An Almost Perfect Murder by Gary C. King Read Free Book Online

mailer, in urging people to vote for Kathy, read: There is a difference. Kathy won the election by some seven hundred votes. Her tactic drew considerable controversy, particularly among black constituents, and many people called her a bigot.
    After completing one term in the Nevada Assembly, Kathy decided that a run for a state senate seat was in order. She got her name on the ballot as a Republican against incumbent Lori Lipman Brown, a Democrat. During that 1994 campaign, she stated in a political advertisement that Brown opposed prayer because Brown had pushed for the senate to begin using a nondenominational approach for the opening prayer instead of having the prayer led by a Christian minister. Instead of participating in the opening prayer, Brown, who maintained that she was an atheist, began stepping outside the senate chambers during the prayer after her request was denied. Kathy also accused Brown, who was a schoolteacher, of being against the Pledge of Allegiance. In reality, Brown was not against prayer in principle, and she did not oppose the Pledge of Allegiance.
    “Politics was a game for her,” Brown said. “Anything you had to do to win an election was all right.”
    Brown fired back with a civil defamation lawsuit, which essentially forced Kathy to publicly admit that her campaign ads had been false. Although she had to apologize to Brown for the false ads, Kathy won the election.
    Her associates were quick to recognize that she had all the traits of a successful, up-and-coming politician in the state’s often highly volatile political arena. Nevada politicians, long known for their “good ole boy” network in which one hand greased gets another’s back scratched, were quick to publicly criticize Kathy for her campaign tactics while offering her praise behind closed doors. Kathy became active in all of the Republican women’s clubs, serving in various roles and capacities, and generously gave of her time whenever it was needed. She was known to travel out of her way to distant, far-flung areas of the state to attend the various clubs’ functions. As a result, she soon became an idol of sorts among Republican women, and served as a high-profile example of what women can do in today’s political climate.
    In 1998, Kathy made history when she became the first woman elected as the state controller, where she served until her untimely demise. Life suddenly seemed golden for Kathy after being elected controller. She enjoyed a good salary, traveled with most expenses paid, and was able to purchase a second home in Reno so that she would be close to the state capitol building and convenient to her work in Carson City. More accomplished and self-guided than many people in her chosen profession, Kathy moved faster than many of her professional peers. By now, she was all but consumed by her association with the Republican Party, not only locally but nationally as well. She proudly displayed photographs in which she had posed with President George H. W. Bush, and later, his son George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush, and Vice President Dick Cheney. It is little wonder that she brimmed with self-confidence, was tough, and possessed a positive attitude, attributes that were immediately detectable by her firm handshake and the fact that she always looked the person to whom she was speaking straight in the eye. She could have been a great poker player because her opponents could never tell when she was bluffing.
    Kathy’s list of accomplishments was impressive. For example, according to her official Nevada State biography, she served as a delegate to Russia and the Ukraine with the American Council of Young Political Leaders (ACYPL) in 1993. Two years later, in 1995, she was selected as an executive committee member to the Biennial Assembly of the Atlantic Association of Young Political Leaders (AAYPL) in Paris, France. In addition, she took part in the Council of State Governments Henry Toll Fellowship Program and