Dance With The Devil

It was now December of Barbara Bentley's Crazy Year.  And the close-call car wreck, the discovery that her husband John carried a gun and their tumble down the staircase -- bizarre episodes -- had pushed Barbara to the edge.  Nothing about life with John Perry was adding up anymore.  And a part of her sensed that if she didn't get to the bottom of it, it would be at her peril. 

Because this was the era before the Internet, Barbara started her hunt for answers at the local library. 

Dennis Murphy: So the question of your research was, "Who is this man I'm married to?"

Barbara: Yes.  Just trying to find some proof, something tangible that I could hold onto.

She found a biography of John's father -- Admiral John RICHARD Perry.  At least HE checked out.  The old photo even looked a bit like John.  But there was a glaring omission: "John" the son wasn't mentioned.  Not in Admiral Perry's obituary either.  Barbara made a beeline for the war history stacks: 

Barbara: And I went and found a book on the Congressional Medal Of Honor winners from Vietnam.  And John wasn't in the book.

Barbara then took her sleuthing to the streets, where she traced John to his teaching job at the university.  But his car wasn't there, and the school said the name "Perry" wasn't on their roster of professors.  Barbara then tried to track down his children -- but there was no astronaut son, no musician daughter.

One by one, John's stories weren't checking out.  Barbara now held some powerful cards against John Perry -- but she couldn't see how to play them.  Was John sick?  Was he a spy?  Barbara fervently wanted to believe a logical explanation could account for her husband's lies.  But before she could see her next move, john came home with good news. 

Barbara:  He comes home with this story that he's got another job with the government contract service.  And he was gonna go to Egypt to be part of a peace mission.  And it was a very good salary.  You know, we calculated it out.  We could be debt-free in the six months that he would be over there.

John may spin fishy stories about some topics, Barbara reasoned, but for years she and John had been socializing with his military contacts and overseas clients.  She decided the Egypt trip sounded legit -- and exciting.

But before the dream visit to the Pyramids Barbara had to squeeze in a quick business trip to Indianapolis.  That's when odd tilted toward ominous.  It started at the hotel restaurant, where after checking in, Barbara took a dinner table for one.

Barbara: I look up and here comes John Perry walking in. Carrying a little toiletry bag.  And I'm flabbergasted.

With a broad smile, John told Barbara he'd taken a break from preparations with his peace mission team to come surprise her.  And back in the hotel room, Barbara entered the bathroom where John was taking a shower -- and saw, carefully laid out on the counter, some surgical gloves -- and a strange amber bottle. 

Barbara: I said, "What is that?"  'Cause there's no label on it.  He says, "Oh, that's ether.  The doctor told me to put that on the owie I have on the back of my neck."  I said, "Ether?"  I said, "that stuff is lethal."

Dennis Murphy: It's only later you'd think about that trip differently, wouldn't you?

Barbara: Yes.

And there was yet another warning sign that Barbara didn't - perhaps couldn't - see.  On an outing to San Francisco's Japanese Tea Garden, John asked her to teach him how to use the video camera.

John: Luck is coming your way.

Barbara: Let's hope so!

He'd never expressed much interest in the gadget in the past, but now he was acting like Barbara wasn't going to be around for much longer to operate it. 

John: Here comes Barbara, she's walking too fast so I can't really pan on her...

The woman you see in this shaky footage has no idea that the person awkwardly manning the camera, her husband of more than eight years, would soon attempt to snuff out her life.

And now the Egyptian trip was finally underway -- or was it?  Once again, Barbara sensed John was up to something -- but what?  Dragging Barbara all over San Francisco, then onto a plane headed to Washington, John explained they needed to rendezvous with an elusive admiral who held their travel documents. 

Five days into the mind-numbingly confusing ordeal, they checked into a D.C.-area hotel.  Barbara, exhausted and with nerves frayed to the breaking point, had finally -- once and for all -- had enough. 

Barbara: I was just really crying.  And I said, "John, I can't take this anymore.  Either we're meeting with the admiral tomorrow morning or I'm going home.  That's it."  So I'm pushing John into a corner without realizing it.

Inside the hotel, down the end of the labyrinth of hallways set far away from everyone, Barbara made her way to their room.  John had already headed up. 

Barbara: Immediately, as I walked in, I smelled ether.  And, "what are you doing with the ether?"  I said, "John, come out of there."  And I got close enough to him that he could grab me.  And he tried to put a wash rag doused with ether on my face.  And I began a battle for my life. 

Barbara wrenched free and made it out of the room and into the deserted hallway to yell for help -- but John pulled her back in.

Barbara: He gets me on the ground.  And he pins me down. And iIcan see the jar above me (crying) with the last drop of ether coming out.  And now he throws it to the side and he has me pinned down.  And-- (sniffling) and out of the depths of my soul, I looked at him. I'm looking in these eyes.  I mean, these eyes are wild.  They're a beast.  And I looked at him and I say, "John, if there's a problem, we can talk about this." 

Barbara's words broke the spell of John's rage.  He rose off her chest and led her by the wrist to the bed.  Lying there, John Perry wearily explained to her that he had cancer, and had only wanted to knock Barbara out temporarily so he could end it all by jumping off a nearby bridge. 

Dennis Murphy: This is a moment where you buy the story or you don't, Barbara.

Barbara: I am so confused at this point, I don't know what the story is. I'm just kind of calming him down.  And I finally realized, "I need to leave this room or I won't leave this room alive."

So when it seemed that John had drifted off to sleep, Barbara, frantic, quietly tiptoed out of the room. 

Barbara: Ran as fast as I could to the main desk and told them "Please call the police.  My husband just tried to murder me with ether."

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