THE LOST SON OF SAM LETTERS

A True Lady's Man

For practical purposes, homosexuality and Gary Evans were an important part of my story, only because Evans had such strong opinions throughout his life regarding his hatred for any relationship that wasn't between a man and a woman. So, to find out that this same man was in fact experimenting with his own sexuality (at the least) was not only shocking to me as a researcher, but was going to throw my book into a second tailspin. If true, I would have to go back and re-read the letters Evans had written, re-interview several of my sources, and look at Evans under an entirely new light. This revelation would also change Evans's victim pool. For the most part, Evans had killed people he believed had wronged him in some way. He was staunchly against killing women and children. But there was always the feeling that he had killed others—several others.

As I sat and opened the album Bill had slid across the table, there in front of me was Evans dressed as a female. Beyond that, there were photographs of transsexuals. This was amazing for several reasons. First, no one knew about this side of Evans, at least no one I had spoken to for the book. Not cops. Girlfriends. Family. Nobody.

Except, of course, Bill and his posse.

Secondly, this changed the dynamic of the relationship Evans had with Son of Sam. I was now more eager to crack open those letters to see what Son of Sam and Evans had talked about.

In this excerpt from Every Move You Make, I explain how those photographs Bill shared with me played into Evans's life:

Gary Evans in drag

To further bolster the theory that Evans was perhaps confused about his sexuality, Polaroids depict a man who was experimenting with his sexuality. For one, Evans liked to dress in women's clothes on occasion. Wearing a blonde wig, make-up and lipstick, he embodied the persona of a female rather affably. Although many might have thought it was nothing more than a Halloween costume, there is evidence he had a penchant for transsexuals and may have dated one while in prison. Not only had he taken Polaroids of a man he had met while in prison that lived life as a female, but later, when she got out of prison and completed her transition to a female, Evans visited her and took more photos. One might ask, why would he visit a transsexual ... if, in his prison writings [to his sister and others], he ridiculed those same types of people and carried on about how much he hated them?

"If it is true," [Investigator] Horton said later, "he certainly had me and every other cop he had contact with fooled. I had no idea. I would have viewed our relationship entirely different if I would have known then what I know now. He acted like a tough guy and gave me no hint whatsoever that he was bisexual."

... Could Evans have been bisexual?

"I can definitely believe it," Horton concluded. "Gary worked so hard to keep it from me that it's most likely true."