American Taboo: A Murder in the Peace Corps

Charges possible in 1976 PCV slaying Congressman Norm Dicks has asked the U.S. attorney in Seattle to consider pursuing charges against Dennis Priven, the man accused of killing Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner on the South Pacific island of Tonga 28 years ago. Background on this story here and here.

American Taboo Read the story of Volunteer Deborah Gardner's murder in Tonga in 1976 and how her killer has been free for the past 28 years with the help of the Peace Corps. Read an excerpt from Philip Weiss' book documenting the murder and coverup. Then read an essay by RPCV Bob Shaconis who says that Peace Corps' treatment as a "sacred cow" has exempted it from public scrutiny and that the agency has labored to preserve its shining reputation, sometimes at the expense of the very principles it is supposed to embody.

Peace Corps failings exposed in story of Tacoma woman's murder



Peace Corps failings exposed in story of Tacoma woman's murder

Peace Corps failings exposed in story of Tacoma woman's murder

The murder of misplaced passion took place years ago in a place far away.

Deborah Gardner, a dazzling Peace Corps science teacher from Tacoma who graduated from Washington State University, was murdered by a fellow volunteer on the South Pacific island of Tonga in 1976. Philip Weiss first heard of the murder when he was backpacking in that distant country, and he has spent years on the trail of the case and how Gardner's killer went free with the assistance of the U.S. government.

The result is "American Taboo" (HarperCollins, 347 pages, $25.95), an intriguing summer read that The New York Times has criticized, however, for the writer's florid writing style and his excessive sense of dramatics. It is also a non-fiction, true-crime book that suffers from an anticlimatic letdown at its conclusion when the author finally is in the presence of the murderer in New York City.

Still, Weiss deserves credit for his dogged efforts to bring a case of missed justice to light so many years after the fact. And he should be commended for exposing the Peace Corps, so long considered a kind of idealism-driven government agency, as a place where bureaucratic ass-covering has been every bit as prevalent as in agencies not usually wearing a white hat.

The murder of Gardner will at least not be forgotten any longer, and perhaps some institutional lessons also will result.

Philip Weiss discusses "American Taboo" at 7:30 tonight at The Elliott Bay Book Co., 101 S. Main St. Information: 206-624-6600.

-- John Marshall