Pierz author launches 4th true crime novel ‘Lying Close’
Brainerd Dispatch, September 23, 2020
Thursday, September 24 | 7:00 pm–8:30 pm
The True Crime genre simultaneously scares and intrigues us. Join the Minnesota Humanities Center as we delve into our obsession with the darker side of human nature by exploring our fascination with stories of real life crime with panelists Amanda Jacobson of the Wine and Crime podcast, social psychologist Dr. Amanda Vicary, Forensic psychologist and author Frank Weber, and moderator Timya Owen, former president of Twin Cities Chapter of Sisters in Crime.
After the panel discussion, enjoy a night cap with special guests and panelists discussing how judges, juries, and forensic science come together, or not, to ensure justice is served. 6:45 p.m. Virtual log-in begins 7:00-8:00 p.m. Program 8:00-8:30 p.m. Q&A Session This event will be recorded and contains mature content (conversations around crime and violence). Audience discretion is advised. Event is for ages 18+. Registration Questions: registration@mnhum.org
Saturday, September 26 | 7:00 pm-8:00 pm
Frank F. Weber's "Lying Close" - Virtual
Local author and forensic psychologist Frank Weber will be discussing his latest book, Lying Close. Minnesota BCA Investigator Jon Frederick studies the list: A hunting accident. A country home break-in. The disappearance of a runaway. Not so shocking, until he considers all of these crimes occurred within 30 miles of each other, in less than a year’s time, in rural Minnesota. The summer of 2019 brings heat, rain, passion, and deception. Register here: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/frank-webers-lying-close/register
I love this painting on a grainery in Mankato. It's 135 feet tall.
JAMES MITCHELL DEBARDELEBEN– FORGERY, KIDNAPPING, SERIAL KILLER-EVIL--DEAD
Debardeleben recorded torturing one victim as he pressed a burning cigar against her back. “Describe the pain, how does it hurt? Just exactly how does it hurt? I want you to tell me that you’re fascinated by the pain.“ How was Debardeleben caught? From 1979 to 1983, the U.S. Secret Service were tracking the distribution of counterfeit $20 bills across 38 states. In 1979, the Secret Service began receiving reports from bank tellers and shop owners of fake $20 being distributed in eastern states. The same defects were visible on all notes, indicating that they were originating from the same source. The counterfeiter, known as “the Mall Passer,” would buy a low value item with the bills and take the change as his profit. By 1982, his fraud had increased to $130,000 per year across 38 states. It became the Counterfeit Division’s top priority.
Mall staff were instructed to call the police if this man passed them a $20 bill. In May of 1983 he was seen in a book store within a Knoxville, Tennessee mall. The clerk called police, and James Mitchell Debardeleben was arrested. His driver’s license read Roger Blanchard, but the car he’d left at the mall was registered to James Jones. He refused to answer any questions. His fingerprints indicated the person they had arrested was James Mitchell Debardeleben; a man who had spent two years in jail for passing $100 counterfeit bills in the 1970s.
The first search of his home yielded nothing. The Secret Service realized it was a race against time. Passing counterfeit money is a charge Debardeleben could bail out on. If they didn’t find the plates before he was released, the plates would likely be destroyed before they could ever charge him. An observant agent noticed a folded white piece of paper in the yellow pages which marked storage units. They discovered he had a storage unit and immediately searched it for counterfeit printing plates. Beyond the plates, they found sets of women’s underwear, homemade audiotapes of rape and torture, photographs of sex slayings, and a death kit containing handcuffs, shoelaces, chains, whips, and K-Y jelly. They immediately involved the FBI. They first found pictures of women under horrendous distress. They listened to a tape recording of a woman being tortured with a burning cigar. The agents described it as the most violent encounter they ever heard. “You could literally feel the pain,” one agent stated. The victim was begging him to let her die. Immediately, they decided they needed to locate her body. They were shocked to find that after being tortured for three days, she had been released and was still alive. Laurie Jensen had to travel to the agents’ office to listen to the tape, relive what had happened to her, and confirm that it was her voice in the recording.
Laurie’s story
In July 1979, Laurie Jensen had been walking home from working at a convenience store at night when a car pulled up next to her with a flashing light. The driver flashed his I.D. and asked her to sit down in the car. A man dressed as a police officer questioned her about a robbery. He suddenly grabbed her arm and handcuffed her. She was blindfolded and driven to a house two hours from where she lived. For three days she endured rape and abuse, being kept in a closet in between. Every time she saw the man he was naked except for a makeshift hood with rough eye holes. He took pictures and recorded their sessions, forcing her to tell him how much she was enjoying it. After three days he drove her back and let her go, alive. Even though James Debardeleben refused to speak, he is the prime suspect in the following crimes: Edna ‘Terry’ MacDonald – May 1971 The 52 year-old realtor left her office for an evening appointment with a Mr. Peter Morgan in Barrington, Rhode Island. When she didn’t return home a search was begun. She was found the next day in the basement of the home she had been showing, dead and hanging from a basement rafter. She had been strangled with her stockings, with no sign of robbery or rape as a motive. Police would have no leads at all until a similar crime years later was linked to James Debardeleben. Elizabeth Mason – February 1979 In Fayetteville, North Carolina, the 31 year-old realtor arranged to show a man some homes. In one of the houses he pulled a gun and began pistol-whipping Elizabeth. He tied her up, strangled her and beat her head against the floor until she passed out. When she woke up she found that the man had taken her trousers and car. Despite being half-naked, she had not been sexually assaulted.
Diane Overton - November 1980
On November 1st, Debardeleben used the police car trick to pull over lone driver Diane Overton at 4 a.m. on a deserted residential road. Diane bit his hand and screamed for help but no one came out of their house. As he tried forcing her into the car she kicked the gear stick, stalling the engine. Jumping in the driver’s seat, Debardeleben drove at her multiple times, trying to run her over and eventually giving up. Maria Santini - November 1980 Ten days later he tried again, this time using the brazen method of walking into a clothes store and pointing a gun at clerk Maria Santini. Walking her out to his car, she was forced to crouch in the footwell as he drove her to his home. There, he hogtied her and took photos before sexually abusing her. Santini was then driven to a remote area and set free. As James Debardeleben never spoke about his crimes, we can only speculate as to why he let some of the women live. Jean McPhaul – April 1982 Shreveport Times, 29th April 1982 A near carbon copy of Edna MacDonald’s murder 11 years prior, Jean McPhaul was a successful realtor from Bossier City, Louisiana. She took a Dr. Zack to see a home and never returned. The next morning she was discovered hanging from a rafter in the attic. She had been strangled and stabbed twice in the chest, but not raped. A neighbor had seen Dr. Zack arrive at the property and provided enough detail for police to draw a composite that apparently looked very similar to The Mall Passer sketch. Among Debardeleben’s journal entries was a list of pseudonyms to use in the course of his crime, including the name ‘Dr. Zack.' David Starr & Joe Rapini – April 1983 An unusual case that differs from Debardeleben’s normal m.o. but is again linked by certain journal entries, plus a witness description that resembles him. David Starr (bank manager at a local Columbia Savings Bank in Greece, Rochester) and his housemate Joe Rapini arrived home to be faced with a masked intruder pointing a gun. He held Rapini hostage and demanded Starr go to the bank and obtain a $70,000 ransom. Starr came up with half the demand, and was told to leave it near a burned-out house. He then observed a woman driving a white car collect the ransom – another indication that some of Debardeleben’s partners had assisted him in his criminal endeavors. Despite Starr following instructions as properly as possible, Rapini was found dead later that day, shot in the heart and left in his car. Trial James Debardeleben was narcissistic enough to believe he could represent himself in court. He couldn’t resist the sadistic act of forcing one of his victims to endure listening to the audio recording of his abuse during cross-examination. Jurors could see that he was enjoying the power trip. When questioning the woman about being pulled into the car by her attacker, Debardeleben described the car and event in so much detail it was clear he had been there. Although the trials could only cover a small portion of his crimes, James Debardeleben was hit with the harshest sentences possible in the court system – a total of 375 years. Most of the 40 different women identified in his photograph collection have never been identified. Known Victims Terry McDonald [1971 Barrington, RI] (charged but not tried) Phillipa Voliner [1975] survived Lucy Alexander [9/3/1978 DE] survived Elizabeth Mason, 31 [2/4/1979 Fayetteville, NC] survived Laurie Jensen, 20 [6/1/1979 Maryland] survived Unnamed woman [10/10/1979] survived Dianne Overton, 25 [11/1/1980] survived Maria Santini, 27 [11/12/1980] survived Jean McPhaul [4/27/1982 Bossier City, LA] (charged but not tried) David Starr [4/13/1983 Greece, NY] survived Joe Rapini [4/13/1983 Greece, NY] (suspected) History James Debardeleben was the 2nd of 3 children. His older sister’s whereabouts are unknown. His younger brother, Ralph, committed suicide. At 16, James was arrested for assaulting his mother. In violation of his probation, he purchased 2 handguns. He was arrested for sodomy, kidnapping and attempted murder. He joined the military to avoid incarceration, but was court-martialed for disorderly behavior at age 18, and discharged. He left his first wife after 3 weeks. After his 2nd wife had a child, he forced her to adopt out her second child. By the time he was on his 4th wife he had become progressively more sadistic. She was the subject of numerous torture tapes found in the storage unit. Unlike many serial killers, he refused to speak of his crimes. James Debardeleben died of pneumonia at the Federal Correctional Complex in Butner, North Carolina in 2011. A man has lived a terrible life, when his death only brings others comfort. Thanks for listening, Frank
4 Comments
Christy Wielenberg
9/23/2020 06:07:50 pm
Your stories truly amaze me! I hope to meet you some day at one if your book signings. I have always been very intrigued by law and how criminal profiling works. Keep writing your amazing books. I have shared your books with my family and friends.
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9/23/2020 06:43:43 pm
Christy,
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Joseph P Pearl
1/1/2024 10:26:41 pm
was james d.,a suspect in the murder of real estate agent, Terry McDonald. I know he died but did he ever confess to this murder? I worked with Ms McDonald"s daughter.
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1/2/2024 05:50:07 pm
James was charged, but not convicted. Ultimately, he wasn't tried. They felt they had enough to keep him in prison the rest of his life. It would be interesting if the person you knew had anything to say about it.
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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
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