Time for Crime

Funny how crimes and deaths dominate a reporter's time.

My career has been dominated by both, from the Stocking Strangler to Clarence Moore to Kenny Walker. That doesn't count the obituaries I have written, from Dr. Jack Hughston to Judge Albert Thompson to A.J. McClung. Not mention Bear Bryant. Today, the subject was Eddie Seibold, an Alabama inmate whose grasp at freedom was turned away by the Board of Pardons and Parole — for the ninth time, no less.

That's nine times in 39 years, for Seibold is serving three life sentences plus 20 years for murders he commited in Auburn, Ala., when he was a 21 year old Auburn University dropout. Now he is 61, coming to the realization that his final breaths will come behind bars.

There are lessons you must learn before reporting on such events. When writing about crimes, remember that you are an observer, that you take no sides. You must be able to talk to the families of the victim and the accused. You must be factual and you must be fair. When writing obits, don't be nervous about calling the family of the deceased. You are giving them a gift by writing about their loved one. They ultimately will appreciate your call. Another tip: write with an obituary of someone close to you in mind. Be tasteful. Be accurate. Be thoughtful. And be careful.

In Montgomery, I talked with a mother who had lost two of her children. I also talked to her surviving daughters, who hid away while Seibold was on his rampage with a shotgun and a hatchet. It had been nearly 40 years since that incident, but to them it was yesterday.

Eddie Seibold wasn't there for the hearing but I had the yellowed clippings from 1967. I also had the advantage of a jailhouse interview conducted by a Montgomery Advertiser reporter. That article in Tuesday morning's newspaper gave me a hint of the inmate's voice. He wasn't present, but that interview proved the premise that he was a jerk in 1967 and a jerk today.

He is where he belongs.