Interview With Ann Rule, Author Of Too Late To Say Goodbye - Page 3

Often, I wonder if people think the Pacific Northwest isn't in the media loop because so many infamous cases are described to me in detail, while I've already seen them on TV, read about them on the Internet, and in the newspapers. Today, crime stories hit the media almost instantly. And, all the while, I'm hoping to hear about cases that are "sleepers," where the whole world doesn't already know every detail.

What made you choose to write about the one you did for your latest book?

Ann: In the case of Too Late to Say Goodbye, I heard from people who knew Jenn Corbin, the victim, within a day or so of her murder. They insisted that she could not have committed suicide, and I believed them. Then I learned that another young woman who had tried to leave Dr. Bart Corbin had died in a very similar manner--with almost the identical scenario. That sparked my interest even more. As I investigated the crimes Corbin was suspected of, the story became more and more complicated. And that is what I look for. It takes an extremely convoluted story to fill 500 or more manuscript pages without any padding. I want a story that will involve readers and that they will be as interested as I am in how a killer is caught, and in how justice finally prevails.

When I think of true crime I immediately think of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood. I’m curious what you think of that work which has been much debated throughout the years. I noticed you listed it as one of the five best true crime books but I’m thinking about what ramifications that book had for the genre.

Ann: Whatever Capote's eccentricities, and whatever information has emerged about how he may have "fictionalized" parts of In Cold Blood, I have him to thank for my career. When I read that book back in the sixties, I realized that true crime could be presented in the style of a novel, flowing, captivating, and portraying the people involved in deep dimension. At the time, I thought, "If only I could get into a killer's mind and write a book about it — as Capote did — that would be my career dream." Ironically, I did get into a serial killer's mind, only not in the way I had envisioned.

Ted Bundy was my partner at the Seattle Crisis Clinic, and my friend. I had no idea that he was also a sadistic sociopath. Indeed, I had a contract to write about the "Ted Killer" six months before he called me from Utah and told me he was a suspect in all those murders in Seattle, Utah, and Colorado. I had an insider's viewpoint for my book — which became The Stranger Besides Me -- but I also lost my faith in my own ability to spot aberrance. And, of course, I lost a man I thought was a good friend, and a good person. I thought because I was a cop, had worked in correctional facilities, and had many hours of classes in psychology, that I could spot someone like Ted. But I couldn't. Nor could any of the other professionals working at the Crisis Clinic.

Article Author: Scott Butki

Scott Butki was a newspaper reporter for more than 10 years before making a career change into education.

He is an in-house media critic, a recovering Tetris addict and a proud uncle.

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