Morbid Fascination

OK... I am happy to report that I am not the only one struck with a morbid fascination since seeing the film, Heavenly Creatures. Maybe its the abnormal psychology thing or simply the viciousness/apparent premeditation of the attack. I do know that the film captured my interest, or was it the story itself?

After researching, I was astonished to find that Juliet Hulme is now Anne Perry, a crime novelist with an impressive fan base. It seems amazing to me that her readers seem to draw no sense of irony related to her true identity. Maybe many are unaware of her true identity, though there is plenty of information available. Perry has been somewhat tight-lipped (as you can imagine) about this episode in her early life. But there is a very interesting interview she granted to Ian Rankin in which she discusses redemption and responsibility. However, she also refers to herself as an 'accessory' to the murder and claims that Pauline threatened to kill herself if they did not kill Pauline's mother, the 'obstacle' to their remaining together. In the past, she has also alluded to her TB medications causing her mental incapacitation at the time. Perry also refutes that her relationship with Pauline was homosexual in nature. She is a devout Mormon and seems to have come to some kind of peace with herself and her past. She resides in Scotland.

Pauline's life after prison has not been as glamorous, though decidedly successful considering that she was convicted of murdering her mother. She went on to study and teach, acquiring the post of headmistress before retiring. She managed to maintain her anonymity a bit longer than Juliet. She took the name Hilary Nathan and now owns and operates a riding school in rural England. She is considered a devout Roman Catholic and our only real understanding of her inner life comes from a brief explanation by her sister, Wendy, that she is fully remorseful for the murder.

Neither Pauline nor Juliet ever married. Juliet classifies herself as heterosexual and there a bit of evidence that Pauline is homosexual. I do find it interesting that Juliet claims that there was no homosexuality involved. No matter the physical relationship the girls had, without benefit of the film and only when reading the diary passages and trial testimony, it is clear that the relationship was an explosively charged and intense one. Though the insanity defense did not stick, the defense psychologist explains that the girls were suffering from a folie a deux, or 'communicative insanity'. This disorder is generally characterized by one dominant ego and another receptive ego. What may have been a more accurate diagnosis is folie simultanée, where two equal egos influence each other in shared delusions. What is most amazing is that these women have been to a precipice of madness and it seems that each were able to pull back from that step, in deed, anyway. There is no way that we will ever know the truth about the girls, their mental states and, ultimately, who they were and why they murdered Nora. The story's unfolding in Heavenly Creatures does show us a vivid, rich possibility. In the end, though, its just a movie and the truth of it all will never be truly understood.