Waving goodbye, and eyes on my grandma standing on the back steps of her stone house on Main Street as she fades from view.  I'm riding with my mom in her three year old '62 Chevrolet Corvair as  we head home.  Minutes later we're ascending a steep, sloping road to Owl Hill, the advent of a coming suburbia.  A line of new houses, fronting sprawling acres of worked farmland with patches of pine forest dotting the landscape. 

East of Broad St. and past the town square on Orange St, i'm celebrating Robbie's 10th birthday .  Sis (for Shirley), his mom, is serving cake.  Sis and my mom, best friends went through the town school together.  My little sister is being hugged by younger but not little Lisa,  Robbies sister.  My sister's not liking it, and i'm finding it rather amusing as her face turns dark pink. 

Four decades later, a Sunday morning, a few weeks before Thanksgiving, these two locations of a small richly historical, quiet, conservative town populated by about 8,000 (another three thousand in the suburbs) would be prominent.  The town stunned and brought to national attention by a cold blooded murder.  An act that would raise questions about youth, religion, sex, lifestyle, schooling issues, and the general core of a life of Christian ethos and prosperity.  Shattered by two gunshots deliverd within a few feet would leave five children- age 10 to 22- parentless.

The fourteen year old daughter running from her Owl Hill  home as her boyfriend, the warm gun at his side, backs up the VW Jetta and throws open the passenger door. She had glanced down the hall at the body of her fallen father, blood seeping from the back of his head, as she turned to the kitchen and ran toward the back door.  She did not see her mom, sitting in a chair a few feet away in the living room with a hole in her forehead. The slender blonde jumps in, as the mopped hair driver guides the car through the maze of streets heading westward.

David Ludwig- eighteen, Christian home schooled circuit city salesperson, lifeguard, owner of three laptops, blogger.  Living at home with younger sister and mom and dad and a fifty two gun collection on Orange St.  Likes Christian rock, hanging with friends, night patroling...

Kara Borden - fourteen year old daughter of printing executive dad, and masters degree in special education mom. A year older sister, a 10 year old brother and two older brothers in college and graduate school. A computer for home schooling and communication.  Met David at home schooling Christian network mixer, wears make-up with mousy model looks...

Pan to Raymond Pettibon's comic art noir drawing of black banged hair, black rimmed sunglass clad bohemian couple that graced the cover of art noise band Sonic Youths' 1990 LP.  In a convertible, his arm draped over her shoulder, she smoking a cigarette, thinking "I stole my sister's boyfriend.  it was all whirlwind heat.  Within a week we killed my parents and hit the road."

Kara looked at David.  "My mom?"

David's eyes on the road, mumbled "yeah..."

"David"

David glances at Kara, her eyes wet.  "I had to...they weren't going to let me see you...they were going to make me go to jail...they would've come after us..."

**

She had spent the previous night at his house telling her parents she was staying with a girlfriend.

Did they stay in the barn?  (Davids myspace web posted plans for fixing up the second floor of a small barn on his parents property that he said would be used for he and his friends to go to after their church youth group meetings to pray and find the face of god)

She arrived home at six am - an hour later her parents called David to come to their house.

He arrived with a concealed gun. Two more in his car.

They discussed/argued for an hour.

He shot Mr Borden in the back of the head as he was leading David to the front door.

He turned took a few steps and shot Mrs Borden in the forehead. 

They had been seeing each other since April or May,

he was sneaking into her house at night.

He was patrolling other homes with friend in night gear with guns and plans to invade a house and kill the occupants.

He filmed these adventures.

He had stolen away with a girl to his parents deer camp lodge with ten thousand dollars in the spring,

something happened where he was reprimanded on a family trip to hawaii.

He fantasized and discussed with his friend about sex with Kara and her sister.

**

Where was network of church and home schooling for intervention and counsel for these two kids and families?

Network in public school- couselors, teachers, principals- would it have mattered- could it have been prevented?

If murder didn't happen and she would have cooled on David- would he kill her/ hostage/suicide? (night patrols.)

Was he a murder waiting to happen?

At capture in Ohio, David did not create gun battle with police - was he stunned by collision or done with murder- or checked the odds and decided he'd surrender.

**

Sex is confusion

Confusion is sex

She of adolescence/puberty, sexually alluring made-up looks- a la britney spears, sexually active with eighteen year old boyish post adolescent cocky outgoing young man,

living in the moment, the moment all encompassing.

They were planning on running away and starting a new life together.

David at all costs.

Kara - was she aware of the costs?

Was she part of a deadly plan...how much did she know, and had they discussed murder,

had she wished and he fulfilled,

or multiple variables happening at once or in succession to create a bang. 

**

David is serving a life sentence   -   Kara was moved to another state to live with her siblings with relatives.