[OnyxCougar]

{back history} In high school, Travis and Steven were best friends. Steven's sister is Shannon, and Shannon and I became best friends. Travis and Shannon were on-again, off-again dating as well. So it was the four of us hanging out all the time.

Steven's dad was a prick, so Steve spent alot of time at Trav's house. Trav lived with Ron and Bobbie, his aunt and uncle. Ron and Bobbie pretty much adopted Steve into the family. Travis was always the blacksheep, so to speak, and it was pretty obvious that they liked Steve over Travis. When they kicked Travis out and we went to California, Steve moved in.{/back history}

Well, when we picked Justin up in Oregon and spirited him off to Washington in an attempt to secure an emergency passport (that went horribly wrong), I talked to him and tried to ascertain what he knew.

Keep in mind that up until the day before, he had thought his parents were Ron and Bobbie, and that he had 7 brothers and sisters. He thought Travis was his cousin.

I asked him what he knew about what was going on, and he said that his dad (Ron) had been arrested, and the kids at school were teasing all the kids about "Your dad cuts people up and puts them in garbage bags." and other things of that nature.

I told him that Ron and Travis were arrested for killing Steven. He remembered Steven from when he would go on leave from the Navy and visit "the family". He said that he had seen Carmen (Ron and Bobbie's oldest) showing off a hand to her friends. I don't know how true that is, but he said it. I was appropriately horrified.


In high school, Steven had proposed to me, I laughed at him. I didn't think he was serious. He was. Then I went off with Travis and he told me he'd always be there, waiting. When I left Travis, he was finishing up Navy training in Florida. I told him I was in Southern California and he was to be stationed in San Diego, so he was going to see me on his way to port.

He stopped in Oregon on the way, and they convinced him not to visit me. He went to San Diego and then went on West Pac. About a year later, I used the Navy locator and found him again, and we started writing back and forth. We were going to try again, and I was to meet him in San Diego, when his ship pulled in (January 91). I had managed to borrow a friends car, but didn't have enough money for gas, so I couldn't go. I wasn't home when he called. I know now that he had stayed in San Diego instead of taking leave like he was going to, and took the leave in July 91. He went to Oregon, and when they tried to talk him out of seeing me again, he decided to pack all his stuff and leave. I don't know if they knew he was going to propose to me or not.

The BS about Ron not knowing about Steve and Carmen is a complete lie. Ron knew about them years before. Bobbie had pulled Carmen out of Steve's bed several times. Steve had told me that he had broken up with Carmen months before he came back from West Pac. I think they killed him because they were the beneficiaries of his military insurance policy, they were using his car while he was gone, he was sending home money to help the family out, etc. Once he had enough of their BS and they found out he was leaving and taking all his stuff with him...well, the obvious. Ron put a bug in Travis' ear, and Travis, still pissed that I had "gone back" to Steve, did it.


Justin wants to meet Travis when he turns 18. Travis wants NOTHING to do with Justin. I think it's morbid curiosity on Justin's part. I've told him I don't think it's a good idea.

Travis is in Oregon State Penn, he got life, no possibility of parole. Ron got 20 years, and is trying to get out early. I think he's eligible for parole here soon.