Books Written About These Inmates:

I specifically chose these people to write to without knowing very much about them except that they were called "sociopaths" by psychologists in their trials and that they were shown to have above average intelligence. They were known to be charming and good looking. I read just the basic information to know what they were convicted of and where they were being held. I specifically didn't want to read the books that were written about them and their crimes because I wanted to go in fresh and forge a pen pal relationship with them without knowing any of the back story. And that is what I did.

So now that I have a relationship with Pender, Swango, Whitaker and Smith, I decided to read the books written about them. I started with Ken Whitaker's(Bart's father) book, Murder By Family. Ken is a very religious man and the narrative is peppered with religious belief and sentiment. Juxtaposed with the incredibly intellectual voice Bart has, I noted how different father and son's styles were. Not too much stood out in the book except that towards the end Bart writes his father letters explaining his crime. I found it particularly interesting that he said something along the lines of, "I never respected people less smart than I am." It does seem from reading each of their writing, that Bart is way more eloquent, has a much bigger vocabulary and is far more well-read. The only other part that was really noteworthy was how Bart, in that typical sociopathic way, writes in circles about why he did this. His commentary about the "masks" he wore and the hole he had inside of him which made him incapable of feeling love, was enlightening.

Then I read James B. Stewart's bestseller, Blind Eye. Keep in mind I have already had a relationship with Swango for months before embarking on the reading of this book. I was really taken with how horrifying his actions and words were. I wanted to remember these things so they'd stick in my head when I read his letters. Swango writes about two letters a week to me, each around 10 pages.

The things that were particularly noteworthy about Swango were:

- Since he was very young he kept scrapbooks of clippings of murder, death and tragedy. Many people are quoted in this book as saying they'd see him cutting out articles about mass death with an eerie look of satisfaction on his face. He was also fascinated with serial killers. He was quoted as saying, "That's just great. I wish I had been there," in reaction to watching a story on the news about a man who went into a McDonalds and shot 21 people. "Every time I think of a good idea, someone beats me to it."

- He connected sex and death. He was quoted as saying, "Do you know what I'd like to do to you?" After describing in lurid detail what he called a "sexual fantasy" he said it would culminate with him plummeting a hatchet into the back of the woman's head.

- He was also quoted as saying, "The best thing about being a doctor is coming out of the ER with a hard-on to tell some parents that their kid died from head trauma."

- Swango said the ultimate call while being an EMT was to be called to the site of an accident in which a busload of children had been hit head on by a tractor trailer filled with gasoline. He said he'd like another bus to plow into the wreckage, causing a massive explosion throwing children's bodies into barbed wire fences.

- In this book, Swango also says, "Wouldn't that be great? To travel around the country killing people. Just moving on, killing some more--a great lifestyle!"

- He was married to a woman named Ruth Duma. The marriage lasted for 3 years.

- He said he hated fat people so much he dreamed of slicing them through with blades attached to his shoes.

- The book discusses how he was a big movie buff. So interesting that he still is. If you read his letters to me, they almost always discuss movies. Even many that he does not have the ability to see.

Probably the thing that stands out the most about this book, for me, is all the text about KK. Besides sharing her initials with me, she had the same look I do--the same coloring. She was supposedly very funny and Lucille Ball-like. My ex-husband Wm. used to actually call me "Lucy" because of sense of humor. Like me, she had been married before and her marriage only lasted a very short time. She had a very bad childhood. She kept a diary/journal during the last year of her life with Swango, chronicling events and her depression. She ended up killing herself. Once autopsied they found ample quantities of arsenic in her system that was said to explain her horrible migraines and breakdown.


I recently ordered three books on the Susan Smith murder case: One written by her mother, another written by her ex-husband and one written by a psychologist. I will write what stands out to me after I read them and get a few more letters from her.

There is currently no book about Pender yet, but she tells me she is working on one herself.