By the Side of the Road: The True Story of the Abduction and Murder of Ann Harrison

by Marla Bernard

The true crime story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a Missouri teen and her family's journey to justice.
In the early hours of March 22, 1989, two friends—career criminals with violent felony convictions—drove around the eastern Kansas City area in a stolen car committing a series of crimes. The weather was mild for late March in Kansas City; the sky was clear, and there was the pale remnant of a Full Moon that bore the dubious name of Death Moon, the last full moon of winter.
A little before 7 a.m., fifteen-year-old Ann Harrison walked to the end of her driveway on Kansas City's east side to wait for the bus to take her to Raytown South High School. Ten minutes later, she disappeared but no one saw what happened. As if waiting for her return, her belongings were still stacked carefully by the side of the road.
By the Side of the Road is the true crime story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of Ann Harrison and the long journey forced upon her family who had to wait nearly three decades to see her killers brought to final justice.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Crime

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 11, 2015

About the author

A former police sergeant, Marla Bernard is a passionate victim’s rights advocate, writer and public speaker. She received her Masters of Arts with honors from Baker University. She serves as adjunct faculty for a national university where she has written several criminal justice courses. Her work has been published in Chicken Soup for the Soul and she is currently writing her second book. Marla and her husband, retired Sgt. David Bernard, reside in Kansas City near the loves of their lives – their two children and three grandchildren.

Reviews

[Cynthia Bender Dodds]

Tragedy Remembered

I bought this book to find out what finally happened to the killers of 15-year old Ann Harrison. Being a native of Kansas City, I remember this horrible crime vividly. But I didn't realize it took so long to finally punish the killers. I feel very sad that Ann's family had to go through the trauma they did. It's a shame the wheels of justice move so slowly, especially when the two killers confessed to Ann's murder. The author did an excellent job telling all the details of the story and showed her research to give an accurate story.

[Jean]

I rarely ever rate books I actually finish this low, but honestly, this one was so bad, being able to complete it was about the only thing it had going for it. The writing, what little there was of it, considering it was excessively padded with a lot of direct transcripts, was so repetitive and poorly organized. While extreme detail is most likely an asset in writing up police reports, it is not an asset in writing a book. I got so bogged down in street names and car names that it got hard to keep track of what was actually important in this case and what wasn't. Knowing that Bernard was formerly a cop makes the style understandable, but not really readable. I also wish that her editor (did she have one, hard to know) would have stepped in and told her to "step out" of the narrative as it were. It wasn't constant, but there were definitely some moments that I could tell her personal feelings/experiences were coloring the narrative and in a few places I remember thinking, this does not hold up in 2023, only to later realize it had been published in 2022! I also felt that the last 1/3 of the book in particular, she inserted herself way too much into the narrative, grandstanding about the death penalty and the justice system. Truly, that part of the story could stand on its own and make a compelling case in service of her point, but her railing about the ACLU and how long it takes to administer the death penalty really turned me off. I feel horrible for the families of the victims having to relive their trauma over and over over decades, but that sympathy was kind of snuffed out by Bernard's tone and lack of professionalism. I honestly wouldn't recommend this to anyone, even true crime buffs. With the explosion of the genre, there's much better true crime books out there to waste time with this one.

[Sandy Cook]

Soooooo repetitive.

[Jmlanier1]

True crime story of the kidnapping, rape, and murder of a 15 year old girl by two violent men in their 20’s. Author knew the victim’s family and does a great job of presenting the story from their side. Includes police notes, interview and court transcripts, legal wrangling by the defendants, and a detailed timeline of the crime and criminal procedure from the murder in the late 80’s to death penalty execution in 2015. Both men admitted their participation in this gruesome crime and yet lived another 26 years on death row (11 years longer than their victim’s entire life.) Really lets you see how the defendants, their attorneys, the ACLU, and the system re-victimized the decedent’s family over and over and over again. This will interest fans of In Cold Blood.

[Bill reilly]

“If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by.”
― Sun Tzu. The author follows up with the River Styx and the River of Fire. The foreword contains these tenets and I knew that the book would be a good one.
Roderick Nunley and Michael Taylor were a pair of car thieves who specialized in removing T-tops and other parts for resale at chop shops in the Kansas City area. The city had a higher murder rate than NYC.
Ann Harrison was abducted at the end of her driveway during the blood moon in 1989. An informer led to the quick arrest of two rocket scientists. The transcripts of their confessions are sickening. Of course they blamed each other for the rape and murder of the fifteen-year-old girl. Taylor said that he wanted to have sex with a white girl and Ann was unfortunate enough to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The pair of potheads chose trials by a judge rather than juries. They were both sentenced to death and a long series of appeals kept them alive for 25 and 26 years. A bit of karma for Taylor as he was brutally gang raped in prison and required surgery after the romantic encounters.
Bernard is an ex-cop as is her husband and it is quite evident in the victim-centered tone of the book. At one point she takes a cheap shot at an "activist nun," an obvious reference to Sister Helen Prejean. I detest the expression, "thoughts and prayers" and it is used more than once.
The book is too repetitive but still a worthy read.

[Trudy Rich]

Repetitive

[Loraine]

I did not enjoy this book. It was padded with direct transcripts,

[Steve]

Well researched story of a horrific crime.

[Lori]

What Could Have Been

This true story is about the horrific abduction, rape and murder of 15 year old Ann Harrison as she waited for the school bus at the end of her driveway one morning; having no choice but to leave everyone and everything behind, including her very life.
This young girl was brutalized and suffered at the hands of two male strangers and had to endure the terror of listening to them callously plan her death. Try as she did, she could not dissuade them from their evil deeds.
I feel the author did a good enough job describing what she went through without focusing extensively on gore. What I feel is missing is ironically, Ann Harrison herself! Aside from the obvious tragedy of her death I mean!
I feel the author could have done a better job giving the reader MORE than the usual cliches about who Ann was aside from "a good girl", " heart of gold" and tidbits that were likely very true but seemed oddly impersonal compared to the details of her death! I wish we'd been given a glimpse into the family and what their day to day life was like, perhaps flashing back to a day at school, a holiday, a typical spat over doing her chores, a family vacation etc. Even adding more personal photos from the family would have helped or reflections from her best friend etc. The lack thereof and the resulting feeling that for a true story this wasn't quite a full enough impression of Ann herself led to my more average rating.

[Dawn]

I wanted this book to be good, if for no other reason than to honor Ann Harrison, the subject of this investigatory murder story. However, it was a disappointment. Bernard's attention to detail may be helpful when writing a police report, but it is dry and boring in the telling of this story. In fact, this book directly quotes so many court testimonies and suspect police interviews, that it was hard to stay with the story. The beginning delivered what I was hoping for: a clearer understanding of who Ann Harrison was, and what happened to her. However, the repetition and minutia in this book bogged down any sense of storytelling. At times, the repetition struck me a as gratuitous, when it came to the horrific details of Ann's torture and senseless murder, despite the fact that Bernard was a family friend. I can't imagine how friends and family felt reading this book––this repetition of particular details was too much to read, over and over. There is very little about the impact on Ann's family, who Ann was, and her legacy; those things seemed like brief notes in a book otherwise weighed down by police reports, car descriptions, and painful details of this young woman's murder. Finished it, but it was not a good read.

[Lexi Sølvhammer]

I started this book with high expectations because the case itself seemed fascinating, and at first I genuinely thought this might end up being a five-star read. Unfortunately, it turned into an incredibly frustrating listening experience.

I found the book surprisingly difficult to follow because of the way it is written and structured. Large sections felt almost like listening to legal documents being read aloud, and the sheer amount of legal detail overwhelmed the actual story.

My biggest disappointment was that the story of the young girl at the center of the case seemed to get lost beneath all of that legal information. Her story should, in my opinion, have been the emotional heart of the book, but instead I was left feeling that I knew far more about the legal proceedings than I did about her. That was such a missed opportunity.

I came close to giving up several times and only just managed to finish it. Unfortunately, the narrator didn’t work for me either, which made an already challenging book even harder to get through.

It’s a real shame, because the case had the potential to make this a compelling and powerful book. For me, however, the way the story was presented completely overshadowed that potential.

[Chelsey]

I've read plenty of books by former law enforcement that weren't like this, but it is telling that Bernard was a police sergent. While I appreciate that at some points she (seems to be) reflecting the opinions of Ann Harrrrison's family, her own feeling about the perpetrators, criminals, and in particular the death penalty make the last part of this book unreadable. It's implied that we shouldn't bother ensuring that the medications used to execute someone aren't going to enact cruel and unusual punishment, and objects to the perpetrators being allowed to socialize with other prisionsers--all in an incredibly vengeful tone.

I've read books on either side of the death penalty debate, but nothing that claims to be non-fiction true crime that holds such a...gleeful bias.

[Jackie]

This is just mostly court transcripts, and the rest is just the author mad that the assailants weren't put to death faster.

I did not expect this book to just be a pro-death penalty rally cry.

Listening to her talk about prisoners last meals, her condemnation of the ACLU, and then the hypocrisy of adding addresses relevant to the crime, only to turn around and say the ACLU can't have addresses of the officers who investigated because they can't guarantee privacy. She even said that there was no bias in sentencing Black men to death, and that is completely false.

[Layla]

Omg. This is the most poorly written book I've ever read. The author should not be allowed to call herself an author. Poorly written, structured, proof-read, this lady should be ashamed of this piece of trash. I'm super glad someone wrote a true crime novel about Ann, but it should have been someone who could actually fucking ....write.

This would barely be a BOOK if all the repetitive paragraphs were like, you know, edited.

Ashamed, Lady, ashamed.

[Scarlett Griffin]

Horrific Beyond Expression

I am interested in true crime documentaries mainly to learn of the courtroom actions. This crime was the worst I’ve ever read. I did not appreciate the authors need to repeat over and over the brutality of the crime. I did not gain any knowledge and I was left with sadness as to what she wrote. I did not feel she did the event any redeeming value.

[Shelley Sacia Ayres]

Not gonna rate this one as it’s a true story of a horrific kidnapping, rape and murder of a young girl waiting for her school bus at the end of her driveway. Then the 2 killers avoid Death Row for 25 years on frivolous appeals. Lots of needless repetition by the writer.

[Kim K]

Tragic Story

I remembered this story from when I was living in northwest MO. It was definitely a story that needed to be told, however, this wasn’t a great true crime read. So much of it was just sharing transcripts. I felt like I learned more about Ann by googling news articles.

[Shana]

Very sad story of a horrible murder

[Kathleen Riggs]

Gruesome And Chilling Read

Author Marla Bernard captured me from the beginning with this harrowing story of Ann Harrison, and I found this book is professionally written, and the author did a good job of relaying Ann Harrison life and final moments.
This book has a lot of details about the victim, her family, the two murders and the police. I Defiantly Recommend this book for the excellent way Marla has transcribed the case notes, file information and this is a truly fact-based book.
15-year-old Ann Harrison walked to the end of her driveway on Kansas City’s east side to wait for the bus Ten minutes later, she disappeared but no one saw what happened. This book is a very sad story of Ann and how innocently an everyday trip to school standing outside the sanctity of her own home waiting for her school bus turned into a living nightmare for Ann and her whole family as she was snatched of her own doorstep kidnapped raped and murdered.
This is a very harrowing and sad book to read as Ann’s young life which was taken and cut short because of the actions of two demented individuals.
After Anns murder the police kept chipping away until they arrested Michael Taylor and Roderick Nunley who are in there 30’s and showed no emotion when caught as they both turned on each other and tried to blame the other one when police confronted both men and eventually charged them with Ann Harrisons murder. The fact that people can be so cruel to children still haunts and sickens everyone today but justice for Ann Harrison was finally served and for The police and families of Ann there are two less psychopaths who will never see the light of day again after years of appeals finally came to an end.
Thanks to Wildblue Press I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Rebecca Hill]

Ann Harrison was a typical teenager, waiting for the school bus when she quickly disappeared. The police were quickly called in, and a search was on. Before long, a heartbreaking discovery would be made - and one that would spark a different type of search - a search for a killer.

Set in Raytown, Missouri, this story follows the case, and the ins and outs of identifying suspects, the interrogations, and finally, convictions for those who were responsible for the death of Ann.

I found this book really interesting for a few reasons. Having once lived in Raytown, it was interesting to read about places that I had frequently traveled - and having heard the name Ann Harrison multiple times, decades after the crime had occurred. The facts of the case were pretty interesting as well - including a family member who lied to police, leaving the suspect free for a while longer. It was a heartbreaking case, but an interesting read. Great book for those who enjoy true crime!

[Lise R.]

I didn’t like the first half of that book; in fact I was temtpted a couple of times to drop it. Too many useless details like 4 pages with the detailed description of every single wound the victim had received or, worse, 4-5 pages with the description of all the cars stolen with a similar MO than the one where the body was found. I also found the verbatim account of the murderers confession heavy to read as it included all the “crutches” we use when speaking: I counted 23 “you know” in a single page!!! Not to mention the exact information repeated 2 or even 3 times.
But the second half is EXCELLENT!!!
I particularly liked the fact that the author took us through all the procedure witnesses at an execution must go through, something I had never read about.
So, by all means, READ THIS BOOK!

[Paula Kramer]

This was a tough one to read as it was facts from the actual case of a horrendous murder of Ann Harrison. It was well written and in great detail of how the detectives solved the case of this young girl who left her school things by the side of road when she was abducted. The gruesome details were all given. The hardest parts were that many of the details were mentioned several times and were unnecessary repetition. The worst thing was not the book but the fact that our justice system is so very shewed for the accused. It took many years for the executions to be delivered. It made me so mad how slow our judicial system works.

[Sherry Schreck]

Good book, could have been better

I was interested in this book because it involved a murder of a local girl. I wanted to gain better insight into the case.
The book was definitely thorough, but sometimes repetitive.
Another issue I had was the way the author gave so many street names and numbers that they barely made sense to me, and I have lived here 56 years. Some of the extraneous streets could have been left out to focus on streets more directly tied in to the kidnapping and discovery.
Otherwise, it was informative, and I am glad I read it.