America’s Most Dysfunctional Family
Review by Kim Cantrell
Eddie Lee Sexton, Sr. wasn’t smart enough to recruit a following, so he formed a cult with the only ones he could control: his family.
Sexton, with the willing aid of his wife, Estella “May” Sexton, performed satanic rituals within the home, habitually beat the children, and subjected their children to incestuous sexual abuse – producing three children with two daughters.
Lowell Cauffiel’s House of Secrets is an addicting read from the very beginning and for the very same reason that Eddie Sexton was able to get away with such atrocities for so long: the stories yielded from inside this home are unimaginable, unbelievable.
But they are real.
At least the majority.
Unfortunately no one but those who lived it will ever know one hundred percent what went on in that home as memories are warped and the twelve children often dispute one another’s stories; and, sadly, have a penchant for lying – no doubt a learned behavior from their parents.
Irregardless, DNA proves that, at the minimum incest occurred. And the bodies of Joel Good (Pixie Sexton’s, daughter of Eddie and May, husband) and their 9-month-old baby, Skipper Lee, are evidence of murder.
The twists and turns leading to the arrest and conviction Eddie Lee Sexton and his wife are sickening, yet engrossing; reading like fiction, with tales of satanism, manhunts, conspiracies, cons, and family feuds and cover-ups that put television soaps to shame.
A mind-boggling story not weighted down with transcript repeats or courtroom theatrics, House of Secrets easily climbed it’s way up to one of the best ten books I read in 2010…or ever!
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UPDATES FROM THIS BOOK: Eddie Lee Sexton has been unsuccessful in his numerous appeals and remains on death row in Florida’s Union Correctional Institution. Estella May Sexton is presently incarcerated in the Ohio Reformatory for Women. Her first parole hearing was in February 2011 where she was denied release. Her next parole hearing won’t occur until December 2017. James Sexton, one of the 12 Sexton children, convicted of murder at the age of 19 for setting the fire that claimed the life of Todd Ritchie. He will be eligible for parole in September 2011. A “Sherri Sexton” is listed in an Athen’s County, Ohio Sheriff’s Department incident report. It cannot be confirmed whether this is the correct Sherri Sexton. Updates on other family members could not be obtained.
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