Read Online Kill for Thrill by Michael W. Sheetz - Free Book Online
Authors: Michael W. Sheetz
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pockets, creative thinking was required if they expected to stay warm, fed and high for very long. Armed robbery had gotten them this far. Yesterday they had added murder to their credit, and Michael was determined that somehow they would put some food in their bellies. Fortunately, Michael didn’t limit his creativity to legal alternatives. Once again, he knew exactly what to do.
With renewed resolve fueled by his growing hunger and fading intoxication, Michael gathered a few of life’s essentials and stuffed them into a bag. Within minutes, he and John stepped back out onto the bleached concrete porch of the quaint motel. Michael pulled the door closed behind them, and they set off into the frigid night to find their next exploit.
While Michael and John set out into the cold, the man who would ultimately bring them to justice lay fast asleep in the warmth of his Greensburg home. Tom Tridico was dreaming of eventual retirement and a life away from men like Michael Travaglia and John Lesko.
Homicide investigators bump up against the worst that society has to offer. Not only must they confront the horrors of a life snuffed out in violence and anger, but they must also meet head on the pain heaped upon those left behind.
Training and experience can guard against the revulsion you feel when you walk into a crime scene littered with gray matter, human flesh, blood and half-putrefied remains. The deeper, more lasting emotional scars that often plague experienced homicide investigators are hazards that no amount of training can help you avoid.
Meeting the challenge of comforting those for whom a loved-one’s demise is both untimely and exceedingly violent forces the homicide investigator to walk a precariously thin line between compassion and dispassion. On the one hand, compassion for the victim, his family and loved ones allows the investigator to do what his training tells him to do—speak for those who cannot speak. On the other hand, compassion, empathy and identification with the survivors can lead to over involvement and tremendous emotional burdens.
If they wish to survive, homicide investigators learn early on that the things they do cannot become personal. Personal involvement, when it occurs, will bring with it the inevitable feelings of loss, emotional struggle and failure when the inevitable happens—and it always does.
Even though statistics show that of all major crimes, homicides are usually the most solvable, there will be times when even the most dedicated efforts fail to deliver anyone in handcuffs. When this happens, overly impassioned investigators risk falling prey to their own self-doubts and feelings of failure—feelings that, if left unchecked, can lead to further psychological issues such as alcoholism, depression and even suicide.
Veteran homicide investigators develop a tough, callous exterior—a shell—something to protect them from witnessing, day-in and day-out, things unimagined by the average person. The depth of man’s depravity and the violence of which he is capable is branded into the homicide investigator’s psyche at nearly every crime scene. Whether it is husband against wife, child against parent or stranger against stranger, there is a never-ending parade of horrific and unspeakable acts that confront a homicide investigator over the course of his career.
For the average citizen, these seamy incidents are the stuff of movies, tabloids and the six o’clock news. For the homicide investigator, they are a way of life—a way of life that cannot be ignored.
Tom Tridico was such an investigator. Surviving thirty years in the trenches is a testament to the skill with which he had navigated these turbulent seas. Avoiding such common “cop” pitfalls as alcoholism, divorce and suicide, Tom had weathered the storm. He had persevered. That is, until now.
History was yet to write the final chapters of Tom Tridico’s celebrated career. At 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 30, 1979,
With renewed resolve fueled by his growing hunger and fading intoxication, Michael gathered a few of life’s essentials and stuffed them into a bag. Within minutes, he and John stepped back out onto the bleached concrete porch of the quaint motel. Michael pulled the door closed behind them, and they set off into the frigid night to find their next exploit.
While Michael and John set out into the cold, the man who would ultimately bring them to justice lay fast asleep in the warmth of his Greensburg home. Tom Tridico was dreaming of eventual retirement and a life away from men like Michael Travaglia and John Lesko.
Homicide investigators bump up against the worst that society has to offer. Not only must they confront the horrors of a life snuffed out in violence and anger, but they must also meet head on the pain heaped upon those left behind.
Training and experience can guard against the revulsion you feel when you walk into a crime scene littered with gray matter, human flesh, blood and half-putrefied remains. The deeper, more lasting emotional scars that often plague experienced homicide investigators are hazards that no amount of training can help you avoid.
Meeting the challenge of comforting those for whom a loved-one’s demise is both untimely and exceedingly violent forces the homicide investigator to walk a precariously thin line between compassion and dispassion. On the one hand, compassion for the victim, his family and loved ones allows the investigator to do what his training tells him to do—speak for those who cannot speak. On the other hand, compassion, empathy and identification with the survivors can lead to over involvement and tremendous emotional burdens.
If they wish to survive, homicide investigators learn early on that the things they do cannot become personal. Personal involvement, when it occurs, will bring with it the inevitable feelings of loss, emotional struggle and failure when the inevitable happens—and it always does.
Even though statistics show that of all major crimes, homicides are usually the most solvable, there will be times when even the most dedicated efforts fail to deliver anyone in handcuffs. When this happens, overly impassioned investigators risk falling prey to their own self-doubts and feelings of failure—feelings that, if left unchecked, can lead to further psychological issues such as alcoholism, depression and even suicide.
Veteran homicide investigators develop a tough, callous exterior—a shell—something to protect them from witnessing, day-in and day-out, things unimagined by the average person. The depth of man’s depravity and the violence of which he is capable is branded into the homicide investigator’s psyche at nearly every crime scene. Whether it is husband against wife, child against parent or stranger against stranger, there is a never-ending parade of horrific and unspeakable acts that confront a homicide investigator over the course of his career.
For the average citizen, these seamy incidents are the stuff of movies, tabloids and the six o’clock news. For the homicide investigator, they are a way of life—a way of life that cannot be ignored.
Tom Tridico was such an investigator. Surviving thirty years in the trenches is a testament to the skill with which he had navigated these turbulent seas. Avoiding such common “cop” pitfalls as alcoholism, divorce and suicide, Tom had weathered the storm. He had persevered. That is, until now.
History was yet to write the final chapters of Tom Tridico’s celebrated career. At 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, December 30, 1979,
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