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The Decision to Kill: A True Crime Story of a Teenage Killer and the Mother Who Loved Him
A family tragedy propels this gripping true crime debut as a mother searches for answers in the shocking murder of her husband—and conviction of her son.
In the early morning of October 18, 1986, Cherie Wier’s life collapses when her teenage son takes the life of her beloved husband. For years, Cherie grapples with events preceding and following the crime, struggling to overcome the consuming grief she suffers from her loss and the difficulty she faces as she attempts to forgive her son. The courtroom accounts of gruesome details and the shocking testimonies from experts only add to Cherie’s yearning to make sense of the crime. She is tormented, wanting to know how and why this tragedy happened, and if there was anything she could have done to prevent it....
In the early morning of October 18, 1986, Cherie Wier’s life collapses when her teenage son takes the life of her beloved husband. For years, Cherie grapples with events preceding and following the crime, struggling to overcome the consuming grief she suffers from her loss and the difficulty she faces as she attempts to forgive her son. The courtroom accounts of gruesome details and the shocking testimonies from experts only add to Cherie’s yearning to make sense of the crime. She is tormented, wanting to know how and why this tragedy happened, and if there was anything she could have done to prevent it....
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Published August 9, 2022
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About the author
Leslie Ghiglieri
1 book16 followersA devoted reader of classics and nonfiction, Leslie was initially employed as a 911 dispatcher in California where she was immediately addicted to the unpredictability of police work. After moving to Oregon, she joined the Josephine County sheriffs department working in the dispatch and warrants division. After three years, Leslie accepted a position as a field representative for a criminal justice computer system overseeing the needs of 17 agencies in Southern Oregon. Now retired, interest in reading, law-enforcement work, and recreational writing, resulted in Leslie fulfilling the wish of a friend who asked her to document the story of her husband’s murder. This book, The Decision to Kill, not only tells readers intimate details of the crime, but more importantly, shares a surprising message of encouragement with those whose loved ones suffer from addiction and mental health disorders. Leslie still lives in southern Oregon with her husband and her German Shepherd Dog, Schatzi.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 23, 2022
An amazing true crime book written by the author who was friends with the mother in the story. Ghiglieri committed to writing the book and they got together and worked on it while Cherie Weir was ill and undergoing treatment. Rare insights using letters between mother and son give a side of the story that’s not often seen. Weir looks back asking herself if she could have forseen her adopted son one day murdering her husband. Shows the struggle the couple went through trying to help this difficult son but wouldn’t give up. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 20, 2022
Fuelled By His Rage
Author Leslie Ghiglieri has done an excellent job researching and writing this book. It is a fascinating story about an ordinary family that comes to face with such an unexpected and irreversible tragedy.
Cherie Wier’s husband Don is murdered in 1986 and tragically not only did Cherie and Don’s daughter Donette tragically find her father’s body when she is only 10 years of age, but sadly the fact that their son Dwayne was eventually arrested for his murder.
The book is all about how Cherie and Donette cope with the death of Don and the effect that the murder has on both of them.
The book is very explicit as Dwayne writes letters whilst he is in prison trying to explain the dark sequence of thoughts leading up to his decision to kill his father in his letters he sends to Cherie and Donette.
The letters talk about the aftermath after the murder and how Dwayne’s life unfolds after he enters prison and the years and conflicts he goes through. The book is very spiritual, but I still found it an excellent read and a fascinating story that you won’t want to put down.
Thanks to Wildblue Press I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Author Leslie Ghiglieri has done an excellent job researching and writing this book. It is a fascinating story about an ordinary family that comes to face with such an unexpected and irreversible tragedy.
Cherie Wier’s husband Don is murdered in 1986 and tragically not only did Cherie and Don’s daughter Donette tragically find her father’s body when she is only 10 years of age, but sadly the fact that their son Dwayne was eventually arrested for his murder.
The book is all about how Cherie and Donette cope with the death of Don and the effect that the murder has on both of them.
The book is very explicit as Dwayne writes letters whilst he is in prison trying to explain the dark sequence of thoughts leading up to his decision to kill his father in his letters he sends to Cherie and Donette.
The letters talk about the aftermath after the murder and how Dwayne’s life unfolds after he enters prison and the years and conflicts he goes through. The book is very spiritual, but I still found it an excellent read and a fascinating story that you won’t want to put down.
Thanks to Wildblue Press I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
May 24, 2022
The best true crime book I’ve read because of the deep exploration of the mind of the killer. I hung on every word the killer wrote in letters while in prison as I learned the dark sequence of thoughts leading up to his decision to kill. The story challenged me to understand how an ordinary family comes to face such an unexpected and irreversible tragedy. Decision made, deed done, the aftermath unfolds, and the reader continues, as did the killer’s mother, to try to assess what went wrong. This is not a book you can put down or read casually. I sure couldn’t.
May 24, 2022
I was hooked on the first page, and I simply could not put this book down. As a mother of three, I could feel the mother’s palpable anguish and inability to give up on her child, yet I felt empathy for every character. Beautifully descriptive, poignant, and spiritual. This was one of those books I wished hadn’t ended so soon.
May 30, 2022
An intriguing book that catches your attention and keeps you reading! Author Leslie Ghiglieri compiles a startling amount of correspondence and weaves it together into a fascinating story you won’t want to put down.
May 25, 2022
The unfolding of this story of an ordinary family coming to terms with this unspeakable tragedy is beautifully written and heartbreaking. I could not put it down! A must read!
January 15, 2023
The writing was Extremely good. I do wish it had been more about the actual killing. It would have been interesting if the author had contracted a expert and gotten their take on it. It was mainly just about religion. I had heard about this case before but was really surprised how bad I ended up feeling for the killer. I was also was surprised by how little I liked the mother. It started when it was stated (and a theme for at least part of the book) the she had promised to take care of him for 18 years, that’s not how being a mother works. I’m actually surprised he didn’t kill her instead or maybe both of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2023
I hate to speak of 'spoilers' in a true crime book, but there are revelations that should come in this book at the right time to make sense of it.
That being said... Spoiler Alert.
*******
There was a HEAVY religious slant throughout this book, but that's fair. It was an important part of the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, son and mother. A 16 YO killed his father. Eventually, his mother began corresponding with him in prison, and eventually his awakening to Christian faith and what appeared to be genuine remorse allowed her to forgive him, and they forged a loving bond.
However... I cannot get past his repeated and heartbreaking outcries about his gender and sexuality 'confusion'. I feel like his early mental health crises were a result of his certainty (Justified, in my opinion, given his mother's later behavior) that were he to reveal his trans identity or homosexuality (it is never clear what his feelings genuinely were because he swiftly learned that trying to talk about either possibility with his mother froze her to the point that she refused to respond) it would leave him alone in the world.
His mother was confused about her son's sexuality, and that's fair too... HE was confused in his explanations to her, to some extent because he never felt free to just be himself. Any time he broached the subject with her in the letters he wrote from jail she went silent. A prisoner (and, in this case, a son) desperately needs approval. Given the freighted nature of their relationship he surely knew that to continue in that vein would be to lose the only contact he had in the outside world AND the only person in his life who had ever showed him love.
To be fair he had created most of his problems, but the violence had come from a set of circumstances beyond his control. It was tragic no matter how you look at it. Change just one circumstance and it may not have ended in murder.
I'm not saying the lack of acceptance from his parents inevitably lead to him murdering his father. Many gay and trans youth suffer the same emotional abandonment without resorting to such dire actions. But I do think it left him in a place where, with the immature judgement of a 16 YO, he felt disassociated and in so much pain that, with the drugs in his system he used violence to 'escape'.
I don't feel that this was ever addressed head on. Ultimately, because the mother did not/could not accept or understand her son's sexuality, whatever that was (we'll never know the full truth) he chose/needed to leave that part of his life hidden so that he could heal his relationship with his mother, which, with his religious belief, became an all-important part of his connection to her. I have no doubt his mother tried to understand, but ultimately her 'morality' and religion were likely too much of a barrier to full acceptance.
I don't think the author ever truly felt she could delve into that side of it. She was an advocate for the victims, and that is fair, I suppose, but it left this reader dissatisfied.
That being said... Spoiler Alert.
*******
There was a HEAVY religious slant throughout this book, but that's fair. It was an important part of the relationship between the perpetrator and the victim, son and mother. A 16 YO killed his father. Eventually, his mother began corresponding with him in prison, and eventually his awakening to Christian faith and what appeared to be genuine remorse allowed her to forgive him, and they forged a loving bond.
However... I cannot get past his repeated and heartbreaking outcries about his gender and sexuality 'confusion'. I feel like his early mental health crises were a result of his certainty (Justified, in my opinion, given his mother's later behavior) that were he to reveal his trans identity or homosexuality (it is never clear what his feelings genuinely were because he swiftly learned that trying to talk about either possibility with his mother froze her to the point that she refused to respond) it would leave him alone in the world.
His mother was confused about her son's sexuality, and that's fair too... HE was confused in his explanations to her, to some extent because he never felt free to just be himself. Any time he broached the subject with her in the letters he wrote from jail she went silent. A prisoner (and, in this case, a son) desperately needs approval. Given the freighted nature of their relationship he surely knew that to continue in that vein would be to lose the only contact he had in the outside world AND the only person in his life who had ever showed him love.
To be fair he had created most of his problems, but the violence had come from a set of circumstances beyond his control. It was tragic no matter how you look at it. Change just one circumstance and it may not have ended in murder.
I'm not saying the lack of acceptance from his parents inevitably lead to him murdering his father. Many gay and trans youth suffer the same emotional abandonment without resorting to such dire actions. But I do think it left him in a place where, with the immature judgement of a 16 YO, he felt disassociated and in so much pain that, with the drugs in his system he used violence to 'escape'.
I don't feel that this was ever addressed head on. Ultimately, because the mother did not/could not accept or understand her son's sexuality, whatever that was (we'll never know the full truth) he chose/needed to leave that part of his life hidden so that he could heal his relationship with his mother, which, with his religious belief, became an all-important part of his connection to her. I have no doubt his mother tried to understand, but ultimately her 'morality' and religion were likely too much of a barrier to full acceptance.
I don't think the author ever truly felt she could delve into that side of it. She was an advocate for the victims, and that is fair, I suppose, but it left this reader dissatisfied.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2022
I wasn't sure if I was going to rate or review this book honestly. The murder of my Great-Uncle Don happened when I was only one so I never knew him. Growing up I knew he was no longer alive, but I didn't even learn the existence of Dwayne or his crime until I was a teenager. Even then, the story was always shifting as if it was a game of telephone...it was an accident or it was during an argument or a hundred other explanations.
This book is very psychological. There is no lingering over the blood and guts aspect of the crime. If you are looking for a book that goes step-by-step through a investigatory or legal process, this isn't the book for you. But if you ever wonder how a person justifies murder to themselves or others or how a personality disorder manifests, this book is very enlightening.
This is also a book about faith. While Aunt Cherie may have believed (or talked herself into believing) that Dwayne had truly come to know God, his bouncing around in different belief systems makes me think he found a way to use religion as a way to manipulate people to help him get parole. The book itself allows you to take away what you will.
Ultimately, the truth is never going to be 100% certain on why Dwayne did what he did. Dwayne's death has lost any possibility of knowing. But for me, having a clearer picture of the family story lets me put my questions to rest.
This book is very psychological. There is no lingering over the blood and guts aspect of the crime. If you are looking for a book that goes step-by-step through a investigatory or legal process, this isn't the book for you. But if you ever wonder how a person justifies murder to themselves or others or how a personality disorder manifests, this book is very enlightening.
This is also a book about faith. While Aunt Cherie may have believed (or talked herself into believing) that Dwayne had truly come to know God, his bouncing around in different belief systems makes me think he found a way to use religion as a way to manipulate people to help him get parole. The book itself allows you to take away what you will.
Ultimately, the truth is never going to be 100% certain on why Dwayne did what he did. Dwayne's death has lost any possibility of knowing. But for me, having a clearer picture of the family story lets me put my questions to rest.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 12, 2022
Just finished this very sad but well written true crime story about a teenage boy, sixteen, who one night after beer drinking and drugs shoots his father. His parents adopted him from his teenage mother when he was born. Later they would have a baby girl six years later. The boy did have health issues, which his parents did everything they could for him. He went on trial as an adult and was found guilty. His mother and sister suffered so much because of the death of their husband/ father, especially since the little sister was only nine and she found her father dead in bed. The boy's mother spent years trying to understand why her son would do such a terrible thing to this very loving father. That's one of the reasons why this book came to be written with the mother's help.
January 4, 2023
The first one hundred pages I was sure this was going to be a 5-star book. This is about an adopted son who killed his adoptive father. The rest of the book is about the mother and how she coped with her husband's death and her son being in prison. I am subtracting one star because a lot of the story is told through the letters the mother and son wrote to each other, which got to be a little too long and mostly were repetitive. Then it got really interesting in the last 50 pages or so, but I won't give away any spoilers. I have to say, this is one of the few true crime stories where I had a lot of compassion for everyone involved, including the killer. He was only 16 when he killed his father and I kept hoping he would get another chance at life. Keep a few tissues handy for the ending.
June 22, 2022
This booked sucked me right in. It is very readable from the opening pages. A true crime story that is tragic and relevant, and speaks to a mother's steadfast love and constant journey toward hope.
July 3, 2022
could not put it down !
Great true story ! Sad and inspirational ! The sorrow this family endured is beyond belief! Cherie was a very spiritual person❤️
Great true story ! Sad and inspirational ! The sorrow this family endured is beyond belief! Cherie was a very spiritual person❤️
August 6, 2022
I loved the personal letters included in the book. It really brought it to life. Great book for true crime aficionados.
December 11, 2022
This was a compelling read. It’s not my usual choice of book to read but I was eager to see what the outcome was. I wasn’t disappointed. Having said that ,however, I am not so sure that people can change. The reader will have make up his/her own mind.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 4, 2022
Don't bother
I was interested in the idea of this book, being a minor real crime buff, and having been in the area at the time of the crime. However, the publisher REALLY got the scope of this book wrong. It is not really about the crime, this instead deserves to be in a psychological library, as it becomes a study in how jail slowly breaks d a mind already pathologically twisted. It describes a boy who casually kills his adopted father, and from his letters, then descends into the Hell we call prison.
Strongly not recommended.
I was interested in the idea of this book, being a minor real crime buff, and having been in the area at the time of the crime. However, the publisher REALLY got the scope of this book wrong. It is not really about the crime, this instead deserves to be in a psychological library, as it becomes a study in how jail slowly breaks d a mind already pathologically twisted. It describes a boy who casually kills his adopted father, and from his letters, then descends into the Hell we call prison.
Strongly not recommended.
May 13, 2023
This is not the usual type of book I enjoy reading. It was so troubling, reading through what this family experienced and not fully understanding why, that I found myself reluctant to continue. I am glad i read all the way to the end, however, because God's grace is profound. And the ending at least, is a testament to God's patience and forgiveness and mercy.
January 19, 2023
When a crime is committed, numerous questions are asked. But if that crime rips apart the very core of a family, the only question to ask is why? When everything about who you are and who you love is torn apart, what have you got left to stand for? And would you overcome all the pain and sorrow to see justice prevail? Would you fight for your family? Is blood thicker than water? And in the end, could you say that you still love after so long of feeling nothing but hate?
The Decision to Kill: A True Crime Story of a Teenage Killer and the Mother Who Loved Him is brought to us by Leslie Ghiglieri. It is a memoir and true crime book that documents the investigation and murder trial of Dwayne Weir, a 16-year-old boy accused of murdering his father. The author shares all the gruesome details surrounding the case but does so in as respectful a manner as she can. The story is told from the perspective of his mother, Cherie. She talks us through the whole story, their lives, the events leading up to the murder, and what happens after.
The author has included real courtroom accounts and expert testimony on not just the actual murder but the mental state of Dwayne. What I really enjoyed about it was the use of actual letters written by Dwayne. This really gave an insight into his mental state and showed how far he retreated into the dark corners of his mind. But this tale is as much about his mother if anything. Her quest for the truth and her battle to understand is almost too hard to bare. Her struggle to move forward and reconcile her feelings for her son after what he did is heartwrenching. This is a story no mother ever wants to be a part of.
The Decision to Kill is an emotionally charged biography and true crime story. This gripping story will engage readers as they follow the tragedy and follow along as the family searches for the answer to why. A must-read for any fans of true crime.
The Decision to Kill: A True Crime Story of a Teenage Killer and the Mother Who Loved Him is brought to us by Leslie Ghiglieri. It is a memoir and true crime book that documents the investigation and murder trial of Dwayne Weir, a 16-year-old boy accused of murdering his father. The author shares all the gruesome details surrounding the case but does so in as respectful a manner as she can. The story is told from the perspective of his mother, Cherie. She talks us through the whole story, their lives, the events leading up to the murder, and what happens after.
The author has included real courtroom accounts and expert testimony on not just the actual murder but the mental state of Dwayne. What I really enjoyed about it was the use of actual letters written by Dwayne. This really gave an insight into his mental state and showed how far he retreated into the dark corners of his mind. But this tale is as much about his mother if anything. Her quest for the truth and her battle to understand is almost too hard to bare. Her struggle to move forward and reconcile her feelings for her son after what he did is heartwrenching. This is a story no mother ever wants to be a part of.
The Decision to Kill is an emotionally charged biography and true crime story. This gripping story will engage readers as they follow the tragedy and follow along as the family searches for the answer to why. A must-read for any fans of true crime.
February 6, 2023
The description calls this book a "gripping true crime debut" for author Leslie Ghiglieri. It is anything but gripping. It is devoid of suspense. It is devoid of courtroom drama. There is nothing gripping about it. For me, it was the-book-that-never-ends!
When troubled teenager Dwayne Weir was 16 in 1986, he killed his adoptive father. He allowed his little sister to be the person who discovered his dead body. And his decision to kill left his adoptive mother Cherie with agonizing grief and heart-wrenching guilt. She wanted to forgive him, but she wasn't sure she could.
The story is told mostly through letters that Cherie and Dwayne wrote to each other during his incarceration, so Ghiglieri did less writing than most authors. She was also Cherie's long time friend. Entire letters were quoted verbatim when they could have been summarized.
Cherie's letters disccussed her grief and guilt, her Christian faith, and her desire to understand what happened. But she also expressed concern over Dwayne's Alport Syndrome, a genetic kidney disease that also affected his hearing and eyes.
Dwayne blitzed his mother with letters, page after page. Some of them were pity party letters. Others were defiant. He tried to blame the drugs or strict parenting for causing him to kill his father, anything but blaming himself. He even claimed a struggle with gender identity. Later in his incarceration, he "found religion," which still didn't prevent him from acting out enough to get thrown in the "hole."
I got so tired of reading his letters. He may have written different words, but every letter was basically the same, and I can't find any reason why I should care what happened to him or what was going to become of him because he killed his father. I feel like the author tried too hard to make him sympathetic, and I just couldn't conjure any pity for him. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I do not recommend this book.
When troubled teenager Dwayne Weir was 16 in 1986, he killed his adoptive father. He allowed his little sister to be the person who discovered his dead body. And his decision to kill left his adoptive mother Cherie with agonizing grief and heart-wrenching guilt. She wanted to forgive him, but she wasn't sure she could.
The story is told mostly through letters that Cherie and Dwayne wrote to each other during his incarceration, so Ghiglieri did less writing than most authors. She was also Cherie's long time friend. Entire letters were quoted verbatim when they could have been summarized.
Cherie's letters disccussed her grief and guilt, her Christian faith, and her desire to understand what happened. But she also expressed concern over Dwayne's Alport Syndrome, a genetic kidney disease that also affected his hearing and eyes.
Dwayne blitzed his mother with letters, page after page. Some of them were pity party letters. Others were defiant. He tried to blame the drugs or strict parenting for causing him to kill his father, anything but blaming himself. He even claimed a struggle with gender identity. Later in his incarceration, he "found religion," which still didn't prevent him from acting out enough to get thrown in the "hole."
I got so tired of reading his letters. He may have written different words, but every letter was basically the same, and I can't find any reason why I should care what happened to him or what was going to become of him because he killed his father. I feel like the author tried too hard to make him sympathetic, and I just couldn't conjure any pity for him. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, I do not recommend this book.
September 30, 2022
The Decision to Kill is the first ever True Crime book I’ve read and it was such a compelling read! I cruised through the first 15 chapters while waiting at the airport for a flight; I just couldn’t put it down. I found myself entrenched in this tragic, yet gripping story about a mother’s continued love for the son who murdered her husband. Cherie’s heart-wrenching struggle with grief, loss, forgiveness, and need for answers, especially the WHY, are things that touched home for me. As someone who knows the horrible pain of having a loved one imprisoned for an unspeakable crime, I could relate to Cherie in so many ways. The letters exchanged between Cherie and her son Dwayne put me through a rollercoaster of emotions. I felt so much frustration at times for the parents trying to deal with their son’s drug addiction, to being so disturbed by the nature of the murder. The back and forth snippets from letters gave so much insight into the mind of this teenage killer. I remember truly being shocked by many of Dwayne’s written confessions or rants. But by the end, my heart experienced far more compassion than I expected for the son. I was happy to know that he worked to change his life around, and take responsibility for his actions.
The personal level of The Decision to Kill is what makes it truly stand out for me. This story, filled with love, addiction struggles, family, faith and forgiveness, is beautifully told. The fact that Cherie never lost her faith through all she went through is truly inspiring. Leslie Ghiglieri did an exceptional job telling this story! The care and research she took to compile this tragic, yet ultimately redemptive story, deserves high praise! Well done!
The personal level of The Decision to Kill is what makes it truly stand out for me. This story, filled with love, addiction struggles, family, faith and forgiveness, is beautifully told. The fact that Cherie never lost her faith through all she went through is truly inspiring. Leslie Ghiglieri did an exceptional job telling this story! The care and research she took to compile this tragic, yet ultimately redemptive story, deserves high praise! Well done!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 9, 2023
Powerful and dramatic read
Leslie Ghiglieri writes about the 1986 murder of Don Weir by his adopted son, Dwayne in The Decision to Kill. I am a fan of true crime stories. This is the first book written by this author that I've read. The story of Cherie, Don and Dwayne Weir. On the morning of October 18, 1986, Don Weir had been found by his daughter, Donette, when she returned home from a sleep over. Her mother, Cherie, was out of town, and her adopted brother, Dwayne was missing. Dwayne was 16 years old at the time. In reading information about who Leslie wrote the story, I also learned of her background as a 911 dispatcher, and that she was a friend of Cherie. Cherie passed away in 2019 but spent her life not only dealing with what her son did to her husband, to their family, but trying to find a way to see if she could forgive a son, she still loved. It's a poignant story, and very dramatic, as well as heartbreaking. How can one deal with a family member, a child, killing a member of their own family? What makes a son want to kill his father? The Decision to Kill is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. I look forward to reading many more titles by this author. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book, to also write a review.
Leslie Ghiglieri writes about the 1986 murder of Don Weir by his adopted son, Dwayne in The Decision to Kill. I am a fan of true crime stories. This is the first book written by this author that I've read. The story of Cherie, Don and Dwayne Weir. On the morning of October 18, 1986, Don Weir had been found by his daughter, Donette, when she returned home from a sleep over. Her mother, Cherie, was out of town, and her adopted brother, Dwayne was missing. Dwayne was 16 years old at the time. In reading information about who Leslie wrote the story, I also learned of her background as a 911 dispatcher, and that she was a friend of Cherie. Cherie passed away in 2019 but spent her life not only dealing with what her son did to her husband, to their family, but trying to find a way to see if she could forgive a son, she still loved. It's a poignant story, and very dramatic, as well as heartbreaking. How can one deal with a family member, a child, killing a member of their own family? What makes a son want to kill his father? The Decision to Kill is a definite recommendation by Amy's Bookshelf Reviews. I read this book to give my unbiased and honest review. I look forward to reading many more titles by this author. Amy's Bookshelf Reviews recommends that anyone who reads this book, to also write a review.
July 27, 2022
As difficult as this story was to tell, it was critical for not only the Wier family, but we in the greater society. A young 16-year-old teen, Dwayne Wier, kills his father, Don, leaving his mother Cherie and sister Donette to "attempt" to carry on. The author Leslie Ghiglieri does a phenomenal job of piecing together interviews with Cherie and the correspondence written by Dwayne from prison. It is truly a story of healing for not only for this family, but for the community of Southern Oregon. Within our society there has been so much gun violence leaving communities with deep sorrow and the question of "why." This book sheds some light on mental illness and drug abuse. I highly recommend "The Decision to Kill" for any reader looking for a book that is thought-provoking and a page turner.
February 14, 2024
I actually knew Don and Cherie back when they lived in California and adopted Dwayne. My son was born around the same time and I have pictures of me holding Dwayne and Cherie holding my son. Don and Cherie were a fun loving couple who were friends with my mother and father in-law. What I remember most about them is how happy they were to finally have a family and how hopeful they were for the future.
This book is not a gory study of murder so much as it is a study of failure and tragedy. I was very saddened by the treatment Dwayne got from the Oregon prison system. He may have murdered a man I really liked, but he was a human being worthy of humane treatment even so.
My only complaint about the book is it didn't address many of the questions I had but those may have not been interesting unless you knew Don and Cherie.
This book is not a gory study of murder so much as it is a study of failure and tragedy. I was very saddened by the treatment Dwayne got from the Oregon prison system. He may have murdered a man I really liked, but he was a human being worthy of humane treatment even so.
My only complaint about the book is it didn't address many of the questions I had but those may have not been interesting unless you knew Don and Cherie.
March 28, 2024
The book was well written and somewhat interesting, but the majority of it is just excerpts from letters between the mother and her son. The majority of the content of the letters dealt with their religious beliefs, which became increasingly repetitive. I was also bothered by the fact that Dwayne was pretty obviously gay, it seemed pretty clear in the description of his childhood and later when he was in prison, and was unable to live his truth because “homosexuality is wrong.” The author also appeared to be condemning Dwayne’s true self (in the name of religion, of course) and framed his eventual growth and closer relationship with his mother as only able to occur when he denounced his true identity. Would Dwayne have turned to drugs and alcohol and killed his father if he had been in an environment where he could be his true self with love and support?
September 29, 2022
This is the first book review I've ever written and I read A LOT of books. This one I read in 3 days because I just couldn't put it down. I'm so glad the author took the time to tell this story. It's fascinating and tragic, but also meaningful and insightful. The pace of the book is so good, even though there is a lot of quoting of letters back and forth between the mother and her son. The author does such a good job of giving perspective from each of the people involved that I empathized with each of them in a different way. I highly recommend this book to true crime fans as well as those who just love a good, solid read.
March 23, 2023
As I write this, I tear up again remembering the stark facts of the murder and its consequences set against the oddly healing feelings running through the characters' minds and flawed relationships. Ghiglieri reports objectively. But by sharing character interviews and letters, she cuts to the bone of betrayal, family homicide, and the broken road to acceptance and faith that allows lives to go on.
One often feels genuine empathy for all affected. Even lightness of heart. I don't understand how Ghiglieri accomplishes this in a true crime story, but she does, elegantly.
Check out this debut author at the brink of a great career.
One often feels genuine empathy for all affected. Even lightness of heart. I don't understand how Ghiglieri accomplishes this in a true crime story, but she does, elegantly.
Check out this debut author at the brink of a great career.
February 9, 2023
Very well researched and intriguing story! I enjoyed reading about the evolution of the relationship between mother and son, and how Cherie was able to process the tragedy that changed her life forever. Reading the letters to Cherie that Dwayne wrote from prison was heartbreaking and shocking, but left me feeling a true connection to the family. This book was written with a personal touch that true crime novels rarely achieve and always kept me engaged!
August 2, 2023
Wow! This is a compelling story written in a documentary style format. The facts are straightforward with an emotionally gripping element. I feel for this family. Leslie did a great job writing their tragedy in an easy to read format. I’m excited to read what Leslie writes next. Kudos, Leslie !!!
P. S. I started this book in the evening. I couldn’t put it down, so I stayed up all night reading it.
P. S. I started this book in the evening. I couldn’t put it down, so I stayed up all night reading it.
June 30, 2022
THE DECISION TO KILL is the emotional and ultimately heart-wrenching true story of a teenage boy who murders his father and the mother who must decide if she can forgive him for his crime. It’s a story of denial, guilt, and redemption that had me turning page after page. A must-read for fans of true crime.
February 17, 2023
This true crime story is about a son who murdered his father, with emphasis on his mother's attempt to understand and to forgive him. It is also about the lack of mental health services especially for children and inadequate substance abuse treatment facilities. Leslie Ghiglieri's law enforcement career provides readers with insights to the criminal justice system, including prison life.
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