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"What have you done?"
From the woman who gave us 'If You Really Loved Me'. 'Never let her go' and 'Every breath you take' comes this deeply troubling account of how a seemingly golden wealthy Kansas family was destroyed by a horrific crime.
Dr Michael Farrar and Dr Deborah Green lived in a $600, 000 home in a well to do area. They had three children: Tim (13), Lissa (11) and Kelly (6) and two pet dogs. They seemed like the perfect happy family. But they weren't. Michael was having an affair and a mentally disturbed Debra was gaining weight and acting increasingly irrationally to the point where her husband threatened to have her committed.
Then one night after Michael had left Deborah; the family home caught on fire. Deborah and Lissa survived but Tim, Kelly and the two dogs all perished. To the shock of the local community Deborah was arrested and charged with arson and murder. It was also alleged she had poisoned her husband leading to him needing surgery for brain abscesses caused by an unknown aliment.
Deborah pleaded her innocence and her defence claimed Tim poisoned his father and set the fire but then Deborah accepted a plea bargain, admitting her guilt. She will have to serve 40 years before she will be eligible for parole.
This book is hampered by the fact that no-one close to the case or the families would talk to Rule. Also Green is castigated not for her crimes but for her weight gain and 'shrillness' - it is obvious Green was mentally ill. Then there is the bizarre fact that Rule makes all sorts of excises for Farrar's adultery and the bizarre fact he sent his mistress to the ruins of his burnt out house to find his wine collection. There is a great deal more to this story then depicted in this book.
Why did Deborah try to kill her entire family? Why did she tell Tim to stay in his room as the house burned down around him? Why did she tell Lissa to jump to safety from the second floor and promise to catch her but then not even try to catch her? Why did she walk out of her burning house leaving her children to die? This book provides no answers; Rule just describes Deborah as fat and crazy.
This is a troubling but unsatisfying account of a terrible crime. The big question is why did no-one, not her co-workers or family, get her the help she needed before the fire?
P-Con VI March 27th/28th/29th 2009
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