Farewell to Rosegate: the Joan Kiger Story

By Barbara Mcfarland and Hal McFarland

From the Authors



Since writing my book, A Dream Within a Dream, in 2008, the enigmas of the Kiger family have slowly been peeled away, revealing pain, suffering, regret, and forgiveness. My wife, Barbara, a psychologist who has worked with adolescent girls and their families for the last thirty years, has been very curious as to how such a tragedy could have taken place in this seemingly normal family. After many late night discussions and debates, we decided to write a play exploring how this horrific incident affected the survivors, Joan and her mother. We wanted the play to highlight Joan as she transitioned from an innocent 15 year old to a 16 year old marred by fate and the legal system . And what about Jennie? What was life like for her after her family was totally destroyed by this inexplicable event?
In our writing process, we each seemed to gravitate to those scenes which somehow spoke to something deep within us. For Barbara, it was the mother- daughter relationship and Joans metamorphosis: becoming the young woman who guides her mother toward forgiveness and truth; and for me, it was about the machinations of men interested more in their own fame, fortune and survival than in helping a troubled teenager.
Our thanks to all who have contributed to the search for what happened to this family that fateful year of 1943 and to the Boone County Historical Society under the guidance of Asa Rouse and Bruce Ferguson who were the first to bring this story from the yellowed pages of sixty- year old newspapers to their recreation of the Kiger murder trial.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Mar 5, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491867006

Barbara Mcfarland

Barbara and Hal have been married for over 30 years and both have enjoyed writing -- only they have done so separately. Hal, who was as former English Teacher and counselor, has written “A Dream Within a Dream,” and Barbara, who is as psychologist and corporate consultant, has written a number of professional books including “My Mother was Right!”, “The Balanced Life,” “Brief Therapy and Eating Disorders,” to mention few. Dexter is their first joint effort. It has been a labor of love although the manuscript was shelved for a good many years. They both felt that this was the time to bring Dexter and Irma to life. Somehow the state of current times seemed to awaken the passion they both felt for the struggles the human condition and our Western culture imposes upon us. Their son, Casey Ryan, for whom the book was first written when he was just 7 years old, is a thriving and successful wealth management consultant living in Syracuse, NY, with his wife, Peggy.

Book preview

FAREWELL

TO ROSEGATE:

THE JOAN KIGER

STORY

BARBARA AND HAL MCFARLAND

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©

2014 Barbara and Hal McFarland. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 02/28/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6719-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-6700-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014903587

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

CONTENTS

PREFACE

ACT I

ACT II

CAST OF CHARACTERS

TIME OF PLAY

(ACT ONE)

ACT TWO

EPILOGUE

(ENDNOTES)

ABOUT THE AUTHORS . . 

A QUIZ FOR:

PREFACE

In August, 1943, during the height of World War II, an event occurred in Boone County Kentucky that put the war news on page 2 from August 17 until the 21st. The headlines throughout the nation focused on the murder of Carl Kiger, the vice mayor of Covington, Kentucky, and his six-year-old son, Jerry, who were shot a total of 15 times.

Human nature is a strange beast: at the same time that thousands of American servicemen were dying in Europe and in the Pacific, much of our nation was talking about only one thing, the murder of two people in a County of barely ten-thousand.

In order to promote the various theories regarding the reasons for Carl’s and Jerry’s murders as touched upon in the newspapers during the fall and winter of 1943 and the spring of 1944, it was occasionally necessary to create characters, events and plot lines leading toward conclusions the authors chose based upon their research, interviews and instincts; and although the timeline, for the major events surrounding Joan Kiger’s life, is basically accurate, the authors chose to invoke their creative rights to digress and, occasionally, to enter the realm of fiction; and as active participants in this process, the readers and the audience are free to decide which is real and which is the dream.

Act I

(The living room & Joan’s bedroom at Rosegate are nicely decorated; all other scenes are sparsely set)

Act II

(Sawyer’s office and waiting room are nicely decorated; Rizzi’s office is dingy; Rosegate living room is in disarray)

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Joan Kiger—a 15-year-old girl

Mae Klingenberg—Joan’s best friend, about the same age

Carl Kiger—Vice-Mayor of Covington, Kentucky and Joan’s father, in his late-40’s

Jennie Kiger—Joan’s mother, in her late-40’s

Jerry Kiger—Joan’s young brother

Jack Maynard—City Manager of Covington, Kentucky; close friend of Kiger and his family, in his early 40’s

The Boone County Sheriff, Jake Williams, in his mid-50’s

The Deputy Sheriff, Irvin Rouse, in his late 30’s

Sawyer Smith—Joan’s attorney, in his early 60’s

Rizzi—Chicago Syndicate Boss, in his 50’s

Stosh—Hit man, in his mid-30’s

Dominick—Aide to Rizzi, in his mid 40’s

Salvadore—Accountant to Rizzi, in his late 50’s

Three girls—Teen-agers from Dry Ridge, Kentucky

Auctioneer—Rel C. Wayman

Time of Play

1943, in Boone County, Kentucky.

**A work of historical fiction reflecting selected events in Hal McFarland’s novel, A Dream Within A Dream, which is loosely based upon the actual 1943 murder of Carl Kiger and his son, Jerry, as well as the subsequent arrest and murder trial of the Kiger’s 15 year old daughter, Joan. SITUATIONAL SEQUENCES AND CHARACTER DIALOG IN THIS FICTIONALIZED HISTORY ARE SOMETIMES SKEWED FOR DRAMATIC EFFECT AND ARE NOT INTENDED TO SUGGEST THE REALITIES OF THIS 1943 STORY.

(Act One)

(Scene 1)

(Joan’s bedroom at Rosegate. Dresser with mirror, make-up is strewn about the dresser; bed is covered with bright coverlet with stuffed animals scattered over it along with clothes. A stuffed chair has magazines covering the seat.)

(At rise, two girls are sharing a mirror, putting makeup on. Paper Doll by the Mills Brothers is blaring on the radio.)

JOAN

(Dressed in a slip.)

We’re going to have so much fun!

MAE

(Walking over to radio and turning it down and then returning to put mascara on.)

We always do!

JOAN

I love Coney Island… all those boys roaming around…

MAE

Yeah! There are some cute ones for sure. That’s one bad thing about going to La Salette Academy—all girls! But, the good thing about that is we don’t have to worry about how we look; although sometimes I feel like I’m in the army, having to wear those uniforms every day! Imagine what it would be like if there were boys there? (Pause) What do you think of this sweater and skirt? Do they go together?

JOAN

Yeah. They look great together.

(Joan takes sweater from bed, puts it on and then does same with skirt.)

Remember last year when Tommy Hutchinson went on the tilt-a-whirl with us? He sat in the middle and every time our car swung around, we would smash him up against the bar?

(Laughing hard.)

He was so dumb; he didn’t know we were doing that on purpose. And then he upchucked! Ugh!

MAE

That was disgusting.

(Making an unpleasant face.)

(Goes to chair and picks up a magazine and then sits.)

He’s not so cute anymore. Got all those pimples and blackheads on his face. And his hair is greasy, too.

JOAN

I never ever thought he was ever cute. You sure don’t have good taste in boys!

MAE

What do you mean? That Steve Hollows you’ve been carrying a torch for sure isn’t Clark Gable.

JOAN

(Laughing and still primping.)

That proves my point, precisely. He is one cool cat, and all the girls are crazy over him.

MAE

(Leafing through magazine.)

Well, I was never one to follow the crowd. I still think Tommy Hutchinson is cute, if he’d just clear up his face & wash his hair.

JOAN

No way! Yuk!

(Looking toward the stairs.)

Say, my mom’s gone shopping.

MAE

So?

JOAN

That means no one is home. I’ve got a surprise for you.

(Pulling a pack of cigarettes out of her purse and flashing them to Mae.)

MAE

(Shrieking and throwing the magazine on the floor.)

Joan! Where did you get those? Have you tried them?

JOAN

Yes, I have! And since I look so mature for my age,

(She puffs out her chest and pulls her sweater tightly over her breasts.)

I was able to go to Ft. Mitchell’s drug store, where no one knows me, and buy a pack! Plus, I sure wouldn’t want my mom to know I bought these.

(The girls giggle hysterically and Joan takes out a cigarette and gives it to Mae.)

JOAN

Okay, now just wait and let me show you how to do this. I watched Bette Davis very carefully when I saw her smoking in Now Voyager.

MAE

What! When did you see Now Voyager? Who did you go with? I thought your parents wouldn’t let you see it.

JOAN

Well, I