In her forthcoming memoir, Raised By a Serial Killer: Discovering the Truth About My Father, April Balascio delves into her life growing up with Edward Wayne Edwards, the man she would later help identify as a serial killer. The book, set for release on December 3, offers a chilling and intimate account of her childhood, marked by frequent relocations, violence at home, and her eventual realization that her father was responsible for a string of murders.
Balascio’s memoir captures the pivotal moments that led her to uncover the truth, including the first time she began to suspect her father’s involvement in a crime.
A Father’s Disturbing Obsession
Balascio recalls a summer in 1980 when her family moved to Watertown, Wisconsin. Her father, Edward, took a job at the Concord House, a reception hall, while the family settled into a nearby farmhouse. One morning, Edward came home with a bruised and swollen nose, claiming he had hurt it with a rifle scope while hunting. Though she found it odd, she didn’t question him further.
Soon after, the news broke: Timothy Hack and Kelly Drew, two 19-year-olds attending a wedding reception at the Concord House, had disappeared. Their bodies were later found in a field, sparking fear and heartbreak in the community.
To Balascio’s alarm, her father became obsessed with the case. “I bet they find those kids in a field,” he speculated repeatedly, turning on the news daily to follow the investigation.
“Why does he keep going on and on about that?” Balascio remembers thinking, a suspicion that began to fray her childhood perception of her father.
A Sudden Escape
Just weeks after the teens’ disappearance, Edward abruptly packed up the family and moved them out of town in the middle of the school year. Balascio recalls her growing anger and doubt during the hasty departure.
“If there is a before and after a moment in the story of my relationship with my dad, this is it,” she writes. “The barrier that kept the concept of ‘Dad, who I loved,’ separate from ‘the man who we lived with who did bad things’ had begun to fray.”
Her realization deepened over the years, particularly as she noticed a pattern: violence and disappearances seemed to follow wherever her family lived.
Turning Him In
Decades later, Balascio began piecing together her father’s movements and the unsolved murders in their wake. She searched online for “cold case” and “Watertown,” stumbling across stories about the “Sweetheart Murders” of Hack and Drew. She immediately remembered her father’s job at the Concord House and his suspicious behavior at the time.
The memories compelled her to contact detectives, leading to a DNA match that connected Edward Wayne Edwards to the murders. He confessed to five killings, though he is suspected of many more. Edwards died in prison in 2011.
A Daughter’s Story
In her memoir, Balascio recounts the pain and courage it took to come forward with her suspicions, ultimately unraveling the dark truth about her father. She hopes her story will shed light on the complicated emotions of loving—and turning in—a family member who commits unspeakable acts.
Balascio reflects on how her childhood prepared her for the moment she realized she had to act. “We weren’t fleeing the bad people,” she writes. “But we might be fleeing the good ones.”
Raised By a Serial Killer: Discovering the Truth About My Father is available December 3 from Gallery Books.
