William Gillespie

William Gillespie is a retired police officer from Saint Paul, Minnesota with more than 25 years of experience investigating the crimes of murder, rape, kidnapping, arson and white collar crime. He is the former Homicide Unit Commander for that department with years of experience "kicking dead bodies" as he refers to the investigation of murder.

Born in Santa Rosa, California, his family moved to Minnesota when he was seven years old and he says he followed the trail of their tears in referring to the move with a line from a country tune. He didn't realize they weren't going home until they passed through Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada's and his father narrated the fate of the Donner party in 1847, all while the author looked over the edge of a four thousand foot drop to the floor of the pass. He describes it as a soul searing experience, equal to the first time he crossed a gym floor and asked a girl to dance that he still maintains was the longest walk in his life.

He now lives in Maplewood, Minnesota and spends a good part of each deadly dull Minnesota winter visiting his family in Sebastopol, California, tasting wine and playing golf. He maintains that for seven months a year there is no better place to live than his adopted state of Minnesota, but it's the other five months that kills batteries and the desire to go outside!