My world was dominated by shades of grey. A murder is like a hole in the social fabric. At first the hole has discrete edges, but soon the edges start to fray and tears radiate out in every direction. First there is only the victim, but soon others are terribly affected by the death. Marriages that have lasted through decades break up as the partners trade guilt and recrimination over the death of a child even an adult child.
Teenage siblings become more likely to commit suicide.
Long-lasting friendships shred because even the best of friends cannot deal with your pervasive depression and almost obsessive need to talk about the lost loved one. Healthy people become ill, and sick people die. Less than three years after Robbyn was murdered, my mother died of cancer, only diagnosed after Robbyn s death. A friend of mine, a former police officer, says that a killer gets the rest of the family on the installment plan. Two years after the murder, David Smith came to trial.