The rape and murder of 17-year old Rebecca (Becky) Middleton on holiday here in 1996 from her home in Belleville, Ontario still grips Bermudiansâ psyche.

Now a new book in the writing will tweak those emotions afresh even as it leads the reader behind some veils hung in the tragedyâs aftermath.

ãIt is the story of Becky, the events of her murder, and its aftermath, as well as pertinent historical and political issues in Bermuda that impacted the events of this case.ä Those words march briskly from the introduction to Dr. Carol Shumanâs so far untitled work after two years of research and interviews.

Dr. Shuman, a psychologist who used to practice locally, wants most for readers to know Becky and to reach closure on the ugly drama of July 3 at Ferry Reach. ãThe victim gets lost in something like this,ä she notes.

After the crime, a flawed police investigation and the acceptance by the Attorney Generalâs office of a story given by one of the accused, Kirk Mundy, that he had ãconsensual sexä with Becky, hampered the judicial system.

Later, circumstantial and forensic evidence showed Mr. Mundyâs statement to be false. He received a five-year jail sentence for being an accessory after the fact to murder. Justis Smith, his co-accused, was acquitted of murder on the instructions of the trial judge ö a decision untouched by the Privy Council.

During those unsettling events, Dr. Shuman was at a crossroads. ãI had closed the [psychology] practice,ä she says, ãowing to my experience with breast cancer. I was working on my [PhD] dissertation when Becky was killed so I didnât have time to get involved with what was going on then. Later I had time available and this was the culmination of all my professions throughout my life ÷ journalism, nursing and psychology.ä

Saying that she is not advocating for Beckyâs family in the book, the writer offers: ãIâm doing serious research. Iâve included the Middletons because they are retraumatised by the book, period. I donât want them to feel violated one more time.ä

For credibility and revelation she was very careful about sources for her material ö the Middleton family, court records, police records and other documentary support including access to records of the Serious Crimes Commission hearings that sprang from the slaying. ãAnything I say can be supported through documents and records,ä she stresses. ãI have many quotes that I would not use because people tend to deny it when faced with the political pressures that go with their statements.ä

All her contacts have been helpful, Dr. Shuman says. ãEveryone in past and present governments has co-operated. That includes [former Attorney General Elliott] Motley. That includes [Police Commissioners] Jonathan Smith and Colin Coxall. No one has withheld any information that I can see. Documents have been provided on request.ä

As a result, new facts abound between the covers of the book, the author promises. ãIâve been able to find out what actually happened and what went wrong and what happened the night Becky was killed, what happened during the investigation, what happened during the month that followed the murder, the important events of the Serious Crimes Inquiry and the pressures put on people throughout the investigation.ä

But that isnât all. Past the new facts there are startling discoveries in this story, ones at which she will only hint tantalisingly: ãThere are two. It all has to do with the decisions that were made in charging and the reasons those were made.ä

The murder and subsequent agonising and finger pointing after the mistakes of the time have led to improvement, in her view. She has praise for the current government legal team: ãI do believe theyâre doing what they can within the law. People recognised that there were problems in the case, but I do think theyâve learned from them. I donât think it would happen again the same way.ä

Law enforcement authorities, though, took a beating during the inquiry but it isnât Dr. Shumanâs purpose to keep kicking them. ãI think itâs different now. I think theyâve done what they have to do.ä However, she notes that not all the Commissionâs recommendations have been put in place ÷ one of the most important from the psychologistâs point of view being the form of identification parade.

ãThe police tell me thereâs been no change in the line-up procedure,ä she reports. ãThe victim still has to stand in front of the accused. The Meens family (friends of the Middletons) is still suffering the emotions of that.ä

The verdict on the major players Dr. Shuman leaves up to the reader. ãI just tell the story.ä

That storyâs now in its final phases and the author reveals that the decision has been made on income from the bookâs sale. Part of that money will go to Beckyâs scholarship fund in Canada and possibly to setting up a victimâs rights programme in the young womanâs memory.

The final drafts are almost ready to be sent in to the various overseas publishers who are interested in the book as its touch-ups are completed. Dr. Shuman even has some tentative titles but declines to reveal them for fear of piracy ÷ titles canât be copyrighted, she says.

But itâs not finished yet and closure is still a chapter away. ãThe epilogue depends on the DPPâs review of the case,ä Dr. Shuman says, referring to that recent promise. ãThe epilogue will have a significant impact on the book.ä