Life With Grandma and Grandpa After Prison
by
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This is from the first chapter.
"You would think that being in prison would humanize a person and grant them a bit of humility. If the committed person had a chip on their shoulder you would think it would have been knocked off. Wasn’t prison supposed to cleanse the spirit and flush away the evil that resides within the prisoner? Wasn’t prison supposed to teach a profession that would enrich the life of the prisoner upon their release? If any of this is true, what the hell happened to grandma and grandpa?"
In April of 1933 grandma, Mable, was convicted of kidnapping and sentenced to one year in the Shakopee Women’s Reformatory. Grandpa, aka Perley, Duke or Duco, was convicted of 1st degree armed robbery and sentenced to 5-40 years of hard labor in the Stillwater State Prison. They belonged to the ruthless and dangerous Bonrud Gang that committed over 63 felony crimes in Minnesota, South Dakota and Iowa. The seven member gang met their demise in a little western
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About the Book
After the Bonrud Gang went through three shootouts and eventual capture they were put in the Chippewa County jail in Montevideo, Minnesota and transported to Swift County in Benson, Minnesota for their court appearences.
They confessed to over 60 felony crimes in hopes of recieving light sentances. The judge threw the book at the men. Each man was to serve 5 - 40 years at hard labor and the women recieved 1 -5 years in prison.
Did prison temper these people? Not by a long shot. They grew to be very bitter, abusive and controlling people with their families.My grandparents could have been the poster people that treated each other in such disfunctional ways they could have become case studies for marriage councelors.
They started their relationship in termoil and they ended their lives the same way. The damage they caused among their family is evident today, 18 years after their deaths.
About the Author
After my first book, "If Grandma's In Heaven, Watch Out! The 1930's Bonrud Gang", people asked me what ever happened to my grandparents. They went to prison, of coarse, and they just weren't very good citizens after their release. I grew up with them and I was never comfortable around them. Grandma and grandpa were very abusive and controlling. I knew what my mother went through as a child and I wrote about her experiences. Now I wanted to put my experiences in writing in case anyone thought for a second the first book was exaggerated in any way.
The truth is stranger than fiction and I lived the truth. I spent many hours debating if I should write about my family like this but, hopefully they will see my point of view and the true hardships I faced growing up and have a better understanding on how I became the person I am today.
I'm 61 years old and I remember most of these circumstances as if they happened yesterday. There are just some things a person can't forget.
Just maybe some person will read this true story and see the things I have seen. Maybe they will see the same thing inside themself or with someone else and do something to stop it. If that were to happen, my life is fulfilled.