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Creepy Unsolved Mysteries - From unsolved murders to unidentified people to unexplained supernatural events, what are some of the creepiest unsolved mysteries you've ever heard of?
Yes. Her claim makes no sense. Why would they allow him to go to her house as an adult? Most likely he was killed hours later and then dumped somewhere he was never found.
Dorothy and Bill Wacker, I assume, a couple who claimed to have been harassed, stalked, threatened, and even assaulted by an unknown man over the span of several years.
I never looked too deep into it. I'm just familiar with the gist because it's kind of a "classic".
Having been using the internet since the last century, I have seen some shit in my time browsing it. Still, some things hit you differently. I watched Paradise Lost and in the beginning you see the poor young victims, the actual footage taken when they were discovered. Absolutely broke my heart, what ever they saw or did, they did not deserve to be violated like that. Rarely true crime makes me emotional anymore but that I really struggled to keep watching.
I could tell they were being manipulative when that was the opening shot. The only reason to do that is to put people in an emotional state so you can push a message on them.
Yes. Her claim makes no sense. Why would they allow him to go to her house as an adult? Most likely he was killed hours later and then dumped somewhere he was never found.
It relies on if you can believe the narrative that they were using underage prostitutes in the white house and grooming them as a cover story. So he was pimped out and turned into a reporter and years later managed to show up for a brief moment. It's plausible but extremely unlikely. I'd guess someone random showed up at her door like salesman or wrong address and she ran with it in her grief.
This conversation reminds me of the Staircase, about the guy who totally didn't murder his wife and try to cover it up and the documentary about his trial. They clearly try to manipulate you into some sort of reasonable doubt, then you find out the guy filming it was fucking the guy on the side and left out a whole bunch of info that shows he absolutely did it.
It relies on if you can believe the narrative that they were using underage prostitutes in the white house and grooming them as a cover story. So he was pimped out and turned into a reporter and years later managed to show up for a brief moment. It's plausible but extremely unlikely. I'd guess someone random showed up at her door like salesman or wrong address and she ran with it in her grief.
I'll link this documentary I watched that was really good! The most likely theory is that some pedophile that worked at the Des Moines Register most likely did it. Think about it--there's plenty of places in Iowa to dump a body. Yeah Des Moines is the capital but it doesn't take long for the perp to drive out onto a back road near some forest or a field, dump a body and bounce.
He wasn't the only paper boy in the city to go missing either. It's disturbing to realize just how little child predation was punished as recently as the 1980's. The US sex offender registry isn't even fifty years old. It's absolutely possible some pedophile who worked for the paper, who assigned routes knew when to take advantage of one of these kids. Only thing his family can hope for is that Johnny's remains are somehow found. At this point though I highly doubt that will happen.
I'll link this documentary I watched that was really good! The most likely theory is that some pedophile that worked at the Des Moines Register most likely did it. Think about it--there's plenty of places in Iowa to dump a body. Yeah Des Moines is the capital but it doesn't take long for the perp to drive out onto a back road near some forest or a field, dump a body and bounce.
I'll link this documentary I watched that was really good! The most likely theory is that some pedophile that worked at the Des Moines Register most likely did it. Think about it--there's plenty of places in Iowa to dump a body. Yeah Des Moines is the capital but it doesn't take long for the perp to drive out onto a back road near some forest or a field, dump a body and bounce. https://youtube.com/watch?v=MLRL_oowQ48He wasn't the only paper boy in the city to go missing either. It's disturbing to realize just how little child predation was punished as recently as the 1980's. The US sex offender registry isn't even fifty years old. It's absolutely possible some pedophile who worked for the paper, who assigned routes knew when to take advantage of one of these kids. Only thing his family can hope for is that Johnny's remains are somehow found. At this point though I highly doubt that will happen.
Like it's one of those things where it pretty obvious that it's always been happening but something about the 80's is what made us actually start to notice
That and I would argue the launch of the 24 hour news cycle with CNN helped.
Stuff like Stranger Danger was something that was warned about since at least the 60's going off of some old shorts I have seen. But it was more once it was constantly in the news it became a bigger thing.
Hence why kids stopped playing as much unsupervised outside.
That and I would argue the launch of the 24 hour news cycle with CNN helped.
Stuff like Stranger Danger was something that was warned about since at least the 60's going off of some old shorts I have seen. But it was more once it was constantly in the news it became a bigger thing.
Hence why kids stopped playing as much unsupervised outside.
That too--but also people were becoming more willing to talk about inappropriate behavior towards children instead of ignoring it or sweeping it under the rug. When Johnny went missing the Amber alert system didn't exist yet. Johnny's mom and other parents were the ones to help start the Center for Missing and Exploited Children in America.
Terry Hobbs' DNA wasn't found at the crime scene; a hair that he could not be excluded from was uncovered, but that particular allele he had is also found in millions of other Americans. I did a short post on the 2011 DNA in the WM3 case here: Post in thread 'Creepy Unsolved Mysteries' https://kiwifarms.st/threads/creepy-unsolved-mysteries.70212/post-24692028
We know through this testing that Todd Moore (Michael Moore's father) had his DNA found at the crime scene, but Todd wasn't even in West Memphis the day the murders occurred as he worked as a trucker. This is why I'm hesistant to ascribe guilt over minor pockets of DNA (most DNA in this case is untestable) as family DNA found on victims isn't unusual, plus the boys were to-ing and fro-ing from each other's homes the day they were killed. Interestingly enough however, none of the WM3 have had their DNA match any sample either, and in fact have been typically excluded.
My personal opinion is that, on the balance of probabilities, the WM3 are likely guilty, as more circumstantial evidence points towards them than anyone else. A very interesting part of the first Paradise Lost is how even Damien and Jason acknowledge that the prosecution have a case against them. I don't think this case is a DNA case, though whatever they do have should be tested thoroughly. Perhaps one day more conclusive evidence will come to light and will change my mind, but for now I think the police were right to investigate and charge the WM3.
This conversation reminds me of the Staircase, about the guy who totally didn't murder his wife and try to cover it up and the documentary about his trial.
Michael Peterson is the only true mind-bender in true crime for me. I do believe that he likely murdered Kathleen, but for what reason I have no idea. If it was the gay shit, why didn't he delete it when he had the chance? Plus, David Rudolf made a good point at trial that in every case where someone suffered similar head injuries to Kathleen a skull fracture was also present, yet Kathleen simply had the lacerations. We know the blowpoke didn't kill her, so how did Michael lacerate her head? Unless Michael ever talks we'll never know what happened to Kathleen unfortunately. I'm no owl expert but I just don't accept that there's enough evidence for that theory to be viable.
The main problem is that most "child abductions" are just noncustodial parents running off with the kid. Without the technology to sort through cases like that and abductions by strangers, you are mostly just wasting time. When you can't easily cross reference information from state to state or even county to county, you have the rise of serial killers because you can just kill people and hide the bodies in 15 different places and no one will put it together until its too late.
Noreen Gosch is batshit crazy, but I would be too if one of my children disappeared and was forever lost.
As for the WM3, I can believe they did it, but I don’t feel confident that they should have been found guilty in court. But i would be a nightmare juror for a prosecutor.
I recall reading the experience of a woman who befriended Jesse Misskelley who has since dropped him because she now thinks he’s guilty due to things he said to her. I’ll try to find it documented on Reddit. Can’t prove it’s true, of course.
Also: Recently 3 unidentified children’s bodies were found hidden in a drainage pipe near Memphis. It doesn’t mean it’s related, just gave me pause.
Noreen Gosch is batshit crazy, but I would be too if one of my children disappeared and was forever lost.
As for the WM3, I can believe they did it, but I don’t feel confident that they should have been found guilty in court. But i would be a nightmare juror for a prosecutor.
I recall reading the experience of a woman who befriended Jesse Misskelley who has since dropped him because she now thinks he’s guilty due to things he said to her. I’ll try to find it documented on Reddit. Can’t prove it’s true, of course.
Also: Recently 3 unidentified children’s bodies were found hidden in a drainage pipe near Memphis. It doesn’t mean it’s related, just gave me pause.
Continuing our journey into the “life” of Tony Godby Johnson
1957 - 1989: The early lives of Vicki Fraginals and Tony Godby Johnson (post)
1989 - 1991:Tony’s adoptive parents, the Johnsons (post)
1992 - 1993: Tony’s supporters and the memoir’s publication (post)
In the last installment, we met several supporters - particularly memoirist/essayist Paul Monette and novelist Armistead Maupin - who aided in the development and promotion of Tony’s memoir A Rock and a Hard Place.
Tony further benefitted from media personalities such as children’s television producer/host Fred Rogers and ESPN Sports Center host Keith Olbermann, who further disseminate his story.
Finally, we met two additional figures in Tony’s support network, HIV counselor Jack L. Godby and Tony’s personal physician Jerry “The Body Mechanic” DiNicola, the latter of whom will play an increasingly significant role in Tony’s “life.”
Given the sensational features of Tony’s memoir - childhood abuse (which results in full-blown AIDS by the memoir’s completion), the Victorian-like happy ending - Tony’s publisher no doubt anticipated a bestseller (which it would be) and proceeded with a strong promotional campaign.
While coverage would be overwhelmingly positive, in this installment, we’ll explore the doubters and how Tony’s support system responded.
Though the doubters didn’t gain much public traction (that would take an investigative article in 2001), the fallout would nonetheless be devastating for Tony.
Donald Shapiro
Per Tony’s supporter/mentor Paul Monette, a Midwestern man masquerading as a doctor began “calling up reporters at The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and the Associated Press.”
This man asserts that the actual author of A Rock and a Hard Place is none other than Monette himself.
Per Monette, this man claims Monette did this after failing to win broader sympathy and attention from the “straight world” with his writings on the AIDS crisis,
So the logic goes, Monette “made up a pediatric case to get attention for the cause” (Monette 1994: 230).
Furthermore, Monette claims a New York Times reporter tells him this man demanded proof of Tony’s existence from Crown Publishers, though was “rebuffed” (Monette 1994: 230).
The person in question may be Donald Shapiro of West Bloomfield, Michigan.
Two months after the publication of Tony’s memoir, Shapiro writes to Newsweek, praising reporter Michele Ingrassia for investigating Tony’s background (to be discussed).
Shapiro states that he has also “been looking for this elusive pen in a haystack with no more success than your reporter in her more inquisitive search” and was likewise given the kind of bizarre evasions she received” (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 14):
As to Monette’s claim the troublemaker is masquerading as a doctor, if Donald Shapiro of West Bloomfield, Michigan is the man in question, Shapiro practiced as an oral surgeon
While Monette believes the troublemaker to likely be a “Christian fundie,” Shapiro is Jewish.
Regardless, Shapiro isn’t alone in his suspicions.
Leslie Dreyfous
Leslie Dreyfous (Gorn 1999)
In the month following the memoir’s publication, rumors circulate that Newsweek magazine intends to publish a report that (1) Tony does not exist; (2) Paul Monette wrote the memoir.
The report “The Author Nobody’s Met” is published on May 31:
Headline with "self-portrait" of Tony (Ingrassia 1993)
Hoping to counter the allegation, Monette and his partner Winston Wilde fly to New York City, with the hope of arranging a press conference.
Crucially, Tony is to appear at the press conference.
Despite efforts to make the experience as easy as possible, Vicki declines, citing Tony’s poor health (Friend 2001: 92).
In the essay in which he reflects on his time with Tony, Monette does not mention the failed attempt at a press conference.
Rather, he claims to have told his and Tony’s editor David Groff that Groff “had to convince the Johnsons to let a reporter… meet [Tony]” and that “reluctantly [Vicki] assented” (Monette 1994: 92).
AP reporter Leslie Dreyfous is picked to meet with Tony.
Recall that Dreyfous wrote the first major review for Tony’s memoir.
In addition, Dreyfous had previously spoken with Tony by telephone and therefore knew Tony’s voice (Landsberg The Daily Herald 1993: 1D).
Vicki does however impose certain rules for the visit.
Vicki is to be referred to only as Mrs. Johnson (Landsberg The Herald 1993: 1D).
Dreyfous is not to describe where Tony lives, as many of Tony’s abusers still pose a potential threat (Landsberg The Herald 1993: 1D).
Dreyfous is to provide “no quotations or other details” (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 14).
Ultimately, Dreyfous does not even write about the visit.
Rather, fellow AP reporter Mitchell Landsberg handles the task.
In a May 27 article, Landsberg addresses the allegations that have been circulating behind the scenes, which are to be featured in Ingrassia’s article in the May 31 edition of Newsweek.
Monette is quoted as saying Ingrassia’s article is “the most scurrilous, most mean-sprited, ugliest piece I have ever read” (Landsberg The Herald 1993: 1D).
This statement presents an interesting conflict.
In Monette’s essay, he claims that editor David Groff reads him Ingrassia’s article on May 29 (Monette 1994: 231).
So he either read a prepublication copy of the article by May 25, in time for his quote to be picked up by the AP, and his essay is therefore inaccurate; or he hadn’t read the article and was therefore misrepresenting himself when quoted by the AP.
In addition, his demanding Groff arrange for an in-person interview with Tony is likewise confusing, as he places it during their phone conversation on May 29.
Of course, Lesley’s Dreyfous visit has already occurred by this point, and it has been two days since the AP distributed her account.
There is also the question of when Monette and his partner flew to New York to plead with Vicki to hold a press conference.
Per Landsberg, Crown Publishers issues a statement to booksellers “absolutely and without reservation” affirming it stands behind Tony and his memoir (Landsberg The Herald 1993: 1D).
This is also reported in The Wall Street Journal on May 25 (Cox 1993), the same day Lesley Dreyfous visits Tony at his home “somewhere in the New York metropolitan area” (Landsberg The Herald 1993: 1D).
In a more extended version of the article, Landsberg suggests Vicki’s fears for Tony’s safety “spill over into paranoia.”
He quotes Vicki (or Mrs. Johnson) as saying, “You know why Tony can’t be in public? … Because I don’t trust that kind of lifestyle – those people out there” (Landsberg Roanoke Times 1993: A-8).
The description of Lesley Drerfous’s visit is abbreviated.
Tony is described as wearing “glasses on his swollen face and a Yankee cap on his head” and Dreyfous states, “The voice is the same as the one I’ve spoken to over the weeks” (Landsberg The Herald 1993: 1D).
Monette claims Dreyfous’s visit lasts an hour (Monette 1994: 233).
Speaking to journalist Tad Friend in 2000 about the visit, Leslie Dreyfous (now McCarthy) says “that although she felt she had seen a boy of the ‘right age, right height, right voice, and with what appeared to be one leg,’” she had since come to doubt whether she met Tony.
She says also, “I did not sit on the bed with him for hours, as I would have liked – the ground rules were very strange…. Believe me. I still have questions” (Friend 2001: 94, 96).
In an interview with Keith Olbermann during promotion for the film adaptation of his novel The Night Listener, Armistead Maupin claims that Dreyfous wrote him a letter after reading a review of the novel (Olbermann 2006).
Maupin claims that Dreyfous “sort of said, ‘You took the courageous way. I didn’t know quite what to do, and I ended up leaving my job. I quit journalism because of it’ (Olbermann 2006).
(NB: The Olbermann interview is available in the second post.)
In an earlier interview with The New York Post, Maupin describes her letter as “a whole confession” (Stewart 2006).
In fact, Dreyfous remains with the AP for another 3 years after the visit with Tony.
I have found no evidence of her claiming to have quit because of Tony’s story.
Rather, she claims to have retired after getting married and becoming a mother (Gorn 1999).
Nor is it clear what Maupin means by “a whole confession.”
Does he mean Dreyfous was “sort of” confessing to having been duped or “sort of” confessing to having participated in the hoax?
Olbermann claims to have reached out to the AP following his own investigation into Vicki and Tony and to have been told, “Our reporter is never wrong.”
Rather than suggest her involvement in a hoax, however, Olbermann suggests Dreyfous was duped, with Tony being portrayed by one of Vicki’s nieces, whom he misattributes as being one of Vicki’s “two fat daughters.”
Olbermann suggests one of Vicki's nieces had been “dressed up, swaddled… and… presented as Tony, that [Dreyfous] could just see from the doorway…. So she may have actually thought that she’s met a little boy, and it was just a large little girl that didn’t speak” (Olbermann 2006).
While Olbermann’s hypothesis is intriguing, this does raise the problem of Dreyfous’s having vetted Tony’s in-person voice as the same voice she heard on the phone.
Michele Ingrassia
One can only speculate whether a troublemaker’s calls to Newsweek inspires Michele Ingrassia to investigate Tony’s background or if this is simply reflective of broader suspicions about the memoir, particularly given the publisher’s, and Vicki’s, stringent protocols.
Speaking to Tad Friend during his investigation, Ingrassia tells him “she thought it strange that the jacket had no author photo… she was puzzled by sentences that didn’t sound as if they’d been written by a teenager…. And that she was also troubled that most of the friends Tony mentioned died or moved away,” which of course makes fact-checking difficult (Friend 2001: 91).
The week of 23 May 23 1993, reporters from Newsweek conduct a “lengthy phone interview” with Tony (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
Tony also appears on “a syndicated radio chat,” likely an NPR affiliate program.
Ingrassia notes that despite Tony’s recurrent pneumonia, tuberculosis, and confinement to an oxygen tent, “he never once wheezed, coughed, or struggled for breath” (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
Tony later tells Paul Monette that during the Newsweek phone call, Ingrassia “joked with him and praised his grit,” making the May 31 article doubly devastating (Monette 1994: 232).
Ingrassia claims to have called Crown Publishers and requested an in-person interview with Tony, which was denied by Vicki due to Tony’s poor health.
Ingrassia contacts an expert in pediatric AIDS who states that Vicki “may be overreacting,” stating, “You can absolutely go in with a mask” (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
Ingrassia then claims to have placed calls to everyone listed on Tony’s acknowledgements page to find a single person who would admit to having met Tony.
These include Tony’s (and Paul Monette’s) agent Wendy Weil, their editor David Groff, New Jersey Make-A-Wish foundation executive director Norma Godin and her son Scott, and Northern Lights Alternatives executive director Amy Amabile (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
(NB: Amy Amabile is responsible for setting up Tony’s counseling sessions with Jack L. Godby. Scott Godin installed the computer in Vicki's home, which Tony received from the Make-A-Wish Foundation.)
None are able to attest to having met Tony in-person.
Furthermore, Wendy Weil and Jack L. Godby refuse to provide any proof of Tony’s existence (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
In trying to find any evidence of Tony’s history, Ingrassia contacts the Manhattan district attorney’s office concerning his parents’ trial.
Staff are unable to “recall any [case] that even approaches the description Tony sets out” (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
The article closes with Ingrassia’s suggestion Paul Monette may have written the memoir, as well as Jack L. Godby’s introduction.
The evidence is thin: “both [Tony and Paul Monette] know baseball and books. Both find themselves in Connecticut. Both loathe book reports and love plush afghans” (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
More intriguing is the idea Tony’s cultural references reflect someone much older, such as Tony’s describing his neighbors’ glasses being “thick as Coke bottles,” despite the fact the reference might be unfamiliar to someone who grows up in a era of plastic bottles and aluminum cans (Ingrassia 1993: 63).
While intriguing, the article feels more an introduction to a more substantial conversation than a complete conversation unto itself.
This is perhaps the point, with Newsweek suggesting there will be a follow-up.
Monette fumes against Ingrassia’s insinuations he authored the memoir.
In the essay in which he discusses his time with Tony, Monette works through Ingrassia’s points.
Monette openly “loathes” baseball, perhaps sports of any kind, as they represent for him “all the hetero torment of being forced to be ‘normal’” (Monette 1994: 232).
He assumes her citing Connecticut refers to the protagonist of his novel Halfway Home who grew up there (Monette 1994: 232).
He makes no comment about book reports or plush afghans.
Admittedly, the connections are superficial.
They could be explained by coincidence.
They could also be explained away by Tony, very much an apprentice – however talented – modeling himself on Monette.
Alternatively, this could have been an attempt at flattery and establishing rapport with Monette, by enjoying or loathing the same things he does.
In much the same way as Tony’s personality and tastes shift from person to person, a phenomenon noted by journalist Tad Friend (2001: 91).
On the advice of his attorneys, while contemplating a libel suit, Monette refuses to speak with any reporters from Newsweek, least of all Michele Ingrassia, whom he repeatedly (and dismissively) refers to as “Nancy Drew,” despite the fact that Nancy Drew is known for being a solid investigator (Monette 1993: 233).
Monette also claims that in the weeks following Ingrassia’s article, Newsweek is “inundated with outraged letters” (Monette 1994: 233).
Ingrassia claims in her investigation to have traveled to Union City and located Vicki’s apartment.
Speaking with employees, she finds that no one from the pharmacy is aware of him (Stewart 1996).
This detail, however, is not included in any follow-up information from Newsweek that I could find.
Journalist Tad Friend repeats this odyssey during the research for his 2001 article on Vicki and Tony.
He speaks with people in the neighborhood, none of whom recall Earnist Johnson, a black man, and his white, one-legged son, Tony.
This includes Vicki’s niece.
Vicki’s younger brother, the young woman’s father, refuses to discuss the matter: “I don’t know who this kid is you’re talking about…. I don’t know anything about him at all” (Friend 2001: 96).
Three weeks after Ingrassia’s article, on June 21, Newsweek publishes several of the letters it receives, along with a brief notice about follow-up inquiries.
Tony’s editor David Groff claims the article is “an insult to abuse victims everywhere” and suggests victims will be less likely to come forward (or perhaps publish memoirs) for fear of having their narratives questioned (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 14).
Northern Lights Alternatives executive director Amy Amabile defends Tony, citing that he is also the editor for their organization’s newsletter The Northern Light (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 14).
Most intriguing of all is a letter from Tony himself, faxed to Newsweek care of his editor Wendy Weil (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 14):
He accuses Ingrassia of having acted in bad faith, as he consented by verbal contract only “to talk about information pertaining to [his] book” (Staff 21 June 1993: 14).
As to his dated references, Tony cites writer James Thurber’s glasses as having been described as “Coke bottles” and that he in fact collects old Coke bottles.
He also cites watching reruns on Nick-At-Nite, such as I Love Lucy.
Like Groff, Tony accuses Newsweek of potentially preventing abuse victims from sharing their story for fear of doubt (Staff 21 June 1993: 14, 16).
Lastly, there is the letter from Donald Shapiro applauding Newsweek and Michele Ingrassia for the story (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 16).
As previously discussed, Newsweek also includes further follow-up from Ingrassia’s article:
Vicki and Tony have continued to refuse any in-person interview to verify Tony’s existence.
Vicki also refuses to release the name of the attorney who prosecuted Tony’s parents, which resulted in their conviction and sentencing.
Further conversations with Manhattan’s district attorney and with NYPD’s Pedophile Squad and its Special Victims Squad reaffirm the claim that there is no “institutional memory” of Tony’s case (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 14).
Tony’s friend Jack L. Godby tells Newsweek this is due to the case having been sealed, which Newsweek claims prosecutors state is not standard (Staff 21 June 1993: 14).
This is however also what Vicki has told Darryl Ponicsan, the screenwriter hired by HBO to adapt Tony’s life story, citing a special favor from then-Governor Mario Cuomo (Friend 2001: 97).
Newsweek discusses Crown Publisher’s proof of Tony’s existence via his Make-A-Wish application and provides the name of Tony’s personal physician.
Newsweek confirms there is no license for a doctor by that name in New Jersey or New York (Newsweek 21 June 1993: 14).
Lastly, Newsweek references the school Tony discusses in his memoir.
As previously discussed, there is no school in Manhattan that fits Tony’s description.
Monette repudiates the report.
He claims that the Make-A-Wish foundation “assured the magazine that they didn’t just arbitrarily grant wishes, that they didn’t act without painstaking documentation” (Monette 1994: 234).
In fact, there is no mention of this in the Newsweek article.
Nor does Monette account for Tony’s physician not being licensed in either state in which he is practicing medicine.
Regarding the inability of Newsweek to find evidence of Tony’s case, Monette claims this follows from “place-names [having] been doctored to protect the victim” (Monette 1994: 235).
He claims this is standard protocol, that the publisher clearly labeled this as such in the book, and that he himself had “done the same thing in [his memoir] Becoming a Man” (Monette 1994: 235).
Anonymizing people, particularly minors and particularly in this sort of a story, is understandable.
The notion of “doctoring” place names, however, is more troubling.
Does Monette mean that locations were changed? That Tony perhaps grew up somewhere other than the street reported in the memoir, or the neighborhood, or the city?
Given how important the background of New York City is in the memoir – the Upper West Side, Central Park, Times Square, the subway – one wonders the extent to which the narrative has been amended to protect Tony.
And at what point of transformation does the memoir cease to be a truthful record of his life?
Monette closes the essay, rather grotesquely, by comparing Newsweek’s investigation to Holocaust denialism and states that Ingrassia is contributing to “the trivialization of AIDS” (Monette 1994: 235—236).
For the 1994 paperback edition, Tony adds an epilogue in which he refers to “the reporter” who questioned his identity.
He continues to bemoan the idea that a victim’s story could be subject to such cruel speculation (297—300).
Despite Ingrassia’s article, the memoir remains a bestseller and is in its 5th paperback printing by the time of Tad Friend’s investigation for The New Yorker (Friend 2001: 88).
That is, the public accepts Tony and his story at face value.
The most significant public impact is several London newspaper canceling reviews featuring excerpts (Friend 2001: 91).
Behind the scenes, however, Tony’s support system begins to fracture.
Paul Monette
Paul Monette never wavers from his public affirmation of Tony’s existence.
As we’ve seen, he even includes in his collection Last Watch of the Night (1994) an essay about his relationship with Tony, from his first encounter with Tony via a fan letter through Tony and his experience with Michele Ingrassia’s Newsweek article.
As discussed in the last post, Monette withdraws from Tony prior to the memoir’s publication due to (1) his own increasingly poor health, (2) the demands of his own career, (3) a rebuke from his partner Winston Wilde.
It’s also likely the Newsweek scandal exacerbated the situation, particularly Ingrassia’s suggestion that Monette authored A Rock and a Hard Place.
Speaking to journalist Tad Friend, Wilde recalls Monette’s concerns that “no one who had helped Tony over the years… had stepped forward to vouch for his existence” (Friend 2001: 91).
There are a few potential explanations, apart from these people not existing.
One, Tony had eliminated most of them over the course of his memoir: they are institutionalized, they overdose, they disappear into the subway systems or into their own unshakeable grief.
Two, given how heavily Tony anonymized his work – including place names – they might not recognize Tony as presented in the memoir or themselves.
Three, institutional authorities may have been ashamed of their failures or bound by legal restrictions.
I will suggest that Vicki’s refusal to permit Tony to hold a press conference with Monette plays a role as well in his withdrawal.
Had Ingrassia’s article gained greater traction – that is, had the public immediately accepted the idea Monette was the author, with Tony unable or unwilling to counter the narrative – this would likely define Monette’s literary career.
He would be known as the man who invented a child to sell a memoir, one which outsold his own work and which had a much greater impact on the public consciousness.
It might justify the idea he ascribed to Donald Shapiro, that Monette “made up a pediatric case to get attention for the cause” (Monette 1994: 230).
As to why Monette never publicly questions Tony’s existence, his partner Winston Wilde says Monette “was worried about having been duped…. He also felt that the voice of a kid with AIDS was important for people to hear, even if it might be fiction” (Friend 2001: 92).
Presumably so long as the voice is not ascribed to Monette himself.
And the reality is it’s not a fight Monette has the strength for.
Last Watch of the Night is published in June 1994 (Engley 1994: 1C), a little more than a year after the Ingrassia article in Newsweek. Paul Monette dies from complications of AIDS eight months later (Folkart 1995: B1).
(Bramer 1996)
If Monette did have stronger doubts privately, there is also the horrifying realization of how much time he wasted in conversation with Vicki, when he could have been focused on his family and his work.
Regardless, Tony is acutely aware of Maupin’s increasing, eventually permanent, estrangement.
Following his death, Tony confronts Armistead Maupin about the sense of betrayal from Monette, as well as from his from “big brother” Keith Olbermann (Friend 2001: 92).
Keith Olbermann
Following the Ingrassia article, Keith Olbermann likewise withdraws his support for Tony, having decided, as he later tells journalist Tad Friend, “There is no Tony Godby Johnson” (Friend 2001: 92).
This also ends their collaboration on a novel about baseball (Friend 2001: 92).
Speaking with Armistead Maupin, Olbermann describes concerns prior to the Ingrassia article, likely realized only in retrospect.
He remarks that “when Tony’s mother or doctor came on the phone with him, none of their voices overlapped. One spoke, then the other, then the first again…. That’s not the way real-life conversations work” (Olbermann 2006).
He cites also hearing “laughter and car noises echoing up from the street,” which Tony attributes to his open window, despite being down to “his last t-cell” and being “so sick [that] he had been permitted no visitors in a year” (Olbermann 2006).
Given his doubts, exacerbated by the Ingrassia article, Olbermann hires a private investigator to look into Vicki and Tony Johnson (Olbermann 2006).
Olbermann’s private investigator locates Tony and Vicki’s home in Union City, NJ, and informs him “there’s no little boy living there,” just Vicki and her “two fat daughters” (Olbermann 2006).
It’s puzzling that a private investigator could gather so much information yet not realize Vicki’s two daughters, as presented in the memoir, are in fact her nieces.
In addition, the investigator claims Vicki “has a history of insurance fraud” (Olbermann 2006).
I have found no evidence of this claim.
Per the New Jersey court system, Vicki has no court history, civil or criminal.
The only evidence I’ve found of Vicki’s involvement with the court system was an incident from November 1978 in which Vicki asserts optometrist Hiram Morgenstern refused to release her prescription to her (Smallen 12 April 1979: 28).
The state board ultimately sides with Vicki and fines Morgenstern, though Vicki receives no compensation nor did she seek it, as evidenced by the board (Smallen 21 June 1979: 27).
Olbermann states that neither Tony nor Vicki ever directly asked him for money, though they – along with “this doctor character” — would reference “black market drugs” needed to continue Tony’s treatment.
Olbermann admits he “volunteered to pay the cost of some of these, a couple thousand bucks, whatever it was.”
Maupin replies he’s heard of other people who also contributed to Tony’s welfare and that “it was a lot more than a few thousand bucks,” which Vicki was given to care for Tony, now “supposedly in [a] facility somewhere” (Olbermann 2006).
As discussed Olbermann hypothesizes that AP reporter Leslie Dreyfous, who was enlisted to verify Tony’s existence, doesn’t encounter Tony in Vicki’s home.
Rather, she encounters one of Vicki’s nieces (Olbermann 2006).
There remains the question of how Dreyfous could mistake a 15-year-old blonde, blue-eyed, “All American” boy, ravaged by the effects of AIDS, for an overweight Cuban American adolescent girl, even if of the same age.
As discussed, Tony is likewise devastated by the loss of Olbermann’s support, though the harshest blow likely also comes from the most lucrative source.
HBO
As discussed, HBO purchased the rights to Tony’s story at the end of 1992. HBO enlisted writer Darryl Ponicsan to develop the script, which included phone calls with Tony to “flesh out” the limited descriptions in his memoir.
At stake for Tony and Vicki is $100,000, to be paid upon completion of the film, as brokered by Tony’s agent Ron Bernstein, predicated on the alleged fact of Tony’s precarious health (ABC News 2007).
Following the Ingrassia article in Newsweek, HBO’s insurers demand Tony meet in-person with Porsican, who offers to fly to New Jersey from his residence in Seattle, Washington (Friend 2001: 92).
In response, Vicki declines, citing Tony’s health having become critical – that he’s down to “a single T-cell.”
She also claims that Ponicsan is putting himself at risk. Should the people who stalk Tony discover his involvement, Ponicsan will face reprisal (Friend 2001: 92).
Consequently, HBO withdraws from the deal.
Continuing, though diminished, success
Tony never duplicates the success of A Rock and a Hard Place, which is unsurprising.
Essentially, he wrote himself into a corner.
By the end of the memoir, he has his happy ending, and he has resigned himself to his death, having developed a strong, devoted support system.
Nor is he able to fully capitalize on the memoir.
Due to his inability to consent to public appearances, whether on-camera or in-person, he loses opportunities to fully promote the work and his brand. The most severe example being HBO’s withdrawal of its offer of a biopic.
While his shelf life could be extended via media appearance – particularly the talk show circuit – this too is unavailable to him.
This is not to say Tony ceases writing. He has, after all, claimed to have been working on a second book as of January 1993 (Romano 1993).
In June 1993, Tony begins writing a weekly column for the Gregory House Gazette, which runs through January 12, 1994. The Gazette is a newsletter for a Hawaii-based organization for clients suffering from AIDS (Friend 2001: 92).
The columns are subsequently collected and printed in-house under the title Love Letters to Hawaii from Aboard the A-Train:
It’s unknown what book Tony was working on at the beginning of 1993, but in a 1994 article, Tony claims to be working on a novel entitled Blame It on the East River, concerning a teenager who discovers his father is gay (Wildmoon 1994: 6).
Unsurprisingly, this is later asserted to be based on the relationship between Tony and Armistead Maupin (Friend 2001: 92).
In March 1994 the play Straight From the Heart, a collaboration between Tony and playwright James Knoll, opens in Atlanta (Wildmoon 1994: 1).
And by 1994, Tony is pivoting to the World Wide Web, becoming co-leader for the chat room “Teen Talk” in which he cultivates new relationships (Friend 2001: 92).
As well as his own Geocities page, Tony's World:
New sources for sympathy and attention, if one prefers.
—
Next time, we’ll meet the final two players in Tony’s life, occasional journalist/television producer Lesley Karsten and child psychologist Marc Zackheim.
Tony returns to Manhattan, makes his television debut, while wedding bells ring for Vicki, as well as Tony's physician Jerry "The Body Mechanic" DiNicola.
ABC News. 10 January 2007. Searching for Tony. Link | Archive
Bramer, Monte. Director. 1996. Paul Monette: The Brink of Summer’s End. YouTube link.
Engley, Hollis L. 8 June 1994. The last word. Democrat and Chronicle: C1, C5.
Folkart, Burt A. 12 February 1995. Paul Monette Dies; Books on Being Gay Won U.S. Awards. The Los Angeles Times: B1.
Friend, Tad. 26 November 2001. Virtual Love. The New Yorker. New York: Conde Nast.
Gorn, Dave. 8 September 1999. Breaking a new story. Half Moon Bay Review and Pescadero Pebble: 3A.
Ingrassia, Michele. 31 May 1993. The Author Nobody’s Met. Newsweek Vol. 121, No. 22: 63. Link | Archive
Landsberg, Mitchell. 27 May 1993. Mystery surrounds abused 15-year-old author with AIDS. The Daily Herald. 1D.
Landsberg, Mitchell. 27 May 1993. Tony’s shadowy life makes some doubt tale of AIDS, abuse. Roanoke Times. A-8. Link | Archive
Monette, Paul. 1994. “Getting Covered” in Last Watch of the Night: Essays Too Personal and Otherwise. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Newsweek. 21 June 1993. A Mystery Continues. Newsweek Vol. 121, No. 25: 14, 16.
Olbermann, Keith. 4 August 2006. Countdown with Keith Olbermann. MSNBC. Link | Archive
Romano, Jay. 31 January 1993. 10 Years of Making Ailing Children’s Wishes Come True. The New York Times. Link | Archive
Smallen, David. 12 April 1979. Optomestrist denies ‘holding’ prescription. The Star-Ledger: 28.
Smallen, David. 21 June 1979. Board fines a nominee for breaking the rules. The Star-Ledger: 27.
Stewart, Sara. 30 July 2006. Boy Toy – ‘The Night Listener’ Unravels Mystery of Kid who Duped the Country. New York Post. Link | Archive
Wildmoon, K.C. 24 February 1994. Tony’s Story. Southern Voice Vol. 7, No. 1. 1, 6.
