Chapter 14
Preparing for the Interview
April, 2011
Cameron had researched Edwards like no other and Edwards had put it all out for someone to put together. He had been on national TV throughout the 70’s bragging of being a reformed criminal and a family man. In October of 1972, after he released his book, he went on the game show, “To Tell the Truth.” Not only was his book a puzzle but so was his appearance.
As you click on the DVD of “To Tell the Truth,” there is Gary Allen introducing Ed Edwards after he had killed everyone in the Zodiac. He is introduced as a suspect in a double lover’s lane murder.
“To Tell The Truth,” Oct, 1972, Edward Edwards
“And here is the extraordinary story of Ed Edwards; I hope you find it profitable. It says, ‘I, Ed Edwards, was once on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list of criminals in America. Now I am a respected citizen in my community. Here is the story of my dramatic turnabout. As a young boy, I felt that the only way I could get any recognition was to steal. Eventually I committed armed robberies, impersonated a federal officer and was sought for questioning about a double murder. I spent time in the penitentiary in Leavenworth and Lewisburg. It was at the latter prison that I started vocational training and very slowly began to realize that I could still be somebody and return to my rightful and legal place in society. There is a tremendous need for communication between parents and their children. I stress this point in my book, which is titled, ‘Metamorphosis of a Criminal.’” (Ed’s book is held up for all to see.)
The questioning began.
Gene Rayburn, another contestant: “Ed, I take it you didn’t have a good relationship with your mother?”
Ed: “I was born an illegitimate child, so I never really had a mother to speak of.”
Ed Edwards, “To Tell the Truth,” October 17, 1972
Cameron concluded that at the ending of the show, Edwards tells the world why he did the Zodiac.
Gary Allen: “Ed, there was one important point when you and I were chatting backstage and I asked you, what was the reaction in your neighborhood when you came out of the reformatory the first time? Were you put down by your fellow citizens or did they look up to you?”
Ed looks in the camera with a smirk and says, “No—ah, when I was released from the reformatory, they looked up to me and this motivated me to go on to bigger things, because this was why I was out there committing the crime, was for the recognition!”
Cameron had uncovered Edwards speaking on radio, TV and through newspapers throughout his life. He loved the limelight and that is what he meant by doing everything for recognition. He would kill and then stand in front of everyone bragging that he was reformed.
Edwards’ wife, Kay, called Cameron on July 27, 2010 and agreed to an interview. She married Ed July 20, 1968, less than a year after his release from Leavenworth Prison and 6 months before starting the Zodiac killings. She pointed out that he only went by his middle name, Wayne, and “a thousand different alias.” She had been a school teacher prior to meeting him in 1968 and was controlled by him the rest of her life as he traveled and killed everywhere. Their wedding certificate was full of lies.
Edwards Marriage License to Kay Hedderly, July 20th 1968
Even Edwards’ marriage license to Kay had clues and his handwriting. Fred Knot Edwards is what Edwards put down for his father’s name. Accent on the word “Knot.” Edwards never knew who his father was. He also lied about not being previously married. He was married at least twice before Kay. He married Marlene Harmon three times alone in 1959-60 and he was married to Jeanette White when he killed in Great Falls, 1956.
Kay provided invaluable information about Ed and his relationship with police. She married him in 1968. Whenever they moved, and that was often, Ed would make friends with the local police. He would drink and gamble with them and invite them over for barbeques. She claimed he had books and devices for making fake credentials and he was obsessed with the FBI. He had secret files that nobody was allowed to touch in a dresser in their room. He saved articles about the Deer Lodge Prison riots. The inmates threatened to kill by rope, knife, gun and fire.
Edward Edwards Personally Saved Article, Deer Lodge Riot, April 1959
Edwards had the article from his arrest in 1960, after being on the FBI’s 10 most wanted list. He saved articles about the Portland, Oregon, 1960 lover’s’ lane murder in which he was a suspect, and an article about a guy named Wayne Budde, blown up with a bomb in Portland on the same day as the lover’s lane murder. They listed his death as a suicide.
Edwards wrote the FBI in July of 1993 when he was living in Ohio and provided them with a list of the cities where he had done crimes and of the aliases he used.
Letter Recovered in 2010 from Edwards’ Personal Files
Note reference to talking to FBI about Hoffa
Cameron knew that Edwards would have never sent this to the FBI unless he was taunting them with a murder. Most likely there will be a horrific murder before June, 1993 he surmised.
Neal read all the letters and stated, “This is remarkable! The audacity! He goes on T.V., a book tour, he informs the press of his connection to the Zodiac, and he writes the FBI!! He never gets caught until his daughter rolls on him in 2009. I tell you what, if he wasn’t the Zodiac, he was his twin brother. NEVER has any suspect matched in so many regards. First off, what other suspect ever has a reputation and an affinity for killing teenagers on lover’s lanes? Just like the Zodiac. That moves him to the top of my list alone! But then the personality. Obviously, the Zodiac craved the headlines. And brother, did he accomplish that! But look at Edwards—he also craves attention. He shows it constantly. How many more letters do you think he sent?”
“Hundreds, if not thousands, Neal,” Cameron responded. “Edwards gave all these names in the letter for a reason. There is a connection that needs to be followed.”
Cameron had been working on Edwards for over 10 months now and had kept law enforcement at every level appraised of his findings. By April of 2011, he had made enough enemies around the country that it started to affect his work. Prosecutors in Portland were demanding that Cameron be fired for using his Board of Pardons letterhead to inform them of his findings. They didn’t want to hear that they had tried and convicted three innocent people back in ‘69-‘70 for two murders Edwards had done. The parole board was supportive of Cameron’s investigation, until prosecutors in Oregon started complaining.
Cameron was conflicted. The parole board had let Edwards out in 1959 and he killed again. He wondered, “Do I have a responsibility as a parole board analyst to seek the truth?” The head of the parole board thought Cameron had overstepped his bounds and warned him that he would be fired if he continued.
Cameron Letter of Reprimand from Montana Board of Pardons and Parole
A decision had to be made and on April 1, 2011, Cameron walked into his office, submitted his resignation, and decided to pursue the Ed Edwards’ investigation full time.