At Large: The Life and Crimes of Randolph Franklin Dial

I so enjoyed this book it was hard for me to put it down. The story of Randolph Dial has interested me for years and I like to read/hear other's theories. This author is a talented man that knows his stuff and presents his information with candor. I saw this writer on national television and was impressed with the way he presented himself and his subject. Well done, Mr. Sasser!

Dial has been captured, with the warden's wife, too. Dial, a sculptor and painter, was convicted of the 1981 murder of a karate instructor. He had obtained trusty status at the Oklahoma State Reformatory, and he ran an inmate pottery program with Bobbi Parker and had access to the couple's home during the day in staff housing on prison grounds. Bobbi Parker's mother received a phone call from her the night of the 1994 disappearance traced to Hurst, Texas. "I can't talk now," she said, crying. "I'm OK. Tell the kids I'll see them soon." A day later, she made a second call, this time from Fort Worth to a friend. It was the last message her family got from her. "Tell the kids I love them and I'll be home soon," she said. In a jailhouse interview with reporters Tuesday, Dial, 60, said he took Parker at knifepoint when he escaped. "I was a hostage-taker and will probably live to regret it," Dial said. "But now I don't. Doing a life sentence, at my age, I wouldn't trade it for the past 10 1/2 years." Dial said their relationship was never romantic and that they lived in separate rooms. He likened Parker's relationship to him as "Stockholm Syndrome," where kidnapping victims become sympathetic to their captors over time, often out of fear of violence. "She was living under the impression if she ever tried to get away, I would get away and I would make her regret it, particularly toward her family," Dial said. "I didn't mean it, but she didn't know that." What an amazing story this is now! Even better!

with Dial's capture today, 4/5/05, this provides a more satisfying ending for the book. My thoughts and prayers are for the families of all those that Dial hurt.

It was disappointing that this guy has been able to elude authorities for so long - people don't just disappear off the face of the earth. But Dial must be very good at what he does cause he is able to go underground or just keep out of the limelight for long periods of time without detection. I do think that the warden's wife went willingly and that she is still alive. Shocking tale! Some parts read slow but the end of the book is absolutely amazing! He's still "at large!"