Late Wednesday night, I sent a sample chapter plus a couple of pages of Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns to Mr. Jeffery Strelzin, homicide prosecutor for the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. This contact was arranged through a friend in Wolfeboro, a contact for which I am very grateful. Mr. Strelzin recently told me that he is interested in any information that may help this case. As anyone following this blog knows, I have made offers to share my information with anyone in law enforcement, but this is the first time I’ve actually sent a portion of the book to anyone with the authority to actually do something.

The section (twenty pages of Chapter Thirteen – “Alibis” and a small portion of Chapter Fourteen- “The Means”) dealt with alibis of those most closely associated with Stacey in life, and eventually in her death as well. That chapter is the result of hours of interviews and research into this unspeakable crime. I am into my fifth year of attempting to write a clear narrative of Stacey’s life leading up to her murder and the subsequent investigation into her death. This effort has far exceeded my expectations and has become a daunting task for a number of reasons. My narrative remains incomplete and unsatisfactory because key people in the story have made the decision not to participate. While some friends and colleagues of Stacey’s have been quite forthcoming, others with key information have not.

I will be curious to hear Mr. Strelzin’s reaction.  Hopefully, he will not decide that I could offer nothing new to the “active” investigation. That would be a sad day for me from many perspectives. Practically, the investment in time, travel, and money has been substantial since I began.  Secondly, and most importantly, Stacey Burns does not need yet another person to place her memory in the past and move on. She needs and deserves an advocate. I still hold out hope that I could be that advocate.