Cameron had been warned by local police in 2010 to stay out of their cases. He was no longer a licensed police officer and they threatened him with arrest if he contacted anyone. After waiting a year and finding out they never contacted ANY witnesses, he decided to go on his own and take his chances. He said to Neal. “I think I’m going to look up Jeanette White, Ed’s 1956 wife. The cops certainly aren’t doing anything. Throw me in jail. I don’t care.”
“They’ve had over a year to look into this, John. We’re going to have to do something on our own. If she’s alive it could bust this thing wide open.”
Cameron started to get caught up in Neal’s enthusiasm. Jeanette White had traveled with Ed Edwards during 1955, and they both ended up in Great Falls, Montana on New Year’s Day, 1956. Cameron had been ordered by the Cascade County Sheriffs Department to stay out of their case and not contact any witnesses. It had been nearly 18 months and they never contacted her so he called her up: And called back Neal.
“I can’t believe it! I found her and I‘ve already talked to her. She’s agreed to a meeting. I’ve decided to risk it and interview her. We’re going to Idaho Falls!”
“What!? She’s still alive? She must be into her 70’s. When are we leaving? What’d she say? How’d you find her?”
“Whoa, slow down. Last question first. I did lengthy research, I accessed the FBI computers and I got 3 P.I.’s on board, and wham! I got her!”
“John, it’s only been 15 minutes since I left,” Neal pointed out.
“She was in the phone book,” confessed John.
“The cops have had over a year to find her and she’s in the phone book?”
“Yep, and my fine detective skills, years of experience and police genius took me right to her,” he responded. “Yeah, genius, all right; keystone cops.”
On January 11th they booked a room, grabbed a rental, and left Great Falls. They were going to meet Jeanette White, Ed Edwards’ ex-wife.
The night before the meeting, they decided to go over their strategy. Sitting in their motel room, John began, “In police interviews, it’s best to let the suspect do most of the talking, and it’s important not to influence them or direct them with what you already know or think. Now, Jeanette’s not a ‘suspect,’ but I’d like to give her the ball and let her run with it. I’d want her to just tell us everything she can remember about Ed.”
“Does she know Edwards wrote a book and that she’s in it?” asked Neal.
“No, I didn’t tell her. On the phone she told me; ‘I learned right away not to cross him. He let me call home every once and awhile to talk to my mother. But he would always make the call, speak for a moment, and then hand me the phone. By then, my mother would be crying. She told me years later that every time, Ed would tell her, “if you speak to ANYONE about this call, or tell ANYONE where we are, I’ll kill your daughter.” Then he’d hand me the phone.’”
“Oh, my God,” gasped Neal. “Can you imagine the terror she was in?”
“I could hear her fear on the phone,” answered Cameron. “One thing I learned is Edwards was a killer clear back in 1955. He wasn’t bluffing about killing her. He would have, he killed others. He killed Patty and Duane 2 months after they were married.”
“O.K. So what next?” asked Neal.
Cameron answered, “Might depend on what she tells us. If she provides any concrete testimony about knowledge of any homicides, I’m obligated to inform the locals. After she’s done talking, we’ll dig out the book.”
The next day they arrived at Jeanette’s house, looked at each other nervously and Cameron said, “Here we go,” They went to the door.
Jeanette warmly welcomed them into her upper middle class, well-kept home. Cameron pulled out his laptop while chatting casually about some background information. He asked her if they could record the conversation and move to the kitchen table. Jeanette froze up, but reluctantly agreed. Cameron instantly knew this conversation was not leaving the couch nor would it be recorded.
Jeanette started the interview.
“I almost called you and canceled. This is too painful.”
Cameron saw how sensitive she was. He gently approached her with, “Did you know he wrote a book?”
It took a few seconds before she spoke. “He raped me.” Jeanette was trembling as she continued. “I almost called you and asked you not to come, but I didn’t have your phone number.”
Cameron patiently consoled her, “I understand. This must be very difficult for you. I hope we can help a lot of other people that were hurt by this man.”
“He was the devil. He was Satan,” stated Jeanette.
Cameron was taken aback by the statement. He and Neal had theorized that Edwards considered himself Osiris, an ancient Egyptian god. Jeanette just confirmed this and he wasn’t quite prepared for it. She also confirmed the book was a lie. Edwards had detailed his first encounter with Jeanette in his book, but he didn’t describe a rape.
“I turned to Jeanette with the most intense feeling of love I had ever in memory had. This was it. This was real love. Bells and cymbals were clanging around in my head: I was almost dizzy. I leaned over and kissed her, patiently.”*MOAC
“I don’t know why he never killed me,” Jeanette said. “Maybe it’s because I had his son, Wayne. I never told Wayne about his father. I didn’t want him to ever find out. I thought he might worry about himself, coming from a man like that, so I never told him. Then one day my sister-in-law told him. I have never spoken to her since. I almost called you and asked you not to come, but I didn’t have your phone number.”
Cameron continued by asking, “Do you remember any cities that you and Ed might have visited after you were married?”
“New York. Atlanta. We were everywhere.”
“He mentioned that you went there, in the book. “We went to Atlanta, found an apartment and I became a milkman for a dairy.”*MOACA
“Do you remember when Ed first showed up in Idaho Falls? Did he have another woman with him? Her name might have been ‘Verna.’”
“I remember that,” responded Jeanette. “She was pregnant and he said it was his sister. I don’t know why he never killed me. Maybe it’s because I had his son.”
“Maybe,” answered Cameron. “You are very lucky to still be alive.”
“Ed liked killing people. He enjoyed it,” said Jeanette. “I drove the getaway car and partook in some of his things. There’s nothing I could’ve done. We were always traveling and changing.”
“Jeanette,” asked Cameron, “Do you remember a girl named Theresa?”
“Oh, yes,” she answered. “She was my friend in high school.”
“Can you tell us her last name?”
“I can’t remember but she is still around.”
“Ed said in his book that Theresa came over to your house with Verna and a detective.”
“I was eating supper at Jeanette’s. There was a knock on the door. When Jeanette answered the knock she found that a detective had come to talk to me. Out in front of the house, standing close together, in the dusk, and both very angry, were Theresa and Verna, Verna’s belly forming a distinctive silhouette against the grey sky.” *MOAC
Jeanette responded, “That was so long ago. I don’t know what happened to Verna and Theresa. Verna was pregnant.”
Cameron recognized the behavior. Many victims of violent crimes or tragic situations block out entire events or times in order to deal with them. Sometimes it’s the only way a person can move forward with their life and cope. Plus, he was taking her back over 55 years. She had commented in his first phone call to her that no one had ever asked her about those times.
Cameron asked, “Jeannette, did you ever speak to anyone, particularly law enforcement, about Ed?”
She answered, “One time, two FBI men came to my home and warned me Ed had escaped from jail in 1960. They wanted to know if I had heard from him. I remember going to the grocery store with Ed. I think it was in Atlanta. He told me to wait in the car and he’d be back in a bit. He returned an hour later with four girls. They all pointed at me and then they laughed. He directed them to make fun of me.”
Jeanette had been raped, kidnapped and taken all over the country, and Ed was having other women tease her to keep him in control of her. She described the crimes they partook in. Nobody would suspect a Marine with a pregnant wife committing crimes. She admitted to doing most of the driving while they were on the road. They would seldom pay for a hotel; they would just pull over and sleep in the car a lot of times. They stole a different car every other week.
Jeanette continued with her story. She said she moved to Deer Lodge after the birth of their son in August, 1956. She got a job waitressing and remained faithful for about a year and half, visiting the Deer Lodge regularly. The Mormon bishop was terrified for her. He insisted she take the boy and leave Ed forever. She finally relented and told Ed of her decision. He lost it.
“When I returned to my room I found I couldn’t sleep. Jeanette had obtained a divorce from me while I was still in Montana. I broke into a sweat, ‘Do I still want to kill her?’” *MOAC
Jeanette described him screaming he was going to kill her. He violently thrashed around the cell, unable to restrain himself, and vowed to get even. She concluded, “We left Deer Lodge right after that.”
Cameron ended the interview and started packing up. He glanced at Jeanette and she was beaming. She looked like she had been relieved of a tremendous burden.
The travels she and Ed had done were accurate and in his book. The names were real and the places he killed accurate. Ed’s book was a puzzle and all the murders he did in 1955 and 56 with her, were written as parables in his autobiography.