Zero at the Bone

Zero at the Bone: The Playboy, the Prostitute, and the Murder of Bobby Greenlease by John Heidenry
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book was the most complete of all the books I've read.  At the time Bobby Greenlease was murdered, I was a 9 year old kid in a Catholic school in St. Louis just like Bobby, and I thought I might get kidnapped also:>)  My father worked for the FBI and he worked long hours on this case.

Most books don't report the second half of this story, the disappearance of a portion of the ransom money and the suspicions surrounding Lou Shoulders who was the Sheriff at the time.

Other reviewers have commented that the book was dry and boring and I think that is partially true.  The fact is that these people were really stupid and lived extremely sordid lives.  There was nothing in any of them to identify with.  Other books have given more information about Bobby and dealt with the crime from that point of view, but I found that this book gave me information that allowed me to put all the pieces of the things I understood and felt at the time into an adult perspective.

Actually, the case went on long after Hall and Heady were captured and that was the part I remembered best.  The FBI was totally involved with wire taps of Lou Shoulders that were actually conducted in our basement on my dad's ham radio equipment. There were agents in our basement round the clock.  I also remember bringing in all of our paper money and checking it with a list of serial numbers my dad had.

I have an amusing and personal recollection.  At the time that Bonnie Heady was executed, we were just going out for recess at school when the lights dimmed.  We all believed that they dimmed because the power was thrown to electrocute Bonnie Heady.  I can remember how I felt about it at the time.  It was exhilarating and yet mysterious at the same time.  It was a strange experience to know the actual moment a person died and I thought a lot about it.  Of course, the execution didn't make our lights dim, but then she was executed at that time, so who knows?



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