Last Call is available for pre-order! The book will ship in two weeks. Last Call (2019) PRE-ORDERAudrey Evans, 19, disappears in the dead of an arctic winter night after leaving a convenience store in Brainerd, Minnesota. Investigator Jon Fredrick is called in and is not about to let Audrey end up one of the 40,000 missing women in the U.S. In Jon’s personal life, a deceptive past lover jars his intense relationship with Serena and sets in motion a pending tragedy. The explosive situation is amped up further after Jon’s name is used to solicit a woman, and one last call detonates it all. Referencing actual Minnesota crime cases, this spine-tingling thriller tests an investigator’s tender compassion and the gritty resilience of a soft spoken young woman. “The same stars shine on everyone in the world.” As I’m enjoying a nice warm summer night in my backyard, I can’t help thinking about how the same stars above me at this moment, were shining on Lillie Belle Allen, as she stood in the street in York, trying to keep a gang from opening fire on her family. Lillie’s story is a tragedy that emphasizes the importance of calming the waters, when responding to painful situations. She tried, but unfortunately for Lillie, she was an innocent bystander, unaware of the hornets’ nest her family had driven into. I worn people to avoid retaliation, because, “Once you make a bad decision, you have no control over how it plays out.” At the same time, a bad decision isn’t permission to keep making bad decisions. I also point out that, “No situation is so bad that you can’t make it worse.” On July 17, 1969, a 17-year-old African American, Taka Sweeney, is shot in the back while walking through a white neighborhood in York, Pennsylvania. Taka was shot in retaliation after an African American child, who burned himself playing with lighter fluid, accused a white gang of burning him. This was later discovered to be a lie made up by a boy trying to avoid discipline from his parents. If you’re wondering why people would believe this story, read about the Red Summer of 1919 and the atrocities African Americans suffered in the years following. People believed the story, because this kind of craziness happened. (White gang leader, Robert “Bobby” Messersmith, is eventually identified as the man responsible for shooting Taka, but not before he does significantly more damage.) In 1969, Bobby was convicted of assault for shooting Taka Sweeney and sentenced to 3 years in prison. The shooting of Taka was the event that significantly escalated the York riots, resulting in two murders and 60 injured. In retaliation for Taka’s shooting, on July 18, 1969, rookie police officer, Henry Schaad, was shot and killed while riding in the back of a SWAT vehicle into an African American neighborhood to assist with quelling rioting. Henry (pictured below) was a kind man and beloved family man. The shooters would later acknowledge they had no idea who was riding in the back of the vehicle. Two African American males fired on the vehicle when it entered their neighborhood. In 1969, no one in the neighborhood was willing to identify them. Angry over the officer’s death, some police officers attend a white rally in York and officer Charlie Robertson hands out bullets. Three days later, July 21, 1969, Lillie Bell Allen’s family were passing through York. Lillie Bell, age 27, her sister Hattie Dickinson, are on vacation and make a run to the grocery store. Lillie was living in South Carolina and was completely unaware of the racial tensions going on in York. They run into a barricade, blocked by police, and after a brief conversation the police send them through. (The officer would later say that this was the greatest mistake of his career.) When Lillie’s family drives down Newberry Street, they find white gang members walking the street with guns. Hattie was driving and panicked. She steps on the gas, to get out of there, and the car flooded and stalled on the railroad tracks. Lillie Bell gets out of the car and asks, “Don’t shoot. I’m going to take the wheel and we’ll be on our way.” Lillie is shot and killed. The gang opens fire on the car putting over 100 bullet holes in the vehicle. It would later be discovered that white people living in this neighborhood had called the police multiple times, before the shooting, and asked them to come and defuse the situation. Approximately 20 armed men were walking the street. The police never showed up. The national guard is brought in and KKK member John Messersmith’s home is searched. 15 guns are removed, including automatic weapons. John’s son, Bobby Messersmith, was the leader of a white supremist gang, the Newberry Boys. After over 30 years, with both murders unsolved, a task force returns to York to open the Murder Book. More than thirty years later, Newberry street gang member, Donnie Altman, is brought in and interviewed as a suspect in the shooting. Donnie initially denies being there, but after he’s shown a video of Lillie’s lifeless body, Donnie states he didn’t shoot Lillie Bell, but he did fire a shot into the trunk of the car. Donnie goes home and shoots himself. He leaves behind suicide tapes explaining the incident. In the tapes, Donnie reports Bobby Messersmith had bragged about killing Lillie. The same police officer, Charlie Robinson (who handed out bullets at the rally), was one of the officers who arrived first at the scene. Gang members are standing around with guns, and no one is arrested. They don’t even take a list of names. In 2001, when a special task force is finally pursuing justice, Charlie Robertson is now mayor of York. The task force charges Charlie with murder for providing the ammunition. An autopsy of Lillie Bell reveals she had been killed with a 12 gauge shotgun. This frees Charlie Robertson from his charges, as this wasn’t the ammo he handed out. However, it points the finger at Bobby Messersmith. Bobby’s brother, Arthur, testifies he saw Bobby shoot Lillie Bell Allen. Bobby was given a 9 to 19 year sentence. Now 32 years after the shooting, citizens of all races are talking to investigators. African American Steven Freeland acknowledges he used a military grade rifle to fire through the wall of a SWAT vehicle, killing rookie police officer Henry Schaad. Steven was given the same sentence as Bobby Messersmith, 9 to 19 years. Food for thought: In 2018, one person was killed in the United States by an act of Muslim terrorism. 49 people were killed by white supremist groups. Lillie Bell Allen was a wonderful person and mother. There is a reference from the Bible, John 15:13 on Lillie Bell Allen’s tombstone: ‘Greater love has no one than this. That someone lay down her life for her friends.’ Lillie, I hope you can help us all learn to work through the racial tension with better sense. I gaze back up at the stars and hope I can have some success calming the waters. Thanks for listening, Frank
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AuthorFrank F. Weber is a forensic psychologist specializing in homicide and sexual and physical assault cases. He uses his unique understanding of how predator’s think, knowledge of victim trauma, actual court cases, and passion for writing true crime thrillers. His Award Winning books include "Murder Book" (2017) "The I-94 Murders" (2018) "Last Call" (2019) and "Lying Close" (September 2020). Archives
April 2024
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