that John Achord did not die from a gunshot wound. John Achord was stabbed to death.
Four
Paul St. Pierre prized his Gerber Fighting Knife, Christopher St. Pierre was handy with a hatchet, and Andrew Webbâs reputation included proficiency with any pointed object suitable for throwing, jabbing, or stabbing. Andrew Webb was deadly with a blade, but unlike Paul St. Pierre, Webb didnât carry a deadly weapon on his person every hour of the day.
The sixth child of nine born to Lowell Webb and Dolores Armstrong Webb, Andrew Webb was raised in a close-knit family of four brothers and five sisters, all nurtured by a loving and protective mother. His father, a dedicated Christian, was hardworking and loud hollering; he harbored a marked disdain for the show of any emotion other than anger.
Modest in income, unassuming in presentation, and reassuringly old-fashioned, the Webb family valued the Bible, honesty, loyalty, and unflinching dedication to the higher standard to which those who arise to serve the Lord are continually summoned. All nine children were uncommonly close, especially Andrew Webb and his two younger sisters.
Anne Webb later said, âHe told me he tormented them just for the hell of it. He gave me the impression that he made his little sisters do things whether they wanted to or not. And he said that he wasnât the only one in the family taking advantage of the girls, either. If you arenât safe with your own brothers, who can you trust? Who can you turn to? Thatâs abuse, and these folks were so Christian, so devout, and also so screwed up that brothers and sisters were doing that, and it was normal for them!â
According to Anne, her husband gave every indication that sexual, emotional, and physical abuse were intrinsic aspects of Webb family life. âOh, yes,â insisted Anne, âfrom what I understood from Andrew, incest was as much part of their lifestyle as grace before meals or prayers at bedtime.â
âIt is so sad to acknowledge that our home, our family, was very troubled,â said Gail Webb, the eldest offspring of Lowell and Dolores, who is professionally educated in the study of child abuse. âThe tragic truth is that we lived in a household characterized by anger and inappropriate behavior. It is even more heartbreaking when you consider how honestly sincere Mom and Dad were. They were doing the best they could, considering where they came from, and how they were raised.â
âYou can try to clean it up all you want,â stated Marty Webb, âbut the moral and emotional soil from which the Webb children drew sustenance was irrevocably polluted.â
âThe first polluted soil someone should dig up would be Doloresâs dad, Grandpa Armstrong,â insisted Anne.
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Dolores Armstrong entered the world in 1932, the middle child of six born to destitute Oklahoma sharecroppers who owed more than they owned. The only way out of debt was the way out of town. Under cover of darkness, the eight indigent debtors scurried away to Arizona.
Laboring migrant workers, the Armstrongs were poor in allâsave God. Their unyielding faith in the Bible, and a firm belief in prayer, softened the material worldâs harsh realities. Sadly, neither steadfast devotion nor prayerful supplication restrained Mrs. Armstrong from deserting her husband and youngest children, leaving ten-year-old Dolores as primary caregiver to her two younger siblings.
Within a few years, Dolores blossomed into puberty. Her physical charms were undeniably attractive, as was the intensity of her religious convictions. The local churchâs new family pastor found that all attempts to resist Doloresâs charms, or his own desires, were of no avail.
âIn other words, the pastor was screwing her,â commented Marty Webb, âbut the way Dolores told the story, that wasnât the first time that guy had banged a postpubescent parishioner. I guess he