The Killing Kind (38 page)

I
wrote to Danny Hembree as I began this project in late 2011. It was a short letter introducing myself. I promised to give him the space he needed to tell his story.

Hembree wrote back immediately. He opened his missive by saying he didn’t “need” me to tell his story, and the “cleverly disguised wording” of my letter to him had “fallen on deaf ears.” He explained how we lived in America and I could “write what the fuck” I wanted “to write.” He said I hadn’t done my research, because he would never agree to interviews with me through letter writing. Only in person.

Then came the feelings of inadequacy many narcissists cannot hide from. Hembree said “just because” he was a “convicted killer” did not mean he was “stupid.”

He didn’t know if I was a “crock pot or what.” (Hembree actually meant “crackpot.”) He bragged that his “story” was about a “hell of a lot more than 3 murders.”

After that, he wrote one of his more interesting comments. Saying how crime fans would “eat up” his life story of crime and the things he had not yet talked about, Hembree added,
Not to mention the other bodies that haven’t been found yet.

He said if I was serious about interviewing him, I would make the trip to the North Carolina prison where he resided and interview him in person. Once there, if he liked what I had to say,
I’ll participate,
he wrote.

Power and control. Hembree’s two most prevalent traits at play. He was baiting me.

There was not a chance I was going to waste my time. I could see him sitting behind the glass (or refusing to see me at all) and laughing at my appearance.

So I wrote back.

I told him he needed to begin writing to me if he wanted his voice heard. I would not be visiting him without first having a commitment in writing and him beginning to tell me his story vis-à-vis letters and/or phone conversations. We could do those interviews quite easily. Then, after I was comfortable he was not playing me, I would visit him.

Never heard from Danny Hembree again.

I contacted Hembree’s sister, Kathy Ledbetter, and we had several conversations and exchanged several e-mails. Kathy wanted to help; I know she did. But in the end, she refused and told me to stop contacting her.

I conducted over one hundred interviews for this book and reviewed thousands of pages of documents. I want to thank everyone for their honesty, integrity, and willingness to tell their stories.

I want to thank everyone who helped with this project, especially Stephanie Hamlin, who made sure I had all of the evidence available, and answered countless questions and what must have been hundreds of e-mails. Without her help, I don’t know that I could have completed this book. There were others, too: Nick Catterton, Shellie Nations, Sommer Heffner, Matt Hensley, Michel Sumner, and all of those sources that have chosen to remain anonymous. Those behind the scenes at my publisher—especially my longtime editor, Michaela Hamilton—and in my life (friends and family), thank you again. Fans of my Investigation Discovery series,
Dark Minds,
thank you for watching! My road crew, Peter, Jared, and Colette; producers Jeannie Vink and Andrew Farrell. And lastly, my readers (and viewers): As always, I am indebted to you, humbled by your dedication and continuous support—thank you from the bottom of my heart and core of my soul.

Photo by Investigation Discover/
Dark Minds

Crime writer and investigative journalist M. William Phelps is the author of twenty-four nonfiction books and a serial killer thriller,
The Dead Soul
. He has conducted dozens of interviews with experts in the fields of serial killers and criminal psychology, regularly communicates with several incarcerated serial killers, and has dedicated his working life to unraveling the mind of the serial offender. He consulted on the first season of the Showtime series
Dexter,
has been profiled in
Writer’s Digest, Connecticut Magazine, New York Daily News, New York Post, Newsday, Suspense Magazine,
and the
Hartford Courant,
and has written for
Connecticut Magazine.
Winner of the New England Book Festival Award for
I’ll Be Watching You
and the Editor’s Choice Award from
True Crime Book Reviews
for
Death Trap
, Phelps has appeared on nearly one hundred television shows, including CBS’s
Early Show,
ABC’s
Good Morning America,
NBC’s
Today Show
, ABC’s
The View,
TLC, BIO Channel, and the History Channel.

Phelps created, produces, and stars in the hit Investigation Discovery series
Dark Minds,
which focuses on unsolved, cold serial killer cases, now in its third season
;
and is one of the stars of ID’s
Deadly Women.
Radio America called him “the nation’s leading authority on the mind of the female murderer.” Touched by tragedy himself, due to the unsolved murder of his pregnant sister-in-law, Phelps is able to enter the hearts and minds of his subjects like no one else. He lives in a small Connecticut farming community and can be reached at his website,
www.mwilliamphelps.com
.