Fourteen: The Murder of David Stukel

by Bill O'Connell

Chicago Tribune editor Bill O'Connell O'Connell explores one of the most heinous but least publicized crimes in Illinois the 1968 abduction, sexual assault, and murder of fourteen-year-old David Stukel by fourteen-year-old bullies Billy Rose Sprinkle and James Perruquet. O'Connell-David Stukel's Little League teammate-recalls the victim's idyllic childhood and takes readers into the minds of the murderers and inside the homes, hearts, and photo albums of the victim's family, whose grief is palpable a generation after the crime. His research includes parole interviews, inmate psychological reports and conversations with the families of the murderers and the family of the victim. Fourteen is a masterfully crafted, thoroughly insightful account of the years leading up to, and the four decades since, the unconscionable and unprovoked slaying of an innocent ninety-five-pound high school freshman.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction

252 pages, Paperback

First published November 7, 2007

Reviews

[♏ Gina☽ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Years ago, my friend, William O'Connell first wrote a book about the tragic story of Joliet, Illinois teen David Stukel, who was murdered in 1968, and whose story was major news that all of us of an age remember.

The murder shook the community to say the least. Bill and I walked the same halls of Joliet East High School a couple of years after that tragedy occurred.

Recently, Bill published his updated version of the story, and due to his diligence in finding out the truth, his devotion to never allowing David Stukel to be forgotten, and his attention to detail, this new version of "Fourteen: The Murder of David Stukel.” answers some questions about exactly what happened and how David became the victim of a violent and senseless crime.

While I did not know David Stukel personally, I certainly remember the murder. Bill did know David and it is evident that he cared deeply about getting to the truth of what exactly happened that night so many years ago.

This updated version is, like the first, extremely well written. It is quite evident that Bill did countless hours of research, seeking and following clues and speaking to people who were close to the situation. Their voices added to the story and I am so glad they got to be heard.

David was part of a very loving family, and he had many relatives and friends who cared deeply for him. For them, and especially for David, the truth needed to be told. This book does exactly that.

[Amanda Sprinkle]

This book was extremely detailed and well written.
Being the daughter of Bill Sprinkle, it is hard for me to finish the book.
I long to not only know this of my history.
The Stuckel family has my prayers daily. As I find it odd that I was born on September. 17, 1985... It is hard. My birth made the papers. .
Mr. O'Connell captured much in this story. But know that the pain within this story is more rooted than even words could describe on accounts of all whom have been affected as a result of the heinous murder.
https://www.facebook.com/arsprinkle85...

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Has special meaning for me because of who the victim was, where it took place, and all the characters who played a part. A true story. The author has taken care to detail it factually and provide a vivid look at the lives of three 14 year old boys who had little in common, and came to interact on a fateful day leaving one of them murdered. A introspective look at three lives each different from the other, the families, the community and the future of a sleepy corner of the world that were all effected from this cruel moment in time.

Two things stand out for me in this book, 1) the fact that evil really does lurk in unexpected places and 2) the truth is scary enough and rarely needs embellishment. As a child who grew up just yards away from this murder, I never really knew the truth or the whole story till Bill O'Connell, put the pieces together in this book.

[Katrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

The only reason this book maintained my interest is because I live in the same town where the murder was committed, and it was interesting to recognize names and landmarks as I read. That being said, I've never read a more poorly written or edited book in my life. The author, supposedly a Tribune journalist, is incapable of creating a narrative arc. Instead, he bombards the reader with page after page of unfiltered, disconnected quotes from interview sources and meaningless details.

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a true story about a 14 yr.boy murdered during his freshman year in high school. It is unique to me because I taught at the school he attended and know the author of the book. This book proved to me that you are what you come from; the effects of one's upbringing on future behavior. 4 stars.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A haunting tale of the murder of a fourteen year old boy. Committed by two of his classmates, also fourteen. I live in the same town, so the places mentioned in this book are familiar to me. However, I think that even if I had never heard of Joliet, Illinois, I would still find the truth and straight facts of this story captivating.

[Charlotte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Couldnt put it down!....Amazing how the author so accurately describes the place i grew up even more than a decade before my existence. The crime itself was gruesome and chilling and just shocking.

[♥ Marlene♥]

Quick read. I bought this book from amazon and to be honest I am not sure what to rate this.

Update Jan 17.
I did not rate this book cause I thought it very hard to do so.

This is a book about a horrible killing. The author then has interviewed many many people about the killing. What they were doing. Their thoughts.

Plus there was a lot of stuff about the killers families. That they grew up in a very loveless house. If I had felt the author was excusing the 2 killers because of that, I would have stopped reading because i hate that, but apparently I did not feel that he did.

Still not sure what to rate so i leave it like that.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 2 out of 5]

David Stukel was murdered on September 16, 1968, at the age of fourteen. This is a horrible crime committed by two very sick men, Billy Rose Sprinkle and James Perruquet.
I got tired of the excuse of not having a great family life being used for Billy and James' actions.
I did not care for the layout of the story. I did like the fact that he took the time to interview people that knew David, it showed what a nice kid he was and liked by many plus the Author knew David too. Pictures are sprinkled throughout the book of David, his family, his friends, his killer, and the killer's accomplice.

[Jayme Marquardt]

Very well written account of a 14 year old being murdered by two other 14 year olds in my hometown of Joliet, IL in 1968, ten years before I was born.

[Kcbutters · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a true-crime reader, I am more haunted by this story than any other I've read. As shocking as the murder is, the rest of the book is just astounding

[Thomas Kiernan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently heard about this book from a neighbor of mine. We were reminiscing about growing up in Joliet in the 60's and 70's and my neighbor mentioned this tragic death of one of his acquaintances and that he was classmates with the two perpetrators. Being several years younger and growing up on the other side of town I was unfamiliar with the story. I borrowed the book Fouteen and read it in two sittings. I am still shook by this book. I am absolutely devastated by what happen to young David Stukel. I grew up with pretty much the same idyllic upbringing and a very similar loving family in Joliet. One can't help but want to know David now. To see where his life took him and to know that he had a wonderful life. Sadly David's life ended so abruptly and so violently. I am extremely sad about a life cut so short.
What is remarkable about William O'Connell's book is that you also get an in depth look into the sad and dysfunctional upbringings of the two young killers. Their stories are devastatingly tragic as well. They never had a chance to be good people. Their fates were sealed from the very beginning of their lives. This aspect of the book reminded me of Capote's In Cold Blood. Perruquet and Sprinkle, like Capote's Smith and Hickock endure horrific upbringings and are fated to find one another and to do horrific acts of their own.
This is a well crafted book that examines not just the terrible murder but also the tremendously flawed legal and penal systems in place in 1968 Joliet and Illinois.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hard read, for the sheer pain and dysfunction involved. When Bill O'Connell was a freshman in high school, a childhood friend was murdered. The victim, Dadvid Stukel, was fourteen, so were the two boys who sexually assaulted and horrifically murdered him. That's the start of this harrowing book; the rest is the author's compelling examination of how generational trauma and family dysfunction, can lead to very dark outcomes. O'Connell, a sports writer, says that he always wanted to write a book about this event, to dig deeper into the story, and try to understand how his gentle friend's life came to such a violent end.
David Stukel was an incredibly "normal," happy kid, who came from a very Leave It To Beaver kind of family. His parents were very involved, very protective, and his life was fairly idyllic, by most standards. The home lives and histories of the two boys who murder him, are anything but normal or happy, and when the two backgrounds collide, on a country road, the outcome is catastrophic for all involved. O'Connell examines the countless ways their differences may have contributed to this seemingly senseless crime, and reminds us of how easy it is to simply be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. The lives of the victim's family, and the lives of the 14 year old killers and their families, were never the same, after that day, in 1968.
This is a very tragic, sad story, all around, but well researched and told from a reasonably unbiased perspective. Home sick, I read it in one day; .

[Gerald · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible people, doing horrible things. Specifically two horrible 14 year olds sexually assault another 14 year old boy on the first day of high school 1968 in Joliet Illinois. Then the book follows the family of victim for several decades - nice people, the son just was in the wrong place - and also follows the two perpetrators, a couple of sociopaths, with miserable, lying, stealing, cheating alcoholic parents and siblings. Two stars would be very generous maybe 1 1/2.

[Jo Besser · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the beginning I wasn't sure what to expect. I felt confused with how the book was going back between the past, and what seemed like the present. It took me a while to understand this was just O'Connell's way of writing.

Without giving too much away, I don't think the two people who murdered David Stukel should have been paroled. This is my personal opinion. However, read this book and make up your own mind.

[Katie F · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Fourteen" is a book that I saw at the Joliet Area Historical Museum and was intrigued by. I read the first few pages on Google Reads and ordered a copy from Amazon. It's the story of three boys from opposite ends of the social spectrum growing up in Joliet in the late 60s. Two boys accosted another leading in a brutal murder and the all too brief incarnation of the perpetrators. The aftermath is enlightening. It reminds me of the Leopold and Loeb case in some ways. Definitely recommend it.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read

I recommend this book to anyone who is raising children and to anyone who is battling substance abuse. Generational substance abuse was at the heart of a cruel and senseless attack on an innocent kid who just happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time and I believe by his very presence triggered something very dark and abhorrent in his two young attackers.

[Belinda Grote · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some books stick with you long after the last page is read and make you start telling everyone about it. I wish I read it sooner.

[Fishface · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently written. Draws on interviews with the people most directly involved -- the perps and the victims -- as well as the police, lawyers, judges and interested parties of all kinds. Not a single wasted word or boring passage. Many well-chosen photos. A real tribute by the author to a guy he knew as a Little League teammate, for a single season 40 years ago. I'd recommend this to anyone.