• Suspense

    Familial #DNA: Death of Anyone @MelangeBooks #RLFblog

    Death of Anyone

    Romance Lives Forever welcomes DJ Swykert to the blog.
    Here’s his article about writing The Death of Anyone.
    The underlying theme in my latest
    book, The Death of Anyone, poses the Machiavellian question: Does the end justify
    the means? I developed this story around an impulsive homicide detective, Bonnie
    Benham, who wants to use Familial DNA, a search technique not in common use in the
    United States.
    Only two states even have a written policy regarding its use, Colorado
    and California.
    Bonnie is a no nonsense cop who describes
    herself as a blond with a badge and a gun. She has her own answer to the ethical
    use of Familial DNA, but the actual legality of its use will be determined in a
    real life courtroom in the California
    trial of a serial killer dubbed by the media: The Grim Sleeper.
    Lonnie David Franklin, the Grim Sleeper,
    was caught because his son’s DNA was the closest match to DNA collected at the crime
    scenes in the database. Investigating Franklin’s
    son led them to investigate Lonnie Franklin. But there was no direct DNA evidence
    that linked Lonnie to the crime scene until they obtained a sample from him after
    his arrest. Lonnie Franklin will be the first person in the U.S. to ever stand
    trial based on Familial DNA evidence, and its admissibility issues in court will
    be thoroughly tested by defense attorneys. These are the very same issues that face
    Detroit Homicide Detective Bonnie Benham and form the plot of my story.
    I’m a blue collar person from Detroit. I’ve worked as a truck
    driver, dispatcher, logistics analyst, operations manager, and ten years as a 911
    operator, which was the very best job of them all. I have a pretty straight forward
    style of telling a story. I write a book like you’d watch a movie and put it down
    on paper.
    Detroit Detective Bonnie Benham has
    been transferred from narcotics to homicide for using more than arresting and is
    working the case of a killer of adolescent girls. CSI collects DNA evidence from
    the scene of the latest victim, which had not been detected on the other victims.
    But no suspect turns up in the FBI database. Due to the notoriety of the crimes
    a task force is put together with Bonnie as the lead detective, and she implores
    the D.A. to use an as yet unapproved type of a DNA Search in an effort to identify
    the killer. Homicide Detective Neil Jensen, with his own history of drug and alcohol
    problems understands Bonnie’s frailty and the two detectives become inseparable
    as they track this killer of children.
    I first heard about the use of Familial
    DNA working as a 911 operator in 2006. It came up in a conversation with officers
    working a case. I thought at the time it would make an interesting premise for a
    book. I began writing the mystery some three years later after leaving the department.
    I had just finished editing a first draft of The Death of Anyone in the summer 2010
    when news of The Grim Sleeper’s capture in Los Angeles was released. I read with interest
    all the information pouring out of L.A.
    regarding the investigation and the problems confronting prosecutors. All of which
    are explored in The Death of Anyone.
    DJ Swykert

    About the Author

    DJ Swykert is a former 911 operator. His work has appeared in
    The Tampa Review, Detroit News, Monarch Review, Zodiac Review, Scissors& Spackle,
    Spittoon, Barbaric Yawp and Bull. His books include Children of the Enemy, a novel
    from Cambridge
    Books; Alpha Wolves, a novel from Noble Publishing, and The Death
    of Anyone is his third novel, just released by Melange Books. You can find out more
    about him and how to buy his books on the blogspot: www.magicmasterminds.com, they
    are also available at Melange Books, Amazon and at select mystery bookstores. He
    is a wolf expert.
    Buy links

    Previous Books

    Maggie Elizabeth Harrington (also titled as The Place Between.)
    (I Live in Two Worlds)
    Children of the Enemy

    Find Me Here