Jeannie Walker's Blog: JEANNIE WALKER-AWARD WINNING AUTHOR, page 2

"Reading and Writing"

  “Writing begins with Reading”

"It is through reading that we learn how to tell stories, how to choose words and craft sentences. The books we read will inform and inspire the books we’ll write, and there’s a lot we can learn from the authors who have gone before us. "How can we write if we don’t read?“It might seem obvious: if you want to be a writer, you have to write a lot. But a lot of would-be writers are struck with an idea and think they can become published authors overnight.
“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say things like how hard can it be to write a book? Anyone can write a book. You have to do a lot of writing before you’re experienced enough to write a book that people will pay to read–unless you’re some kind of prodigy, which most of us are not.”
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” – Stephen King
I took Stephen's advice, and I read a lot and then wrote "Fighting the Devil" a true story about the arsenic poisoning murder of my millionaire ex-husband. It was a heinous murder that I helped solve by becoming a real-life Sherlock Holmes. Stephen's advice helped me become a writer with my debut book winning awards, for which I am very proud.  Author Website    Amazon  Smashwords  Barnes&NobleAnd, then I wrote a true story about my Near-Death Experience, "I Saw the Light" Amazon"I Saw the Light"   Smashwords "I Saw the Light"Barnes&Noble "I Saw the Light"

Thanks to All

There is so many good books by Goodreads authors and so little time. But, I love reading good books. So, I will be getting to yours.
God bless one and all!
Truly,
Jeannie Walker
Jeannie Walker

Sharing Love One Day at a Time

MAY MUCH LOVE, MANY BLESSINGS AND BEAUTY COME TO EACH OF YOU TODAY, AND ALWAYS ... Sincerely,  Jeannie Walker  http://jeanniewalkerbooks.comGoodreads       Facebook    Amazon  Smashwords   "I Saw the Light"

Loves Goes On Forever

Grave of Texas Millionaire Jerry Sternadel Becky Sternadel LOVE GOES ON FOREVER....On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ.Easter Sunday is typically the most well-attended Sunday service of the year for Christian churches.Christians believe, according to Scripture, that Jesus came back to life, or was raised from the dead, three days after his death on the cross. As part of the Easter season, the death of Jesus Christ by crucifixion is commemorated on Good Friday, which is always the Friday just before Easter. Jesus paid the penalty for sin, through his death, burial and resurrection, thus purchasing eternal life for all who believe in Jesus Christ.
Becky Sternadelcelebrates her dad’s life this Easter holiday by decorating the grave of her father, Jerry Sternadel - who was poisoned to death with arsenic poisoning in the prime of his life.
The love of a daughter goes on forever...
Read the true story of the horrendous murder of Jerry Sternadel and the terrible injustice done to the Texas millionaire rancher, and his family in the Award-Winning True Crime "Fighting the Devil" A True Story of Consuming Passion, Deadly Poison, and Murder   Jeannie Walker Website   Amazon  Barnes&Noble  Smashwords

Poisoning Murder Case Remains Open

JerrySternadel died of arsenic poisoning in 1990. His convicted murderer was released June 20, 2014. However, the murder case remains open.

 Amazon  Smashwords  Barnes&Noble Award-Winning Author Jeannie Walker 

Whose Love is Greater?

Whose love is greater - a love for a parent or a love for a child?
Jerry Sternadel was a Texas millionaire rancher. He was not an ordinary person, but in some ways he was ordinary. Like so many others - some people liked the millionaire rancher while others disliked him.The millionaire sealed his fate when he married his second wife, thinking she was someone he could trust and depend upon. On June 12, 1990, something out of the ordinary happened - Jerry Sternadel died from extreme arsenic poisoning. While one woman was eventually arrested and put in prison - her co-conspirator has yet to be arrested or tried for the heinous murder. A reasonable person would think the person arrested would have been the widow. Who can poison your husband at home without you knowing it, if you are the one preparing the meals and drinks?Jerry's daughter (Becky Sternadel) celebrates her dad's life by decorating his grave, especially at Christmas, even 23 years later. I know this because Becky is also my daughter.Jerry Sternadel's life was snuffed out when he was in his prime and in good health. He did not smoke. He did not drink. He exercised regularly. He was exceptionally proud of the quarter horses he raised and the races his horses won. He maintained a healthy lifestyle and made a lot of people prosperous and happy. In 1990, Jerry Sternadel was fed arsenic poison until he finally died. If not for greed and hate, Jerry would have lived to see his two children and two grandchildren mature into beautiful adults. Whose love is greater- a love for a parent or a love for a child? Personally, I don't know which is greater, but I do know death does not stop our love for each other.  Losing a child hurts and losing a parent hurts. In the end all we have left is the memories.Thank God for the memories. Read about the murder in the award-winning true crime "Fighting the Devil" Becky Sternadel viewing her dad in 1990

It was like an Errol Flynn movie!

 Arsenic poisoning murder of Texas Millionaire (murder depicted in Award-Winning True Crime
"Fighting the Devil"  Amazon   Barnes&Noble    SmashwordsTexas Ranger talks about the murder investigation -

A secretary poisoned her boss over a period of time ... her and the wife were doing it.... It was an arsenic poisoning case.Sheriff Bogard called me ...he said, "I've got something here ... the hospital called me and said there's a man that died in Wichita Falls from arsenic poisoning and he's from Clay County.We went out to the murdered man's ranch in Clay County and talked to the secretary and the wife ...the murdered man had made three  visits to the hospital in Wichita Falls and nobody in the world ever snapped on that arsenic poisoning. But we went through the records and they knew about it two or three weeks before he died, you know? Every time the wife and secretary would visit Sternadel in the hospital, he'd have a relapse. He'd get sicker and sicker. I think they were giving it (arsenic) to him in the hospital. So he finally died. He died of acute arsenic poisoning.Well, we went out one day, this was kind of funny. We went out and talked to the grieving widow and we're talking... Most of the people living in the country throw all their garbage and trash in a pit. Well, Bogard... [says] since I'm the sheriff of this county and you're assisting, you need to get in that pit and dig around (laughter). I said yeah, I kind of figured that's why you brought me along you know. So I jumped in the pit... being like I was. And I found an Ocean Spray Cranapple jug... had the cap on it. And it had about oh... a quarter inch of water in it. I said you know all the cranapple juice I ever saw was kind of a different color. Somebody washed this out. So we just seized that and we sent to forensic. The Institute of Forensic Science in Dallas did the autopsy... And that water in that bottle contained enough arsenic to kill half the people in Jolly. And I said my god, Bogard, do you know what we've found? We have found the smoking cranapple jug (laughter). And of course we had a little humor there. And I said by god, this is a bad deal. They, they poisoned him and killed him. He was worth several million dollars.....We worked on this case and uh we never could come up with the arsenic and that was one of the key things... we didn't have enough evidence to indict either one of them (the secretary or the wife).So the case rocked along... we waited two years. And uh Jake got a call one day from a storage locker out there on the Seymour highway. He said I just got a locker out here that hadn't paid their rent. And uh I opened the door and there's a bunch of articles in here from a lady in Holiday. And the, the secretary's name was Debbie Baker. And the lady that rented the locker used a fictitious name but she used her righteous address in Holiday, the real Debbie Baker's address. That was a clue. I said oh, I smell a rat here, Bogard.So we got a search warrant. We went back in there and we inventoried everything in that storage locker. And we found a little bottle of Cowley's Rat and Mouse Poison, which contains arsenic. And it had about three quarters of it gone. And I kind of laughed... this will help us. This is a smoking Cowley's arsenic poison bottle. And that's what got her indicted. And the funny thing about this... because uh she had completely forgotten to pay the rent on this thing. That's what got us in there. And somehow this guy that owned the locker had called his attorney which was an associate of her attorney. And I guess they got to talking about it. Said they got a damn deal out here that's got Debbie Baker's stuff in it. So he hot foots it and calls Debbie Baker who was living in San Marcos and he said have you rented something... a storage locker? And she said uhhhh, oh my god. She picked up the phone in San Marcos and calls the storage locker and I'm sitting in there with him. And she said I'll send you an express money order right now. He said oh, Mrs. Jones...I'm afraid it's too late. The officers are here and they're inventorying this stuff. She just panics. Well she hangs up the phone and I said who was that? He said that's the lady whose name is on this thing. And I said oh... we got her now. We got a subpoena for the phone records and that call from her home in San Marcos was the one that tied... the tie that binds... went right back to that storage locker. That's her. That was enough to get her indicted.And the jury... they did the old flim flam. We didn't have enough to indict the wife but we had enough to indict the secretary. And they had mismanaged a bunch of money. I subpoenaed records for a year from the bank. They had to go back and get all these checks and stuff. And we went through all that and we found out all this stuff you know.The defense played it great here. They made it look like Debbie Baker was just a helper and the wife was the one that did the murder. The widow got all the money and everything. And the jury came back and gave her ten years probation for homicide. And of course we all liked to have died. I said oh Lord, ten years probation for a murder... oh... Jesus...But she got probation and she rocked along there for about four or five years and she quit paying her fees. You know you've got to pay a fee to the clerk and all this kind of stuff. Well she just quit. So they just went down there and revoked her probation and yanked her back into court. Said hey, you've gotta serve ten years in the penitentiary.She is down in prison right now. She just failed her first parole. She won't get out until 2012. So it took a long time. But I've still got everything in that file. I've got four volumes about that thick (he indicated the size), and every statement we took from the 75 recorded statements on this. Everything that I had was in there and ... there were four copies made: one for the DA, one for me, one for Lubbock, and one for Yates' Sheriff's Office. But I got one of the original ones.If Debbie Baker ever decides she's tired of taking this load by herself. She might just tell what the widow did on this... so we're back in business. (laughter) And I've got it all in there. There's no statue of limitations on homicide. I'm still waiting on the grieving widow.Excerpt from 2008 Oral History Interview with Texas Ranger Bill Gerth
©2009  Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum.

Book Reviews

My friends- if you think I am putting too many 5 star reviews on books I read - I must explain that I have been and am possibly blessed in reading 5 star books, especially lately. There are a lot of good writers on Goodreads.

Where is Justice when convicted killer is given Probation???

Family of murdered millionaire seeks answers.
 Jeannie Walker - "Some people say I'm obsessed with my ex-husband. I'm obsessed with getting justice. There's not any closure for our children or grandchildren."

A woman convicted for the murder of wealthy businessman Jerry Sternadel is released from prison after only 10 years in prison.    Debra Baker was Sternadel's bookkeeper. Baker was convicted of First Degree Murder of Sternadel by giving him lethal amounts of arsenic poison until he finally died of extreme arsenic poisoning.  It is alleged Debra Baker conspired to murder Sternadel with Lou Ann, Sternadel's widow. The widow has never been charged and the murder is still an open murder case.            Convicted murderer Debra Baker

       

                 Jeannie & Jerry Sternadel with children before their divorce.
Jeannie Walker, Sternadel's ex-wife and author of the award-winning true crime "Fighting the Devil" said the family still has hope that a break in the case will come. "It's been a constant battle," Walker said. In Walker's book, she said Sternadel had informed her that he believed Baker and Lou Ann had embezzled money from him. "Jerry said, 'I just found out $35,000 is missing from one of my bank accounts. I told Debbie and Lou Ann they better get me the damn money back or I'm going to turn them in. I told Lou Ann as soon as I got the money back, I'm going to divorce her.'" Jerry Sternadel was fed arsenic poison and murdered before he got the money back or divorced Lou Ann. "Fighting the Devil" shares personal stories and the theory as to why the arsenic poisoning murder of Jerry Sternadel is believed to be more than a one-person job.
   Amazon "Fighting the Devil"Barnes & Noble "Fighting the Devil"Smashwords "Fighting the Devil"

I'm obsessed with getting justice!"

Convicted murderer Debra Baker released from prison - family of murdered millionaire seeks answers.
 Jeannie Walker - "Some people say I'm obsessed with my ex-husband. I'm obsessed with getting justice. There's not any closure for our children or grandchildren."

A woman convicted for the murder of wealthy businessman Jerry Sternadel is released from prison after only 10 years in prison.    Debra Baker was Sternadel's bookkeeper. Baker was convicted of First Degree Murder of Sternadel by giving him lethal amounts of arsenic poison until he finally died of extreme arsenic poisoning.  It is alleged Debra Baker conspired to murder Sternadel with Lou Ann, Sternadel's widow. The widow has never been charged and the murder is still an open murder case.            Convicted murderer Debra Baker

       

                 Jeannie & Jerry Sternadel with children before their divorce.
Jeannie Walker, Sternadel's ex-wife and author of the award-winning true crime "Fighting the Devil" said the family still has hope that a break in the case will come. "It's been a constant battle," Walker said. In Walker's book, she said Sternadel had informed her that he believed Baker and Lou Ann had embezzled money from him. "Jerry said, 'I just found out $35,000 is missing from one of my bank accounts. I told Debbie and Lou Ann they better get me the damn money back or I'm going to turn them in. I told Lou Ann as soon as I got the money back, I'm going to divorce her.'" Jerry Sternadel was fed arsenic poison and murdered before he got the money back or divorced Lou Ann. "Fighting the Devil" shares personal stories and the theory as to why the arsenic poisoning murder of Jerry Sternadel is believed to be more than a one-person job.
   Amazon "Fighting the Devil"Barnes & Noble "Fighting the Devil"Smashwords "Fighting the Devil"