From Taos News
5/08/97
By Larry Torres

'Til death do us party

Never mind the scandals at Holy Cross Hospital. Forget the Olona trial at the courthouse. The real story last week was the triple murder/suicide which took place at the San Geronimo Lodge over the weekend.

On Saturday (May 3) hotel manager jean Michel DeSade was doing his usual rounds when he came upon a room door which was slightly ajar. He peeked inside and found the body of photographer Myron Fledspar lying ominously upon one of two beds in the room. The time was 7:48 p.m.

He quickly alerted hoteliéres Allison and Shaun Everett who were just beside themselves. They just couldn't fathom how such a horrible thing could have happened in their respectable establishment.

Teacher Isabel St. Onge, who happened to come by discovered a plethora of pills both on and under the nightstand. She knew the hotel well, having only recently honeymooned in that very room. This made the other guests of the hotel uncomfortable because the whole affair looked suspiciously like the recent Heaven's Gate suicides.

Fearing the presence of a cult in the hotel, investigators began scouring the other rooms. At exactly 8:12 p.m., two more bodies were discovered. The first cadaver was identified as that of Vietnam veteran Spruce Freedom (aka Bruce Friedman). He was found with a bullet wound in his left temple and a small caliber revolver in his right hand.

A sweep of the room revealed a strange canister under the bed which was thought to be a Bouncing Betty bomb, the type of which was used by the Vietcong to emasculate American soldiers wading through rice patties. Later, it was found to be a homemade silencer.

A trail of blood led investigators into the adjoining bathroom where a female tentatively identified as Jane Doe was found curled into a fetus position in the bathtub. Because the bodies could not be moved, a positive identification was not possible. Some remembered her as Judy, the high liner in the '60s group, Judy Valley and the Dolls. Others thought it might be her evil twin, Trudy, who had a hair trigger temper.

Group manager Ray Romo was afraid suspicion might fall on chorus girl Barbie Kendoll who was known to have certain pills on her. Her constant companion, Midge, was also suspect because she was known to traipse about Taos in a leather outfit which made her out to be a cross between Pocahontas and Mother Nature.

Well, now that you've put down your coffee and doughnuts, I guess it's safe to reveal that this murder/suicide was part of an incredible murder mystery dinner theater put on by 'Til Death Do Us Party Productions out of Boulder, Colo.

The professional group put on the most fabulous who dunnit for a motley group of Taos and vicinity people. In between nibbles of salmon canapes, patè, chicken, cranberry chutney and tiramisu, the amateur detectives swigged fine Merlot and/or Chardonnay wines. The murder was catered by Barbara Forsberg of Wooden Spoon Catering.

It took more than three hours to put the clues together, and throughout that time, non of the actors stepped out of character for an instant. Their accomplices in crime were Kristie Bibson, Beth and Mike Yeager and Bill Clever, the staff at the San Geronimo. The amateur sleuths cam from Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, Farmington and Lubbock.

Among them were Bob and Jessica Orner, Steven Gootgeld, Sheryl Shockley, Tom Wallace, Kevin and Frances McAdams, Carolyn Simon, Richard and Mill Hoyle, Jan Enright, St. Onge, Joe and Wanda Quintana, John and Julie Marrow and Jeff and Greg Kramer. Taos' answer to Sherlock and Shirley Holmes were the Quintanas, who solved the crime along with other members of Team 5.

I tell you, if you're planning on just on murder this season, let the Everett girls take care of it for you. They really know how to do it up right.