Unraveled, Time to Forgive, A True Ending to Murder

By Lisa Lynn

Unraveled, Time to Forgive, A True Ending to Murder is the true story of a fifty-year-old unsolved murder. Lisa lived her life since she was nine years old knowing information that might have changed the outcome of the one accused of her Momma's murder. As a child, she was never asked anything and didn't know she held important informat

• Language: English
• Publisher: Carole Lisa Lynn Gilbert
• Release date: May 3, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986115801

Lisa Lynn

Lisa Lynn is originally from northeastern Indiana, now residing in Texas. She has always been an avid reader, and decided to try her hand at writing. She has been an EMT/EMT-P, and studied forensic science in college. She is hoping to retire, and travel. New places are always a good place to start a new story.

Book preview

Preface

From a dark place within my life, came the beauty only God can give.

I have said this before, and I will say it again and again. How can I not share what I have learned, and God has shown me? He has been too good for me to not tell others. So, to whoever will listen and even to those who won't, I will tell.

You left me hanging,

But I had to know.

Then you came around

And I watched you grow.

I knew God was always there

Guiding us through good and bad.

And one day might reveal the truth,

The truth I wanted and never had.

But I still wonder, and can't believe

How easy it was, for you to deceive.

You're still someone I will always love.

And I'll see you again in heaven above.

I called you Daddy,

And that's who you'll always be.

Through you I learned,

Forgiveness is for you and me.

But did you ever look at me and feel remorse?

And wished the past you could change.

Did you ever wonder what might've been?

If the events, you could have rearranged.

I wonder sometimes what would have been

If our family had stayed in tack.

But I also know it's how it should be,

And there's no reason to turn and look back.

I thank my God for all in my life

That has made it what it is.

And it's so good to see the blessings

As I sit and reminisce.

In Psalm 66:16, we're told, Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. Jesus told several to go and share what He had done for them.

In Luke 8:39 and Mark 5:19, Jesus heals a man with demons. He then tells the man to go and share what the Lord has done for him. I believe my daddy had demons. I believe he was healed. And I believe in his own way of being an example afterwards, he did tell others.

I write this for you to know that whatever I tell I have prayed about, and I know it has been guided by God and not from maliciousness in my heart. The truth has been revealed and two facts that were never before disclosed along with one statement made toward the end of one person's life are in this book. From the breaking of my heart to its mending, I share my story.

This is the end and the beginning.

Chapter 1

It All Began

My grandmother's journal was titled, Who Killed My Daughter. Her daughter was my Momma. I was nine years old when she was murdered. I have my grandmother's journal, along with many other notes, letters, signed statements by others, and legal documents all about the subject of her title. And it would be many, many, years before I would read it all. When I finally did start reading it as an adult, I would discover even more that I did not know about Momma's murder. This is the third book I've written around this subject, but they say the third times the charm. I can honestly say it has been for me since it involves the ending. An ending I had been waiting for over fifty years. I didn't set out to write any of these books, but when God leads, we're supposed to obey.

The signs were there. Momma's parents, Marla, and Ralph, saw them. Signs of problems when Momma and Daddy started dating.

My grandmother, Marla, wrote in the beginning of her journal, Their trouble began on their wedding night

She wrote of the reason for Momma and Daddy's first fight that night being over the pink nylon morning coat Daddy gave Momma for a wedding gift versus the white satin trimmed negligee Marla had made for her. Their fight was over which piece of clothing she would wear for their first night as husband and wife. Whichever item Momma chose to wear was not what was important. It was the tug of wills, the desire for each to get what they wanted. That was the problem. But in either case, they fought on their wedding night. That was the beginning to the end. They remained together despite their problems and tried to work on their marriage. They did seem to love each other.

Two years later my brother was born. My momma had a difficult pregnancy and it resulted in a c-section. I was born five years later with my mother losing a baby in between me and my brother.

We lived behind my mother's parents sharing a three-acre plot of land. My grandparents, Marla, and Ralph, as we called them, gave us the back portion of their three acres for Daddy to build a house on. They let us live with them while building the house and buying all the furnishings. Momma and Daddy loved their new home. And to me, growing up, life was wonderful! I played and had grandparents at my fingertips that I could visit whenever I wanted. We had a walkway my grandfather, Ralph, built out of bricks that went between our houses and an old timey phone line that was just for our communication back and forth. We played tennis between our houses along with other games and I had free roam on all three acres with the guard of my grandparent's dog, Shep.

Momma shielded me and protected me all she could. I did not realize anything was really going on around me at home. Ralph worked many nights doing different shifts, so he was gone at odd times. Sometimes when Momma and Daddy got into fights, especially when Daddy got abusive, Momma would bring us to Marla's. And sometimes Daddy would follow. If Ralph was at work, Marla would talk to Daddy without letting him in. Sometimes he would calm down and we would go back home with him. Sometimes this wouldn't happen.

My grandparents would play a big role in keeping our lives normal. They were always there for my momma and all of us. They would talk my daddy out of his anger many times and watch us walk down the brick path home, only to shut the door behind us, leaving them to hope and pray we were safe.

My grandmother would later write in her journal, Oh, if only I had kept them apart, and I could have. But, as my husband said to me so many times, 'We can't look back to what we did or didn't do. We did the best we knew how to do.' But it is so easy to blame ourselves. If only we had done this or that

There were bad times with actions resulting in miscommunication and anger but there were also good times. At least to me they seemed good for the most part. Like the time daddy went fishing and brought home a baby alligator. When you live close to the ocean, and your daddy loves to fish, I guessed you could catch anything. This was what I thought as Daddy showed us the alligator and then put him in our bathtub. I wanted to look at him all night! I loved all animals! But Momma did not like him, and she especially didn't like him in our house. I didn't understand why. He was just a little baby alligator. Momma gave Daddy until the next day to get rid of it.

My daddy's parents lived in another small town only eight miles away and grandma, Daddy's mother, had a friend in town with a little pond that ended up taking the alligator. I was excited that I might be able to see it again.

I also remember another time that started well but didn't end that way was when Daddy and his dad, Grandpa, went to cut down a large tree in grandpa's pasture and in the process accidentally killed a mother squirrel. There were two babies left and Daddy brought them to our house. Again, Momma didn't think this was a good idea, but she let us keep them outside in a cage. One died and the other one lived and grew. Several months later, I was looking at the squirrel and talking to it To me, it was my pet. I stuck my finger in the edge of the cage. Suddenly it lunged at my finger, biting it very deeply. As everything went chaotic, Momma grabbed me up and wrapped my bleeding finger to take me to the Emergency room. I heard Daddy telling Ronnie to get rid of it. I knew what this meant.

Ronnie was pleading with Daddy, No! Please! I don't want to do it!

The last I saw of them, as Momma and I were leaving, Daddy was pulling Ronnie with one hand toward the pasture and had the squirrel cage in the other hand. I knew the squirrel wouldn't be there when we got back.

In the 1960's, whenever a wild animal bit you it almost always meant rabies shots. And not just one shot, it would be a series of treacherous shots in the stomach. Unless, you still had the animal for the doctors to test. As soon as we got home, Momma inquired about the squirrel for this reason. Unfortunately for me, Daddy had already gotten rid of it I would have to get the shots. I would have to go to the doctor's office to get them weekly. I was so afraid of these shots. They hurt so bad. It would take the doctor, nurses, and Momma to hold me down so the doctor could administer the shots. They were the most painful thing I had ever endured in my young life. And I was used to pain.

I grew up having migraines for years. It was never determined why but they would hit me and all I could do was to go to a cool, dark, quiet place to wait for them to stop. I called this spot my comfort area. It was on the far side of Momma and Daddy's room beside their bed. I could sit there by the bed on the floor, and it was the coolest, darkest place in the house. I've thought about these migraines and think they were probably caused by not eating. I think sometimes I would get busy playing and would forget to eat. Later, as a young adult, I would determine that if I didn't eat regularly, I would get a migraine.

Daddy brought other things home besides live animals. Three times he brought me large stuffed animals when he came home from his weekend Reserve Duty. One was a black cat, one was a teddy bear, and my favorite was a big light blue elephant. I loved them so much!

My family made lots of memories. Going to the beach every other Saturday so my brother could trade out seahorses for his saltwater aquarium and to just play and picnic. There were family barbecues on Sundays after church. One birthday, I had a large party with so many friends. Daddy had made a long table out of plywood that was just the right height for a bunch of six-year-olds and Momma had made our seats out of paint cans. She made cushions to go on each one and placed the party favors inside the cans. She also painted each child's name on the can, and they got to take the can as part of their party favor. These were such a big hit! Momma and Daddy seemed to enjoy working together on all of this. And I thought it was the grandest party!

My parents would get together with friends quite often, and us kids would play the entire time. Of course, that was after Momma gave us the go ahead. Back then, my brother and I had the rule that when we entered someone's home, we went immediately to the couch and sat down. When Momma said it was time, we would be told we could go play and that's what we did. So, we would immediately go in and sit down quietly waiting to be told we could go play when we were told. Life seemed great. And then that darkest day.

God was there that day as every day. He was all around us working in ways only God can. My grandmother was taking continuing education classes in a nearby city. She wrote, I went on to school in the city. When I left school at 3:00 I drove straight home. I always stopped in the first little town outside of the city to get a pink lemonade drink but for some strange reason I kept driving. Also, I always switched the car radio from a station in the city to a station in a little town on the coast, closer to where we lived. I found out the news of my daughter's death was being announced constantly. By not switching stations I did not hear it.

I don't think my grandmother would have been able to drive if she had heard this news. I don't think she would've been able to see the road through the hard sobs and tears she would've had if she'd heard this from the radio. God worked that out so perfectly. In the perfect way, only He can do!

I'm so grateful, God! Thank you!

Oh, the blessings we receive

When we turn to God and believe.

Even through those times of sorrow

He promises us a heavenly tomorrow.

Chapter 2

The Darkest Day

Throughout the rest of my grandmother's life, she would never give up hope that one day the truth would be told and that our story would be written. This is that story.

The