Best Friends Murder

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it By the 1980s she was living in Greenville, Pennsylvania, and working as the personal secretary and de facto manager for a wealthy orthopaedic surgeon, Dr John F. Steele. this part of the story is covered for now She lived rent free in a large house he owned, drove company cars including two Cadillacs and a Corvette, and earned $75,000 a year. She kept two Rottweilers, seven horses and two snakes, one a Burmese python said to be 38 feet long.

details of the account remain covered until revealed His father owned a furniture store and was a Jefferson County commissioner, and the family was prominent locally. Ed was polite and formal as a child, the only first grader with an attaché case, and grew into a confident, manipulative young man, a weightlifter and kickboxer who carried a gun. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

Roger Pratt, known as Butch, grew up in Munhall, Pennsylvania, the youngest of three children of a divorced couple. At five he had a bone disease in his right leg and wore a brace for more than two years, yet he became Steel Valley High School's best male athlete of 1984, an all-conference guard in football and a strong wrestler. He was the first in his family to go to college. His father talked him out of the Marines, and the family found about $3,000 a year to send him to Thiel College in Greenville.

this part of the story is covered for now They became fraternity brothers at Delta Sigma Phi, lived across the hall from one another, played football and were best friends. Ed was the leader and Butch the impressionable follower. In March 1987 about $3,500 of televisions, stereos and other equipment was stolen from the Delta Sigma Phi house and the Phi Theta Phi house next door. details of the account remain covered until revealed Ed paid two fraternity brothers $500 each to keep quiet, and Butch borrowed $500 from his family to cover his share.

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He was 21 and she was 35. She bought him a Jeep, co-signed the loan and made him assistant manager at Old Town Furniture, where Butch also worked. By 1988 Ed was living in her house, and she had fitted out a room as a law office for him. this part of the story is covered for now

On 15 May 1988 both men graduated from Thiel. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Within a day Butch packed his belongings and left without explanation. A week later, on 22 May, the Old Town Furniture warehouse in Greenville burned down. this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

On 27 May 1988 Butch was taken to the police station in Munhall and questioned about the fire. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it He denied any part in the fire but said that anyone burning the store would be trying to destroy financial records. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed The next day he took a 12.05 bus from the Greyhound station in downtown Pittsburgh to Akron, carrying a thank you note from his mother and two plastic containers of leftover fruit salad and stuffed cabbage. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now Butch got out to let her pass, the women shut the doors and drove away. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed By noon the next day everyone was back home as if nothing had happened.

Rose Pratt reported her son missing on 21 June. For 15 months she wrote to blood banks, the IRS, social security and the Salvation Army, hired a private detective and put up posters. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it

this part of the story is covered for now The fire had been set in a second-floor bedroom to cover a burglary and caused more than $100,000 of damage. details of the account remain covered until revealed On 5 October she showed them the grave. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it Every bone in his face was fractured.

this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it The prosecution said she had wanted to stop Butch testifying about the furniture-store arson and had sent a spy to his preliminary hearing. Her defence was that she was terrified of Ed, and she sobbed throughout her evidence. this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed He testified without emotion that Butch had attacked him and that he could not remember the fight, admitting only that he may have picked him up and hit his head on a rock. the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now

details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed

the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now A later Supreme Court decision forced a rehearing. details of the account remain covered until revealed the rest of this account is covered until you choose to reveal it this part of the story is covered for now details of the account remain covered until revealed