Some who are far more knowledgeable about the Marian Baker case than I  have known from the start that the facts as presented, at least in the book by Richard Gehman aren't quite right. Some are far from the mark. Some don't hit the target in the least.

I've come to learn much about the book, "A Murder In Paradise" by Richard Gehman. What I've learned I've learned from some who know the facts better than anyone else in the world. Their knowledge is the actual truth.

It's not that well known how the book was written. Gehman didn't do much leg work.

He culled newspaper clippings, some files, actually using the help of friends and colleagues in Lancaster, rather than doing the grunt work himself. What resulted was a superficial and loosely written retelling of some facts, a presentation of erroneous information and the insertion of a mood of scandal and innuendo.

This wasn't a project to tell the truth.

It clearly wasn't a passion of Gehman's to do his own research, figure out the facts, examine the discrepancies and ultimately tell the whole story.

He left much ground uncovered.

He didn't do a disservice to Ed Gibbs.

Ed was far more than Gehman ever learned or shared. If he did learn the truth about Gibbs, apparently he didn't care to tell it.

Gehman did a huge disservice to Marian.

By playing hard and fast with the rules, and taking the lazy way out and having others do the leg work for him, he slighted her name and her reputation.

The book had no underlying purpose other than to earn money for Gehman and feed the preoccupation with the murder that most Lancastrians held.

It was a sure seller, at least in the relatively local market.

Some purchased the book simply to have a record of the local geographic ties.

Some wanted it because they knew some of the folks involved.

And some were true crime buffs.

If Gehman was going to write "the" book on the Marian Louise Baker murder, he owed it to everyone to do his homework and present the truth in a respectful and professional manner.

He skimmed the surface and published rumor, someone-who-knows-someone-told-me sort of stuff.

He didn't devote himself to the factual research that everyone deserved.

I'm curious to this day what process he used to determine what to include and what to ignore.

Surely, the publishers wanted to make money.

And scandal sells.

When you get down to the very bottom of it, he didn't have to write the book at all.

But being a Lancaster boy, I think, made this seem like an easy write.

The interest in the murder bordered on obsession. There was no question it would sell.

Add to that Gibb's refusal to provide any additional details other than his "impulse" claim and there you have it.

I hold authors to high standards. I trust that when they complete a piece, whether it be a short article or a lengthy novel, it's based on research done with integrity.

The smallest error in their published facts bothers me quite a bit.

If they get the basics wrong, the whole piece now is suspect to me.

Case in point......

Gehman wrote that the O'Donels, who raised Marian had younger daughters.

Completely wrong.

They had a daughter and a son.

That fact is basic and not integral to the facts of the murder.

But it's integral to the story.

What kind of research did Gehman do?

Apparently not much and most of it wasn't done very well.

His name in the publishing field doesn't impress me.

Simply because he had written and been published before affords him no freebies with me.

It shouldn't have with anyone.

But the fact that he cared so little about some of the simple facts taints his work.

To him, Marian's foster siblings weren't important. But they were important to the family, to those who loved Marian.

That error alone tells me all I need to know about Richard Gehman.

He simply didn't care.

It's been rumored and published that he did have a clear problem with alcohol. I have no idea what role that could have played in his publishing of incorrect content.

I can only imagine how Marian's friends and family would have felt, reading or hearing about Gehman's sloppy presentation of the facts surrounding the worst thing that ever happened to them.

It would make some feel as if they were raped and pillaged after Marian endured the bludgeoning by Ed Gibbs.

I have been told that Marian's brother, Ross, had extremely strong feelings about the book.

He saw it as nothing more than a salacious and sleazy attempt to sensationalize the murder and therefore increase the profits.

Gehman dabbled in the lives of all involved. And did it with carelessness and a lack of empathy.

He should have left it alone if he truly didn't care enough to present the truth and accurate facts.

I want to know how long it took him to write the book, from start to finish, including the time it took his friends to do the actual digging and research.

His thanks to them in the book represents more than it seems.

Without their legwork there would have been no book.

Gehman certainly didn't put the time or effort into it to make sure it was a complete and honorable work.

I'm going to go back to 'square one' with the case.

There are far too many errors published and accepted as fact.

And if I'm going to tell the truth about Marian Louise Baker, her life and her death, there is no way she's going to be victimized again. Not by me.

I can't control the facts. They are what they are.

But her story, up to the time of her death, is beautiful!

It's filled with family and love and laughter. Yes, there were hurts and tears. No doubt about that. But how the family handled the painful phases of life with faith, dignity and love is a testament to what this family was and is made of.

To this day, there are those who wish to have the world know the real Marian.

She was shortchanged in the saddest of ways after her death. And it was done for profit, with carelessness.

This family still cares. And this family still loves Marian.

Words are cheap. Actions truly do speak louder than words.

Marian was never forgotten and never minimized by her loved ones.

And to this day, they care that the real girl gets her day.

And I'll do all I can to make sure that happens :)