A Force for Evil: Assassination in a Small Town

A Force for Evil is the true story of the Fry Murder Case, which occurred in Lincoln, Illinois the summer of 1976. It is a reflection on the crime of murder: how the crime affected the community, the families of the victims and how the crime was solved. The story takes you from the time the killer was a child up to and including his commission of the crime, his arrest, trial, conviction and sentencing. It involves the process of the investigation as seen through the eyes of the author, who was one of the investigating detectives. It relates how, like the work of a jigsaw puzzler, the detectives gathered, analyzed and put the pieces of the puzzle together to bring the investigation to it's ultimate conclusion. Russell Smrekar, a college student, commits a theft of a few dollars worth of meat from a super market. In order to save himself from punishment he determines to eliminate all witnesses against him. In his resolve to carry out his plan not only are people murdered, but also others are made to disappear never to be seen again. Read how a small town police department working incooperation with other agencies solved a heinous crime and the methods used to bring a killer to justice. The book details not only how investigations were carried out by routine police work, but also by use of the para-normal bordering on the occult.