Murder in Massachusetts

Sex Before Death

Ruth and Harold Olsen didn't end up staying long at Neil's house that Sunday, which was just as well. Patricia was in no mood to entertain. She wanted to do nothing more than rest, drink some wine, and spend time with her husband.

When Ruth and Harold left, Patricia made each of them a "roast beef and cheese" sandwich. While Neil ate, he did a crossword puzzle.

After they finished eating, Patricia sat back down on the couch and turned on a movie. Neil went off and did a few chores, but ended up watching the end of the movie.

Not being able to sit still, after the movie, Neil painted the dining room wall and put sheetrock compound on the walls in the bathroom.

Near 3:30, Neil finished working and went upstairs to play videogames again.

That's when Patricia phoned Amanda. She was living in New York with her boyfriend, who was in prison at the time. Patricia wanted to know where the Play Station games were. Neil was looking all over for a specific game. He was getting upset because he couldn't find the game he wanted.

While they were on the phone, Amanda's boyfriend called from prison.

"I have to take the call, mother."

Patricia called back ten minutes later. For the most part, they talked about several of Amanda's friends who were, according to Amanda, worried about getting AIDS. Drugs and unsafe sex between a large group of people became a recipe for death. It was happening all around Amanda. She didn't know what to do. She was worried about a few of her girlfriends; each had slept with one or more of the guys who were thought to have AIDS.

"We also talked about her work and how Amanda," Patricia later told police, "was demoted because she doesn't have a driver's license and how her hours were being cut back."

Both Amanda and Patricia described the conversation to police in similar ways. It was pretty much your standard mother-daughter gab—at least according to Patricia. She was worried about her daughter. She felt Amanda was running with a group of people that were no good for her. And with all the drugs floating around between them, Amanda might get caught up again. Ever since she had a problem with cocaine some time ago, which she admitted to police and testified to in open court, she'd been pretty good. But atmospheric peer pressure, well, that could be tough.

And Patricia knew it.

Throughout the day, Patricia downed several glasses of wine. She liked wine in the box, she said. It helped her relax. At around 7:15, she poured herself a fresh glass of wine and went upstairs to spend some time with Neil. He had found his Play Station game by then and was attentively involved it.

"You want to race me?" Neil asked when Patricia walked into the room.

Patricia sat on the bed. "As long as we use separate controllers."

Neil often teased Patricia about having sweaty palms. Jokingly, he liked to call her "Sweaty Betty" because of it.

"We played for a while ... maybe fifteen minutes," Patricia said later. "He kicked my ass."

Next, Patricia went downstairs to call Christopher's ex-girlfriend, the mother of her grandchild. Christopher and his girlfriend were estranged, but Patricia kept in touch with the girl. She worried about the baby. She and Neil would often slip $50.00 or $100.00 in the ex-girlfriend's diaper bag whenever she stopped by the house with the child, mainly because she knew Christopher never helped out.

While they were talking, Patricia mentioned Desperate Housewives and said she had to get off the phone because she didn't want to miss the show. She and Neil were big fans and loved to watch it together.

After Patricia and Neil watched Housewives together, Neil got undressed and sat on the bed.

"I'm all ready," he said.

"Neil sleeps in the nude and doesn't wear pajamas," Patricia told police.

With Neil now in bed waiting for sex, Patricia went into the bathroom, got undressed, and walked into the room naked.

"Neil was watching a law show [Boston Legal] with Captain Kirk in it, William Shatner," she recalled. "We watched the show together."

At some point during the show, Patricia said they "made love—had intercourse. I couldn't really tell you what happened on the show."

As they started making love, Neil said, "You OK?"

"Yeah," Patricia answered.

"Are you sure I'm not hurting you?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

About fifteen minutes later, after they finished, Patricia got up and went into the bathroom.

"I lied to Neil," she recalled to police. "It did kind of hurt. I was just really tired and wanted to have a good night's sleep."

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1. The Sign Maker
2. "It's My Fault"
3. The Horse Did It
4. No Money, No Funeral
5. The Bloody Pipe
6. The Skull Ring
7. A Wedding to Remember
8. Anarchist
9. Who Needs School
10. A Son's Love
11. Footprints in the Snow
12. The Cover-up
13. Running Around Naked
14. Sex Before Death
15. Out Cold
16. Liar, Liar
17. Caught in a Trap
18. Moment of Death
19. Black Out
20. Back It Up with Evidence
21. Amanda's Story
22. More Lies
23. Patricia's Mental Breakdown
24. Amanda Comes Clean?
25. Throw Momma From the Train
26. More Witnesses
27. A Hired Gun
28. The Phone Call
29. Pieces Fit Together
30. Mind Games
31. Who's Telling the Truth?
32. Her Day in Court
33. Law Enforcement's Story
34. More Cops, More Evidence
35. Patricia Defends Herself
36. No Further Explanation
37. The Jury Speaks
38. Epilogue