7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book, solid story but very poor editing, January 8, 2010
This review is from: Bad Blood: Freedom and Death in the White Mountains (Hardcover)
Bad Blood does a very good job of showing how in a small town, bad seeds can cause a tremendous amount of harm and destruction. I had read Casey Sherman's previous book (his aunt had been one of the victims of the Boston Strangler) and he has a very strong bias against police officers. In reading this, and recalling the story when it came out I will give Sherman his due for doing the research and avoiding editorializing to a large degree. But having vacationed in the notch the summer after the shooting and talking about it with a local she was convinced that Lilo Kenny was a bad seed who had grudges against so many people and would snap sooner or later.
While his editorializing isn't as obvious here, Sherman does want to bring in Officer McKay's actions under close scrutiny which is understandable. The man may have made some mistakes leading to his result but his greatest mistake was to be at the business end of the gun of someone who felt the law applied only when he chose it too. Sherman also does a great job analyzing the role of the shooter and how me may be one of the real villains of the story as we see later on by his violent and threatening behavior.
Sherman's odd sense that the law is at fault often clouds his writing. I think if he could draw a more unbiased conclusion we would have a much stronger work. I also have to call out the terrible job his editors did in editing this book. Dates are flat out wrong and we seem to jump from before the shooting to after and you're not sure if this is supposed to happen or not. There are obvious errors in the book and hopefully they will be corrected for the paperback version.
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15 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
unwarranted sympathy, December 27, 2009
This review is from: Bad Blood: Freedom and Death in the White Mountains (Hardcover)
Having attended some of the police funerals mentioned in this book (Colebrook, Epsom, and Manchester) and sharing the communities disdain for the killers, I was curious as to why this dynamic was not as apparent in the Mckay case and why there were so many apologists for Liko Kenney (full disclosure upfront: I am a retired Boston area police officer and current attorney). I picked up this book hoping it would go beyond the surface of earlier news accounts and explain why Liko should have been portrayed as anything other than a rogue cop killer. It did not. All this book achieved was to reiterate the differing opinions of Franconia residents regarding the incident. Nowhere in this book did I find any reason why Bruce Mckay should not be treated similar to the other police officers killed in the line of duty or why Kenney is looked at as a sympathetic figure. This book can by broken down into three major parts: 1. The grudge between Liko Kenney and Bruce Mckay 2. The actual police stop of Kenney by Mckay 3. Greg Floyd's actions. I have some issues with all three.
THE GRUDGE: There was alot of smoke regarding the personal grudge between Mckay and Kenney, but no fire. Where was the evidence that Mckay was improperly targeting or harrassing Kenney? Where was the evidence that Mckay posed a real or perceived threat to Kenney? If anything, the only person who could have perceived a threat from the other was Mckay. The sum total of the interactions between the two before the fatal incident happened when Mckay lawfully arrested him in 2003 while showing great restraint. Just listen to Kenney in the 2003 incident. He was irrational and claiming Mckay was targeting him then (although it was their first and only interaction). The author got caught up in the idea that Kenney was a troubled, harmless, free spirit, who snapped after being harrassed by an over aggressive cop. The facts and the reality just do not back up this misguided notion. Despite the authors attempt to show a grudge between the two, I see it as a one sided grudge built in Kenney's mind alone. With the limitied interaction between the two prior to the incident, the author relies on his own spin to beef up the grudge by repeatadly referring to Mckay as being humiliated after Kenney grabbed his testicles. How does the author know this? What police officer would be humiliated by some crazed irrational person grabbing his testicles? Mad, maybe, but humilitated? I think not. There is not a police officer in any town or city in the United States who does not have a person like Liko Kenney in their community. Should they just leave them all alone and look the other way when they break the law? Should all the Liko Kenney types get a free pass when driving around with an expired registration? Painting Mckay as a contributor to his own death based on the facts presented in this book is ridiculous. Even the suggestion is not backed up by any facts.
The biggest problem I had with this book was the authors lack of proper research regarding police tactics and procedure. If Liko Kenney had been brought to trial there would have been plenty of police experts to explain why Officer Mckay did what he did. I'm not saying that there were not tactical mistakes, but most police officers would be able to explain why Mckay did what he did. The authors attempt to analyze the tactics used by Mckay during the stop/chase are lacking. The attempts to associate the tactics used by Mckay with his anger or personal animosity towards Kenney fall short and are unfair. The fact that there were no reality based reasons set forth as to why Kenney felt he was being targeted or harrassed by Mckay (other than speculation and fifth hand scuttlebutt down at the local taverns and Inn's) should have led to the pivotal analysis of the actual fatal interaction, the stop/chase. Relying solely on the opinion of one police officer from Rhode Island to assist in this process was completely inadequate. Maybe a legitimate analysis would not have matched the theme of the book.
THE STOP: The author had a major question: "Why had Mckay put his life in jeopardy over something as insignificant as an expired registration sticker"? The answer: BECAUSE HE IS A POLICE OFFICER AND THAT IS HIS JOB! Mckay was on patrol in a marked police cruiser and observved a motor vehicle violation. It was not like he was waiting at the end of Kenney's street or outside his workplace. Should all police officers ignore traffic violations if they involve someone they have arrested before who may be carrying a gun? Liko Kenney should have been pulled over just like any other person driving down the road that day with an expired registration sticker (and by all accounts would have been by Officer Mckay). Mckay observed the violation and attempted to lawfully stop Liko. What would society be like if police officers were discouraged from doing their job soley becuase the law breaker was a bit of a loose cannon? What evidence exists that Mckay pulled Kenney over for any other reason than the expired registration?
I agree with the suggestion that the best practice would have been to call for backup and conduct a felony stop. That would have been great if that was a realistic option. Franconia is a rural area and has three police officers in the entire department (not all working) and you read how long it took for the first backup unit to arrive. Mckay had a decision to make and that decision was stop Kenney before he reached the Tamarak compound/camp where the situation would have been even more dangerous for the officer (following Kenney and calling for backup as suggested, was not feasible in this case because Kenney was only a short distance from the safe haven and tactical advantage of his camp).
The author treats the ramming of the car by Mckay as evidence of his rage. He points to the fact it was just a minor car stop. The problem with that assertion is that when Mckay rammed the car it was well beyond an investigation for a minor traffic violation it was also for fleeing the original stop. Any police officer is going to rightfully use stronger measures in a fleeing situation. People flee for a reason and it usually involves potential danger to the pursuing officer. Mckay knew Kenney was highly irrational during routine police interactions and also that he was possibly in possession of a gun. Once Kenney fled the original stop Mckay reasonably raised his concern for his safety and used reasonable force to stop the threat. Once Mckay forced Kenney off of the road he attempted to box in the car. Once Mckay faced Kenney's car, Kenney lurched forward in an attempt to flee once again. Mckay cut him off and attempted to immobilize the car by ramming it backward. (stop the threat to him and the public). If Kenney gets by the cruiser the chase is back on and all parties including innocent motorists are put in jeapordy. This action by Mckay is no different than the P.I.T. maneuver seen on all of the police chase shows where a cruiser strategically hits a car to immobilize it. It may have looked aggressive because it was done head-on, but the intention looked the same. to immobilize the fleeing car.
I agree Mckay should have drawn down on Kenney and ordered to see his hands after spraying him. The only thing I can think of is that Mckay caught some of the pepper spray in his face (happens quite frequently) and the natural reaction is to walk away from the threat. Or Mckay wrongly assumed that the pepper spray would completely immobilize Kenney until some sort of back up could have arrived to assist him. It was clear to me that Mckay was trying to stop the threat he perceived and that meant stopping both the car and Kenney. Mistake maybe, evidence of a depraved indifference to Kenney, no.
GREG FLOYD: I also did not hear one legitimate reason as to why Greg Floyd was wrong to do what he did. A lot of talk about his past and his bizzare rants but nothing to show he did not act reasonably in that situation. Let's review the facts: Civilian watches man shoot uniformed police officer four times and run him over twice. Civilian approaches man who is desperately trying to load another round into the gun he just shot the police officer with. Man is doing this while parked on top of still alive police officer. Civilian shoots man to end threat and save police officer. It is simple as that. Unless those facts are in dispute there is no reason to dissect civilians past. All the medications in the world do not change the facts in this case. Is Floyd a likable guy? No. Does that mean he did not act reasonably under the circumstances he faced? No.
THE ONLY person in this sad case who had NO justification for his actions was LIKO KENNEY. Period. Mckay may not have used perfect tactics but in high stress situations when you are alone and facing a threat sometimes mistakes are made. Most incidents where police officers are killed in the line of duty involve tactical mistakes. Tactical errors do not equate to justifications for the killers actions. None of Mckay's tactics or use of force were excessive. Police officers are permitted to use the force necessary to end a threat against them or others. Mckay was trying to effect a lawful car stop. Kenney is the one who prevented that by fleeing the original stop. Floyd obviously has his own issues but acted reasonably in this situation. If Kenney did not want to be stopped by Mckay he should have registered his car, stopped for the police, and if wronged logged an official complaint. Liko Kenney took the law into his own hands and played judge, jury, and executioner. Bruce Mckay deserved better from Liko Kenney, the residents of Franconia, and this author. He died doing his job and was painted in a negative light because everyone wanted to beleive the facade of Body Miller's cousin. SHAME ON...
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
One Sided Feud, January 5, 2010
This review is from: Bad Blood: Freedom and Death in the White Mountains (Hardcover)
I was fascinated and troubled by this book. The author has set out to do a serious reporting job on the two deaths that took place in Franconia NH in 2007. He has done a great deal of investigation both through his numerous interviews and his historical research. It's a readable and riveting tale with an extremely dramatic narrative. Not hard to imagine this as a book that could be turned into an interesting screenplay. Yet it strikes me that the underlying thesis of the book is flawed. Beginning with the title"Bad Blood" we are to believe that this is the story of a long and deep feud between two men with very different world views. Yet the reporting in the book argues convincingly that is hardly the case. I can only agree with another Amazon reviewer Patrick Collins that the author's account portrays a sociopath with deep seated paranoia on one hand and a good cop on the other. Yes, Officer McKay made some important mistakes such as not wearing his vest and particularly by turning his back after spraying Liko Kenney knowing full well that he carried a weapon and was dangerous. Mistakes are not uncommon in stressful and exhausting police work. But in the end,none of that, however supports the notion of a longstanding blood feud. It's a tragic story, well told and with enough detail to inform the discerning reader that in the end the author has not found the right balance. Read it and decide for yourself.
George A. Hirsch
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