Beyond the Glitz & Glamour of Las Vegas: Death & Addiction

By Rosemary A. Cunliffe North

A true story of a woman whose worst nightmare comes true with the loss of one of her children. The authors only son, Andrew, is brutally and senselessly murdered in Las Vegas Nevada at the age of twenty-one.
Through out the capture, trial, and sentencing of her sons murderer, Rose preservers. After all the turmoil, the author shuts everyone out of her life, including her only other child, her daughter and husband, whom she forgets how to love.
In order to escape the harsh reality of the world without her son, the author resorts to gambling at the casinos in Las Vegas. Roses gambling slowly becomes an addiction. Rose quickly becomes obsessed with a powerful compulsion to gamble. She recounts some of the ways she obtained the means to gamble, risking her family and harming relationships with those who love her.
After years of gambling, she finally admits denial & defeat and can say: Im Rose, and yes, Im a compulsive gambler! Rose finds recovery through the Twelve Steps of the Gamblers Anonymous Program and its Fellowship. She finds her lost spirit, her family and her Savior Jesus Christ, along with a deeper understanding of her addiction, and love of family and friends.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9781479795956

Book preview

Beyond

the

Glitz & Glamour

of

Las Vegas

15097.jpg

Death & Addiction

Second Edition

Rosemary A. Cunliffe North

Copyright © 2013 by Rosemary A. Cunliffe North.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Rev. date: 03/07/2013

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

130286

Contents

Note from the author…

Chapter One New Life, New Location

Chapter Two Tragedy Strikes

Chapter Three A Waiting Game

Chapter Four Captured

Chapter Five Preliminary Arraignment

Chapter Six Bail Reduction & Custody Appeals

Chapter Seven The Trial

Chapter Eight Jury Deliberations & The Verdict

Chapter Nine Family Impact Statement, Sentencing

Chapter Ten Life Continues

Chapter Eleven Gambling Addiction

Chapter Twelve Hitting Bottom Aka, Bottoming Out

Chapter Thirteen Gamblers Anonymous Meeting

Chapter Fourteen Hurdles & Recovery

Dedicated

To

My Daughter

Cathy

In Memory

Of

Her Brother

Andrew

Note from the author…

This journey you are about to delve into is a true story, and it is my story. Beyond The Glitz & Glamour of Las Vegas, Death & Addiction is an actual account of the night of the 19th and 20th of September 1991. The original manuscript was written approximately seventeen years ago and not published for several years that followed. In the year 2007 I published the first edition of this book. I decided, I needed to tell my story as it actually unfolded… with this, my second edition, I go back in time and then forward by italicizing my writing with further comments today.

It’s the story of a young man whose life is taken away by the hand of another person. A very sick individual who has no respect for life, not for his life or the lives of others. He is a very callous person. This sick individual was given every chance to recuperate but he failed drastically. Eventually he commit’s the ultimate crime of murder after being released early from prison for good behavior.

He stabbed my son to death in a 7-11 store in Las Vegas, Nevada which renders the title of my book. The loss of my only son takes its toll on me, his mom; his only sister, his biological dad and his step dad. Each one of us dealing with his death the only way we know how. The pain at times is absolutely unbearable.

Me, his mom loses it completely, and after several years, turns unknowingly into a compulsive gambler. I shut everyone who loves me out of my life. I become obsessed with an overwhelming desire to gamble without any regard for anyone or anything.

After years of torturing my loved ones, I finally hit bottom, so hard, that I truly wanted to die. However, my God has different plans for me. I am here to reach out, to those who cry out for help, just as I did… . I finally, encase myself, wholeheartedly into the Gamblers Anonymous Program and its Twelve Steps of Recovery. My recovery depended on me wholly accepting the program and more importantly its Fellowship.

Repetition is a keyword

in the success of the

Gamblers Anonymous Program!

Chapter One

New Life, New Location

July 4, 1987 the sun was shining with moderate temperatures and very little humidity. A mini miracle, considering we were on the east coast in New Jersey. Normally at this time of the year, temperatures would be significantly warmer with humidity very close to one-hundred percent.

After living in Colorado Springs, Colorado for three years with relatively no humidity and cooler temperatures it was a drastic change. Although, I had been accustomed to living in these conditions being born and raised in New Jersey.

Eleven months ago to be specific, August 9, 1986, I met a man at the Atlantic City Racetrack. At this time in my life, I was not interested in dating or looking for someone to share my life with. I was recently separated from my first husband and received my divorce decree in October of 1985. I vowed never to marry again. I was much to busy trying to work, run a home and raise two teenagers as a single parent.

Little did I know at that time, that shortly afterwards, I would be marrying this terrific, wonderful, warm hearted man who was also a perfect gentleman.

After dating John a couple of times, I found myself longing for his company. He was the type of a man who just made me feel good. He made me laugh, when I was sad. He knew just how to calm me, when I became angry and wanted to reach out and choke someone. Overall he was, and still is, a one in a million find which is rare in today’s society. There are far too many scammers, and dead beats who prey on lonely single women of all ages.

I found myself making the time to see him over and over. After a short courtship, eleven months, we were getting married this 4th of July, at the new city hall in Absecon, New Jersey. John was about to become a stepfather to my two teenage children, Andrew about to turn seventeen and Cathy (Catherine) about to turn fifteen.

The city of Absecon had acquired a prime piece of property which previously was The Gross Winery. The buildings were renovated and this site was the new location for Absecon’s City Hall and municipal buildings. We met with the mayor and plans were made for us to be married. We made arrangements for a simple ceremony, followed by an intimate dinner. To our surprise the dedication for the new city hall and its facilities was also to take place on the same date.

We asked the mayor if our wedding ceremony would present a problem? He replied, no. We did not want a big to do so arrangements were made for us to slip through a police blockade. Have a quiet wedding ceremony, before the official dedication ceremonies for the new city hall. After our vows were exchanged, we had reservations at The Squires Inn in Northfield, New Jersey for dinner. We were the very first couple to be married in the new city hall before its actual dedication.

Our wedding party consisted of my brother, Jim who was our best man and Sally, Jim’s wife, who was my matron-of-honor. We wanted to have my son, Andrew as best man and my daughter, Cathy as maid-of-honor. But unfortunately, when we applied for our marriage license, we were told they could not stand up for us, because they both were minors. John and I were both very disappointed. In our hearts, we always felt that they were best man and maid-of-honor even though our marriage license reads differently.

As timed past, John and I grew closer and closer to each other, like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, we were inseparable.

My husband John was employed at the Atlantis Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The casino was in Chapter 11, bankruptcy. John and I saw the handwriting on the wall. We both knew, it was only a matter of time, before they would close their doors and John would soon be unemployed.

No matter how loyal you are to your job, or how much time you have with your employer, in the blink of an eye you can be history.

Knowing my husbands potential, I suggested that we relocate to Las Vegas, Nevada. At first, John was not thrilled with the idea of relocating. But, I managed to change his mind.

Telling Andrew and Cathy of our intended move was not going to sit well with either of them. We had only recently moved back to New Jersey from Colorado Springs, Colorado. Our entire family loved living in the Springs, as it was referred too. It was by far the greatest place we chose to live. Both my children were avid skier’s and thoroughly enjoyed all kinds of outdoor activities.

Today, the decision I made to move back to New Jersey so long ago in 1984 was the right decision. They say things happen for a reason. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . the reason I moved back to New Jersey in the first place was to meet John. I have always felt John came into my life for a specific reason. I need his help today, just as much as he needed my help, back when I first met him. I had divorced my first husband, and he was in the process of divorcing his first wife. The need for help was mutual.

The reason I left Colorado in the first place was due to illness. While skiing at a resort in Colorado, I had gotten ill. After passing out on one of the mountain slopes, I was brought down to the First Aid Room in a rescue basket.

There I continued to get sicker with severe vomiting and loss of equilibrium. It was getting late in the afternoon and a decision had to be made. We needed to get back to the Springs. My friend and I left the ski resort and headed for the small town of Westcliff, Colorado a couple of miles south of the resort. My friend Billy, who was with me, called my husband. She told Andy, what had happened, and that I was to sick for the return trip by car. I needed to be brought back to the Springs by ambulance.

After several days in the hospital, I was released, pending further diagnosis. After a barrage of tests and doctor visits, six months later, I was diagnosed with Remitting Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis.

Facing a multitude of physical problems, from not being able to walk, then being able to walk; loss of peripheral vision in one eye, then the other eye and totally uncoordinated movements, etc.,

My husband being twenty-nine years, my senior, was of no use to me. Please don’t take this the wrong way, as the father of my children and my husband, he was great. He provided everything that I could have needed, or wanted. But, after my diagnosis, he would sit on the edge of our bed and cry. He made me more upset then ever. We both decided we would move back to New Jersey. I needed to be near my mom, in case, I needed help.

My children were much to young to understand the full affects of my illness and what was happening to me. My daughter tells me she doesn’t remember much about that time. Understandably, she was too young.

After moving back to New Jersey, things started looking up, most of my outward defects, as I call them, began to disappear. I obtained a job at the Atlantic City Medical Center, Mainland Division, as a Medical Transcriber.

During the three years we lived in the