MY FATHER IS A SERIAL KILLER

Jenn Carson had happy childhood memories of her "loving" dad. But when she learned he was a murderer, her world imploded. How she survived the truth and found her way to peace

- K.C. BAKER and CHRISTINE PELISEK

From the very moment Jenn Carson was born, her father, James, was seemingly devoted to her. At just 23, the young dad would “hold me, feed me, dress me,” says Jenn, while her mom, Lynne, 25, went to work as a teacher. Jenn’s earliest memories include her dad taking her to the petting zoo, playing with her in the park, reading to her at bedtime and gently brushing and braiding her hair in the backyard of their Phoenix home. “He was loving, he was fun,” Jenn says. “I remember him being very attentive.”

Though her parents divorced in the late 1970s when Jenn was in preschool—and she and her mom moved to Southern California—Jenn still cherished memories of her dad. But one day in 1982 a fateful knock on her door changed everything. “It was the Secret Service—literally men in black,” recalls Jenn, who was 7 years old at the time. The men had questions for Lynne: “They asked her, ‘Have you been in contact with your ex-husband?’ ‘What are his political beliefs?’ ‘Has he ever threatened to kill a president?’” says Jenn.

It turns out that Jenn’s father—who changed his name to Michael Bear Carson—and his new wife, Suzan, were being investigated by authorities for murder and for planning to assassinate then President Ronald Reagan. They were dubbed the “San Francisco Witch Killers” because they claimed they murdered their victims for being “demons” and “witches.”