January 3, 2020, is the anniversary of the infamous U-Haul Murders and it makes sense to share the story at last. Many of you know that the ENTIRE story would make the book the size of a [Stephen] King book, which the publishers consistently told me was too long for a true crime story.

Um. I didn't realize true crime wasn't as long as the story IS.

To compromise, I decided to tell the original U-Haul Murders story without all the added crazy and downright incredulous extras (I previously forewarned you this story is a Coen Brothers film at worst). In these blogs, those things will come out. Like why it's taken ME 25 years to complete the story.

For now, know that I am putting the first chapter on Amazon Kindle, due out on January 3, 2020 (my 25th anniversary of working on the book) (stands on its own) for💲.99 USD and will follow with the entire book available in paperback and Kindle. The Kindle will be offered for the same low price of .99 cents and offered for Kindle Unlimited; the paperback will be as low priced as I can make it-my gift to you.

The goal is to get it out there, follow with a screenplay of the most ironic kind, and a video series of how EVERYTHING went down over the past 26 years. Help me make it work. 

FYI for those of you just stumbling on the U-Haul Murders, the author-Teraisa J. Goldman (Rogers), had full support of all the victims and most of the other characters involved, including homicide detectives, judges, and then-current sitting DA.

In the Beginning

original note cards I could arrange into the entire book

Behind the scenes, there's a common theme with the U-Haul Murders and, in the long run, it belongs in a Coen Brothers' movie; it's that ironic: crazy coincidences that you just can't make up.

For me as a writer of fiction, mothering, and homeschooling articles, this was evidenced by everything being dropped over and over again into my lap, urging me to tell the story I tried to give away. Fate says otherwise.

And yet, if only it was that easy. It's now been more than two decades I've been interviewing, researching, learning, listening, reading, and writing.

The Carson City, Nevada, we knew was on the edge of the capitol city where wild horses roamed... which meant we didn't at that time have cable and, in fact, our TV would only either show the picture or emit sound on local channels, but never both. The radio was no better.

Because of this, the actual U-Haul Murders in January, 1994, went unnoticed in our house. I had seen a blip of Maria Calambro briefly later that month while the news covered the controversy of her leaving jail to attend her son's funeral (there's no surprises in true crime--Maria killed her four-year-old son, Binh) and why it stayed in my mind, well, we now understand.

It would be December of '95, when by chance a free trial week of the Nevada Appeal was delivered to our door. On the cover was Duc Cong Huynh, who made good on his threats and was found dead, hanging in his jail cell. Always some controversy for the masses, this became important because he was on suicide watch. 

My mom and I devoured the newspaper--living in the boonies does that to you--and while reading, I had a premonition: author Gary Provost would absolutely love this story littered with what he calls "...and then's."

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.