Worth More Dead: And Other True Cases (42 page)

Denver police officer Randy Yoder had just gone off duty, removed his body armor, and stashed his radio and service revolver when he encountered the most dangerous felon of his career.

Officer Yoder was shot twice by a woman with a gun as he tried to save her real target’s life. These wounds are scant inches from his heart and lungs, and he had just taken off his body armor. He was very, very lucky.

Justyn Rosen, 80, chose his final mistress for her beauty, never realizing how dangerous she could be when her heart was broken.

Teresa Perez had many loves in her short life, but Justyn Rosen, a married man old enough to be her grandfather, was the only one she seemed to love with all her heart. She simply could not let him desert her.

These four Denver police officers were plunged into a deadly shoot-out in their own station’s parking lot. Here they receive the department’s Medal of Honor for their actions on the night of October 3, 2003. Left to Right: Officers Randy Yoder, Joey Perez, Danny Perez, Captain Joseph Padilla.

ALL FOR NOTHING

Larry Sturholm, one of two victims in “All for Nothing,” is shown here (third from left) with the staff of the armed forces radio station at the base he was assigned to in 1968 in Samsun, Turkey. His hilarious scripts for soap opera style “dramas” brightened up the bleak days at the “superspy” base.

Debra Sweiger, 35, was a tall lovely blonde. She had a new business that was taking off, a new Jaguar, a new house, and the world belonged to her. Sadly, there was one man to whom she was worth more dead if he couldn’t have her for himself.

Larry Sturholm, nearing 50, seemed like a friend to everyone in the Seattle area who watched his television news segments, “Larry at Large.” He had great talent as a writer, a commentator on the funny side of life, and as a performer/producer. In the summer of 1989, he made another kind of news, saddening thousands of people.

This is the house Debra Sweiger owned in the suburbs of Seattle, the scene of the double murders and an attempted suicide. Homicide investigators were shocked at the violence they found inside.

High-ranking Naval Reserve officer William Pawlyk, 48, had graduate degrees, the respect of the leaders in his city, and a successful career. But jealousy overrode everything else, and his rage destroyed three families.

Lee Yates, senior deputy King County prosecuting attorney, who, along with senior deputy Jeff Baird, prosecuted William Pawlyk in the shocking “overkill” murders of Debra Sweiger and Larry Sturholm. Yates had represented the State in dozens of major homicide trials, but this was one that vividly stood out in his memory.

The D’Autremont brothers made headlines all across America in the 1920s. Larry Sturholm wrote a memorable book about the train holdup that failed, and the tragedies that ensued. From top to bottom: Roy, Hugh, and Ray D’Autremont. (
From
All for Nothing)