CHRONICLE OF A CRIME: The Larry Lord Motherwell Story

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

In the summer of 1958, Eleanor and Castro Dabrohua, a middle-aged couple, received a telegram that Castro's older sister, Pearl, 72, was running off to get married and honeymoon on a yacht. Although Pearl had foibles (i.e. faults) and was susceptible (i.e. vain), still her ""bridal trip"", as the press called it, with $38,000 in securities and her jewels, seemed suspect although at first it was difficult to rouse an alarm, equal to that of the Dabrohuas, in the police. Finally the Bureau of Missing Persons in Washington, D.C., where Pearl had lived, assigned several to the case, while Eleanor kept a day by day diary on which this chronicle is based. A first definite lead was a Georgia motel reservation- in the name of Dr. & Mrs. Motherwell, and Larry Lord Motherwell, while not a doctor, had been her neighbor for several years. He was also an established ex-convict, confirmed liar and fraud, with a penchant and attraction for women. The case, before it came to court a year later with the evidence of Pearl's remains, also turned up other dubiosa in his past:- the sudden death of a previous wife; the fact that he had murdered, and buried as a dog, their Mongoloid child; and other victims of his charm... While the records here are complete and presumably exact, the tone is personal- not professional, in spite of Ray Brennan's assistance. And whereas it is easy to understand Mrs. Dabrohua's involvement in the case, it is hard to share it- it is not a very interesting case.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Doubleday

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1961

Categories: NONFICTION