Overview

On March 28, 1966, Peace Corps personnel in Tanzania received word that volunteer Peppy Kinsey had fallen to her death while rock climbing during a picnic. Local authorities arrested Kinsey's husband, Bill, and charged him with murder as witnesses came forward claiming to have seen the pair engaged in a struggle. The incident had the potential to be disastrous for both the Peace Corps and the newly independent nation of Tanzania. Because of the high stakes surrounding the trial, questions remain as to whether there was more behind the final ""not guilty"" verdict than was apparent on the surface.   Peter H. Reid, who served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Tanzania at the time of the Kinsey murder trial, draws on his considerable legal experience to expose inconsistencies and biases in the case. He carefully scrutinises the evidence and the investigation records, providing insight into the motives and actions of both the Peace Corps representatives and the Tanzanian government officials involved. Reid does not attempt to prove the verdict wrong but examines the events of Kinsey's death, her husband's trial, and the aftermath through a variety of cultural and political perspectives.   This compelling account sheds new light on a notable yet overlooked international incident involving non-state actors in the Cold War era. Meticulously researched and replete with intricate detail, Every Hill a Burial Place explores the possibility that the course of justice was compromised and offers a commentary on the delicacy of cross-national and cross-cultural diplomacy.

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9780813195681

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Reviews

A fascinating read of a Peace Corps death with potential international implications. Was it a murder or an accident? How should the Peace Corps manage this death where one volunteer was charged with killing another? Could the whole Kennedy Era program be in jeopardy? And most critically, was justice done? Peter Reid's meticulously researched book presents a readable, balanced and critical analysis that sheds light on a baffling death and also gives us a picture of the lives and work of early Peace Corps volunteers in Africa. I highly recommend this book for its historical insights and its reminder that justice is often about who has the best lawyer. A compelling read. -- John Frohnmayer, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts Peter Reid...has done a superb job in laying out this international drama. He is consistently fact-based, and judicious in his judgments. This is not a pot-boiler or an accusatory effort: it is a fine piece of history of an unlikely event at a fascinating time and place when both the Peace Corps and the Republic of Tanzania were trying to find their way forward. -- Peace Corps Worldwide Reid offers the definitive look at a now-obscure 1960s murder trial that threatened the future of the Peace Corps. In 1966, Bill Kinsey became the first program volunteer to be accused of murder after his wife, Peppy, died from head wounds while the two were serving in Tanzania. Bill claimed that Peppy had fallen from a hill, but witnesses said they'd seen the couple fighting before her death, and a blood-stained iron bar and stones were found nearby. Bill was supposed to be afforded the same legal protections as an ordinary citizen of the country, but the prosecution was overmatched by the experienced, mostly white defense team that his family arranged, which got him acquitted...Excellent. -- Publishers Weekly

"""A fascinating read of a Peace Corps death with potential international implications. Was it a murder or an accident? How should the Peace Corps manage this death where one volunteer was charged with killing another? Could the whole Kennedy Era program be in jeopardy? And most critically, was justice done? Peter Reid's meticulously researched book presents a readable, balanced and critical analysis that sheds light on a baffling death and also gives us a picture of the lives and work of early Peace Corps volunteers in Africa. I highly recommend this book for its historical insights and its reminder that justice is often about who has the best lawyer. A compelling read."" -- John Frohnmayer, former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts ""Peter Reid...has done a superb job in laying out this international drama. He is consistently fact-based, and judicious in his judgments. This is not a pot-boiler or an accusatory effort: it is a fine piece of history of an unlikely event at a fascinating time and place when both the Peace Corps and the Republic of Tanzania were trying to find their way forward."" -- Peace Corps Worldwide ""Reid offers the definitive look at a now-obscure 1960s murder trial that threatened the future of the Peace Corps. In 1966, Bill Kinsey became the first program volunteer to be accused of murder after his wife, Peppy, died from head wounds while the two were serving in Tanzania. Bill claimed that Peppy had fallen from a hill, but witnesses said they'd seen the couple fighting before her death, and a blood-stained iron bar and stones were found nearby. Bill was supposed to be afforded the same legal protections as an ordinary citizen of the country, but the prosecution was overmatched by the experienced, mostly white defense team that his family arranged, which got him acquitted...Excellent."" -- Publishers Weekly"

Author Information

Peter H. Reid, retired founding director of the Community Law Clinic at Stanford Law School, previously served for more than thirty years as executive director of the Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County.

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