By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
True crime writer Ann Rule is holding a book-signing today in Tumwater, following the release of her story about the controversial 1998 death of Ronda Reynolds in Toledo.
"In the Still of the Night" by Ann Rule
“In the Still of the Night: The strange death of Ronda Reynolds and her mother’s unceasing quest for the truth” went on sale earlier this month.
Rule, a Seattle area author best known for her book about serial killer Ted Bundy, is accompanied on her book tour by Reynolds’ mother Barb Thompson.
The pair will be at Costco at 5500 Littlerock Road Southwest today from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.
On Friday, Rule will be signing books at Fred Meyer in Lynnwood and the next day, Costco in Tukwila.
For those who would like to hear a presentation by Rule on the research she conducted in writing about the case, an event is scheduled next month at Centralia College.
Rule will speak at the college the evening of Nov. 17. It’s free and open to the public.
Her appearance is set for 7 p.m. in Corbet Theater, although Rule says there is talk about moving the function to the college gymnasium because of an expected large turnout.
I’ve read the book. It’s interesting.
Locals will see the names of places and people they know, or know of, from members of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and coroner’s office to Reynolds’ husband, Toledo Elementary School Principal Ron Reynolds and his family.
As The Chronicle’s executive editor Michael Wagar wrote recently, however, the book is not so much a detailed journalistic account of the death and subsequent events but leans more toward an attempt at a suspenseful tale with heroes and villains.
Ronda Reynolds
“In the Still of the Night” opens in the Chehalis courtroom this past November and travels back more than a decade to the days in December 1998 when the former state trooper was found with a bullet in her head on the floor of a walk-in closet inside her home.
Was it suicide, or was it murder?
Rule’s narrative kept me reading several nights long past my bedtime.
A good portion of her tale was familiar to me, as I ‘m the news reporter who broke the story in early 2002 that the sheriff’s office had reopened a suicide case from three years earlier, and Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson had changed the death certificate from suicide to undetermined.
Some of it was too familiar. I was really surprised to read a passage I wrote in The Chronicle more than eight years ago reprinted in Rule’s book without attribution as to its source.
And while I confess, it’s kind of a thrill to see my own name in a hard-cover book by a best-selling author, my heart sank when Rule mischaracterized me in a brief, but powerfully embarrassing sentence.
Rule wrote that I believed Ronda Reynolds did not kill herself and that I was a loyal supporter of Barb Thompson.
That’s not true.
Had Rule asked me, I would have told her I haven’t formed an opinion one way or the other.
And I’ve never told anyone otherwise.
It’s true that when I’ve been asked what I think, suicide or homicide, I have replied: “There have been times when it seems Ronda Reynolds could not have killed herself, and there have been times when I’ve thought, ‘you know, she may have’.”
Perhaps Rule’s main source – Barb Thompson – characterized me as a supporter. I know she is grateful to me for my efforts over the years in covering a story that she wanted the public to know about. I share that desire to inform the public – that’s what news reporters do.
I’m a loyal supporter of being a journalist who takes the time and care to come up with the most accurate, balanced and thorough accounts I can muster, from all sides in question.
Moving on.
Rule’s book includes last November’s civil hearings in Lewis County Superior Court in which a panel of citizens concluded and recommended to a judge that Coroner Wilson’s final conclusion of suicide was wrong – as well as arbitrary and capricious – and should be changed.
And then the author offers previously unpublished details on how the sheriff’s office this year has investigated tips about new information on the case.
There are individuals who have been interviewed who say there were more people at the Toledo house that night than were included in the sheriff’s office reports early on, according to Rule.
Rule ends with speculation about a handful of potential “murderers”, including one of the individuals she gave a fictitious name to.
It’s 400 pages about a death that likely won’t be forgotten about for a very long time.
Thompson’s civil case is still making its way through the courts, as Coroner Wilson has appealed an order to change the death certificate.
•••
Read my story about the five days in court last November after which “Jury finds coroner erred in ruling former troopers death a suicide”
Barb Thompson put together a web site called “Justice for Ronda” where you can read her story about the case and see some excerpts from case reports and my very first news story on Jan. 10, 2002. She also added updates over the years to a site called “Real Crimes” which has a message board on it with reader comments.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
This entry was posted on Saturday, October 30th, 2010 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Columns and commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Both comments and pings are currently closed.
Commentary: Meet the author of book about former trooper’s Toledo death
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
True crime writer Ann Rule is holding a book-signing today in Tumwater, following the release of her story about the controversial 1998 death of Ronda Reynolds in Toledo.
"In the Still of the Night" by Ann Rule
“In the Still of the Night: The strange death of Ronda Reynolds and her mother’s unceasing quest for the truth” went on sale earlier this month.
Rule, a Seattle area author best known for her book about serial killer Ted Bundy, is accompanied on her book tour by Reynolds’ mother Barb Thompson.
The pair will be at Costco at 5500 Littlerock Road Southwest today from 2 p.m. until 4 p.m.
On Friday, Rule will be signing books at Fred Meyer in Lynnwood and the next day, Costco in Tukwila.
For those who would like to hear a presentation by Rule on the research she conducted in writing about the case, an event is scheduled next month at Centralia College.
Rule will speak at the college the evening of Nov. 17. It’s free and open to the public.
Her appearance is set for 7 p.m. in Corbet Theater, although Rule says there is talk about moving the function to the college gymnasium because of an expected large turnout.
I’ve read the book. It’s interesting.
Locals will see the names of places and people they know, or know of, from members of the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office and coroner’s office to Reynolds’ husband, Toledo Elementary School Principal Ron Reynolds and his family.
As The Chronicle’s executive editor Michael Wagar wrote recently, however, the book is not so much a detailed journalistic account of the death and subsequent events but leans more toward an attempt at a suspenseful tale with heroes and villains.
Ronda Reynolds
“In the Still of the Night” opens in the Chehalis courtroom this past November and travels back more than a decade to the days in December 1998 when the former state trooper was found with a bullet in her head on the floor of a walk-in closet inside her home.
Was it suicide, or was it murder?
Rule’s narrative kept me reading several nights long past my bedtime.
A good portion of her tale was familiar to me, as I ‘m the news reporter who broke the story in early 2002 that the sheriff’s office had reopened a suicide case from three years earlier, and Lewis County Coroner Terry Wilson had changed the death certificate from suicide to undetermined.
Some of it was too familiar. I was really surprised to read a passage I wrote in The Chronicle more than eight years ago reprinted in Rule’s book without attribution as to its source.
And while I confess, it’s kind of a thrill to see my own name in a hard-cover book by a best-selling author, my heart sank when Rule mischaracterized me in a brief, but powerfully embarrassing sentence.
Rule wrote that I believed Ronda Reynolds did not kill herself and that I was a loyal supporter of Barb Thompson.
That’s not true.
Had Rule asked me, I would have told her I haven’t formed an opinion one way or the other.
And I’ve never told anyone otherwise.
It’s true that when I’ve been asked what I think, suicide or homicide, I have replied: “There have been times when it seems Ronda Reynolds could not have killed herself, and there have been times when I’ve thought, ‘you know, she may have’.”
Perhaps Rule’s main source – Barb Thompson – characterized me as a supporter. I know she is grateful to me for my efforts over the years in covering a story that she wanted the public to know about. I share that desire to inform the public – that’s what news reporters do.
I’m a loyal supporter of being a journalist who takes the time and care to come up with the most accurate, balanced and thorough accounts I can muster, from all sides in question.
Moving on.
Rule’s book includes last November’s civil hearings in Lewis County Superior Court in which a panel of citizens concluded and recommended to a judge that Coroner Wilson’s final conclusion of suicide was wrong – as well as arbitrary and capricious – and should be changed.
And then the author offers previously unpublished details on how the sheriff’s office this year has investigated tips about new information on the case.
There are individuals who have been interviewed who say there were more people at the Toledo house that night than were included in the sheriff’s office reports early on, according to Rule.
Rule ends with speculation about a handful of potential “murderers”, including one of the individuals she gave a fictitious name to.
It’s 400 pages about a death that likely won’t be forgotten about for a very long time.
Thompson’s civil case is still making its way through the courts, as Coroner Wilson has appealed an order to change the death certificate.
•••
Read my story about the five days in court last November after which “Jury finds coroner erred in ruling former troopers death a suicide”
Barb Thompson put together a web site called “Justice for Ronda” where you can read her story about the case and see some excerpts from case reports and my very first news story on Jan. 10, 2002. She also added updates over the years to a site called “Real Crimes” which has a message board on it with reader comments.
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
This entry was posted on Saturday, October 30th, 2010 at 3:06 pm and is filed under Columns and commentary. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.