alice atkins

by adele adams

illustrated by roy dismas

alice atkins was born in m-------, kentucky on march 29, 1985. her mother worked in a restaurant chain called smokey bob's . it was a local chain that never succeeded in going national and it went bankrupt in 1992. her mother's blue uniform that she wore to work was the first thing that alice remembered. "mister rogers" was alice's first favorite tv show. she would have many more. alice's mother had left her father (?) on january 7, 1988. or maybe he left her. (citation needed) "cops" debuted on march 11 1989. it would always be one of alice's favorite shows. she always felt a pleasurable rush of anticipation when watching the opening credits. until alice was four and a half years old, alice's mother had always managed to have her looked after by her own mother or by a neighbor when she went to work. but when the grandmother died suddenly on august 23, 1989, for the first time she left alice in day care. the expense incurred was a major annoyance to her. alice was a quiet child, content to watch television while she was awake. she did not like other children much when she first encountered them, nor did they take much interest in her. alice was not a big eater as a small child. this would change. there would be periods in her life when she liked food almost as much as she liked television. alice's mother did not like her very much, regretted having had her, and was not averse to stating as much to alice. on september 7, 1990, alice was enrolled in preschool by her mother. the two teachers, maura williams (caucasian, born 9-5-56) and sosha duval-harris (african-american, born 5-2-66) found her a quiet but unresponsive child content to stare into space for long periods or play with a single toy, like a block or ball. (note: maura williams is now serving a 5 to 8 year term in c-------- state penitentiary for second class child endangerment. sosha duval-harris is serving 25 to 40 in s------ federal penitentiary for drug trafficking. both were highly cooperative with interviewers in the preparation of this report.) on july 8, 1992, "melrose place" debuted. alice quickly adopted it as her favorite show. on august 10, 1992, alice's mother met joe miller. her involvement with joe miller led to a new determination to free herself of alice. with the bankruptcy of smokey joe's in october 1992, jodi atkins lost her job. both joe miller and jodi atkins, before her decease, agree that it was about this time that miller suggested that she take to the streets to augment their funds. their accounts differ as to the alacrity and enthusiasm with which she accepted his suggestion. jodi atkins stated in an interview in d---------- penitentiary in 2007 that she sought work as a dancer in strip clubs, but "they just laughed at me" as her body type was not considered suitable by any of the establishments she applied to. she also stated that she waited until her unemployment payments ran out before commencing her career as a sex worker. joe miller disputes this. he also disputes the extent to which jodi atkins contributed to his upkeep at this time. he states he did work "here and there" and received payments "under the table", but has not cooperated with law enforcement in identifying his alleged employers. what is not disputed by either party is that alice atkins and joe miller watched a lot of television together in 1993 and 1994. two shows they both recall enjoying at this time were "the adventures of brisco county junior" and "homicide: life on the street". despite intense questioning by local, state and federal investigators, alice has declined to implicate joe miller in charges involving child pornography, child prostitution or improper touching. it was at about this time that alice developed a large appetite, though not for healthy foods. joe miller neither confirms nor denies any responsibility for this development. "sure, i ate a lot of pizza. it's what you do when you watch television. i suppose the kid was eating pizza too. maybe even some fries. what else would she be doing?" joe miller is currently on death row in i---------- state prison, with appeals pending and no set execution date. jodi atkins in 2007 stated that she "tried like hell" to make sure alice attended school in the period from 1992 to 1997, when her legal residence was 34 6th street . she expressed particular vehemence about the truancy authorities, stating "i have been dealing with m------------ bureaucrats all my life but those c------------s were the worst", and added "i just wanted to get them out from up from my ass". the school board in the area has often been cited for superior effort in enforcing truancy regulations. in september 1997, now aged 12, alice was enrolled in p s 33 in the fifth grade. she had been several times recommended by teachers for special education but had been passed over for candidates deemed more needful. there is no record of jodi atkins making any application to the school in this connection. joe miller, when asked about it, professed ignorance. "i don't know nothing about it." in 1997, "ally mcbeal" debuted on television, followed by "south park" and "buffy the vampire slayer". all three became favorites of alice and joe miller , although alice had some reservations about the second, and joe miller about the third. both express unreserved enthusiasm, to this day, about "ally mcbeal". joe miller at this time was spending less time at the atkins apartment. alice, joe miller, and jodi atkins all agree on this but differ on details. note: television shows have always been the only subject on which alice has been at all forthcoming to interviewers - and she is now a veteran of interviews, considered a "hardened evader" but unskillful at manipulation. moving right along. on march 18, 1998 the incident in the boys bathroom in p s 33 occurred which first brought alice to the serious attention of the police. (hereafter referred to as incident a - "i-a" for short.) ******** "i need a drink," thought pete jones (name changed). "desperately". he scanned what he had typed. i better delete "moving right along", he thought. he tried to concentrate, but gave up and looked out the window. it was 2:43 in the morning. the copies of interviews with alice, jodi, joe miller and others were stacked on his desk. he reached for the latest one with alice, and knocked it on the floor. when he bent down to pick up the scattered pages he felt a sharp pain in his knee. "i will finish this in the morning. i have plenty of time." to be continued