The Devil You Know: The crime they said “could not happen here”

WINNER OF THE 2014 KILLER NASHVILLE SILVER FALCHION AWARD for TRUE CRIME! On a foggy night on March 10, 1990, in Westport, Indiana, twelve-year-old Brad Maddux strolled over to a pickup truck to chat with his twenty-eight-year-old cousin, Douglas Sims. Brad was never seen again. It was the following night that Brad s family and friends noted his disappearance. As the small community searched frantically for Brad, officers questioned Douglas Sims several times. It was not until Sims was interviewed, using tactics by a seasoned investigator, did they learn the horrific truth: Sims had murdered Brad in a horrifying way, and buried his body in a place of symbolism and fear. Douglas Sims spoke of his crime as if it were of no concern. It changed the way an entire community behaved: people began to lock their doors and guard their children, even when the devil was locked away in prison. It was called the worst crime Decatur County had ever seen but this was not the end of the horror. Douglas Sims received a sentence the community felt was a joke, as one investigator believed. As the truth came out, mild-mannered and friendly neighbor Douglas Sims, who never even raised his voice, was exposed as a predator, a pedophile that preyed on the community children right before their parent s eyes. Years later, he derided the dead boy in a shocking display before the parole board that left hardened officers stunned. This is the heartbreaking true story of the crime and punishment of a monster that preyed on the most vulnerable victims of all, a little boy who trusted, a community that refused to believe evil lurked among them, and of the law enforcement officers who brought a child killer to justice. A portion of proceeds of this book will be donated to a nonprofit organization in the victim's name.