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Interview with Jeff McArthur, author of Pro Bono

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In 1958, Charles Starkweather went on a murder spree that left 11 people dead, and panicked the entire state of Nebraska.  With him when he was captured was his 14-year-old ex-girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate.  She claimed to be Charlie’s hostage, but the police accused her of being Charlie’s accomplice. John McArthur, my grandfather, believed so strongly in her innocence that he represented her for 18 years without pay, eventually getting her out of prison in the 1970s. 

Wow. We hadn’t heard of this story before and so we googled it in preparation for this interview, and it’s a really amazing story. We aren’t the only ones who think so, are we?
The story went on to inspire books, movies, and songs, including Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska album, Terrence Malick’s Badlands, Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners, and Stephen King’s entire career.

Tell us a little more about that young girl.
Caril Ann Fugate was just 14 years old when Charles Starkweather took her with him on his murder spree across Nebraska. She had tried to break up with him two days before the spree, and for that he murdered her family and took her with him on his rampage. She was described by others as someone so timid she’d be afraid of her own shadow. After the police accused her of being his accomplice, she bottled up her emotions and sat rigidly, answering questions that were thrown at her by the media and in court. This backfired, however, as people read her rigidity as cold and belligerent.

But not your grandfather. He sounds like an amazing man. Tell us about him.
John McArthur was a quiet man from the grassy sandhills of western Nebraska. He was outspoken in his views, calling out Joseph McCarthy for what he was when others still lauded him as a hero. He paced often, spoke under his breath, and continuously flipped a coin. When the Fugate case came to him, he accepted out of a sense of constitutional duty, but as he began working on it, he found that it was far more complicated than anyone was led on. He believed the legal system was railroading Caril, and he took it upon himself to defend her for nearly two decades until he got her released from prison.

Sounds like it became a mission for him, not just a case.
My grandfather was so disturbed by the way Caril had been railroaded by the justice system that he refused to deposit the check the court sent him. Besides, they had only given him half of what they had paid each of Starkweather’s two lawyers, and hadn’t even allowed his partner to work with him. He went on to defend Caril for the next 18 years without pay, simply because he believed firmly in her innocence, despite death threats and the anger of the entire community.

Are there any other major players we need to meet?
Ninette Beaver never intended to become a reporter, but when she temporarily took over for a friend, that job slowly became permanent. She was soon working in the brand new field of television news, trying to get interviews for her boss Floyd Kalber. Soon she would find herself pulled into the largest legal case in the nation as her investigation into the Fugate case finds more than the public knows, and begins to uncover a police scandal bent on covering up the truth.

Have you written any other books that we should read next?
Relic Worlds:
Pick Your Path (3 books)
The Table of Truth

Tell us a bit about yourself.
I grew up in Nebraska surrounded by this case. I went to New York for film school, then followed that dream to Los Angeles where I tried for 15 years to break in. At last, I circled back around to book writing and am now creating the Relic Worlds series, and several non-fiction books.

Do you have a website where we can keep up with your work?
www.bandwagononline.com

How can we follow you on Twitter and/or Facebook?
On Facebook I’m at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Relic-Worlds

On Twitter I’m at: @bandwagonbooks

What’s next?
I am currently working on a novel for Relic Worlds and a non-fiction book about the largest bank robbery in American history, which ironically took place in Lincoln, Nebraska.

By the way, what happened to everyone after the case ended?
My grandfather passed away in the mid-1980s.  Caril moved to Michigan and lived there for a while until she got married a few years ago.  Unfortunately, just about two weeks ago, she was in a horrific car accident and her husband died.  She has been in critical condition in the hospital since that time, but is expected to make a full recovery.

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