NORWICH

–

Losing

a

parent

at

a

young

age

is

one

of

the

most

traumatic

things

a

child

can

experience.

For

Ashlee

Wlasiuk,

losing

the

woman

she

had

always

thought

was

her

mother

at

the

age

of

nine,

was

only

the

beginning.

Ashlee’s

family

became

the

center

of

one

of

the

most

watched

murder

trials

in

Chenango

County,

leading

her

to

question

everything

she

thought

she

knew

about

her

family

and

childhood.

Ashlee

explores

all

of

that

in

her

new

book,

“Did

You

Kill

My

Mother”

which

was

released

on

Tuesday.

Ashlee

will

be

signing

copies

from

12

to

2

p.m.

on

Saturday,

November

14th

at

A

Novel

Idea

Bookstore

in

Norwich.

The

following

Sunday,

she

will

be

presenting

her

story

and

signing

books

at

Guernsey

Memorial

Library

at

2

p.m.

Patty

Wlasiuk

was

35-years-old

when

she

died

on

April

3,

2002.

Her

husband

Peter

Wlasiuk

was

soon

arrested

and

charged

with

Patty’s

murder.

Nearly

25

years

have

passed

and

Peter

has

been

tried

for

Patty’s

murder

three

times,

being

found

guilty

each

time.

Prior

to

2002,

Ashlee

says

she

was

a

pretty

typical

millennial

kid.

Peter

and

Ashlee’s

birth

mother,

Jackeline

Scholte,

separated

before

her

first

birthday.

When

her

father

was

given

custody,

visits

with

her

mother

were

supervised,

and

Ashlee

said

she

wasn’t

even

aware

Jackeline

was

her

mother.

“I grew

up

believing

Patty

was

my

mother

because

my

father’s

family

had

told

me

Jacki

was

my

babysitter,”

Ashlee

recalls.

When

she

was

five-years-old,

Scholte

died

in

a

fire

at

her

parent’s

home

that

occurred

the

night

before

a

scheduled

custody

hearing,

although

Ashlee

did

not

learn

of

her

passing

until

several

years

later.

“I

grew

up

being

told

the

dog

knocked

over

a

candle.

Years

later,

my

mother’s

family

told

me

things

that

didn’t

line

up

with

the

story

I’d

been

raised

to

believe,”

she

explained.

After

Patty’s

death

and

Peter’s

arrest,

Ashlee

said

she

was

largely

in

the

dark,

but

when

students

at

school

began

telling

her

that

her

Patty

was

not

her

biological

mother,

Ashlee

began

asking

questions.

“Eventually,

my

grandmother

told

me

my

father

had

been

arrested,

that

he

was

innocent,

and

that

Patty

wasn’t

my

mother.

Jacki

was.

She

also

told

me

Jacki

had

died

in

a

fire

started

by

a

dog

knocking

over

a

candle,”

Ashlee

recalls.

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Ashlee

said

for

most

of

her

childhood

she

believed

what

her

grandparents

had

told

her.

“For

most

of

my

childhood,

I

was

on

his

side.

I

wrote

letters

on

his

behalf

to

judges

and

attorneys,

often

with

him

dictating

over

the

prison

phone.

I

sat

on

his

side

of

the

courtroom,”

Ashlee

explained.

While

she

was

not

there

the

night

Patty

died

and

therefore

has

no

first-hand

information

of

what

occurred,

she

recognizes

that

three

separate

juries

convicted

her

father

of

murdering

Patty.

“I

grew

up

catching

my

father

in

more

lies

than

I

can

count,

and

I’ve

experienced

his

temper

firsthand.

I

know

he

can

be

violent,”

she

said.

As

an

adult,

Ashlee

said

her

understanding

of

the

situation

has

changed

and

she

has

begun

to

question

the

circumstances

surrounding

her

own

mother’s

death.

“People

had

pointed

out

the

coincidences

surrounding

[Jacki’s]

death

since

I

was

nine

years

old.

I

dismissed

the

rumors

as

conjecture.

A

coincidence

isn’t

evidence. But

there

were

details

that

bothered

me,”

Ashlee

said.

She

pointed

out

a

tattoo

her

father

has

of

a

lion

mauling

a

unicorn

with

the

words

no

remorse,

no

repent

underneath

it.

“You

don’t

use

the

word

repent

unless

you’ve

committed

a

sin,”

Ashlee

said.

As

an

adult

she

sought

out

her

biological

mother’s

family

and

learned

more

about

her.

“Afterward,

I

asked

my

father

directly

where

he

was

the

night

Jacki

died.

His

answers

raised

more

questions

for

me

than

they

resolved.”

Ashlee

said

these

days

she

has

no

relationship

with

her

father.

Peter

Wlasiuk

has

been

in

jail

since

2003,

but

all

of

that

could

be

changing

soon.

According

to

Ashlee,

he

will

go

before

the

parole

board

and

could

be

released

in

early

2027,

a

situation

that

makes

her

feel

uneasy.

According

to

her,

her

father

was

not

happy

that

she

published

her

book.

While

the

topic

of

the

book

is

a

dark

one,

Ashlee

said

there

is

actually

a

lot

of

humor

in

it,

because

that’s

how

she

got

through.

“Most

of

all,

I

want

people

to

know

my

mother

fought

for

me. For

a

long

time,

I

didn’t

know

that.

Now

I

do.”

“Did

You

Kill

My

Mother”

is

currently

available

at

Amazon

and

Barnes

and

Noble.

—

Information

from