Susan Herald
Susan Herald moved to Atlanta to make a new life for herself, one far away from the privilege and upper-middle-class comfort she left behind. But her plans for a new start were not meant to be. Early one fall morning in 1970, her nude, bullet-riddled body was discovered on a construction site in a run-down part of town, her life cut short senselessly and inexplicably.
This is a true story. It is the account of the life and death of Susan Herald, fictionalized as “Kathleen” in a recent short piece (Kathleen). At the time I wrote the fictionalized account, I was not ready to come forward with the full details of her life and death. But after fifty years of soul-searching and discernment, of investigating and interviews with witnesses and law enforcement, of unfettered access to her cold case file, I’m now ready to tell her story as it has never been told. No one has given her the recognition she deserved, not before, at the time of, or in the many years since her untimely and tragic death. It’s time for that to change.
Susan was special. She was twenty-three to my seventeen, the older woman who took this wide-eyed adolescent into her charge. She came into my life at a critical time. She took me under her wing. And then, just like that, she was gone. Who killed her and why? Could it have been someone I knew? I am haunted by the thought that, somewhere along the way in the decades since she died, I could have contributed to shedding light on a murder that, to this day, remains unsolved.
In pursuing Susan’s story, I have collaborated with Katie Carter, a private investigator and documentary filmmaker. In addition to assisting me with the investigation, Katie is capturing our efforts on film in anticipation of a future documentary.
Targeted Book Release
Winter 2021
Susan was my neighbor growing up on Fifth Avenue, in Youngstown, Ohio. Her brothers played ball with me from time to time.
The family was very upper class, straight Catholic, and highly respected. Her father, Dr. James, was strict and authoritarian, but well loved by the family. I’ll never forget the Mercedes gull-wing sports car he parked in their driveway. Very unusual for Youngstown.
Some years later, we were friendly at Ohio State U., and happened to have apartments on the same block in Columbus. Thus, we spent some time together, probably in 1967. We were attracted to each other, but i decided not to go too far with that since I sensed that I was a little too crazy in those days for such a sweetheart. She was clearly quite interested in a loving romance with me, however.
I always thought of her as the kindest, most pure, gentle, gracious, and innocent, girl. Special in every way.
Could not believe when I heard of her murder. How sad.
Appreciate your words, and wish you the best with the project.
Yours
Phillip,
Thank you so much for your message. Susan was a very special person and, even after all these years, I miss her dearly. I have spoken with people who knew her, and I have reached out to her brother, Geoffrey, but I didn’t hear back from him. My colleague did speak with his wife (also named Susan) but she indicated that the family had put Susan’s death behind them and likely would not want to discuss it. I understand and respect that. I am planning to reach out to some of the other family members who are still alive. I am convinced, based on extensive research, that the investigation into her murder at the time was tainted by either incompetence or malfeasance. I have full access to the police cold case file, including a listing of all evidence recovered. However, the evidence itself (except for the bullets) went missing soon after her death and has not been located, despite much effort on our part. People who would otherwise have custodial responsibility for the evidence have confirmed that for something like this to mysteriously disappear is quite unusual. It’s all quite sad. I remember the day I picked up the paper and read of her death as if it were yesterday.