Has anyone else read this book? I just finished it and would highly recommend it to all you UM fans. Sheila (Lisa's mother) helps give a better idea of the type of person Lisa was. I realize in some crimes the victims gets overlooked in all the other details so it was nice reading about the type of person Lisa was and the loving relationship she had with her family. It also gives more info on the crime itself and a bit of info about the evil Dale Eaton. Of course there is so much in this case that UM left out including where they believe Lisa was abducted so this book fills in all the gaps. Its a definite recommended read for all of you who find this case interesting. Here is a link on how to buy it from Amazon for those interested:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0976747006/102-6465846-5502567?v=glance&n=283155

I would enjoy hearing any other people's opinion who have read this book as well.

want that the name of the chick nate married on 6 feet under?

Thanks for the recommendation crystaldawn! I'll be sure to check it out!!!!

Thanks crystaldawn. I'm glad someone here read the book and mentioned it.

Here's a link I've posted before, to a very good site site dedicated to Lisa. It includes a picture of the cover of the book, and a forum to talk about the case, with some responses from Sheila Kimmell, although it looks to have been dormant for some time now: http://www.geocities.com/ForLisaKimmell/

The thing about the book is barring amazon it seems to be in "The Witness Protection Program" so to speak. The people at "Barnes & Nobles" said the book was recalled or "not stocked" so they can't even order it (and these are two seperate B&N in two different states)

Odd.

The thing about the book is barring amazon it seems to be in "The Witness Protection Program" so to speak. The people at "Barnes & Nobles" said the book was recalled or "not stocked" so they can't even order it (and these are two seperate B&N in two different states)

Odd.
Forgive me Darkdante but I am throuroughly confused. Are you talking about my book?? B&N maybe doesn't stock it in store but they can and will order it for someone and it is also available on their Internet site, nor has the book been "recalled" in any way, shape or form. So, I hope you mind, but could you tell me more? You could PM me if you'd prefer. Thanx.

And Thank You crystaldawn and awsidoooger for your feedback.

Sheila Kimmell

Yes I am talking about the book about Lisa. Actually two Barnes & Nobles (one in New Jersey and the HUGE store in New York City) said they can't order it. They said the book was not available at their warehouse or something like that. I can't remember exactly at the moment but bottom line is they said they cannot order it.

Yes I am talking about the book about Lisa. Actually two Barnes & Nobles (one in New Jersey and the HUGE store in New York City) said they can't order it. They said the book was not available at their warehouse or something like that. I can't remember exactly at the moment but bottom line is they said they cannot order it.

Thanx for the heads up and additional info Darkdante. I will be checking into this first thing tomorrow morning.

FYI - I did call Barnes and Noble and they were confused also because some of their stores do carry it in stock and others that don't, can order it for someone upon request. Regardless, for those wanting to order the book, there are a number of places you can get it besides Barnes and Noble's.

Again, thanx to everyone for their feed back and thoughtful kindness.
Sheila Kimmell

I just finished reading Sheila Kimmell's book yesterday. I have to heartily agree with Crystal Dawn's recommendation. I ordered it from Amazon, along with several other books. IIRC, it had to be backordered and was the last book in my order that arrived. I don't know if that was a problem similar to what Dark Dante was experiencing with B&N or not.

I feel terrible that the multiple airings of the show never produced a lead to Eaton. I have to wonder if maybe this was due to his somewhat nomadic lifestyle and the fact that his "home base" was in a town that was very tiny. He seemed to socialize with only two or three residents, and it's doubtful anyone there even saw the UM segments.

There are so many details that weren't covered in the UM segment. For one thing, Eaton was such a sick SOB that he had set up Lisa's buried car with a pipe to the surface so he could use as his septic tank!

The original sheriff on the case was so concerned about his own issues (definitely minor compared to the fact that an innocent young woman had been murdered) that he couldn't work the case properly. It seemed that he needed to have an unhealthy control over every aspect and that justice for Lisa, and preventing this killer from repeating his offenses were a very distant second priority. The politics involved also bordered on the criminal, imo, and definitely stunted progress.

Eaton is so disgusting and dangerous, thank God he was finally convicted and removed from society. Lisa's life was purposed, focused, successful. She was an intelligent, determined young lady and definitely had a positive and wonderful future ahead of her. That she would cross paths with such a predator is awful.

After reading all the details provided, I'm sure that Eaton was a practiced killer by the time he took Lisa, and imo, he's definitely responsible for other murders.

Does the book explain how he captured her? Did he pull her car over or did he abduct her from somewhere? I have been wanting to read this book but it's kind of expensive and my library doesn't have it. I'll read it one of these days.

Does the book explain how he captured her? Did he pull her car over or did he abduct her from somewhere? I have been wanting to read this book but it's kind of expensive and my library doesn't have it. I'll read it one of these days.

They really don't know for sure.

Eaton said that he caught Lisa in her car sort of casing his property as if she were up to no good and was going to steal from him. He thought she may have had an accomplice, but found out she was alone. (Almost everything he ever said about her is an attempt to make her look bad and is the opposite of her known character. It's disgusting.)

His proposed scenario is completely impossible, and nothing but a self serving lie on Eaton's part. Lisa (and her whole family) had a habit of using the trip odometer when travelling. The odometer on Lisa's car shows that it went almost the exact distance from her departure point to the rest stop. Eaton's property was quite a ways from the expressway and was no where near the route she was taking. IMO, there's just no way that she would be diverting from her travel plans in order to snoop around some felon's worthless property. And even if she were, her trip odometer would have shown that the car had driven that significant distance.

IIRC, Lisa's family believe that she stopped at a very nice, clean, well lit rest area that was close to the road. There is a picture of it in the book. It definitely gives the impression of a safe place to stop and isn't old, neglected, isolated, etc.

The theory is that Eaton abducted her at that rest area. A shell casing was found in her car. They think he may have shot into her car or shot out a window of her car and forcibly took her at gunpoint.

He was known to tow cars on a regular basis. They think he got Lisa subdued and trapped in the back of his truck, in a space behind the seats, then hooked her car up to his tow vehicle and drove off. Towing the car would explain how her car got from the expressway to Eaton's house without any more miles showing on the odometer.

It's my opinion that Eaton was out hunting for a victim that day. He constantly traveled the roads, looking for people to victimize, while carrying what can only be described as a rape kit in his vehicle. I believe he spent a great deal of his time hunting for victims.

Years after Lisa's murder, he was still doing this and pulled over to help a young family who's car had broken down. He pulled a gun on them and there was a terrible fight for their lives. Eaton had tools and weapons hidden within reach in his vehicle and every time one of these victims would knock a weapon out of his hand, he'd grab another from it's hiding spot. I think he used the gun plus 2 or 3 other weapons on the young family. IIRC, the husband beat Eaton with the butt of the shot gun until it broke and Eaton was still fighting them.

"IIRC, Lisa's family believe that she stopped at a very nice, clean, well lit rest area that was close to the road. There is a picture of it in the book. It definitely gives the impression of a safe place to stop and isn't old, neglected, isolated, etc.

The theory is that Eaton abducted her at that rest area. A shell casing was found in her car. They think he may have shot into her car or shot out a window of her car and forcibly took her at gunpoint.

He was known to tow cars on a regular basis. They think he got Lisa subdued and trapped in the back of his truck, in a space behind the seats, then hooked her car up to his tow vehicle and drove off. Towing the car would explain how her car got from the expressway to Eaton's house without any more miles showing on the odometer.

It's my opinion that Eaton was out hunting for a victim that day. He constantly traveled the roads, looking for people to victimize, while carrying what can only be described as a rape kit in his vehicle. I believe he spent a great deal of his time hunting for victims."

I think you nailed it. This is probably exactly what happened. I'm surprised there wasn't anyone who drove by him on the expressway and saw him towing her car before whatever exit he turned onto, but I suppose it wasn't very traveled at that time of night.


"Years after Lisa's murder, he was still doing this and pulled over to help a young family who's car had broken down. He pulled a gun on them and there was a terrible fight for their lives. Eaton had tools and weapons hidden within reach in his vehicle and every time one of these victims would knock a weapon out of his hand, he'd grab another from it's hiding spot. I think he used the gun plus 2 or 3 other weapons on the young family. IIRC, the husband beat Eaton with the butt of the shot gun until it broke and Eaton was still fighting them."

Did this family survive the attack/fight?

Steve W.

yes the family survived I read the story some months ago. A couple and a child car broke down I believed and Eaton offered to give them a ride. He attacked and subdued the wife first I think. Well those people werent having none of that. The wife and the husband knew they werent going out like that.

The story is amazing! The fought for their lives and forced Eaton to pull over. Eaton tried to say they attacked him but the police found out he was lying. They have the pictures and it was a serious beat down they issued on the SOB.

The story is amazing! The fought for their lives and forced Eaton to pull over. Eaton tried to say they attacked him but the police found out he was lying. They have the pictures and it was a serious beat down they issued on the SOB.

Wow, I didnt know someone whooped his sorry ass! That's excellent news. Do you happen to remember the name of the family so I can look them up?

Wow, I didnt know someone whooped his sorry ass! That's excellent news. Do you happen to remember the name of the family so I can look them up?
Hi Hambone,
Their names are Scot and Shannon Breeden. The last I knew, they were still living in Califorinia but I don't know how to get in touch with them. Shannon was flown to Casper to testify at Eaton's trial. She is a real interesting and spunky gal.

Here's a good article about the Scott and Shannon Breeden incident.

Sheila,I'm looking forward to reading your book.

http://trib.com/news/local/article_c2ec5d5f-ca01-5d76-bb33-d3031a6c6bf5.html

Bumping this due to discussion on this topic in another thread:

From page 45 in the book The Murder of Lil Miss:

During the next few weeks, Natrona county law enforcement appeared to be following through, according to the media reports [Sheriff Ron] Ketchum released.

They used hypnosis on car-sighting witnesses, found pilots to fly over the area to look for the car, and asked ranchers to search their land.

Ketchum also had artists create composite sketches of the men with whom Lisa was allegedly seen in the Casper area. However, Ketchum elected not to release those because he didn't think they would help the public.

One of the pictures resembled the man who owned another black Honda CRX. The man's wife also happened to resemble Lisa.

Eventually, this young couple's car would be used by Unsolved Mysteries in their TV reenactment of the crime.
---

This is one of the things that makes me think about the supposed sightings of Lisa's car during the time she was missing and her car was in Eaton's possession. (But most likely not on the road.) This is one of those situations that could explain why there were false sightings. Almost identical car, similar looking woman, etc.

On page 47, the book discusses the filming of Lisa's segment on Unsolved Mysteries, done in October of 1988.

While using the couple's car (mentioned above) they filmed the episode. They had several sightings of Lisa's car called in due to the black Honda CRX with Lil Miss license plates being in the area.

One of the people to call in a sighting of Lisa's car was a local city cop!

IMO, this is another thing that helps explain why there were false sightings of the car, when it was on Eaton's property and not actually out on the road to be seen by the citizenry.

On page 50, it addresses the failure to interview several witnesses that had information that should have been followed up on.

A sheriff's wife in Wyoming followed a car that looked like Lisa's for several blocks, noted the plates, and pulled up next to the car to see a driver who fit Lisa's description. A man working at a gas station in Bufallo, Wyoming said he saw Lisa with a man who had a dark complexion. A woman in Casper, Wyoming said she saw Lisa driving the car the weekend she was reported missing. She noted the personalized plates because she had a dog with the same name. Plus many more...

The book goes on to say that once they finally went to trial, they got details about what happened that made them realize that these sightings were unlikely. But dang, the officials didn't know it at the time, and failed to question some pretty darn good witnesses.

Bumping this due to discussion on this topic in another thread:

From page 45 in the book The Murder of Lil Miss:

During the next few weeks, Natrona county law enforcement appeared to be following through, according to the media reports [Sheriff Ron] Ketchum released.

They used hypnosis on car-sighting witnesses, found pilots to fly over the area to look for the car, and asked ranchers to search their land.

Ketchum also had artists create composite sketches of the men with whom Lisa was allegedly seen in the Casper area. However, Ketchum elected not to release those because he didn't think they would help the public.

One of the pictures resembled the man who owned another black Honda CRX. The man's wife also happened to resemble Lisa.

Eventually, this young couple's car would be used by Unsolved Mysteries in their TV reenactment of the crime.
---

This is one of the things that makes me think about the supposed sightings of Lisa's car during the time she was missing and her car was in Eaton's possession. (But most likely not on the road.) This is one of those situations that could explain why there were false sightings. Almost identical car, similar looking woman, etc.

Interesting stuff, do you know were Ron Ketchum is now ?

Interesting stuff, do you know were Ron Ketchum is now ?
He committed suicide in 2000 by shooting himself.

Interesting stuff, do you know were Ron Ketchum is now ?

Yep, what CD said.

He had a history of suicide attempts and was not a mentally stable person. He deliberately stalled the investigation into Lisa's murder, not just by neglecting to have some important witnesses interviewed but by refusing to work with any other law enforcement agencies or task forces. This was a crime that covered several jurisdictions in three states. He refused to face the reality of that, wanted complete control over everything, threatened to charge the family with obstruction of justice, and other awful things. It was really bad.

Some of his actions made it look like he was involved in Lisa's murder and he eventually became a suspect. One of his suicide attempts was on the anniversary of the crime. He lied to an investigator and said he wasn't working the night of Lisa's disappearance, but he had actually been out patrolling in his duty vehicle that night.

Several women complained to investigators they he would pull them over while in his patrol car, then proposition them for sex. He even followed one woman all the way from Casper, Wyoming to St. Louis, Missouri, where he walked up to her house and knocked on her door!

Evidence like pages of dispatchers logs that showed the dates and times they'd spoken with Ketchum while he was on duty went missing. He refused to give blood samples when all the other authorities and witnesses in the case were willingly supplying them for comparison and elimination of evidence purposes. When he finally did give a sample, he insisted that it be included with the blood of two other law enforcement personnel in the office. Because they had three samples when they only were prepared to take one, they weren't properly labelled, they didn't know which blood sample belonged to which officer, and that goofed up the evidence.

He refused to tell Lisa's parents about any information he had, saying that they had no rights, they were not the victims, and disclosing that evidence (that Lisa had been struck in the head, fracturing her skull, before she'd been stabbed to death) would jeopardize the investigation. He also didn't want the other jurisdictions involved to have access to any evidence because he said cops were as bad as anyone else for not keeping their mouths shut and letting information about evidence get leaked.

He then went and gave a crime talk to a class of 3rd graders who'd seen the UM segment about Lisa and expressed an interest in the case. He told the little kids all the graphic details of the crime that he wouldn't tell the parents, including the fact that she'd been hit in the head (his one especially precious piece of evidence that he didn't want anyone else to know about). Inappropriate to say the least, especially considering the kid's very young ages, plus the details of his visit to the class was reported in the paper. Apparently, he was using it as some kind of publicity stunt to make himself look good, but instead, he blabbed the evidence to the whole world himself, when he said that not even Lisa's parents could be trusted to keep it a secret.

The family finally had to force the case to be removed from his control and had it given to (I think) the Wyoming State Department of Criminal Investigations or a similarly named major law enforcement agency... can't recall exactly right now.

Still reading....

A lot of Lisa's things were found in her car when they dug it up. Her virgin Mary statue, crucifix, shoes, her mom's atlas that she used to plan out her trip, a bottle of lotion for a rash she had on her legs, her visors from her Arby's uniform, and maybe some other stuff I'm forgetting.

Eaton had stripped a lot of valuable stuff out of Lisa's car before he buried it. He burned the wheels to melt down the aluminum, but they don't know what for. Scrap? I dunno.

He first had the car in one hole, then changed his mind and dug another hole. He chained up the car and drug it over to that hole for the final burial and set it up with a pipe into his trailer to use the buried car as a septic tank.

His son was 15 years old at the time and didn't live with him. He did come to visit his dad that summer of 1988, just a few months after Eaton had killed Lisa. He never saw Lisa's car, but he saw the parts Eaton had taken from it. He didn't connect those to the crime because Eaton always had flea market finds, car parts, and other random stuff laying around.

He gave his son Lisa's car seats and rigged up a bracket to bolt them into his son's pick up truck. He gave him Lisa's car radio and they installed that in his truck.

He was really upset when it all came out and he realized what his father had done to Lisa, and to him, by giving him a murdered girl's belongings as gifts.

Its a great book. The whole case is sad and what happened to her makes me angry. After reading the book you realize what a sweet person she was.

I wonder how many people he killed.

http://county10.com/2013/03/05/amy-wroe-bechtel-disappearance-takes-new-turn-prime-suspect-on-wyomings-death-row/

Its a great book. The whole case is sad and what happened to her makes me angry. After reading the book you realize what a sweet person she was.

I wonder how many people he killed.

http://county10.com/2013/03/05/amy-wroe-bechtel-disappearance-takes-new-turn-prime-suspect-on-wyomings-death-row/
You've probably heard this, but he's also a potential suspect in Amy Bectel's disappearance. His brother claims he was in the Lander area on the day she vanished, IIRC. I think it's possible. Maybe after killing Lisa, he decided that he would make an attempt to hide future victims' bodies to avoid being caught (DNA and all other evidence being hidden, too).

That family who gave him a ride came very close to being victims themselves. Glad they were able to beat the crap out of him and save themselves. I don't doubt that Eaton has more victims.

CrystalDawn and TracyLynnS thanks for the info on Ron Ketchum ! :) The last part about Lisa`s car seats raises something interesting about some killers and rapists giving victims property as gifts to people around them its quite eerie & creepy ....:eek:

I wonder how many people he killed.

Me too. IIRC, Lisa's family believe he's murdered both before and after Lisa's case.

For everyone who hasn't read the book:

During his trial, a jailhouse snitch testified about how Eaton had confessed to him about killing Lisa. The problem is that the details don't really match up to Lisa's case.

It was so different from what they knew happened to Lisa, that her family believes the snitch, but think it may be a different murder altogether that Eaton was confessing to him.

Partial quote from the book, page 156-157:

----

Joe Dax claimed that Eaton had "confessed" to him when they did time together in Natrona County Jail. As soon as the man was brought in [to testify during the trial], Eaton yelled out, "You f******, don't point at me! You don't even know me!"

After Eaton calmed down, Dax told his story. It was similar to the statement [he gave investigators] before the trial.

Dax said that Eaton was worried about a car found on his property. What Dax told us was, "He said, 'I can't figure out how they found this' and he was concerned. He said that somebody from Colorado must have told [the detectives] where the car is, or he was wondering if they just found it by accident."

"He had a newspaper article and he started telling me basically that the newspaper article was mostly b******t, that he wasn't worried about it. He said, 'The chick was really nice to help me out. She seemed like a really nice girl.'"

Eaton's version of the story was that this "nice girl" gave him a ride, but she became "snotty" when he suggested that she have dinner with him. "She 'got really kinda nervous' and said that she wasn't interested. He said he put his hand on her leg. He said she locked up the front of the car and slammed on the brakes, pulled over to the side of the road, and was screaming really loud. She told him to get the f*** out of the car, [told him] he was lucky to even have a ride, said that he was acting like a f****** pervert. And he said, 'Hell no, I ain't getting out the car, you can take me to where I'm going.'"

"He said that she kept screaming and she was going to get out of the car and that he grabbed her and just kinda lost control. He said he didn't want her to get out right there on the road. The only thing that was flashing through his mind was 'What am I gonna do?' He said he knew right then that 'I had to do the b****.' He said that if he would have planned this thing it would have been a lot easier."

[They discussed whether or not Eaton should have just gotten out of the car.] "He goes, 'But she was yelling and screaming and she pissed me off and then she started to go out the car and I grabbed her.'"

"He made one comment that he didn't want to leave the car out there and he couldn't let her get out to the highway. He said he just grabbed on to her and held her and told her to f****** drive."

Again Eaton [told Dax] that if he "would have planned it, it would have been a lot easier; it turned out to be a lot of trouble".

----

In the book, Mrs. Kimmell then says: ...I questioned whether Eaton was talking about Lisa or another girl. ... I know that Lisa would not have given a ride to a strange man late at night. She wouldn't act the way he described. ... The scariest thing he said was 'If he would have planned it, it would have been a lot easier.' To us that implied that Eaton had planned other abductions.

I finished the book a while ago. In one of the last chapters, much of the following info is given. I need to go back through the book to find the dates of other known events, but I thought I'd at least share this here for anyone who may want to pinpoint Eaton's location at certain times, maybe to connect him to other unsolved cases, or to find out at what dates certain events occurred. (There's tons more info, but this is what I have right now.) I'm using the American MM/DD/YYYY format.

2/10/1945 - Eaton's birth, Bay Springs, MS

1960s - several arrests

early 1970s - worked at Gas Hills mines south of Moneta, WY (other cities mentioned are Kemmerer, Cheyenne, Rawlins)

1970s/1984 - Member of welder's union. Worked in WY, CO, and UT power plants. Worked at Grayrocks Dam (Weatland, WY?)

1986 - Eaton is diagnosed with depression (IIRC this is after a divorce, Goshen, WY)

9/1987 - moved into a school bus on property in Moneta, WY

1/15/1988 through 3/8/1988 - whereabouts unknown

3/31/1988 - Lisa Marie Kimmell abducted and murdered by Eaton.

4/1/1988 - day after Lisa's murder, visits neighbors in Moneta (to establish alibi?)

1988 Summer - son Billy living with Eaton, visits neighbors in Moneta frequently

1/3/1989 - Went with son to Salt Lake City, UT. Spent two weeks in Clearfield, UT. Moved to Elko, NV for his son Billy to attend school.

1/20/1989 - Eaton's grandmother is buried in Lander, WY. Unknown if Eaton attended.

3/1989 - "Stringfellow Hawke" note (determined to have been written by Eaton) found on Lisa's grave, Billings, MT

4/20/1989 - Eaton back home in Moneta, WY

1989 through 1992 - Continued to visit close Moneta neighbors while traveling to Gas Hills WY, Denver CO, and Jeff City (not sure what state but likely WY)

1990s through 4/8/1998 -traveling Moneta, Casper, Shoshoni, Powder River, Mills, WY. Milford, UT. Denver, CO. Las Vegas, NV.

4/1993 - the close neighbor, who had been keeping a daily diary that included Eaton's activities moves away

1/1994 - Eaton buys a red Ford truck in Riverton, WY

1/30/1994 - Eaton starts phone service at location in Evanston, WY

2/9/1994 - Lyman, WY listed as address on an insurance policy in Eaton's name

2/22/1994 - Fort Bridger Travel Stop gas receipt

2/26/1994 - Sinclair, WY gas receipt

3/1994 - frequent visits to Evanston and Mountain View, WY

3/1/1994 - Mountain View, WY receipt from Big A Auto Parts

3/3/1994 - Evanston, WY Walmart receipt for hair coloring (makes me wonder if this was for genuine purposes or if he was trying to alter his appearance after committing a crime)

1994 Spring/Summer - Eaton in Worland, Casper, Thermopolis, WY

9/1994 - purchases PO Box in Mills, WY

1994 Fall/Winter - Idaho Falls, ID (bought propane); Mills, WY (sold items to recycling center)

12/26/1994 - Denver, CO receipt from Exeter Drilling Company

4/8/1995 - receiving unemployment benefits

9/12/1997 - Supposed to be heading to a welding job in Utah. Encountered three members of the young Breeden family, stranded in their car on I80 in the Wamsutter, WY area, and attacked them.

4/23/1998 - convicted of assaulting the Breeden family

7/30/1998 (located in Grand Teton National Park after leaving a halfway house) to Present - Incarcerated

Note: Great Basin murders ended in 1997, just before Eaton was jailed