She wrote the book 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'. Then fiction became reality.

Suspense thriller author Lois Duncan was one of the pioneers of young adult fiction, a genre that emerged in the 1960s and spoke to a uniquely teenage experience. It recognised its readers as neither children nor grown-ups, but people coming to terms with personal responsibility, learning right from wrong and finding their place in the world.

While her peers, like Judy Blume, tackled milestones including menstruation and young relationships, Lois conceived of kidnapping plots gone wrong, witchcraft, manslaughter and secret vows of silence. She was prolific, with several bestsellers, from I Know What You Did Last Summer (1973) to Summer of Fear (1976) and Killing Mr. Griffin (1978).

But in 1989, the novels stopped.

One of Lois' five children, Kaitlyn Arquette, was murdered in cold blood.

The fiction she had crafted for so many years had become, in her words, a "hideous reality".

The murder of Kaitlyn Arquette.

It was a Sunday night in July 1989.

Eighteen-year-old Kaitlyn Arquette, a recent high school graduate, was on her way home from a friend's house in Albuquerque, the largest city in the US state of New Mexico.

At about 10:30pm, two bullets pierced through the driver's window of her Ford Tempo, and struck her in the head. Her car drifted across three lanes of traffic, uncontrolled, and came to a rest against a streetlight post.

A day later, on July 17, hospital doctors declared Kaitlyn brain-dead and her loved ones gathered to say goodbye.

Kait. Image: Action 7 News.

"When I placed my hand on her chest and felt it rise and fall to the steady rhythm of the respirator, it was hard to believe she wasn’t alive," Lois later wrote. "'Sleep well, my baby,' I whispered. 'Go with God.'"

A police investigation into her slaying proved fruitless, to the despair of Lois and her family.

"I was so helpless, and I didn’t know what to do next," she told The Herald Tribune. "The only ammunition I have is the ability to write."

Lois penned two books about the case, Who Killed My Daughter? (1992) and One To The Wolves (2013), in which she drew on evidence compiled by private investigators and the opinion of psychics.

Her contention was that Kaitlyn was killed because she knew too much about a car insurance scam that allegedly involved her boyfriend and the city's criminal underworld.

The family's investigator, Pat Caristo, alleged that Kaitlyn's car had been forced off the road by another vehicle and that she'd been shot at close range.

A grey Volkswagen Beetle was at the scene of the murder. But according to the Alburquerque Journal, police didn't question its driver (a man with a lengthy criminal history) closely and did little with Pat Caristo's report that acquaintances of Kaitlyn's boyfriend were seen spray-painting a grey Beetle just days after the crash.

Lois' books on the case were among her last in long form.

Lois in 2009. Image: Getty.

She turned instead to picture books and sequels to her charming novel, Hotel for Dogs (which, like I Know What You Did Last Summer, was later adapted into a Hollywood movie).

"I went weak after Kait’s murder," she told BuzzFeed. "How could I even think about creating a novel with a young woman in a life-threatening situation?"

Lois continued pressing for answers about Kaitlyn's murder until she died in 2016 at 82.

Every year, she revived the public appeal for tips through the media and maintained pressure on Alburquerque authorities to solve the case. She was, as many described her, relentless.

"She was this dreamy little novelist who sat out there under the shade tree dreaming of story plots," another of her daughters, Kerry Arquette, told The Alburquerque Journal.

"But once her baby was killed, she had to morph, and it was terribly hard for her, and she did it. But we all know it killed her."

A breakthrough in the case.

Then in 2021, the case cracked wide open.

Albuquerque police said a suspect had confessed to the murder, according to the Albuquerque Journal.

That suspect was Paul Apodaca.

Police arrested Apodaca on a probation violation in July 2021, according to the Albuquerque Journal. While he was in custody, police said he confessed to killing the three young women in the late 80s and raping several others.

Those three women were 21-year-old student Althea Oakley, 13-year-old Stella Gonzales and Kaitlyn.

Image: Albuquerque Police Department.

In August 2021, a grand jury indicted him for Althea's murder and then in December for Stella's. Then in February 2022, he was finally indicted for Kaitlyn's murder.

Apodaca had no connection to any of the victims but knew key details about each killing, police said.

"Paul Apodaca is a serial killer in our view and he picked his victims seemingly at random but they all shared one trait, they were women," Albuquerque Police Department Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock said, per KRQE.

"They were women in vulnerable circumstances at the time who were seemingly alone and that was his only reason was that opportunity and his own perceived hatred of females at the time."

In a statement, police said it was gratifying to bring charges for Kaitlyn's murder.

"While Paul Apodaca confessed to the killing, this case required a comprehensive review as a result of the publicity that has surrounded this case for three decades," Chief Harold Medina said in 2022.

"Our most seasoned detectives conducted a thorough investigation of all facts and evidence to ensure we were charging the man responsible for this senseless death. We will continue to work with the District Attorney to ensure we get justice for the family of Kaitlyn Arquette and the entire community."

Althea Oakley and Stella Gonzales. Image: Albuquerque Police Department.

Justice was finally served last year when Apodaca was sentenced to 45 years in jail and registered as a sex offender.

"These heinous crimes haunted three families for more than 30 years, leaving behind a wake of pain and suffering," Medina said. "I hope all the families can now move forward and find closure in a long awaited resolution to their nightmare."

Hartsock added: "Justice, though often slow, does not falter. The life sentence for a serial killer is a somber reminder that society upholds a beacon of hope and safety, affirming that such darkness will not go unpunished. It is a stark message that each life taken has value, and that their memories will be honored through the relentless pursuit of justice."

While it must be a relief for Althea, Stella and Kaitlyn's loved ones, it's a shame Lois wasn't here to see it.

Feature image: Getty.