by Susan E. Carr

Created on: April 14, 2010   Last Updated: April 22, 2010

Certain members of my family have always been of the opinion that they could capture spirits on camera.  As a young child, I remember them discussing a particular house one of them owned in Pasadena, California that they were convinced was haunted.   These family members insisted that with their old Kodak camera they could capture spirits and they did produce negatives that were odd.  I had not really given this much consideration over the years and basically accepted the stories as humorous rather than authentic.  However, my thoughts on this would radically change after having my own personal experience – one that I could not explain.

Originally, my writing came about as a result of my quest to write a book, a personal memoir.   I had gone as far as going back to university with a focus on writing in order to put my best effort forward.  I had a lot to learn and I was already middle aged.  I also had a lot to say and felt that I may be able to make a real contribution to other lives if only I could learn ways to express myself adequately and ultimately assist others in similar situations.  The book was about my experiences as a battered police spouse.    I suspected that there were many of us, and perhaps many more who were afraid to come forward, making it difficult for them to receive help.  This had been my personal experience.   It is not uncommon for victims to have a quest such as this, however, I knew that my subject matter would be much different than what many people would know or be aware of.  This was a “silent” group of victims and I was their self-appointed spokesperson, in my own mind that is.

Over the years I wrote – a lot.  In the meantime I had met an investigative reporter who was interested in the subject of police spousal abuse.  He and I would talk about this at length and if he was about to write or publish an article on the subject he would often call and talk to me or ask my opinion about something he needed to clarify.   One day my reporter friend called and asked if I had heard about a police chief who had murdered his wife.  I had and we talked about this in length.  At that time I was really having a difficult time in continuing to write the book and almost put it on the “shelf” so to speak.  However, this call disturbed me.   It continued to disturb me and I could

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