The Shocking Story of Randy Roth, and other true crimes.
Written: Mar 21 '01
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Pros: Ann Rule has to be the BEST true crime Novelist.
Cons: If you have a weak stomach, some of her books may upset you.
The Bottom Line: This book will give you goose bumps and tears. It is a good read if you are interested in true crime stories.
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| SherLesa's Full Review: A Rose for Her Grave Books |
Ann Rule is the QUEEN of true crime stories. She used to be a Police officer in Salem Oregon, so she knows first hand about crime scenes and forensic's. I love reading her books, because she doesn't tell you about the crime only, she tells you about the victims and their families. There are also pictures in her books of the victims and suspects.
A Rose for Her Grave (and other crime files: Vol.1) Is the true crime story of Randy Roth.
Janis Miranda Roth
Randy met his second wife Janis Miranda on New Years Eve 1980. She fell madly in love with Randy within months, and soon they were married. To her, her life would be perfect. But soon after the marriage everything changed. Randy was no longer affectionate with her, and his demands were odd. She wondered if she made a big mistake. Randy soon asked her to get life insurance. He wanted to make sure her daughter Jalina from a previous marriage and his son Greg from a previous marriage would be taken care of in case one of them should die. She thought it was a good idea, so she got a policy on herself. That was the biggest mistake she could have ever made.
On Thanksgiving Day 1980, Randy and Janis went to Washougal Washington to visit Randy's father and step-mother. They decided to go on a hike at Beacon Rock. That was the last time anyone besides Randy saw her alive. Other hikers came upon a man in distress that was babbling about his wife slipping and falling, he couldn't help her... The Skamania County Sheriffs office was called and it took them hours to find Janis's body. She was dead. As the case progressed, the Sheriffs deputies noticed that Roth was changing his views of the story. And his behavior was very odd. He showed no emotion what so ever, but people react in different ways. They thought there may have been foul play in the death of Janis Roth, but they could not prove anything. Randy was never charged with her death. After her death, Randy filed for Social Security for his son Greg, claiming that Janis was his mother. He also filed for her daughter Jalina, without telling the Social Security office that Jalina was now living with her biological father. CAN YOU SAY FRAUD???
Randy was obsessed with insurance policies. He had insurance on just about everything he owned. When he was low on cash, he would rob his own house, remove items and store them at friends house, then file a claim with the insurance company as a burglary. One insurance company thought the claim was hokey when Roth turned in receipts and there was a receipt of an item being returned at a store, and Roth was trying to claim that it was stolen, so they launched an investigation against him. They never did have proof, so they settled out of court for $28,000, not the $60,000 Roth claimed to be stolen. And as time went on, his friends houses were also "robbed" but the items always some how turned back up after the claim was settled.
Cynthia Baumgartner
In 1985 Roth met his fourth and last wife. Cynthia Baumgartner was a widow. Her husband has passed away from cancer at a young age, leaving her with their 2 sons, Rylie and Tyson. Her boys were active in Little League baseball and that is where she met Randy. They worked the snack stand on Saturday morning, and Randy liked her right away. He arranged to be working the snack bar when Cynthia was also working. They fell in love right away and were married in less than a year...then soon after like with Janis, Randy became cold and distant. Cynthia also wondered if she had made a mistake. after almost a year of a rocky marriage, Randy, Cynthia, Greg, Tyson and Rylie went to lake Sammamish in Idylwood Park. The left the boys playing by the side of the water while they took a raft out to the other side of the lake. About 3 hours later Randy slowly rowed the raft back to where the boys were and told them to go get the life guard, but don't make a scene. In the bottom of the raft was the body of Cynthia Roth. She was blue/gray in color and her mouth was partially open. As the life guards worked over her lifeless body, Randy calmly let all of the air out of the raft and folded it up. People would later say that by the way he was acting, they had no clue he even knew the victim, let alone being her husband. They rushed Cynthia to the hospital, but nothing could be done for her, she also was now dead.
Randy thought he had beat the system again, and he was fast on his way to find Mrs. Randy Roth #5 when the King County detectives and prosecutors found all of the evidence they needed to charge him with murder. All of the evidence was circumstantial, but all of it was just too much like the death of Janis 5 years earlier. They went to court and Randy Roth was convicted of the Murder of Cynthia Baumgartner Roth. He received life in Prison. Barring a successful appeal, he will be 72 years old when he is released.
Campbell's Revenge
This is the story of Renae Wicklund. Renae lived in a cute little country house set back from the road. She had just divorced her husband, the father of her 11 year old daughter Shannah. One day she was washing her outside windows when a HUGE man came walking up her driveway. He was a massive man with out of control afro like red hair. He saw her looking at him, so he turned back to the road. Seconds later he returned and forced his way into the house. He forced her to do unthinkable things to him. At that time, it was rare for women to come forward after an attack to report it, let alone go after the man that did it. The police soon found Charles Campbell and arrested him in March 1976 for the attack of Renae. He was convicted and sent to
prison for 30 years with a 7 1/2 year minimum.
No one told Renae that Charles Campbell was released from prison to do a work release program less than 10 miles away from her house in late January. April 14 was a Wednesday. Renae had a touch of the flu, so her neighbor Barbara Henrickson brought her over some breakfast and told her she would be back later at lunch time. Barbara told her husband Don that she was taking lunch to Renae and she would be home soon. An hour and a half later Don was worried so he set out for the half mile walk to Renae's house. When he got there the house was quiet, very unusual for Barbara, Renae and Shannah. He found his wife first in the hall way, her throat had been cut. He found Renae and Shannah in the bedroom together, both of their throats had been cut also. As the detectives proceeded with the case, they find out that Charles Campbell was released to the work program, and they day of the murders, he had left the program and returned later that night drunk and high on drugs. They soon found out with horror that this man had gone back and murdered Renae for testifying against him in court. For a long time after this case, the number of women that reported attacks dropped drastically. They were all afraid of the attacker seeking revenge, as Charles Campbell did.
The Hit Person
Women are not usually thought of as hit men, but for Cynthia Marler, that was not true. She was hired by Lew Touchstone (even though he was never convicted for the crime) to kill his wife Wanda. Lew and Wanda were about to be divorced and he didn't want wanda to get any of his money. Cynthia was the worlds clumsiest criminal, leaving clue after clue in this bizarre case. She was convicted and received a life sentence for the murder of Wanda Touchstone.
The Runaway
Thirteen year old Janna Hanson disappeared the day after Christmas on her way to a friends house to water the friends plants while she was on vacation. No one ever saw her alive again. The police said it had to be a run away case and listed her as a run away in their computers. Her mother Doreen was adamant that Janna did not run away. It took over a year for them to find Janna's body and her killer. They investigated the employees of the Nile Country club, to see if they had seen anything. From the beginning Kenneth Burke acted strange, his story changed a few times. The detectives finally found that Kenneth ran into Janna at the home of her friend. He had been sent there to fix the back porch. He was convicted of the murder of Janna Hanson.
The Rehabilitation of a Monster
As with Renae's case, Richard Marquette was convicted for murder, then set free to continue on with his horrific murdering spree. Joane Caudles body was found floating in a pond, cut up like a hunter cuts up a deer. The detectives found that Marquette was the man who saw her last. They went to his trailer to question him, and found blood and other clues to show that he was indeed involved. He was again convicted of murder and sent back to prison.
Molly's Murder
Molly McClure was a much loved golden girl. She has just moved into a new apartment building and had started a new job. Life was looking up for her, and she was finally happy. Her boss noticed that Molly was late for work, and that was very unlike her. He had heard that the night before Molly was told that a man was trying to break into her house. He called the police and asked them to do a "wellness check" on her. When the officers got to her house, no one answered the door. They forced entry in a bedroom window, and the officer noticed that there was a fresh footprint on the same window sill. They found Molly dead in her bed. Her upstairs neighbor Kvay Knight was arrested and convicted of her murder. He was sent to prison to serve out a life sentence.
Thanks for reading, and have a good day! ~Lesa~
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
SherLesa
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Location: Southern California
Reviews written: 48
Trusted by: 9 members
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