Unspeakable Terror

On Wednesday, August 1, 1990, a 22-year-old Cana­dian student named Karyn Freedman arrived in Paris and made her way with her boyfriend, Stream, to an apartment on Boulevard Masséna. The apartment was rented by Stream’s elderly Bard College professor and mentor Édouard Roditi, who had invited the couple to stay for part of the summer to explore Paris. Stream left for dinner that evening with Roditi. But Robert Dinges, who was Roditi’s 30-year-old lover and also staying at the apartment, was making dinner for himself at home. He offered to make dinner for Karyn as well. Tired after her travels in Europe, she was glad to stay in and unwind. Robert had started to drink heavily during dinner and, feeling increasingly uncomfortable, Karyn decided to leave the apartment and wait for Stream in a local coffee shop. But it was too late. Robert was large and muscular, and blocked her way out. With a kitchen knife in his hand he grabbed her hair and in broken...