All Points North - Fatal Impeachment

Fatal Impeachment: a 25-year-old case

A U.S. president turns out to be a suspected rapist and murderer.

Story and photos by Sunshine Sheltray

Wayne Beyea doesn't just write stories on investigations. In addition to supervising an investigative unit during a 25-year career in the New York State Police, he was also a Juvenile Justice Coordinator in Clinton County, New York, in 2000; he knows what he's talking about. Two years prior, he also joined up with Writers Club Press to write a tale of rape and murder in New York: Fatal Impeachment.

Even the title draws you in. On the cover, there's a photo of the White House and a flag flapping in the breeze splattered with blood. This caught my eye on the shelves of a local bookstore; though this book isn't one that would ordinarily catch my eye. I usually prefer to read fantasy, but a good murder mystery isn't bad. When I flipped open the book, it wasn't the first line—"A tenacious young State Police Investigator develops circumstantial evidence identifying a suspect in a rape/murder case."—that caught me. It was the second: "Incredibly, that suspect is the President of the United States." Wow!

Fatal Impeachment's book cover
A U.S. president is the prime suspect in a rape/murder investigation.

A female college student was raped and murdered 25 years ago, and the murderer was not discovered. Her body was found with her claddagh earrings piercing her nipples.

The story is written from the perspective of two different detectives who work on a police force in Middletown, New York. When the investigator in charge at the start of the story is murdered after a new suspect is found, Lieutenant Richard Miranda takes over.

Grammatically and stylistically, this story isn't written well. There is no constant story format in Fatal Impeachment, and the sentences all run together in very long paragraphs. Some of the paragraphs go on for so long that a person can feel their eyes cross as they read. But that isn't all that will cause eyes to cross—this book is full of run-on paragraphs, so long that at times that you don't know which character is talking at which point.

Littered throughout the book is unnecessary information. One of the chapters in the book is just about the officer's life. It explains how he decided to be a policeman over a firefighter and then goes on through his life in school and college, and even through his failed marriage. This is an important character, but information on his upbringing and his marriage just aren't relevant to the story. The concept of the story itself is good, however.

Have you read anything by Wayne Beyea?

Fatal Impeachment, Writer's Club Press, 1998

Ode to a Stone
Poem written by Wayne Beyea of Plattsburgh, New York, in 1999

Erupting from the bowels of the earth eons ago,
the monolith abides in the place it came to rest.
An impassive goliath, insensitive to life, status quo,
impervious to natures attacks and erosions test.

He is naked, grey, lifeless, forlorn,
and few find beauty in his massive face.
Still, life has sought to suborn
his countenance, and beauty doth embrace.

Tis a countenance washed by thousands of showers,
then blown dry and sterilized by Sol's rays.
This stolid sentinel expressionless glowers,
standing watch o'er apocalyptic days.

He retains the appearance of strength and youth
though close examination of every side,
evinces stark evidence, convincing proof,
in venerableness he doth preside.

The greenish grey lichens of old age cling
to crevices lining his face.
They give a hoary quality to this aging king,
still only a prince in evolution's pace.

The mossy fungus adorning his shoulders
lend a cape of artistic quality to the fellow.
Truly, he is beauty compared to younger boulders
and this cape make his features mellow.

Microscopic examination of his features
reveal a most interesting perception,
a host of minute living creatures,
dwell in the shadow of his protection.

They cavort neath his belly and crawl on his back,
and if threatened by predators,
they seek refuge in a crack.

Though massive indeed and seeming obtuse,
and barrier he may seem to be,
this boulder has yet another use,
indiscernible, yet plain to see.

He is a bulwark against soil erosion
who's appetite consumes nature's fertility.
At his backside flowers splay in profusion,
their earthen beds held in his security.

Tis true this magnificent obelisk
is only a compaction of minerals lacking lifeform.
Yet, a minerologist might take the risk,
to seek hidden beauty within his form.

The grey of his granite face doth belie,
the sheen of silica hidden deep inside.
With imagination, I might even imply,
deep inside, a diamond doth reside.

Whether it does is of no importance to me,
though it is nice to imagine it there.
He hath even greater significance you see,
but this is a secret I cannot share.