WHEN DID YOU FIRST HEAR ABOUT THE CASE AND WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO WRITE A BOOK ABOUT IT?

I first learned of the case in 1997 when I read about it in Vanity Fair. In 2005, my agent called and asked if I'd like to write a book about it. John Hess, a retired FBI agent and old friend of Margo's days as an instructor at Quantico, was looking for a published author to write the story and so his agent called my agent and the rest is history.

 

WHY DO YOU THINK THERE IS SUCH PUBLIC INTEREST IN THIS CASE?

I think that there is a certain mystique about the FBI, and so a story involving two agents who were married to each other lends itself to a pretty interesting look at the internal workings and culture of the bureau. Add in a lesbian affair with an international best-selling crime novelist like Patricia Cornwell and you've got an even better story. Then, add in a kidnapping and an attempted murder in a church by an undercover FBI agent gone bad, what more could you ask for? And it's all true.   

 

WHY DID MARGO BENNETT DECIDE TO BREAK HER SILENCE TO YOU?

She first told John Hess the whole story. Then, after we got the contract, I had to ask her to tell me everything all over again and in more detail, partly because my editor wanted me to tell the story entirely from her point of view. Margo agreed with John and me that this was a story that needed to be told and that could be inspirational to anyone in abusive relationships and also anyone who was struggling with his or her own sexuality.

WHO ELSE DID YOU INTERVIEW FOR THE BOOK?

I interviewed Margo's two daughters, her two sisters and her aunt; a number of current and former FBI agents and supervisors who worked with her and/or Gene or could talk about undercover work or the bureau culture; the two prosecutors; police detectives and investigators; the judge; Margo's two divorce attorneys;  the woman Gene hired to help him (unknowingly) to try to kill Margo; and Margo's minister, among others. I attempted to interview Gene, his criminal attorney, and Patricia Cornwell, but all of them refused.

 

DID MARGO EVER IMAGINE HER HUSBAND WOULD TRY TO KILL HER?

Yes. After the kidnapping, she knew what he was capable of, and after he got out prison, she expected him to try to kill her. That's why she didn't go out at night, she armed herself with pepper spray and the house with an alarm system, and she carried a gun at all times.

 

EUGENE BENNETT'S MOTIVE WAS THAT HE DID NOT WANT HIS CHILDREN RAISED BY A LESBIAN?

I'm not entirely sure what his motive was, but the police and prosecutor believe it was revenge and anger at Margo. Gene said he didn't want his children raised by a lesbian and that's what made him snap, but his defense was that he had a dissociative disorder, and that long years of undercover work and mental illness is what made him form another personality. Gene claimed he didn't know anything about what that his other personality was planning. The jury didn't buy that defense.

 

DO MARGO AND PATRICIA STILL KEEP IN TOUCH?

No, but there was never any falling out. Margo suggested they break contact after Gene kidnapped her -- for the safety of both of them. They communicated through friends after that except for one last phone call when Cornwell asked Margo a question to help with a lawsuit and also offered to help Margo publish a book about this story at some point. When the time came, however, she did not want to cooperate with this book. 

 

MARGO IS NOW A POLICE OFFICER AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA?

Margo is a captain of the campus police department at the University of California, Berkeley.

WHERE CAN READERS PURCHASE YOUR BOOK?

Readers can purchase or order the book at any major or independent bookstore, Amazon.com, many other online bookselling sites, or even from the publisher (Wiley/Jossey-Bass) directly. 

    In 1997, former FBI agent Eugene Bennett was convicted of trying to kill his wife, also a former FBI agent, who was having an affair with author Patricia Cornwell.

    Margo Bennett spoke out for the first time to Caitlin Rother, and her story is featured in Rother’s new book, “Twisted Triangle.”

    Caitlin Rother spoke to Crimejunkies for a preview...