stop violence against women: October 2008

My memoir She Had No Enemies is available at Amazon.com and Target.com and is getting great reviews.

The Prologue begins:

My youngest sister, Mickey, has been eighteen for more than twenty-five years now. That’s how old she was in the summer of 1980—when he murdered her. Anthony J. LaRette, Jr. was from out of town. We’d find out later, much later, that he was also a serial killer.

I can be reached by email dennyvision@charter.net

This is an intensely personal story about the murder of my youngest sister on a perfect summer morning in the peaceful town of St. Charles, Missouri. It is a story filled with sadness, anger, and even humor about my attempts to cope with the greatest tragedy I’d ever known.

She Had No Enemies is a life-affirming story about my twenty-five-year search for meaning and fulfillment in the face of a devastating situation. From the shocking details of Mickey’s murder and my subsequent suicide attempt to the mixed feelings I experienced as I witnessed LaRette’s execution, I delve deeply into the complex process of coming to grips with Mickey’s death—and of eventually finding forgiveness in my heart for her killer. Furthermore, I struggle with serial killers and explore our responsibility to prevent the assault on women and protect our children.

The following resources may prove helpful to family members of murder victims and to death penalty abolitionists.

ORGANIZATIONS FOR ABOLITION OF THE DEATH PENALTY

NCADP National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty

MVFR Murder Victim's Families for Reconciliation

MADP Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty

The Campaign to Free Jarvis Jay Masters

DPIC Death Penalty Information Center

Stop Capital Punishment Now

Religious Organizing Against the Death Penalty

Amnesty International USA

New Yorkers Against the Death Penalty

RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES OF MURDER VICTIMS