For the sake of clarification to some of the readers of this blog, this post must be written.

First and foremost, I have no concern that the current draft of  Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns contains anything that could be considered libelous and I have no hesitation about publishing any portion or all of it. Libel, on my part, would mean that I have included “untrue and damaging statements” which would expose a person to public ridicule or contempt or would injure his reputation in any way. This is not to say that there are no derogatory remarks by certain people about others but these are well documented and are the problem of those who made those remarks. I am not worried about being sued, as some readers have questioned.

Second, any bias in the book, if it can be called bias, is the result of having only one side of the story. The narrative describes many different relationships, personal interactions which are interpreted through my eyes. Analyze then synthesize is a sound way of examining data. For example, I have heard Jim Vittum’s side of every angle of this story. I’ve also heard from others who dispute his side; therefore, my only option is to analyze every piece of information, consider the source, include all that I have, and then allow the reader to synthesize what I’ve presented into  a conclusion. I have not heard from Ed Burns nor Michael Brabant; therefore, there is no information to counter what people have said about their part in this story. Synthesizing if impossible because the data is skewed toward one side.

If I did not believe that I could write a fair and impartial account, I would never have attempted it in the first place.

Duke