The Famous Novelists Who Tried to Cover Up a Cold-Blooded Murder
In 1944, Lucien Carr stabbed another man to death, claiming he made unwarranted sexual advances toward him.
Lucien Carr was 14 when he first met David Kammerer in their hometown of St. Louis. David was a 28-year-old university gym teacher and the pair met when he led a boy scout nature hike that Lucien participated in.
The true nature of their relationship has never properly been defined as the answer changes depending on who is asked. Witnesses on both sides have detailed how the other was harassed, stalked, and scorned.
Some say David quickly became infatuated with Lucien and made several unwarranted sexual advances toward him over the years. After Lucien moved to New York City for university, David reportedly followed him, moving into a nearby apartment. On one occasion, a security guard caught David sneaking out of Lucien’s apartment after he had snuck in to watch him sleep.
Others claimed it was the other way around —that David was in fact heterosexual and it was Lucien who was obsessed. A mutual friend named Patricia Healy alleged that Lucien often manipulated David into writing his university essays and that it was David who tried to rid himself of Lucien, once pushing him to the…
