As he tells the story of how Isiah brutally and repeatedly raped the women, critically injured Jennifer and killed Teresa, Pulitzer Prize winner Eli Sanders lays out an argument that this horrendous crime – and a double fatal arson for which he wasn’t charged – could have been prevented if Isiah had received help when he first displayed signs of having a mental illness.
Before getting to the crime, Sanders masterfully tells the stories of Teresa and Jennifer from their childhoods to the time they met, as well as Isiah’s troubled childhood. He also introduces us to many of the members of all three families.
We also get a look into the overburdened criminal justice system as well as the woefully inadequate mental health care system. I found the segment about the history of mental health care in the US especially interesting. It seems mental institutions were started because prisons were filled with people who committed crimes because of their mental illnesses. Then, President Kennedy decided to do away with the institutions because they were considered cruel and dedicate federal funding to an updated, more efficient way of treating the mentally ill. But then came Vietnam and one economic crisis after another. Although mental institutions were closing, the new and improved system was never fully put into place. President George W. Bush was ready to start a new mental health care initiative, but then came September 11, 2001.
And here we are in 2016. Or, related to the book, they we were in 2009, back to 1/3 of all prison inmates having some sort of mental illness which prisons are not designed to handle.
This is one of the best true crime stories I’ve ever read. It reads more like fiction than a piece of journalism and, several times, I had to remind myself the things Sanders was writing about really happened.
One more thing, Jennifer Hopper is one of the most courageous, resilient, compassionate women I’ve ever read about. If for no other reason, read this book to learn her story.
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