That first letter took me a long time to write. I was torn between the emotion of the horrific crime the media were saying he had committed, and the memories of my families friendship with him, his wife, his kids and his siblings. I thought about it long and hard and in the end decided to go with my heart; I felt compelled to write and just acknowledge the situation. It was a short letter, simply saying that we had heard the news and were of course shocked by it, and offering concern for his kids and family in dealing with it. I have always tried to live my life by not judging things until I had all the information, and decided to do so here also.

I received a letter back from him within a week or so. He didn't beat around the bush or try to bullshit me, but admitted his guilt immediately. He gave a brief version of events and thanked me for writing, and touched on the long road he had ahead. He wrote: “It only takes a few seconds, and life as you know it changes...It wasn’t meant to happen, but it did, and that’s that...” and in those words I saw the question - Are these the words of a killer? Or is he simply resigned to his fate? I'm not sure if at that point I really wanted to know the answer. I was too busy dealing with the horrible reality that our friends (he and his family) would be in for a very traumatic time ahead. I wrote a short replying letter, intent on it being the last contact I would have with him, feeling that I had done what I had set out to do. Then, as a PS at the bottom, I added: "If you ever want to write your story, let me know."

To this day I am not sure why I wrote it; it was impulsive and I can only put it down to writers curiosity. I had had some success with short stories in Australian magazines and had spent some years working on a manuscript which had received some good reviews from publishers. I had been writing from age 16 and had always been drawn to 'real' stories about 'real' people. I don't think I actually thought at this point that Normie might seriously consider my proposal.

When I saw that next letter in my letterbox, I sensed immediately that something was about to throw me into emotional turmoil. In it he told me of his discussion recently with one of the prisons nurses - about a dream she had had about him writing a book that helped people understand drugs and how easily they can ruin a life - then the next day he had received my letter. "Almost like it was meant to be." he said. "So, if you were going to write my story, how would you do it?" I don't know what shocked me more, the fact that he was considering it, or the fact that I was, and I knew exactly how to answer that question.

#Normie #ShardsofIce #Ice #MethAmphetamine #AlisonSampson