[Nicole28]

Howdy, you were wondering about the circumstances surrounding this adopted man's crime. I did a Google search ...

Edward Lee Harper was convicted in Jefferson County of killing Edward Lee and Alice Harper in 1982 so he could inherit their estate, valued at about $85,000. Even though Harper gave an extensive interview regarding giving up his appeals, he views as "water over the bridge" -- and will not discuss -- the events that led him to kill his adoptive parents, Alice and Edward Lee Harper Sr., on Feb. 19, 1982. The prosecutor said that Harper was a spoiled child who "killed both his parents in bed for the insurance money" -- an $86,541 policy on his father's life. At trial, Harper testified that his father, who had recently retired from a job at Ford Motor Co.'s Fern Valley assembly plant, asked him to shoot him and Harper's mother because his mother was mentally ill and his father could not bear to put her in an institution. Harper, who tried to make it look like a burglary gone awry, also testified that his parents' home was a misery-filled place. But prosecutors undercut that claim. They used testimony from witnesses who said that in the 9 weeks Harper remained free after the killings, he bragged about having money and discussed plans for spending that might seem lavish for a 33-year-old, twice-divorced, laid-off machinist who was so financially insecure he had been living with his parents.

Interesting, huh? They initially refer to Harper's parents as his "adopted parents," but later on in the blurb they just refer to them as "father" and "mother." I also found it interesting that they called Harper "spoiled," as I have found that this is another common assumption regarding adopted children - at least in MY own experience.