happen . . .
THE GANG
Jessica Holtmeyer was a second-year student at Clearfield High in a small rural Pennsylvanian town. She was a big-boned, tall and very intimidating teenager. She loved to make fun of people at her school, especially taunting them about their clothes and hairstyles. She was both rough and tough with a frighteningly mean streak. She was known to worship the Devil, cut herself with razors and loved to frighten other kids by pulling out a knife. She had a tattoo ‘666’ behind her left ear, the sign for the Devil. She had a self-tattoo on her right forearm of a pentagram, or a five-pointed star which is said to have mystical significance. She had two other tattoos, one on the back of her neck ‘Kurt Cobain 1967–1994’ and her boyfriend’s name on her shoulder. Jessica Holtmeyer had pure evil running through her veins. In her early teens she had killed many animals. Once she gathered six feral cats into a bin liner, set it on fire and then threw it into a river. Another time, she strangled a poodle to death with its own leash.
In 1998, when Jessica was 16, she made plans with a gang of friends to run away to Florida. The gang, six in total, gathered together late one morning on Mother’s Day, May 10, and went to pick up one more member for the trip – Jessica Holtmeyer. The gang, unbeknown to Jessica, had invited fifteen-year-old Kimberly Dotts to join them. Kimmy, as she was known, was learning-disabled and badly wanted to be friends with the gang. The group arrived at the house where Jessica lived with her grandparents. They were out at church and Jessica had just started to watch the movie Scream when she answered the door.
Her first reaction on seeing Kimmy was to scowl and then she turned to her boyfriend, Aaron Straw, and hissed, ‘What is she doing here? You know I don’t like her.’
Most of the gang were ambivalent towards Kimmy, but two members were adamant that she couldn’t come along – Tracy and Jessica. It was left to Dawn to try and calm the situation as the tension mounted. The whole gang went into the house to watch Scream . Fifteen minutes into the movie, the den filled with shrieks as they watched Drew Barrymore’s character being hanged by a masked killer.
‘It’d be fun to hang someone,’ Jessica said to the others.
When the film was over, the gang went over to Tracy’s friend’s house. Her friend was 22-year-old Mike Jarrett, and they intended to use his blue Dodge van to get out of Clearfield. However, before he was prepared to leave, Mike said he needed to have a sleep before the long journey ahead. He drove the gang to the nearby town of Shiloh and dropped them off while he had a rest. Their plan was that he would sleep for a few hours while they broke into hunters’ campers to stock up on provisions for their excursion.
Kimmy just went along with the gang, helping them to break into a couple of trailers. They purloined some bottles of whisky, a few sparklers and Jessica stole a length of nylon rope.
Jessica and Tracy were starting to bond over their hatred of Kimmy, and they led the rest of their crew to Gallows Harbor, which was a clearing in the woods of Shiloh. It received its name from a 19th century lynching that took place there. Gallows Harbor was a popular place for the kids of Clearfield County to party and so Kimmy gladly followed her new friends deep into the woods.
THE INITIATION CEREMONY
When they arrived at the clearing Jessica proudly showed her friends the nylon rope that she had stolen.
Jessica ordered the 14-year-old Theresa Wolfe to make the rope into a noose, and then to place it around Kimmy’s neck. All of which she did. Jessica then grabbed the end of rope and yanked Kimmy around as hard as she could. The wretched girl lost her balance and fell to the muddy ground. Jessica dragged her through the sludge. By this time Kimmy was crying, but the rest of the gang were just standing by and laughing.
Jessica
THE GANG
Jessica Holtmeyer was a second-year student at Clearfield High in a small rural Pennsylvanian town. She was a big-boned, tall and very intimidating teenager. She loved to make fun of people at her school, especially taunting them about their clothes and hairstyles. She was both rough and tough with a frighteningly mean streak. She was known to worship the Devil, cut herself with razors and loved to frighten other kids by pulling out a knife. She had a tattoo ‘666’ behind her left ear, the sign for the Devil. She had a self-tattoo on her right forearm of a pentagram, or a five-pointed star which is said to have mystical significance. She had two other tattoos, one on the back of her neck ‘Kurt Cobain 1967–1994’ and her boyfriend’s name on her shoulder. Jessica Holtmeyer had pure evil running through her veins. In her early teens she had killed many animals. Once she gathered six feral cats into a bin liner, set it on fire and then threw it into a river. Another time, she strangled a poodle to death with its own leash.
In 1998, when Jessica was 16, she made plans with a gang of friends to run away to Florida. The gang, six in total, gathered together late one morning on Mother’s Day, May 10, and went to pick up one more member for the trip – Jessica Holtmeyer. The gang, unbeknown to Jessica, had invited fifteen-year-old Kimberly Dotts to join them. Kimmy, as she was known, was learning-disabled and badly wanted to be friends with the gang. The group arrived at the house where Jessica lived with her grandparents. They were out at church and Jessica had just started to watch the movie Scream when she answered the door.
Her first reaction on seeing Kimmy was to scowl and then she turned to her boyfriend, Aaron Straw, and hissed, ‘What is she doing here? You know I don’t like her.’
Most of the gang were ambivalent towards Kimmy, but two members were adamant that she couldn’t come along – Tracy and Jessica. It was left to Dawn to try and calm the situation as the tension mounted. The whole gang went into the house to watch Scream . Fifteen minutes into the movie, the den filled with shrieks as they watched Drew Barrymore’s character being hanged by a masked killer.
‘It’d be fun to hang someone,’ Jessica said to the others.
When the film was over, the gang went over to Tracy’s friend’s house. Her friend was 22-year-old Mike Jarrett, and they intended to use his blue Dodge van to get out of Clearfield. However, before he was prepared to leave, Mike said he needed to have a sleep before the long journey ahead. He drove the gang to the nearby town of Shiloh and dropped them off while he had a rest. Their plan was that he would sleep for a few hours while they broke into hunters’ campers to stock up on provisions for their excursion.
Kimmy just went along with the gang, helping them to break into a couple of trailers. They purloined some bottles of whisky, a few sparklers and Jessica stole a length of nylon rope.
Jessica and Tracy were starting to bond over their hatred of Kimmy, and they led the rest of their crew to Gallows Harbor, which was a clearing in the woods of Shiloh. It received its name from a 19th century lynching that took place there. Gallows Harbor was a popular place for the kids of Clearfield County to party and so Kimmy gladly followed her new friends deep into the woods.
THE INITIATION CEREMONY
When they arrived at the clearing Jessica proudly showed her friends the nylon rope that she had stolen.
Jessica ordered the 14-year-old Theresa Wolfe to make the rope into a noose, and then to place it around Kimmy’s neck. All of which she did. Jessica then grabbed the end of rope and yanked Kimmy around as hard as she could. The wretched girl lost her balance and fell to the muddy ground. Jessica dragged her through the sludge. By this time Kimmy was crying, but the rest of the gang were just standing by and laughing.
Jessica
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