The Long Life of a Double Murder in Appalachia
November 18, 2019
In June 1980, 26-year-old Vicki Durian and 19-year-old Nancy Santomero were hitchhiking through rural West Virginia, heading to a festival called the Rainbow Gathering. They never made it. The story of their shooting murders, and the hunt for the killer, consumed the citizens of Pocahontas County for decades, as journalist Eisenberg reveals in this gripping account, her first book. She spent five years researching the crime and blends the case facts with a memoir of her time living in the area, playing bluegrass and drinking bourbon with men who were connected to the Rainbow Gathering. Part self-discovery and part crime and courtroom drama, the narrative follows two possible theories. Jacob Beard, a local farmer, was arrested 13 years after Durian and Santomero’s deaths and was convicted of their murders, though witness statements were shaky and there was no physical evidence. But as Eisenberg notes, white supremacist Joseph Paul Franklin, a convicted serial killer, made a jailhouse confession before Beard’s 1993 trial that he killed the young women, but the prosecutors dismissed it. The author herself thinks it was bogus. Not until 2000 did Beard get a second trial, at which he was acquitted, yet the community may never know the truth. This is essential reading for true crime fans. Agent: Jin Auh, Wylie Agency.
February 14, 2020
In June 1980, 26-year-old Vicki Durian and 19-year-old Nancy Santomero were murdered while hitchhiking to the Rainbow Gathering festival in rural West Virginia. The investigation focused on locals, but it took more than a decade to get the case to trial due to a lack of evidence. After a guilty verdict was achieved and a local man was put behind bars, notorious serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin took credit for the murders, casting doubt on the entire investigation. Suspicion was once again cast over the local community, causing locals to turn away from outsiders, and impacting future generations. In a stunning work of true crime reporting, Copley Eisenberg delivers the gripping tale of the murders, trial, and subsequent reverberations through the community. The author transcends genre and offers a unique work that is part memoir, part sociological analysis, providing a compassionate commentary that has come from years of living in the community. VERDICT Copley Eisenberg's celebrated debut is not to be missed and will appeal to a wide variety of readers.--Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI
Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
November 1, 2019
A former resident of Appalachia reconsiders its unsolved "Rainbow Murders" in a genre-straddling debut that blends true crime and memoir. Eisenberg tells two interwoven stories that span three decades in heavily forested Pocahontas County, West Virginia. The first--and by far the more interesting--story centers on the unsolved 1980 murders of two young women whose bodies turned up in a clearing after they were shot while hitchhiking to a festival known as the Rainbow Gathering. Alarming rumors quickly spread about local farmer Jacob Beard, who went to prison for the Rainbow Murders 13 years later. Then Charlie Rose and 60 Minutes II, having heard that serial killer Joseph Paul Franklin had confessed to the crimes, started poking around, and a judge granted a new trial for Beard, whom a jury found not guilty. Alleging police misconduct and malicious prosecution, Beard sued and was awarded nearly $2 million. Eisenberg learned of the murders while working for an anti-poverty program in the area after graduating from college, and she reconstructs the case with a brisk pace and a keen sensitivity to a Gordian knot of kinship and other ties that posed challenges for the police and suspects alike. The author's compelling second story is, in effect, a memoir of her coming-of-age in Pocahontas County, involving bluegrass parties, lots of alcohol, and sex with an inapt partner. "I told him I was queer and that my most recent relationship had been with a woman," she writes. "That's cool, he said." Several themes link the true-crime and memoir sections--including how we distinguish lies from the truth--and a related set piece explores the stereotypes of Appalachians as either "noble and stalwart" mountaineers or "profligate" and "amusing" hillbillies. With access to Beard and other key figures, Eisenberg avoids both perils and offers a nuanced portrait of a crime and its decadeslong effects. A promising young author reappraises a notorious double murder--and her life.
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Starred review from November 1, 2019
In the summer of 1980, the Rainbow Gathering, a festival celebrating peace and harmony, descended upon Pocahontas County, West Virginia, bringing thousands of hippies to the remote mountain community. Tragedy struck when two young women who were hitchhiking to the festival, 26 year-old Vicki Durian and 19 year-old Nancy Santomero, were found shot to death off the side of a country road. Suspicions and accusations plagued Pocahontas County for 13 years before police convicted a local man, Jacob Beard, for what became known as the "Rainbow Murders." However, more questions would arise when a known serial killer confessed to the crime, resulting in an overturned conviction for Beard. Eisenberg reflects on her time working in West Virginia and how this traumatic event produced lasting effects on the entire community. The book is more than just another true crime memoir; Eisenberg has crafted a beautiful and complicated ode to West Virginia. Exquisitely written, this is a powerful commentary on society's notions of gender, violence, and rural America. Readers of literary nonfiction will devour this title in one sitting.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)