An imprisoned Michigan man convicted of killing one girl and suspected in the deaths of more has stayed busy writing while behind bars.
Arthur Ream is in prison for the murder of 13-year-old Cindy Zarzycki, whose remains were found 10 years ago near a wooded area in Macomb Township. Zarzycki, of Eastpointe, was killed in 1986 but it wasn't until decades later when Ream finally led investigators to her burial site. Investigators began digging in that same area this past summer as they search for four to six other missing girls who may be connected to Ream.
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READ: Inside the mind of Arthur Ream, convicted killer writing behind bars
Investigators said it was a Sunday in April 1986 when Zarzycki told her father that she was going to a nearby Diary Queen to meet her friends and walk to church with them later. But the teen actually was going to what she believed was Scott Ream's birthday party.
Scott Ream would not be there, and his birthday was actually in January. Zarzycki was met by his father, Arthur Ream.
Ream offers the 'true story'
Arthur Ream wrote a three-page story while behind bars that he calls the "Disappearance at the Dairy Queen (The True Story)." Ream claims the girl's death was an accident that he tried to help his son cover up.
He wrote he did not kill the girl, but that he is "responsible for her death." The "true story," according to Ream, is that the girl was at his warehouse with his son where she was fatally injured.
Ream writes about his 'relapse prevention plan'
Ream also wrote about what he calls his "Relapse Prevention Plan."
"It is a written account of what I have learned in my group therapy experience," he wrote.
In this plan, Ream wrote about what he called the "Evolution of My Understanding Sex Offender 'Denial.'" He wrote his problems started when he was 8 or 9 years old. It was about that time that he learned his mother could not read or write. He recalled making excuses for her.
"When they would ask me about it, I would say it wasn't true. It was about this time in my life that I discovered that I had a learning disability," he wrote.
Then he writes this story about when he was charged with criminal sexual conduct and he struggled to come to terms with his involvement in the incident, or at least what he claims was his involvement:
"Another occurrence of denial in my life happened in 1974. I was driving with my fourteen year old brother-in-law and my fifteen year old nephew. We seen a young girl hitch-hiking, so we picked her up and continued to drive. She was very talkative, telling us about how she was just at a party and had a good time. Then my brother-in-law began to fondle her, at first she said nothing, but then she began to protest and told them to stop, but they did not and I said nothing. When she began to scream, I pulled the car over and told her to get out. In this incident, I was charged with a CSC for fondling a minor. I had a very difficult tim coming to terms with taking responsibility for my part of what happened. I felt justified in believing that I had no guilt because I didn't participate in the offense in a physical way. 'But in reality,' I was partially to blame for letting continue as long as I did and for pulling over an allowing her in the car in the first place. I was in denial for responsibility, accountability, harm to the victim, and minimizing."
Ream also wrote about his denial after his son Scott was killed in 1994:
"The biggest denial in my life was when my son Scott was killed by a drunk driver on July 4, 1994. I stayed in denial for over two years, and can remember telling friends that Scott moved to California. I was very angry and depressed during this time and believe it was a major contributing factor in my offence because I was in denial, I wouldn't accept the reality of the situation."
'Unhealthy Personal Relations'
Ream continued in his writing with an explanation of his "risk factors." The following risk factors, he wrote, leave him with a "need to vent my frustrations and anxieties out on someone else ... This someone could quickly become another victim for me." Here's what he listed as "cues" for his risk factors:
- An old friend aks me to go out drinking.
- Feeling I need to be in control of my friends.
- Feeling rejected, frustrated, angry.
- Not accepting a friends faults.
- Being with friends that talk about sex a lot.
Those "cues" are followed what Ream calls "triggers," which he listed as follows:
- My friend bring porn material to my home.
- My friend picks a fight with me.
- Ex-girlfriend ask me to sleep with her.
- Hearing that my girlfriend has been cheating on me.
- Friends that play mean jokes on people.
In his "risk factor" writing, Ream elaborates on anger, or what he calls a "big eating machine that is never satisfied."
"When I am depressed I find myself being angry at the smallest of things, and before I know it I'm angry at everything and everybody. Anger can lead to re-offending because I focus my anger toward one person, and if that person is a young and vulnerable female I could re-offend. Focusing my anger at one person makes me feel better."
He again listed a series of "cues" and "triggers" for his behavior:
- Irritability
- The need to win at all games.
- Thinking of someone I don't like.
- Getting stressed ... over little things
- Not being in charge.
And the "triggers:"
- Being told I'm not getting my way.
- Being told something bad by my boss, I'm laid off/fired.
- Getting in a small car accident.
- Being told no, and not given any reason.
- Guys showing up late for work all the time.
Ream also wrote about preventative measures he pledged to take in order to avoid any relapses. He pledged to join an anger management program, for instance, and wrote he would turn his life over "to a higher power and pray for guidance each day."
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