Conquering Darkness: Memoir of the Serial Killers Wife

222 Pages·2011·1.56 MB·English

by  Alice M Swafford

Copyright © 2011 Alice M. Swafford
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 1463797303
isbn-13: 9781463797300
eBook ISBN: 978-1-61916-858-9
No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without
written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
articles and reviews.
This book is not a work of fiction. The recollection of the facts and the events as
they occurred were achieved through painstaking reflections that are braided
together by honesty and an intense desire, on the part of both authors, to arrive at
the truth. For privacy reasons, some of the names have been changed.
Cover and eBook Designed by: Create Space
For information contact: womenswriteselfpub.com
Version 2011 8 16
Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Ronaldo Ali and Paityn Ali Lige for their patience, love
and support during our life-altering experience.
[Thanks to Roberta L. Miller, our sister, auntie, and friend.
Thank you, Herbert B. Wood for all your love and support.
Karen L. Harris, thank you so much for “being there” for us.]
Thanks to Recordnet.com and Scott Smith for chronicling the State of
California’s prosecution of William Jennings Choyce for crimes against the
community of women.

…and then there was this old woman,
A sturdy climber, who
Reached up towards the rapist’s eyes,
To pull down,
With lofty satisfaction-
Two more dirty marbles
For her heavy, heavy sack.
Table of Contents

COPYRIGHT PAGE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
TITLE PAGE
EPIGRAM
1: Day One of Closing Arguments
2: How Could This be?
3: 2002—Santa Rita County Jail Facility
4: Proper Introductions— Alice
5: Proper Introductions— William
6: Early
7: About the Times
8: First Date with the Boy from the “Good Family”
9: True Love so Fast
10: A Sign-1973
11: The Mystery at Fort Ord
12: It Was never About Making Love
13: The Sweetest Desire
14: Home Again, 1976
15: Early Betrayal, 1977
16: Who in the Hell Did I Marry? 1978
17: When Times Were Normal
18: The Loss of His Beloved
19: The Guns & Drugs
20: Starting with the Pornography
21: A Revelatory Note
22: War of the Choyce’s
23: Mr. “Baby, Baby, Please”
24: Mama’s Boy
25: Darkness Everywhere
26: Voices & Madness & the Long Period of Upheaval
27: The Lady Next Door Jumped Out of Her Window…
28: West Oakland, William Staked His Claim
29: Fine China
30: My Volunteer Service at BAWAR (Bay Area Women Against Rape)
31: Monster’s Home
32: Self-Doubt, the Other Monster in My Life
33: After Separating from William, the 2nd & Final Time
34: “Crazy as a Bessie Bug”
35: A Coward at Heart
36: One More Chance for Daddy
37: “I’m Not Scared of You Anymore!”
38: DEEPER
39: The Making of a Serial Killer
40: A silent Cry for Help?
41: New Day-a Reflection
42: The Touch of Evil CAME DOWN On Me
43: Please, No More Suffering!
44: A Good Man for Alice
45: Everything Black
46: Mirror, Mirror
47: SNAP!!!
48: Keeping My Depression in Check
49: Livin’ in the Light
50: Finally, the Trial & My Testimony
51: Closing Arguments, Part II
52: What I Learned
53: Guilty
54: The Aftermath
55: Youtube.com
56: Last Note
1
Day One of Closing Arguments, Part I

It was August 7, 2008.
I remember walking up the cement stairs to the courthouse where my former
spouse was being tried for THREE counts of capital murder and FOUR counts
of rape. It was the first day of closing arguments in the guilt phase of the trial,
and the weight of that reality sent a ripple of tremors through my body. I didn’t
know if I could hold myself up long enough to make it to the top. It seemed to
take forever.
Finally, I made it to the area where everyone entering the courthouse was
being screened for anything metal, especially guns. Damn, I thought, this is some
serious shit! But I was ready for the first stage of my journey. Before I left home,
I emptied my purse of everything except my driver’s license, some mints and a
pack of Kleenex. I also took off all my jewelry so that I could I pass though the
detectors without a beep.
Mission accomplished!
After I made it to the court room, my legs felt a little lighter. I had been to
this courthouse one other time when I was summoned to testify for the
prosecution near the beginning of William’s trial. But that little bit of familiarity
did nothing to calm the new set of nerves that were afire beneath my skin. I
braced myself when I saw the back of my former spouse’s head. He was
completely bald. His head was perfectly round and smooth like a caramel globe
with a medium stem at the tip. He looked gentle from behind. Real gentle.
Funny, but I had no memory of how William looked when I testified earlier. Was
he bald then?
I sat down very, very softly.