In with the Devil: A Fallen Hero, a Serial Killer, and a Dangerous Bargain for Redemption

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But I think, when you do realise how deeply organic it is, that there's something driving these people, that gets to the point where they really cannot control themselves.” It became Beaumont's mission to get a confession from Hall about Roach and other possible crimes he allegedly committed, including the 1993 disappearance of Tricia Reitler. That was where Keene came in. How did James "Jimmy" Keene target Larry Hall?

The worst was yet to come. His mother sobbed hysterically somewhere behind him, but when the marshals grabbed his arms to lead him out of the court, he first scanned the spectators to find his father—his idol and his best friend. A tall, brawny man with a mustache and full head of dark hair, Big Jim looked a decade younger than his sixty years. But now, upon hearing the sentence, he, too, was stunned, his face pale and eyes unfocused. “Like he was lost,” Jimmy says.My parents divorced when I was 10 years old with 4 years of a prior crossfire hurricane between them. During the separation and after their divorce my Dad was gone and not present in the family home any longer. My Mom had a new huge pressuring responsibility to now raise us kids on her own. Unfortunately the pressure was too great for her alone by herself that she succumbed to it all.

It was 2008, and investigative journalist Hillel Levin had been talking to a serial killer Larry Hall, who was convicted for the 1993 rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, Jessica Roach, and suspected of killing up to 30 other young women. Hall’s first alleged victim – 14-year-old Dean Marie Pyle Peters – disappeared in Michigan when Hall was just a teen. I made it a point for us to bump shoulders together, and as we gently bumped shoulders together I turned around and said, 'Excuse me.' I said, 'Listen' -- I said, 'I'm new here' and said, 'You wouldn't happen to know where the library is, would you?'" Beaumont, Keene remembers, was ecstatic, practically reaching across the table to hug him: “That’s great. Great.” Keene was a former operative for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who worked to gather incriminating evidence on suspected serial killer Larry Hall. [7] Approximately seven months into Keene’s sentence, the FBI and U.S. Attorney Beaumont approached him with an arrangement that would allow Keene to regain his freedom and have a fresh start with a clean record. According to a CNN interview, Beaumont stated this about Jimmy Keene, "He's smart. He's articulate. He's not afraid. And I knew he wanted to get out." [8] When Levin spoke on the phone with Hall to corroborate Keen’s story, he found him to be somewhat defiant. “It’s not like he said, ‘I’m innocent. I never did any of this. They totally set me up.’ Instead, it was, ‘the prosecutor really hated me. Really. I didn’t like him either.’”Still stunned, Jimmy stared at the photos of the girls and listened to Beaumont talk about Hall, barely absorbing the details. Finally he blurted out, “What does this have to do with me?” Keene, James (2023). The Chicago Phoenix: Jimmy Keene's Untold Story (1sted.). Salt Lake City: Silly Goat Media. ISBN 978-1961181007. He decided to finally let out the disgust and anger toward Hall that he had been bottling up ever since Hall had opened up about some of his brutal crimes against young women. "I went across to his cell over there," recalled Keene. "The repulsiveness I felt about him throughout the whole time I had to stay being his friend and the disdain and dislike I had for him, that I thought it was good for me to unload on him and tell him what I really thought of him and who he really was. I said, 'You know, I'm gonna be going home tomorrow, Larry,' and I said, 'You're a crazy killer,' and I started calling him everything you can think of." Yes. Keene portrays a prison guard in the series finale. "He cameoed in the show, which was great fun, at a very intense, emotional, dramatic part of the story," recalled actor Taron Egerton. "[It was] surreal for both of us. But also, I think he felt quite emotional about it because it was a huge episode in his life." Egerton described Keene as being "a really nice guy" who "seemed really pleased and excited and grateful that we were going to such pains to tell his story in the best way we could." Keene has shared his story with multiple news networks. In 2008 Keene was the August feature story in Playboy, "The Strange Redemption of James Keene" which became the feature story of the year. [13]

Now, in April 2023, James Keene just published his third book in the autobiographical franchise and titled it ‘The Chicago Phoenix: Jimmy Keene’s Untold Story’, which follows him prior to going to prison. Comic Years had an amazing opportunity to receive exclusive information about James Keene’s latest novel. James Keene about The Chicago Phoenix At the time, Hall was appealing his conviction for the abduction and murder of a 15-year-old, and there was a possibility he could walk free, and they wanted to ensure that didn't happen. In his book, Keene explained that taking part in the operation allowed him to spend five years with his father, who passed away in 2004.

What crime did Larry Hall commit?

The thematic link between the two becomes explicit. Does Levin believe that the FBI made a similar connection between the men? “For Jimmy to somehow be able to communicate with him,” says Levin, “it has to touch on some of those similar nerves... he has to seem sympathetic with him, before Larry would confess. And that was the button that he could push. Hall was known as the "man in a van" who targeted young girls across Illinois. He came to Beaumont's attention following the death of 15-year-old Jessica Roach in 1993.