Tunnel Vision

by N.P. Simpson

A horrifying story of a triple murder at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and a botched investigation that led to a young man being jailed for five years without trial and left a murderer walking free.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

202 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1993

About the author

I’m a first-wave baby boomer who remembers both “Duck and Cover” and the federal polio immunization program. Anybody who thinks those were the good old days would have gotten a real kick out of the Bubonic Plague/Hundred Years War era.
I was born in Monroe, Louisiana. I have lived as far north as Virginia -- where I graduated from high school and Old Dominion University -- and as far west as Japan. (Or, as far east as Japan if you prefer the Marco Polo route.) Getting to Japan required a psychological evaluation (the feds have a file on me like Elaine Benes’s, describing me as a “difficult” patient) and more shots than the Salk program, but was well worth it. Especially since you taxpayers footed the bill. (Note: “SOFA” has nothing to do with furniture.) While there, I saw B.B. King in concert and learned that not only are the Japanese Blues fanatics, but excellent Blues musicians themselves. (I, on the other hand, still need the waitress to put a rubber band on my chopsticks.)
Memorable moments of my teens include the enrollment of three Black students at my high school and the assassination of JFK. But I’m going to set aside profound events experienced by almost all teens of that era and save them for my roman à clef. (Ha! And people told me a French Lit major wouln’t be worth diddly squat.) Memorable moments of my particular high school years included: flunking Algebra 2 – with the aid of a tutor, yet -- and winning second-place in the annual city-wide student art contest (First-place went to something abstract. You can bet school art judges will always give the edge to something abstract, so they can tell disgruntled representational losers that they too will appreciate the abstract when they’re more “mature” artists. And develop cataracts.
Memorable moments of my particular twenties include: being part of a Beatles press conference, drinking Heineken aboard a Dutch submarine and playing the lead in “Star-Spangled Girl” at the Cavalier Dinner Theater.
Skipping ahead a few lurid years, I am now the divorced mother of two grown daughters, one a physician and the other a pipeline engineer. (Yeah, I had to look it up too.) My one marriage was to a career officer in the Marine Corps, who introduced me to Camp Lejeune and Parris Island. Except for recruits, Parris Island is actually a perfectly lovely place. Okay, there are Palmetto bugs the size of ironing boards and sand fleas. At least the non-recruits can swab them out of their nostrils instead of having to stand at parade rest and suffer. I’ve worked as a magazine art director; a newspaper reporter and editor; and have taught ESL for Wake Tech Community College. (This one’s multiple choice: ESL means a.) Extra Sensory Lasciviousness b.) Eating and Surviving Lutefisk c.) English as a Second Language
As much as I enjoyed all of the above, publication of my first non-fiction book and my first fiction sales were thrills only comparable to bringing the two daughters into the world. And the Beatles press conference. Whenever I have worked jobs unrelated to writing, as much as I enjoyed them, I have felt like the literary equivalent of a transsexual, always having the sense that I was trapped in someone else’s identity.
I mostly live alone now except for my pit bull, but that doesn’t mean I’m peculiar. (Writers get to be “eccentric,” not peculiar.) I really wanted a more portable dog, but little dogs get snapped up (no pun intended) from rescue organizations very quickly. Owning a rescued pit bull, I’ve realized two things: the stereotypes are wrong and I’d root for the Attica Axe Murderers before I’d root any team that hires Michael Vick.

Reviews

[Mike Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. The author clearly researched the Smith-Sager homicides that occurred at Camp Lejeune in August 1981. I am certain that the facts therein contained are accurate as I was one of the NIS Special Agents involved in the investigation. Indeed, I am the one NIS Special Agent who did not believe that the suspect initially identified as the perpetrator was in fact the killer. I later identified the actual killer who escaped justice due to the inept way the overall investigation was handled.

Ms. Simpson does a great job of recounting what transpired during the investigation. The book should be a must-read for any would-be homicide investigator. It is a guide to everything that can possibly go wrong when the investigating agency has "Tunnel Vision."

Mike Paul, former NIS Special Agent

[Shannon Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book covers a triple murder that occurred in 1981 on one of the United States largest marine corps bases, Camp Lejeune. The story follows a family who lost 3 members on the evening of August 24th, 1981 under mysterious circumstances and the investigation of another family member that follows. Well written and captivating, this story really hits home if you have ever spent any time on this particular base. A great exploration of what happens when someone focuses on the wrong suspect for far too long.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a note -- I read this years ago when it was first published. For some reason I just neglected to indicate that I had read it when I added it to my Goodreads list. It is certainly not a "pleasant" read -- a horrible crime and a very sad case -- but it is a very well written example of the genre of true crime writing and definitely worth reading. Simpson did an amazing job of digging into the details of the case and reporting the story.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was quite an interesting, if not very well-known true crime case. I googled Butch after I got done and did recognise his photos but I didn't recall anything else about it. We never really learn why the murders happened since nothing was stolen, there was no fighting nor a fracas preceding them, and, because we really don't know who killed the victims we'll probably never know what it was all about.
I found the writing pretty fractured as she often refers to grand jury meetings or this detention hearing or that particular courtcase, but just as asides, so you're not really sure where they fit in the timeline or grand scheme of things. So, for me, it made it all a bit baffling here and there.
I liked we got to hear from Scott at the end and learn as much as he managed to find out in latter years-that was a helpful addition. The family tree at the start was also very handy as there were a lot of kids in the family with a lot of different dads and I bookmarked it and referred back to it a lot !! When it started getting into all the legal stuff like ex post facto, etc. it became REALLY confusing to me, I have to say. I didn't really understand what all these things were and how they related to the case and I did start to glaze over a little with it all.
There were quite a lot of mistakes peppered throughout which annoyed me as well....apostrophes in the wrong places (especially writing Smiths' when it is properly written a lot as well so just sloppily edited), nunchukas written not nunchucks, words dropped from sentences quite a lot, hyphens missed then knifes written and not knives, yet it was correct when written twice more on the same page !!
When looking the case up online I could find very little about it at all, I must say, which is odd. I doubt that now we'll ever have a resolution since, at time of my writing here, it's been 43 years !!

[Lisa Millett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceptional true crime book

This true crime case sadly remains unsolved through the single minded, pig headedness of the military investigation unit who honed in on one person only. The investigators failed to look into any other possible suspects, they destroyed evidence through sloppy preservation of the crime scene and they failed this family miserably by not thoroughly investigating this case. The author does a brilliant job of reporting on this case from the beginning and she updated the case through present time. Excellent true crime book that I highly recommend to all true crime aficionados.

[Jane Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

True Crime

This book discusses the evidence in a very old crime. The person suspected was never taken to trial or convicted. No one else has ever been suspected. The story ids interesting, but would been more satisfying if it had been solved.

[Tonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read! A little different from the typical true crime that I read. I was really interested in how it was going to end.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars.
An interesting True-Crime book, and another horrifying story about false confessions and police focussing on one person.
The murders are violent and terrible, but the police are definitely villains in this story.

[Ronnie Cramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mess of a case and a book that never really engages. I was anxious to wrap it up and move on.

[Megan]

True story. Teaches you to look at all sides

[cell · Rating 3 out of 5]

A big mess of a case with no resolution almost 40 years later.

[Elinor W. Wilburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating account of a still unsolved triple homicide

Well-written and compelling account of the tragic and still unsolved murder of 3 family members at Camp Lejeune, NC. Numerous children slept through the extremely brutal killing of an adult and 2 other children in base housing. How and why did the killer single out these victims? Despite ample evidence to the contrary, a 15 year old was charged with the crime. The legal twists and turns will will keep you reading far into the night.