Simon SaysSimon Says
a True Story of Boys, Guns and Murder in the Rocky Mountain West
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Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , All copies in use.Book, 2007
Current format, Book, 2007, , All copies in use. Offered in 0 more formatsA Colorado journalist offers a provocative account of the brutal murders of a teenage boy and his grandparents by three schoolmates who, under the influence of the group's leader, Simon Sue, believed that they were members of a secret paramilitary organization, looking at the crime, its impact on the local community, and how the lives of the young perpetrators had gone astray.
Recounts the brutal murders of a teenage boy and his grandparents by three schoolmates who believed that they were members of a secret paramilitary organization, looking at the crime and its impact on the local community.
On a frigid New Year's Eve 2000, just twenty months after the Columbine massacre, fifteen-year-old Tony Dutcher and his grandparents were brutally murdered at their mountain hideaway outside of Colorado Springs. All roads seemed to lead to one young man, Isaac Grimes, a schoolmate of Tony's. But as investigators scrambled for answers, they began to uncover a plot more sinister than any parent could imagine - a plan that involved automatic weapons, careful cover-ups, and a surprising naivete that belied the gruesome murders. Isaac told police that he and another boy believed they were part of a secret paramilitary organization, headed by friend Simon Sue, and that Isaac's very life, indeed his family's life, depended on his successfully executing the organization's "mission."
Was there really a paramilitary organization at work? How could Simon be involved with the murders if he was thousands of miles away? And why on earth would these boys - formerly quiet, even shy, students - become involved in an act so heinous it would forever change their and the victims' families' lives?
Simon Says tells the gripping story of how these boys' lives could have gone so horribly astray, how their parents assumed all was right with their young sons, and what the fallout of the grisly murders was on the families of both the victims and the boys. Through painstaking research, journalist Kathryn Eastburn reveals a hauntingly contemporary tale about a place where the rites of passage to young manhood, to acceptance, come at an exorbitant price - and no one notices until it's too late.
On New Years' Eve 2000, high school student Tony Dutcher and his grandparents were murdered at their mountain property outside of Colorado Springs. The culprits were two of Tony's high school classmates, acting under the instructions of another boy who convinced them that they were part of a secret paramilitary organization. Eastburn, a journalist and a resident of the neighborhood where the boys lived, covered the case for three years for the Colorado Springs Independent. Her investigation touches on issues of gun control, cult leadership and brainwashing, and the judicial mandate in Colorado to punish adolescents as adults for felony crimes. B&w photos are included. There is no subject index. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A chilling tale of murder and teenage lives gone astray, in a place where guns and Bibles hold powerful sway
On a frigid New Year’s Eve, just twenty months after the Columbine massacre, three teenage boys carefully plotted the murder of a schoolmate and his grandparents at their mountain hideaway outside of Colorado Springs. The boys’ leader, Simon Sue, was responsible for strong-arming the others into believing they were members of a secret paramilitary organization-and that their very lives depended on successfully executing the organization’s ?mission.” Simon Says tells the page-turning story of how these boys’ lives could have gone so horribly astray, how their parents assumed all was right in their sons’ lives, and what the fallout of the grisly murders was on all the families. Through painstaking research, journalist Kathryn Eastburn gets into the minds of these boys to reveal a place where the rites of passage to young manhood, to acceptance, come at an exorbitant price.
Recounts the brutal murders of a teenage boy and his grandparents by three schoolmates who believed that they were members of a secret paramilitary organization, looking at the crime and its impact on the local community.
On a frigid New Year's Eve 2000, just twenty months after the Columbine massacre, fifteen-year-old Tony Dutcher and his grandparents were brutally murdered at their mountain hideaway outside of Colorado Springs. All roads seemed to lead to one young man, Isaac Grimes, a schoolmate of Tony's. But as investigators scrambled for answers, they began to uncover a plot more sinister than any parent could imagine - a plan that involved automatic weapons, careful cover-ups, and a surprising naivete that belied the gruesome murders. Isaac told police that he and another boy believed they were part of a secret paramilitary organization, headed by friend Simon Sue, and that Isaac's very life, indeed his family's life, depended on his successfully executing the organization's "mission."
Was there really a paramilitary organization at work? How could Simon be involved with the murders if he was thousands of miles away? And why on earth would these boys - formerly quiet, even shy, students - become involved in an act so heinous it would forever change their and the victims' families' lives?
Simon Says tells the gripping story of how these boys' lives could have gone so horribly astray, how their parents assumed all was right with their young sons, and what the fallout of the grisly murders was on the families of both the victims and the boys. Through painstaking research, journalist Kathryn Eastburn reveals a hauntingly contemporary tale about a place where the rites of passage to young manhood, to acceptance, come at an exorbitant price - and no one notices until it's too late.
On New Years' Eve 2000, high school student Tony Dutcher and his grandparents were murdered at their mountain property outside of Colorado Springs. The culprits were two of Tony's high school classmates, acting under the instructions of another boy who convinced them that they were part of a secret paramilitary organization. Eastburn, a journalist and a resident of the neighborhood where the boys lived, covered the case for three years for the Colorado Springs Independent. Her investigation touches on issues of gun control, cult leadership and brainwashing, and the judicial mandate in Colorado to punish adolescents as adults for felony crimes. B&w photos are included. There is no subject index. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
A chilling tale of murder and teenage lives gone astray, in a place where guns and Bibles hold powerful sway
On a frigid New Year’s Eve, just twenty months after the Columbine massacre, three teenage boys carefully plotted the murder of a schoolmate and his grandparents at their mountain hideaway outside of Colorado Springs. The boys’ leader, Simon Sue, was responsible for strong-arming the others into believing they were members of a secret paramilitary organization-and that their very lives depended on successfully executing the organization’s ?mission.” Simon Says tells the page-turning story of how these boys’ lives could have gone so horribly astray, how their parents assumed all was right in their sons’ lives, and what the fallout of the grisly murders was on all the families. Through painstaking research, journalist Kathryn Eastburn gets into the minds of these boys to reveal a place where the rites of passage to young manhood, to acceptance, come at an exorbitant price.
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