Yesterday I reviewed one of the new true crime books hitting the bookstore shelves today, I Would Find A Girl Walking by Kathy Kelly and Diana Montané.
Recently I had the opportunity to talk with Kathy Kelly about Gerald Stano, her new book, and future writing plans.
As true crime readers, we personalize the stories; sometimes seeking out victims and/or their families to offer our condolences. A few of you have even told me that you’ve reached out to convicts, including serial killers, by way of mail correspondence. But what is it like to actually sit down, face to face, with a man who has killed without remorse?
To keep from sounding like a psycho myself, I admit that I started off with a much lighter question for Kathy: What drew you to the Gerald Stano story?
“Over the years, I had written about some of the women who turned out to be his victims. After his arrest and the subsequent filing of charges in other murders, I was very interested in what compelled him, as he said, to ‘kill and kill again,’” said Kathy.
Thus began several prison visits between Gerald and Kathy and an exchange of letters, wherein Kathy asked questions and Gerald providing the answers.
Kathy, a reporter with the Daytona Beach News-Journal, initially used the letters as background for a book she begin writing in the 1980s. Later, when her co-author Diana Montané, approached her about a story she’d written about Gerald, Kathy says she “realized then the letters were the book. That’s when I realized that telling his story in his own words – from the letters—and the confessions was the best way to approach it.”
I couldn’t agree with her more. There’s been at least one other book written about Gerald Stano and numerous television documentaries about him, but I Would Find A Girl Walking is unique in its intimacy with the subject.
Now we’re at the part that we all want to know. Just what was it like to be so close to this serial killer? Considering that most serial killers are very charismatic and manipulative, my first thought is that, being in the presence of such, would make me extremely uncomfortable.
In Gerald’s letters to Kathy, he addresses her by the very personal nickname of “Kat,” a name previously used by close family members. That alone was enough to make me shudder, but I think the real question is how did it affect Kathy? Did it ever make her uncomfortable? Did it ever make her consider pulling out of the project?
“From the onset, he used a familiarity with me that was very off-putting,” said Kathy. “Because he had previously worked at The News-Journal, he knew people there. On that first interview, it was a bit of an ice breaker for him to ask about his former co-workers, some of whom I actually knew. After the first few letters, I could tell that he seemed to be developing an interest in me. Simultaneously, he had written to Paul Crow and asked if I was married. After that, my guard was up. He asked me to come on regular visiting days as a visitor so that we could buy snacks and visit. Clearly, this was the last thing I wanted and didn’t want to encourage his interest in me in any way. I didn’t consider quitting the project but clearly my guard was up.”
After reading the letters in I Would Find A Girl Walking, I feel this is quite the understatement. The use of an intimate nickname and his warnings to Kathy to be careful as she moved about the city in which he had killed would have made me have serious second thoughts about talking with Gerald.
Thank goodness Kathy isn’t the scaredy cat that I obviously am.
Victims of serial killers like Gerald Stano are chosen so randomly that, even with the best defenses in place, can still make anyone a target.
For example, Kathy’s co-author pulled the title of the book from Gerald’s own words about how he chose his victims. Any girl who was out walking was a possible victim. “Indeed, it does speak to the randomness and spontaneity of his crimes,” said Kathy.
It is such randomness that keeps me on high alert, yet in previous Facebook polls I was surprised to learn that many long-time true crime readers say it has no effect them. So I asked Kathy if her time with Gerald Stano had any effects such as this on her. It wasn’t just Gerald Stano but also the 20 years of crime reporting from which she says she “learned things aren’t always what they appear to be. Many of the stories I wrote had shocking twists. I find that I don’t accept much at face value and view a stranger with great trepidation until I learn more.”
As a twenty year veteran of crime reporting, I was curious if Gerald Stano was the biggest story she had ever had the (dis) pleasure of writing. Surprisingly, she tells me it wasn’t.
According to Kathy, “The biggest crime story I ever covered involved a man who hired someone to kill his wife. She escaped with her life but not before the husband was charged. In the course of the case, two young men lost their lives for the role in the scheme.”
Kathy is referring to the 1989 case of Konstantinos “Kosta” Fotopoulos, who hired 18 year old Bryan Chase to kill his wife, Lisa. Instead, Kosta killed Chase and claimed he was protecting his home against an intruder. Soon after, a friend of Kosta’s mistress, Diedre Hunt, contacted police. Eventually police would have in their possession a video tape of Hunt killing Kevin Ramsey, a young man who had threatened to blackmail Kosta over some of his illegal activities, at Kosta’s demands.
Recently Kathy was interviewed for an upcoming episode about the Fotopoulos murders on Investigation Discovery that is expected to air this summer.
Sadly, there will never be a shortage of crime stories as long as mankind exists. Kathy’s first venture into the true crime genre is sure to be hit. So, I wanted to know, does she have any plans to write more true crime books?
The chances aren’t good. Kathy tells me she reads a lot of fiction and would like to try her hand at fiction writing. As she says, ” It is so different from writing a book as a reporter when every fact has to be checked and double-checked.”
True. Very, very true.
While it’s disappointing, her thoughts are understandable. Even a die-hard true crimer, such as myself, needs a break from the real life stories sometimes. So all I can say is this: Kathy, if your fiction is as great as I Would Find A Girl Walking, then I hope you’ll remember our Friday Fiction segment!
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