Murder Machine

By John Reeves

Based on a true story. Two inmates meet while serving time in the Alabama State Prison System. One is a sociopath and the other a pedophile. In the loneliest time of their lives, the two of them devise a plan to rape, torture, and kill young girls. The plan might not have evolved, but upon Norton's release he finds himself alone with nothing. He had the number his old prison mate had given him. The number was good and it started one of the most twisted crime sprees in American history.

• Language: English
• Publisher: John Reeves
• Release date: Aug 29, 2012
• ISBN: 9781476361949

John Reeves

My name is John Reeves, and I'm the author of The Keepers and Teen Spirit. I'm a loving husband and father of two.

Book preview

Murder Machine

by

John Reeves

© John Reeves 2012 all rights reserved

ISBN: 9781476361949

Disclaimer:

Any references to real people, living or dead and real events, businesses, organizations, and locales are intended only to give this fiction a sense of reality and authenticity.

All names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and their resemblance, if any, to real-life counterparts is entirely coincidental.

The author copyrights this work of fiction in its entirety, and no part shall be used for any purpose without written permission of said author.

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Forward

Writing is a lonely experience, and I would like to acknowledge some of the people who made this work possible. There is my wife Bambi Reeves, who believes in me, and has since day one. Next I’d like to thank my children, because they give me the strength and fear needed to keep going. This huge thanks goes out to both Peyton and Morgan for the encouragement they provide me. My family stands behind me, and I need them as much as the ideas I write with. Outside of my family I believe a writer needs other writing friends, as I mentioned before, it can be lonely. I have such a friend and want to thank Rick Carufel. He’s been the cover artist, editor, and test reader for my first three stories. He is the author of Phospheindz, The Chronicles of Underhill, and Fever Dreams and Disturbing Visions. I can safely say this wouldn’t have been possible without my support system. I will continue to write and hope that you’ll continue to read.

Chapter One

The people sitting in the courtroom couldn't believe what they'd heard. Several of them walked out when the torture tapes were played. Crying and vomiting, the gruesome accounts of what occurred were unfathomable. Nobody on the jury wanted to hear it, yet drawing jury-duty had put them front and center.

I have two daughters of my own, and that was the most disgusting, foul, inhumane treatment of a human, that I have ever heard of. It's truly hard to believe there are people like that out there. One of the guards told the reporter. What they heard on those tapes would stay with them for a long time. The calm recount of what happened would remain with them for the rest of their lives. Lee Norton who sat before them was the face of evil. As they would hear Norton tell it, he wasn't the face of evil. That was reserved for his partner in crime Lance Bedford.

No, I never wanted to kill those girls. I only wanted to rape them, Lance wanted to kill them. He got off on doing the killing. Norton confessed in a taped interview with the police.

Sitting there in the court room he knew he'd only wanted to rape them. He also realized that the tapes did show his involvement in the torture of those girls. Had they been there to see it, then they'd know it was far less than Bedford's involvement. He wouldn't have killed anyone, but confessed to only killing one of the six girls.

Sometimes I'd scare them into willingly having sex with me. I'd tell them that Lance would kill them if they didn't. I truly felt bad for those girls when he killed them. Norton explained in court.

Did you stab any of the six victims in the head with a screwdriver?

No, I did not.

Did Mr. Bedford stab any of the victims in the head with a screwdriver?

Yes, he did.

Were you aware that he was killing them?

Yes.

Did you try to stop it from happening?

No.

Why not? That was the question, and one that Norton had run through his head over and over again, but there was no logical reason. He'd asked himself a million times why he didn't try to stop Lance from killing them. Were you afraid of Lance Bedford? He'd asked himself that question too, but those were questions that he hadn't found answers for. Part of him was afraid of Lance, but not from a physical standpoint, but because he knew that Lance was more evil than he was. Sure he wanted to fondle and fuck those little girls, but his partner in crime was the one who wanted to kill them.

Look man, we have to kill them, or they'll go tell someone what we did. He remembered Bedford telling him. Norton could remember when they first met each other, and killing them had been what they originally planned to do.

I first met Lance when the old Kilby Prison was shutdown in 1969, and all the prisoners were sent to Holman. We started talking about cars or something like that. His cell was next to mine; we were locked up in the one man violent offender cells. I could talk to him through the bars, and soon discovered that we both liked young girls. Norton told the detectives during the interrogation process.

The original plan had been to drive all over the country abducting and raping teenage girls. Lee Norton would think about those young girls that had just started to grow pubic hair. Lance Bedford's idea of a perfect girl was slightly older than Norton's, however they both were on the same page. Bedford would get out of prison first, but eventually did another two years. Which included six months at an institution in Knoxville, Tennessee. Norton remained in Holman during the eight years he served on a twenty five year sentence. He ended up doing a total of ten years counting the two at the old Kilby Prison. When Norton was released in 1976, he called Bedford.

He was staying just outside of Birmingham when I got out. I'd kept his number for all those years, and was surprised the damn thing was any good after that long. It was to his mother's house, and he was staying with her at that point. He'd gotten a job as a mechanic at some little shop. It was there he purchased the van that we'd use to carry out our plan from prison. Norton explained, to the detectives during the interview.

Lee Norton didn't have anywhere else to go when he got released. His parents had died while he was in prison, and his siblings disowned him for being a pedophile. They both had regular jobs for awhile, and Norton had an apartment closer to Birmingham. Soon the pair decided to go on a little road trip, and that was when their plan began to fall into place. It hadn't just been talk when they'd discussed it years earlier, but something both of them wanted to do.

What kind of discharge did you get in the Navy? The detective asked.

An administrative discharge.

And that was for the attempted rape? The other detective questioned.

Yes, that's why. Norton answered. He knew everything was in a file somewhere. They knew about the discharge, they knew about the rape conviction, and they knew about the rape and murders of six girls. The deal was on the table to spare his life, but they wanted to know everything. He agreed to show them where the un-found bodies were hidden, and he agreed to testify against his former partner in crime. "So