Sleeping with a monster At first, Linda Bergstrom's marriage to her husband James was idyllic. They were young and in love; he was about to enter the Navy and she was eager to start a family. But it wasn't long before the dream exploded. James became abusive and violent, prone to sudden bursts of anger, long silences, and unexplained disappearances. But Linda vowed to hold on, despite the pain and fear . . . and her disturbing suspicions about her husband's secret life. Then, not long after their move to Houston, Texas, she made a terrifying discovery: James's hidden cache containing duct tape, a ski mask, and handcuffs. No longer could Linda Bergstrom deny the hideous truth. The man she lived with, the man she married for love, was a dangerous psychopath. And there was no escape and nowhere to run. Because no one—not her friends, the Navy, or the police—would believe her. “Superbly researched and beautifully written. Kathryn Casey joins Carlton Stowers as the premier chroniclers of Texas crime. I devoured this book in one Texas-sized gulp.” Gregg Olsen, New York Times bestselling author of Abandoned Prayers - New York Times “With She Wanted it All, Casey stakes her claim as one of the best in the business.” - M. William Phelps, author of Perfect Poison “Kathryn Casey is one of the best true crime writers today...This is a ‘do not miss’ book.” - Ann Rule, author of Green River “Never has a book been more aptly titled. Masterfully, Casey weaves a dark and disturbing look into a world of advantaged youths who throw it all away in favor of drugs, booze and bad company, leaving a sordid trail of destruction - and death - in the wake. A troubling tale, indeed.” - Carlton Stowers Sleeping with a monster At first, Linda Bergstrom's marriage to her husband James was idyllic. They were young and in love; he was about to enter the Navy and she was eager to start a family. But it wasn't long before the dream exploded. James became abusive and violent, prone to sudden bursts of anger, long silences, and unexplained disappearances. But Linda vowed to hold on, despite the pain and fear . . . and her disturbing suspicions about her husband's secret life. Then, not long after their move to Houston, Texas, she made a terrifying discovery: James's hidden cache containing duct tape, a ski mask, and handcuffs. No longer could Linda Bergstrom deny the hideous truth. The man she lived with, the man she married for love, was a dangerous psychopath. And there was no escape and nowhere to run. Because no one—not her friends, the Navy, or the police—would believe her.   ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kathryn Casey is an award-winning, Houston-based journalist, the author of six highly acclaimed true crime books, and the creator of the Sarah Armstrong mystery series. SINGULARITY, the first in the Armstrong series, was included in Booklist's best crime novel debuts of 2009, and Library Journal chose the third in the series, THE KILLING STORM, for its list of the best books of 2010. Casey's protagonist is a Texas Ranger/profiler headquartered in Company A, Houston. In addition, Ann Rule calls Casey, "one of the best in the true crime genre."       Casey has appeared on Oprah, Oprah Winfrey's Oxygen Network, Court TV, Biography, Nancy Grace, E! Network, Investigation Discovery, and A&E. Evil Beside Her The True Story of a Texas Woman's Marriage to a Dangerous Psychopath By Kathryn Casey HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2008 Kathryn Casey All right reserved. ISBN: 9780061582011 Chapter One What attracts one person to another has long fascinated poets, perfumers, psychologists, astrologists, and biologists. Is it an emotional, spiritual, or physical link that binds a man and a woman? Unable to diagnose passion, experts have relegated the phenomenon to the territory of the unknown. "No human creature can give orders to love," dismissed George Sand. "Do you know how uncontrolled and unreliable the average human being is in all that concerns sexual life?" asked Sigmund Freud. When a union turns violent, criminologists are left to ponder the dilemma of what first drew, and later bound, a woman to her lover/abuser. Why didn't she just get out? they ask. Such large numbers of those battered as adults were abused as children that decades ago experts reluctantly came to one conclusion: Somewhere—whether in DNA or day-to-day experience—there is a force at work that defies random coupling. Abusers and victims seek each other out. After it was all over, with the acute perception of hindsight, Linda would conclude life had set her up for James Bergstrom. That she had been bred to accept violence. And that their union was a tragedy she was fated to live. The neighborhood in which Linda Martinez, nicknamed Lily by her family, grew up is the type of uniquely Houston setting only possible because of the city's lack of zoning. Businesses and industries mix with homes in a patchwork of unrestrained urban development. Tucked just outsid