Winner of the 2015 Publisher's Special Award — Murder in Benin by Aaron Kase
Leo, You really need to read Kase's book. At the time of its publication, the alleged murderers were in jail…
The winner of the 2015 Peace Corps Writers Publisher’s Special Award for the book published in 2014 is —
Murder In Benin: Kate Puzey’s Death in the Peace Corps
by Aaron Kase (Burkina Faso 2006-08)
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Aaron talks about himself, his Peace Corps service, and his writing about the Kate Puzey murder.
I grew up in Philadelphia, then received a degree in history at Grinnell College in Iowa. After college, I worked at a generic office job and wasn’t thrilled about the career trajectory it offered, so I decided to join the Peace Corps because it offered a challenge, and an adventure. I saw it as a unique opportunity to experience a life totally different from what I had known.
I was a Small Business Volunteer in Burkina Faso from 2006 to 2008, and worked in a rural village called Zogore. My primary project was to encourage agroforestry and combat desertification, and with a counterpart, I was also involved with other projects like wood-conserving stoves, beekeeping, HIV/AIDS outreach and even a student newspaper.
Shortly after I returned home from Burkina Faso I heard about Kate Puzey’s murder in her rural village in Benin. The news was completely shocking because she lived in very similar circumstances to me and so many of my friends, and our villages always seemed like the safest places in the world. Foul play was unthinkable. It wasn’t until about two years later when I was working for a weekly newspaper in Philadelphia that I learned of the larger circumstances surrounding Kate’s death and how mistakes by her Peace Corps office may have contributed to it. I had the Peace Corps contacts, I knew the language and the culture of West Africa, and I had training in writing and reporting, so it felt like I had no choice but to pursue the story. There was also a personal side — I met Kate’s family at a memorial to her in Washington D.C. Following that meeting I wanted to do what I could to help push the case toward a resolution, or at least make people more aware of it.
I learned that Kate had informed Peace Corps/Benin that one of her teaching colleagues in the village, who was also a Peace Corps contractor, was suspected of serial sexual misconduct with his students. Peace Corps then told the contractor he would not be rehired, and why, thus creating a potentially dangerous situation for Kate because he could easily guess who had reported on him. The PC office did not take any steps to ensure Kate’s safety, or even make sure that she was aware of their plan so that she could act to protect herself.
I then spoke with several of Kate’s friends from the Peace Corps to hear their stories and get contact information for people to whom I should talk to in Benin. Then I flew to Benin for on-the-ground reporting.
Kate was killed in March 2009. I visited her village in June 2011. I spent several days in Badjoude, the village where Kate lived for nearly two years, and spoke with her friends, colleagues and neighbors to learn more about her life in Benin and what had occurred over her final days. Numerous people were incredibly generous with their time and assistance to help me build a more complete picture of the story, although I can’t say I discovered anything with a meaningful impact in regard to finally resolving the case. The biggest thing that stood out to me was the depth of the community’s grieving more than two years after the fact, which speaks to the impact that Kate had made on her village.
I reached out to Peace Corps/Washington, but they weren’t commenting, due to the ongoing nature of the investigation. I also filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the agency for information regarding the case, but didn’t receive much that was new or useful. Most notably, a report from the PC’s Inspector General regarding the agency’s actions before and after the murder has still not been released.
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Outside of the circumstances of this particular incident, Peace Corps does have risks and a few Volunteers die each year in the course of their service. I think it’s important to acknowledge those risks and treat the families of Volunteers humanely in the event something does happen. Hopefully reform legislation passed in 2011 which includes improved next-of-kin notification practices will be effective.
The law also included whistle-blower protections for Volunteers to report problems with Peace Corps staff members. There’s no way to anticipate every situation, however, so hopefully the big takeaway is that Peace Corps administrators around the globe received a wake-up call to never act cavalierly when it comes to the safety of their Volunteers.
Every year, there have been rumors that there could be a trial in November, and then it doesn’t happen. Last year, Congress asked the FBI to take a more active role in the investigation to try to turn up more evidence that could finally lead to a trial. I don’t know of any developments since then.
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We have all blamed Peace Corps staff for something, and sometimes we’ve been right, but what went particularly wrong with the administration, both in Africa and in Washington, D.C., was what they did (and didn’t do) about the tragic murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Kate Puzey in Benin in 2009.What is particularly galling is that the Acting Director of the agency at the time of the murder was an RPCV, Jody Olsen (Tunisia 1966-68), who made a career of working for the agency, mostly through Republican connections from Utah (So much for In, UP and Out!) and she should have known how to take care of PCVs and their families, but she didn’t.
Olsen was then followed in the job as Director by RPCV Aaron William (Dominican Republic 1967–70), and while he eventually apologized to the Puzey Family for the Peace Corps errors in this case, he was famous for hiding when asked to speak to news agency. At one point, Deputy Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet (Western Samoa 1981–83), showing courage for the agency, went to Atlanta, appeared on 20/20 and was blind-sided on camera with facts and information she didn’t even have! It was a period that was so bad for the agency that no one in the administration would come near the Peace Corps when we celebrated the 50th Anniversary. Now much of the blame can be focused on the incompetent Non-RPCV Schedule-C political hacks in the Peace Corps’ Public Relations Office (which they call a Press Office) who just wanted to sweep the brutal in-country murder under the rug, but the real lack of leadership by Olsen and Williams hurt the Peace Corps and showed that these two RPCVs were more interested in protecting themselves than Volunteers.
Now, thankfully, we have Volunteers who served with Kate Puzey, who have stepped up to set the record straight. And last Fall Aaron Kase published his e-book, Murder in Benin about Kate.
After the murder, Volunteers contend that they were kept in the dark by the Peace Corps about Kate’s murder. Administrators contacted them to tell them that Kate had died, but mentioned nothing about a murder until the news was aired on Beninese radio. Since Kate had been sick, some Volunteers initially thought that she had died from malaria, or maybe had been in a car accident. Other than answering some questions from a Peace Corps Inspector General investigation, Kate’s friends say they felt that they were left out of any official inquiries and wondered why the American Embassy, Peace Corps, and FBI wouldn’t be more interested in what they might have known. Since her cohorts completed service in the summer of 2009, they’ve struggled to stay up to date on the trial. “We tried, almost, I would say desperately would be an appropriate adverb — to remain in the loop,” says Megan Grann. “But that was like pulling teeth.”
Meanwhile, the entire Peace Corps/Benin staff involved in the case has since left the agency.
PC/Benin former employees Jacques Bio (assistant director and brother of Constant Bio, the primary suspect in the case), and Florence Honvo-Bello (Training Manager/Program) were forced to resign, followed by Country Director Sheryl Cowan’s resignation in June 2009 — a move characterized by some Peace Corps employees as falling on her sword. She has been barred from speaking about the murder as part of her resignation agreement.
While former Volunteers remain unhappy with PC/Benin, the Puzey family had an even worse experience with the agency’s national headquarters. When the news broke, the Peace Corps chose to telephone Kate’s father, even though there is a Peace Corps regional office in Atlanta and it would have been a simple matter to deliver the news in person. Harry Puzey, battling cancer, was lying in a hospital bed and hooked to an I.V. when he learned via telephone that his daughter had been killed. Later, when the Peace Corps returned Kate’s things to her family, they dropped them unaccompanied in the driveway. After that, the Puzey family had difficulty even reaching anyone in the Peace Corps, and attempts to get information were met with stonewalling. Subsequent Beninese country directors after Cowan were instructed to in no way communicate with the victim’s family.
“In all cases, the Peace Corps treated us like a potential legal or public relations problem rather than a grieving family suffering an unthinkable tragedy,” Kate’s mother Lois Puzey said in written congressional testimony about the case.
The Peace Corps Inspector General conducted an investigation after the murder, interviewing Volunteers and staff members, but attempts to see the results have also been blocked. The Peace Corps has claimed the report is exempt from the federal Freedom of Information Act Law because it relates to an ongoing investigation. However, the Inspector General did agree to meet with the Puzey family, and confirmed to them without revealing more details that there had been a breech of confidentiality within the PC/Benin office prior to Kate’s death.
Following an investigation by ABC News into Kate’s murder, President Obama signed the Kate Puzey Peace Corps Volunteer Protection Act in 2011.
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A truly sad comment on the Peace Corps and its administration. However, I am struck by the complete pass given the murderer and the Benin people. “Safest places in the world” and “foul play was unthinkable.” More damning is that the culprit has yet to be brought to justice. Why must RPCVs be so careful to cover the reality of the local people? Either the local people are inure to violence, accept this as an everyday occurrence or completely cowed by the bad guys. Where is the outrage of the Benin people? Why hasn’t this evil doer been tried for his deed? I find this blot on Benin and its people more troubling than incompetent Washington bureaucrats.
Congratulations to Rowland Scherman and Aaron Kase on their awards! Such talent they bring to Peace Corps and they span more than fifty years of Peace Corps and reflect the highest standards of the organization. Rowland Scherman was pioneer staff and Aaron Kase was a Volunteer almost fifty years later.
When Charlie Peters started the unique and invaluable Evaluation Division, Shriver wanted Journalists, not bureaucrats, to do the field evaluation and analysis. Kase continues in this fine tradition. He is a journalist, he traveled to Benin and did a comprehensive factual report on Kate Puzey and the horrific murder. He focus is not just on the crime, but also on Kate Puzey and how her service and who beautifully she was part of her community in Benin.
Leo,
You really need to read Kase’s book. At the time of its publication, the alleged murderers were in jail and had been for quite some time, they had not been formally charged. I believe that now they have been released because of lack of evidence. I would hope that Aaron Kase could do a follow-up.
One of the problems for Peace Corps is, I would presume, liability. The alleged murderer was a contract host contract employee with Peace Corps and his brother was a Peace Corps employee.
The book is available on Amazon for almost no cost and it is well worth reading. I think everyone should read it.