Chapter 18

Meanwhile, Evanston, Illinois author Wendy Goldman Rohm publicly announced that she had plans to write a book about Perry March’s saga. She began putting the word out that she had already secured a book deal with Random House, according to published reports, and that her book, when finished, would set the record straight about the Perry March case.

“There have been inaccurate statements made on both sides,” Rohm told the Nashville Scene, “but it does seem like there has been heavy misinformation coming from those who assume that Perry March murdered his wife. To date, there has not been even the slightest bit of evidence that he murdered his wife.”

While it was true that the police had no physical evidence that Perry had murdered Janet, it was clear that Rohm’s take on the story would show that Perry had been unjustly smeared by a news media that was being manipulated. The reporting, she said, “seems incredibly one-sided. I don’t know if that’s a function of reporters not having access, but there has been lots of inaccurate reporting, judging by the facts I have collected.”

Rohm, according to the Nashville Scene article, was not familiar with the Willy Stern pieces that had appeared years earlier in that paper, and the fact that Stern had had access to Perry March, as well as the cops and numerous other people, when he had written those articles. Although Rohm claimed that her book would tell both sides of the story, her statements to the Nashville Scene made it appear that she was sympathetic to Perry’s plight for reasons that were not entirely clear.

Because Perry had been found civilly liable for Janet’s death, and although she believed the civil judgment to be a sham, Rohm, hinting that Perry’s civil rights had been violated, predicted that it would attract the attention of federal authorities and trigger a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee.

“Based on information I have seen,” Rohm said, “there will be a massive federal suit against the state of Tennessee.”

Rohm also opined that the powerful Levine family had set out to destroy Perry’s life, and it had been through their actions that Perry could no longer find work in the States to earn a living for himself and his kids. He had no choice but to leave the country.

“As we speak,” Rohm told the Nashville Scene, “they are telling the kids, ‘Your father killed your mother.’”

When asked how she came by that information, Rohm indicated that she had interviewed people who had talked with Sammy and Tzipi, but she did not name anyone specifically. The Levines, upon hearing of Rohm’s claims, denied that they had made any such statements to the children, leaving Rohm’s claims open to speculation that perhaps her interview subjects had consisted of Perry March and his new wife, Carmen. While she admitted that she had not spoken to the Levines, who have remained very selective about whom they talk to, she declined to acknowledge at that time that she had spoken with Perry.

Rohm later shared her opinion about Perry March with Nashville Scene reporter Matt Pulle: “I don’t have any judgments on whether he is guilty or innocent, but to this day there has not been evidence gathered to accuse him of killing his wife. He has been accessible and has answered all my questions. There are some areas in our interviews that have worried me in terms of inconsistencies, but nothing solid enough to prove one way or another that he is guilty.”