Authors: Beverly Simcic
Have
you had any other premonitions or experiences in your life
?
Yes
I have. I had one in 1978 that seemed very odd to me, but it definitely took me
back when it happened, because I did not understand for the life of me why it
happened.
I
was at an old theater in Pittsburgh with friends, watching a live performance
of a local band. The lead singer of the band was closing the show with a
tribute to Elvis Presley; he was dressed like him and handing out silk scarves
to the audience. I was watching his face while he was singing and suddenly a
grayish mask seemed to cover his face. It looked like a real mask. I had to
blink my eyes several times because I thought I was seeing things. His name was
Sonny DiNunzio from the group, The Fenways, in Pittsburgh. A few weeks later I
heard that he had been killed in a car accident. Friends have said I saw the
death mask. This hasn’t happened since, but it was pretty bizarre when it did.
This guy was a total stranger to me; I’d never seen nor met him before this.
Aside
from the death mask incident, nothing really stands out for me, maybe a few
small things, but I’ve always felt that I was an
empath
my entire life, and
I still feel that today.
Will
you write another book to continue the story of your life after Vegas
?
I’m
thinking about it. Most of us tend to believe that our stories aren’t
interesting enough to tell, and I’m no exception. I haven’t decided if mine is
or isn’t—maybe.
How
do you feel having completed the telling of your story
?
I
feel wonderful. The best description I can give is that it empties you out
inside, and you feel like you’ve dumped it on the rest of world for
continuation and investigation. I believe with all my heart that Christine
Casilio was murdered. I still feel strongly about my first assumption that Fred
robbed and killed her for her jewelry, which is a simple conclusion, but has
always been my first gut feeling because he had attempted to rob me.
Did
you attempt to find Fred
?
No,
because I never knew his last name. That would have been revealed in the police
report which I did not have.
Did
Chris’s fur coat ever turn up
?
No. Not
to my knowledge, and according to family members, it did not. No one was sure
who exactly cleaned out her apartment in Pittsburgh after she died.
What
was your own personal mystery for the last thirty years
?
For
me it was the opening and closing of the drapes in Chris’s apartment. I saw it
happen, and I remember my shock when the detectives told me she was dead and
decomposed. I knew that it had to have been Fred because he was the only one
around who knew I was trying to find her, and he was the one manipulating the
drapes opened and closed in order to have the appearance that she was still
alive in the apartment—and to delay the discovery of the body.
What
was the most shocking revelation for you during your investigation
?
That
the family always believed it was my idea to go to Vegas was number one. Number
two was that Chris’s death was never investigated as a homicide. I described
the crime scene to several police detective friends and asked them if they
walked in on a scene like this would they feel inclined to think it was murder
or an accident. Not one person told me they felt there was anything accidental
in this scene. It was homicide and should have been pursued as one.
The
other important thing to remember here is the initial newspaper article that
used the words SLAIN and MURDERED. This tells me that the police detectives
used those
exact
words; otherwise, the reporter wouldn’t have known what
the headline should be for the body that was found at Woodbridge, nor would he
know what to say in the article. This convinces me that the investigating
detectives called it murder from the second they found the body. Armed with
that knowledge, one cannot help feeling some kind of conspiracy or negligence
here.
What
do you feel you learned from the telling of your story
?
I
learned quite a bit. I learned that people are often anxious to judge other
people based on appearances, lifestyles, gossip and innuendo. I learned much of
this from Chris’s family who conveyed to me their personal feelings about why
Chris went to Vegas and what her intentions were. All of which they did not
hear from anyone credible, and quite possibly from the murderer
himself
.
I was appalled and saddened by this discovery but personally attribute it to
self-righteousness.
I
learned that Chris’s life was flawed and scarred from early childhood, which
put a target on her head, as I said earlier. Seasoned predators recognize these
scarred people when they are at a young, vulnerable age and set their sights on
them.
I
learned—or was more or less jarred into—obsessive protection of my own child in
life. Evil lurks around every corner, and you must teach this to your children
and hold them close, always. Of course, I have friends who disagree with that
stance on protective obsession of your children, but that’s okay. I insist on
my way. I believe we are all products of our experiences in life. If we don’t
learn from them we are doomed to repeat the mistakes.
Most
importantly, I learned that Chris was a victim. She did not cause or bring on
any of this herself. She was simply a victim of a maniac. A victim is a
victim. She was victimized by a predator, a monster, a person of no character
or conscience.
Does
the Woodbridge Inn still exist in Las Vegas today
?
Yes,
it does. If you use Google maps and search for 700 E. Flamingo Road in Las
Vegas Nevada, you will pull up a great image of the entire apartment complex.
It has changed names a few times, so I will not venture to say what name it has
today.
What
are your feelings today about the premonitions or synchronicities that happened
to you back in Las Vegas in 1982
?
I
never thought of those things back then. I don’t think many of us do. I think
that as we age we develop a more spiritual outlook on life, and maybe that’s
due to our experiences, our view of our past, or our search for answers on the
why of it all. I think we’re all in search of why things happen to us, and we
look for more meaning in our daily lives.
I’ve
learned through the writing of this book that I have intuitive gifts, always
have, but never recognized them. I also believe everyone has them, but some
choose to either ignore them or not recognize them because of other religious
beliefs or other societal taboos. I have expanded on my gifts since realizing
that I have them. I believe that embracing these gifts at some point releases
your most inner feelings in life, and I’m learning from them. I pay attention
to synchronicities now.
Was
there any on
e
particular thing
that really bothered you all these years----something that was a haunting
mystery
?
Well,
aside from the actual murder and all of its components, yes, I would have to
say that there is one thing that I’ve thought of over and over through the
years….
The
problem is my memory of this. I have vague memories of being in Chris’s
apartment and her showing me her hiding spots for cash money and jewelry. I
remember the inside of a closet and a floor board, but I don’t know if that’s
accurate. It’s a very vague memory.
But
if it is a true memory, I’ve often thought that there might be undiscovered
clues there to this day, if she had never shown the spot to anyone else, namely
Marty. If she had shown it to him, I am sure he would have cleaned out her
secret stash.
In our personal lives, blaming the victim most often arises
from the need to deny that we ourselves could be vulnerable. In order to avoid
confronting our own fear of powerlessness, we assume that the victim had the
power to prevent what happened. Since they did not, we reason that we are
smarter, stronger, more together and luckier than they are, and so what
happened to them would never happen to us. This gives us a sense of control
over our lives, but it is done at the expense of compassion. We can then become
smug and judgmental, feeling superior to the victim.