During the 1980s, families in the area of 1400 North Bosart Avenue warned their children to stay away from the Reese home and family. Dawn Stuard didn’t follow that advice. She disappeared and her body was later found in a wooded area on East 23rd Street. Police suspected that Paul Reese, Sr. was the evildoer but couldn’t prove it. The Reese family members continued their criminal ways till 2008 when Brian Reese was suspected of murdering several people during a robbery. While running from the police, Brian shot Indianapolis Police Department Officer Jason Fishburn who miraculously survived his injuries. A jury convicted Brian Reese of attempt murder later that year. Finally, in 2012 a jury convicted Paul Reese, Sr. of Dawn Stuard’s murder based upon the newer scientific methods of analyzing evidence. Robert L. Snow’s latest book, Killers In The Family: Inside a Real Family of Criminals Bound by Blood relates the story of the Reese family, these crimes and the resulting trials.
Continuing with the matter-of-fact and thorough style of his earlier book, Slaughter On North LaSalle, Snow examines his subjects from every possible angle. Finishing the book, one feels they know the victims and perpetrators. A fascinating aspect of the book was how the Fishburn and Stuard families dealt with the aftermath of their encounters with Brian and Paul Reese. Interestingly, Snow explains the differences between reality and TV and movie depictions of police investigations and trials. For example, although most TV detectives immediately walk up to the murder victim, Snow states that real detectives inspect the entire site before examining the victim.
This book made me ponder how the Reese family became a family of criminals. Was it genetic? Was it environmental? Probably, it was some sort of combination. Unfortunately, Snow can’t answer this question. If anyone could answer this question, then possibly we could stop the epidemic of murders in this city.
Meet the author at Bookmamas, 9 Johnson Avenue, on Saturday, July 19 at 2:00 p.m.
