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Looks Joshilyn Jackson Kevin Guilfoile Stephanie Doyon Elizabeth Gaffney |
Caitlin Rother: Thanks for having me. Rochelle Krich: Can you tell our readers about Poisoned Love, your true crime book? Caitlin Rother: It's about the case of Kristin Rossum, a beautiful blond toxicologist at the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office who was accused of stealing narcotics from her lab and using them to poison her husband. Then she sprinkled red rose petals over his body to stage a suicide scene. Rochelle Krich: A fan of American Beauty? Caitlin Rother: Exactly. She told a co-worker that it was one of her favorite movies. This case was actually dubbed “The American Beauty” murder by the media. Rochelle Krich: You've been a journalist for over eighteen years, and you were nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. What made you decide to write a book about this particular crime? Caitlin Rother: It's probably the most fascinating news story that I've ever come across and I knew pretty early on that it would make a great book, not to mention the perfect TV movie. Rochelle Krich: What elements, in particular, attracted you to the case? Caitlin Rother: Kristin doesn't fit the stereotype of your typical murderer. She is attractive and talented, she came from a loving, educated family. She had everything going for her and a bright future ahead. Plus, I found all the medical evidence -- the drugs she used to poison him, the drugs she used recreationally herself, including methamphetamine and sedatives to make for a complex story. Then there was also the passion between her and her lover, the betrayal, the deception, and the tragedy. Her husband helped her get off drugs and then, in the end, it was drugs that killed him. You can't make this stuff up. Rochelle Krich: You've sold me. Speaking of the medical evidence, I'd never heard of fentanyl. Was the jury familiar with it? Caitlin Rother: I'm not sure. I hadn't heard of it before. Then, as I was researching the drugs involved, I found out that I'd actually had it before. It's used by some dentists for wisdom teeth removal. So people may have experienced it without knowing it. Rochelle Krich: When I read that in Poisoned Love, I have to say I had a few moments of anxiety. I've had my wisdom teeth out, so have my kids... What challenges did you face in investigating the crime? Caitlin Rother: That's a tough question, I had to think a minute. I'm not really thinking of any serious challenges, probably because I was able to overcome most of them over time. I spent more than three years researching this case so the gag order, for example, affected my coverage of the case for the newspaper but it was lifted by the time I got the book contract. And when certain people involved didn't want to talk for the book, I was able to use my notes from the previous interviews I'd done, a zillion public documents, and boxes and boxes of evidence I got with a court order to go through after the trial was over. Rochelle Krich: Did you ever speak directly to Kristen? To her parents? Caitlin Rother: I interviewed her parents at length before the gag order and they initially promised me an interview with Kristin when she was in jail -- before she was bailed out to help with her defense -- but they changed their mind. I tried again later a couple of times, but her parents and her appellate attorney wouldn't let me. That said, I really felt like I got to know her through interviews with her parents and friends, her emails to her lover and to her husband, through all the cards and letters she exchanged with her lover, and, of course, her diaries. Police said they thought she wrote the diaries for other people to read, but I think I gained a lot of insight into her character by seeing how she wanted others to perceive her. Rochelle Krich: You covered the case from the time Kristen was arrested. Had you heard rumors about her before the arrest? Caitlin Rother: No, I hadn't. One of the local TV stations did a couple of stories about her being fired, but her arrest was the first time our newspaper had written about the case. Rochelle Krich: As a reporter, you have to be objective. That said, did you feel Kristin was guilty when you began investigating her for the paper? Caitlin Rother: I've chosen to keep my opinion about that out of my book and in interviews, to maintain my journalistic impartiality. All I can say is a jury took less than 8 hours to convict her. Rochelle Krich: At the end of the book, you share with the reader that you had personal experience living with someone who had an addiction. Did that experience help you understand Kristin? Caitlin Rother: I thought long and hard about whether to include my own personal story in the book, but since I felt it really did help me gain an insight into her character and into her parents' experience in dealing with her addiction, I felt I wanted to let people know I had an added expertise if you will in writing about this subject. It also helped me understand Greg, her husband, and what might have been going through his head in his final days. Rochelle Krich: In the book you present the prosecution's reasons for not going for the death penalty. Can you talk about that? Caitlin Rother: I have never spoken personally with the man who was district attorney at the time about his reasons. I only know what other attorneys were speculating at the time, and at my book signing yesterday, I was able to run them past the DA's investigator, who seemed to be saying that these were the reasons. She was a pretty, white, educated girl from a relatively affluent and educated family. She had no criminal history. And I think the DA felt it might have been difficult to get a death sentence from a San Diego jury. So he went with the lesser sentence, life in prison without the possibility of parole. Rochelle Krich: Given the strength of the evidence, do you think the jury would have gone for the death penalty? Caitlin Rother: I really have no idea. My understanding from the attorneys who spoke with the jury after the verdict is that they just didn't believe her testimony, her explanations for what happened. At least one of the jurors also said they would have convicted Michael Robertson, her lover, as well if he had been on trial. Rochelle Krich: One thing that I found curious: Kristen admitted immediately to the police that she had a drug problem. In that case, why did she have to kill Greg to keep him from revealing that fact? Caitlin Rother: That's what her parents and her defense attorneys argued. That's a very good question and I don't think there's a simple answer. One thing the prosecutors would point out is that she may have admitted she had a meth problem and that two of the drugs found in Greg's body were hers -- she'd gotten them five years earlier in Tijuana to come down from meth. But she never admitted to police that he might have taken fentanyl, and fentanyl is the drug that killed him and fentanyl was missing from her lab at the ME's office. Rochelle Krich: I was thinking more about motive, not method. For someone who graduated summa cum laude, Kristen made a number of incriminating mistakes. Did that surprise you? Caitlin Rother: Well, people on meth don't think rationally and the fact that red rose petals over the body is one of the major reasons she got caught. The police were suspicious that a man would do that to himself. Rochelle Krich: I'm haunted by a comment you make in the book, that Kristin's love affair with meth was stronger than her marriage, stronger than her love for Michael. Can you comment on that? Caitlin Rother: Sure. I see this as a love story about three relationships. One, with Greg, who she loved but was not IN love with. One, with Michael, her lover, who she wanted to spend the rest of her life with and have his children. They called each other “my destiny”. And three, her relationship with methamphetamine, which evidently won out. Addiction is a strong partner to break up with. It just seems to take people over. Rochelle Krich: Apparently. I felt terribly sorry for Greg and his family. As you pointed out, he saved her from the meth, and she ended up killing him. What was the most riveting aspect of the case? Of the trial? Caitlin Rother: There are so many I don't even know where to start. At times, I was very moved at how deep the love Kristin and Michael had for each other, how deep Greg's love was for Kristin, and how awful he must have felt knowing that she was having an affair after everything he'd done for her. It was all so poignantly tragic. I have never understood why Kristin just didn't get a divorce. That still haunts me. Rochelle Krich: It haunts me, too. How did you become an investigative journalist? Caitlin Rother: I am the type of reporter that can drive some editors crazy because I always want to keep going deeper, and at a newspaper, there isn't always time for that. I've spent a year working on a story at the paper, but there's always a limit on how much space I can have. So this book really let me spread my wings, both in terms of the research and the writing. I just kept going and going and going until I could answer many of the questions I had about why this happened. The other thing is that I am patient enough to go through reams and reams of documents and try to find that one small detail that will make one paragraph come alive and make the reader go “Aha”. I hope that answers your question. Rochelle Krich: The public often feels that the media intrudes on people's privacy. As a reporter, what boundaries do you set for yourself? Are there any questions you won't ask? Caitlin Rother: I have learned over time what questions many people don't want to answer, yet I know there can also come a time and a place when peopleawill trust you enough to answerathem if you're patient. One of the hardest questions I had to ask in this book, for example, was to Kristin's defense attorney, Vic Eriksen. I had heard he was a recovering meth addict himself and so I saved that question until the end of our second interview. Thankfully, he was open to talking about it... I'd hate to leave an interview and not ask a question I really needed, but I try to wait until I can't wait any longer. Rochelle Krich: I found that fascinating, about the attorney's meth addiction. But ultimately, so promising for other people. The other day I read that no one seems interested in writing about Terry Schiavo - that the feeling is that people aren't interested in reading about death. Do you agree? Caitlin Rother: I think Mark Fuhrman just wrote a book about it. In her case, I think there are lots of people who would read about it because of all the ideological debate going on. In fact, I ran into someone who wanted to read more. I think people like to read about death as long as it's presented in a way that it's allegorical or metaphorical for some other issue that makes it topical or just very touching. I have a sort of specialty for writing about death at my paper and those stories are always really appreciated by readers. You should see some of the very moving and touching calls and letters I get. It's all in the presentation, I think. Rochelle Krich: As a reporter, I'm sure you're watching what's happening with Judith Miller. Have you ever contemplated what you would do if confronted with revealing a source or going to jail? Caitlin Rother: Yes, as a matter of fact, I have been called before the grand jury before and was faced with going to jail if I didn't answer the prosecutor's questions. I don't remember exactly what the issue was – it wasn't revealing a source -- but I think it's extremely important to protect a confidential source and the reporter for protecting that source. We wouldn't have had Watergate or many other stories people needed to know about. Rochelle Krich: Catilin, are there any stories that you wish you had covered? Caitlin Rother: I can't count all the stories I've started and got pulled off to do something else. But I've had my share of good ones. I try not to look back or regret things I haven't done. There are plenty more to come. Rochelle Krich: I can imagine. How can readers reach you? Caitlin Rother: They can email me at crother@flash.net. Rochelle Krich: And...What are you working on next? Caitlin Rother: I've found another case I'm following but I'd rather not say what it is right now until it gets further along. It's tricky trying to work full-time at a newspaper and try to write books on the side. Not to mention energy-consuming. I also have a novel that I'm revising one last time before my agent sends it out. It's got very similar themes to Poisoned Love: addiction, murder, sex and drugs. Rochelle Krich: All the fun stuff. Caitlin, thanks for taking time out from your busy schedule to join us at ReadersRoom. Good luck with Poisoned Love and all your future projects. Caitlin Rother: Thank you for inviting me. Cheers. |