On a frigid New Year’s Eve, just twenty months after the Columbine massacre, three teenage boys carefully plotted the murder of a schoolmate and his grandparents at their mountain hideaway outside of Colorado Springs. The boys’ leader, Simon Sue, was responsible for strong-arming the others into believing they were members of a secret paramilitary organization-and that their very lives depended on successfully executing the organization’s “mission.” Simon Says tells the page-turning story of how these boys’ lives could have gone so horribly astray, how their parents assumed all was right in their sons’ lives, and what the fallout of the grisly murders was on all the families. Through painstaking research, journalist Kathryn Eastburn gets into the minds of these boys to reveal a place where the rites of passage to young manhood, to acceptance, come at an exorbitant price.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
On New Year's Eve 2000, Isaac Grimes, a Colorado Springs high school sophomore, went on a sleepover at the rural Colorado home of the grandparents of his former best friend Tony Dutcher. There, Isaac confessed three months later, he slit Tony's throat while his accomplice and fellow student Jon Matheny shot to death Carl Dutcher, a military veteran and licensed arms dealer, and his wife, JoAnna. Grimes and Matheny blamed high school senior Simon Sue for planning the triple homicide; Sue had bullied them into believing they were guerrillas following orders in a Marxist Guyanese paramilitary organization. At 15, Grimes became the youngest inmate in the adult prison system after he was convicted and sentenced to 60 years; Matheny and Sue were sentenced to 66 and 53 years, respectively. Eastburn, who covered the case for the Colorado Springs Independent, offers a well-researched, fast-paced account of events. The crime is ultimately more interesting than the criminals, who shed meager insight into their own motives and psyches. Photos not seen by PW. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"An intricate study of the triple homicide...[Eastburn] has been able to peel away layers and layers of courtroom proceedings and psychological underpinnings to expose the complex personality of Simon Sue...This is an amazing and totally riveting story...With imagery equal to that created by Golding in "The Lord of the Flies," or Conrad in "Heart of Darkness," Eastburn opens the door into this hidden and macabre underworld that existed under the nose of respectability in Colorado Springs." -- Summit Daily News
"Eastburn does an impressive job of tying together the odd facts about this case as it limps along for three years... Eastburn diligently follows the story to completion and questions how these teenage boys got tangled in a drama that ultimately led to three needless murders. For fans of true crime, "Simon Says" fits the bill." -- Aspen Times Weekly
"Eastburn gives equal time to victims and killers alike in her book "Simon Says," a real and gritty look at what happens when violence comes to a small town...Smart and engaging writing...[Eastburn] takes a deep look at why children kill...painstakingly pieces together the events, thoughts and emotions behind one of Colorado's most violent and disturbing crimes. "Simon Says" doesn't give the reader any hope in humanity, it just reveals the slight difference between humans and monsters." -- Vail Daily
"Grade: A...Pros: The author weaves a gripping tale out of a complicated investigation...Cons: There's not much to dislike in this can't-put-down read." -- Rocky Mountain News
"Kathryn Eastburn knows Colorado all too well. Her work explores the darkness beneath the surface of a place that has grown too fast, that has lost touch with its roots and its sense of community. This is a haunting tale, told with great insight and compassion." -- Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
"Kathryn Eastburn, a newspaper reporter who covered the court proceedings against the boys, tells this tragic tale with clarity and compassion. Her narrative, culled from official records, direct observation and interviews, is swift, compelling, and without a hint of sensationalism. This look at darkness, dysfunction, and human detritus needs no manufactured thrills... Eastburn relates some truly chilling moments... With Simon Says, Eastburn reveals wounds that may never heal. There are also open questions, doubts about guilt and innocence, and the conflicting stories of the participants. We may never have the answers, but this predatory tale reminds us that there are monsters, and they are very human. That's reason enough to tell the story." -- Santa Fe New Mexican
"Not only is this longtime local journalist's writing crisp and engaging, but she follows the twists and turns of the "Guffey murders" tale down several roads worth following... Eastburn has a knack for the telling detail... The story is sad and gripping, and it feels as if it is being told by a neighbor." -- Colorado Springs Gazette
"Tautly written and is as exciting as a crime novel. The book is at its best when Eastburn shows how the murders affected the families of those involved, both the victims and the perpetrators." -- Galveston County Daily News
"The prose wrapped around this true story is excellent, and Eastburn manages to keep tension acute while describing a four-year period, much of it involving the ponderous legal system. That's a tough chore with an audience more attuned to the seemingly quick solutions presented on `Law and Order.'" -- Denver Post
"[Eastburn] uses both her reporting skills and her sensitivity to get inside not only the lives of the victims, but also the minds of the boys who committed the murders, and the families devastated in the aftermath...Eastburn brings us inside Grimes' world leading up to the crimes...The story will give you much to ponder...It may be only through examining such stories that we begin to understand how they can happen, and maybe how we can help prevent them from happening in the future." -- Colorado Springs Independent
"Eastburn does an impressive job of tying together the odd facts about this case as it limps along for three years... Eastburn diligently follows the story to completion and questions how these teenage boys got tangled in a drama that ultimately led to three needless murders. For fans of true crime, "Simon Says" fits the bill." -- Aspen Times Weekly
"Eastburn gives equal time to victims and killers alike in her book "Simon Says," a real and gritty look at what happens when violence comes to a small town...Smart and engaging writing...[Eastburn] takes a deep look at why children kill...painstakingly pieces together the events, thoughts and emotions behind one of Colorado's most violent and disturbing crimes. "Simon Says" doesn't give the reader any hope in humanity, it just reveals the slight difference between humans and monsters." -- Vail Daily
"Grade: A...Pros: The author weaves a gripping tale out of a complicated investigation...Cons: There's not much to dislike in this can't-put-down read." -- Rocky Mountain News
"Kathryn Eastburn knows Colorado all too well. Her work explores the darkness beneath the surface of a place that has grown too fast, that has lost touch with its roots and its sense of community. This is a haunting tale, told with great insight and compassion." -- Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation
"Kathryn Eastburn, a newspaper reporter who covered the court proceedings against the boys, tells this tragic tale with clarity and compassion. Her narrative, culled from official records, direct observation and interviews, is swift, compelling, and without a hint of sensationalism. This look at darkness, dysfunction, and human detritus needs no manufactured thrills... Eastburn relates some truly chilling moments... With Simon Says, Eastburn reveals wounds that may never heal. There are also open questions, doubts about guilt and innocence, and the conflicting stories of the participants. We may never have the answers, but this predatory tale reminds us that there are monsters, and they are very human. That's reason enough to tell the story." -- Santa Fe New Mexican
"Not only is this longtime local journalist's writing crisp and engaging, but she follows the twists and turns of the "Guffey murders" tale down several roads worth following... Eastburn has a knack for the telling detail... The story is sad and gripping, and it feels as if it is being told by a neighbor." -- Colorado Springs Gazette
"Tautly written and is as exciting as a crime novel. The book is at its best when Eastburn shows how the murders affected the families of those involved, both the victims and the perpetrators." -- Galveston County Daily News
"The prose wrapped around this true story is excellent, and Eastburn manages to keep tension acute while describing a four-year period, much of it involving the ponderous legal system. That's a tough chore with an audience more attuned to the seemingly quick solutions presented on `Law and Order.'" -- Denver Post
"[Eastburn] uses both her reporting skills and her sensitivity to get inside not only the lives of the victims, but also the minds of the boys who committed the murders, and the families devastated in the aftermath...Eastburn brings us inside Grimes' world leading up to the crimes...The story will give you much to ponder...It may be only through examining such stories that we begin to understand how they can happen, and maybe how we can help prevent them from happening in the future." -- Colorado Springs Independent
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "SENSELESS MURDERS, BY TEENAGERS WITH NO SENSE!",
By
This review is from: Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns, and Murder (Hardcover)
The shocking teen violence and depravity in this country that a decade ago seemed like a horrid anomaly, unfortunately now seems to have become a weekly occurrence. On New Year's Eve 2000 in the rural countryside outside of Colorado Springs, just twenty months after the Columbine massacre, a Grandmother, Grandfather and their fifteen year old Grandson were brutally and senselessly murdered.
The investigation that followed revealed that four teenage boys with ages that ranged from fifteen to nineteen years old were involved in committing the murders, planning the murders, and destroying crucial evidence. One of the boys, fifteen year old Isaac Grimes, who was later convicted of murdering fifteen year old Tony Dutcher by slitting his throat from behind with a knife in such a heinous way as described in the court records: "at issue, is the brutality with which the defendant killed Tony. The autopsy showed he sawed back and forth." "The D.A. demonstrated a sawing motion with his hand against the loose skin of his own neck." "He severed the spinal cord, not just the spinal column." What makes this repulsive crime even more incredulous is the fact that Isaac and Tony used to be best friends. The Grandparent's Carl and Joanna Dutcher were slaughtered in a salvo of bullets. But the backdrop of this horrendous crime that joggles the imagination and all human sensibilities, is the relationship and "pecking order" of the four teenage criminal sociopaths Simon Sue, Jon Matheny, Isaac Grimes and to a lesser extent Glen Urban. (He destroyed evidence.) Simon at nineteen was the oldest high school student and he filled the role as a "Svengali" like leader. His parents were originally from Guyana a small South American country. None of the future criminals had many real friends, so Simon targeted them to become part of a non-existent "secret" paramilitary organization, "Operations and Reconnaissance Agents" (OARA). Simon said "OARA stood ready to serve should a coup arise against the standing Guyanese government, the People's Progressive Party. Under Simon's tutelage the boys learned to assemble and disassemble weapons, practiced shooting and planned and carried out burglaries. All without any of their parents knowing what was going on. When Simon demanded they murder Tony Dutcher and his Grandparents while Simon was conveniently out of the country, the other boys followed orders, later saying Simon's threats to murder their families kept them from telling anyone. After the murders the police and CBI (Colorado Bureau of Investigation) during the course of their investigation turned up among other things at Simon's house alone; THIRTY SIX GUNS, MOST OF THEM MILITARY ASSAULT RIFLES, WEDGED INTO A CLOSET... THEY TAGGED UZIS, SKS,'S AND AK-47'S. As heart wrenching as the murders themselves are, the domino "death-affect" tremors of loss to all surviving family members is just as important in the telling of this tragic senseless crime. Charles Dutcher alone lost his son and his Mother and Father. The authors writing style is not poetic, nor does it revive memories of Hemingway or other famous authors. But what the author does succeed at is terrific investigative reporting. There is not a wasted chapter or a wasted page. The reader is taken step by step through this entire sordid mess. She cannot give you the big answers, because that's the problem with this heart-breaking catastrophe, no logical person with a heart beating with even an ounce of humanity can answer the questions that this story and far too many stories like this raise. As many scientists state: "THE BEST EXPERIMENTS CREATE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS" AND PERHAPS THIS BOOK SHOULD BE FILED UNDER THE SAME HEADING!
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Story With No Winners,
By C. W. Emblom "Bill Emblom" (Ishpeming, Michigan USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns, and Murder (Hardcover)
Make sure you have a significant amount of time available before you start to read this book, because you will have a difficult time putting it down. I read it in two sittings. It rates right up there with Judgment Ridge, the story of the two Dartmouth professors who were murdered by two Vermont teenagers less than one month later in January of 2001. Simon Says is an appropriate title for this new book because it is the tragic story of a very controlling and charismatic high school student named Simon Sue who manipulated those he saw as vulnerable into doing whatever he demanded. If they failed to do his bidding the threat of death to themselves and family members was made to appear real. One of the vulnerable boys, Isaac Grimes, murders his former best friend, Tony Dutcher, by cutting his throat as he slept while another, Jon Matheny, murders the boy's grandparents in their home by shooting them to death. The book covers the boys' relationship with charismatic leader Simon Sue, the murders, detective work needed to get confessions, the guilty pleas of each of the defendants, and subsequent appeals. This is a book filled with tragedy not only for the boys involved, but for other family members as well. It is a story without any winners. The only redemptive feature is a forgiving relationship between Isaac Grimes' mother and the mother of Tony Dutcher, the boy who Isaac murdered. It is the tragic story of an individual with a controlling and charismatic personality preying on vulnerable and younger individuals who otherwise would have never have become involved in such tragic behavior. The books' cover says it quite thoroughly, "A True Story of Boys, Gun, and Murder." I definitely got the feeling the boys, however belatedly, appreciated the beauty of their Colorado surroundings and would now not be able to enjoy the freedom they once had.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Outstanding,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Simon Says: A True Story of Boys, Guns, and Murder (Hardcover)
Kathryn Eastburn is at her best with the telling of this tragic tale. She approaches the subject with a reporter's objectivity, yet true to form with all of her writing, there is an underlying humaness that refrains from stooping to sensationalism or lecturing.
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