We Thought We Knew You

November 16, 2020
In this well-researched if uneven account, Phelps (The Killing Kind) delves into the murder of 60-year-old Mary Yoder. On July 20, 2015, Mary returned home from the chiropractic clinic she shared with her husband in Utica, N.Y., complaining of severe stomach pain. She died two days later of suspected poisoning, though it would take time before the authorities could identify the particular toxin. At first, the police suspected her son, Adam, but evidence emerged that 24-year-old Kaitlyn Conley, Adam’s ex-girlfriend and a receptionist at the clinic, was the culprit. Her desire to get back at Adam after their breakup was the apparent motive. Kaitlyn’s first trial ended in a mistrial; in her second trial, she was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and sentenced to 23 years in prison. The descriptions of the principal players aren’t particularly vivid, and pedestrian, repetitive prose slows the initial background about the Yoder family. The pace picks up in the chapters covering the trials, which are enlivened by quotes from the lawyers, and Phelps does a good job exposing the way reality TV coverage can influence and indeed corrupt perceptions of guilt and innocence. True crime and popular culture fans will be fascinated. Agent: Matthew Valentinas, Kneerim & Williams.

December 11, 2020

When Mary Yoder arrived at her chiropractor practice on July 20, 2015, she was her usual self. Later, Mary began experiencing severe gastrointestinal distress. Two days later she was dead, with colchicine found in her system. Her husband and fellow chiropractor, Bill Yoder, could have ordered the heavily regulated drug, but an anonymous letter informed the police that possible evidence could be found in a jeep belonging to Bill and Mary's son, Adam. However, detectives instead focused on a different suspect: Katie Conley, Adam's ex-girlfriend, who kept her job as the Yoders' office manager despite her tumultuous relationship with their son. Phelps (Beautifully Cruel) makes it clear that he's not penning a whodunit--once investigators focused on Conley, digital forensic evidence uncovered her research into colchicine and her fraudulent purchase of it as well as her plan to blame Adam for the crime. Phelps depicts Conley as a narcissist who feared losing control of Adam, and the book stridently calls out social media efforts to overturn her conviction of manslaughter. VERDICT The author's anger at Conley's glamorization within the true crime community is palpable. Still, though this isn't the balanced account some might prefer, he presents the evidence competently.--Terry Bosky, Madison, WI

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