A Death in Canaan

This was the first true crime book that I ever read, and the only reason I picked it up at the library was because I am a Connecticut resident and had heard about the case. Well, this well-written account of the murder and its aftermath was a real page turner. There is no doubt in my mind that Peter Reilly was innocent of the murder of his mother. And I am now convinced that it can happen that innocent people can be coerced into confessing to crimes they did not commit when under intense police interrogation. The case is still unsolved, and the Conn. state police maintain that they got the right man, which is ridiculous. It's a shame that the real murderer(s) of Peter's mother have never been brought to justice because of police malfeasance. At any rate, I highly recommend this book; it would be great in a criminal justice or law school class.

Let's face it, Connecticut has probably more celebrities per capita than most states with their population of over 3 million. In this story, Peter Reilly is accused of the horrible crime of matricide and rape of his own mother, quirky and eccentric Barbara Gibbons. I knew right away from reading the book that Peter had nothing to do with this crime. The crime was having him go with the police for questioning which had him take a lie detector tests and answer questions that would implicate himself. Sadly, Peter never got an attorney or knew enough at such a young age to get assistance and representation. I believe the case remains unsolved after 34 years. The author does provide transcripts regarding the police's questioning of Peter who lost his mother who was the only parent that he had ever known and that they lived in a shack in small town Connecticut. There was never anything in his behavior to alleged that he committed this crime but yet was found guilty of murdering his mother who raised him with love even though their lifestyle represented the Beales of the Hamptons. they lived quite well together. the police never let him mourn his own mother's death. He thought she was just sick not dead and the house was not closed off as soon as possible. I would give the book five stars but there are no pictures of the people involved like the victim and her son, Peter Reilly. The author does her job in persuading the reader that the police were framing an innocent young man. In fact, she has William Styron to write the introduction and contacted celebrities like author/playwright Arthur Miller, Mike Nichols, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward and other famous residents of this state to help in Peter's defense. it was a case that should have never went to trial and somewhere there is a murderer who got away with killing Barbara and destroying the life of a young man.

Mr. Gartner has written an excellent review of this book and because of it, I HAD to read this book. This was an amazing work by Ms. Barthel. It is very true about what the previous reviewer wrote about this book. The other thing that kept going through my mind was this, "It's really awful that DNA testing was not yet available during this time." This would have cleared up Peter's innocence as well as there was remnants of the killer on his mother's body. I was impressed at the rally of support Peter had, including the famous playwright, Arthur Miller, and reknowned director Mike Nichols, among many other well known people. What a terrible, horrific experience this must have been for Peter to live through! The author really lets you know the emotions and feelings of Peter, even though at times it doesn't seem like he doesn't have any, but he certainly did. The poor boy had to be in shock more than anything; not only of his mother's death but the first general outcome of his trial. My heart goes out to Peter Reilly wherever he is today. Mr Reilly, you are to be commended for surviving through this ordeal!

On September 28, 1973, 51 year old Barbara Gibbons, the quirky and eccentric mother of 17 year old Peter Reilly, was murdered in Canaan (a.k.a. Falls Village), Connecticut. State troopers arrived on the scene and immediately seized on Peter as the suspect in the killing. What followed was a three year journey through the Connecticut judicial system finally ending in his exoneration. In between, however, in a show of grass roots support, friends and neighbors rallied to his defense and formed the Peter Reilly Defense fund. Joan Barthel was a freelance writer who became intimately involved with the group trying to free Peter as well as attending virtually every day of the pre- and post-trial hearings as well as the trial itself. Her excellent book is less an investigative inquiry and more of a journalistic look into the day to day events in the Peter Reilly case yet this does not detract in any way from it. He may have been considered "a man" by the state of Connecticut, but Ms. Barthel clearly shows that he is caught in that area between adolescence and adulthood. There are plenty of heroes and villains in this book and the heroes are clearly the people, the well-known and the ordinary, who came to Peter Reilly's aid. Among the villains are the three Connecticut State Troopers, Shay, Kelly and Mulhern, who took one look at Peter and decided he was `from the wrong side of the tracks' and assumed he must have killed his mother. Like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole, they decided to make the case fit him. The most powerful part of Ms. Barthel's book is the actual transcripts of the twenty-five hours that Peter Reilly was kept in police custody. It has to be read to be believed. Although he was read his rights four times, he was clearly brainwashed into admitting his guilt even as he kept insisting he was not totally sure he did it. When he asked to have that statement placed in his written confession, the troopers agreed and then ignored his request. One of the most bizarre moments comes at the end of the questioning when State Trooper Kelly engages Peter in a macabre game of twenty questions because he is trying to elicit `one more detail.' Had the questioning continued, he could have gotten Peter to admit to raping his mother as well. This book should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone who finds himself or herself in custody. All you need to utter is four little words that will send fear into the hearts of police and prosecutors alike: I WANT A LAWYER. If one of these police officers had had the good sense to see Peter Reilly as the all too trusting teenager that he was and advised him to contact a lawyer, everything here could have been avoided.