Chapters (97)
- Cover
- Back Cover Text
- Praise
- Booklist
- Dedication
- Epigraph
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Sixty-Two
- Sixty-Three
- Sixty-Four
- Sixty-Five
- Sixty-Six
- Sixty-Seven
- Sixty-Eight
- Sixty-Nine
- Seventy
- Seventy-One
- Seventy-Two
- Seventy-Three
- Seventy-Four
- Seventy-Five
- Seventy-Six
- Seventy-Seven
- Seventy-Eight
- Seventy-Nine
- Eighty
- Eighty-One
- Eighty-Two
- Eighty-Three
- Eighty-Four
- Eighty-Five
- Eighty-Six
- Eighty-Seven
- Eighty-Eight
- Eighty-Nine
- Acknowledgments & A Personal Note
- Excerpt
Every seat in the courtroom was taken by relatives, friends and employees of the Tullocks, along with journalists and the public. All attention went to the girls when they entered the prisoner’s box. They met the eyes of the jury of seven women and five men. Gone were the prison jumpsuits—the girls were dressed in new tops and slacks. One had a blazer, making them look more like a freshman debating team than accused multiple murderers.
In the trial’s first days, the girls’ lawyers presented a case of self-defense with the aim of putting doubt in the jurors’ minds that the girls had entered the Tullock home intending to kill anyone. But one of the lawyers was secretly anguished, believing that the accounts given to them by the girls were not all true, that one of the girls was not culpable. Yet the lawyer was unable, helpless, under the circumstances, to mount a convincing defense for her. Matters proceeded with all of the lawyers optimistic that their agreed upon self-defense strategy would result in convictions on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
“These young girls never wanted to kill anyone,” defense lawyer Belinda Walker told the court. “They were caught in a bungled robbery and scared for their lives.”
Lawyer Ed Tracy said that the defense didn’t dispute the physical evidence and the fact the girls had gone to the home planning to steal cash that they believed was owed one of them, adding that each of the girls had come from low-income families and had endured troubled childhoods that gave each of them an unreliable moral compass.
Lawyer Ian Bolton said that it was clear the girls had been careful to enter when they believed the home was vacant. They had been drinking, but when it all went wrong they were terrified for their lives, honestly believing Roy Tullock had guns hidden somewhere. Tragically, fueled by alcohol and adrenaline, and circumstances creating a fight-or-flight response, they acted in self-defense.
The defense team did not want the girls to testify—the risk of damaging cross-examination was too great.
“No way were these girls frightened,” Erika Stone, the Crown Attorney prosecuting the case, began. “They were angry and pissed off at the Tullocks. The facts and the evidence are unassailable.”
Stone, who had a stellar record for winning cases because she was surgically precise, said the girls had formed “The Skull Sisters,” in a ritualistic blood pact with the intention of exacting revenge against the Tullocks. To prove it, she quoted aloud from a journal kept by one of the girls: “‘The Tullocks think people like us are dirt, they think they’re better than us… Connie’s such a lying, cheating bitch who should just die…that bitch owes me money and—’” Stone stopped to leave out identifying names, replacing them with “the others” “‘—are going to help me get it…’”