Katherine Morris)

  A private celebration of Carol’s life, just for friends and family, was held in Sedona.

  (Photo by Katherine Morris)

  Sheriff’s detectives said they found bike tire imprints and shoe prints similar to Steve’s on the ranch land side of this Glenshandra Drive trailhead.

  (Photo by Sue Willoughby)

  Close-up of the barbed-wire fence, gate and decomposed granite sand at the Glenshandra trailhead.

  (Photo by Sue Willoughby)

  Steve claimed he went riding on a different trail, here at the end of Love Lane, two miles west of the house.

  (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  Authorities said Steve put his bike in some bushes, stepped over this gate, which he’d built to keep out wild animals, and entered Carol’s house. (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  The front and rear tires of Steve’s trail bike had different treads. He said the rear got a flat the night of the murder.

  (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  The defense argued that Steve’s bike tires were a very common brand and model: the WTB (Wilderness Trail Bike) VelociRaptor. (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  Sheriff’s detectives bought a golf club similar to what was believed to be the murder weapon: a Callaway Big Bertha Steelhead III #7. (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  Steve gave his Big Bertha club cover to his first attorney, John Sears, to secure. Sears held onto it until Steve was arrested.

  (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  Investigators could tell from the blood spatter pattern around this ladder and on some bookshelves that they’d been moved after Carol was killed.

  (Photo by Rich Robertson)

  Carol’s former tenant, Jim Knapp, was found fatally shot in this closet six months after her murder. Authorities ruled it a suicide.

  (Photo by Prescott Police Department)

  The courthouse in downtown Prescott, across from Whiskey Row.

  (Photo by author)

  Judge Thomas Lindberg collapsed from a brain tumor in June 2010, just a week into the first trial, and had to step down.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier)

  Prosecutor Joe Butner was lead counsel during the first trial. He later retired and became a judge.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  FBI forensic examiner Eric Gilkerson said the Pikes Peak was one of three models of La Sportiva athletic shoes that “could have made” the imprints found by investigators.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  Yavapai County Attorney Sheila Polk’s office was effectively put on trial in the “Docugate” scandal, which delayed the second trial for about a year.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  Yavapai County Sheriff Scott Mascher testified that Steve asked if he was a suspect even before Carol’s death was deemed a homicide.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  Medical Examiner Philip Keen was criticized for transporting Carol’s body to Phoenix in the back of his pickup truck.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  Steve’s mother, Janice “Jan” DeMocker, was granted immunity before testifying about the transfer of Carol’s life insurance money to pay Steve’s first defense team.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  Prosecutor Jeff Paupore used the “exemplar” golf club and a rolled-up rug to reenact Carol’s fatal beating during his dramatic closing argument.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  Steve’s second defense team: Attorneys Craig Williams (from left) and Greg Parzych, and investigator Rich Robertson.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier)

  Judge Gary E. Donahue presided over the second trial and sentencing.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/The Daily Courier)

  Steve DeMocker was sentenced to life plus twenty-one years in prison.

  (Photo by Les Stukenberg/ The Daily Courier)

  Steve is serving his sentence at the state prison in Fl
orence, Arizona.

  (Photo by Arizona Department of Corrections)

  Carol dancing at a Touch Drawing gathering on Whidbey Island, Washington.

  (Photo by Deborah Koff-Chapin)

  Some names have been changed to protect the privacy of individuals connected to this story.

  PINNACLE BOOKS are published by

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  Copyright © 2015 by Caitlin Rother

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  If you purchased this book without a cover you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as “unsold and destroyed” to the Publisher and neither the Author nor the Publisher has received any payment for this “stripped book.”

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  ISBN-13: 978-0-7860-3257-0

  ISBN-10: 0-7860-3257-X

  First Kensington Mass Market Edition: November 2015

  ISBN: 978-0-7860-3257-0