Palmyra

[Wanderlust]

Bugliosi's book is mainly aboout Stern's defence, as her trial was separate from Walker's, where he had already been found guilty.

The premise of her defence was that the murders were committed by Walker without her knowledge, and that certainly seems believable. Perhaps she did know after the event, but the suggestion is she may have naively believed the couple did in fact disappear due to accident, and then was complicit in taking their boat.

The evidence presented at the trial suggested she abhorred violence and so Walker (who did have a history of violence) kept her in the dark to preserve harmony in the relationship. Perhaps as suggested above she felt she had no choice in the matter.

What I found particularly interesting from reading the book was how some seemingly insignificant facts could be turned into useful pieces of evidence for the court case. So, while some comments above may suggest reading a 900 page book would be a bit or a drag, I was pleased with the read and would recommend it.

[Seadaawg]

So, Steve, you read Buck Walker's book, and aside from being 'pleased' with the read, can you tell us more, for instance about Walker's explanation about why he's innocent, and how Muff's body came to end up chopped up and burned in a barrel, if he didn't do it? And of course what happened to Mac? I am the Joel Peters that Buck and Stephanie visited when they sailed into the Ala Wai Yacht Harbor with the Sea Wind. They told me some pretty vague stuff about where they'd been and when I asked them about where their boat was they pointed to the Sea Wind. I said "that's not your boat" (I had seen their boat when they were repairing it for cruising on Maui a year or two before), and they insisted that it was in fact their boat. I let it go, but knew that it was not their boat, nor did their stories make much sense. Stephanie took some of my laundry and left her little dog with me to take care of until they came back with clean laundry. I had met both of them on the Big Island in Honokohau harbor when our cruising trimaran Ladybug was out of the water for maintenance and repair after arriving from Costa Rica, Galapagos, Marquesas Islands, etc.. And they seemed like such a nice couple...

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Seadaawg.

[SkiprJohn]

I'd seen "Sea Wind" while visiting friends on "Summer Breeze" in Kaneohe years after she came back from Palmyra. I believe it was '88. What a history.

Seadaawg, the post you responded to was from 2008 so you may not get a response.

kind regards,

[Wanderlust]

Seadaawg, it's interesting that you have first hand knowledge and assume you would know that Stephanie was picked up by the law just after leaving your boat.

As to your question on "Buck Walker's book" ... it isn't his book or about him. I wrote my comments 3 years or so ago, and read it maybe a year before that so memory may be a little hazy. But Bugliosi made no claim of Buck's innocence in the trial or the book, but referred to his guilt as fact. I don't recollect what, if anything it said about Buck's defence.

For Stephanie, he painted her as abhorring violence and pushed the theme that Buck would have done the deed without her knowledge. Whatever the truth, the arguments and evidence were enough for the jury to find her not guilty.

As I look back on my earlier comments, the recurring thought I have is all the little pieces of seemingly inconsequential pieces of information he used to reinforce her innocence. One such example is your laundry.

How could someone else's laundry have any relevance on whether she committed a murder weeks earlier on a remote island? As I understand it from the book and what you said, it went like this:

• She took your laundry to wash as a favour
• Someone else had already reported the apparently stolen boat in the bay which you suspected as well
• Police were looking for them - you told Stephanie
• She went back to "their" boat and told Buck
• Both piled into the dinghy - police in sight - he did a runner (actually a swimmer)
• She returned your laundry and was then caught

So Bugliosi's argument was that if she knew of the murders she would not have wasted the time returning your laundry but rather tried to disappear as well.

[jujubee6]

Five years later I thought I'd respond to this and let you know I came across a guy who travels in an RV and is an avid reader. He read Bugliosi's book and decided to order Buck Walter's, which he read and briefly blogged about in September 2011.
Impressions Of A Book I Really Enjoyed… | Ramblin' Man: Full-time RV Life - seattlepi.com

Based on Walters' website, I was dubious about the book, but ramblin' man gives it a rather good review. Unfortunately, he doesn't reveal the real story.

I'll bite. Walker's dead, so I sent an email to ascertain if the book is still available for purchase. The domain name and site is live, so perhaps so. If it is, I'll read it, and report back. I'm a fanatical reader and do quite a few reviews on Amazon (but not under this screen name), so stay tuned. If you're curious, that is.

[Wanderlust]

Hi Jujubee6

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the followup. I had a look at that link you provided and followed through to some snippets from the book introduction.

Although in those few paragraphs he does not actually give the names of the people, I think he was suggesting it was a case of adultery and he was having a fling with Muff at her instigation. Mac saw them and started shooting, then turned his fury on Muff .... end of snippet.

To me this sounded implausible .... firstly that Buck had a different version of events yet it was not raised at his trial (or hers for that matter). Secondly the adultery scenario as presented seems quite unlikely as well.

However, that was just a few paragraphs from a book, so if you find a copy I would like to hear your comments.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard to the CF, jujubee6.

[jujubee6]

Yes, and he's had a long time to think of a story! But I'm immensely intrigued even though his version is obviously suspect. I just ordered the book - having sent an email first to verify that it's still possible since the guy is dead - and so I'll have it in 1 - 2 weeks. That puts it at about 3 - 4 weeks before I've read it and post sort of review. I'll be back!